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I by errata med to nent une pelure, fapon ck 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 HI "L'HIS HISTORY OF CANADA, FKOM THE TIME OF ITS DISCOVERY TILL THE UNION YEAR (1840-1): TRANSLATED FROM "L'HISTOmE DU CANADA" OF F.-X. CrARNEAU, Esq. AND ACOOMPANIKD WITH ; ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES, - ■ ' "J »T0., BTO. ' r^ ■■■■'■ BY ANDREW BELL. : 1^ IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. IL • * PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY JOHN LOVELL, 8T. NI0HOI,A3 STBBIilT. 1860. i' i" V; ) ' ' » ; ' » '.>^ -t'-.-iif* t b V ;5-775 HISTORY OF CANADA. BOOK SIXTH. •' '. . CHAPTER I. ESTABLISHMENT OP LOUISIANA. 1683-1712. Province of Louisiana. — Louis XIV puts sev^eral vessels at the dI?posal of La Sale to found a Settlement there. — Uis departure with a squadron ; and misunderstandings with his colleague, M. de Beaujeu. — He misses the sea-entry of the Mississippi, and is landed in Matagorda bay, Texai. — Shameful conduct of Beaujeu, who leaves Ln Sale and the colonists to their fate. — La Sale builds two fortlets, and calls one St. Louis. — He explores several parts of the country, to ,no good purpose, during several months, and loses many of his men. — Despairing of finding the Mississippi, he sets out for the Illinois, in \iew of obtaining succour from France. — Part of his companions murder him and his nephew. — His assassins fall out ; and two of their number killed by the others. — Joutel and six of the party, leaving the conspirators behind, reach the Illinois.— Sad fate of most of the party left in the Texas territory. — D'Iberville undertakes to re-colonise Louisiana, and settles a colony at Biloxi (1698-8). — Appearance of the British on the Mississippi. — The Huguenots ask leave to settle in Louisiana, but are refused. — D'Iberville demands free trade for his colony.— Illusive metallic riches of the country. — The Biloxians removed to Mobile in ItOl. — 'The colony progresses apace, — Death of M. d'Iberville. — An intendancy appointed, and its evil results. — Louisiana ceded to M. de Crozat. (1 712). The name Louisiana was given, in days past, to all the coun- tries situated on the Gulf of Mexico, and which extends from the bay of Mobile : %. e. eastward, up to the sources of the rivers which fall into the Mississippi; to the westward, as far ajs to !■!■ k 1 .' ■ % I- -II HISTORY OF CANADA. New Mexico and to the ancient kingdom of Leon. Now-a-days, this vast territory is divided into several States : viz., Texas, to the west, from the Rio del Norte up to the Sabine ; Louisiana, pro- perly so called, in the centre, from the latter stream as far as Pearl River ; and the Mississippi, at the east, from Pearl River till some distance. from the bay of Mobile; the interspace remaining, as far as that bay, forms a part of Alabama. To the north of these States, there are besides those of Arkansas, Missouri, Illi- Hois, &c. At the epoch we have now reached in this History, all these countries were almost unknown. Ferdinand de Soto, a Spanish voyager, once a companion of Pizarro, traversed, but did not ex plore this region in 1539-40, when in search of a new Perou. Having set out from Holy-Spirit bay in Florida, with fully 1000 soldiers, he proceeded northward as far as the Apalachians ; thence turning westward, he followed the lower line of that mountain range in a southerly direction, and arrived at and crossed the river Tonibeckbee, near its junction with the Alabama. Afterwards he turned to the north-west, and crossed the Mississippi above the Arkansas. Turuing again to the south, he crossed the P.ed River ; which became the term of his course, as he died in 1 r .2, near thereto, without having found what he sought. Mos- r ' .a, his lieutenant, heading the expedition, directed it towards Mexico, but, stopped by the intervening heights, he retraced his steps, and proceeded to the sea, on which he re-embarked with about 350 men, all that remained alive.* Of this enterprise, and of other voyages undertaken at wide intervals, by Spanish adventurers, to the northern eoast^s of the Gulf, only vague accounts have reached us.f We have already noticed the gracious reception of La Sale by Louis XIV in 1683, when he returned to France and reported his discovery of the embouchure of the Mississippi. La Sale proposed to the king that the territory through which that great river hows should be appropriated as a part of New France ; the suggestion was adopted, and La Sale himself commissioned to begin a colonization • Jared Sparks : Amer. Biog. xi. I Carte de la Louisiana, &c., 1782, hj G. Delisle, in the Itiniraire de la LouisiariP.; Garcilasso de la Vkga ; History of the Conquest of Flo- rida, by Ferdinand de Soto. E8TADLISHMENT OP LOUISIANA. 6 of Louisiana. — To effect this denign, four veesela were pet at liis disposition : two ships of war, one of 40 and one of 6 guns; with a hired privateer ship and a trading vessel. The number of per- sons embarked did not reach 500 in all, including the crews ; and among the pa^■^enge^s wore eight missionaries and several gentle- men. The squadron, which was commanded by M. de Beaujcu, sailed from La liochelle, July 24, 1G84. As it proceeded, quar- rels began between the commodore and La Sale, subsiding into a mutual aversion, perilous to the expedition. One of the ships was captured by the Spaniards of San Domingo. The others, led away by un comprehended currents, and having faulty nautical in- struments on board, overpassed their destination by many leagues. La Sale suspecting that the embouchure of the Mississippi was some way behind, would have turned helm ; but Beaujeu, a vain and jealous man, impatient of La Sale's authority over him, refused to obey ; and continued his western course, as blindly as obsti- nately. On the 14th February, the squadron reached Matagorda bay, Texas ; when La Sale, who knew not that he was 120 leagues distant from the Mississippi, ordered the captain of the privateer to dis- embark the people under his charge. Pretending to do so, he ran his vessel upon reefs,* where it was wrecked, and part of the cai .'o lost, including the warlike and other stores of the expedi- tion. Instead of censuring the privateer's-man, Beaujeu took him on board his own vessel, to screen him from La Sale's vengeance ; and when asked to supply as many stores as he had on board, for partially replacing those lost, he refused to do » • under frivolous pretexts ; finally, on the 14th of March, he i tood out to sea, leaving the colonists to their fate, on an unki own and desert shore. La Sale, thus put to his shifts, set some of his people to culti- vate the ground to obtain subsistence for all ; and, along with a few artisans, began to construct a fortlet for defence against the savages. When near completion, he began to form another, on a height, two leagues higher up a stream afterwards known as the riviere des Vaches. This fastness he called Fort St. Louis. But '■ '. . •. • • Joutel (one of the colonists) : Journal historique. "I| HISTORY OP CANADA. hifl handicraftsmen, being ill selected in Franco, proved inferior to their pretensions, and the work proceeded slowly. Worse still, the seed sown by his men, was, as it came, up trodden down by wi'.d animals, or perished in the ground. Other mischances oc- curred ; a mutinous spirit arose, and when this was severely checked by La Sale, his people dospcndcd. Illness followed, un- der which 30 victims sank. The aborigines also manifested hostile intentions towards the luckless party, to whom they became all the more formidable as many of them rode bitted horses, and of course could not be followed across the prairies when their attacks were repulsed. The country itself was agreeable enough, being free from bush, perfectly level, and well watered ; the air was dry and pure, the temperature mild. But savage and venomous animals formed a con- siderable part of animated nature in this wilderness ; including tiger-cats ; caimans (alligators), rattlesnakes, &c. La Sale, despairing of forming a proper settlement, set out in search of the Mississippi ; wandering, for some months, in the direction of the Colorado. At one place, the party was assailed by the savages and several persons killed. La Belle, a vessel of 6 guns, the only one remaining to him, was wrecked, and the people in her drowned. A second exploration he made, was as bootless as the first. Of a score of men composing it, but eight returned. Meanwhile those left at the bay of St, Bernard (Matagorda, in Texas) were dwindling away from illness and privation. La Sale's case was bad indeed. He had intended to despatch the vessel lately lost to the French Antilles, for succour; and that obtained, she was afterwards to coast the Gulf seaboard in search of the Mississippian embouchure. The means of effecting this being now lost, it was needful to look to other quarters for aid, as the provisions of the party were now almost all consumed. La Sale determined to seek assistance from France ; but to make his situation known, it was needful to go to Canada. He was a man of decision, and he resolved to go thither himself. By this time his people were reduced from 80 to 37 men; twenty of whom be left at St. Louis, under M. le Barbier ; and with the seventeen others he set out for the Illinois country in January 1687. E8TABLI8HME T OF LOUISIANA. The journey was painful, and itn progrefision bIow. Mid-Maroh was over, and as yet only one of the tributaries of Trinity river * reached, when some of the men mutinied, murdered M. Moroguet, La Sale's nephew, and sought to kill him also. The latter hid himself, but was sought out and mortally wounded, in presence of P6ro Anastasius, a missionary who was of the party. — A low handfuls of earth, with a rude cross to mark the place, set up by the missionary, amid a vast wilderness, now covered all that could die of the discoverer of Louisiana. The murderers, after despoiling the dead, resumed their march, but a dispute soon arose, about their several shares of the booty ; when they rose upon two of their own number, who had been their leaders in the mutiny, and shot them both. The surviving conspirators then took to the woods ; while the rest, seven in number, including a brother of La Sale, Joutel, and Pt^re AnaB- tasius, continued their way towards the Illinois, and reached St Louis in mid-September. • '* The remanent party at Matagorda Bay, meanwhile, had sped yet worse. Shortly after La Sale left, the savages suddenly at- tacked them, and killed all but five, who being delivered to the Spaniards, then jealous of French intrusion, they inhumanly sent three of these captives to slave in the mines of New Mexico ; two more, sons of a Canadian named Talon, were taken care of by the Mexican viceroy, and finally entered the Spanish marine serviccf Such was the unprosperous issue of a hopeful expedition, and which would have probably been even fortuitously successful, if the French had but remained in the locality where they first pitched their tent, for Texas is one of the finest and most fertile countries in the world. But La Sale then committed the same error which marked and marred his Canadian explorations : he took too many men with him to the interior. Being, besides, of a restless tem- perament, he was always for going ahead; while he ought to have stuck to the foundations he laid in Texas, and attended to agricultural pursuits.^ r •. ' ; • Mr. Jared Sparks fixes this tragedy at the river Brasos : mostothera place it as above. . ^ ,, . t Universal History, xi, 278. • X " For force of will, and vast conceptions ; for various knowledge, '■', s- f .. .'•• • • •• \\>'/i Ci-^V ; «■>•^ .t .4lSi!£^-^'.^SS$iiiT..! !#• '^ >->. .;*•'•■• . •>..»• *;.^ • >>' ill! I ran t]\v ('.iiiiidiiins ^. the ciubouohafe of. the Misuaamll, wee otfier on tSo Mot thonco they commerced with the French 'Antilles. ' * \ Probably the reports rouohing* Franco that these settlors were thrivinfr, now induced the court to take up the dropped project of systematically colonising the country. The Spaniards, who had exulted over the failure of La Sale, and assuming that the whole southern territory of North America was theirs, got the start of the French authorities ; arid, after taking or re-taking possession of it, with the accustomed ceremonials in their king's name, practically vindicated their claim by founding a colony on .iho Bay of Pcn- sacola, at the western extremity of Florida. But they had not long settled in that locality, when M. d' Iberville appeared upon the scene. After his return from Hudson's Bay in 1G97, this navigator earnestly applied to the French ministry to be employed in an expedition to Louisiana; upon which two sliips were put at his disposition, with orders to search for and chart the sea-outlets of the Mississippi. Accompanied by Messrs. dc Sauvole and do Bienville, he sailed from La Rochelle, in September 1698 ; driven into Brest by contrary winds, he set out again late in October, and reached San Domingo early in December. Leaving that island, Jan. 1, 1699, he reached the shores of Florida in 26 days.- He essayed to anchor at Pensacola, but being repelled, he passed and quiet adaptation of his genius to untried eireumstanees ; for a su- blime magaanimity, that resigned itself to the will of Heaven, and yet triumphed over afllietion by energy of purpose and unfaltering hope, he had no superior among his countrymen. Ho bad won the aifection of the governor of Canada, the esteem of Colbert, the confidence of his son (marquis de Seignelai), the favour of Louis the Fourteenth. After beginning the colonization of Upper Canada, he perfected the discovery of the Mississippi, from the Falls of St. Anthony to its mouth; and he will be remembered, through all time, as the Father of Colonization in the great central Valley of the West." — Bancroft : History of the United States^ iii, 173-4.— -5. 1 • > .. •a" M' \i- *'"H-;.iv:',aov V* » .';.*!»- ■ ! ,'f;':?^.l V '- ' :.•' .♦ erecting a fort at Biloxi Buy, between the Mississippi and the Mobile river, and leaving M. de Sauvolo iu comiuund there, he Bct sail for France. • He was well received at court, being created a knight of St. ^ Louis, and soon afterwards nominated governor-general of Louisi- ana. Late in 1G99, he set out with a body of colonials, almost all Canadians; and arrived at Biloxi in January 1700. The site of this post wa« ill adapted for a settlement, except in view of a trade with the isles and Europe, the country being arid, and the heat of the climate intense. It was nevertheless well peopled with aborigines of various tribes. Numbers of these people came to welcome D' Iberville, whose face tlicy rubbed with white clay, in token of their estoom ; they also presented him with the calumet of peace, and feasted the French for several days. Upon his return to Europe, D'Iberville learned tliat a British vessel had been seen on the Mississippi ; and that a number of Carolinian colonists had advanced to the river Yasous, in tlie Cliiokasaw territory. English attention had been drawn towards this country by P6re Hennepin,* who to a new edition of his " Description of Louisiana" prefixed a dedication to William III, inviting him to appropriate the country, and cause the gospel to be preached to its heathen people. That king, accepting the pro- posal, sent three vessels, with a body of Huguenots embarked in them, to found a protestant colony on the Mississippi, These people proceeded as far as the province of Panuco, intending to form an alliance with the Spaniards, and induce them to expel .. the French catholics from Biloxi : f but their project was not relished, or likely to be, jealous as the Spaniards were of all the * Louis XIV gave orders to arrest this monk if be ever came to Ca- nada. Official Correspondence. \ Univii Kistory^ xi, n. "78. -il 10 HI8T08Y OF CANADA. French aa colonists, Still tho court of the Escurial made comjplainta to that of Voi'saiHos apiiust tho colonis»itu»u of any part of what was* calltHl tho " SjviniMli TnilUvj"; but tho family rolationa Ih>- twwji tho two royhl t\unilioisboiH>uun^cloat»r, no t\»rthor notice was taken of the allogotl onoroaohmonta, A }j;rt>at number of llu^iunu>ta (ao wt w tho Fmnch lV»toHt«nti» tiiokitanuHl by thoir oathoUo follow oountiymon) hail scttUHl in Virginia, Carolina, »lto., after thoir expulsion or flight tVimi Franco. Thoy woiv j>HHnvoti, jw thoy ilosn^rvoil to bo, tor valu- able colonists. In MtussachuatHta, thoy woiv allowed to Si>nil u»en»bor8 to Aswombly. 'f hoy fountUHl stneral cititvs, now flour iahing. Others i>( them, prt>fcrring to live among their cou\- j>atriotn, oven in enfoi-coil exile, petitioneil Louis XIV to let them wattle in Louisiana, intimating that they wouUl bo subnussivo to his will in i\\\ thinsj,s else, if tluir religious rights wew not inter- fennl with; but His >Lyosty, in a\»swer to M. ilo Pontchartiain, Baiil, Iki " hau not diivon the l*n>tostants out of his kingtloni with »u int«M\t that they sliOwKl fornv a republic in Anu^rica." They renewed their nvjuost, tiuring tho Orleans regtnxcy, and U»o ref\»sal was rejKuited. • ' Meanwhile, P' Iberville asiHnuled tho Mississippi as far as the Natehen' cimutrv, wheiv he intended to build a town. While he was with the 'finswas' tribe (neighbours of the Natche*) a violent 8torm a»\>se. A thuuihubolt struck the idol tonn:le of the Tins-sas and sot it on &\\\ Forthwith the savages howltnl disjually, tore thoir hair, rublnnl thoir faoes and bodies with clay, invoking the Ort^at Spirit the while. AL>thcrs brought their babes, strangled them, and threw the binlies into the flainos. Sevetitwn of tluwe innocent.s were thus saorifuHnl, despite the etVortsof the French to pitnent ii.* Alter a short stay »»» thcetn».ntry, IV Iberville i^eturned to Hiloxi, wheitt he tixt^l his h«ad quarters. Ue wn>te ti» Paris, to ask that IVtHHlxun t>f trade sltould pnivail in the colony. Tho country was roptu'tinl to abound in the pwcious metals, which turned out to be an illusion. A vein of ei>p{H*r was disiH>vered, but it was foimd t(H) far oQ' to be pi-oUtably worked. Parties ascended the Ued * KelatioH, OH JHmtti viritable, &c.) lCi)i)-l7Jl, by reuioaut : Varia Pocuiut^utd, Series 'i. KSTAULiailMKNT OF LOVISUNA. fl Kivor, the Arkansas, ami tho Missouri, uoarly to tho KiK^Vy Mouu- tiuus, in soaix'h of gi>Ul, but t'muul no surt^ si^ns of any. P'lWrvillo havintf; rovisiUxl Franco, lato in 1701, g\>t wnimand of thrw ships of war, in which he n>turncu to Hil- with ortU^rs to strengthen and extend the seulenjcnts alitnuly fvimed, and labour to |v»\ivent the British t\xnu entering the country. A Ibui^kistion- ed fort was ertnitetl at Mobile. At^er a survey t»f the territory, D'Hk^rville st^nt a report to Varis, and rxHHunnieuded that en»i- grauts shoxiUi Ik> wnt in vuuubers, husbandmen twjHHnally. Find- ing that he had niade a bad choice for his ti-adiug cajutal, he custni the settlers at liiloxi tortnuove to Mv>bile. liy degiXHvs the Fwnch ]H>pulatii>n incivased, under the ftwter^ ing care of 0' Iberville ; but their j»r\>ttHJtor's canwr was now near its cliKst^. A life tvf i>»iHvs8«nt tt>ils, in jvace and v-'ar, hai wor>\ out his constitution, ile fell ill of yellow fever in 17l>3; and, when ctmvaUxseing, had to jvturn to Kuivjw. Kver restU\ss, ho pro^HK*4ed, to the ki»»g, to attack the tlwts t>f Virginia and New- foundland. The means of d»»ing so weiv a.H.^igned to hiu» at tirst, and then diverted to other purjH>.st\s. He ft^ll seriously ill again, and had not ijuite itHnneivd when he i>t^\ned ti> capture HarbadiH^a, with other West India Islands, and swwp from the Aujcrican waters all Uritisli tratle. M. l>uca|H^ hail pivviously otJeitni to take Jamaica; the plans of the two weiv now conjoined. They were tried in 17t)t>, but [vn>ved almrtive. l>'lberville, indtH^l, captured Nevis, took prisomn" and carried away the g\>vernor and tbe ci>lonist.s, 7000 ncJ;•r^u^s, and a great boiity, landing the whole iu Martinitiue, tv» the gjvat enrichmeiit of that Fivnch island. When abtuit to swk out the British convv>ys acctu-diug to pnv mist\ he was snutten a second time with vellow fever and ilied, July 0, 1700, aged 44 yeai's. This hei-v>, as redoubtable a captain on sea as on land, was born at Montreal in ItUiiJ, Unng one of several sons, all moiv i>r less distinguished, of (.Miailes le Moyne, Seigneur of Longueuil, new that city. The fmnily waj* of NoriUMU extraction. Two year's atVer IVlberville's death, M. V>ion d' Artaguette camo to Louisiana as a kind of v\\yi\\ intt^ndant, his prescribed iluty InMug to lalK>ur for the advanwment of the industry of the wlony. Uuder his 8U|Huintendouw, all things »\)trivgiaded ; yot, all the '! i 12 HISTORY OF CANADA. while, the people of France were wished to believe that the colony was in the most flourishing state. In 1711, the Isle Dauphine was ravaged by corsairs ; causing a loss to the crown of property valued at 80,000 francs. The colony was founded on unsound bases, observes Raynal, and could not long prosper. " Going on from bad to worse," says he, " there remained in it but 28 im- poverished families ; when the public was surprised to learn, in 1712, that M. Crozat* had asked and obtained for himself a 16 years' lease of the whole trade of Louisiana." — But before pro- ceeding with the annals of this colony, it is time to return to the affairs of Canada, our more immediate subject. * In the original printed 1742, by mistake. Antoine Crozat, marquis du Ch&tel, was a rich financier, probably one of the farmers-general. — B. •> t ,.\U •;!' -J .-.J ft ' 'V. __ » ' ' 1 t »; ' '--:, 'V > . , f * ' ' ■ 1,1 .-\1 ■■ ' . ■'.V CHAPTER II. TREATY OF UTRECHT. , ... 17011-713. •1 ., -,;%' ', '.i ., ■: A French colony settled at Detroit. — Four years' peace. " War of the Succession." — Operations in America. — Neutrality in the western re- gion : hostilities confined to the maritime provinces. — Trinal state of Acadia. — Quarrels among the western savages. — Raids in New En- gland by the French and the Abenaquis. — Destruction of Deerfield and Haverhill (lt08).— Colonel Schuyler's remonstrances on these acts and M. de Vaudreuil's defence of them. — Captain Church ravages Acadia (1704). — Colonel Marck's two sieges of Port-Royal- is re- pulsed in both (1707). — Notices of Newfoundland : hostilities in that island; M. de Subercase fails to take Fort St. John (1706). M. de St. Ovide captures St. John (1709).— Further hostilities in Newfoundland. — The Anglo-American colonists call on the British g'^vernment to aid them to conquer Canada : promises made in 1709, and again in 1710, to send the required aid, but none arrives. — General Nicholson besieges and takes Port-Royal. — The articles of its capitulation diversely interpreted. Resumption and termination of hostilities in Acadia. — Third attack meditated on Quebec, and double invasion of Canada; the Iroquois arm again. — Disasters of the British maritime expedition. — The Outagamis at Detroit ; savages' intents against that settlement ; their defeat, and destruction. — Re-establishment of Michi- limackinac. — Sudden change of ministry in England, its « nsequen- ces. — Treaty of Utrecht ; stipulations in it regarding New France. Reflections on the comparative strength of France at this time and at the death of Louis XIII. '; M. de Calli^re, forecasting the advantages which would attend the possession of a fortified port on the shore of the d6troit or strait between the farthest great lakes, sent one of his oflScers, named la Mothe-Cadillae, with 100 Canadians and a Jesuit missionary to form a settlement, in June 1701, near the lower end of Lake St. Clair, where its waters pass into lake Erie. The important American city of Detroit, which has, for part of its site, that of the post established in the first year of the 18th century, now contains at least 40,000 inhabitants, many of whom are of French descent. It was taken by the British in 1760, by the Americans ' 1 u HISTORY OP CANADA. i: '^ in 1812. Its early annals, like those of all the frontier towns of North America during past ages, are replete with the incidents of war. It was harassed, in turn, by the aborigines and by the British, and sometimes attacked by both. But its earliest and worst enemies were famine and disease,* which stunted the early growth of a settlement located in one of the finest regions of America, enjoying a position inferior to none for all the purposes of internal trade. The intriguers for Louis XIV in Spain, having, Oct. 2, 1700, persuaded its moribund king, Charles II, to appoint Philip duke of Anjou, second son of the dauphin of France, as his successor, shortly thereafter the young prince ascended the Spanish throne as Philip II ; whereupon great umbrage was taken by politic sticklers for the " balance of power " in Europe. Alien discontents increasing, a treaty, offensive as against France and Spain, was signed Sept. 7, 1701, by the plenipotoTitiaries of Great Britain, the Emperor of Germany, and the Dutch States ; in which after- wards conjoined Portugal, Savoy, and the kingdom of Prussia, — [the latter a regality then only a few months old.] Hostilities im- mediately^foUowed, taking the name of" The War of Succession." With these European troubles Canada had no earthly concern ; but the extension of the war thither cannot have been unwelcome, since its people forthwith proposed to essay the conquest of New England. They were admonished by the French ministry to lie quiet ; that, for the present at least, their neutrality was desirable, and even necessary ; and that their governor-general ought to do his best to maintain it intact. D'Ibervillo asked only 400 French re guhirs and 1000 Canadian militia for the capture of New York and Boston, which ho proposed to reach, in winter, by the river Chaudi(^re ; but he was told that such a force, small as it was, oould not be spared. Deferring, for the present, an attempt to obtain a portion of the coveted Atlantic seaboard by force, the Canadian authorities set about strsngthening their positions in the interior. The lately-formed settlement at Detroit, could it be maintained, was a great acquisition ; but it was viewed with jealous eyes by the • This was the small-pox, which ravaged Canada in 1703, and re- duced the population of Quebec 25 per cent. TREATY OF UTRECHT. U British. With respect to the nativi- populations, there was littlo nauM' for inquieliulo. By the treiity of Montreal, the neutrality at least, of the must foriuidablo tribes, those of the Iro({U()iH, waft assured. The Ounadiau authorities hud obtained a moral hold upon numbers of that p- 80 HISTORY OP CANADA. W' IrL ill three ships of war, 14 trannports, and 30 barges; the land force was 550 strong, commanded by captain C \ a veteran officer, who volunteered his servicos on the occasio The posts on the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy rivers weretirst attacked, and put to fire and sword. The turn of Port-Royal was to come next, but the assailants were repulsed by a handful of defenders. They attacked Les Mines, and wore thence also driven away. At Beau* bassin they suffered great loss. Church spent part of the summer in descents on divers parts of the seaboard, taking about fifty prison- ers, but no spoil. A second expedition, for nothing less than the conquest of Acadia this time, was got up by the New Englanders in 1707. The land force, 2000 strong, led by colonel Marck, was embarked in 23 transports, convoyed by two ships of war. June 6, the squadron appeared before Port-Royal. The wprks of the town, then an insignificant place, were dilapidated, the garrison weak; but M. de St. Castin, with 60 Canadians, who arrived some hours before the enemy, were a great help to M. de Subercase, the suc- cessor of M. de Brouillon, who died in 1 706. The fortifications were hastily repaired under fire of the besiegers, and were so well defended, that, after making an unsuccessful assault on the evening of the sixth duy, they retired early on the next. Great was the public mortification, or rather indignation, at this signal discomfiture. Marck, as fearing to show face, remained with the fleet at Kaskdb^. Advice was sent to him to remain there; whither three vessels more were despatched, having 500 er 600 fresh soldiers on board. Thus reinforced, Marck again appeared before Port-Royal, August 20. The New Englanders were once more repulsed, and with greater loss than before j being obliged to re-embark in great haste. Thus ended an enterprise, which abased the self-love of the men of Massachusetts, and ex- hausted the colonial finances. We pass next, for a moment, to contemporary affairs in New- foundland. When the existing war began, the British made hostile Ifew England. The British Gorernment was too much occapied in humbling Loais XIY, to render more than occasional and insufficient aid to the colonists in their arduous struggle." Fbost'b Hist. p. 84.->J9. Eitt New- hostile TBEATT OP UTRECnT. 11 descents on the coaatd whoro the French were settled ; and it waa not till the yoir 1703 that the latter could make reprisals. Their fi'st feat was the capture of the British post of Fourillon, where they burnt several ships also. In winter succeeding, the French colonists did much damage to British commerce in the Newfound- land waters ; but this was little compared with what followed. M. do Subercase, then governor of the island, at the head of 450 men, including 112 Canadians under M. de Beaucourt, took the field Feb. 15, 1704, and marched towards St. John's. Feb. 26, ho reached Rebon, which was yielded up. March 1-2, St. John's was taken without resistance and burnt. But the garri- sons of two forts, erected for its defence, stood out successfully. The French and their savage allies burnt Fourillon and every other British establishment in the country, except that in Carbon- ni6re island, then inaccessible ; and ravaged all their plantations in the open country. Late in 1708, M. de St. Ovide, king's lieutenant at Plaisance, volunteered to take the forts of St. John's, which covered the trade in the island, without cost to the government. The offer was accepted. Assembling 170 men, he set out Dec. 14, and arrived near the place Jan. 1, 1709, which he recognised by moonlight, and determined to assault at once. A third fort had been erected for better defence of the place. The two the French failed to take before, were carried in half an hour. The other^ much stronger, was surrendered 24 hours afterwards. M. de Costebelle, governor at Plaisance, sent orders to blow up the works of St. John's, which was done. The sole remaining British possession in Newfoundland was Carbonni^re. A sea and land force, led by Gaspard Bertram, a corsair of Plaisance, was despatched against it soon afterwards, but failed to take it. Bertram was killed; but his men made prize of a well-laden British ship. With this exception, the French had now the mastery in all Newfoundland, but cannot be said to have possessed it with their few forces. ^ The British colonists, thus baffled in their own invasive pro- jects against New France, turned to the mother country for aid. The house of assembly of New York, in 1709, sent a petition* • Either M. Garneau or Mr. Bancroft must be mistaken as to the date y n HISTORY OF CANADA. to Qucon Anno, craving that nho would accord tb*» people of her Anusricun pluntutiouH Huch uHHiHtaiicc a8 would cnublu them to exp((l the French from the country. Colonel Vetch, who was the inHpirur of thiH application, had already proposed to the British minJHtry a plan for making an atttiured conquc8t of Canada, by a BimultaneouH anttault of Quebec, and an invasion of the colony tcroHH Luke Chaniplain territory. It was promiHed that five re- gimentH of the lino Hhould be embarked in England, and denpatch- ed to BoHton. With these were to be conjoined 1200 militia-men, brigaded in MaflsachusettB and Khodo Island. These troops form- ed the land force intended to besiege Quebec. A second corps, 4,000 strong, a moiety being savages, were to advance against Montreal. Schuyler had succeeded, by this tin)e, in securing the co-operation of four out of the Five Nations in the war. To sup- port it, the provinces of Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey issued their earliest paper-money. The place of rendezvous for the integral portions of the second corps above mentioned was on the banks of Lake Champlain, as aforesaid. When collected, in July, Governor Nicholson set to work constructing a camp, forming magazines of provisions and munitions of war, preparing means of transport, &o. The Canadian authorities, at the same time, were making pre- parations to repel the invasion. The defensive works of Quebeo were put in order, and other precautionary measures adopted. of the above-mentioned address. In the Hist. U. States of the latter (vol. iii), the incident is thus entered : — "In 1710, the legislature of New York unanimously addressed the queen on the dangerous progress of French domination at the West ; observing, 'It is well known that the French can go by water from Quebec to Montreal. From thence they can do the like, through rivers and lakes, at the back of all your Majesty's plantations on this conti- nent, as far as Carolina ; and in this large tract of country live several nations of Indians who are vastly numerous. Among those they con- stantly send emissaries and priests, with toys and trifles, to insinuate themselves into their favour. Afterwards they send traders, then sol- diers, and at last build forts among them ; and the garrisons are en- couraged to intermarry, cohabit, and incorporate among them ; and it may easily be concluded that, upon a general peace, many of the dis- banded soldiers will be sent thither for that purpose.' " — B. Ili'f^' TBEATY OF UTRECHT. 23 id the ''est ; from Irivers Iconti- Icveral con- linuate n sol- Ire en- land it le dis- Th« whole armed force in the colony v/ob but 4,150 men, benidcii 700 HuilofH and navaf^cH, The New Knu;lund colonists, who had executed their part of the soheme for invasion with conipletenesH and dosputch, had made no allownnoe for the proverbial tardiness of the British government officials. When the regulars were ready to embark, months after the time, it waa found convenient io employ them in Spain. — Meantime discontent, followed by diseaao, the consequences of in- certitude and inaction, abated the martial ardour of the army encamped at Lake Champlain, and the militiurmea yearned to reri?it their Iramesteads. The Iroquois, pn)bably imputing the inaction of the Anglo- Americans to fear of the French, began to vacillate ; and during the winter, deputations from the Onnontaguez and Agniers na- tions came to sound the views of the Canadian authorities : doubt- less in view of selling their services to the highest bidder. They returned, it is said, " well pleased with their reception :" [meaning, it is presumable, that they did not leave the gubcrnatoriul prcsonce empty-handed]. ^ '>'< >» . . •• In a grand council which was held at Onnondago, one of tho chief orators remarked that their independence was only main- tained by the mutual jealousy of the two £urn|)ean nations ; and as it would be impolitic to let either quite prevail over the other, it was inexpedient to join in the present British expedition against the French. In consequence, most of the warriors assembled at Lake Champlain withdrew. The commanders there, already discouraged, burnt their blockhouses, &o., and gave up the enter- prise for the present. Contemporaneously, governor Nicholson speeded to England to obtain information regarding the intents of the British ministry, and to ui^e upon its members the importance of the ends in view, and deprecate the dangers of farther delay in carrying them out. He returned with a few ships-of-war, and a regiment of marines ; and it waa promised that a squadron should be sent early in tho spring. Summer passed, autumn arrived, and none appeared. Not to let the season pass idly by, he proposed to employ the force he had in hand against the French possessions in Canada, and his su^estion was adopted by the provincial assemblies. An ex- il 24 HISTORY OF CANADA. pedition was promptly g\it up, of fifty vc«?el<», in which wore em- barkcnl firo roginionts of militia, alx)ut 3,500 men in all. which sailed from Boston Sept. 18, 1710, and arrived at Port-Royal Sept. 24. » The land force was disemWked without reristance, and pro- cooiled to invest the place. Governor Subereaj»e su.stained Iwmbard- ment till October 1(5, when he capitulated, his poor garrison of 150 fjmiished seoldiers '* mardnng out with the honours of war." [Their proud monarch's magazines had been so poorly stored, that the victors had to deal immeiiiate rations to his starving soldiers.] The garrison and jxxiple of the town, 480 persons in all, were, in virtue of a stipulation in the caj^tulation, trans|x>rted to La Rochelle. The conquerors of this miserable place (with a >-ain- glorious name") re-chri,«tened it *' Annapidis," out of compliment to ihe queen-regtiant. A garrison, 450 strong, was left in pi^s- session. with Colonel Vetdi as commandant. The British parlia- ment afterwards voted £23,000 to defray the cost of the expedi- tion. ::-.■■• ■■ '■ ■ . -'.-■- '• V.rvti A misunderstanding arose with respect to the capitulation of Port-Royal. As Nicholson understood its terms, the cession of all French Aca(iirt as well as the capital was to foUow. As this interpretation was repudiated by Subercase, Colonel Livingston was sent to Quebec to n^motistrate with the governor-general on the subject, who asserteil that Subercase had taken a right view of the case. Livingston took occasion also to denounce the cruelties committed by the vsavages in Fn nch |>ay ; and said that if they were continued, the British woidd retaliate mxm the chief inhabitants of Acadia. M. do Vaudreuil replied, that he was not responsible for what the savages did ; that the odium of the war lay up«m those who had refused to ratify the pi-o}H>sed neuCndity ; and that, if such a threat were realised, certain reprisjils would follow on British prisoners. This reply, however, he did not make to Livingston, but to the governor of Ma,ssaehusetts, direct- ing Messrs. de Rouville and Dupuy to deliver it in Bo^«ton ; and to take heedful not<^ of the localities they pjissixl through in g*nng thither and returning, for the direction of the leader of any inva- sion of it by the French, at a future time. The Baron St. Castiu (a UaJf breed),apj^iutod French governor TREATY OF UTRECHT. ^5 of Acadia, issning from his head-quarters at Pentagoot^ for wme time greatly harassed the British in the country, even sending a force to invest Pori-Uoyal. The latter, on their part, retaliate^i on the French inhabitants ; most of whom were constrained, fn^m fear of starvation, to submit to their domination. A party of British, on one of their roving expeditions, was massacred by the natives, m a place which thence was called " Bloody Cove." The la-^s of Ac-idia was sensibly felt in France. U. de Pont- chartrain (Jt^r^me). successor of his father, deceased in 1699, as minister of marine, wrote to M. de Beauharnais: '' I impressed upon you how important it is that Acadia be retaken before the enemy have time to colonise that country. The conservation of New France and our fisheries alike demand its re-possession by us.' Yet no force was siMit to effect that object so much deside- rated ; althougli all that >I. de Vaudreuil askeii, in onlor to make the attempt, was two transports to bear his Canadians thither. The minister, instead, devised a plan for colonising the country by a comj^any, at no cost to the king ; but no one was found wil- ling to embark in such an enterprise. ^ General Nicholson paid a second visit to England to press the suit Colonel Schuyler made in i^erson the year before to the Bri- tish ministry, that Canada should be taken possession of. Five sachems or chiefs, of the Iro«juois natives, accompanied him, who, having lH?en presented to Queen Anne by the Duke of Shrews- bury,* were much caressed in London society ; and this the rather, l>ecause they expressed mudi affection for the Britisli colonists, and an aversion to the French.f • One of these sachems, it is said, was grandfather to Thayendanegea, d7terhaps, in summer by the arrival of fishers from all parts of Europe, who repaired to the coasts of the island to dry their produce. The islanders trusted to the mother o(mntry and the Freneh Antilles for the chief necessaries and all the luxuries of life. They imported, from France, provisions, beverages, tissues, and even fur- niture ; for which they exchanged cod-fish. They sent annually to the West-Indies fx-om twenty to twenty-five vessels, each of 70 to 140 tons burden, laden with lumber, staves, pit-ooal, salmon, cod, mackerel, and tish-qil ; thence imjiorting sugar, eotteo, rum, &e. There was a considerable excess of imports from the Antilles beyond the wants of the islanders ; these wore taken up, in part by the Canadians, and the rest bartered for other commodities with the New-Englanders. From the details thus given of the ordinary traffic of Isle-Royale, it may be imagined that the people enjoyed a considerable amount of material comfort : such was not the ease. Most of them lived a life of constant penury. Those of them who strove to better their condition hy plying extended in- dustry, became the victims of usury, owing to the advances made to them in bad seasons, or when their floating ventures suffered wreck or other miscarriages, or salt was scarce as well as dear. Industrials who have to pay ordinarily from 20 to 25 per cent, a year for advances, must ever be on the verge of absolute insolvency; and thus he who loans as well as he who borrows, may be involved at last in common ruin. The civil government of Isle-Royalo and of St. John's Island ^f'rinco Edward's) was modelled on that of Canada. The com. nuvudant, like the governor of Louisiana, was subordinate to the governor-general, resident at Quebec. Feudality was never I < COLONIZATION OP CAPE BRETON. 39 introduood to lalo-lloyalo, as the king relusod to constitute any seigniories there. The re-founder of Isilo-lloyale was sucoeedod as comniaudant by M. St. Ovide. In 1G20, Mr. Iviohaad was nominated British gov- ernor of Acadia and Newfoundland. Jealous of the intercourse of his subjects with the people of Isle-Koyale, he issued an arbi- trary edict against it. He iilso required tne wen of French race under his jurisdiction to take an oath of allegiance to the British king within four months. M. St. Ovide interposed, and admtv nished the parties thus put under compulsion, that if they con- formed, they would tioou bo obliged to forego their religion, and that their children would bo taught to renounce it. The British, he further told them, would enslave those who yielded ; add- ing, that even French huguenots were sliunnedby British protestants, &c. The inhabitants (wiser than their advisor) contented them- selves with reminding jNIr. llichai'd, that they had decided to re- main in the country only on condition of having their nationality respected ; that their prcsenoo in the island was advantageous to its now masters, in this respect, if for no other, that it was out of re- gard for the French residents that the Mio-Macs and other aborigi- nes let the English live in repose, they being allies of the French only, and averse to English ways : iiually, that if these two anti- pathies, civilized and saviige, conjoined against British domination, it might bo imperilled by them souie day. Mr. lliohard, moved or not by these considerations, took ahu'm on hearing that M. de St. Ovide had made arrangements to receive all deserters from Acadia and Newfoundland in St. John's Isle, and gave up his pro- ject of enforced Anglijicutlon, The island just named, discovered in 1-197 by Cabot, lies in the gulf of St. Lawrence; it extends, from E. to W. in a sonuwhat curvilijiear shajH) and is about 134 miles long ; its area 2100 stjuare miles ; in breadth it vai*ies, from 1 mile only to 34 miles. It is separated from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick by Northumber- land Strait, which in the narrowest parts is hardly more than ten miles wide. Its soil is fertile, and there aio good pasture-lands in it. Till times posterior to that of the treaty of Vtreeht, its merits had been overlooked. In 1710, a company was t'onuod in Franco, in view of clearing the interior and establishing ti.^heries i5gnmPMi*»^>( m HISTORY OP CANADA. i:*^ on the coaafcs. This project was born of John Law's speculations, when the Mississippi bubble was blown so disastrously for France. The count do St. Pierre, premier groom of the chamber to the duchess of Orleans, was at the head of the enterprise. The king conceded to him, along with the isle of St. John,the Magdalen group', and Miscou. Unhappily, personal interest, which had first brought the aasociaceu together, getting misdirected, all the parties want- ing to be directors without needful experience in business, a fall out took place, and the project fell to the ground. St. John's Islo then fell into the oblivion whence it had been drawn momentarily; and therein remained till the year 1749, when a number of Aca- dians, evading the British yoke, began to settle there.* • " This island contains 965,000 acres of excellent land, so free ftom stone as not to yield sufficient for building purposes. It contains 6T townships, with about 10,000 inhabitants. It forms a separate goTern- ment. The whole area of the island exceeds 1,000^,000 acres ; and as there are no very lofty mountains, theie are abundance of wood and many little lakes and streams j it is fertile and inhabitable throughout. The climate is softer and milder than that of Canada, without the fogs of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia; and the health and longevity of thft inhabitants are remarkable." Judge HAnacRTON. — fi. 1 '■ ., ,, " , . ' ■ J. > .. . .-r ^ -^l: ■i .'- fii >i ^.I'ur '.:: i.^ ■ .^■-•>: /■■V<;--») • ■'>. \'U¥\ --vi--> •:>. a;v.H ! '"ii ;';w. \ }-.- ^ , v*fV BOOK SEVENTH. ',,■1- ■, ;i ".•.>'',n".''»f CHAPTER I. . ; LAW'S SYSTEM— CONSPIRACY OF THE NATCHEZ. r,:.cr 1712-1731. ^^i-^'W t. trr,! ,v:;-rr^ l-5<.;<- Notices of Louisiana audits inhabitants. — M. Crozat's monopoly. — Civil government re-eonstituted.-ia Coutume de Paris introduced as a legal code. — Abortive attempts to originate a trade with New Mexico. — Traf- fic among the aboriginal tribes, shared with the British colonists.-— The Natchez tribe exterminated by the French. — M. Crozat throws up his trading privileges in disgust ; they are transferred to the Western Company, as re-instituted in favour of John Law and others. — Notices of this adventurer ; rise, progress, and fall of bis banking and colo- nizing schemes, known as the Mississippi System. — Personal changes in the colonial administration. — New Orleans founded, in 1*718, by M. de Bienville. — New organization of the provincial government. — Im- migration of the West India Company's colonists ; the miserable fate of most of them. — Notices of divers French settlements. — War between Franco and Spain ; its origin and course. — Capture and re-capture of Pensacola. — At the peace, the latter restored to Spain. — Recompenses to the Louisianian military and naval officers. — Treaties with the Chickasaws and Natchez. — Hurricane of Sept. 12, 1722. — Charlevoix recommends missions, and his advice is adopted. — Louisianian trade transferred to the Company of the Indies, after the collapse of Law's company. — M. Perrier, a naval lieutenant, appointed governor of the province. — Most of the aboriginal tribes conspire to exterminate all the French colonists. — The Natchez perform the first act of this tragedy, with savage dissimulation and barbarity, but too precipi- tately, happily for the remainder of the intended victims. — Stern reprisals of the French. — A few concluding words on the polity of the West India Company in Louisiana ; which is fain to render up its modern privileges therein to the king. ^ Whilst France was engaged in fortifying Cape Breton, the most adventurous of her people were extending the colonization of those immense regions through which the lower Mississippi flows. Aa 4t lllMVnY OF CANAIU. ♦ho ri\m«» of \wY wmw wm first pounthvl \\\ \\w fnr wi'si »»!' Now Frnnoo hy horn CnniulinMn, ♦!»«» tuowt «'oMm»iiMto»P |H'!Honiiiiv« who now fiirnnvl on tho noono in Iiouisiiinii woro nlso ni\Hvt>>< ol' U\o lirtnivntinn ^m>vinoi«, Th«* («o<^>n(l «to I'hoson for n i\oiul solllonu'ntof liouipinnn, wmmmI its |>nrpo««o no hottor thnn lh«> HrRt. Mohilo wnw mH>n lintnd to ho ns nnsnit;\hlo ns Uiloxi ; and (Ijo i«olonis (ho Islo Oanphino. whioh D'lhorvlllo hml nmutMl iMnHHii- oiv lf»h»n(l, ovring to th« nnnilvr ol hnninn honon ho I'otintl thoro, iH»nttimMi nhout. Thii* hi\pl«H»s isltunl w littlo nnuv ni its oontiuninji' n ^hhI huAvn. Wo h«ii oi»<*iw>ion to n>ontii>n, inoMontnll^'. in otio of our procotl- ing |>!\<>>>s, tho namo of Aiitoino Cn^r.al.'^'- Ho hud hoon n huooors- !nl nioivhanti, and now hohl a hijih otliiH» in tho dopitvtniont. of finnn»*«H» at INnif. In 1712. ho ohtainoti \\\^u\ tho court a nato«\t (vr oxHnsiw nuning iw lioniMiaua, with a u»ono|H>l)- for wixtoon joa^'^ of th«> wholo trrtvonunottt. M. do hi ]\lotho had jwst h«H^n tioniinatod ^nxTuor, in plaoo of tho dtvoawnl M . do MayB ; M. Puol»>s, pr-.^sont «v»m««.s>"<>wcr (o athl to its nnntlvr^. was constitutod for thnv years, with jurisdiction civil «mi oviiuinal. Its jurisprudcuoo was to Ikj that known as tho CtwtMme (/<' Parisy no other being then i\Kv>gni,scd in New Franco. M. dc U Mothe-CmUUac. whom iM. (^viiat had outyoiuiHl with him in carryitig out his tradirig enterprises, did i\ot ronch tho <^^lony till 171,'^. The donhle dutiixs he had undertaken to per- form were ineonsi>tent in natuiv with each other; and their eon- junction was o( evil augury for the colony. On his arrivid ho found the inh«hit««t« loading a wn>tehi in one of tho • This millionnain' wr8 ennoblod aftorwanls, as MaixiuU »1u OhAtel. Thon^ is «n olomentaiy work on goography, ootninUHl exiuossly for the 0(M> of » tla«jfht«r of (hnt finAnoit>r, by the «bW he Fratn^ois, unit known to niv>st French j»c«li>ti^lrt^ to Hpiiiii. Willi (lii« viow, )w (1('R|)iiIcIi(3(1 a vahhcI, IndtMi wUh inf»i*('lu»H(lir,o, to Vom (Jni»i. 'I'lm viin»riiy nl' Moxic(t, fiiitlilnl to fclm OKtiluMivo nyMloin iif IiIh initinti nnd llio tiiiioH, ordcn'd IIk* to^ md nwiiy. (*ii Mi. OimiIh, nnn(d'iliolini'di< tliiiR wt'kiiig II ti"nd(* Willi Mdxlco, tlio f^ovornnr cfmrtdd A tniirio in pidiry willi Mm NiilidioK iiiid ollior trilios id' llm MiHBlff* nippi, miinuji; wlioni liifi iit;t'nlH limiid Vir^^iiiiiiiiH tilrctidy rcHfirtin^, piu'tly fur llm Rimm purponc, piiiMy Tor 0(»nrliii>r idliitiiccH (d' llio piiviijiCH I'or MiiliHli inlt'icHlH. TIh^ l''i('ii(di, n!i Mudr f»idt», [nirfluod tlio like polioy ; nnd a poriltniH rivnlry ol' tlio two rimoH of coloniHtfl, trnipoi'iu'ily convcnicni but pcnnnntMilly hnrtriil, iiirlliwitb nroro ill tlio Pontli(*rn oolonirn (d' l**rnnoo nnd Mrilnin, Rindi hh lind long oxiHtcd, in oIluT pnrtH of Urn conliimrit. TIiuh tim AlnbnninnB* tlio (MiootnH, nnd otlnM' tribcH, boooiim initnioni to llm (^indiniann, foil upon tlmirflfdiloincntH nnd coinniittod gnint rnvn^^<'H; wliilothe Nntcbi'/,, in 171(i, ppiiitiMl n^niuHt tIm I'Vcncb, woio on the point (d* oxtcnninnlin^ timni by n Huddenly iidliotod blow. .l)o> todtod in tlndr plot, M. do Hicnvillo ont^irod their oountry nnd foiwd tlioin to bo HO subniisHivo iiH to build, nn, M. do 'IMhih'' Inid tIm foundntionH of NaidiitoohcH, on tlm ri^jlit bnnk of the Hod Hivor. At thifi timo, liouisinninn trmlo wnR nnythin}»; but flourishing in tIm bnndR of (/loznt nnd hirt ngcnts. Beforo liiH tnonopidy bognn, tho inhnbitnntH of Mobile! niiu IhIo- Dnupliino cxp«)rtou proviHioiiH, wood, nnd poltry, to Frnnco, 1*011- Hnctda, Mnrlini(|uo, nnd Hi. Domingo ; rocolving in return nrlioloBfor bnrtor with tho nntivos, with other tuuMlful connnoditiefl nnd luxu- riotii. Croznt'n monopoly put a stop to tliiH uiiHliucklcd intenxturHo. 44 HISTORY OP CANADA. •^r rA Ships from the Antilles ceased to frequent the port. Private ships were prohibited from going to Pensacola, whence the colonists had derived all their specie : whatever overplus produce they had, they were obliged to sell to Crozat's agents at such prices as the latter chose to put upon them. The rates of their tariff for peltry were fixed so low, that the hunters preferred to send them to Canada, or to the British colonies. Instead of imputing the evil plight of his affairs, the necessary result of such injustice, to his own pur- blind policy, M. Crozat complained to the ministry against other parties, as the cause of it all ; but finding that no attention was paid to him, and that he was not able to form an arrangement with the Mexicans to take his goods for supplies of the precious metals, he threw up his patent in disgust, and it was soon after- wards handed over to the chief director of the renovated company of the French West Indies. [This was thclamous John Law, of Lauriston.*] From the time of Ferdinand de Soto, who visited the Missis- sippian region in 1539, it had become a fond tradition that its subsoil abounded in gold and silver. D'lberville's reports had latterly tended to confirm these time-honoured illusions. Law, confiding in the reality of Louisianian wealth or not, now determi- ned to turn the popular belief to account. He began by forming a bank of circulation in Paris (the first known to France),. with a capital of forty million livres. Having ingratiated himself with the regent duke of Orleans (being an accomplished man, of courtly manners), he obtained the privilege, for twenty years, by edicts dated May 2nd and 10th, 1716, of issuing notes to be cashed at sight with specie. A sound system of credit, much wanted in France, would have resulted from this enterprise, had its opera- • In much of this chapter, the editor has had recourse to various au- thorities for most of the particulars in it regarding Law's Bank and the Mississippi scheme. This is stated, if only in justice to M. Garneau. Law, who was one of the most able, and not the least honest financiers of his time, aspired to the honour of founding a national bank in France ; thus rivalling his countryman, William Paterson, the projectorof the Bank of England and the Bank of Scotland. Law, born in 1681, was son of a goldsmith in Edinburgh. He died poor, at Venice, in 1729. — B. law's system — CONSPIRACY OP THE NATCHEZ. 46 tions been kept within the prescribed bounds; but this does not seem to have been the intention of its projector, or of his patrons at court. It was but a pilot-balloon for what was to follow. At this time tho finances of France were in a deplorable state. Bills on the royal treasury were negotiable at only half their nom- inal value. The regent, by way of raising funds, created, in an edict dated March 12, 1716, a chamber of inquest for the pros- ecution of peculating farmers-general and others suspected of hav- ing become too rich at the expense of the state. Several of these were condemned, arbitrarily, to make restitutions ; but, by dexte- rous evasions or collusions with their prosecutors, only a small sum was realized from an act of extra-legal procedure,bearing the discredit of being totally opposed to legitimate jurisprudence. This odious device having thus practically failed, the regent was well disposed to further Law's projects, as part of his plan was to take in ex- change for the actions of his bank when extended, the government " promises to pay," not depreciated by 60 per cent., but at par. Next year. Law obtained, as we have intimated above, titles to the trading and mining monopoly in Louisiana renounced by Crozat, also the dormant privileges of the " Castor " or Canada Com- pany, formed in 1710, of the St. Domingo association (1698), of the Senegal and Guinea Companies, of the Chinese Company (1700), and of the old West India Company. Whatever advan- tages might accrue from a monopoly of trade with those countries were hypothecated for the security of those who took shares in an association called the " Mississippi Company," with a capital of 100 millions of livres, which was made an adjunct of the bank. By an edict dated Dec. 4, 1718, the regent erected his two-fold establishment as the Banque Royale, or State Bank of France. Dec. 27, an edict {arrU) prohibited any re-payment of more than 600 livres in silver. This made paper that was out all the more needful for circulation, and occasioned further emissions. "Set people were so infatuated as to continue depositing their coined money, receiving shares and bank-paper in exchange. By Dec. 1, 1719, there wore 640 million livres of the latter in the hands of the public. Dec. 11, an edict was issued, prohibiting the bank officers from re-paying more than 300 livres in gold, or ten in silver, at one time. Public confidence now began to give way. • .*■ -11 • 'I 4G 'ft'Tt^if. :m history op Canada. */a .»';/.? ii «i ^! h By way of restoring it, the chief director, Law, was nominated con- trollor-j^ononil of the royal finances : he having been naturalized on renouncinfj; protcBtantism. At one tiuko, when public madness was at the highest, the stork of the Mississippi Company rose in price to 2050 per cent. ; and 150 million livres were added to ita capittJ. But, when the tide turned, their nominal value sank ohnost as rapidly as it rose. .. In 1710-20, several foreign merchants having obtained largo quantities of the " royal bank " paper, at a depreoiutcd rate, contrived to obtain specie for them at the institution, and thus stripped Franco of a large amount of its coin. Public discon- tent was now rife, and the regent, to appease it, deprived Law of his post in the finances, but continued him in his situation as head of the Bunk and West India Company. The device was now resorted to, of selling parcels of land in Louisiana, delivery gua- ranteed by the company. A tract of one sqnarc league was rated at 3000 livr«S. A few French capitalists tlms ac({uired illusory right to cnormouB expanses of wilderness. To people thcijc, all the vagabonds who then infested Paris were taken up, and placed in ward ; the streets wore also cleared of public women, who were put in prison ; both species of colonists were thus detained till they could be shipped. By and by the archers (armed police) began to impress honest burgesses and respectable artisans, in view of obtaining ransoms for their release. Their friends rose upon the archers, killed some, and maltreated others. Impressment of the citizens thereupon ceased. An edict dated May 21, 1720, ordained, that a monthly re- duction should take place of the ^ares and notes of the West India Company and Koyal Bank. This edict was recalled 24 hours afterwards, but too late to prevent a panic and a run. The regent dismissed Law, and put the bank under the direction of the duke d'Antin and some councillors of the parliament of Paris. This transference did not still the storm of public indignation aga'ast Law, who took refuge in the Palais-Royal, where Uie regent resided. Crowds broke into its coorte, demanding the death of "the impostor who had ruined France." The people being driven out by force, three persons were crcushed in the passages. Those in the streets, seeing Law's carriage pass by, rushed law's system — CONSPIRACY OF THE NATCHEZ. 47 upon it, thinking; he might b« within ; but fiuding it empty, they donioliHhcd the innnoont vehicle.* The rof^cnt rij^htly thinking Law's life not safe if he remained any longer in Paris, sent him to one of the royal neats in the country. Sonic of the many cc/urtiors who were enriched by ob- taining bank Hharos from him and selling oat in time, were grate- ful enough to find means for getting him across the eastern fron- tiers, whereupon ho found an asylum r t BruMols, leaving a nation beggared which ho hod pretended tu enrich. Shortly thereafter, a council of rogonoy was holdon, in which it was ascertained, that 2,700,000,000 livres in bank-bills had been issued, 1,200,000,000 of which amount wore unsanctioned by any royal ordinance ; but which the regent had privately empowered Law to imuv, (oBten- sibiy,) to retrieve the credit of the state.* ' While those disastrous speculations, for which Louisiana was made a nouiinal handle, were going on, a change of administra- tion took place in the colony ; M. de la Mothe-Cadillac being superseded by M. do Bienville, now appointed commandant gene- ral of the province ; while M. Hubert superseded M. Puclos as comminKdire-ordonnateiir. Tho settlcmonta now cstabliihed were Biloxi (once more tho capital), Mobile, Natchez, and Nachito- chcs. The Isle-Dauphin o was abandoned perforce, its haven having been silted up by the action of the waves, for I'lsle-aux- VaiHscuux. It now began to be thought that a site for a river- port, rather than a sea-haven, would be advantageous; and M. de Bienvil!c found what he couuidered a suitable place about 100 miles up the Mississippi. In 1718, he went tbither with some carpenters and smuggling salters, and laid the first planks of a * The premier president of parliament was tbe first to announce this act of popular vengeod in the New World only. From thuir hureuus they Lud out the course to ho lollowod by every colonist, in a way subservient to their own monopoly, and to that only. To hide the deplorable state of the settlements from the publio eye, they made no soru plo to intercept letters sent homo by the sufferers." The resident authorities hud demanded a largo immigration of agrioulturul settlors ; but besides that France was not over popu- lated after the exhausting wars it had gone through, its feudal system put obstacles in the way of such a transfer of human muscles and sinews. The nobility, landed gentry, and clergy, whoso hierarchs were chiefs in the government, and principal lords of the soil, were noways inclined to make a present to the New World of those rural vassals who made their possessions worth the having. Neither, at any time, were the peasantry of France inclined to leave their native country for America. Nevertheless, the ill-directed attempts at extended colonization in recent years were not entirely without some favorable results ; and from this time forward, tho possession of Louisiana was se- cured to tho mother country. Besides the five chief settlements already enumerated, the foundations of others were laid at Yasous Bfiton-llougc, Bayagoulas, Ecores-Blancs, I'ointe-Coupde, tlie Rivi6re-Noire, Paska-Ogoulas, and some even towards the Illinois. These nuclei of as many colonics were widely spread, but most of them attained prosperity, n-jrir. (_ While the projects of Law were draining France of the " sinews of war," hostilities suddenly broke out with Spain in an un- expected manner. This was occasioned through a conspiracy got up by Cardinal Alberoni, prime-minister of Spain, the abbd Porto-Carrero, and some French intriguers, including tho Cardinal de Polignac and the Due de Maine, a bastard son '^^f Louis XFV. The object in view was to deprive the duke of Orleans of the regency of France, and confer it on Philip V, Bourbon king of Spain. Its detection was followed by a revolt of some of the nobles in Brittany ; five of whom were capitally punished, and others exiled. Vol. U— d 60 HISTORY OF CANADA. The regent, early in 1719, declared war against Spain, which had not a single ally, and had both France and Britain to en- counter aH enemies, on knd and sea. Marshal Berwick (illegiti- mate son of James II) invaded Spain with a French army ; the British beat the Spanish fleets at sea ; and an expedition, com- manded by M. de Chftteauguay, with a land-force of French sol- diers, Canadians, and savages, aided by three ships of war, under M. dc Sdrigny, invested and took Pensacola, after an obstin- ate resistance. But in June, the same year, the Spaniards sent sufficient forces to re-take the place, and M. de Ch&teauguay had to deliver it up. The viceroy of Mexico, encouraged by this re-capture, resolved to expel the French from the seaboard of the Gulf. Accordingly, he despatched Don Carascora, who had re-taken Penracola, to attack the French at I'lsle-Dauphinc and Mobile; but he was repulsed in both places by Messrs. Vilinville and Sdrigny. The colonists once more turned their eyes on Pensacola, the permanent possession of which they had long coveted. Commo- dore Desnots arriving with five ships of war at the Isle-Dauphine, a council of war was culled, and it was decided to attack that set- tlement by sea and land. September 17, 1719, Desnots forced a passage into the harbour, and captured the Spanish vessels moored inside. M. de Bienville, with a land-force, assailing the defensive works of the town, it was surrendered next day. The French took 1200 to 1500 prisoners, and dismantled the works all but the chief fort, leaving in it a small garrison. After this exploit, the ministry accorded honours and promotions to those who had distinguished themselves (chiefly Canadians) in the wars of the colony. As Louisiana owed its foundation to them at first, so to them was its conservation due. Messrs. Bienville, Sdrigny, Saint-Denis, Vilinville, and Chfiteauguay, were the chief parties whose merits were thus practically acknowledged. The Spanish government soon grew tired of causeless hostili- ties, by which the nation gained no credit and reaped no advan- tage. As peace was signed February 17, 1720, and France de- clared war January 2, 1719, it was well that what ought to have had no beginning, had so prompt an ending. Alberoni, the causer .v.'./ ; J i'—li .?o7' )ain, which tain to en- ok (illegiti- army ; the lition, oora- Frenoh sol- ' war, under an obstin- laniards sent eauguay had uro, resolved Accordingly, ?enr.acola, to but he was *ensacoIa, the sd. Commo- sle-Dauphine, ,tack that set- mots forced a essels moored the defensive The French ks all but the id promotions lanadians) in ation to them irs. Bienville, 'ere the chief |ged. tless hostili- id no advan- id France de- lught to have mi, the causer r .U.7 law's system — CONSPIRACY OF THE NATCHEZ. 61 of all the mischief, wai expelled from Spain. In terms of a stipu- lation in the treaty, Pensacula wum restored to the Spaniards. Shortly thereafter, the colonists constrained the Chickasaws and the Natchez, who had taken advantage of the armed force being absent to commit depredations, into terms of peace. • ' • ' On the 12th September, 1722, a hurricane passed over the co- lony, leaving death and desolation behind it. The waves of the seaboard, driven inland to an immense distance, flooded the coun- try, and washed away most of Biloxi and New Orleans. Up to this time, no proper provision had been made for the cure of souls in Louisiana. The pious Charlevoix, after visiting the colony, and remarking this want, called the attention of the court to it in 1723 ; urging upon the ministry, that " the conversion of the American aborigines was always the chief motive of the kings of Franco, for extending their domination in the New World ; while the experience of nearly two centuries had proved, that the surest means of securing native attachment to the French was to impart tc the savages with whom they had to do the Gospel of Christ. Independent of the spiritu; fruit thence resulting, it was important for worldly polity's sake that the presence of a mis- sionary among each of the tribes, whose character the natives must needs respect, to watch and report any intrigues against the French going on, was as effective as a garrison of observation, and far cheaper to the state." This last consideration was doubtless that which had most weight with the irreligious majority of the Event's ca- binet, which responded forthwith to the call made upon it, by sending out a number of Capucins and Jesuits to " evangelize the savages," (and dispose them to be regardful of French interests.) M. Perrier, nominated to supersede M. de Bienville, arrived in October, 1726. The colony was then in a tranquil state, both as to its interior and exterior relations ; but in the latter regard a storm against it was arising. The aborigines of the Mississippi valley, who in general received the first visits of the Europeans with favour or in a neutral spirit, finding that in proportion as they ex- tended their settlement the former paid less and less regard to na- tive rights or pretensions — the tribes of the regions between the Ohio and the Gulf of Mexico were now all ready, we say, at short notice or none, to take up arms against those whom they looked upon as .>,- .1^ rfiffrnRT OF CANADA. interiopinp; nwirpprn. A«id to thin feeling of enmity to Enropesnn in general among the aeveral tribes, the chances presented of finallj overcoming in detail the eonmmn enemy, urith present advantages sup^^radded, thro\igh the political and trading rivalries of the men of Hritish and Frendi race settled in or frequenting a country whiol\ was not theirs by natural right. For reasons garable, if priM\e movers in the plot irere n<"vt to be aUme in o^rrying it out. for all the other trilwB, with the exception of the Arkansas, the Illinois, and the Tonicas, (friends of the Frendi, and not let into the secret) were in league with the OhickaMvrs, to compass the perdition of the province. The oolonist/S vpere ielicit-ating themselves on the calm that reignemir^ «f the 28tl\ day of Nove«iber, 1 720, they were swarming •fcwrat the jilaoe, preparing as they said to take to the woods ; but previously bounding a chaunt, in affected lionour of the governor'* gwes*#, which proved to be a song of r vrm in progi-ew, the Natehi^ ehief wae Beated under the Company's tol>acc(vi«ho«l, taking things very oodlly. The heiid of M. de Ohepar — wh^ during litb n^popod unlimited faith in his murderers — waphnuight in ; alpo, in puccefwion, thow of hip offieei-p, and pet in aghaptly nm-. The headnof the com- monalty were pitched into a pile indisi'riniinately. The firnt onslaught over, refugecp wen^ sought out fro?n their hiding-placcp. Ptt^nant women weiv ripped up ; and the cries of children stilled with the hatchet, »« being imjM^rtunatc and troublesome to the players of their jiarents. The jHU-Pons of sonic of the fentale vic- tims wore abused pi-evicnialy to their immolation. The Natchtw butchers wei-c encouraged to prvHH^ed with pi-edictions that the vlo^ tims would not Iw avenged by their compatriots, the chief assuring his men that the Flinch in all parts of the country wher<» they were settled, had been subjected to the same treatment already ; and that the l^ritish were afxmt to fyjAr tht'ir ;»Afw.* • The forpgoinpf narration of the " plot of the Nfttchec," is (rant- Iftted lextn^'lj. M. GarncAu, in summing up his statements, makes the following strictures, which, even if vleserved, are certainly out of place, AS there were no "English coloolstfl" located within several hundred tnilp>» of the liouisianian French or of the ahoriglnos of the Mississippi, so earl J- as the year 1729 : " We ha^-e seen with wliat jonlo\isy the Kuglish colonists saw the Frencti settlements extending along the Wt. Lawrence ii) the great lakes ; this jealousy had no hounds when they saw the French take possession of the great Mississippi ralley. They infused distrust and hat»-ed of the French in the savage mind ; they depicted them as greedy traders, who would soon seise the whole territory, and expel the natives. By degrees, fear and wrath entered the hearts of th« natives, naturally proud and ferocious ; and they resolved to rid them- delves of encnvachlng aliens, who vrere daily extending their settlements." M. Oarncau has omitted to state what were the colonics which Indulged in the above nefarious dlpltunacy ; also, who were the afp'nts employed in It on the present occnfliou. He has also overlooked a passnjje ger- mane to tho Huhject In the inaugural discourse delivered hefore the «' ttlstorical Society" of lioulslna hy^ the President,!?. A .Uunard,K!»q.,.Inn, IS) 183(1; which was cnuched in these (Vw pi-cpnant words: "The massacre of the Fi-ench by the Natchez, which led to the extermination u HISTORY OP CANADA. The news of this massacre roaohod New Orleans, Deeeinber 2nd. Tho governor, M. Terrier, iuimediately sent an oflBcer to warn the colonists on botlj sides of tho Mississippi of their danr ^er ; and to observe tho movements of the natives in thesurronnd- ing oonntry. Bnt the preoipitation of the Nutohcz l»ad probablj rotjirded rather tlian hastened tho consummation of tho general nuissuoro. The Chaotas, who had joined in the plot only for the sake of tho sjxiil expooted to accrue by pilhiging the colonial esta- blishment*, would not oome forward ; or, rather, they inclined to join tho French in avenging it on their common enemies, tho Niit.ohoa. Other tiibos impliciitoil, finding tlie oolonists on their guard. als<> hold biick. The Yasous, not so prudent, attacked the fort oroeted in thoir territory, and killed all within, 17 person* The e:-tiro tribe was, in consequence, exterminated. The Arkan^ SOS, a potent nation, always attached to tho Freiteh, fell upon the Corrois and the Sioux, both parties to the oouspiraey, and mjvssacred them to the last num. Those reprisals, the presence of a corps of armed men, and tho ii>trenchmeut of tho concessions o€ land, re-assurcd tho colonists c^* their future safety ; and enabled tlie governor to send Major Loubois, with a colonial corps, to wage wjvr on tho Natohoa territory ; he would have gone thither Himself, but for doubts ho had of tl>e fidelity of tho blacks at New Orleans. He was now soeui'o of tho alliance of the Illinois, tho Arkansas, th& Offugoulas, tlio Touicas, tho Naohitoclios, and the aid, as auxilia* of that U'ibo, was provoked bj tb* atiooious attenpt, hy th« command dant, to destroy tUeir village at St. Catherine's, in order to aniux th* liinii to hit own plantatioti" Mr. UuU&rd add«d, that "^ Neither th» French nor tho Spanish goverauiont recoguiaed is the Indiaas nuy pri- mitive title to tho laud over vrhich they hiiuted, nor eveu to the spot oa which their permanent dwellings were tixed. Thejr were often gn\ntees of lauds for very limited extents, not exceeding' a league square, cover- ing their village. They were soBaotimes permitted to s«ll out their an« cient possessions, and had a new loeality assigned them. Many titles of that kind exist at tito present time, and have^ been aubjocts of judicial decision ; but the policy of extiuguislung the primitive Indian title, «a it is calloil, by purchase, which prevailed universally among the English colonists, appears to have been wholly unknown tu the French and Spa- niards in Louisiana." Historical Collection* of Louin'anu, Vact I^ p. 20t<^ New York, 184a.— iJ. *J law's system — CONSPIRACY OF THE NATCHEZ. 65 eoetnlier )fficer to leir dan- urround- probablj Q genera) y for the ftial esta- loliuod to 1UC8, tho 01) their lokod Uie persons 10 Arkaiv- foU upou racy, and sonoe of % essious of i enabled I, to wage r kiuisclf, Orleans, tnsas^ tho 3 auxilia- I commani- aniux th* either th» 9 any prU le spot ott 1 (grantees an, eover- tbetr an* any titles of judicial >n Utle, aa le English and Spa- tI»p.2D^ ries, of the Chaofaa. Louiaiaua was not only .safe, but in a condi- tion to turn the tables upon ita enemy. Unfortunately, Loubois' soldiers wore an undisciplined and disorderly band, and could not form a junction with M. Losueur at a time and place ap|HMn ted. In consequence, the latter, at the head of 700 Chactos, advanced without waiting for Loubois, attacked the Naichez, and do- feat4^)d them. The surviving Natchez took refuge in two palisaded posts, wherein they were beleaguered by Loubois, who had brought four cannon with him ; but they were so poorly worked, that little impression waa made upon the Natchez' defences. Tho Chaotaa, wearied with tho siege, threatened to withdraw ; and aa it could not bo carried on without their aid, the colonists consented to raise it, upon the besieged delivering up the woiuon and children of tho colony whom they had kept as prisoners. This termination of a oampaign intended to wreak signal vengeance on their captors, who had jdso made them widows and orphans, was looked upon as little better than a defeat by the men of the colony ; but it was ctiielly duo to tho inefficiency of tho soldiery sent, added to the impatience and self-sufiHeiency of the Chaotas. The governor had to explain this at head-quartt^rs, justifying what had been done and left undone, by tho critical circumstances of the case. Add to all, that the Chiokasaws were still dangerously inimical, though as yet covertly only, to tho oolonista, striving to detach other tribes from *!::: ^''••enoh alliance ; while, on the other hand, tho Ohactas, alt^.o jgh earnestly solicited by the British, whoso overtures were ajcompanied by rich presents, refused to change sides, and aw ore inviolable fidelity to M. Perrior. The retreat of Loubois greatjy criboldencd the Natcb.o/. tribes; but the insolence they manifested iv consequence led to their ruin. The governor, in Deo. 1730, forn cd a corps COO strong, at Baya- goulas, composed of soldiers fr.ia France and uolonial militiamen ; with which he ascended tho river in barges, and appeared, Jan. 20, 1731, before the two forts Loubois had failed to take. Alarm- ed at their appearance, the Natchez being thus taken unawares, and few in number at the time, asked for terms of surrender ; l^crricr detained thoir envoy. The besieged then offered to leave the placo unarmed if their lives were spared. This waa agreed to ; but they wore detjunod as prisoners, all but twenty who escaped ; and ^1 Sk.. JOTAK HISTORY OP CANADA. I't^rg »*'//* J afterwards, along with " the descendant of the Sun," sent to St. Domingo as slaves. This chief, who had long govern jd the Natchez nation, died at Cape Fran5ais a few months afterwards. The fate of a personage they regarded as a kind of divinity bo exasperated his subjects, that they flew to arms, and they fought the French with a persevering courage which they had never evinced before. After some minor combats in which they had the worst of it, M. St. Denis signally defeated them, all their chiefs being among the killed. Those who escaped this rout took ref , ^e with the Chickasaws; who, in adopting them, became heirs oi '•]iQ hatred of their nation to the French, and vindicators of their wrongs. T'.u finished a war which led to a revolution in the affairs of the a. ociation then monopolising the trade of the province of Louisiana. The West India Company, long defunct, was suc- ceeded, in 1723, by the Company of the Indies, with the duke of Orleans for governor, and a jurisdiction extending over all the co- lonies of France, whether in Asia, Africa, or America. The latter association, become discredited as well as impoverished by the in- surrection of the savage tribes, — suppressed without much of its aid, thanks to the energy and talent of M. Perrot, — ^in 1731 gave up to the king its chartered privileges in Louisiana and the Illinois country. The policy of the Company while suzerain in the colony, may be judged of by the fact, that in order to put in its interest ths governor and the intendant, it granted to both yearly gratuities (entered in their books, still extant), also allowed them a percentage on whatever produce was sent to Prance. Such a corrupt system could not work well either for the asr ociation or the state ; but least of all, for colonial benefit. iT I i^^ Itfci ik ^1' l^i .i ft*-/ t "i ''■!!> 7 ffrt fJ'Jvt -?» ref Te lit i!(i'»» CHAPTER II. '' DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. • 1713-1744. ■; *: State of Canada ; reforms effected and projected by M. de VaudreuiL-^ Rivalry of France and Britain in America. — The frontier question ; uncertain limits of Acadia.— The Abenaquis' territories. — Hostilities between that tribe and the New-Englanders. — Murder of Pere Rasle. — Frontiers of western New France Encroachments on the Indian territories. — Plans of Messrs. Hunter and Burnet. — Establishments, one at Niagara by the Jre'.ch, one at Oswego by the British, are fol- lowed by complaints from the former, protests from the latter. — Fort St. Frederick erected at Crown-Point; a deputation from New England vainly reff'onstrates against this step. — Loss of the Chameau, French passage-ship, in the Laurentian waters. — Death of M. de Vaudrenil ; his character. — M. de Beauharnais appointed governor-general, with M. Dtapuis as intendant. — Death of M. de St. Vallier, second bishop of Quebec ; dissensions among his clergy about the interment of hid corpse, which lead to a complication of troubles, in which the civil authorities take part ; the governor betraying his duty to the state^ the clergy come off with flying colours. — Recal of M. Dupuy, Ttiio is thus made a scape-goat by the French ministry. — M. Hocquari. nomi- nated intendant. — Intolerance of the clergy of the cathedral of Quebec. — Mutations in the episcopate for several years ; nomination of Messrs. de Mornay, Dosquet, de I'Aube-Riviere, as third, fourth, and fifth bishops ; appointment and settlement of M. Pontbriant as sixth pre- late. — The Outagamis' hostilities avenged on their allies. — Travels and discoveries of the Messrs. V^rendrye, in search of a route to the Pacific Ocean : — they discover the Rocky Mountain range. — Unworthy treatment experienced by the family. — Appearances of war being immi- nent, M. de Beauharnais takes precautionary measures, and recom- mends more to be adopted by the home authorities : the latter (as usual) repel cr neglect his warnings. — Anecdote, affecting the repu- tation of M. Van Renselaer, of Albany. ,, ,„ v-,« .^r,.. We now resume the annals of Canada proper, recommencing A. D. 1713. Under the sage administration of the marquis de Vaudreuil, the country was enjoying a state of peace and security at least, if not such a full measure of prosperity as he was always HISTORY OP CANADA. endeavouring to obtain for it. In 1714, he went to France, leav- ing those whom he could depend upon in charge of his office, and did not return till after the demise of Louis XIV,* an event the news of which he was the first to announce ; while his first publio act after he arrived was to proclaim the nominal accession of the child-king, Louis XV, and the formation of a regency. Tlio accession of a new monarch always gives rise to hopes of benefits to accrue from the change ; and we may reasonably suppose that the colonists of New France may have had their expectations rained that thoii interests would be better attended to by the new rulers than the old : this the rather, because their governor-general had personal interest at court. M. de Vaudreuil, evidently be- lieving himself that a new era was about to dawn, earnestly set about improving the governmental institutions of his province, and putting new life into its trading and civil relations. The state of the currency first called for his attention. He had been able to procure a financial composition with the home government, 80 that the state paper-money in the province (a kind of exchequer- bills drawn, at various times, on the royal treasury) should be re- deemed forthwith in specie, — the holders submitting to a loss of 5-8ths of its nominal value. He next vindicated his own par- amount authority by ordaining that military subalterns should send regular reports to him ; while law subalterns were to commu- nicate, thenceforth, directly with the royal intendact, not with the Supreme Council as thithertofore. The extension of publio edu- cation, up to this period supplied gratuitously by the Jesuits and ReooUets brethren, was an object of the governor's special solici- tude at this time; but it was not till the year 1722, that he was able to conjoin eight secular schoolmasters with the ecclesiastical teachers already at work in different parts of the counti^ , engaged in imparting elementary instruction to the children of the humbler colonists. :t..,^\ ^ft, .,,1 t ■'ri*tb» M* m m»iSX ftfrWrHf The imperfect means of defence at command, in case the co- lony were invaded by sea, also engaged the serious attention of its governor-general. In 1716, he preaaed this point strongly on •Sept. 1, 1716. years old. — JB, He was succeeded by his great-grandson, then fire k*' DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 59 leav- the attention of the heedlcsB regent Orleans ; intimating, that, Quebec once taken, Canada were lost to France. No regular system of fortification for that city had been entered upon till the year 1702, when some works were begun, after a plan traced by M. Levasseur. In 1711-12, othei defences, planned by M. de Beaucourt, were added : but still the line of defence was of an imperfect character ; and this it was which made M. de Vau- dreuil so earnest that the works should be improved and extended. At length, in 1720, the home government having approved of the plan for further fortifying Quebec, by M. Chaussegros de Ldry, the needful works were proceeded with. Two years after- wards, it was ordained that the city of Montreal should be walled and bastioned ; but this had to be done at the expense of the residents, the home government pleading inability to defray the cost. At this date, the colony was already divided into three distinct governments ; namely, those of Quebec, Trois-Rivi^res, and Montreal ; but no regular subdivisions, civil or parochial, had been properly fixed. The whole colonial territory was at length (1721-2) parcelled into 82 parishes : 48 of which were ascribed to the northern side of the St. Lawrence, and 34 to its southern side. Bay St. Paul and Kamouraska were the easternmost ; I'lsle du Pads, the most western parish of the whole. This arrange- ment was '•-tified by an edict (arrSt) of the royal council of state, duly registered at Quebec. A kind of census was drawn up, giving an approximative idea of the actual population of the colony.* In 1679, it was esti- mated that the entire people of New France numbered 10,000 souls ; l-20th of the whole was assigned to Acadia, In 1697, the total was increased by 2,300. M. de Vaudreuil proposed that a statement of the colonial population, the amount of cultured lands, live-stock, &o., should be drawn up annually, beginning with the year 1721. — The returns, or rather estimations at this time, made the whole population of Canada to be only 25,000 ; of which number 7000 were located in Quebec, and 3000 in Montreal. ' %i * Exact statisticians always distrust round numbers, and consider an " estimation " as a plausible guess at best. — S. "it 60 HISTORY OF CANADA. Acres {arpenti) of land under tillage, 62,000 ; acres of land in grass, 12,000. The cereal produce for the year was thus esti- mated, in bushels (miHoU) :— Brcadstuffs (6M/) 282,700 ; maize, 7,200; pulse 0>i«), 67,400; oat«, 64,000^ barley or rye (orge), 4,500. Tobacco grown, 48,000 Iba. ; flax, 54,600 lbs. ; hemp, 2,100 lbs. The amount of edible pnxluce raised, per acre, there- fore, was considerable, relatively ; being 6^ bushels per acre : with the addition of 1§ lb. per acre of tobacco, flax, or hemp.— Live-stock total, 59,000 head, including 5,600 horses. There was little to encourage so patriotic a colonial chief as De Vaudreuil in conning over these meagre returns. The low statu of the province, as compared with almost any separate plantation of British America, had long disquieted his mind. Thus, in 1714, he wrote to M. de Portchartrain, that " Canada contained but 4,484 inhabitants capable of bearing arms for it« defence (males aged 14 to 60 years), in iwldition to 620 colonial troops (28 com- pagnie* ties troupes de la marine) ; and this scanty force spread over 100 leagues of territory. The British colonies have 60,000 males fit for war ; and it is not to be doubted that as soon as war supervenes, an attempt will be made by Uiem to achieve the conquest of Canada." The governor's applications for increased immigration were incessant ; and at one time, as most of his demands were met by deplor&tions of the diminished population of the mother country, kept down by past just wars, and scarcely able to confront new, he proposed, upon one occasion, to receive convicts; but this suggestion, as we know, was not adopted.* In a general way, scarcely any emigrants came to Canada from France, but now and then a band of broken soldiei'S, the very worst species of settlers for any but a military colony. When such were sent, it was on condition that they should marry and remain in the eoantry. Each was allowed a year's pay, when dischm^d.f — Of the miscellaneous immigrants * Neither wad it likely to turn oat well in the 8emi-nomade commu- nities sparsely, aad nowhere very fixedly, located in New France. — B. t Letters of Messrs. de Frontenacaad de Cliampigny, in 1C98, second series. [A year's pay of a Preach soldier, at any time, was and is a very small sum ; aad would, ia most instances, be soon aud uselessly spent. Such a careless way of setting up colonists marks the unregard- fal polity of the time. — B.} DISCOVEnV OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 61 to Canada who oarao voluntarily at their own cost, were men fond of ailventuro, — cadets or oustawayB of funiiliefl of mark ; travellers sailont, &o. ; also, on one ocoosion or more, parties of French catholics from provinces (such as Poitou) where the neighbour- hood of Protestant communities, it seemed, was irksome to thcm.^ The fortiGcation of Quebec, according to the latest plan advert- ed to, appears to have been suspended; for we find, in 1728, the minister, in reply to the governor-general, who had advis(;d that a n^lar citadel should be roared for the protection of his capital, asserting that " the Canadians liked not to fight behind walls;" and that besides, *' the state could not support the expense such a construction would incur:" lastly it was intimated, that "it would be difficult to invest Quebec in regular form, so aa to on- sure its being taken." [The second reason might have sufficed, for the first was a hollow plausibility ; while the third assumption was signally disproved by after experience.j . The vexed question of the frontier lines between New France, the Indian territories, the Spanish colonies, but, above all, the ra- pidly extending British possessions in North America, was be- coming every year more and more difficult to deal with. Tho few attempts which had hitherto been made to define intelligibly, on either side, the limits of French and British territory in Ame- rica, had always come to nothing. Commissioners were appointed, indeed, by a stipulation of the treaty of Utrecht: they met, long conferred, parted, and left the matter as they found it.f * M. Garneau, in order to refute a prevailing opinioD, that the Gallo- Ganadian race had an almost entirely Norman origin — en assumption first made by Charlevoix — took the trouble to examine notariiil records, still extant, fur 1700 and some anterior years, which prove that the population of Quebec, at the close of the 17th century, was derived from a wide surface of the mother country. Out of 2002 entries affecting residenters in Quebec, only 26 refer to aliens ; and among these are only four English, 1 Scotch, and 2 Irish individnals. — B. t The rights assumed by Europeans over foreign lands uninhabited or peopled by savages, were founded upon : 1. discovery; 2. nominal pos- session taken ; 3. colonization, general or partial. If the nations of Europe, when parcelling out the two Americas, had come to an agreement, that no power should be allowed to assert a claim it had not turned to account by forming regular settlements in a territory, within, say, ten years of 62 .>•» HISTORY OF CANADA. I. w Disputes concerning boundaries between national posscssionfl are proverbially the most difficult to terminate, by any other ar- bitrament than that of war. For many years past i': British had striven to make French oofoniEation miscarry in Aw: r'ca. They controverted our ancestors' territorial rights, their participation in the peltry traffic, even their influences, political and religioua, over the native tribes. At every fresh demonstration of this enmity on the part of the British provincials, the colonial authorities made repreiicntations to the home authorities, desiring their interposi- tion with those of Britain, that an arrangement might be come to regarding the boundaries of the possessions of the respective nations ; but this was either never done, or not properly followed up. When the British, in terms of the treaty of Utrecht, reclaimed Acadia, they did not define what they understood to be its limits, or take any note of the settlements formed along the neighbouring continental seaboard, and the northern shore of Fundy bay, from the Kennebec to the peninsula. The French remained in posses- sion of the St. John's river, and fortified their settlements upon it ; they were left undisturbed, also, on the Etchemins' coast up to the St. Lawrence, the time it was first proclaimed such had taken place and could be prov- ed by records, printed, written, or graven, then all pretensions, falling within the first and second categories, above noted, would have become invalid. We have an instance, somewhat parallel, arising out of inter- national laws, that neutrals are not bound to respect the '* paper blockades" of belligei«nt8. But a case more in point, may be deduced from the patent laws of every country, which ordain that patents become null if inventors do not practically avail themselves of the exclusive rights accorded to them within a prescribed time. With respect to the pretensions of Louis XIY and Louis XY to have and to bold most uf the continent of North America, it is difficult to say where New France began, or where it ended. A claim was latterly made, not only to the valley of the Mississippi, but to the lands watered by everyone of its tributaries ; the Mi3souri,the Ohio,ftc.,of course includ- ed. When we thinkof the enormityof this territorial grasp and of the equal- ly exorbitant pretensions to an appropriation of the whole Laurentian valley, with the uncolonized lake regions beyond, we smile grimly as we own " la grandeur des projets sur I'Am^rique qui efEirayait I'Angle- teire," to cite textually M. Oarneau. — B. DISCOVERY OP THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 63 By way of detaching the natives of the country (Maine) from French interests, the Bostonians sent a protestant missionary to preach to thcm,and deride catholic observances. This thcolc^ian met his overmatch in P^re Rasle, amissionary resident in the Kenneebo territory for many years. The protcstant's hackneyed diatribes against the imputed idol-worship of catholics were lost upon the perception c ' the Abenaquis ; for savages comprehend better a reli- gion which speaks to the soul by it8 symbols, than one of an ab- stract kind, which confines itself to a few prayers, without sacri- fices or penitential acts. The Jesuit easily gained the victory in the controversy ; and his discomfited opponent soon returned to Boston. The British, ever better traders than religious disputants, hav- ing obtained permission, on certain conditions, to establish a fac- tory on the Kennebec, took advantage of the concession, to found settlements and to erect fortified posts on different points of that river. The aborigines (Abenaquis), b^inniug to feel uneasiness at their encroachments, questioned them as to their rights thus to possess themselves of the country. The answer was, that the French government had given it up to them. The Abenaquis, repressing their indignation for the time, sent a deputation to Quebec, to consult M. de Yaudreuil, who assured the envoys that the treaty of Utrecht made no mention whatever of the ter- ritory in question. The Abenaquis then resolved to expel the intruders by force, if they would not consent to leave peacefully. A negotiation was now entered into between the aggrieved Abenaquis and the New England authorities. Its governor * promised to meet the Abenaquis tribe in conference, and demanded that they should send hostages as a security for his personal safety. He failed to come, yet retained the hostages. The betrayed Abenaquis would have taken up arms at onoe but for P^re Hasle, and P^re de la Chasse ; the latter, superior-general of the missions in that country. These missionaries advised the wronged savages to cause a double demand to be made on the Bostonians ; namely, that they should at onoe release the hostages, and engage to quit the country in two months' time. No reply being sent * If Masaachusetts is referred to here, it was goTernor Dudlej. — B. 64 .«/.(/. HISTORY OF CANADA, •:r#l»:»,il'l to iluH HUiniiioiiH, ihn AtHMin<|uiH vroro no onrn^^od, that M. da VuiidriMiil liiul U} UHO uU liiii intluunoo over tlicin to prnvunt a war. TIiIh IiiipimmumI in 1721.* At thirt tiiiio, IU4 all otliorH, tho Al)^l<)-AtlloricanH having n bittor hntrtid tor the JoMuitH, attrihiitod to thu iiiixHionnriuH the guncrul oiunity of the tmtivos to thoiuHolvoH. In partiuulur, tho Now- Knfi;landorH douhtod nut that I'l^ru llanlo had cauHod thu Abona- quis to attsuino thuir pre.'^ont huHtilo attitude ; and althou^h that Jesuit actually exerted all his influence to avert open wur, tho Aniorioans nvi a price upon IiIh head and went 200 men to Hciuo him in the villaj^e he most i'retpiented ; hut, thin tinu;, he escaped. They w«'n' more HuceesKful in getting hold of thi: chief of tho Abe- naqjurt, baron dc St. Cast in, who lived near the wmboard. Ono day in January 1721, a known veascl appeared on thu cuaHt. Thu baron went on board, (O hcu the captain, uh he hud done many timcH before ; when he was now put in ward, treated an u uriininul,' kept for several months, and rolea«ed only after re|M!atH|) ^atened the Ursulines with ex- communication if they dared to make confession to any priests not chosen by him. And the seven chief sisters (/e« discrites') of the house actually were debarred from confession and communion for a time, because they owned a partiality for the Jesuit fathers. The overbearing conduct of tlie canons was disapproved by the court ; but which royalty itself was to blame for, tlirough having lately, most injudiciously, pampered ecclesiastical presumption by recognising the rights of church functionaries to ride rough-shod over those of the state. The episcopal interregnum continued, practically, for a series of years. In 1733, M. Herman I>06<|uct superseded M. de Mor- nay, and became, by grace of Clement XII, fourth bishop. He came to Quebec in 1734, returned to France in 1734, and there remained, holding to his episcopal title till 1739, when he gave it up. M. Pourriiy de rAuberiri^re, appointed by Clement XII as his successor, died about the same time as that pontiff. Arriving at Quebec in 1740, while an epidemic was i*aging, he caught the infection, and died before he could take up his func- tions. Next year, M. Pubrenil de Pontbriant was nominated to succeed him, by Benedict XIV (Lambertini). In none of the Canadian episcopal appointments or mutations does royal intervention seem to have been permitted or attempted. M. Du- breuil was the sixth and last bishop of Quebec, under the French domination DISCOVERT OP THE ROCKT MOUNTAINS. 75 The systetn of perpetual curacies, to which the new bishop wa^ opposed, was brought under the notice of count MaurepuK, now chief minister of state, in 1742. M. Bubreuil wrote, that if it were thought fit to constitute irremovable parish charges, they ought not to be allowed in benefices where supplementary tithe was accorded ; nor yet in parishes annexed to others quowl sacra. His lordship recommended, at the sjime time, that French priests be preferred to Canadian ; that " the bishop ought to have power to appoint a vicar for any perpetual curacy, without being required to assign a reason therefor," Ac. All things taken into account, he opined that there were only thirteen parishes in his diocese where perpetual curates could be installed, independent of the others where such already officiated.* Having traced the colony's ecclesiastical afTairs thus far, we re- turn to the secular annals of New France, recommencing with the year 1728, when notes of war from the far west resounded throughout the eastern province. They were occasioned by the outbreak of a remnant of the Outagami tribe, supposed to have been j*ooted out in 1715, but parties of whom, -.fuming posses- sion of part of the country, were forced to cede it, by M . de Lou- vigny, in 1717. Become wanderers in the wilderness, they lived a predatory life for some years, and, at the current time, in con- junction with some other western races, infested lake Michigan territory and the routes connecting Louisiana with Canada. M. de Beauharnais, on being advised of the murders and robberies they had lately committed, which had been the means of almost cutting oflF communication with the Louisianians, swore to exterminate the whole nation. But this oath was more easily taken than kept. Mostly broken savage tribes, the bands of desperate men of the wilds then afoot were not easy to overtake, so as to receive the punishment thus proclaimed to be in store for them. / A force of 450 Canadians, with M. de Ligneris at their bead, was collected at Montreal to go in pursuit. The vanguard set out about June 5th. Having ascended the Ottawa in canoes, and crossed lake Nipissing, the party penetrated, by the Riviere des Franjais, to lake Huron. Here it was joined by 750 savages, and * Documents jienes M. I'abb^ Ferland. :,.-r^ i I 76 ,Kaiti HISTORY OF CANADA. the main body came up. The entire army pasncd Michilimacki- nac August 1 ; and, that day fortnight, reached Chicago. Aug. 15, a body of the Evil Men tribe (AlaIhomine»), or Wild Oats {Folles avoi«ea) , so named because they used a kind of wild rice growing in the savannahs to the south of lake Superior, were found, drawn up in battle array, on the lakeboard, having made «ommon cause with the Outngamis. They were encountered and signally beaten. These were the tirst and last enemies the army had to deal with. Neither the Outagamis nor their allies were more anywhere to be found, although the Canadians ascended Fox river, following their track, to its sources, and within thirty leagues of the upper Mississippi ; burning every horde, hut, and plantutioa they found in the way. This devastation had the effect, for a time, of allowing the communications, previously stopped, to be re- opened. The decade, 1729-39, was compo-'cd of calamitous years for Canada. In 1732, inundations and eartliquakes damaged the settlements and affrighted the people. In 1733, small-pox was rife with the colonists, and made fearful ravages among the sa- vages. A dearth also prevailed, in continuation of two years' previous scarcity. During winter 1729-30, many of the inhabi- tants were fain to use bourgeons for bread ; or, what they then 4)onsidercd as little better food, potatoes 1 Many persons died of hunger.* It was in this famine-year (1730) that the Digue du Palais at Quebec, now obliterated to the eye by wharves, was con- structed, in order to give useful employment and needful pay to starving people, by forming a river-wall, within which a huudred vessels could winter conveniently. The year 1731 was signalised by an attempt made to roach the Pacific Ocean overland. About a. d. 1718, this project was mooted, but not carried out. Its realisation was reserved for an enthusiastic explorer, Pierre-Gauthier de Varennes, sieur de la Vdrendrye, a gentleman who had trafficked much with the tribes of the west, and gained muoh information among tlicm of the countries that lay beyond. As M. de Beauhamais was ambitious to give lustre to his administration by a successful expedition * Letter from la mere Sainte-H^leue, in 1131, pene* M. TAbb^ Ftt- Und. DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 77 lbb6 Ffer- BoroHs the continent, V«5rendryo repaired to Quebec to render ad- vice upon the Hubjoot. He reconmionded that the course of the river AsHiiiiboels should be followed, ruiher than to cross the Sioux territory, as others had pr(){)08cd ; then to descend such stroaiuM OH iiiko their rise towards lake Winnipeg : tliinking that one of them would infallibly, if followed, lead to the dettired goal. M.Vdrendrye having formed a trading copartnery in 1731, with some Montreal ntcrchants, who advanced funds to buy goods for barter, and meant) of equipment for his journey, set out for lake Superior with Pt^re Messager, a missionary priest. He had re- ceived orders to take possession, in the king's name, of all coun- tries he should discover ; also to examine them attentively, in order to form an idea what facilities they might possess for establishing a route ncroHvS them, to connect Canada and Louisiana with the sea- board of the Pacific. To enable him to perform this useful ser- vice, no public aid had been accorded to him, if promised ; and, as a consequence, ho was obliged to linger about the intermediate regions, attending to the interests of himself and partners, till the year 1733. Previously, in 1731, some of his people, starting from Kamunestigoya, a fort constructed, to tho north of lake Superior, in 1717, by lieutenant llobertel de Lanoue, passed on to the lake of la Pluie, where they built fort St. Peter ; then to the lake des Bois, where they erected fort St. Charles, in 1732 ; next followed the course of the river Winnip^, upon a bank of which they raised, in 1734, Fort Maurcpas. The adventurers took possession of tho country for a double purpose : to fulfil the obligation they owed to their king, and to establish fortified posts useful to them- selves for the prosecution of their private traffic. Extending their rounds, they crossed lake Dauphin, and lake des Cignes ; they recognised the river des Biches, and ascended to the bifurcation of the river Saskatchaouan or Poskoiao. They eonstructed fort Dauphin, at the head of lake Manitoba, and fort de la Keine at its foot ; also fort Bourbon on the Biches river, at the head of lake Winnipeg ; lastly, fort Rouge in the angle formed by the Red and Assiniboels rivers. They continued afterwards, directed by M. de V^rendrye's brother and sons, to advance westwardly, other- vhilca northwardly, but without attaining to the Ocean they HISTORY OF CAN4DA. «CV«»^M vero in quest of.* In one of those oxpl(>ration«, during the year 1736, a son of M. do la V<$rondrye, the Jesuit Pdro Anncna, and twenty others, were muasacrod by tlte Sioux, in an iHland of the lako des liois. In 1738, the French Toaohod the Mandanes' country ; and in 1742 attuned to the upper Missouri, ascending its course as far as a river since named the Yellow Stone, which rises at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. At length, the oldest son of M. V^ rondryo, and the chevalier his brother, Jan. 1, 1743, found them- Bclves in front of that mountain range reached sixty years after- wards by the famous American travellers, Lewis and Clarke. The journey thither of the V«5rcndrye8 liuited from April 20, 1742 till July 2, 1743 ; during which time they passed through the horde of the Beaux Hommcs, and visited the Pioyas, tlic nation of the Petita-llonards, the Arc tribes, and the Serpents' nation. M, do la V^rendrye himself, who had incurred a debt of 40,000 Uvrcs and was no longer able to continue his explorations, re- paired meanwhile to Quebec, hoping to obtain a pecuniary grant, but which was delayed, or rather practically denied ; for De Mau- repaa professed to have received reports unfavourable to his cha- racter. Beauharnais induced him to remit his commission to M. de Noyelle, for the latter to continue the exploration. Afterwards M. de Beauharnais, and his successor M. de la Galissonni6re, overcame the minister's prejudices against M. Vdrendrye ; and the king, as a cheap compensation, bestowed the order of St. Louis on that unworthily used servant of the state. M. de Mau- repas, however, expressed a desire that M, Vdrendrye should re- • I have been guided, in thus fixing the sites of the above enn- merated forts, to the relation of M. Pierre Margry, an oflScial in the hiato- rical section of the ntinistry of mftrine and coloaies, at Paris. His in- teresting article appeared in two numbers of the Moniteur Univeritl, official gasette of the French government, dated Sept. 14, and Nov. 1, 1857 ; his materials were derived from documents reposited in the na- tional archives. We have also been aided, in tracing the route of the explorers, by one of the maps appended to a report by M. Cauchon, one of the Commissioners of Crown Lands, in 1867. [A compiler of that map, Mr, Thomas Devine, Quebec, had himself visited those regions, in 1836, OB kii return from Hndsoa's Bay.— £.J , DISCOVERY OP THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 79 itime hiH journey ; and 'lo wn» nbout to obey, when he fell ill, and died on the 6th of December, 1749. This eminent traveller related to Mr. Kalm, a Swedinh savant^ then on a vinit to Canada, that he had discovered, in one of the remotest of the countries he reached, at a spot 900 leagues l>oyoiid Montreal, some massive p' Iuta cuoh fumicd of a single block of stone, resting one against the otiier, or superimposed as are the oourscH of a wall. Ho concluded that, thus arranged, the pile must have been formed by human hands. One of the pillars was sur- mounted by a much smaller block, only one foot high and a few inches across, bearing on two sides graven characters of an .m- known langttage. This stone was sent to Paris, •'several Jesuit« who saw it in Canada, said to Kalm, that the engraving it bore resembled the Tartaric characters. This opinion, in Xalm's esti- mation, tended to confirm the hypothesis of an Asiatic immigra* tion to America, and the real origination of a portion at least of the native races found in possession of its two continents and islands. The sons of Vdrendryc claimed the right of continuing the explorations ; but the intcndant Bigot set their claims aside, by forming an association, composed of himself, the governor (Jon- qui^re), Brdard, comptroller of marine, Lc Oardeur do St. Pierre, and captain Lamarque de Marin. This society of professed ex- plorers had chiefly their own trading profits in view, and acted accordingly, Marin was to ascend the Missouri to its source, and thence to follow the course of the first river presenting itself that seemed to flow towards the Pacific. St. Pierre, passing by the fort de la Reine, was to rejoin Marin on the Pacific seaboard in a given latitude. But accumulation of peltry being the grand object, their parties never got further Uian the Kocky Mountains, at the foot of which they erected Fort Jonquiere, in 1752. The chief partners in the speculation, carried on at state cost, divided a large spoil ; the governor's share being 300,000 francs.f Thus ended ignobly, a project nobly conceived, but made almost abor- tive by injustice and selfishness. none, m • Journal of Travels perl' me4 in 1742, by chevalier de la V^rendrie, in search of the Western Sea, addressed to the Marquis de Becuharneis. t H. W. Smith, Hitt. «l<;i u An unonny fooling had jwrviidod tlio publio mind in raunda Tor Ronic tinio ro^^arding tho i'rontior <|UU8tion, whiuh no uttonipt hau lattorly biH;n niudo tu sottlu ; and all boing lutl at liazard, both by tho Fronoh and JiritiHh uuthoritioH. ohanou colliHion botwoon tho colonists and iho American Huttlora might, any day, plunge the two nations into war. In 1734, M. de Doauharnais, believing huHtili- tie» could not be long uvert>, -!1.:' i> ■' , -■-■■ BOOK EIGHTH. 1 it CIIAPTKll I. * - UOMMERCJK, INDUSTRY. 1608-1744. GfinAilinn Irndo; ovil cffpctR of war upon It. — ItH riso nnd prOi^rnM; cod llshories.— I'ultry trafllc the ninin bmncli of thn commerce of ('anudu. From an parly date, fur traffic a monopoly. — Rivalry of Cnnadian and Anglo-Amoricun fur-trndors. — Policy of Koveruors Hunter and Kiirnot- — Non-iulcrcmirHo laws of 17'J0 and I7'27; their evil elFrcls upon French colonial interests. — Various hranchefl of Ounadiiin imluHtry iu former times.— Canadian Exports, their nnturt-.—flinseu}^, notices of — Mininj? and Minerals. — Quebec the great entropAt. — Manufactures ; Bftlt-workH. — I'osting commenced, in 1745. — Admiralty court ; ex- change f«)r merchants. — Negro slavery iu Canada. — Money of the colony, its nature, and depreciations. Tlio tri'iity of Utrecht wn.s followed by some of the most ptince- ful years Canada had ever known. The American colonists of Franco and Britain, wearie«l of an exhausting? war, were able to turn their enerf^ies t^) internal improvement. — Despite tlu; finan- cial difficulties of Franco, which to some extent re-acted on her coKmies, Canada was enteritj^ upon a steady, if slow, course of progression. Its total po^-alation, which was, in 1719, but 22,000, had risen, in ^ 744, to nearly 60,000 souls ; and the value of the exports, which did not exceed 100,000 crowns in 1714, had risen, in 1749, U) 2,050,000 francs. (Raynal) The FnMich wore probably first in the field as fishers in Ameri- can waters. As wo have stated in an initiatory chapter, Basque, Breton, and Norman fishermen must have there plied their calling during the earliest years of the 10th century ; for one John Den- nis, of Ilonticur, in 1500 traced a chart of the gulf of St. J^aw- renoo for the guidance of his compatriots. The English, when ihey first visited tluit sea region, as industrials, which was not till Vol. II. — F 82 HISTORY OP CANADA. the year 1517, reported thnt they found fifty French, Spnnish, and I*ortugueso vessels prosecuting the ood-fi«hery. In 1 63(5, the French cod fishery had ^reatIy extended ; and, in 1658, there were thirty vessels besides, employed in pursuing the whole. At that date, there were but teti English vessels f're(|Ui!ntuig the banks of New- foundland ; while there were 100 from Spain, and 50 from I'or tugal. But in 1(515, the relative proportions had greatly altered for at this time they stood thus: English vessels 250, French and Portuguese (together) 400. The English government doubtless fostered their Newfoundland fisheries as n nursery for seamen, [and as yielding an article of ready barter ; for supplies of suited tish were not so essential to a protcstant as to a catholic population.] The attention of French adventurers in America was divided, at this time, between the fisheries and the peltry trufiic. These pursuits were at first commingled ; for the early French fishers of the coasts of Canada and Acadia used to trade with the native seaboard tribes, deriving u double profit therefrom. By degrees, regular relations were formed between the parties ; and lor the convenience of both, factories were founded on or near the coasts, and thcso gradually extended to the interior. By and by, opulent merchants obtained from the French government trading monopolies, on condition of sending and establishing colonists. Thus it was, that New France came to be founded. The first regular patent for a monopoly of the fioltry traffic was granted to Captain Clmuvin, early in the 17th century. But, for a number of years afterwards, the trade was pursued briskly with- out regard to Chauviu's license, especially by French fishermen. Several of the chief merchants of France, especially those of La Rochelle, engaging in the peltry traffic, resisted the monopoly whioh had lM!en thus sanctioned. To pr^ventfurther disputes, and regularise the traffic, the Company of the Hundred Partners, with Cardinal Richelieu as its nominal head, was formed in 1(537-8. To this association was consigned, in perpetuity, ns a field for exclusive trade, New France and Florida. The society undertook to co- lonise the country, to mointoiD missions, &c. ; * on condition of * This nrmngement was not found to answer, for any party ; and the company gave up to tlio colonists, in 1646, the peltry monopoly, on con- dition of being rcliored from the charges of the civil list, the support of an armed furcc, and other goTernmental burdens. COMMERCE, INDUSTRY. 88 receiving, 1 . a permanent monopoly of the tnulo in f »ra, other ukinn, and leather; 2. a lease, for 15 yearn, of the \y\\ do eoloiiial trade, by land and sea. Hut the cod and whole fiHh«u'e8 were still to bo free to all ; and a reservation was made in fuvoui of the colonists individually, that they might deal with tho natives for peltry, provided it were sold to the company's agents at a fixed price. After an unprosperous existence of 3(; years' duration, viz. in 1663, the association of 100 partners, that number then being greatly reduced, became extinct ; and royalty resumed tho trust it never should have accorded to any of its subjects. The trade of tho colonists of New France did not long remain free. Untaught by experience of the withering effects of mo- nopoly, the French government, next year (1664) sanctioned tho formation of a new association, named tho West India Conipany. The perniciouB career of tho present band of associators did not endure near so long as the preceding, although in them was vested the exclusive trade for forty years, not merely of all New France, but of the Whole Atlantic seaboard of Africa. In Ame- rica, their privileges were not only as groat as those of tlio de- funct company, but Louis XIV promised them a premium of 40 livres for every t The Oudiette peltry monopoly passed to M. Koddes, who in turn transferred it to M. Piceaud, one of the deputies from the colony; the latter paying 70,000 francs a year, anion in turn colony ; kini» to as nu^'ht ociulioo, i^jratlou, Jmve the addition iurdod to ,ble ; and )ts owing jj^reod to )ur years, sd by the take one ;'■ .">r:\ TijO-livre ahftrcs. This society took the nanio o<" tiie Coiripany of Canada; and none but ''h- uiciuburf« could l<^uily participate in the peltry traffic. The seigaeurs, rvith their renters {ctmiudre*,} were allowtHl to join in it. Tho Northern or llnd- sou'h Bay Company, formed some time previously, was merged Id this tuMOciation ; which obtained an edict rigidly prohibiting^ »alufl of boaver-skinH Uj the N«w Vork col(»niHt8. This company, thou|.'h of a more comprchcnBive character than the two preceding, yid iiaviiig tho canker-worm of u»on»>jM»ly at itH r(»ot, iiad \m tinproH^terous an exi8tence aR, and oame to a H}H:edier und, than they. In 17(H^, iU) debt<) amounted to 1,812,000 iranofi. ThiH «uui MeHHra. Aubtirt, Nerot, and Guyot agreeing to pay, the Company broke up in their favour. The colonistj',, under tho new patent, could Bhare in the beaver traffic within the country, but could not export such furc, being bound t4> deliver thiim at tho patentees' tactories. In the year 171 5 appeared two memorials, on tho " pretwMit state of Canada," by M. Kuett*^ d'Auteui),* in which the uiiHnuinage- luentof the coloniiU affairs was very freely, perliaps uiiprcjudiccdly, exposed ; the writer sparing no maladministratortj, not even those in highest place. [The production is intx^resting to us, from the fit ful gliuipscs of light it throws upon the inner .sUito of the colony at the time] Trade with the savages, once considerable, M. d'Au- touil observed, had greatly aJlen off, Ship-building, he remarked, was pretty brisk ; hemp for cordage, and Hax for linen, thread, and tissues were advantageously grown ; but he eon>plui(ied that Franoe did not im[K»rt Canadian timber, while the Uritish drew much of theirs from the American plantittions. The Huron copper-minos, he said, were negloctiHl. The mono^Mlist com))anies he denounced, for not fultilling obligations stilemnly contracted. For instance, they were ^*ound, by contract, to procure an immigration of from 200 to 300 persons yearly ; whereas little had been done in thiM matter at any time, nnd, since 10G3, almost nothing. He now urged that A large immigration was what tho o^>lony most wanted. Ho mentioned that every company's defalcations, in this and oHier par- ti»^ular8, were ignored by the govornors-general, who weiH2 ulwuyH • Documents de Parit, series 2. 'v'^.r' '■ (^ 86 HrSTORY OF CANADA. the oreaturos or tho roktives of the co/iripftnioH* dirw'tora. The Fronch intoiitdunf«, he lulded, wore nlso oompromiscd in a similar way, or else indifferent ; as not meaning to wtay in the colony, but only hoping to pans tJicnco, enriched numntiine, to higher situa- tions ut homo. Adverting to the ciinl-moncyj two million Hvron of whjeh, ho alleged, wore in circuhition in 1714, he Raid it was hut a moiety of ils notniiuii vkIuo; tho iwjues not huvit'jg lioeiii isoviirally commanded by specifio i-oyd edicts. Ho sttjj;tij{«ted thfit an intpest for the verifieation and the regulation of the o«rd-nioney should be instituted, and thut a deputy to represent tho inhnbiiiintaand defend their interesta in this iniportitnt matter should !>e ir»5cci«'ed ab Paris, Finally, he proposed that tho colonial bills of exdiango sliouKl Ik! duly hosioured by tho royal trouHury. M. d'Auteiiil. to avert ndministirative wbuHOf, profioiwd that three stai'e eount^illors whould be appointctl to roceiro ooniplainlJ fjonj at;'4rievtHl colonists; and that thojjfOTCrnors-penerai hHobM be oha«j»'ed at Btotod yn riods of throe to sis years' duration. He added, that both they and the interHlunta, ktK)win{r that their sins of conunirtsion or onusHJon were not likely to be reported at oourt, did jiint as they liked ; and if any of the Bub!)rdiijate« «)f cithei" lot out ^ho scorot* of nml-adnjini«iration, they wei-e persecu- t/ed , while corrupt and Mubscrvioitt oJfieiuls wer«j rewardiMi or pro- IBOt(Hl. But, after all, thi ^ Hturdy ex|H-)ncnt of the abu&OH of cohrtnial ad- mitiistnition ■vt\» th,o« hewing at thebranelu';^, m)t at tlw r«K>t of the evil tree, Tho government of the liiolher ciHntry was no less 4X)rrupt, to bofiin with. WhiUi money was prodifinlly laviiHhed on oourt favourites, tho ii).';ul(*r allowuneeH made to tViose vtIio d d Icji'itimatf' atate work w\',ro Tr/isorably »ly tho Htated walary ivf the fi;ov*,^rnor-j;^>nenii til New Fnino*', nt this time, did not exceed .£250 a year ; not («ixpcnct» of M'hich suiu cfnild renmin for his own use, if he kept np tho fol- lowiuis he waH exp\;etod to maintain. What vtjwmrse was there, then, for *'. >ble9 and fj;entry who were sent fjronj Old Franee to t'ii6li<-:tr i.: ropresontativcH of royalty in New franco (wlueh wa« r: jxrenkx, }»«nsi"nfi;-gn)und, rather than a province), b»>t to Iwcomo triiffioken ut i' :*ry, or excluHive Hellere of brandy liccn- COMMERCE, INDUSTBY. 67 BOfl, or pay thomsclves by underhand means yet more disorodita- blo ?*] The Western Company, formed in 1717, succeeded to the m(/ nopoly of Aubort & Co., whoso lcu»o had expired ; and that asso- ciation, in turn, merged in the Company of the Indies, connixsted vrith Law's Mississippi bubble. This company saved from the wreck of that projecU^r's scbeme, a trading monopoly, in Louisiana and the Illinois territory, till 17HI ; in winch year these countries ro-passed under regal sway, and so remained as long as French do- mination lasttid therein. After fort Oswego was constructed, the peltry traffic of the colonists had a keen competition to contend with, owing to the higher prices given by British traders U) the natives. To obviate this, the king was induced to take into his own hands tlio fortified trading posts founded by the traders at Frontenac (Kingston), Toronto, and Niagara. State funds were, at the same time, misapplied in according bounties to the dealers, to enable them to give more honest prices to the Indians, and pre- vent them from carrying their produce to the British settlements.f • Durinjf Do Frontenac's ndministration, " the homo government began to form an opinion that tlio arlvuncud posts mHintainud in tho colony wore of little real advantugo, while they were the chief cause of tho ware in which it became involved. It was therefore proposed that these etations should ho uboli.shcd, and that the Indians should ho allowed to bring their furs to Montreal. Tills, howover, was opposed Viy tho governor and his council, who being afraid, probably, of losing their own power and patronage, represented that such a raeaauro would have tho etfect of thron-ing the Indian allies into tho hands of the Five Na- t!ou.4 and the British, and of fiacrificing tho fur-trade. The latter was then a .ttrict monopoly, carried on under licenses granted to old offlccri) and ftu'orltes, who sold thera to the inland traders. At this time, the arerngo price of beaver-akins, in money, At Montreal, was '2 llvroa 13 NOUS, or about 2s. 3d. storing, per pound. The Indians were, at that rate, cheated enormouily ; and becoming aware of the fact through oc- rasional iutereourso with the British, made incossont complaint.4 : and this, prubiibly, was onu great causo of tliuir want of faith in the French." W, H. Smith: Cunaia, Ac , vol. I. p. Ivlll.— 5. t A miserable complic!",tion of purblind expediencies I — At this time, " the amount of trade alliwcd to each license, usual cost of which being aoo crowns, was merchandise volucd at 100(> crowns. To carry on tho trade, and to convoy returns, the liceaae-holdur was bound tu employ 88 niSlOHT OF CAXADl. It is ilifficult to ibn» n precise estimatioo of the annual value of the ptdtry pnxiucc at this or any epoch of Canadu'8 unnulB. M. d'Autouil, in the Uieniorials cited above, atated that tlic annual rotuniH, in 1 G77, were worth 550,000 francti ; and thut they had augmented lit the time ho wrote (1715) to 2 million francs.^ Governor Murray, conitultin);; the ill-kept eustouiH rcgiiitcrs for 1754 and 1755, found the valuation returnfl of the former year to give a total of 1,547,885 livre» ; thone of the latter, only 1,205,650 livro8. PortKms K'st able to form an approximative eHtimation of thu medium value of the peltry exported from New France dur- ing yoarH imuicdiut<.>ly lx;fure and aSlcr thuCooqu<>8t, have rated ii at 3,500,000 livrcs.t Notwillmtanding all dmdvaotapfs which French traderM had to encounti^r, from barden» Liid upoii them, and the restrictions they were uubjocted to, they had tlie bulk of the peltry triiffic of North America in their huudH down to the year 1714 ; when, by the treaty of Utrecht, they had to rclinquLdi their trade in the Hud- son's Bay territory and other regions. Suooeflffi.vc governors of New York, meanwhile and afterwards, were inocssautly labouring also two CHuocB, aix men ia each. The teller of the license bad the right of furnisliing the gouila u»ed in b«rter, at a price 15 per cent. Iiigher thaD tlie market rate. A succ««8ftil odrenture, under Micb. a licentic, gene- rtttly gave to the nierehantd m prol&t of 400 per cent, on the merchandise, and 000 crowns to each of tte ?«noe-n«n. The latter were not onlj entitled to proviitions and clotniaf , but interested in the result of the udvrnturc, by having a leg'il right (u divide the surplus uf thu returns, tifler tho cti3t if the license, nM-rchaadise, and 400 per c«.>nt. profit to the merchant, had cen r«imbiir«ed." E.W.Smita: Canada, Patt, Prc$entf ami Futurf, vol. I, p. Ixriii. — B. " This almost quadrupled value in 18 jean' time, if real, tends to dis- prove what was above assertet?, that the tradoof the colony viith the na* tires hnd greatly increased. But perhaps depreciations in the colonial currency may have reduced the greater sum to cm million intrinsically. Theie is alno constant doubt ic the mind of a transcriber as to equivalents in specie, when "crowns" an: mentioaed j i.e., whether grot 6cut or petiti feu* are meant. — B. t A. manifest exaggeration! Ttie aatbor, afterwards, vol. II, p. 156, ox\%. edit., estimates the total value of all the exports of the colony, in tl,t) most favourable years, at 3,250,000 livrea ; the item of peltry figuring for two millions, which is prol>ably quite Siigb ecough. — B. ^^^D' B^^. COMMERCE, INDUSTRY. 89 to doprivo them of tho rolationR they had establiHhcd with the weBt<;rn tribes. The price of* European racrchandiHc wan much higher at Quebec than Boston, and at Montreal than New York. There vraa a oonsideruble contraband trade maintained between Montrciil and Albany ; and, by such underhand means, the Cana- dians received large quantities of woollen tiasaes and other British imported jj;ood8. In one year, Canada received 900 pieces of scar- let cloth for the fur barter, besides muslins, printed calicoes, edg- ing lace (taiielle), .Vc. The company of the Indies (meaning tho Canadian monopolistM) introduced, for its own account, 1,200 pieces of goods, which were derived from English luilders, yet it was strictly forbidden to all other parties to import a single yard I Thus were manufacturers and exporters of France excluded from her greatest colonial dependency. As wo have already seen, Mr. Burnet, when governor of New York (he was utYerwards removed to MassachuHstts), in 172<» ob- tained from Assembly u non-intercourse bill to prevent the Cana- dian traders, during three years, from exchanging their peltry at Albany for European commodities. In 1727, this prohibitory law became permanent. It gave a heavy blow to the Canadian traders, both as buyers and sellers. Linen cloths, which previously fetched at Montrciil 1 5 louis per piece, were sold, soon afterwards, as high as 25 louis. Fort Oswego, which was erected by Burnet, as we have related elsewhere, was the necessary complement of his non-intercourso policy ; a policy ineffectually combated by making the factories of Froutenac, Toronto., and Niagara, royal castles, and according state premiums to quicken traffic, so as to encourage exports from tho eolony to France, and obtain French goods in return. In retaliation for the renewed law of 1727, posstiid by the New York legislature, Louis XIV issued an edict forbidding all com- merce with the British colonies, under penalties. Thenceforward, the holders of the French trading-posts had the whole traffic in peltry to themselves : the possesors held them, either by favour, or they bought their privileges, or held them on farm ; but in all of these cases, the malign elToct upon the public interests was the same. The factories' licences were usually granted for three years ; and those who held them, by means fair or foul, strained '^very 90 HISTORY OP CANADA. nervo to make tho most they oould out of them during that term. To sell at tho most exorbitant ratop, and put prices unoonsciontiouH- !y low on tho furs ofFored, was the rule. To beguile tho Indians to accept insufficient values in exchange, it was not unusual to ply them with liquor. [It is related that, in 1751, at a western post* on one oooasion beaver skins were bought for four grains of pepper each ; and that as much as 800 francs were realized by selling a pound of vermilion, probably dealt out in pincheH.] Peltry was the main article of export from Canada, and hcnoe it is that wo have dilated upon that part of its produce. Exports of lumber there seem to have been little or none, till a late date ; owing partly, as intimated by M. d'Auteuil in 1716, to tho indif- ferenot! of the homo authorities to the abundance and value of Canadian forest produce. " One knows not," says Ilaynal, " by what fatality such a source of riches was overlooked." The ex- ports of fish from Canada itself were inconsiderable in early times. In 1<)97, the Sieur de Rfiverin formed a factory, and established a fishery at the harbour of Mont Louis, about halfway bet»veen Quebec and tho extremity of the gulf of St. Lawrence, on tho nouth- ern side. At the commencement the people of the settlement were much disturbed by the English ; but their exertions, in bctth fishing and agriculture, wore tolerably suooessful.'*' Tho cod and wbok) • W. II. Smith, Canada^ ^c, vol. I, p. lix. — We never heard of inshore fishings doing much for any cuuntry except supplying tho people living near the seaboard with a portion of their daily food, and that, not sel- dom, scantily, or at & dear rate. Bounties to fishermen only serve to make those lazier and more exacting, who were lazy and exacting before. The late prince Talleyrand, who made an extensive and long-continued tour in the United States and Canada when an exile, particularly noted tho inertness of the class, upon this continent, and thus delivered him- self upon the subject : " Tho American fisherman has a mind as care- less of country as the lumbcrnmn. Tho affections of both, their inte- rests, their strain of life, arc things apart from tho nation to which they nominally belong. It ^rould be a prejudice fbr us to think that our Ameri- can dshormac is a m.'st ut;eful member of society ; for he is not a like being with our European industrials of the same name, who, robust in body and alert in mind, make our best sailors. Frequenters of, say two leagues of seaboard, in fine weather, confining their venturings to the range of a mile of it when the weather is uncertain, such is the range within which tb«ir venturosomenesa is limited. The daily habits of suob COMMERCE, INDUSTRY. 91 fisheries in American waten wore almost et.tirely in European hands ; but to the Canadians were left seal and porpoise catching. This industry was plied in the river * and gulf of 8t. Lawrence, aliM) on the ooust of Labrador ; trnots of shore in both regions being let on farm for terms of years by the govemmentf There wore 14 fishing-stations, below Quebec, existing in 1722. In latter years, a tolerable quantity of animal oil and salt fish wa.s exported to France. Ship-building was never much carried on; although M. de Maurepas, then minister of murine, in 1731 strongly urged on the governor-general to stiiiulutc this branch of industry, promising that if some good morohuut-vessels were turned out, a contract would bo accorded to the colony for constructing ships of war ; perhaps his Majesty would even luuuto a navul yard at Quebec. Meantime he granted a premium of 500 francs for every vessel gauging 200 tons or over, of cc^loniul build, and sold in Franco or the Antilles ; and 150 francs premium for each barge of 30 to 60 tonn, if Hinii- larly disposed of. In 1732, ten vessels of 40 to 100 tons were a man are those of an idler, who would not stir at all but for the impulse of his animal appetites. His arm ia not the harpoon, but the tidhing- line : hence, his contests with prey is not that of manly exertion, but of petty guiles. Fishermen's most laborious action is an occasional pull at an oar or a paddle, which more usually is left dangling at the side of a crazy boat. They have no home, worthy the name, pn shore ; there ia little sacrifice to mako in shifting from one shore to another ; a few cod« fish, more or less, determines their choice of country. When some writers have spotiiii of the American fisheries as a species of colonial agriculture, they have enounced a delusive plausibility, not a verity in any sense. All the personal virtues, and every patriotic feeling which dis- tinguishes rural colonists, are absent in the chill bosom of American fisher- men." Estai tur let ^vantages d retirer ilr$ Cotonie$ A'uuvellt$, tfc, par le citoyen C. M. Tallrvrand. Paper (one of a series) read at the Institut of France, in 1801-2.— J9. t When the estuary of a great river becomes much frequented byres- sela, but especially by tteamert, the seal bids a long and last adieu to it. We have liad occasion to remark this, personally, in our native country. It is doubtless applicable, the observation, more or is, to the shores of the Laurontian lower waters and gulf. — B. t The Esquimaux Uay was farmed in 1749, to a Madame Fournel ; and Labrador to M. d'Aillebouat, in 1753. * *l tt ^'iu ^> %.. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) v .v^ i^.'^^ z 1.0 I.I 1^12.8 150 ^^ 40 IIIII2.0 |Z5 [22 1.8 1.25 U|||,.6 ^ 6" ► m vl <'! / fliotographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 873-4503 o IL 32 HISTORY OF CANADA. bttiit in Canada ; bnt the materials were badly chosen, ill season- ed, and the price charged for them Ijigher than those built in the British settlements : in fact, a number of the vessels used in the trade of Canada, were bought of the New Englanders, [The surplus of provisions for export must have been insignifi- cant, if not null; although it is asserted, that "in good years, 80,000 minots of flour and biscuits " were disposable, after sup- plying the colony's wants.] , k;; ft H' ' > ! J/ Iron-smelting, on a scale worth notice, was not begun until about 1737; when the foundries, still extant, at Trois Rivieres, were brought into activity by a company. Veins of copper, near the chores of lake, Superior, were known to the aborigines ; even when Cartier visited that region, some of them showed him samples of the ore. In 1738, Louis XIV caused mining to be tried at Cha- gouamigon by two Grermans ; but it was soon given up. < An over-famed plant, Ginseng,* discovered in our forests, in 1716, by the Jesuit Lafitau, became a means of enriching the colony, for a time, by its exportation to China, A pound weight of it, worth 2 francs at Quebec, sold at Canton for 25 francs. Its price ultimately rose to 80 francs per pound. One year, there was sent thither, ginseng yielding a return of 500,000 francs. The high price it attained set every body at work to find it. The plant was not in proper condition till August or September ; but with purblind avidity, the seekers gathered it as early as May. The fresh plants ought to have been slowly dried in the shade ; the gatherers, anxious to get returns, dried them in ovens. They then became worthlesj in Chinese estimation ; and the trade in it ceased almost as suddenly as it began. Quebec was the entrepot of Canada, Its merchants and ship- pers sent out^ annually, five or six barques to the seal fisheries ; and about as mruy, laden with flour, biscuit, vegetables, staves, and lumber, to Louisbourg and the Antilles ; returning with car- goes of pit-coal, eoflPee, sugar, rum, and molasses. The trade with * In spite of all that has been written on the supposed virtues of its root, botanists believe the ginseng plant to be nothing more than the Panax quinquefolium, found in China and North America, where no such qualities as those ascribed to it by the Chinese are recognized, Nat. Cycl. COMMEKCE, INDUSTRY. m France employed about thirty vessels, of good agr^Tcgate tonnage. Almost all these vessels belonged to the shippers of La Kochelle, and traded thence. The author of " Considerations on the State of Canada during the War of 1755,"* estimated the value of the exports at 2^ millions ; and that of the imports at 8 millions. The superior amount of the latter was owing, chiefly, to the provisions, muni- tions of war, &c., supplied during years of hostilities at the cost of the mother country, much of which were wasted, and more embezzled. The imports, for private account, included wines and other liquors, groceries, iron-wares, pottery, articles of clothing and personal adornment, with a multitude of small luxuries.f Importing to Canada, in those times, was not so gainful as it might at first sight appear ; for, although only a part of what was needful, really or pretendedly, for the royal service, was supplied direct from France, the rest was purchased at Quebec or Mon- treal. Instead of competition by. public contract, the charge of supplying what was wanted always fell, by secret confederacy with the higher functionaries, civil and military, into the hands of a furnishing association, known publicly by the too respectable name of the " grand company " ; which was found, as if by riiagio provided in advance with all that could be asked fbrj and as the associators bought largely in favorable markets, while they obtained themselves a discount of 15 to 20 per cent., they afterwards, having in most cases bought up all that private dealers could supply, were • Collection of documents, possessed by the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec. t M. Garneau says, that, " luxury (outward show ?) was ever great ia Canada, compared with the extent of its riches." And Pere Charle- voix, writing of Quebec, in 1720-1, remarks, "Society here, composed mostly of military ofiBcers, and noblesse, is extremely agreeable ; no- where is the French language spoken in greater purity. But under a gay exterior is concealed a very general poverty. The residents, while they admit that their English neighbours love to accamulate wealth, con- sole themselves by reflecting that the possessors are quite i^ torant how best to enjoy it. They (the Canadians), on the contrary, understand thoroughly the most elegant and agreeable modes of spending money, but at the same time are greatly at a loss how to obtain it." — B. v* -l 94 HISTORY OP CANADA. •»(• enabled to re-sell to his Majesty's agents the articles required, at 25 to 80, even 150 per cent, profit. Manufactures of woven stufis made but slow progress in New France, the policy of the governments both of France and Bri- tain discountenancing all attempts of their American colonists to fabricate any stuflEs or wares for themselves which the mother countries could supply. M. Talon broke through this system to some extent. He stimulated the culture of hemp to supply cor- dage. And, by him, some parties must have been set at work to make the colony self-dependent for homespun stuffs at leaat ; as, in lo71, he wrote to Colbert, that he had caused dru^et, coarse camlet (bouracan), bolting-cloth {etamine), serge, woollen cloth, and leather, to be manufactured in Canada ; adding, " I have, of Canadian make, wherewithal to clothe myself from head to foot." In 1705, Madame de Repentigny span cotton thread, some English prisoners having instructed her ; but no extension could be given at that time to any species of manufacture, aa prohibition against it then ran very strong. In 1716, however, some relaxation was permitted, by royal order, to give temporary employment to the poor. This permission was immediately turned to account. Looms were set up for weaving woollen and other stuffs in every house, and even in the mansions of the seigneurs. Since that epoch, our rural populations have had abundance of vesture made by themselves, suited for all seasons. About 1746, in war- time, salt being scarce, M. Perthuis was charged to erect salt-works at Kamouraska ; but after having served their turn, they were abandoned. In earlier times, salt was made in Canada, but where or to what extent seems to be unknown. In 1721, a kind of admiralty tribunal was annexed to the customs department at Quebec. Its judgments were based on the royal ordinance of 1681, and " the Code Miohaux." In the same year, an ordinance warranted the opening of a merchant's exchange {bourse) at Quebec, and another at Montreal. In 1721, posting began for the first time. Intendant Bdgon granted to M. Lanouiller a monopoly of the posts for twenty years, between Quebec and Montreal. The carriage of letters was to be charged, by a table of fixed rates, according to distance. In 1689, it was proposed to introduce negroes to the colony. ^ ■.• COMMERCE, INDUSTKY. '■ ' 95 The French ministry thought the climate unsuitable for such an immigration, and the project was given up. Thus did Canada happily escape the terrible curse of negro slavery.* As we have already said, Quebec was the Canadian entrepot ; and the merchants' stores were all in the lower town. The usual time of sending freights from France was late in April, or early in May. As soon as they arrived at Quebec, dealers repaired thither to make their purchases. Portions of the goods were put into barges, and sent forthwith towards Trois-Rivi^res and Mont- real, where the chief Quebec houses had agencies. A premium was allowed on payments in peltry. The country people came, twice a • By a stipulation in the treaty of Montreal, the colonists were to be " allowed to retain their slaves," a proof that such human chattels ex- isted ; and enslaved blacks were to be found her j and there in Canada till the present century. Sir L. H. Lafontaine last year (1859) investigated this matter; and from the published report of his inquiries, it appears that in 1799-1800, "the citizens of Montreal presented requisitions to Parlia- ment, tending to cause the legislature to vindicate the rights of masters over their slaves. The applicants invoked in favour of their demand an ordinance rendered by Jacques Baudot, 8th inteudant, dated April 13, 1709, which edict was, they urged, in force when the definitive treaty of peace T?as signed, and, by consequence, formed part and parcel of the laws, usages, and customs of Canada, recognised by the Act of Quebec. Three bills, on the subject, were introduced, in 1800, 1801, and 1803 ; but none of them passed. Since that time," says Sir L. H., " no local legisla- tion sanctioned this matter ; and, if the act of the Imperial Parliament of 1797 had the effect of abolishing slavery in the Briiveih. plantations, these would of course include Canada." But the act in question, 37 Geo. Ill, c. 119, did and could have no such effect. It only enacted, that ne- groes could not be taken in execution as chatties for the debts of their masters, as had previously been the case, in His Majesty's American colonies. That the " domestic instigation," as 'the Americans call black slav- ery, was legally recognised in Canada is plain, from an ordinance of intendant Hocquart, dated 1736, regulating the manner of emancipating slaves in Canada. At the conquest, as M. Garneau owns, there were a few slaves in the Province ; but adds, that slavery " then increased for an instant, only to disappear for ever." The fact is, that if the British Act of emancipation passed in 1833 [7 W. 4, c. 79J set no slaves free, this was due solely to the accident that they had ceased to be profitable to keep. — B. f. \*. ♦; ,"! I' l^r i ■ ! 96 HISTORY OF CANADA. year, to the towns to supply their wants. For many years, so obstructed or tardy were the communications between Quebec and Ilontreal, that imported commodities were 50 per cent, dearer at the latter than the former city. With the exception of wine and brandies, upon which already a duty of ten per cent, was paid, and Brazil tobacco, taxed 5 sous per lb., no other article was dutiable in Canada till 1753 ; when most other merchandise, imported or exported, was taxed 3 per cent. But exceptions were made, even then, in favour of certain produce, to encourage industry and trade. Restrictions on Canadian com- merce, under French domination, chiefly tended to exclude foreign competition. After 1753, rum (guildive) was taxed 34 livres a tun [barrique) ? wine ten livres, brandy 24 livres a keg (velt). Dry goods were variously taxed, probably ad valorem. The customs produced, ordinarily, ner rly 300,000 livres a year. No system of bonding existed ; which was a great aetriment to both importers and buyers, the former having to pay customs and duties on arrival of the commodities. Coined money was scarce at all times, in the colony. The poor expedient of varying its nominal value, of course always failed to keep it in the country, from which it was continually passing, as it produced little, and exported nothing, in early times. In J 670, the Company of the Indies were permitted to coin small silver money to the amount of 100,000 livres. In two years' time, this specie, intended at first for the French Antilles, had currency in all parts of New France, and was rated at 25 per cent, above its intrinsic worth. This heighting did not keep it long in circula- tion, or it gradually took wing, as other specie had done before, and never returned. The colonial government then began its issues (in 1685) of paper mobey, to pay the troops and defray other state expenses. This paper (a kind of exchequer-bills, but not paying interest) was preferred for a time to such coin as was then to be had ; but the royal revenues in France, (anticipated foy several years by the cost of the " glories " of Louis XIV,) and the drafts drawn on the colony not being always duly honoured at the treasury in Paris, the colonial paper-money fell into such dis- credit that the holders offered to exchange it against half its no- COMMERCE, INDUSTRY. minal value in specie. As we have already seen, Chevalier de Vaudreuil made an arrangment with the Regency, by which 3-8th8 of real value instead of 2-4ths (the amouit asked) were secured to the holders of the colonial paper.* The colonists having suffered this pocket depletion in return for their confidence in courtly promises-to-pay, parted with no more of their money's-worth but for specie, which passed from hand to hand at its value as uncoined bullion ; this, of course, was an in- convenient but not ruinous system. It did not last long, how- ever ; for specie gradually becoming scarcer than before, doubt- less from the like causes, card-money, abolished in 1717, was again had recourse to. The cards bore the royal arms of France, and were signed by the governor-general, the intendant, and the con- troller. They were of 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 livres; of 7, 10, and 15 sous ; some, as low as 6 deniers (three farthings each).f The total issue was four million livres, or about £200,000 sterling. '* When this amount," says Raynal, "became insuffie ?nt for the public wants, the intendant was permitted to discharge state obli- gations with transferable bills, signed by himself only, and with- out limit as to the quantity. The nominal values of these ranged between 1 and 100 livres. These circulated in the colony every year till October came. Then they were converted into bills of exchange, to be cashed at the treasury in Paris. But the quantity so accumulated, that, in 1743, the French finances being embar- rassed,' their redemption had to be deferred. An unfortunate war, which broke out two years afterwards, greatly added to the amount of undischarged bills, while it lowered the exchangeable value of all. Commodities rose to a ransom price for those who could pay only in currency. As war expenditure had to be maintained in the colony, the amount of paper issues had become astounding, by the year 1759, when the finance minister declined to pay any more of the colonial bills of exchange till their origin and proper value • This was, in commercial parlance, " a composition of Ts. 6d. in the pound ; " a state bankruptcy, in short. — B. t This is not the smallest French paper-money ever known. The translator has, among his numismatic curiosee, four l-centime pieces card- money, received in pontage change for a sou ; but such have only a local circulation. — B. Vol. II.- II . .• • 98 HISTORY OP CANADA. I I Wti k: , i could be ascertained and tested." Kaynal adds, that " the yearly expenses of the French government, on Canadian account, which reached 400,000 francs in 1729, and before 1749 never exceeded 1,700,000 livres, knew no bounds after that epoch." During the latter years of French domination, there was great confusion in the monetary circulation of Canada. For a time the card-money was preferred to the intendant's notes, as being most readily exchangeable ; by and by the credit, or rather discredit, of both, was equal. Generally, purchasers who paid in specie had a discount of 16 to 20 per cent. : and the discrepancy in the relative worth of coin and paper would have been greater, but for the loss of specie when transmitted to a distance, through wrecks, capture, or other mischances. / ' [To dilate further* on the commercial relations, internal or ex- ternal, of a country thus almost destitute of a reliable circulating medium, would be merely to string empty phrases together. When nations, or dependencies that they cannot properly maintain, are sinking into insolvency, with its attendant unbridled corruption of their administrators, .he first are on the brink of a revolution, the second ready to fall into the hands of a new suzerain. The loss of New France was the harbinger of successive overturnings in the mother country, the latest of which we have seen, but the last of which no man can safely predict.] • Several of the author's speculations on the subject, but none of his facts, have been suppressed or abbreviated. It is right to add, that for the above sommation of all, he is not answerable.— JB. •> v :••,. • :' ,.,,.;, .,.,.>; . - ■■ ■ ■;--,",-' .- ■^■{f * f.t«' m\y. .taA-Ai"' -i ■ v^'iMnist Mdt CHAPTER II. LOUISBOURO. 1744-1748. M ,'1 I: :i - 4T. Coalitions of European powers for and against thj empress Maria- Theresa, which eventuate in a war between France and Britain.— First hostilities in America. — Cape Breton ; Louisbourg, and its de- fensive works. — Expedition of Duvivier to Oanso, &c. — Governor Shirley proposes to attack Louisbourg. — His plans disapproved of by the council, but welcomed by the people of Now England, and adopt- ed. — Colonel Pepperel and admiral Warren, with land and sea forces, invest the place. — Mutiny in the garrison. — Mr. Vaughan makes a bold and successful night assault, anddetroys garrison stores. — Capi- tulation of Louisbourg ; the settlers taken to France.— Project for invading Canada. — The duke d'Anville's expedition, and the work cut out for it to perform. — Of the disasters which attended it from first to last ; the duke dies of chagrin, and his successor in command kills himself. — M. de Ramsay menaces Annapolis. — Part of his men attack and defeat colonel Noble and a corps of New-Englanders, at Grand- Pr6-aux-Mines. — The American frontiers invaded in many places, and the country ravaged.— ^ea-fight near Cape Finisterre, and another at Belle-Isle ; the French defeated in both. — Count de la Galissoniere appointed interim governor of New France ; the previous nominee, M. Jonqjuiere, being a prisoner in England. — Troubles vith the Midmis.— Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, and its conditions. — Conciuding reflections on the past war. France and Britain were now on the evi of war,* chiefly for the good pleasure of the German king o ' the latter, aa the chief of a petty continental principality, who set about trimming what was called the " balance of power in Euro^^e." This had been deranged, it appeared, by the part which the French king had taken against the Empress Theresa, when a coalition was formed against her, by Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, &c. in Germany, with Spain and Sardinia. In January 1745, a treaty of alliance was signed • The editor is responsible for much of this abridged chapter also ; having called in other authorities, British and American, as well as M. Garneau's, to illustrate the subject.— .B. 100 HISTORY OF CANADA. between thcEmpresH (already at war with the French), the king of Great Britain, the kinp; of Poland, the elector of Saxony, and the United States of Holland, against Franco. As on former occasions, the colonial dependencies of the two great nations had perforce to go to war also, whether they under- stood the points in dispute which led to hostilities between their mother countries or not. There was also a "balance of power" between New France and New England, getting more and more difficult every year satisfactorily to adjust. Canada, however, like the snorting war-horse, seemed to scent the coming hostilities while yet distant ; for her administrators had already repaired and mu- nitioned nil the frontier posts, especially Fort St. Frederic, and Fort Niagara. The defensive works of Quebec, also, were aug- mented. Other demonstrations were made, about the same time, by the Canadian Government and its colonists, which showed that a continued state of peace with the British plantations was neither expected nor desired. After the belligerents were in full tilt in Europe, for the king of Britain and his favourite son* were battling, not with much honour to either, on that eternal fighting-ground, Flanders, there was no appearance, for a time, of either government sending any expedition against the North American dependencies of the other. France had a number of redoubtable European foes to contend with ; and parts of the British regular army were wanted, during this and the following year, to repress the second and last Jacobite rebellion. The natural result was, thj't, during its early stages, the war in America between the two rival races was carried on, almost entirely, without European aid. ^ In a few months after the declaration of war, the Americaa waters swarmed with French privateers. Several were equipped at Louisbourg, Cape Breton, with amazing dispatch, and made a great number of prizes, before vessels of war could arrive to pro- tect the British colonial shipping. Louisbourg became, in all respects, a kind of hornet's nest in regard of New England, its trade, and fisheries, which it was now determined to dig out if possible. « William Duke of Cumberland, defeated at Fontenoj, May 11, 1745. LOUISBOURO. 101 ' Moiinwhilo, M. Duquosnel, governor of Capo Breton, enlbari^o(l part of the garrison of Louiabourg with some militia, and made a descent upon the settlement of Canso, in Acadia, which ho burnt, and made the garrison and settlers prisoners of war. He then summoned Annapolis, but was deterred from investing it by the arrival of a reinforcement from Massachusetts. Du<(ue8nel re- turned to Louisbourg, where he died shortly thereafter. Governor Shirley had for some time conceived the project of taking posses- sion of Cape Breton ; now rightly regarded as the seaward bulwark of Canada, and a highly important post as a safeguard to the French fisheries and to American trade. The fortifications of Louis- bourg, the capital, even in their uncompleted state, had taken 25 years to construct, at a cost, it was reported, of 30 million livres (nearly £1,500,000 sterling). They comprised a stone rampart nearly 40 feet high, with embrazured for 148 cannon, had several bastions, and strong outworks; and on the land side, was a fosse fully four-score feet broad. The garrison, as reported afterwards by the French, was composed of 600 regulars, and 800 armed inhabi- tants, commanded by M. Duchambois. Upon tho same authority we may mention here, that at this time there were not more than 1000 soldiers in garrison, altogether, from the lower St. Lawrence to the eastern shore of lake Erie. Governor Shirley lost no time in applying for aid to carry out the plan above-mentioned to the British admiralty, and obtained a promise that Sir Peter Warren would be sent out with some ships of war to co-operate with a colonial land-force, if a suflScient amount of support could be raised. Having received this assurance, Shirley proceeded to unfold his conceptions to the members of the general court, first enjoining them to keep the mattev secret. After one or more deliberations on the subject, a majority of the court refused to concur in the project, as thinking it both costly and hazardous. The plan got wind, however, and was enthusiastically welcomed by the colonists generally : in a word, " the pressure from without " constrained the council of Massachusetts to give into the views of the governor. In a few weeks an army of 4,000 militia, levied in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Connecticut, were ready for action, under the guidance of a New England merchant, named Pepperel. •■* Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, upon learning that Barn- say's corps was so near Annapolis, and fearing that the French Acadians would join him in arms, sent to governor Mascareene to ta,ke measures to dislodge him. The latter asked for 1,000 men, to eflFect that end. Five hundred militia, under colonel Noble, were sent, who took up winter quarters at Grand-Pr^, in Les Mines, facing Ramsay's quarters, with the bay waters between ; intending to move against the Canadians i early spring. But before Noble could take the field, Ramsay sent a body of 300 Canadians and savages, under M. de Villiers, early in February 1747, around the head of the bay, a circuit of sixty leagues of snow and forest, to surprise the New-Englaij 'ers in their winter camp. On the morning of February 11, they arrived j and an obstinate f LOmSBOURG. 307 battle began, whicb lasted till 3 p.m. when, Noble being killed, and nearly half of his men killed or wounded, the rest took refuge in a blockhouse, but were soon obliged to surrender on terms. Beginning with the autumn of 1745, the frontiers of the Bri- tish plantations themselves were cruelly ravaged in twenty-seven successive raids of the Canadians during three years. Fort Mas- sachusetts, 15 miles above fort St. Frederic, surrendered to M. Rigaud ; who, with 700 colonists and savages, devastated the coun- try for fifty miles beyond. M. Come de St. Luc attacked fort Clin- ton, and signally defeated an American corps. Saratoga was taken, and its people massacred. Fort Bridgman was taken by De Lery. In a word, the frontier line, from Boston to Albany, being no longer tenable, the inhabitants fled into the interior, and left their lands at the discretion of the enemy. In Europe, during three years, the war against Britain was not carried on with so much success by the French. Two squadrons equipped, one at Brest, the other at Rochefort, early in 1747, for conveying transports and merchant ships bound for the depen- dencies of France in America and the East Indies, were, after their junction, encountered by a powerful British fleet, under admirals Anson and Warren, off Cape Finisterre, on the 3rd of May, and a great loss incurred. Six French men-of-war (all that there were present), with four armed Indiamen, were taken ; besides other vessels, jriohly laden with specie, merchandise, and warlike stores.* The marquis de la Jonqui^re was amongst the prisoners taken by the British on this occasion. ■ ■ In autumn of the same year (Oct. 14), commodore De I'Eten- dri^re Desherbiers, in command of a convoy of eight men-of-war and two frigates, charged to protect u French merchant fleet on its way to the Antilles, was encountered, when off Belle Isle, by the fleet of Sir Edward Hawke, who had fourteen sail of the line, and five smaller vessels, under his orders. The battle which ensued resulted • M. Garueau says, that " there were led to London 22 waggons loaded with ingots of gold and silver, and other precious eflfects taken from the fleet, the defeat of which deprived New France of potent succour." The precious metal then taken was freighted to India, (not Canada) ; the 22-waggon procession, mistakenly adverted to, took place in June 1744, being the rich freight of a Spanish galleon taken hj Anson. — B. ^ "if *•^\yi f i.J., ■ i«J, Itii '3-,>" yAr:oi '.^'^iu 'rjrfo ."■ws^,5r-i.i£2w''ii iiSfr CHAPTER III. THE FRONTIERS' COMMISSION. 1748-1765. The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle only a truce.— Britain profits by the ruin of the French war marine to extend the frontiers of her possessions in America.-M. dela Galissoniere governor of Canada.—His plans to hin- der the neighbouring colonies from aggrandising themselves, adopted by the court. — ^Pretensions of the British. — Rights of discovery and pos- session of the French.— The limitary policy of Galissoniere expounded and defended. — Emigration of the Acadians; part taken in their regard by that governor. — He causes several forts to be raised in the west ; founding of Ogdensburgh (1749). — The Marquis de la Jonquiere suc- ceeds as governor ; the French ministry directs him to adopt the policy of his predece. ••or.— De la Come and Major Lawrence advance to the Acadian isthmus, and occupy strongholds thereon ; i.e., forts Beause- jour, Gaspereaux, Lawrence, Dee Mines, &c. — Lord Albemarle com- plains, at Paris, of French encroachments (1749); reply thereto of - M. Puyzieulx. — The French, in turn, complain of British hostile acts OQ gea. The Acadians take refuge in St. John's (Prince Edward's) Island ; their miserable condition there.- -Foundation of Halifax, N.S. (1749). A mixed commission, French ano British, appointed to set- tle disputes about the frontier lines ; first conferences, at Paris, on the subject.— Pretensions of the parties stated and debated ; diflBcul- ties found to be insurmountable. — Affair of the Ohio ; intrigues of the British among the natives of the regions around that river ; intrigues of the French among those of the Five Nations. — Virginian trafiickers arrested, and sent as prisoners to France. — French and British troops sent to the Ohio to fortify themselves in the country. — The governor- general at issue with certain Demoiselles and the Jesuits. — His mortal illness, death and character (1752). — The Marquis Duquesne succeeds him.— Affair of the Ohio continued. — Colonel Washington marches to attack Fort Duquesne. — Death of Jumonville. — Defeat of Washington byM. de Villiers at Fort Necessity (1754).— Plan of the British to invade Canada ; assembly of Anglo-American governors at Albany. —General Braddock sent from Britain with an army to America.— Baron Dieskau arrives at Quebec with four battalions (1755). — Nego- ciations between the French and British governments on the Yron tier difficulties. — Capture of two French ships of war by admiral Bos- cawon. — France declares war against Great Britain. The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle was but a truce, hostilities scarcely ever ceasing in America. The British colonists had noted with great THE FRONTIERS' COMMISSION. Ill interest the struggle upon the ocean ; they had seen with much satisfaction the destruction of the last remnants of M. de I'Eten- dri^re's fleet in the battle of Belle Isle. In eflFect, the French ma- rine, once annihilated, what was to be the inevitable fate of the possessions of France beyond seas ? What was to become of the beautiful, the vast colonial system of so great a portion of the New World ? The Anglo- American colonials determined at once to extend their frontiers to the utmost. A trading association of influential men in Britain and her dependencies was formed, for occupying the val- ley of the Ohio. It was not for the first time that the British coveted the possession of that fertile and delightful country : from the year 1716, Spotswood, governor of Virginia, had proposed to purchase pans of that territory from the aborigines, and to estab- lish a traffic therein ; but the cabinet of Versailles opposing the project, it was abandoned.* Contemporaneously, the London newspapers announced that it was intended to extend, as far as the St. Lawrence, existing British settlements on the side of Acadia.f The agitation which was got up in these regards, only confirmed the French in their fears of some great movement of aggression on the part of their neighbours. M. de Galissoni^re, especially, shared in this sentiment. He was a distinguished marine officer, who, at a later time, became illustrious by a victory he gained over ad- miral Byng.J He was also active and enlightened as a civilian, and spent in scientific studies such leisure as his public duties allowed. He governed Canada only two years ; but he gave, dur- ing that brief time, a strong impulsion to its administration, and • Universal History, vol. xi. t Mimoire, S[c., by M. de Choiseul. t The " victory " was of a negative, not positive character. John Byng was sent, with ten ships of war, poorly manned, to relieve Minorca, when beleaguered with a strong land-force, by the French, in 1756. Falling in with a fleet of far superior strength, a running fight com- menced, when Byng, despairing of beating the enemy, drew oflF his ships, none of which were taken, or even seriously damaged. Still his sup- posed remissness in not capturing or destroying the French ships cost him his life, through an unjust sentence by court martial, osecuted March 11, Ilb1.-^B. •It 112 .;;i HISTORY OP CANADA. ;t ill n much good counsel to the French ministry, which, had it been fol- lowed, would have preserved our fine country to France. [?] On arriving at Quebec, M. de Galissoniiire desired to obtain in- formation regarding the poil, climate, produce, population, trade, and resources of the province. He turned his attention, at the outset, to the Frontier question, which could be no longer safely ignored. He fixed his regards, long and attentively, on the vast expanse of the French colonial possessions ; he noted their strong and their weak points ; he fathomed the projects of the British, and finished by convincing himself that the Acadian isthmus on the eastern side, and the AUeghanies on the western, were the two chief defences of French America. If the former were lost, the British would break bounds, penetrate to the St. Lawrence, and separate Canada from the sea. If the line of the Alleghany chain were abandoned, they would spread over the lake country, and the Mississippi valley ; thus isolate Canada on those sides, induce the savages to renounce their alliances with us, and confine the French to the foot of Lake Ontario. These results he deemed inevitable, having regard to the constant development the British colonies were undergoing. He wrote to the ministry, that the settlements on the Illinois, at first over-prized, had latterly been undervalued j that even although these made no pecuniary returns, they ought not to be abandoned, because they served to prevent the British from penetrating to the interior of New France. " The country once well settled," said he, "we should become redoubtable on the Missis- sippi side. If in the border war we had 400 or 500 well-armed men among the Illinois, not only should we have been undisquleted, but we should have led into the heart of the enemy's settlements the very tribes which have so often insulted us." France has been greatly blamed on account of the position she dared to assume in the frontier question ; she was even accused by some of her own sons of ambition and unreason {vivaciii), Voltaire went so far as to say, " such a dispute as that about the frontiers in America of the two colonising races, had it taken place between individuals, would have been settled in a couple of hours by arbitration :" a vain imagination on his part. An arrangement between two great Powers, involving the present possession and the future nationality of territories three or four times larger than THE FRONTIERS* COMMISSION. 113 France itself, and now teeming with millions of people, was a dif- ficulty of no such easy solution ; yet scarcely did the matter occupy the attention of the cabinet of Versailles at the time, except in the most superficial way. That of St. James's had thitherto abstained from formalising its pretensions in a precise or definite manner. It now manifested them, so to speak, in a negative form, by contesting the right of the French to establish themselves at Niagara and Crown-Point ; objecting, also, to the stay of the latter among the Abenaquis, after the treaty of Utrecht (1713) was signed. Whilst it declared to those savages that the territory between New England and the St. Lawrence waa Britain's, it kept ienoe on the point to the French governors, yet tried to vindicate ita pretensions in the sequel.* As for the western frontier, its silence was yet more expressive : for had it not recognized the nullity of its claim there- in, by refusing to sanction the formation of an Ohio Company, in 1716? But times were now greatly changed. The treaty of Utrecht gave Acadia to Britain. She now proclaimed that her province extended, on one part, from the river Kennebec to the sea ; on the other, from the Bay of Fundy to the St. Lawrence : she maintained that the territory between the Kennebec and Penobscot rivers extended backwards as far as Quebec and to the St. Lawrence, and that said territory always formed a portion of the province. It was finally affirmed that the true frontiers of Acadie or Acadia, following its olden limits, were: 1. A right line drawn from the embouchure of the Penobscot to the St. Lawrence. 2. The right bank of that flood and coast of its gulf to the sea, south-westward of Cape Breton. 3. The whole seaboard, from this point, to the embouchure of the Penobscot. Her commissioners even declared that the St. Law- rence was the natural and rightful line of demarcation between the possessions of the two races. « ■ ■! — — — ■-■■>,■■,■■■ — I .■■■■!■— . W ■»i«.>^IJB*«lM.^lll»l>«ll—WI»I W IP ■■■■■ ■..■■■■IIM I * A significant circumstance indeed I The Privy Council received, from the Board of Trade and Plantations, in 1713, even before the treaty of Utrecht, a Report, in which it was advanced, " that Cape Breton had always made part of Acadia 5" and that " Nova Scotia comprised all Aca- dia bounded by the rivers Sainte-Croix and St. Lawrence and the sea;" Minutes in the British Colonial-office, already cited in this volume. ;| Vol. II. — ^H ■i\ 114 HISTOKY OP CANADA. f The region thus reclaimed, outside of the Acadian peninsula, had fully thrice the extent of Nnva Scotia, and commanded the estuary of the St. Lawrence , ♦ is, the groat waterway of Canada, and the only passage to or froL province, seaward, in winter, — i. e. during five months of the year. The territory which Britain contested, as not being French, beyond the AUeghanics, was likely to be still more precious in coming times. The basin of the Ohio alone, down to its conflu- ence with the Mississippi, is not loss than 200 leagues in length. This territory, however, formed but a minor portion of a debate- able region, the limits of which had never been, indeed could not be defined : but it still involved an occult right to the pos- session of the immense countries, laid down in maps, between lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron, and Michigan ; the upper Mississippi and the Alleghany regions: countries in which now flourish the states of New York, Pennsylvania,Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois; and the lands on either side of Lake Michigan, between Lakes Huron and Michigan, and the Mississippi. Once give up these regions, and French Canada were separated from Louisiana by a long interspace, and completely mutilated. From the walls of Quebec and Mont- real, the British flag would have been ever discernible, floating in the breezes on the St. Lawrence. In fine, such sacrifices as were *,hen demanded implied a total abandonment of New France. In presence of such pretensions to the proprietorship of coun- tries discovered by Frenchmen, forming part and parcel of territory occupied by their descendants during a century and a half, what other duty devolved on M. de la Galissoni^re than that of asserting his nation's rights ? Every movement he directed on the frontiers would have been dictated by the necessities of the situation, even if he had not been convinced of their propriety in the abstract. But that was not all : article 9 of the treaty of 1748 positively stipulated, that " all things should be put on the same footing as they were before the war ;" and British hostages were sent to Versailles, to give personal security for the restitution of Louis- boui^. Now the French had always occupied the country up to the Acadian isthmus. The construction of fort St. John and the taking possession of Cape Breton immediately posterior to the treaty of Utrecht, were proceedings of public notoriety, indicative n—.H .aoY THE frontiers' COMMISSION. llfi of that occupation, the legitimateness of which appeared to bo re- cognized by the very silence of the Britl"'i ministry on the sub- ject, up to the time when the war which ensued thereafter was terminated ; for not till after the year 1748 did the governor of Nova Scotia, colonel Maskereene, attempt to oblige the settlers on the river St. John to swear fidelity to the British king, or appropriate their country.* After what wo have said, it is plain that M. de GalipsonifSro's duty bade him take measures to vindicate French rights, and he obeyed the call. He sent troops forward, and gave orders to repel, by force if needful, the British, should they attempt to quit the .peninsula of Nova Scotia and encroach on the continental terri- tory beyond. He also wrote to Maskereene complaining of his con- duct to the French settlers on the river St. John ; admonishing him likewise to cause the resumed hostilities against the Abena- quis to cease, as they had laid down their arms as soon as they knew of the pacification of 1748. These remonstrances gave rise to a series of pretty sharp letters, written by and to the marquis of La Jonqiiidre and governor Cornwallis ; the former being suc- cessor of Galissonnidre, the latter of Maskereene. •i So far the French governors-general stood on the firm ground of national right; but Galissonnidre conceived a project which was in no sense justiSable : it was to engage the Franco- Acadians to quit the peninsula in a body, and settle on the northern shores of the bay of Fundy ; the ultimate view of the instigator being, to form by their means a living barrier to south-eastern Canada, and collect the people of French race, thereabout dispersed, under closer protection of their country's flag. Such a proceeding, in the actual state of the relations subsisting between France and Britain, was culpable, as its tendency was to induce the subjects of a friendly power to desert ; for though the Acadians might rightly refuse, as catholics, to take oaths, or even assume a neutral part, in time of war, between French and British, they were none the less subjects of the king of Great Britain, in terms of the ' * Memorial of the Duke de Ghoiseul, prime minister ; anonjmoua Minoire sur let Affairet du Canada. .„,j ^ ivJ-iiuur »>; ,'-.*•; " I '41 '•Jl HMMMMaKI 116 HISTORY OF CANADA. treaty of Utrecht.* The French iLinistry, however, adopted the project of La Qalissonnidre, and set apart a largo sum of money to carry it out. The French miHHionaries in Acadia Bcoonded the polity of their mother country's rulers. P6re Germain at Port- Koyal (Annapolis), and the abbd de Laloutre, at Beaubattnin, made the greatest efforts to engage the Acadians to quit those hinds which formed their sole fortune. When the time arrived to leave forever the natal soil, under which their buried dead reposed, great hesitation and bitter regrets were ordinarily mani- fested by the outgoing French population of Nova Sootia. The emigration began in 1748. While the governor-general thus laboured to erect a newoolQuia^ bulwark, on the south-eastern side, (^inst British intrusion, he was no less busily engaged, on the western lines, in barring against it the entry of the upper Ohio region. The Ohio valley, covered by the grant of the Louisianian letters-patent of the year 1712, had always served as a French passage-way from the Mississippi to Canada. As British traders still persisted to traffic in that territory, the governor-general in 1748, sent M. C<51eron de Bienville, with 300 men, to expel them thence once fc all, and take formal possession of the country. Bienville set up, in different localities, limitary poles, and buried at their base leaden plates bearing the royal arms ; and, as he did so, caused jarocit-verbattx to be drawn up, signed, and read, of every such solemn transaction, in presence of the aborigines ; who, by the way, did not see it performed always without murmuring their dissent. That officer also wrote to the governor of Pennsylvania to inform him of what had been done, and asking him to prevent all persons within his jurisdiction from trading, for the future, beyond the Alleghany line ; adding that he (Bienville) was com* missioned to arrest all such interlopers, and confiscate their goods. Meanwhile Galissoni^re garrisoned Detroit, reconstructed a fort at Green Bay, formerly dismantled by De Ligneris during hia expedi- tion against the Outagamis), ordered a fort to be raised among the Sioux, another (of stone) at Toronto, and a third at la Presenta- tion (Ogdensburgh), on the right bank of the St. Lawrence, * Not to mention a legally prescriptive, if only tacit allegiance, of nearly two-score years' duration.— j9. m THE flt^NtieRS* COHMlMlOy. 117 between Montreal and Frontenac (Kin^Rton), in order to be within reach of the Iroquoin, whom ho wiahod to put entirely in the French interest. These savages had sent, late in 1748, a numer- ous deputation to Canada, to protest anew that they had not oeded their lands, that their indopundenoe was intact, and their wish was to live in peace with both French and British. — The condition of the Canadian trained bunds {milice) had also occupied the attention of the governor. Upon his arrival in the country, he gent the chevalier P«5an to review the militiamen of every parinh, and to draw up exact muster-rolls of their number. Their total numerical strength at that time might be from 10,000 to 12,000. While M. de la Galissonidre was thus engaged in giving some solidity to the frontier barriers, the marquis de la Jonquidre arrived (late in August, 1749) to replace him, in virtue of his commission of 1746. Galissonidre communicated to his successor all the know- ledge he had himself obtained of the state of the Franco- American possessions ; and confided to him every plan and intent he thought befitting for their safety and retention. After returning to France, this now ex-governor of Canada was even thoughtful for the well- being of New France. He recommended, among other needful measures for its safety, that the French ministry should send out 10,000 peasants, to people the lake-board and upper valley of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi. At the close of the year 1750, he sent in a memorial, intimating that if there was a lull in British jealousies aa regarded Europe, there was none in their Anglo- American polity. He advised that Canada and Louisiana should be generally fortified ; and, above all, that the Freneh should settle down finally in the environs of Fort Frederic (Lake Champlain), and at the posts of Niagara, Detroit, and Illinois. M. de la Galissoni^re did not live till the evil days supervened which he anticipated. Charged, in 1756, to transport land-forces to Minorca, for the siege of Port-Mahon, his fleet was met, in returning, by admiral Byng's squadron; when he forced the British, after a brilliant action, to flee before him.* — He did not long survive his victory. Always delicate in bodily constitution, he undertook his last expedition only from an over-sense of duty, and against the advice of bis physicians, who foretold that the See ante, p. Ill, note.— £. lis ,Y, HISTORY OF CANADA, mr f»tiguos ho must undergo would kill hiiu. Aooordingly, Ootober 20, 1750, huviiig halted at Noiuoura, on lu8 way to Foutainobloau, witoro ho\xM XY tbon was, ho died. Tho king, who had uot ovou ooutbrrod upon him tho grado of vioo-aduiiral, aiWward» alleged (but hiH assortion iu»;y be doubted) that he had called \\i» diH!uu8od servaut to court, to make him a marshal of Frauoo. His louD was much folt in the Fi^Mioh royal marine ; by the sailors u>on> i>speoially, whose tUl'tHJtions ho gained by attending to their iutoresUs witli paterntU affection and kind reganl. llis administrative and sciontifio ttilents even surpassed his ge- nius for active war. The former shono conspicuously in New France ; and while he was militiiry commandant at Kochefort, when tl»e commissariat of rmrino (office for charts, plans, Ac.) was organ- ised, ho had tho direction of that establishment, — Men of soienae lost a bn>thor by his decease ; for he was a devoted student of natural history, being especially attached to (hose departments of know- ledge most contributing to man's well-being. Thus, whatever foreign localities he visited, Iko endowed with tho most usef\il plants of Old Franco, and rendered to her, in exchange, whatever was likely to enrich fn>m the New, and other parts abroad. — La Giilissonii^re had a great heart and a beautiful mind, seated in a mean body ; for he was both low in staturo and delbrmed in person.* The p!«ns of Galisaoniire might have boon successfully pur- sued, had they not seemed to his successor to be too daring. In effect, M. de la JoutiuiiNro, probably distrustful of the court, dii not think tit to adopt all of them, nogleoting more especially those relating to Acadia, from a fear of giving umbrage t«> Britain ; whoso connnis-Moners had repaii-ed to l*aris, in view of settling the frt>ntier difficulty. Uis prudence in this regard was stigmatized at Paris, as timidity ; and an order sent to him not to abandon a country which France had ever possessed. The chevalier de la Come, who commanded on tlie Acadian border, was oharginl to prepare and fortify a locality on the hither side oi' tiie peninsula, for tho reception of tho expatriated inhabitants of Nova Scotia. At tirst ho chose (Jhediao, on the Uulf ol*8t. Lawrf^nooj buthoatW- Maritime History of thmce, by Liou Guirln. THE FRONTIERS* COMMISSION. 119 wards quitted that plaoe booause it was too remote, and took up a position at Chipodi, betwoon bays Vorto and Chignwtou. Gov- ernor CornwalUs, pretondin^ that his province oomprehondod not only the puninsula pro})or, but xta isthmus, tlie mu>thorn shores of th^ bay of Fundy, and the St. John, sent Major Lawnnioo, in spring 1750, with 400 soUliors, to expel thenoo the French and savages ; with orders, also, U) seiw any sliips found on their way laden with supplies for the Acadian ryAij»oes. At Ids approach, the lUido iuhabitAnts of Beaubtuisin, en(x>uraged by their missionary, set tiro to Umt village, and retired wit'- tlieir wives and children behind Uio neighbouring river which falls into Chigneotou bay. Never did oolonists show more devotedness to a father-land. Do laCorne came up with his forces, planttnl the French standard on tlio right bank of that river, and declartnl to Lawrence that his orders wore to defend U»e passage, pending the frontiers' nogooiation then in pntgrt^ss. Thus obstructed, the mt^or returned to Beaubassin ; and, upon the smoking ruins of the village, erected a fort (atlor- warda called Fort Lawrence); he also raised another, at Les Alinea. The French, on their side, oonstrueted Fort Boaust^jour, on Fun- dy bay, and that of Gaspnroaux on baie Verte, in the Lauren tian Gulf; they also fortified their settlements on the river St. John. Those things aooomplished, the two parties [ostensibly] left all else in abeyance, waiting the result of the Paris conforenct\ ' At this time, Lord Albemarle wa^ resident British ambassador at the French court. By ordci-s sent from London, he wrote, ill 1750, to the maroth were parts of Canada ; that France had always possessed them ; and, that, as the British had meuMHul the people there, La JonquiiNre, without wtiiting for instructions from the ministry, had felt it to be his duty to send a force for their pn>tection, July 7, his Lordship renewed his remonstranotw on the subject. The French, he wrote, had invaded all that piurt of Nova Sootia lying betwotm tho river of Chignectou and that of St. John ; tlmt they had burnt Boaubiissin, aftorwiirds arming and brigading its inhabitantc la Oorne and I'l^re do Luloutit> had invited tho Franoo-Acadians to t^uit their country, partly by moans of pro- y their invasions repaired or compensated. Upon these grave accusations being made, an order was given to write withotit delay to the governor of Canada, fw a precise aeoonnt of what had really been done. " If any of our French people," wrote M. de RotiilM, "have committed the excesses complained of^ they merit pnnishment* and the king will make an example of them." In September, a memorial was sent to Lord Albemarle, replying to the British complaints, containing a narration of the movements of Lawrence and those of La Corne respectively, as w^l as an account of their intwview. In 1751, it became the duty of the cabinet of Yer- sailles to complain in its turn. It represented that British vessels of war had captured, in the lower Qulf of St. Lawrence, certain French vessels, among them those carrying provisions to the troops stationed on the coasts of Fundy bay. The British Biiuistry making no satisfactory reply to this charge, La Jonquil, in re- {H'isal, caused to be seised in I'Isle Boyale (Louisbourg harbour) three or four British vessels^ and confiscated them. >^: > Meanwhile, mcnre than 3^000 Aoadians passed into Isle St. John (Prince Edward's island), and to the seaboard of Fundy Bay. The failure of the year's «rop, and the incidents of war, caused a famine among the pec^e, which never ceased till Canada wa» conquered; but the sufferings there^om did not prevent their emi^tions, which were quickened by the arrival of 3,800 colon- ists from Britain, at Chibouctou, to found Halifax, in 1749. The Aoadians, whose place the ktttw in some measure took upy directed their wandering stepo to Quebec, to Madawaska^, 'to any place that was pointed out as being likely to receive them, so it were quite beyond the reach of British domination. This extra- ordinary flight testified to the despotism and injustice of the BritiBh government, which revenged itself for the desertion of the til;! THE FftONTIEBS' COMMISSION. 101 fugitives upon those Acadians who still remained in the peninsula^ and greatly influenced the dispositions of the war. So many difficulties had induced the two courts to nominate the commission provided for by the treaty of Aix-larChapelle : it was that of France which took the initiative. Her fears had been aroused by the warlike preparations making in Britain ; and by the debates in Parliament, regarding a proposal by Mr. Obbs* to foster the fur trade in Hudson's Bay, and for extending the Anglo-American frontiers far into the heart of Canada. The court of Versailles, in June 1749, remitted to that of St. James a me- morial, wherein were detailed French rights over the territories in dispute, and proposed that a commission should be appointed to fix amicably the proper limits of the North American colonies of the two nations. The proposal was at once accepted.f The commissioners assembled in Paris : they were, Messrs. Shirley, and Mildmay, on one part ; Messrs. de la Galissoni^re and De Silhouette on the other. Both Shirley and Galissoni6re had been American governors themselves. Besides attending to the regu- lation of Acadian limits, the commissioners were charged to settle doubts which had arisen regarding French and British rights over certain Caribbean Islands ] namely, St. Lucia, St. Domingo, St. Vincent, and Tobago. ^' One of the chief conditions stipulated in appointing this com- mission was, that no innovation should take place in the debate- able territories while it was in existence, but all things to remain as they were when it was formed, until its decision on every disputed point should be given. J The operations of De la C >rne and Major Lawrence, the construction of forts on the Acadia . isthmus, were severally recognized for violations of existing treaties by the two courts, while each proclaimed its " sincere desire to preserve * From «rhat regioti in the political planetary system did Monsieur " Obbs " drop ? — We never heard of the rising of this " bright particu- lar star " before. We humbly hint that the story ia all a myth, "a weak invention of the enemy." — B. t Memorial of the Britannic Court, of July 24, lT49. t liUmoire de M. de Choiseul, " containing a summary of facts, with corroborative documents, serving as a reply to the Observations sent by the British Ministry to the several European Courts." """' "ll nst i r- . -rfn 122 HISTORY OP CANADA. !f|Tf peace ; and both assured the world of European diplomacy that they had sent orders to their respective colonial governors to stand-atrease, as it were, and drop all further hostile proceedings for the time. The commissioners, at great length, brought to view the pre- tensions of their countrymen. Great Britain reclaimed all the territory situated between the Laurentian Gulf, the Atlantic, and a line drawn from that flood to the Kennebec river, following a parallel due north ; while France would not admit of her right even to the whole Acadian peninsula, since a, French claim was put in for the whole southern seaboard of the bay of Fundy — all except the town and harbour of Port-Royal (Annapolis), which, it was allowed, were Britain's, because ceded to her specifically by the treaty of Utrecht. A mere glance at a map of the localities suffices to show that the pretensions on each side were the most antagonistic possible. Besides the present Nova Scotia, the coun- tries demanded by the British now form a great part of the Amer- ican state of Maine, all New Brunswick, besides a large slice of Lower Canada and Cape Breton, with islands adjacent. When the claims on each side were brought under review together, small hope indeed of an accommodation could be entertained. The repre- sentatives of the two contending powers enumerated and exhibited the titles by which each party trusted to justify its respective demands. They rummaged the records of Acadia and Canada, from the times of their discovery and settlement till the latest date. Both litigants strove to corroborate their eases by collateral documents tending to prove them, but only citing such so far as the matter they contained served or dis-served each their own or their adversaries' reclamations. This clashing of pretensions lasted, at first continuously, then fitfully, and at last very languidly, during five mortal years; and nothing tangible came of the prolonged confer- ences but three gross volumes of memorials for text, with docu- mentary appendices attached; the reading through which taly perplexed the ministries of both nations, or served to confirm in their minds a belief in the validity of the pretensions of their own several countrymen. Meantime the coming war was not for a ^moment retarded in its onward course, when once Britain had completed all her preparations for it. n^^ yrjj ^j m-" THE FRONTIERS' COMMISSION. |i 123 'AH the while, if the movements which imperilled peace were suspended during the years of conftrence, encroachments continued in the valley of the Ohio ; and while Europe was expecting war to break out on account of the Acadian border difficulty, it was des- tined to arise first, contrary to the prescience of home politicians, out of the contested limits of Louisiana. M. de la Jonqui^re had followed up, in obedience to court in- structions, the plan Galissoniire had traced for preventing the British from penetrating into the region of the Ohio. Despite all previous warnings and after protestations, the authorities of Pennsylvania and Maryland -rave " passes " to their fur-traders to traverse the Alleghanies, and excite the savage nations living beyond against the French ; distributing among their tribes arms, ammunition, and presents. Thrae of these interlopers were arrest- ed in 1750, and sent as prisoners to France. By way of reprisal, the British seized three Frenchmen, and sent them, under arrest, to the southward of the Alleghanies. These acts led to a corres- pondence between the Canadian and New York authorities, in 1751. Meanwhile, a fermentation existed among the savages of the Ohio country, and the French governor was obliged to send troops thereinto for the purpose of calming it. While the western barbarians were thus a prey to the hate- inspiritings of the Americans, those of the Five Nations were lending an ear to the advice of the French, who had come nearer to their country since the foundation of the missionary settlement at Fort Presentation, adverted to in a former page of this chap- ter. The abb^ Piquet had a great influence among their tribes. M. de Joncaire, he who founded Fort Niagara, was sent to live among them. The intent of the British, in advancing to the Ohio territory, was to engage the natives to expel the French thence ; while the aim of the latter, in approximating to the Iroquois' country, was to induce them to remain neutral if war arose, for they could hardly expect them to take up arms against their an- cient allies. Thus what was passing in Europe and America, between the two peoples, left little hope for a pacific result. Sundry writings were published in London, counselling the ministry to appropriate the Gallo- American dependencies, before the French should be • ■*:• •'-•^"■'•-'■'■■- — u 194 HISTORY OP CANADA. Able to re-oonetitute their royal marine. In 17B1, M. de Jon- qui^re began to receive, from France, warlike munitions, with corps of marines and reornite to replace his invalided soldiers. He strengthened the garrison of Detroit, and sent M. Villiers to re- lieve M. Raymond, then commanding in the lake country, who had sent intelligence that all things were in disorder there, and that the southern tribes of the region were siding with the British. *• The governor-general was now touching the term of his career, the last days of which were troubled by pitiful quarrels with the Jesuits. These fHars were accused of trafficking at their mission of Sault St. Louis, under the covering name of the Misses De- sauniers, and df sending the beaver-skins thereat obtained to Albany for sale. Their example was followed by others ; and the resident director of the "West India Company had long complained of these misappropriations, which he regarded as done in breach of the Company's privil^s. The result was that a royal order was sent to remedy the alleged contravention, and the governor- general shut up the Pesauniers' establishment. It was not long before he felt the vengeance of the Jesuits. They wrote against him to the ministry, accusing him of monopo-^ lising the fur traffic of the upper countr}', and of tyrannizing over the dealers through his secretary, to whom he had transferred the right of signing licenses to supply the savages with strong drinks ; finally, he was charged with giving the best public employments to his own connexions and creatures. The aggrieved traffickers, who would not have ventured to prefer such accusations, sustained them when made. The concurring testimony of interested clerics and laics drew upon La Jonquidre the animadversions of the min- istry. Being called on to reply to the accusations preferred, he affected to ignore them, and made a pompous enumeration in- stead, of his public services ; insinuating that they had been poorly recompensed, and finished by demanding his reoal. Before that could arrive, his bodily powers, severely affected by mental irrita- tion, and impaired by age and the fatigues of an over-active career, seemed to give way at once. May 17, 1752, he expired at Quebec ; and his remains were laid, shortly thereafter, beside those of De THE PR0NTIEB8' COMMISSION. 126 Frontenao and De Vaudreuil, deceased governors of New Franoe, who, like him, had died in gubernatorial harnefls. This ante-penultimate chief of the colony was born, about 1686, in the oh&teau of La Jonquidre, Languedoc: the family was of Catalonian origin. He served in the War of the Succession, assisted in the reduction of the Cevennes,* and in the defence of Toulon against the Savoyards. He had accompanied Duguay-Trouin to Rio-Janeiro, and fought along with La Bruydre-de-Court against Admiral Matthews, in 1744. France lost in him one of the ablest of her naval officers. He was of an indomitable spirit in action ; a precious quality at a time when the war-marine of France was overmatched in physical strength by that of her rival. His person was well formed ; but he was low in stature. He had an imposing air ; but his mental acquirements, it is said, were not great. He tarnished his reputation by an inordinate love of wealth ; and his avarice laid him open at last, after accumulating a large fortune, to attacks which hastened his death. He caused several of his nephews to come to Canada, to enrich themselves under his protection. Not being able to procure an adjutancy for one of them as he wished, (Captain de Bonne^Miselle), he gave him a seigniory and a monopoly of the fur-trade at Sault Sainte-Marie. Although possessed of miUions, he denied himself, it may be said, the veriest necessaries of life even in his last moments. [At one time, he wished to introduce printing to the colony, but merely to save repetitive transcriptions in the public offices, and effect a pecu- niary saving thereby.] Baron de Longueil now administered ac2 interim, for the second time, the province, till the arrival of the new governor<^eneral, the Marquis Duquesne de Menneville, in 1752. The latter was a cap- tain in the royal marine, and had been recommended by M. de Ga- lissoniSre. He was descended from the greater Duquesne, grand- admiral of France under Louis XIV. His instructions were to follow up the policy of his two immediate predecessors. War was now become imminent. The Canadian militia were called out and exercised. Discipline ha^ been sladciHied in the colonial troops ; Duquesne made great efforts to re-establish it. He wrot© * That is, he actively persecuted the French Protestants in the gouth, thrusting them oat with fire and sword.— JB. •< 126 HISTORY OF CANADA. to the minister that these corps were badly constituted; that they contained many deserters and bad characters. " Their want of discipline," he observed, was quite astounding; adding, " this arises, from the impunity allowed to their gravest infractions of duty." But the materials were not so bad, after all ; for, in about twenty months, the men became obedient and yet spirited soldiers. His reforms, however, raised a violent opposition to him, headed by the intendant, Bigot, who was in this, as in many other cases, the evil genius of Canada. " He sent to the minister of marine," recounts M. Dussieux, "the biiu'est complaints against the governor. ' The Marquis Duquesne,' he wrote, * ba- nishes people from the colony, without form of process, or making any inquiry, or consulting the intendant.' Bigot speaks of two mutinous militiamen : the governor kept them in a dungeon for seven months and then banished them. As for them. Bigot adds that being subject to martial law, he says no more ; but Duquesne has exiled a colonist from Detroit for having trafficked with the savages against the commandant's orders; Bigot deplores such severity. The militia training is carried too far, he observes : tillage is neglected, the cultivators being always under arms."* The works at Beaus^jour were strengthened ; troops were moved towards the Ohio, whither Bigot wished 2,000 men to be sent and three forts raised, with seve-al magazines for stores ; necessary pre- cautions, he said, for assuring to the French the possession of that country. The troops took the route thither, in 1753, under the orders of M. P^an. The British armed colonials, also, b^an to move in the same direction. The aborigines, courted by both parties, knew not what side to take ; while they were surprised and disquieted, on seeing bodies of soldiers, with artillery and munitions of war, invading their forest solitudes. Fort Presqu'tle and Fort Ma- chault were erected, by the French, between lake Erie and the Ohio. It was then that M. Le Gardeur de St. Pierre, who com- manded on that border, was warned to retire by the governor of Virginia ; who directed, on his part, the colonial troops to move ^ * Letter of August 28, 1763, in the Archives of the French Marine ; Le Canada sous la Domination Frangaise. y^ tmi'f unlHoHi THE frontiers' COMMISSION. ]/ J27 nch Marine ; towards the Allt^hanies. Taking no heed of these notifications of the British, M. de Contrecoeur, who was sent to replace St. Pierre, advanced with 600 to 600 men, and caused a small fort to he evacuated which captain Trent had raised on his route. Having reached the banks of the Ohio, he b^an the construction of Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh) in 1756. All the chiefs of the French posts in the r^ion had orders to purchase the goodwill of the sa- vages thereof by presents ; garrisons were placed in Forts Machault and Presqu'ile ; transport vessels were built on the lake-board of Erie and Ontario ; and the governor of Louisiana was directed to engage the savages within his jurisdiction to join the French on the Ohio. Amidst these preparations, M, de Contrecoeur received intelli- gence that a large corps of British wasadvancing against him, led by colonel Washington. He forthwith charged M. de Jumonville to meet the latter, and admonish him to retire from what was French territory. Jumonville set out with an escort of 30 men : his orders were to be on his guard against a surprise, the country being in a state of commotion, and the aborigines looking forward for war ; accordingly his night campings were attended by great precaution. May 17, at evening-tide, he had retired into a deep and obscure valley, when some savages, prowling about, discovered his little troop, and informed Washington of its being near to his line of route. The latter marched all night, in order to come unawares upon the French. At daybreak, he attacked them sud- denly; Jumonville was killed, along with nine of his men. French reporters of what passed on the occasion, declared that a trum- peter made a sign to the British that he bore a letter addressed to them by his commandant ; that the firing had ceased, and it was only after he b^an to read the missive which he bore, that the firing re-commenced. Washington affirmed, on the contrary, that he was at the head of his column ; that at sight of him the French ran to take up arms, and that it was false to say, Jumonville announced himself to be a messenger. It is probable there may be truth in both versions of the story ; for the collision being precipitate, great confusion ensued. Washington resumed his march, but trem- blingly, from a besetting fear of falling into an ambuscade. The death of Jumonville did not cause the war which ensued, for that ••< 128 HISTORY OP CANADA. was already resolved on, but only hastened it. Washington pro- tseeded on his march ; but staid by the way to erect a palisaded fastness which he called Fort Necessity, on a bank of the Mo- nongahola, a river tributary to the Ohio ; and there waited for the arrival of more troops, to enable him to attack Fort Puquesne when he was himself assailed. Contreooeur, upon learning the tragic end of Jumonville, i-e- aolved to avenge his death at once. He put 600 Canadians and 100 savages under the orders of the victim's brother, M. de Vil- liers, who set out directly. Yilliers found, on his arrival at the scene of the late skirmish, the corpses of several Frenchmen ; and, near by, in a plain, the British drawn up in battle order, and ready to receive the shook. At Yilliers' first movement to attack them, they fell back upon some intrenchraents which they had formed, and, armed with nine pieces of artillery. Yilliers had to combat forces under shelter, while his own were uncovered. The issue of the battle was doubtful for some time ; but the Canadi- ans fought with 80 much ardour, that they silenced the British cannon with their musketry alone ; and cfter a struggle of ten hours' duration, they obliged the enemy to capitulate, to be spared an assault. The discomfited British engaged to return the way they came ; but they did not return in like order, for their retro- grade march was so precipitate, that they abandoned all, even their flag. Such were the inglorious exploits of the early military r jeer of the conqueror of American Independence. The victors, having raied the fort and broken up its guns, withdrew. War now appeared to be more imminent than ever, although words of peace were still spoken. Yilliers' victory was the first act in a great drama of 29 yeara^ duration, in which both Gi^t Bntain Aud France were destined to suffer terrible checks in America. What was the Frontiers' Commisuon, in sederunt at Paris, doing all this time ? " Whilst all the British colonists," said the Duke de Choiseul, *' wwe getting up a general movement for the inva- gion c^ Canada, in conformity to a plan formed in London, their patrons hern afieoted to be solely engaged, concurrently with our commissioners, in finding means to bring about a conciliation." But the duke and other French ministers were not to be duped in this way : they had marked well the British persistence of THE FRONTIERS* COMMISStOK. 1S9 intrusion as to the Ohio valloy ; and it woa owing to their previous invasions there, acoompaniod by perocptiblo agitation among its savage denizens, that the French cabinet, in 1742-3, sent troops to garrison a chain of posts extending from lake Erie to that river ; a measure followed up, in 1754, by thrusting Colonel Washington to the further side of the Alleghanies. The British government continued the Commission at Paris, merely to save appearances j at once mystifying the other European courts and lulling the apprehensions of that of France, which, in its state of decrepitude, was ill able to conjure the tempest of war just ready to burst. The greatest cause for inquietude, at this time, among the ministers of Louis XV, was the state of the royal finances. The treasury was empty ; and for some years past the cabinet begrudged the cost of retaining Canada as a French dependency. When the time came of providing for its further defence; this feeling increased ; every despatch-ship sent out, bore reprimands to the Intendant for the prodigality of his outlay ; while but few soldiers were sent for the defence of the colony, to counterbalance the b^ numbing eftect of such reproaches, although, latterly, the death of Jumonville, and Washington's capitulation, made a great sensation in Europe. Even the French people, excluded from direct parti- cipation in politics, and relying blindly on the continuance of peace, began to open their eyes and prepare for war. Meanwhile, seven colonial governors of as many Anglo-Ameri- can colonies met in conference at Albany, and signed a treaty of alliance with the Iroquois. They drew up, on the same occasion, a project for a federal union in war-time; the nature of the compact being, that each province, whether attacked itself or not, should furnish its quota, in men or money, or both, so long as hostilities, offensive or defensive, if undertaken for the general interest, should endure. The central government of the meditated confederation was to be headed by a president, nominated by the king, and advised by councillors selected from all the colonial asssemblies ; said pr&s sident, in conjunction with the council, to exercise executive powers, including the right of making peace or war with the savage nations, of fortifying settlements, and of levying taxes under royal authority; lastly, of appointing both civil and military functionaries. Vol. n—i 130 HISTORY OF CANADA. This project, however, wa« rejected by the parties met in conclave fi:)r diiwiniilar reaeouH : by the coloniHtH, bocuuse the plan vested undue power in a prosideut ; by the royaliMta, beoauso it gave tea much headway to the popular reprctientativos. But as wo have, remarked elsitwhero, the wuth agaioHt Canada waged by the British colonies of Ainorioa tended to make those cling together, and ao« customed them, insensibly, to regard a federal government as being that best suited for them. After the rejeotion of the convention project, it was resolved, in default of a central power, to carry oo the impending war jointly with the regular forces sent from Bri> tain, the colonial corps and militia to act as their auxiliaries ; mean* while it was agreed that the several assemblies should vote subsidies and order men to be engaged, armed, and trained. The mother country also put large means at their disposition, and sent out, aa her military chief, General Braddock, who had served with distinction, under the Duke of Cumberland, in the wars of con- tinental Europe. Braddock's Instructions comprised a detailed plan of hostile operations against Canada.* One projected expedition was, to drive the French out of the Ohio valley, and to take possession of it in name of the British crown. Forts St. Frederic and Niagara, those at the foot of lake Erie, and Beausdjour in French Acadia, werj to be attacked, simultaneously or successively, according to circum- stances. The regular forces assembled in Ireland were embarked on board a squadron, under admiral Keppel, who was directed to aid whatever land-operations were to bo undertaken. Arrived in Vir- ginia, Braddock conferred with all the provincial authorities. It was agreed that he should proceed, with the regulars, to capture Fort Duquesne ; that governor Shirley should, with the provincial forces, attack Niagara ; that another corps, drawn from the northern co- lonies, and led by colonel Johnson, should assail Fort Frederic ; finally, that colonel Monokton, with ihe Massachusetts militia, should assault Beaus^jour and Glaspareauz. The plan being thus settled, the next intent was to take Canada unawares, by a hasty invasion. * Instructions for General Braddock, dated March 25, 1764; — Letters of Colonel Napier, written b7 command of the Duke of Cumberland, to Oeneral Braddock. THE piwwrriERr commission. 131 ' Meanwhile, its govornor-gcnornl received letters from Paris : — "The dispoflitionn which the British cabinet continue to manifest for maintaining poaoo, do not allow us to l)eliovo that it can have authorized the movements so much spoken of upon the Ohio ; and there is yet less appearance that it has sanctioned any ht)8tile demonstrations on the other frontiers." But France did not remain long inactive in presence of those preparations ; as, for a long time back, the tone of the English newspapers and parlid- mentary debates had too plainly expounded tiio hostile fooling of Britain. That feeling was all potent in London, and strongly re- acted on the government. In Franco orders were given to assemble a fleet at Brest, to ba commanded by M. Dubois de la Motte. On board of it were em- barked six battalions of veterans, 3000 strong in all * ; two of these were to bo landed at Louisbourg, and the others in Canada. Major-general Baron Dieskau, who had distinguished himself under Marshal Saxo, was appointed to lead the latter. He had for his second, the infantry colonel M. de Rostoing, and for aid- major the chevalier de Montreuil. M. Duquesne asked to bo recalled, and transferred to the marine service. His departure caused no regret, although he had governed with great success, and been very heedful of all the colony's wants j but his haughty bearing made him unpopular. This defect, in an administrator, is yet more resented in America than in Europe, because of the greater equality in men's conditions here. Before leaving, he endeavoured to bind the Iroquois to French interests ; and for that end held a secret conference with some of their chiefs at Montreal. But these savages always sought to maintain their independent position between the French and British colonies. " We could not recognize the native genuineness of Iroquois blood," said M. Duquesne, " in recent proceedings at Albany, where, in presence of seven governors, at a secret council, you betrayed the ' cause of the king of France in allowing yourselves to be induced, by the evil advice of the British, to countenance their intrusions upon the Beautiful River (Ohio), despite the length of time that France has been possessed of it. Know you not the diflPerence there is between the king of France, and the British king ? Go, * Official Correspondence. 1311 mSTOKV OF CANADA. .■*' •■* j' '\i ■*u , ;' t , luul ox!Ui\uto i\w fv»rt^ whioh our king \\i\» ori'otod ; yo\i will (i»H^ thttt (ho l«««l Wyoiul thoir • mUs is still n hunlii\gf;nHuui, (>ur fort* lu>vo l>oon in>t up, not «« « curb u|hi« tho triln*. l>\it to W uwt\il Cor your tnulo with us. Whilo. uo Moouor \lo tho UritisU cutor u|>ou |»wnow«iou of yo\»r Ituuls, th«n tho gnino (Iwvrt* thout. T\w t\>n'i«t tttUn luAow thoir blows, tho noil in Imivtl, »uul hnnlly will you Hud n bush loH ujuui your ow»» iloniniiui to sholtor you by uiglU." Tho g\)vornov thus, truly n« briolly, oht»ractoriiio\l thu lUvowo t»i\tu»^> of Uritish and Fivuoh oolotunntions. ;, Tho iMiu-nuis do Viuuln'uil «U' t.'av!«^;uul, g\>vx»ruor of tiouislnuM, wtts j>ro«»uvornorshi|> of Now Krnuoo, u|h»u tho \\uii[UOHtu\ in onrly sunnuor I7ft5. Tho foruu'r uoblon»wu wns thirvl sou ^^f th« Mtmiuis do Vnuihvuil, govovuor^vuorut tV»mv 170U till his do!»th in 172&. llisdoswn- dftut wixs joyously gnn^toil, on his ivrrival, by tho CtuuKtituvs, who rogtmloil hitu tho uuuo for boiug n, oomjmtriot. nud hiul uuxl- ously solioitod tho king to ttpi>oii\t hitu for thoir ohiof. CVnvds ut toudod his stoi»s iu ot^toriug ujviu oft\ot» ; tho |HH»plo ixMiioutboriug in his fwvour tho hulovou tiuu^sof tho tl»thor'* sw»y, t«ul trusting th«t thtw! wow to return undor tho gut Jnu. I, 176^, nud nniohod Willittutsburgh, Vii-giMin, Feb. iJO ousuiug. .Vdutirtd Pvibois did not louvo Uivst till Into iu April ; thttt is, »\ottrly throo mouths wrtor Urnddv>ok's dojwrturw llo hftdou bonrd son»o ri>infoivon\ot\ts nndwnrliko stows for tho king'* iorvioo iu Onundn. Horo it is uotnlful to uoto tho dwlcs of ovotntn; (br tho Uritish ministry hnd rosolvinl to intonn'pt tho Fn>tujh iquftdrou, »ud for that purpose donimtohod adiuinU li^tscnwou, April 17. While ihwe umttorn vrew? iu progrow, dlpUnuRcy vniuly put out It* tWWr* to rowuuvo hold of h ditKoulty whioh, it wws now pUiu, oould only bo dooido\i nt tho Oi\nt\on's mouth. Jnn. 15, tho duko do Miro|KUX, Krouoh tuubnMndor iu lioudou, nddrossod n «ot« to tJto Uritis)i Court, pro|H«ing thnt Uoctilitio* »hould bo forbidden Wtweon tho two nntiont ; Umt nil things in tho Ohio vnlloy nhould rovort to thoir stwto ta thoy woro botVro tho lust wur ; thnt tho pwv tonsiouB of the two cixjwtw rogarvllng thwt territory should Iw sub- uiitted, in a fVieudly fpirit^ to n evuuntisiiiou ; finnlty, in {trder to TUK PUOHTIKUS* rOMMtSSlON. ina i<»lioitwl by tho dukv» to Juform l\l»u as to tho Uvvitinution of th© osjHHlitioM tVom trplnml. nnd to cxpUiu whxt woro tho tnotivos tl»r i»only to thin w»minunio!»tion Vort» Uuto .TsuutHry 23. Thorth In, ilomrtud wa* utwilo thwt tho hoM wjhmi tho (>hio vallov. ust of othor ivrritofivv*. (»houKi nn-ort. in tho first pUoo, to tho s.-uno it«to it W!w< in hot\>r\» tho tn>aty »»r I'trwht. Now thin wuf* sottijuj \\\\ nM»owoil ^>wton!»io«j», n\\i\ intorjMvting tho torma ot' tho |hh\oo of Aixh»t'h«HU\ 074S\ hy thvw of tho tmty of ITtJU As* for tho lunirtntont whioh hsui lH»on oquipivcil luui tivvtjwtohiHl hitoly, it w»» not jj>>t nj> (^thu'« i-o.uis tho otHoiwi tniwivo) with any intont of oonipnnnisin!^ tho ii\Mr tho }m\>« twti^Mx i^f tho UritiKh jHv«!»ot«j«ion!» in ,\n»orio», >liroi>oix wnUo tigftin ^Koh. t»\ |m>iHVHin^; that tho toxt of tho tr tulhonnl t»»; «nd w* its oiM\!»o*mont, th»t tl\o Ikitinh i>i»n\miwionors «t r«ri!« !»houUl W|mt in powowion. for t\irthor ox!»niu»tion, of tho oviiloinHv* of tl»oir o\>untry's right to whatwws now oliununl by tho onbinot of liondon, In tho !»o\juol. tho Fjvnoh tniui!«try ugtun nnnUfioil lt.<« v^omtvnd. Rnvl |>n>|HWHt thrtt tho |hh>|>Io of tho tw»» nut ions* !«l\ouUl tA»M:»*tbor o>n>o«ato \\\\ tho torritory bo(w»HMt tho t^hio »nU tho AUoghanitvt. This w«a nn no«|niomHM»oo in tho jm^|Hwvl mtxdo by tho l^ritish ortbinof, of ilwto Jan. 22. Louis' nunistors h»»l no viovibt that t!\o jm»flt>r n\u.'«t no^nlst bo n^^vpt^H^ ; n\\\\ this tho rathor Kvaviso thoir on\-\>y bavi Just Wn iw«uro«l that tho Irish nrniaujont had bwn vHinipjHHl sololy with tbo intont of n\aintaining subonllnation wxwi gvunl o^b'r in tho Uritish*M>loni«v«. Unt tho British n\inistry t\ow ttilvanooil now |nvtonsions. as if a»\ woo >tninoviati\M\ won^ tho lust thing wisho^l for. Aosal wsw m!\«U>, inoln^ling tho partioulars b^^' onunuMatotl!— -l. Thut not only shouUl !ho Fr\M\oh forts in tho n^giot* botwoiM» tho t^hl»» and tho AHoghanlos bo ramnl, but all tho b'*iv»ioh soltloniont,* botwivn tho rivors t)hio atul St. JorxMuo ^^\Vab!w»lO must Ih» givon up. 2. Thut t'.io fort atNisvgara, and that of Si bVnIorio (on lako ^.'ham- plain), hUouM bo rannl; and that tbo navlgtUion of l.-ikiv* Krio. Ontario, and Cbamplain should W IW to Hritish at»d I'Nvnoh Bubjv\H8 nliko. l\. That l'V;uioo should rououuoe sUI l\jrt hor oUiin, * 134 HISTOKT O? CANADA. iH'; not only to the entire Acadian peninsula, but also to the isthmuv, and a space of 20 leagues of territory beyond the latter, following a line drawn from south to north, and passing from Uie river Pentagoet to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 4. That the entire river- board of the St Lawrence, on the right b&nk or south-eastern side, should remain unappropriated either by Frendb or British. These conditions once accepted by the French eourt, the British cabinet was willing to confide to the oommesioners fbr the two powers the settlement of other conflictii^ pretensions I Suob a proposal was tantamount to a declaration of war ; for it invnlved, if agreed to, the virtual renunciation of Canada, which would have disgraced the crown of France in the eyes oi the whole world. Accordingly, it was met by aa absolute refusal.* Nego- ciations were prolonged, nevertheless, till the month of July, other devices to reconcile difficulties being proposed and rejected. All the time, both parties loudly proclaimed their sincere wishes for an accommodation ; and the British ministry assured the Ficneh government, when the latter expressed disquietude as to the des* tination of Boscawen's fleet, that " certtunly the British will not b^in the war." The duke of Newcastle, earl Grenville, and Sir T. Robinson said positively to the French ambassador, that no orders had been given to tbat admiral to assume the offensive. The governor of Canada, who was on board one of the ships of M. de la Motte, was directed by the king not to begin the war, unless certain specified hostile acts were committed by the Brt- tish.f Boscawen, who set sail from England April 17, arrived in due time on the Banks of Nevdbundland, with 11 men-of-war. The main body of the French fleet, thanks to the fogs oS that region, passed towards its destination within cannon-shot of the British ; * The minister thus wrote to the goTernor of Canada 7 — *' Come what may, his Majesty is v^ y resolute in sustaining his rights and holding to bis possessions, despite all such unjust and exorbitant pretensions ^ and much as he values peace, he will purchase it only at the cost of such concessions as may accord at once with his own dignity and the right his (colonial) subjects have to be protected." DocumeiUi d« Parit. The court was sincere, tbie time, in its protestations. f Document! de Paris. THE fhontiers' commission. 135 but two ships, the Lys and the Ahide, which had for some days accidentally parted convoy, were chased and taken. On board these vessels were several engineer officers and 8 companies of soldiers, the latter being a portion of the 3,000 regulars embarked for America. M. de Choiseul reported, that M, Hocquart, captain of the Ahide, hailed the Dunkirk, a 60 gun British ship, and demanded, in English, " Are we at peace or war ? " The reply was, " We don't understand you."* Some other words had been interchanged when the Dunkirk poured a broadside from double-shotted guns, and cannon loaded with gi^.^pd, into the Alcide. Immediately, that ship and the Lys were surrounded by Boscawen's vessels, and, after having lost many men in resisting the attacks made upon them, forced to surrender. Among the officers killed, was colonel de Rostaing. This action, observes Mr. Haliburton, was the real eommencement of the war, although not then formally entered upon. The British government, though not having pro- claimed its intended hostilities thus begun, was accused of decep- tion f and piracy, by the neutral powers of Europe. Soon after- wards, 300 merchant-men navigating the seas, reposing on the faith of eusting treaties, were waylaid aii'^ captured, upon the bucca- neering principle, to the irreparable loss of France ; which was thus deprived, at one sweeping stroke, of the services of 5,000 or 6,000 sailors. . The news of the capture of the Lya and Alcide reached London ;j3..V'V<'''> i(»f' :( W>?^*«" ¥ t^KT •A ..■) ■ f-tifw; :.j' Jf*»'. lC^.;.'.r;);...V"' B(X>K NINTH. tj'> . ,'? CHAPTER I. • ' "•"' THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR, /■,-tK» '4t"..i, .-.•■ 1755-1756» 4n'!» - .ii't''..i I -ii> Dispositions of mind in Britain and France at the epoch of the Seren Years* war. — Prance changes her foreign policy in forming an alliance with Austria ; which mutation only flattered the self^lore of Madame do Pompadour. — Warlike enthusiasm in Great Britain and her colonies ; their immense armaments. — Small number of the Ganadian forces.— Flan of the first campaign ; zeal of the Canadian people. — First ope- rations. — Troops from Boston scour Acadia and capture Fort Beaus^- jour, &c. ; exile and dispersion of the French Acadians. — General Brad' dock advances towards Fort Duquesne-; M. de Beaujeu marches to meet him ; battle of the Monongah^la ; the British defeated, and Brad- dock killed. — A panic ensues in the Am«rican colonies. — The Canadians and savages commit great ravages, and take many prisoners. — British corps formed to attack Niagara and Fort Frederic. — Colonel Johnson encamps at the head of Lake George. — Baron Dieskau attacking him,, is defeated and taken prisoner. — General Shirley delays the siege of Niagara. — Results of the campaign of 1755. — Bad harvest in Canada ; a dearth ensues. — British preparations for the campaign of 1756.— • State of Canada ; succour solicited from France. — General Montcaln:> sent with a reinforcement of troops, arrives at Quebec in spring, 1756. — Plan of operations. — ^Disproportion of the forcea of the two belliger- ent parties ; invasions projected by the British. We have said that the French ministry, after learning the cap- ture of the Li/s and the Alcide, recalled its ambassador from Lon- don, and declared war against Great Britain. This step, as will be seen presently, was not however taken till after almost a year's delay. The indolent king had great hesitation in resolving to engage in a serious contest at all. What was the situation of France at this time ? The chief ministers of state were, — Count d'Argenson, for the war depart- THE SEVEN TEARS' WAR. 137 mcnt; M. Machault, marine and colonies; M. Rouill^, foreign affairs : but Mme. de Pompadour was the real chief of the govern- ment. She it was who made and unmade ministries, appointed and cashiered generals, at her sovereign will and pleasure. Twenty- five cabinet ministers were engaged and dismissed (by her) be- tween the years 1756 and 1763. " The state council," says Sis- moudi, " underwent constant mutations : it had neither unity nor accord, and each member acted independently of the others. As for the nation, it was more occupied with vain ecclesiastical dissensions than the cares of war. The Molinists, backed by the Jesuits, recommenced a persecution of the Jansenists ; the parlia- ment interposed, trying to stop it, but was itself assaiied, its au- thority suspended, and a royal chamber (of law) took its place for a time. Amid these troubles in the state, philosophism was making progress in French society. Even at court it had its partisans. The king, inimical as he was to inno\.'iting ideas, yet had a private printing-press, at which he caused tho politico-economical theories of his physician (Quesnel) to be typographed. One of these proposed the doing away with all state imposts but a lar.d-tax. This plan, had it been adopted, would have thrown the burden of supporting the government chiefly on the nobles and churchmen, for they were the chief landholders. But all such proposals began and ended in empty words. Every old-established corporation, spiritual or se- cular, whose interests would have been seriously affected by this and other proposed changes, and royalty — which had been ^or a moment cajoled into tolerance, at least, for an exposition of the " new ideas" — shrank timidly from the hazards that might attend their realization. In fine, all was in commotion amongst both moral and political fdealists. Public opinions were no longer har- monious J and the government itself, as if ashamed to be guided by olden traditions, moved with a vacillating step in a novel route. For example : by the fatal treaty of Versailles (1756), France allied herself to Austria, whom she had always combated : and al- lowed herself to be led into a continental war to sustain Maria- Theresa, who, wishing to retake Silesia from the king of Prussia, adroitly flattered Madame de Pompadour, with whom that empress maintained an epistolary correspondence, in which the courtesan was addressed as a " dear friend." France had now to maintain a 138 HI8T0BT OF CANADA. war both ott land and sea in Europe, although experience had show that a twofold struggle always overtaxed her resources, m Machault tried to make Louis comprehend ; but the lady favourite was all £)r the cause of ihe empress-queen, while tVe war minister and the oonrtiers. heedless of sesrservioe, longed to glorify themselves by expected victories in land war. The government, thus in- fluenced, and oUivious of the requisites for coping properly with the forces of Britain — which alone had provoked the hostilities now in progress — thus had most of its warlike strength diverted from the quarters where it was most wanted, viz., towards the north of Europe ; while it left thb defence of New France almost entirely to its own inhabitants. In Grreat Britain, there were no signs, as in France, of a revo- lution looming in the distance. The three kingdoms were nev^ in so prosperous a state at any previous time ; the Anglo- Ameri- can colonies were materially prosperous, their inhabitants united in action, and seemingly satisfied with their mother country. The home government, founded on the broad basis of freedom, habitually yielded to popular inspirations, and, tJius observant of national instincts, might safely assure itself, iu advance, that suc- cess would cttend any enterprise undertaken in obedience to the popular will. No preceding war had been so agreeable to the peo- ple's taste ae that now about to commence. Mr. Fox (afterwards created Lord Holland) was at the head of affairs.* The com- mons voted a million pounds additional for the war services of the year; an alliance was formed with Prussia; subsidies were accorded to Poland and Bavaria, to bring them into an alliance in order to counterbalance the continental superiority of France, and to secure the possession of Hanover. Within the United Kingdom, the enrdment of seamen for the royal navy was pressed vigo- rously ; and so great was the public fervour, diat nearly every city and considerable town in the empire offered premiums to volun- teers who would forthwith enlist in the sea or land forces. And in place of the million pounds above mentioned, which the govern- ment intended to raise specially by a lottery, £3,800,000 sterling were subscribed at once.*!* * A mistake of the author^ The Duke of Newcastle was then premier ; ftnd Mr. Fox lost the leadership of the house of oommons in 1764. — B. t Suollktt's History of England, hi! THE SEVEN TEARS* WAR. 139 Nor wfts warlike ardour less manifest among the American oo- lonies of Britain, the people in which far outnumbered the inhar bitants of New France. Thus, in 1755, Dr. Franklin estimated the provincials at a total of 1,200,000 ; whilst the whole number of people in Canada, Cape-Breton, Louisiana, &o., was under 80,000 souls. The disproportion was as great in the relative commeroe of the two dependencies, and consequently in their pecuniary re- sources severally. The American exports, in the year 1753, were valued at £1,486,000 sterling; imports, £983,000.* About the same date, the exports of Canada did not exceed £100,000 in va- lue ; wbile its imports might extend to £400,000 ; but most of the latter were for government account, and did not pass through the ordinary channels of trade. It was no marvel, therefore, that the British provincials should urge the mother country to carry on the war with vigour for their behoof. Franklin, as astute a politician as clever in science, was their principal mouth-piece. Ke who, 25 years thereafter, repaired to Paris, to arouse the public feeling of France and entire Europe against Britain ; the same who came to Canada to revolutionize it in 1776, was, in 1754, the greatest promoter of the coming invasion of the French possessions in North America. " There needs never be permanent repose expected for our thirteen colonies," urged he, " so long as the French are masters of Ca- nada, "f THe disproportion between the military forces of the French and British, brigaded in America at this time, continued so long as the war lasted. But, by a sage foresight, Franco manifesting her accustomed superiority in the art of war, took up a defensive line far from the centre of Canada, and thus obliged the enemy to di- vide his strength. The narrow isthmus of Acadia, the wild and unexplored valley of the Ohio, the mountain goi^e of lake George ; such were the far-removed positions she chose for the operations of her soldiers — these became fields of battle, wide apart, where she kept in check for five years, without being dislodged, her numer- ous foes, and made them suffer sanguinary defeats, unparalleled thitherto in America. They blame wrongly, therefore, those who >*'l ♦ Encyclopidie mithodique ; American Annals, t Barb^-Marboig. 'Mr M- 140 •*' HIStOlRt OP CATTADA. censure the defensive system adopted by or for oar people during the Seven Years' War. • The regulars maintained in Canada, ordinarily about 1000 in all, were, in 1756, augmented to a total of 2,800 men, by the ar- rival of four battalions of infantiy, under General Baron Dieskau. The militia was armed, and the governor continued to place large detachments on the frontier posts ; insomuch that there waa soon ready for action, in garrison and field, an army 7,000 strong, besides 800 men employed as escorts. These forces, however, were m\\ very insufficient to make head against those of the enemy, who had already 15,000 soldiers equipped, of whom 3,000 were draughted to attack Beaus^jour ; 2,200 directed on Fort Duquesne; 1,500 against Niagara; and from 5,000 to 6,000 against Fort St. Frederic : those being four distinct attacks, which the British willed to make simultaneously. If the secret influences at work on the public mind in France para- lyzed the energies of the nation and crippled the martial action of the government ; if a faulty organization, political and social, caused the philosophic and enlightened classes in the mother country to become sceptical and indiflFerent as to the good or evil chances of the coming struggle ; the heart of Canada, at least, was still sound ; and i*% inhabitants, chiefly cultivators or fur traders, were still imbued with the confident spirit of the French in early times, and had all the military ardour needed to make them vigorous soldiers. Deprived, by the nature of their government, of all share in ib: direction, and being few in number, they paid little attention to public affairs except when their homesteads vere menaced by aliens ; and as that was now the case, they took up arms with a firm de- termination to combat for the interests of the mother country, none the less bravely for the neglect which theirs had met at her hands. Not for one moment did their self-reliance give way, from first to last ; and although their perfect devotedness has not always been appreciated by some historians of France, irrefragable proofs of it are given in the official papers, still extant, embodying the whole " form and pressure of the (latter) times " of French domination. The seasons for warlike operations having arrived, the respective forces of the two belligerents entered their several fields of action. M. de Vaudreuil, uncertain of the enemy's projects, but in obe- THE SEVEN YEAKS' WAB. 141 dience to orders from France, sent a corps to attack the important fort of Oswego. General Dieskau, with 4,000 men and 12 guns, was charged with this enterprise, the success of which was consi- dered certain. Two thousand troops had already set out from Montreal for that purpose, and had reached Frontenao (Kingston), when news of Johnson's army having appeared on Lake George, caused a portion of the Oswego expeditionary force to be recalled. Johnson's orders were, to a^t against Fort Frederic. The medi- tated attack on Oswego was now deferred ; and Dieskau despatched, contrary to his own wish, to put a stop to the further advance of the British on the lower lakes. Sept. 1st, he took post, at the head of Lake Champlain, with 1,500 Canadians, 700 regulars, and 800 armed savages, — in all, 3,000 combatants ; a sufficient force to keep Johnson in check. Meanwhile, the transmission of soldiers to Lake Ontario still continued ; and a battalion took the route of Niagara, with orders to take post there, after making the ruins of its fort defensible * here was a palisaded house, surround- ed with a fosse. Another battalion encamped under the walls of Frontenao. In autumn, the security of three important positions — St. Frederic, Niagara, and Frontenao — thus seemed to be pro- perly cared for. . ^u . In the valle,^ of the Ohio, Fort Duquesne, a very faulty con- struction, but commanded by M. de Contrecoeur, a brave and skil- ful o^cer, had a garrison of 200 men only ; but he had within reach a certain number of Canadian foresters and savages, whom he could call in aid. The other fortified posts, widely scattered in remote localities, had each a garrison equally scanty in number. But intervening thickets and distance were their chief pro- tection, i. On the Acadian side, forts Beaus^jour and Gaspareaux had for commanders, the former, M. de Yergor, a favourite of Intendant Bigot ; the latter, M. de Yilleray. These officers had barely 125 soldiers at their disposal ; but if attacked, they could reckon upon the aid of the Acadians settled around them, or who were roving in their vicinity : as if these poor people, whom the British re- garded as subjects of king George, had been fiee to act ! Of the four enterprises which Britain projected against Canada, that first attempted was on the side of Acadia. The troops se- ■v.li ■t' 143 HlfiTOBT OF CANADA. H looted for this duty wero Massachusetts men, and about 2,000 strong. They were led by Colonel Winslow, a prominent man in that colony. His force, embarked in 41 vessels, left Boston, May 20, and arrived at Chigneoton June 1, where they landed, and were joined by 300 regulars. They marched at once, followed by an artillety train, against Beaus^jour ; but wero stopped, for a short time, on the banks of the river Mcssuaguash, by a few French, who had raised a blockhouse there, with cannon mounted. This post was defended fbr about an hour ; the garrison then set fire to the building, and retired. The British continued to advance, sweeping before them a small corps of armod Aoadians, whom M. de Ycrger had chaiiged to defend a height at some distance from his own post. The garrison of Besns^jour consisted of 100 soldiers and 300 Acttdians. No part of the works was bomb-proof. The besiegers completed their first trench June 12, and in four days, after a feeble resistance, Yergor capitulated. The garrison retired with the honours of war : the regulars were sent to Louisbourg ; and the Acadians, by stipulation, were left unmolested. Fort Gaspareaux, after a short defence by a score of soldiers and a few inhabitants, surrendered on like conditions. Beaus^jour was re-named Fort Cumberland, and Major Scott left in command of it. This officer disarmed the people in and about the place ; and they refusing to take an oath of fidelity to the British crown, he retained as pri- soners uU of them he could lay hands on, in pursuance of orders from governor Hobson, who had succeeded to Cornwallis as chief of the Nova Scotian government. After these conquests-, the victors sent three war-ships to the river St. John, to capture a small fort which the French had lately erected there and which M. de Boish^bert commanded ■ but his garrison being very weak, that officer set fire to the fort and directed his smdi force to form a junction with the Aoadians located at the upper end of the bay of Fundy. Having anned the latter, he, by l^eiu aid, beat the British in several combats ; but oould not prevent them, in the sequel, from burning out the people, who at first took refuge in the woods, and afterwards emi^ grated to Cape Breton, to the Isle St. John (Prince Edward's) to Miramiohi, to Ghaleurs Bay, and to Quebec ; those unfortunates THE SEVEN years' WAR. 143 whithersoever they went, presenting a living example of perfect dcvotcdness and complete destitution. Snch was the success of the enemy in the beginning of the campaign. Although it was more nominal than real, seeing that the British could advance no farther on the Acadian side, they being restrained by armed bands, it caused great discontent at Paris, especially when its terrible results to the unhappy Aca- dians, all worthy of a better fate, became known. The king wrote an autograph letter to M. de Vaudreuil to summon a council of war, himself to preside, and call before it Messrs. Yergor and Villeray and their officers, to answer for their all<»ged dereliction of duty. Their trial took place, the year following, in the castle of St. Louis, when all of them were acquitted by a unanimous vote. The evacuation of Acadia by most of its inhabitants of French race, left those remaining, designated as neutres, at the mercy of the British. The latter, however, although they continued to reside in their native land, were still Frenchmen in their hearts. Of the total number of Acadians (between 15 and 18 thousand) living in the peninsula when the emigration began, there now remained only about 7,000, all of the more opulent class ; forming a community whose gentle manners furnished the colouring for an attractive picture of the race, painted by Baynal : — " They were a simple and good race, a people who abhorred bloodshed, and entirely fbllowed agricultural pursuits. They had settled in low grounds, liable to be flooded, but which they pro. tected by raising dykes and mounds about the lands they tilled. Upon these reclaimed marshes they grew crops of wheat, rye, barley, oats, and maize ; with abundance of apples, which were brought largely into use for diet. " Immense meadowswere covered with their numerous herds and * Royal letter, dated Feb. 20, 1766. The papers of the process are re- posited in the Library of the Literary and Historical Society of Qnebec. — *' The chief consideration," said Montcalm, '* in fovour of the capitu- latoF at Fort Beaus^joor was this, that the beleaguered Acadians con- strained Yergor to acc«pt terms which wonld iave them from being hang- ed, they having taken an oath of allegiance to Eritain, and being found in arms against the British forces. As for Gaspareaux, merely a wide space staked about, With a garrison 20 strong only, it was not a place fitted to sustain a siege at all." Lettrt au Minittre, en 1767. ••♦ 144 UISTORY OF CANADA. flocks. Thoy had as many as 60,000 head of horned cattle atono time. Most of the families had horses, but the tillage was done with oxen. The dwellings, almost all wooden, were commodious withal, and furnished as well as those of European cultivators in easy circumstances. Much poultry was raised, of every kind; which served to vary the abundant and wholesome fare served at all tables. Cider and beer were the usual beverages of the coun- try. The spirits drunk were distilled from sugar. " Home-grown and home-spun flux, hemp, and wool, were tho materials of the stuffs they wore for ordinary clothing ; tho same materials being woven into blankets and sheets. The few who wanted finer tissues, had to procure them from Annapolis and Louisbourg. These two towns took, in exchange for those and other luxuries they supplied, grain, cattle, and peltry. " Tho neutral French- Acadians had nothing else to offer to their neighbours. Barter among themselves was very limited, for every family had within itself all the necessaries needful for its own subsistence and comfort. Paper-money, so much in use in British America, was unknown to them. The small amount of money which came into the colony was in the form of specie, a medium not imparting that activity to pecuniary circulation which is the life of a trading community. " The manners of this people were extremely simple. There never was a law-case, civil or criminal, among them, of sufficient importance to be judged in the court at Annapolis. The rare differences which arose between individual colonists were always settled amicably by the arbitration of the elders. The religious pastors drew up all family papers, and attested wills. The remu- neration of the clergy for their services, spiritual and secular, was the vohintary contribution of a 27th part of the crops and other produce. The returns from the lands were abundant enough to allow the hands which grew them to bestow generously. Destitution was unknown ; beggary was forestalled by giving in advance. And as succour was proffered without ostentation on one part, it was accepted without any sense of humiliation on the other. French Acadia formed a universal brotherhood, every member in which was as ready to donate as others might be to accept that wLich was thought to belong of right to all mankind. THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR. 145 " ThiH state of harmony wan not disturbed by those lioontious Mzual attaohmentM {liaiaons de gnUinterie) which so oflcn banish peaoo from families. Such immunity from vice was much owing, doubtless, to the fact, that colibaoy among the adult population was unusual. When a youth arrived at the age of puberty, a house was built for his separate use ; fields were cleared around it, and the interior stored with a year's provision, to enable the new household to wait the returns of the coming harvest. The female he took to wife, brought farming stock for a dowry. The addi tional family grow and prospered, as all the rest had done before. Who is there whoso heart was not touched in witnessing the inno- cence of manners, the tranquil lives, of those happy communities ! Who would not have breathed a wish that such prosperity as theirs should endure for ever ?" Vain aspirations all ! The hosfilities of the year 1744 began the misfortunes of these good people ; the Seven Years' War brought about their total ruin. For a long time previously, British agents treated them with the greatest rigour ; the tribunals, by flngrant violations of the law, by systomatic denials of justice, had become, for the people, objects of ter or and hatred. The pettiest jack-in- office became a despot for them. " If you fail to supply my men with fuel," said a certain Captain Murray, " I will demolish your houses and make firewood of them." " If you don't take the oath of fidtelity," added Governor Hobson, " I will batter your villages with my cannon." Nothing could tempt the honourable minds of Acadians to take an oath of fealty to aliens, repugnant to their consciences ; an oath which, it was and is the opinion of many, Britain had no right to exact. " The Acadians," says Mr. Hali- burton, " were not British subjects, for they had not sworn fidel- ity : therefore they were not liable to be treated as rebels ; neither ougV c they to have been considered as prisoners of war, or rightly be transportable to France, since, during half a century, they had been left in possession of their lands on the simple condition of remaining neutral." But numerous adventurers, greedy incomers, looked upon their fair farms with covetous eyes. Smouldering cupidity soon burst into flame. " Reasons of state polity " were soon called in, to justify the total expulsion of the Acadians from Nova Scotia. Although the far greater number of them had dSne Vol. n— k • • 146 HIST OR 7 OF CANADA. no act which could be construed into a breach of neutrality, yet, in the horrible catastrophe preparing for them, the innocent and the guilty were to be involved in a common perdition. Not one exception was made. Their fate was decided in a secret council, headed by governor Lawrence, at which assisted admirals Boscawen and Mostyn, whoso fleets were then cruising along the Acadian coasts. It was resolved to remove, and to scatter among the British co'< nies, the whole remanent Gallo-Aoadian popula- tion. This wus effected by gathering the people simultaneously, in so many troops, at diffcrert points of the country. Proclamations, drawn up with perfidious skill, ordered them to assemble in the principal villages, und'^r the most rigorous penalties. Four hun- dred and eighteen heads of fnmilies, putting their trust in British honour, met together, on the 5th day of September, at three o'clock in the aftern n, in the church «f Grandprd. Thither came Co- lonel Winslov. with great parade, and, after showing the governor's warrant For what he was about to do, ho said they had been called together to hear the decision the king had come to respecting their fate. He then said ho had a painful duty to fulfil ; but that his Majesty's orders were imperative, and must be obeyed. These were, that ** the lands, farming stock, and whole moveables of the Acadians, except their bed and table linen and their plate, were confiscated to the crown. Further, that the persons of said Aca- dians should bo transported from the province of Nova Scotia.'* No reason was assigned for this decision A body of soldiers, Iiithcrto kept in the background, now started from tlicir hiding-place, and surrounded the church. The people, thus entrnpped, could make no resistance. The soldiers then collected the women and chi dren outside. More than a thousand persons were thus made prisoners at 6raud-Prd alone. Some few Acadians having escaped into the woods, the country wa devastated to prevent their finding means of tiubsistence therein. In Les Mines, some hundreds of houses, twelve mills and a church, were burnt. Those c' the race who manifested British predilec- tions were no better treated than the rest. Thus the aged notary Le Blanc, who had done Britain great service, died at Philadel- phia destitute and broken-hearted, while in search of his sons, soattered about the colonies of his oppressors. Permission was THE SEVEN YEAR 8 WAR. 147 given to all, before embarking, (and this woB the sole grace ac* corded to any), to pay a visit, by tens, to their families, and, for the lost time, to look upon those fields, those valioys, thoso hills, lately BO smiling and so tranquil in their view ; amongst which they were born, to which they had now to bid an eternal farewell. The 10th [of September ?] was the day fixed for the embarka*^ tion. A calm resignation had euooeedcd to their first feeling of despair. But, when the hour of leaving arrived ; when the time was fully come that they must perforce live apart from each other amidst an alien people, of novel manners, customs, language, and religion, their courage gave way, and they were overwhelmed with sadness. By a violation of sworn faith, and an unparalleled ro> finement of barbarity, families were broken up, and the members of them dispersed among diverse transports. Before embarking, the prisoners were ranged six abreast ; the young men in front. The latter refused to move, reclaiming the execution of the pro* mise made to them that they should accompany their relatives ; but a body of soldiers were called, who drove them on with fixed bayonets. The road from Grand-Prd chapel to the river Gas- paroaux, was a mile long ; it was lined on both sides with women and children, who, on bonded knees, and in tears, encouraged their husbands, sons, fathers, pouring upon them parting blessings. T>^e sad prooesiuon passed on slowly, praying and singing hymns. The heads of families walked alW the young men. At length the train reached the sea-shore, when the moles were consigned, in troops, to this vessel and that ; the women and children were stowed away pell-mell in other vessels, without the least attention being paid to their wants, or any regard had for their convenience. Oovernments have sometimes been severe, even cruel, during times when vengeance waked and mercy slept — as when revolutions, civil or religious, were in progress ; but we can find no instanoe, in modern history, of so heavy a chastisement being inflicted on an entire people of inoffensive character, with 80 much coolness and barbarity united, as that which the Acadians now received at British hands. The details we have given above, more especially depict what passed in one locality ; but the like might apply to all other in* stuuoes of the forced expatriation carried out elsewhere at the same time. : ••: • < 148 HISTORY OF CANADA. The transports, freighted with victims, set sail for the Anglo* Amerioan colonies. They discharged their living cargoes, at in- tervals, along the whole seaboard, from Boston to Carolina, desti- tute of means o£ subsistence and without any protection. During many days after that which witnessed the departure of the Aoa- dians from their homesteads, unsheltered cattle wandered about the desolated farms, and dogs, now masterless, made the nights dreary with piteous bowlings. Most of the British colonists — to their honour be it said — re- ceived the homeless Acadians with such kindness, as intimated a tacit reproach to the home government for its inexorable rigour. M. Benezet, for one, who was a descendant of a banished huguenot family, received those of them who went to Philadelphia as if they had been his own kin. . Some of the exiles took shelter in Louisiana ; others went to French Guiana : and certain Frenchmen, banished themselves to Sinnamari, found there, in 1798, an Acadian family whose mem- bers received them hospitably ; saying, '* You are welcome I Our ancestors were expelled from their country, even as you are noWo They taught us to succour the unfortunate. So come into our cabin, and let us have the pleasure of rendering you such conso- lation therein as we have to bestow." The Acadians, in the sequel, founded a canton in Louisiana, and gave to it the ever-dear name of Acadie. Louis XV, touched by their patriotic fidelity, made overtures, but in vain, though his ministers to those of Britain, to be allowed to send vessels thither for transferring the inhabitants to France. Mr. Grenville hastened to reply, " Our Navigation Act stands in the way ; French vessels may not take cai^oes in a British colony : ' as if that law could not, for onoe, be made to conform to the dictates of humanity 1 Nevertheless, some of the Acadians did re«»cli France ; their descendants now inhabit two flourishing communes wherein the peaceful habitudes and rustic peculiarities of their race are still recognizable, among the verdant oases which dot the moorlands {les landes de. Bordeaux) of Gasoony. >^ Britain reaped no benefit frcnn her harsh polity in Nova Scotia, eventuating in the expatriation of the Acadians. On the contrary, the Canadians, noting the treatment their compatriots had just re- THE SEVEN YEABS WAR. 149 eeived at her hands, became more determined to resist to the last the alien domination intended to be forced upon them. While steel and flame were doing their desolating work on the fair face of what was once Acadia, General Braddock was busied in preparing to thrust the French out of the Ohio valley ; that is, to realiie the second part of the general plan of invasion. Will's Creek, beside the Alleghanies, was the place of rendez- vous for the colonial auxiliaries, who were to come in aid of the regulars, to effect that enterprise. When all his force was assem> bled, Braddock set out, cheered on by the population, with a small army,but including an enormous train of artillery ,baggage waggons, &c., occupying four miles of a course, obstructed by forest, river, and mountain. While this cumbrous mass was stumbling on slowly, much time elapsed, and Braddock began to be impatient, fearing that Fort Duquesne, which, he knew^ was but scantily manned, might receive succour, and be hard to take. He divided his forces ; and, leaving Colonel Dunbar with 1,000 men and most of the artillery, baggage, &c., put himself at the head of 1,200 others, including his most active and best disciplined soldiers. Early morning, July 9, he crossed the river Monongahela, at a spot about 15 miles distant from Fort Duquesne, and in great haste marched along its southern side in the direction of a prize which, in idea, was already his own. George Washington attend- ed him, as a colonel of his staff. " He was often heard t) remark iu z^*eir life, that he had never seen a finer sight than that pre- sented by the passage of the British troops, on this memorable forenoon, towards the French post. Every soldier was in his best trim; the men were ranged m the most perfect order, forming a steadily advancing column ; the sun shone brightly on their well- polished arms, the river flo./ed on peacefully at their right side ; on the left, the nearer trc ^i of the huge forest wilderness shaded them in solemn stateliaess. Officers and men alike marched on- ward buoyantly, in full assurance of overcoming the foe." * About noon, this proud array re-crossed the river, at a ford about ten miles from Fort Duquesne, and debouched on a plain, about half-a-mile in breadth, with a riverward margin but a few ^i ■m 'A Gcizot: "Life, Correspondence, and Writings of Wasliington." 15v HISTORT OF CATSTADA. feet above the water-level. At the extremity of this plam the ground took the form, for some space, of a gentle acclivity, and was abruptly terminated by the sadden upriding of bfty hills. The route, from the ford to the fort, lay along the plain and slope^ traversed a height, asd was prolonged through a woody country, of rugged surface. Colonel Gage led the van, composed of 30O regulars ; another corps, of 200 men, followed ; behind was the main body, headed by Braddoek ; the artillery, &c., dosed th« mardi. M. de Contrecoeur commanded at Fort Duquet . e.. One of his scouts informed him, July 8, that the Britfe:. were but six leagues off. He resolved to attack them on the way, and pro- ceeded himself to mark a place of ambuscade. Next day, 253 Canadians and 600 savages, led by M. de Beaujeu, left the fort, about 8 A. M., to take post ia the ravines and thickets bordering the road along whidi the British were about to pass. This troop was in act of descending the slope bordering the plaia above noted^ just as Colonel Gage began to ascend it. The two masses sooa met in mid-career, and before the French were able to reach the giound they had been directed to take up. There was mow no- thing for it, but for each party to try its strength in driving its< adversaries off the line of road. The British, takea by surprise, had to sustain a hot fire, galled by whidi their ranks gave way somewhat, and Gage was fain to fall back upon the main body oF Braddock's forces. The path being thus cleared, the French, were enabled to complete the operation planned beforehand, and mostly ensconced themselves in every covert of brushwood and behind each rock which could be turned to sheltering account ;. while the mounted Canadians took post en the nver, as if it were only they who meant to dispute the passage, whereas the foot soldiers and savages, posted at intervals, right and left, formed a half-oirole, the horns o£ which curved outwards so as to enclose the approaching enemy. The British van, its ranks re-fbrmod, and closely suiqaorted by the main body, were advancing confidently, when a semi-conccntrie fire, from unseen gun-muzzles, was opened upo» them, seemingly from ever" side, under which they first staggered, were then brought to a halt, and finally threw their ranks iato ooniiasiQQ. THE SEVEN YEARS* WAB. 151 Braddook, however, by great exertion restoring order, they opened fire on aa many of their foes as they could see ; and the artillery coining up, began to play upon the French central corps. One of the first cannon-balls shot killed M. de Beaujeu. M. Dumas, second in command, placed himself at the head of the French not under cover, and, well sustained by M. de Ligneris and other oflScers, dashed forward on the British. A desperate stru^le ensued. The savages, who had been scared by the cannonade, observing that the Canadians did not flinch under it, with yells resumed the sheltering-places they had left. The British long put a good face upon the matter, and even made a forvfard movement, the men being impelled onward by their officers, sword in hand ; but, fairly confounded by the murderous fire kept up, and which ever thinned their ranks the more they further advanced, the whole body o'" regulars fell into hopeless disorder. So perplexed were some fusilecrs, that, firing at random, they killed several of their officers and some of their own comrades. The colonial Mulitia alone seemed to preserve their presence of mind on the occasion ; but even they were in the end borne backward by the panic-stricken regulars. Meanwhile Braddock did his best to re- form his men, and lead them back to the charge, but all in vain. The balls flew round him like haii; two horses he rode were killed ; he mounted a third, but only to receive a mortal wound, for most of the French and savages, firing under shelter, were able to single out, at their leisure, all whom they chose to hit. After a three hours' struggle, the British column gave way entire- ly, abandoning the cannon. The Canadians now advanced hatchet in hand, and the savages quitting their lurking-places simultane^ ously, both fell upon the rear of the retreating British and Ameri- cans, and made frightful havoc ; those whose swiftness of foot did not exceed that of their pursuers, were cut down or drowned in the Monongahela, in a fruitless attempt to gain the opposite banks.* M. Dumas, knowing that Colonel Dunbar's corps was still intact, and would serve as a rallying body for such fugitives as had gained the advance, pursued them no longer ; and called a halt the rather, as the savages had betaken themselves to pilla- ' ! 1i • M. PouDHOT : " Memoirs on the lato War in North America." 162 H18T0BY OF CANADA* ging, and it would haye been a hard matter to get them off tbeir prey. The carnage thus concluded had eoaxoely an «xample in the annals of modem war.* NeM'ly 800 out of the 1200 men led to battle by Braddook were killed or wounded. Out of 86 offioero, 26 were slain, and 37 hurt ; for they mode heroic attempta to rally, mid inspirit their baffled men.f Washington excepted, all th9 mounted officers received wounds, mortal or other. The luokleai general was carried to Fort Necessity, where he died July 13, and was buried at the roadside, near that paltry post. He was » brave and experienced officer, but an arrogant man ; contemnii^ his enemy, despising alike militia and savages ; yet had he tixe mortification to see his regulars madly flee, while the Vir^nians stood firmly and fought luravely to the last. The beaten soldiers, when they reached those of Dunbar, in* fected them also with their own panic ; and in an instant, the corps broke up. The cannon were spiked, the unmunition destroyed, and most of the baggage burnt ; by whose direction no one knew. There was no semblance of order had, till the fugitive rout aU tained Fort Oumberla..d, in the All^hanies. :( Washington wrote thence ; " We have been beaten, shamefully beaten, by a handful of French, who only expected to obstruct our advance. Shortly before the action, we thought our forces were eqi^ tQ all the enemies' in Canada ; we have been most unexpectedly d^. &ated, and now all is lost," The French gained a great booty. The ba^age of the vanquish- ed, their provisdons, 15 cannon, many nnall arms and much muni' • tions of war, the military chest, Braddock's papers— in fine, all became fair spoil for the victors. These documents unveiled the projects of the British ministry, and aearred to justify the indigr nant sentiments expressed against its polity in a memorial ad- dressed, by the Duke de Choiseul, to the di£ferent European courts. There were taken, after the battle, from amidst the dis- mounted and broken vehicles left on the field, from 400 to 500 horses, including those which had been killed or hurt. * Mr. Jarcd ^arrs : Life of Wathm^ton. t The author adds, " Several officers killed themselves ia despair f a doubtful assertion.— £. t Life, Correspondence, &c., of Washington. THE SEVEN YEAB8* WAH. IJ 163 The victory ooet the French only about 40 men. M. de Beim- jeu WB8 much r^etted by the Oanadians, his compatriots, and by the Indian tribes, who held him in great respect. Thus ended the combat of Monongahela, one of the most memor- able battles known to American history. The beaten bands took up their quarters in Philadelphia. The news of their discomfi* ture spread universal consternation throughout the whole of Bri- tiEh America. The back settlements of P^insylvauia, Maryland, and Virginia, were abandoned fbrthwiUi. Even the colonists near the seaboard b^an to be doubtj^l of their future security The clergy, from their pulpits, had to admonish thdr flocks to view their position more calmly. The victory gained by the French assured them the possession of the Ohio valley for the time, as Washington's defeat at Fort Necessity prevented Hhb British from obtaining the mastery tihere the year before. While the operations we have just detailed were progressing beyond the southern limits of Canada, the British forces charged to reduce Forts Niagara and St. Frederic assembled at Albany. They set out thence, to the amount of 5,000 to 6,000 men, under the orders of General Lyman ; Colonel Johnson followed, with the artillery, boats, provisions, and battering train. Having reached the portage between the Hudson and Lake Q«oi^ Lyman b^an to ^rect Fort Edward, to serve as a base for the double line of operations intended. Meanwhile Johnson continued his march, to the right, and at*Ained the head of Lake George ; and Lyman made great exer- tions, on his part, to put as much means of embarkation afloat as possible, hoping to secure the important pass of Carillon (Ticon- deroga) before the French could make it impr^nable. But instead of being the attackiug party, the British soon found themselves assailed at their head-quarters on the lake. We have mentioned, on a preceding page, the inquietude felt by M. de Vaudreuil at the presence of Johnson on Lake George ; and we narrated, at the same time, that the governor-general de- ferred the meditated attack on Oswego, to make head against the British at Lake George. In consequence, Baron Dieskau, then in command of 3,000 men at Fort Frederic, was informed, H 154 HISTOBT OF CANADA. Sept. 1, that Johnson was coming to assault the place. He learn- ed, too, that the works of Fort Edward were not complete, and might easily be carried ; while in that locality Johnson's magasines were situated. Dieskau resolved to attack the British at once, with a moiety of his force ; leaving the other half at Carillon, to fall back upon, in case he were repulsed. ■ The corps he set out with was composed of 220 r^ulars, 680 Canadians under M. de Repentigny, and 600 savages, led by M* de St. Pierre. On the way, he was told that 900 Anglo-Ameri- cans were intrenched under the walls of the place ; but this inti- mation he heeded not ; for, like Braddock, he held militiamen very cheap. M. de Yaudreuil's instructions were positive, too, that he should undertake no enterprise with a divided force ;* both the Canadians and savages blamed him for leaving the half of his strength at Carillon : but the baron was consumed ^ith a desire to eclipse the success, gained with small means, in the Ohio country. Already jealousies were arising between the French-born and native soldiers of the colony, which, being fomented by their respective officers, were sure to increase.f Fearing that a lai^e number of men would impede his march, and lessen the chances of striking a sudden blow successfully, hen^lected the wary counsels proffered to him, and thus tempted the evil fate of the expedition. ; At once to hide his advance and avoid contact with Johnson'^s corps, Dieskau embarked his men on Lake Champlain, which having ascended to South-bay, he landed them at a point fully 20 miles distant from Fort Edward. Sept. 7, in the evening, he. bivouacked on the Hudson, within three miles of Fort Edwardj His intention was, to attack the place at daybreak next morning but his savages, malcontent at the small number of soldiers they were conjoined to, declared they would not fight at all : assigning for a pretext that Fort Edward was situated within the British territory, as it lay on the banks of the Hudson. They added, that they would not object, on the other hand, to attack Johnson's camp, because that had been pitched on French ground. The Cana- dians, seeing the savages were resolute in maintaining their resolve, • Instructions of M. de Vaudreuil : official correspondence. f Letter of M. de Lotbiniere to the minister, dated Oct. 28, 1755. THE SEVEN TEARS* WAR. )) 155 backed it with an advice to the Baron to take them at their second word. The general unwillingly yielded to both; and, next morning, instead of assaulting Fort Edward, his troops were di- rected, in three columns — the regulars in the centre — towards the mountains previously behind them ; the design being to fall sud- denly upon Johnson's corps, 2,500 strong, then distant about 15 miles. Johnson, on his part, af^er learning that Fort Edward was to be attacked by the French, had detached Colonel Williams that very morning, with 1200 men and 200 savages, to lay an ambuscade for the invaders, on their expected return from Fort Edward. Dies- kau, when within four miles of Johnson's camp, was informed by a prisoner there taken, of this detachment being on the way, and sure to be met with shortly. He halted his central column, and direct- ed the two others — namely, the Canadians (who laid aside their haversacks to lighten themselveti for action) and the savages — to post themselves, the former on ibe right, the latter on the left, but 300 paces in advance, with orders to lie squat on the ground amid the woods, and not to turn round on the approaching ene- mies' flank till musketry was heard from the centre. In this po- sition Dieskau waited for the British, who were thus about to fall into a trap similar to that they meant to set for the French ; but the savages, on the lefl wing of the latter, showed themselves beforb the concerted time, and put the former on their guard. Dieskau, seeing his ambuscade thus unmasked, at once pushed on his regulars and the Canadians, before the British corps could get out of marching order and form for action. The savages, too, rushing forward, fell with fury upon the British, if only to avenge the death of their leader, M. de St. Pierre, who was killed at the outset by one of Williams' men : the latter they hacked to pieces with their tomahawks. The colonel himself was also slain, along with Hendrick, a famous Indian chief. The struggle was short, bloody, and decisive, ending in a victory for the French over the British van- guard. A second corps which came up was as quickly disposed of, and whatever troops were behind took to flight. Dieskau was pre- paring to follow up his success, hoping to be able to enter, pell- mell with the fugitives, Johnson's lines j but this was not to be done with such half-disciplined combatants as he led. A part of "< 156 HIBTOEY OP CANADA. !»• the Canadians and savages were atteni)'^ to the wounded ; others were disposed for rest, after the fatig » of the contest, and the severe toil of a march through a ru^or him to die upon, as any bed that oottld be sent him." He demanded his telescope and riding-coat, and enjoined his dontestiosand those Canadians nearest to him to xetire.* At this instant, a portion q£ the Canadians and savages gave vray, and the chevalier de Montreuil vainly sought to rally the baffled r^olars, now reduced to 100 in number ; while almost every one of theu* officers had been killed or wounded. ^ ' The affiur had lasted five hours, when the Fiendt drew off, without being molested in their retreat ; the British being cowed by the fiery valour of their assailants. Mid, with a few exceptions, keeping safely enaconeed within their lines. One of the indiTiduals who did overpass thera, on seeing Dieskau seated helpless at the tree- fix>t, pmnted his piece at 1 5 paces' distance, and fired a ball through tJi8 bwer part of the general's body. The fellow having sa£ely aecomplLdied this hercic feat, claimed the object of it as his pri- at the left having come on helter-skelt«r, th« woods being ftill of them, running with andaanted courage downhill upon as, expecting to make us flee, as they had before done at the , and just now did to our men." — Extract of a letter from the American Oolonel, Pomeroy, dated Sept 10, LTSfi. * Relation of the Campaign of 1756. — Letter from BaroKDieakau to M. de Montreuil, dated Bath, Jan. 26, 1758. I as HISTORY OP CANADA. Bonor. Ho wan a Canadian deserter, who had bee o residing, during a dozen years, in New- York, Meanwhile, De Montreuil succeeded in rallying a part of the troops, within 500 paces of the intrenchnients, and infused an orderly spirit among them. By this time, all the French corps was broken up, and parts of it gathered into bands. One of these still remained on the morning's scene of action, another was in full retreat j Do Montreuil, with a third party, took the road leading to the Qrand-Marais, bearplies Wore wanted to Bul>- sist the troops, the armed savages, and the destitute Acadian exiles. The poor in the towns began to perish of want. This afflicting atati^ of things, however, was but a prelude t» greater sufferings the people had to endure, the natural accompaniments of this long and cruel war. Already announcements were made in England, that the next campaign would be undertaken with a groat increase of the British tbrces. In Canada, a counter-resolve was formed, to put the co' lony, without a moment's delay, in a fit state, not only to defend itself, but to carry the war into its enemies' territories, on every tempting occasion. The governor-general and the intcndant, moan* while, demanded of the French ministry reinforcements of soldiers^ also supplies of provisions and of munitions of war. In their appli- cations for suooour, they contrasted the relative materiiU strength of the French and British American colonies. The chief military officers in the colony corresponded with the court in a similar strain. Some of them had apprehensions of evil resuU«, which they oared not to hide. " The situation of the colony," v~i*e M. do Doreil, war-commissary, " is every way critical ; abunc .nt suo- cours, promptly forwarded, arc now indispensable. I venture to declare, that if this be not done, our chances in the coming year are of the most perilous character." A universal wish expressed in such missives, was that a gene- ralissimo, of tried bravery and proper military oxperienoe, should TiiE SEVEN TEARS* WAR. ^ 1G3 etracted Cho cost England ouiselvoB ho w«go- s of V lolr Montreal, troubled ; future, to roB in i^ho It in Que- ed to sub- ian oxiles. ) afliictiitg sufferings f this long it the next the British »ut the CO- to defend I, on every int, moan- |of soldiers, iheir appU- id strength [of military a similar [\% which v^>»e M. Ln( .nt me- [venture to ►ming year \at a gene- ^oe, should bo sent out to roplaoo Baron Dlcskuu ; and along with hucIi a r)no, Bomo engineers (there being none us yet) and artillery officors " Wo ought to hiivo In the flold n(5Xt year," urged the intondant, " Bovcrnl corps for the cnnipnign of the spring, and 1,000 or 1,700 land tnwpa : now, 1 ,000 or 1 ;200 oloriiHts will not sulfico ; portions of the latter must bo rotnincd for garrison service in the towns, others ore wanted to guard the outposts. Hence it h that Cana- dians compose the bulk of those armies (of oum), not to mention that 1,000 to 1,200 are always employed in escorting. The Ca- nadiann, being thus engaged in military services, do not till the grounds already cleared, nmch loss Hct about clearing new. What is to become of the colony ! it will soon be in want of all neces- saries, supplies of grain cflpecially. Till now, care was taken not to levy men till afler seed-time; but this could not bo done HJnce we have had winter cxpeditlot»R to provide for, and our forccb for next year's campaign must be ofoot by early April. Add to all, that the Canadians are sensibly diminiHliing in number ; many have died of fatigue and disease : while th(! savages are to be n lied on," added the iutendant, " only so lopg as we can hold our own, and minister to their needs." Such and so grave was the oiTicially de- clared situation of New France at the eioso of 1765. The second year of hostilities between the men of French and British races in America was now closing, yet their respective go- vernments had not fommlly proclaimed war as existing, and diplo- macy between them was still at work. December 21, 1755, M. Rouilld de Jouy, foreign minister, Paris, addressed a note to Mr. Fox, in which he demanded signal reparation for the insults the flag of France had lately received ; adding, that a refusal to make such amends would bo regarded as evidencing the fixed intent of the British ministry to break up the peace of Europe. The tone of that note, however, testified the weakness of the French court's polity. " It is not the fault of our king," wrote the minister, " that the differenocs concerning America have not been settled before now by conciliatory means; and this averment ITis Majesty is able to demonstrate, in face of the whole world ,y authentic proofs. The king, ever animated by a sincere desire to preserve the general peace, and bo on terms of amity with his Britannic Majesty, has negooiated with perfect good faith and unbroken cou- 164 HISTORY OP CANADA. fidencc, on all the subjects in debate between them. The like as- surances, on the other part, which were enounced and renewed unceasingly both orally and in writing, would not, in fact, allow the king to admit a doubt into his mind of the i>aoifio intents of the court of St. James's. But it is not possible to reconcile such verbal assurances with the hostile instructions drawn up in Novem- ber 1754, for the guidance of general Braddock, in America; or with those of April 1755, to admiral Boscawen His (Most Christian) Majesty, therefore, in duty to his subjects and himself, now addresses his Britannic Majesty, and demands that entire and prompt restitution be made of r.'l those French vessels, both ships of war and merchantmen, which aave been captured by the British navy, along with their several crews, marines, &c., and all their equipments respectively. The king would much prefer to have Lad accorded to him, out of a sense of equity in the mind of his Britannic Majesty, that satisfaction which is now demanded as of right." The British minister replied to M. Rouill^, Jan. 13, 1756, in civil but positive terms, that such satisfaction as was demanded could not be given so long as the chain of French armed posts to the north-west of the AUeghanies existed ; that his royal master, in none of the hostile orders given to his officers, had done more tt^itan retaliate upon those of France their acts of war committed in time of peace ; that his Majesty had done only what was due to his own honour, or in defence of the rights and possessions of the British crown ; finally, that ho had not gone an inch bevond what was just, or in fact unavoidable." After all that had now taken place, viewed in connection with long and inimical debates in the British parliament, no further good understanding between the two nations was possible to exist, and Louib XY had perforce to arouse himself for open war against Great Britain. Dunkirk was fortified ; all the British subjects in France were ordered to leave ; every British vessel then in French port was seized ; large fleets were equipped ; and the shores of Britain were menaced with invasion. King George solicited aid, too from Holland and Hanover.* But that threat * The king needed notDatch aid ; and the resources of Hanover were more completely at bis disposition, by far, than those of Britain.— £. THE SEVEN 7EAI18' WAR. 165 masked another design, soon to be manifested to the British people in the defeat of admiral Byng and the capture of Minorca. In Europe, as in America, was heard a universal din of arms. May 17, the British declaration of war was proclaimed ; Juno 16, that of France was promulgated. These manifestoes, solemn in form, were supererogatory in nature ; for war was virtually begun, years before they were drawn up. The French ministry resolved on sending to Canada two new battalions, and young soldiers to recruit the old already therein. They also sent a supply of provisions, and 1,300,000 livres in specie. This money, strange as the fact may seem, did much harm to the colony ; for, as we have already remarked, when treating of Canadian trade, it caused a reduction in existing paper- money values of 25 per cent. The king selected the Marquis de F ntcalm, promoting him to a major-generalship (jpi^l fit marichal de camp), as Dicskau*s successor. This officer had seen much service. He was born, in 1712, in the chdteau of Candiac, near Nismes, and descended of one of the greatest families in Rouergue. He had campaigned in Italy and Germany ; and signalized himself in the battle of Pla- oentia, also at the siege of Assiette ; having received five wounds in these two actions. He had likewise gained distinction, under Marshal de Belleisle, in the famous retreat from Prague. But he possessed all the defects of French generals of his time ; he was at once fuir of vivacity and heedlessness, timid in his strategic move- ments, and audacious in battle to a degree inconsistent with pru- dence. Of his complete personal courageousness no one could have any doubt. General Montcalm embarked for Canada along with two batta- lions, comprising 1,000 men, and 400 recruits. The vessel in which he was reached Quebec about mid-May, 1756 ; the others, later in that month and early in June. They bore, also, a quantity of provisions (anxiously expected) and munitions of war. These reinforcements, added to 1,600 soldiers of two battalions sent the previous year, along with the colonial troops, composed a body of 4,000 regulars ; this was nearly the whole French force sent to Canada while the war lasted. With M. do Montcalm also came several officers : among them ./"« r^yr i^ i y t y ytTOn-rtt-TT 166 HISTOBT OF CANADA. was M. de Levis, chevalier (afterwards duke) de L^vis, and finally a marshal, but at that time brigadier-general only, — a distinguished officer ; one " well skilled, of a high military spirit, and prompt to decide in action." M. Montcalm, in characterizing him, srid he was " indefatigable, courageous, and of a good school in war." There came, too, M. de Bougainville, then Montcalm's aide-de- camp and captain of dragoons ; but who was destined to become one of the mosii illustrious of French navigators ; for, " while at- tending to his military duties, he still found time for scientific studies."* Othei- officers who now arrived were M. de Bourlamaque, M. de Montreuil, &c. Montcalm, shortly after landing, proceeded to Montreal, to hold a conference with M. de Vaudreuil, who had gone thither to be nearer to the seat of war. After a close view of the country's situation and resources, it was arranged between these its chief men, that two principal camps should be formed : one at Carillon (Ticonderoga), the other at Frontenae (Kingston), in order to be within observation efforts Edward and Oswego; at which jJaces the British had begun to assemble, in order to advance upon lakes Champloin and Ontario. One battalion (de B^arn) was despatch- ed to Niagara, where a few men had been left in autumn 1765 j and M. Pouchot, an officer of infantry but a good engineer also, was directed to fortify the post there. Two battalions were sent to Frontenae, with orders to strengthen themselves there, and to maintain a communication with 1,000 Canadians and savages dis- seminated thence towards Niagara. M. de Bourlamaque was charged with the chief command on that frontier. At Carillon, by the end of July, 3,000 men, a moiety being regulars, were as- sembled, under the orders of M. de Levis. For the protection of the Gasp^ fisheries 120 men were assign- ed; and M. de Boish^bert was left in charge of the Acadian frontier, with a corps of Canadians and savages. In the West, M. Dumas relieved M. de Contrecoeur, at fort Duquesne , and M. de Bellestre replaced M. Demery at Detroit. These chiefs had for lieutenants Messrs. de Repentigny, de Langlade, Hdbertj * Le Canada sous la Domination Frangaise, by M. Daasieux, professor of history at the Imperial School of St.-Cyr, corresponding member of the Historical ComjoUtees. 1856. THE SEVEN TEARS* WAS. 167 Beaubassin, fto. On this frontier 3,600 Canadians and savagee were in arms, from lake Brio to New Orleans, following the line of the Ohio, Illinois, and Mississippi valleys. The whole military force at this time on foot for the defence of New France, from Cape Breton to the Illinois, did not exceed 12,000 combatants at the very most ; and large deductions had to be allowed for, even from that small amount, during the spring and fall, when many of the militiamen were absent on furlough, to enable them to attend to country labour in seed-time and harvest. At Louisbourg, a stronghold of capital importance, there was a garrison of 1,100 troops ; and even that considerable number was too small. This deficiency was felt at court, and 600 more men were embarked for Cape Breton, in a frigate named the Arc-en-Ciel ; but they were fated never to reach their destination, as that vessel v:z^ captured by a British privateer when near Louisbourg. Such were the preparations of the French for the campaign in America of the year 1756. Those of the British were far more considerable as to the means to be employed. The plan of inva- sion, on their part, remained unchanged. The home government sent liberal supplies of men and money, hoping to wash out in the enemies' blood the stain caused by the defeat of Braddook ; ' also to avenge the loss of Minorca ; two events which had pro- duced a great sensation in Europe. America, as the chief field of military operations, almost absorbed the attention of British states- men. The earl of Loudon, a veteran officer, first was appointed gov- ernor of Virginia, and then generalissimo of the British armieb in North America. General Abercromby also was sent thither with two new regiments. The house of commons voted £115,000 to aid the colonials to levy and arm their militia. The difiTerent provin- cial governors met at New York, and resolved to raise 10,000 men, to take Fort Frederic and obtain the mastery of lake Cham- plain ; 6,000 more, were to besiege Niagara, and bar the Ohio valley against the French ; 3,000 besides, to capture Fort Duquesne ; lastly, 2,000 additional soldiers were to make a hostile demonstration against Quebec, by way of the Chaudi^re, and keep that central district of Canada in a state of alarm. These colonial corps, with flying bands on the frontiers and regulars not included, made "I 168 HI£'<^OBY OF CANADA. up a force themselves of 25,000 men — ^fallj doable the ooUeotive military strength of New France. Bat despite all this array, and a numerous navy, with war-ships stationed at overy point of the coasts, we shall soon see that the Anglo- American campaigning of 1756 was yet more inglorious than that of the two pretediag years. 4i 4i * CHAPTER II. CAPTURE OP OSWEGO AND FORT WILLIAM-HENRY. 1756-1757. Allianoea with tho savAges ; the Iroquois aflbot a nAutrality.-^Mni- tary preparations. — Oanadian bands afoot the whole winter of 1765-6. —Fort Bull razed, and an enemy's convoy of 400 bateaux dispersed. — Disaccord begun between the governor-general and Montcalm. — Siege of Oswego ; The garrison capitulates ; booty gained by the vic- tors ; The savages Iiill many of tho prisoners ; the works of the place razed ; joy at its fall in Canada. — The British suspend all fhrther operations in the field for the year; the savages ravage the: pro- vinces. — The Canadians capture Qrenville. — Dearth in Canada; e> arrival of famished Acadians, to make matters still worse. — id dr* manded from France. — Rapid increase of colonial expenditure. — Mont- calm proposes to attack Acadia, rather than forts Edward and William Henry. — Pitt obtains ministerial power in Fritain. — Renewed eabrts made by the British government and people, in view of achieving American ascendancy in 1757. — Abortive enterprise agaL.\>t Louis- bourg. — Canadian bands afoot again during the winter of 1757-8 ; exploits of M. Rigaud. — Succours arrive from France ; the alliance of the savages secured. — Siege and capture of Fort William Henry ;— maaeacre of many of the prisoners taken, by the savages ; the works of the place razed. — The dearth in Canada becomes a famine ; the troops murmur at the privations they endure. — Disagreements become notorious among the colonial chiefs. — Varying fortunes of the French forces in Europe, Asia, &o. — The British raise an army 50,000 strong, for their American campaign of 1758. During the succeeding winter, M. de Vaudreuil turned his beat attention to the important business of maintaining alliances with the savage nations, and especially the Iroquois tribes, the chiefs of which expressed their willingness to take a neutral stand between the French and British while the war lasted, if the integrity of their territory were respected. He received with great parade a numerous embassy sent by these people ; and he assured them that his great desire was to be on good terms with them. They returned home, after protesting that they would not take » . I 170 HISTORY OF CANADA. part against the French. It was partly in view of conciliating the Iroquois, always jealous of intrusion upon their wild domains, that Fort Oswego was dismantled after being taken. The season for warlike operations was now near ; but the enemy, who had learnt to bo cautious, were not so forward to enter the field as hitherto. The levying of a suitable force had also been found difficult. There waa a hitch, too, as to precedence between the officers, in the British regulars and the colonial leaders respec- tively. According to established routine in the enemy's army, the latter were bound to conform to the directions of the former This arrangement had lately given great umbrage to the Ameri- cans, and they now refused to conform to it ; so that lord Loudon was fain to give way, and ordain that the old equality should prevail. In other respects, the mixed military organization re- mained intact. Among the defenders of Canada, similar preten- sions were set up, and the like jealousies for a time were excited- but wise counsels prevailing in the colony, the evil was nipped in the bud ; M, de Yaudreuil, the firiend and protector of the Cana- dians, repelling all attempts to subordinate the colonial officers to those in the French regular army. The prolonged inaction of the British in spring-time this year gave the governor-general and his subalterns an opportunity for resuming the project, lately laid aside, of attempting the capture of Oswego ; a British outpost, the existence of which had always been r^arded as a standing menace by the French. During pre- vious months of winter, armed parties bad been kept on foot to destroy the petty posts maintained by the British between Albany and Oswego, cut the communications between them, and discou- rage the garrison of that lake fort. Thus, in March, a force of 300 men captured a considerable magazine, called Fort Bull, between Schenectady and Oswego; destroying there a great quantity of warlike stores, the loss of which greatly retarded the after movements of the enemy. Fort BuU was a block-house, girt about with palisades, and equipped with loop-holes ; but for- med in such strange sort, that the latter served as a protection to assailants, who could fire under cover at the defenders within, and whose persons were completely exposed. Tho palisades having . 1 CAPTURE OP OSWEGO AN.D FORT WILLIAM-HENRY. 171 been olearod with hatchets, the fort was taken hj oMault, and the whole garrison put to the sword. M. de Vaudreuil sent, early in spring, M. de Villiers with 900 men as a corps of observation, to the vicinity of Oswego to di»- quiet the British th^ro ; with the enemy ho had several preliminary skirmishes. July 3, he attacked a convoy of 300 to 400 bateaux, which were returning after provisioning the fort, disport them, killed several of the people on board, scalped otiiers, and took pri- soner many more,^ This success obtained, the investment of the place was deter- mined on, and the troops received orders to march thitlier at once. It was then the public began to perceive that a coolness existed between the two chiefs, military and civil, of the colony. At first they were mutually agreeable to each other, but by degrees an estrangement took place. A natural dissimilarity of character, and the evil inspirations of certain parties interested in setr ting them at variance, confirmed their personal dislike. For a time, the intimate friends of both alone perceived an aversion, wnich was destined to seriously aflfoct the public well-being ; but it was not slow to become manifest to every observer, ■• Montcalm, through a fatal presentiment, never had fhith in a happy issue to the war, as his letters too plainly prove ; thenoe arose in him an apathy of mind, which would have allowed him to neglect every occasion of aggressive hostilities, but for the im- pulsiveness of M. de Vaudreuil J who, whether from conviction, whether through policy, never appeared to despair ; he both conceiv- ing and causing to be executed some of the most glorious enter- prises that have illustrated the military annals of France. Such headway, however, did the mistrustfulness of Montcalm make in the .:■! * Letter of M. de Montoalra to the minister, dated July 20, 1766. He wrote tliat the success would have been greater, had the savages not attacked too soon. Letter of M. de Vaudreuil, of August 30. Most of the American historians ignore this enterprise. Bmollett reports that the British were led by colonel Bradstreet ; that they completely beat their opponents after a three hoars' fight, and took 70 prisoners ; but Sismondi, speaking of Smollett, observes that he took for granted, ge- nerally, the averments of British newspaper writers, which merit little attention : an observation equally applicable to those of America. I 172 HISTORY OP CANADA. army, that the governor-general wroto, in a letter ho addroMod to the court after the capture of Oflwego, — " Had I been deterred by all the idle diHoourses which took place on this subject, I must needs have renounced an enterprise which was destined to disarrange completely all the plans of the Brit'sh generals." In fact, Mont- calm only half approved of it, and had great doubtn of its success ; thus expressing himself in one despatch : " The object which is in view by my passage to Frontenac, appears to me possible enough, in a military sense, if all the details be well combined; but I shall set out to effect it, without being assured or convinced." Moreover, Montcalm was scared by the natural obstacles of the locality in the way of successful campaigning. " There are no routes other than rivers full of rapids and cataracts, or lakes to navigate so Btorm-vexed, as to be often impassable by bateaux." Fort Oswego, erected by the British on the south-eastern shore of Lake Ontario, for the protection of their commerce and the settlements they had formed between the Hudson and that inland sea, acquired in time of war a double importance from its situation. It served, on one side, to curb the Iroquois ; and endangered, on the other, the line of communication between the lower and upper extremities of Canada ; because the British could, operating from this stand-point, readily attack fort Frontenac, and hold rnqstery of Lake Ontario. It was important, therefore, to expel them thence, and confine their forces to the valley of the Hudson. This was what the French government saw was needful to do, and which M. de Vaudreuil determined should be done. The latter had so well arranged all preliminaries, that the army unawares, in a manner, fell upon the enemy ; who, kept in check meantime by our detachments, were not able to make extended re- connaissances. He had assembled 3,000 men at Carillon (Ticon- deroga), and Montcalm had gone thither very ostentatiously, in view of attracting and confining British attention to that point. While they supposed that this general, whom they much redoubted, was stiU at Lake Chomploin, ho returned suddenly to Montreal ; and three days thereafter (July 21), he resumed his journey to put himself at the head of the expeditionary force, which was assembled at Frontenac, by the management of M. de Bourla- maque. A camp of observation had been formed by M. de Villiers, CAPTURE OP OSWEGO AND FORT WILLIAM-IIENRY. 173 at Niaour<$, 15 leagues from Obw(^, under the command of M. Kigaud do Vaudrouil, brother of the govornor-gonural, with orders first to protect the disembarkation of the army, and next to form its advanced guard. In order to forestol any obstaole« on the part of the Iroijuoic. and to obtain hostages for their neutrality at least, a number of their ohiots had bcon detained at Montreal and others at Niagara. Two barks, one carrying 17 guns, another 12, wore Bet to cruise before Oswego; and a lino of wood-rangers were posted between that place and Albany, to intercept atiy messages that the British might attempt to inlcrchange. Qeneral Montcalm arrived at Frontenao July 29. On the 4th of August two battalions and four cannon, the first instalment, were embarked, and reached Niaourd in three days. The second division arrived there Aug. 8 ; it was composed of a battalion of regulars and a Canadian corps, with fully 80 bateaux, laden with artillery, baggage, and provisions. The troops, when united, formed a body 3,100 strong, including 1,350 regulars, Ij'OO Canadians and colonial soldiers, with 250 savages.* To concea the operation, the army moved to its destination in the night-timo only; the men ensconcing themselves in the woods near tho shore by day, thickly overlaying their bateaux with leaves. By stages of this kind they reached, undiscovered, Aug. 10, a shelter- ing cove, about a mile distant from their goal ; and, next day, tha advar^ced guard began the investment of Ontario. f The defensive works of the place consisted of two fortlets, and Fort Oswego proper, the ramparts of which wore mounted with 18 cannon and 15 howitzers. One fortlet, named " Ontario," re* oently erected, stood on a plateau, within a fork formed by Lake Ontario and the Oswego river; the other fortlet, called Fort Geoi'ge, was situated on a height 600 yards from Oswego Fort, which also it commanded by its position. Fort Oeorge was a staked entrenchment of earth, with a few cannon mounted. These three works, collectively, had a garrison of 1,600 or 1,700 men, of Shirley's, Pepperell's, and Schuyler's n^iments ; designations which the . ouisbourg expedition had made popular. Colonel Mercer was tho head commandant at Oswego. * The American authors say 6,000. We give the official figures. . ,if "h 'mm I 174 mSTORT OF CANADA. '!» COVO, Tho French having fixed their camp at the disctabui paased two days (Atig. 11-12) in funning a road acrosH woodj morass intermediate to Fo^t Ontario. Colonel Bourlauiat^ o was charged with tho conduct of the aiego. A trench was soon opened to within 200 yards of Fort Ontario, and mounted with six can- non, despite a heavy fire of artillery, and brisk musketry, well kept up by tho besi^d, under the personal orders of colonel Mercer. The latter, finding his ammunition exhausted, spiked the cannon, and drew ofi" his men ; the French forthwith entering on possession of the work. Mercer then sent 370 men to maintain tho communication be- tween Fort George, where Schuyler commanded, and Fort Oswc^, where he resumed his own place; but at daybreak, Aug. 14, M- Rigaud do Vaudrcuil crossed tho river, by swimming, with a corps of Canadians and savages, drove away the British, and tak- ing up a position between the two uneapturcd forts, greatly intimi- dated tho defenders of both. A battery of nine cannon was now promptly constmoted on tho escarpment of the river, facing Fort Oswego, and began to pour a plunging fire into that main work, which furnished no cover to its defenders' bodies anywhere above their knees. It goon became pluin, that the place was untenable. Early in the morning, colonel Mercer was killed ; a few hours thereafter, the besieged, discouraged by the rapidity of the siege- works, the bold passage of the river, which cut off their means of retreat, and the death of their commander, offered to capitulate. During this tioie, a corps 2,000 strong, under general Webb, was posted at a small distance ; and Montcalm, who fully expected an attempt by Webb to relieve ^he place, had made preparations to give him a yt&im reception. Mercer had written to Webb, before daylight, describing his critical situation, and asking for succour ; but scarcely bad the missive loft the precincts of the fort, when the messenger who boro it was stopped, and the document deliver- ed to Montcalm ; its contents determined him to press the siego all the more earnestly. Webb, then at Wood's Creek, was informed that Oswego was now in French hands, upon which he retreated with great precipitation. The capitulation was signed at 11 a.m. Colonel Littlehales, who replaced Mercer, and his garrison 1,780 strong, with about CAPTUBE OF 08WE00 AND FORT WILLIAM-HENRY. 176 100 women and children, were taken prisoner. There fell into the captors' handH seven anncd vessels, carrying each from 8 to 18 guns, 200 batteanz, JOT cannon, 14 mortars, 730 muskets, abundant stores of all kinds, 5 stand of colours, and the garrison chest, containing 18,000 francs. This handsome conquest was gained with small loss incurred by the French. The besieged, on the other hand, lost about 150 men, killed or wounded, including ieveral soldiers who were fleeing to the woods when the capitula- tion was in progress, and got cut down by pursuing savages. These barbarians, who expected to pillage the place, finding that no assault was made, and their hopes of obtaining fair booty thus baulked, fell upon the isolated pnsoners, whom they despoiled and massacred. They also forced the garrison infirmary, and scalped a number of its inmates. A hundred persons were victimized by them. At the first intimation of there sanguinary disorders, General Montcalm took energetic measures to put a stop tc them; but they were only partially successful, though ho had to make pro- mises of giving rich presents to the savages to call them off their human prey. " This will cost the king some eight or ten thousand livres," he wrote to the minister afterwards; "but the gift will iBSSure to us more than ever the affecticn of the savage natives ; and any amount of money would I have saonuoed, rather than that there should be a stain on French honour, resulting from thi^ business." All the fortifications at Oswego were razed, by order of >ho governor-general, in presence of the Troquoie chieis, wlio were well pleased to see ^orta demolished that had been erected upon their territory, and which had always been an eyesore to tlicm. This act was a wise one in another respect : the French had no soldiers to spare for garrisoning a place hard to koop, bxivinq the waters of Lake Ontario almost at its feet. The time for gathering the year's orcp being now come, many of the Canadians had leave to repair to their homesteads. The bulk of the army embarked with the prisoners for Canada, where Montcalm's victory spread universal joy, and was recognised by public rejoicings. Te Dctim was solemnly ehaunted in all the towns' churches, while the walls of some were properly decorated with the flags token, as being suited to exc\te the patriotic seal of 170 mSTORY or CANADA. ♦he |iw^|>l«. T\w cnnrsptintlinat extptit of the inofWflortHon of tlw Hvitish nt the loiw of Ontn^v wmmh! to pmvu how uront wiui ltj« hni)*^^!^^^ in thoir e^f*. In truth it lind the wwni, |iHi!il,v»'.i»|a[ eflx'ct upon thoir ftirther op«M-n»i .n^ for the vi'fl>". (^onol•nl Aher- cwnvhy nwnsod colonel ^-'ehuvh'r » <' not giving him ft |n"«»|H>v noconnt oftho wenk ptnto of the wiorkn. (^enovnl Winslow t»ow i-eoeiwd Otiiew not hy mnmh on l^nnllon. hnt to entreneh himwelf wo m to ^^>n1nlnntl tho nnitog of l,nke Chnniplwin nn«l Oswe^jjo. Oenefftl Wohb to»>k |>o«t» with 40(i inon, on the |>i)rt«g" «t tho heml of lirtke (leiMTSTB; while Sif >Vm. .lohnnow, wilh 1.00() militirt- ttven. ownpitnl (f^vmnn Flnts, on the Undnon, The expedition by Wftv of the OhftUiUi^re wm pivvn up. ov Mther »lwintil< <1 into n mai-auiliog mid; that nprrtinst Kovt IhujueHne wnn jwMponeil invh^finitely. The mo\Teinent*» n»vi»«««ry to oflntou the livitiBh UntroR, were nil thnt en^nwl befi>re the yviw eniled. The ivtluetion of ()f»w<^\ pt-iijivted h^^ M. r « tw»>noi lenient of their difltMvne«M». Mont- tsftlm still iippenret^ to be m«le<^ntent nnd nuwws nnd it neemetl i\b If he ewn i»gi>Hteti the vietniry gained, hiv^tipe it Iwlied hip evil jR>re(iiMing!«. He wrote to Pari* : " Newr hoKuv did 3,000 men^ with n pennty artillery, hesit^^ 1 ,800, there l>»ing 2000 other ©nemios within oaU. n* in the late nffair ; the |>arty uttfloked htning n pufxmor ranrino, n\m. on lake Ontano. The i«neee*« jffrtinetl han Kvn contrary to all exp.witation. The «\>nduet I tx>llowed in thii sffair, and the d»Bpoiii*««>ne I mi»d«\ xre»^i »> nnieh out of the oHi- nan way of Aoing things, that r ra»hno«r, to ^wure hia Majesty that if he nhouli aowrti to me what 1 mt wiith for, employment in ri^i^tilar can\- |v»igT\\ng, 1 »?rtjJl be ^idei>»vnt |>rinoipU>*." lid complained to«>, during the autumn, of wveral pi^ttv diwjinH^ahle- newKw infltototh be anH M de l<^vis nwially neeeivod oflicial lettew and genera onhn^ lV,>in him. draw-n up in pnr^'>«'>My ^^^niv^Vlal tenns. so that^ if an evil eiflyeet endued, the blame of it sWiuld fall on them. 1 le g«ve his <:^iniAn, n\rx\, that the Canadian foldiew had neither di^i|>lin« iv\rTU«K oir nswr;»K) ANt) k«»ut wim iam-hrnhy. 177 I! I \ of ♦U'9 nl Abor- nocount io Bfl to ) m\\\\'\in«, tlin jpnloufiy nf tho roaulnrs; nml fti'Mnrnl Mnnti'tiltu, wliow nKpirHtiotin pi>»*lui|K« WPic lor (lilit•^ Hio I»i^li0f«t |(i»Bt ill ilio pointiy, l»'il liiiii to pinj \\w piirt of citipr oonnor, t^i tlio iniiiintry, oftlin nxinting iMlniiniNttiition of (■rtiiiulinn iiflfliin. Ab wc hnvo i»iii(l iiliovi*. tlio Uritinli nii«pn»i1o«l nil fiirilipr wnr- Hkc )»ro)(>iw nkit'niiflliiiifi. ilo ijiiRi^inin M\\\ ilo tJtispiS. In tlip Oliio vnllpy, noitiiiii; iinpurtnnt took plni^o; Imt tlip «i»» still oontiiuKMl tlioir vii8tiitiiur niltls in r^oiiiFiylvniiin, Mi^iylionl. !iii«l Virfiinift. iMorotlmii till utionro longiipnof oiomtry W01V iliwuotiMl ajtnin. nt iliin tiiiio. by tin* iiiliiihitntitA, wlio lloil rtch>fi» tho Hliio Moiiiit«iu« fi»r RufVty ; lonviii^; tholr hoitioHtontli*, fiinoiop; nUwV, nod orop. «t tlio liiiiponni of thono Imrliiiriiiiin. Tlio AiMi»i'lonn niilitiiw, liookoij out nnti tiitt itomijntiiijur ptoirun of tlu> ii\vin!or«. Koi- II whilo. tlio town of WiiioUostor wiis tlioii^lit. ^1 ho in poi'il ('olioiol WuHhiiigtiin. wlio ooiiiiihiikNmI oh tlint. ftMntior, wi*otA< moMruriilly to tho tfovonior of Virgiiiiii oo tin* do- plonihlo Btiiteof tho oountry ; tHhinift. " I docliiro Holoiuiily J wonhl willinnly ollvn- my hoily m a mvt'rifiro t,o our htirtiiironn looft, if llml, tvovihl io«l«nH» thoni to Rpaii» lOir |H»oplo.'* M. DitniAA, in Anjfiist, oiiptnrod Kort (Ironvillp, itintnnt only 2t) loii}iu«>R iVoitt )*hiliutolpliiii. Soiiio tiiiio hol'oro, WitRhiii^iioi with UtUI to \\M moil, took by HorpriBiiI « liirjfo villiiip* of thoM'olf tribo \^Lnup»), o«llo»i Af«tigmS Iho iiihiihitrtntH of which took to fli|l(hti hiu bointt: nh>t by M. do Utiiilliiilo niitl noiiio (\inn- jrotbor tiirnod !»jfftiii«t tho pnrHiiorH, wimm thoy m«l(Ml *nd «!ii«|>ori««>fitro. tho Kronoh woro in tho nwonJunt ; to thoir jiWj»t«M' lionour, «a, with tt.tHttJ mou. thoy htol h tbsin 12.0()(> onoiuicH, iisnomblod botwoon tiio rix-or Hudson nnd Uuko Ontario. Thoy ulito took tho atiougoat Vol. 11.— m 178 HISTORY OF CANADA. of the British fortified posts, as a separate entei'prise. Tu re. o»M' pcnse the "^urage and zeal of the troops, Louis XV proru otpd neveral officers, conferring on some the prized knightly order oi St. Louis. : Yet amidst so many military successes, the colony itself was in a critical state. The most clamant of its ills was a scarcity of food, a foe yet more hard to encounter than any other. The des- titution prevailing among the humbler people at this time and afterwards, caused the most resolute spirit to quail. Small-pox^ too, broke out, and extended its ravages to the friendly savage tribes. The Abenaquis especially, so brave of themselves and long true to France and catholicity, had already been almost ex- terminated by that destroyer of mankind ; and the few survivors sought protection from the Anglo-Americans, their nearest neigh- bours. The harvest of the year, like some others before and after, was a comparative failure ; insomuch that, but for the husbanding of stores of provisions taken at Oswego, it is doubtful whether the French posts at Frontenac, Niagara, and on the Ohio could have been victualled. Within the colony, Die intchdant was obliged to fiu- nish grain from the king's stores to bakers in towns, for bread to be dealt out by them, in small portions, tx) the famishing people ; ■who literally snatched it from the hands of the distributors.* Meanwhile provision transports, sent to Miramichi, returned with a living freight of Acadians, craving more food, and offering to die with arms in their hands for king and country in recompense for a subsistence. Their presence, of course, only made matters worse ; there wore already more ^:!^" ;;,..!: i.nts than food could be had for. Horse flesh was given to th - nfortunatcs to eat. Part of their number died of small-pox ; but bands of them finally settled in certain lordships of Montreal and Trois-llivi^res, where they founded the parishes of Acadia, St. Jacques, Nicolet, and Be- cancour ; the rest led a miserable life for a time in the towns and rural cantons, and the ultimate survivors became absorbed in the general population of Canada. Letters from Canada now poured into France, representing the * In Mfly lt57, the people of Quebec, previously put under short allow- ance of bread, were reduced to a supply of four ounces a day per heud. er Ox ras in ityof ic des- D and ll-pox, savage 18 and loat ex- rvivore neigh- ter, v?aB iding of tber the avebeeti i to iuv- bread to people ; huturs.* nod vith mr\% ^^ ompcn?« matters Id be had Part finally fs, v/here and Be- ^wn» and id in th-o ^ting the jrt allow - [per hc'j'd' CAPTiIilE OF OSWEOO XHD PORT WILLIAM-HENRY. 179 critical situation of the coionv, and sol'citing prompt succour. The governor-general, generals,aad stalT officers, with the intendant, all concurred in one request, that the home governmenc would come to the rescue, reduced to extremity as the colony was, by over power- ful enemies without, by impending famine within. The success of the coming campaign, it was said, would entirely depend upon the amount of aid accorded by the mother country, especially the quantity of provisions furnished ; this was the capital point. As for the reinforcement of men needful, M. de Vaudreuil suggested that 2,000 might suffice, provided that Britain did not send many more soldiers ti} America than she had already done. At the time this application was made, the regulars in Canada, &c., did not exceed 2,400 in all. Yet those moderate demands were considered exorbitant, in France. Her government, having adopted a fatuaus polity, was wasting the national resources in German and Italian cam. paigns, for interests not French ; leaving empty coflFers to those ministers who would have inclined to send wherewithal to secure the continued possession of Canada as a dependency of France. The ministers, collectively, aware of what ought to be done in the case, yet consenting to gratify Madame de Pompadour (the con- temner of New France), disputed every item of the demands made on behalf of Canada. It was observed, at the same time, that, in ordinary years, the colony cost the mother country from 1,000,000 to 1,200,000 livres per annum; and that, since the war began, the amount of expenditure had risen gradually to 8 millions a year ; that, since 1756, the colonial exchecjuer was indebted to the royal treasury, through supplementary calls upon it, 14 million livres ; nearly a moiety of which sum was represented by colonial exche- quer-bills falling due next year. Intendant Bigot wrote that the army stores were quite exhausted at the close of 1756 ; that the expenditure occasioned by maintaining the posts on the Ohio would reach from 2 to 3 millions ; and that the colonial budget, for the year 1757, would absorb? millions at the least. This demand in advance, made the ministry apprehensive that a far greater amount than even this enormous sum would be required. Igno- ratit home politicians, along with the favorites of the king who par- ticipated in his debaucheries, or persons who profited by court pry- •ii . ., • .1 ,» • • 180 HISTOliV OF CANADA. digality, called out in concert, that Canada, being a forest wilder- ueas or icy region, wst far luoru than it was worth. If Old France, a«toundod at thi.i profuse expondituro in iUo NiJW, ecamo the army con- tractor of a\\ the armed posts for nineyearij. This system, adopt- ed in France for the prevention of abuses, bwame a means of aggravating picalation, to an enormous extent, iu her greatest traasallantif dopendcncy. Yt it seemed as if tlici evils alrenuy existent an this regard, uould 8c:uc jly admit of any increase, by what change soever. For a length oi time previously, there existed a secret association among most of the public agents commiasioned to make state pur- «ha8*)9, and Bigot wai? ita chief member. Thi fraudful society probably had it.^ confe'!cratos in Frantje. Bigot, wiio played an adio'ia p.>rt during this notorious epoch of our liistory, owed !.jb place and influence only to the ciroum- i^ance of being a near relative of M. de Puysieulx (minister of state), iv ;d Marshal d'Estr^es. Personally, he was of an amiable disnoiiitioa and Montcalm liked the man though he censured the Aiuc ^> 'V V ^% J>> .^ <^ Photographic Sdences Corporation f\ «^ ^ v> [V 'f thirty- two different tribes ; in all, 7,600 men. The preliminary success of the bands who scoured the enomy's country augured well for our success. Lieutenant Marin took pri- soner several of the British, and scalped others, even up to the walls of fort Edward. Rigaud, with 400 men, encountered colo- nel Parker on lake George, which he was descending, with 350 to 400 Americans, in 22 barges, sent to reconnoitre. Rigaud sank all the barges but two, killed or drowned 160 of the men, and took prisoner 165 others. After these happy preludes, Mont- calm gave the word to advance. The vanguard started July 30 ; it was led by M. de Ldvis, and was composed of some grenadiers, three Canadian brigades, and 600 savages — total 2,800. It took the land route, on the eastern margin of lake George, in order to protect the landing of the main corps, with th? artillery and siege material. August 2, in the evening, Montcalm landed with his troops in a small bay, a league distant from fort William Henry ; the bat- tering train arrived next day. I)e Ldvis was despatched towards 188 HISTORY OF CANADA. » »!• ■■1 fort Edward, to reconnoitre and intercept the enemy's supplies ; the army, meanwhile, marching in three columns, advanced through the intervening highlands, to the scene of action. The garrison, erewhile only 1,500 strong, had been reinforced, the night before, and now numbered 2,700. The French troops defiled behind the fort, and, while investing it, as well as an entrenched camp under the walls, and too strong to be carried by assault, they stationed their left at the lake, near the site of Caldwell, where the artillery was to be landed ; with their right on the heights towards fort Edward. Skirmishers were thrown out on that side, and echeloned along the route beyond, in order to give timely notice in case ge- neral Webb should be on the way to relieve the place, he having a corps of 4,000 men, between five and six leagues ofi". Colonel Bourlamaque directed the siege operations; colonel Monroe commanded the besieged. The first trench was opened 4th August, about 8 p.m., 700 yards distant, amidst an opposing fire of bombs and balls, which did not slacken, except during a few short intervals, while the siege lasted. Next day (August 5), on report made that Webb was on the way with 2,000 men, De L^vis was sent with a detachment to meet him ; and Montcalm was about to follow, with a large force, in support, when a letter was brought to him, which had been found on the person of an enemy's courier, killed by the way. This letter in- formed Monroe that, considering the state of fort Edward, the writer opined that it would be imprudent either to leave it or to send any relief whatever to him (Monroe). It advised the latter, that the French were 13,000 in number, that they had much artillery ; and that these (discouraging) particulars were set down for hit consideration, so that he might try at obtaining good terms o^,' surrender, in case he (Monroe) could not hold out till the arrival of succour, which had been demanded from Albany. Webb's exag- gera*''on of the French strength hastened the reduction of the f)lace. August 6, at day-break, a battery on the left, of 8 can- non and a mortar, was unmasked and opened fire. It was briskly answered by the besieged. Next day, another battery disclosed itself. Montcalm now suspended firing, and sent his aide-de-camp, Bougainville, with Webb's letter to Monroe. The latter declared, notwithstanding, that he would defend the fort to the last. At CAPTURE OP OSWEGO AND PORT WILLIAM-HENRY. 189 9 A.M., the cannonade recommenced, amid the yella of the savages, who screamed with joy as the shot told upon the defences of the fort. Towards night-fall, 500 of the besieged made a sortie, in order to cut their way to fort Edward; but M. de Villiers barred the way with a free company and the savages. After a struggle, he drove the enemy back, killing 50, and taking others prisoner. A third battery opened fire, August 8 j before it was finished, and about noontide on that day, the glitter of arms was observed on the crest of a hill near by. Presently troops were seen forming in battle order ; all which seemed to excite great interest in the entrenched camp below the fort. The call to arms was beaten by the besiegers' drummers ; but, after a few musket-shots were wasted, the soldiers on high re-entered the woods, and were seen no more. On the morning of the 9th of August, a flag of truce was dis- played, in sign of a desire to capitulate. The following conference was short ; it was agreed that the troops of the fort, and those in camp, numbering 2,372 in all, should march out with the honours of war, and return to their own country, with their arms, baggage, and one field-piece, conditioned, however, that they were not to serve against any of our people, or any of our savages allies, during the existing war ; also it was stipulated, that all French prisoners of war then in the British colonies should be sent to Carillon within four months. It was owing to a deficiency of provisions that the garrison were not to be retained. There were found in the place 43 pieces of artillery, 35,835 lbs. of gunpowder, with balls, &c., in proportion, and provisions enough to subsist our army for six weeks ; while, on the lake, were 29 small vessels, which were all given up. — The loss of the French was 54 men ; that of the enemy about 200. The capitulation was accompanied, like that of Oswego, by an event ever regrettable, but whicu it was almost impossible to pre- vent, on account of the independent ways of the savages. The British, moreover (du reste), were in part themselves to blame for what happened, through having neglected to spill their liquors, as M. de Bougainville, by Montcalm's orders, prayed they would do, to prevent the savages from getting drunk upon entering the place. The men in garrison were to retire to fort Edward. De LcJvis caused them to set out next morning, escorted by a detachment of 190 HISTORY OF CANADA. regulars, and accompanied by all the interpreters of the Indian warriors. They had not gone much more than a mile on the way, when the savages, malcontent at the terms of capitulation, which baulked their hopes of spoil here as at Oswego, excited by drink, and urged by the Abenaquis (who owed a grudge to the British), took to the intermediate woods, whence they fell unawares upon the prisoners, killed some, stripped great numbers, and led back all the rest. The escort did its utmost to restrain the barbarians, and several of the soldiers in it were killed or wounded, while trying to snatch victims from their hands. As soon as Montcalm learned what was passing, he hastened, with all his oflScers, to put a stop to it ; and succeeded in saving most of the prisoners whom the savages had brought back, causing them to take shelter in the fort. Nearly 600 of the enemy's soldiers, dispersed in the woods, reached, by degrees, fort Edward, but naked, unarmed, and spent with hunger and fatigue. The savages took 200 to Montreal, for whom the go- vernor paid a heavy ransom ; 500 re-entered fort William Henry, as mentioned above. Montcalm re-clothed those who had been stripped, and sent them on, with a strong escort, after expressing regret at what had taken place. — These unfortunate disorders left strong resentments in the hearts of the British. But the prison- ers themselves rendered this justice to their French conquerors, that they used all their eiForts tc limit the evils done ; and owned that they succeeded in preventing greater.* The fort having been razed, and the enemy's camp obliterated, Aug. 16 our army re-embarked, in 250 barges, for Carillon. But for the necessity of sending the savages back to their hordes, and allowing the Canadians to secure their crops, Montcalm would have been able to disquiet fort Edward at least. The Americans so fully expected his arrival there, that all their militias — infantry, cavalry, and artillery — had been put in requisition, everywhere in Massa- • The atrocities succeeding the surrender of William Henry are but half narrated in the above account, and those which are recounted are glossed over very neatly. Not a word is said of the massacre, within the fort, and in it3 precincts, of women and children ; or of the Acelda- ma of gore and ashes which the French and their savages transformed the place into. " -Oh they were fiends 1" to use the words of Shki,lby, in anotlier case. — B. ' ■ ■ '• - ' CAPTURE OP OSWEGO AND FORT WiLLIAM-HENRY. I9l chusetta ; and the colonists westward of the river Connecticut had orders to demolish their wheeled vehicles and shut up their cattle. " It is inconceivable," said Hutchinson, "how four or five thou- sand enemies should cause such a panic I" The provincials' appre- hensions, however, were not quite unreasonable, for the instructions of M.deVaudreuil bore, that after taking William Henry, Montcalm was to attack fort Edward ; but the fear of subsistence failing the troops, the needful absence of the Canadians, and the strength of the place itself, with the probability of its being succoured besides, had induced the general to give up the attempt prescribed to him ; but this exercise of his own discretion by Montcalm, caused great differences between hira and the governor-general. In other re- spects, the difficulty of finding food for the army being ever pre- sent, and dearth always increasing in Canada, the most welcome trophy resulting from its latest conquest was the mass of food, including 3,'>00 quarts of flour, and much bacon, brought in triumph to Carillon ; a booty this, which was prized at Montreal and Quebec as worth a great victory. This campaign over, our army retired within the Canadian lines, and, in autumn, took up its winter- quarters in the interior. The year's harvest entirely failed. In several parishes, hardly enough grain was reaped to provide seed for the next crop. Ce. reals, which promised well as they grew, gave small returns or none, o^ing to the flooding summer rains. It was feared that the country would have no bread at all by the coming month of Janua- ry. For precaution against the worst, 200 quarts of flour were kept in reserve, to supply the wants of the sick in hospital till the month of May. In the religious houses, the daily portion was re- duced to J lb. each person ; and it was proposed to supply to each of the towns' people 1 lb. of beef or horse-flesh, or cod-fish, along with the quarteron of bread allowed, but which was judged insuffi- cient of itself. The intendant bought up 12 to 15,000 horses for the shambles. Stored subsistence failing, the troops were quartered upon the people in rural districts, as these were thought to be best provided in a time of general dearth. Only a few soldiers were kept ii the towns, to do garrison duty. At the close of September, De L^vis, having reduced the soldiers' rations, was told that they murmured thereat. Forthwith he assembled the grenadiers; and ■» i 192 HISTORY OP CANADA. reprimanded them severely for insubordination. He reminded them that the king sent them to Canada not only to fight, but also to endure all unavoidable privations imposed on them ; that they were to consider the colony as a city besieged, and cut off from supplies ; that it was for the grenadiers to give a good example of submission ; finally, that any mutinous sign would be puni&hed with severity. Murmurings thereafter ceased for a time. In Decem- ber, the daily rations were further reduced, and the troops being proffered horse-flesh for beef, refused to take it. M. de Levis as- .sembled and harangued them again. He ordered them to conform to circumstances ; and added that if, after the distribution, they had any representations to make to him, he would listen to them wil- lingly. Having taken their rations, they justified their co:jiplaints with soldierly frankness ; and said in conclusion, that horse-flesh was not nourishing ; that every deficiency of supply fell upon them ; that the civilians denied themselves nothing, and that the dearth, said to be universal, was not even so general as people pretended. M. de Ldvis replied, in order, to all the grievances expressed. He assured them they were ill informed of the colony's real state ; for a long time, he said, the Quebec people had tasted no bread ; adding that the officers in Quebec and Montreal had not then a quarteron per diem each. He adverted to the Acadians, whose sole food was horse-flesh and cod-fish ; and reminded the veterans present, that the troops had eaten horse-flesh at the siege ol Prague. This dis- course seemed to have a good effect, for the mutineers returned to barrack, and remonstrated no more. It turned out afterwards, that insubordination among the regulars had been excited by some of the inhabitants and malcontent colonial soldiers. Early in April, the daily ration for the Quebec people was re- duced again, and fixed at two ounces of bread daily, with eight ounces of bacon or cod-fish. Men began to fall down in the streets with hunger. More than 300 Acadians died from privation, at this time. While the country was thus a prey to a famine which seemed to aggravate every incertitude as to the future, Montcalm com- plained bitterly that various persons sought to depreciate his merit and lower him in the public regard ; that De Vaudreuil, in par- ticular, set himself to lessen the credit due to the regular troops CAPTURE OF OSWEGO AND FORT WILLIAM-UENRY. 193 eminded but also that they off from :ample of ihed with 1 Decem- )ps being Levis as- conform , they had them wil- jOTiiplaints horse-flesh pon them ; he dearth, jtended. essed. He 1 state ; for ad ; adding quarteron e food was esent, that This dis- eturned to fterwards, id by some lie was re- with eight the streets ivation, at ch seemed lalm com- his merit lil, in par- tlar troops and their general in achieving the late succesBes. Every victory gained seemed, in fret, to increase the discontent of Montcalm. An ill-satisfied ambition kept his mind ever open to all the sinister influences of others' malevolence. Meanwhile, the ministers at Paris were constrained to attempt solacing the evils puffered by Canada. They knew that the Bri- tish cabinet had ordered, during the winter, an increase of Canada's military force in a larger proportion than during the two preceding years. But the weakness of the French government allowed it not to organize suflicient succour, to secure success cither present or future. The colonial expenditure for 1757 had far exceeded the sum allotted to meet expected wants, and the bills of exchange drawn on the royal exchequer had risen to 12,340,000 francs. Private correspondence with France continued to signalize financial abuses and great dilapidations. Bigot stood out prominently among the culpable functionaries denounced. The diflBculties of the time, the evils of war, even famine, but, more than all, the distance from home supervision, enabled him to multiply his opportunities of robbing with impunity. Having full power to gratify his most exorbitant desires, he satisfied them without any stint. The letters of Mont- calm (whose eyes began to open), those of De L^vis, Bougainville, Montreuil, Doreil, Pontleroy — all abounded in accusations against Bigot. Doreil, writing in cipher to the minister of war, Oct. 22, 1757, said, " I blame not the commissary-general alone ; there are many things to be said as to others, but I hold my peace. It grieves me to see so interesting a coloi^y, and the troops who defend it, exposed, through the cupidity of certain persons, to perish f'rom hunger and destitution. M. de Montcalm will perhaps enter i ato this matter at large ; I leave to him the ungrateful task. Nothii g escapes his attention, or can lessen his zeal for the public well-bei jg. But what can he do, any more than I, (in the way of prevention) ? why, only make remonstrances which delinquents are always ready to parry ; or it may be, we are not even listened to I Three days afterwards, Doreil adverting to the prevailing famine, and to an epidemic which the last-arrived troops brought with them, thus referred to the doings of the intendant: " The reme- dies to be applied to public ills ought to be potent and prompt. — For myself, I long only for the blessed time when, by roytd per- VOL. II. — N 194 HISTORY OP CANADA. misHion, I shall return to France, and witnoas no more, an idla spectator, the monstrositieB which daily challenge my attention M. do Morns, minister of marine, knows not the true cause of our situation. It belongs neither to M, do Montcalm nor to mo to at- tempt informing him. Wo abstain, the rather because any repre- sentations we should make would probably never reach him,* Montcalm, writing under date Nov. 4, observed that the com- missary had bought much brandy and wine, but little flour ; why ? " because there accrued more profit to him from strong liquors but," he added, "let us cover this matter with a thick veil j to raise it would compromise some of the highest folks in this hind. I conclude, from what was said to mo at Paris, before I left, by M. de Gournay (minister of commerce), he is informed of all that I must not write " Montcalm complained, after- wards, of defaultings in military engineering works : " How many abuses M. de Pontleroy will have to reform in his department I but in what branch are reforms not wanted ?" The European birth and home nomination of defalcating agents, who always manifest far more hardihood in a colony than in the mother country, the favouring prejudices of the minister, with the hurries attending warlike enterprises, did not allow of a searching investigation being then made ; and all that was done in the mat- ter at head-quarters was, to recommend economy in every outlay I The colonists had earnestly applied to their king to send them provisions. The new minister, M. de Moras, despatched 16,000 quintals (cwts.) of flour, irrespective of the supply demanded by Cadetj which amounted to 66,000 quintals. An order was trans- mitted, also, to draw supplies from the Ohio, from the Illinois country, and Louisiana. The victualling vessels left France in early spring, but most of them were captured by British ships of war or by privateers. Those that escaped arrived very late at Quebec, the earliest of them not till late in May. This tardi- ness greatly in quieted M. de Vaudreuil, who, fearing procrasti- nations, sent three ships in succession to France, the first as soon as the season allowed, to solicit prompt succours. By mid-June, * Because one of the underlings of the miniatry, at Versailles, named La Portei, connived with Bigot, M5,>i^, .,,y .■,^,^ - ,. ^;,^.. ; „.. .,-Tf;.,. ;(, ■ lOre, an id!© tcntion cause of our to mo to at- *e any rcpre- h him.* liat tbc corn- flour ; why ? liquors liick veil ; to in this land, before I left, informed of lained, after- " How many department I eating agents, ly than in the ister, with the of a searching e in the mat- every outlay I to send them ,tched 16,000 demanded by cler was trans- the Illinois icft France in |British ships td very late at This tardi- ing procrasti- first as Boon y mid-June, rsailles, named CAPTURE OF OSWEGO AND FORT WILLIAM-HENRY. 105 no more than ono fri^ ;itc and 20 transports had arrived, bringing 12,000 quarts of flour in all. As to reinforcements of soldiers, none were to bo hoped for ; ns it was not found possible to get any pafsed to Canada. Despite the good-will of some ministers, Marshal deBelleisle, in charge of the war department, could obtain but a few indifferent recruits, to complete the companies in battalions to 40 men each ; and, even of such recruits only from 300 to 400 came during the whole year. France experienced great vicissitudes in the campaigns of 1757 : alternately beating and beaten in Europe, she was victorious in America, and unfortunate in India. Her councils were guided by the capricious impulses of Madame de Pompadour, who, from day to day, employed or dismissed generals and ministers without regard to their merits or capabilities. The attempts made to obtain mastery on land and sea had exhausted France's militaiy forces, and undid tlieir harmonious unity ; so there was nothing for it now but to look on, and see Britain double the forces she had on foot in America when the war began ; while Canada possessed, May 1, 1758, only eight battalions of regulars, 3,781 strong, in- cluding recruits levied in the country : add thereto the colonial regulars, (numbering 2,000 men in the preceding year and not increased since), there resulted a properly disciplined force of not quite 6,000, to defend 500 leagues of frontier. It was plain, that the Canadians must needs form the bulk of an army capable of opposing, with any chance of success, the overwhelming numbers of the enemy. Moreover, the checks the British received in America, compen- sated by their victories in the East, did but excite them to make greater efforts than ever to crush, by force of numbers alone, the defenders of Canada. This was all the more easy, as Biitain's finances were in a flourishing state, and her superiority at soa no longer contested. The capture of Oswego and of William Henry, by ensuring French supremacy on lake Ontario and lake George, made the situation of the enemy on the American continent less favourable, after four years of struggle, than it had been any time since 1752. But the ardour of Mr. Pitt now inspiring the British cabinet, it was bent on solving the question of British or French mastery in North-eastern America. Doubtless, unpre- ]9e HISTOBT OF CANADA. »cicnt of tho great events of 1755, ho willed that his country should be solo dominatrix there ; and accordingly he planned siioh enter- priHcs as must necessarily ensure the fall of the Franoo-Amerioan catublishiucuts in every part of the continent and its adjuncts. The British forces, both for land and sea service, were rapidly aug- Qionted ; Lord Loudon was invalided, and General Aberoroniby appointed Anglo-American generalissimo ; while his army was re- inforced by 12,000 additional regulars, sent out under General Amherst. All the colon iil governments were enjoined to raise as many regular soldiers um their respective populations would allow of; and in a short time Abercromby found himself at the head of a properly disciplined force 50,000 strong, including 22,000 British regulars ; yet exclusive of 30,000 enrolled militia-men, who, if all called out, would thus have made the collective force of Britain in America 80,000 combatants. The accumulation of such a host of armed men, thought to be needful to conquer Canada, implied a proud homage to the prow- ess and patriotic spirit of her defenders, French and colonial ; for the armies embodied against them, or about to be, exceeded in numbers the population of our province at tha,t time, including all its men, women, and children. With such a signal disparity of numerical strength, then, did the respective belligerents open the campaign of 1758. i - iV * 1 !. ••■ ■ l I CHAPTER III. BATTLE OF CARILLON (TICONDEROQA). ' 1768. Canada, left to her own means of defence, determines to fight to the last. Plan of the British campaign : proposed simultaneous attacks on Louis- bourg, Carillon, and Fort Duquesne. — Capture of Louisbourg, after a memorable siege, and invasion of the island of St. John (Prince Edward's) ; the victors ravage the settlements of Gasp^ and Mont- Louis. — Defensive measures in Canada. — General Abercrombj ad- vances, with 1G,000 men, on Carillon, defended by scarcely 3,500 French. Battlh or Carillon, fought July 8 : defeat and precipitate retreat of Abercromby. — Colonel Bradstreet captures and destroys Fort Frontenac. — General Forbes advances against Fort Duquesne. — Defeat of Major Grant. — The French burn Fort Duquesne, and retreat. — Vicissitudes of the war in different parts of the world.— Ministerial changes in France. — Dissidences between Montcalm and the governor. — The French ministry takes Bigot to task. — Intrigues for superseding M. de Vaudreuil. — The ministry accept the self-proposed recal of Montcalm ; the king opposes it.— Conciliatory despatches sent to the rival chiefs, with knightly orders, &c. for them, and pro- motions of their subalterns ; but accompanied by no soldiers or other substantial succours. — Defection of the French Indians, who at Easton adopt the British side. — The British decide to advance upon Quebec, with three armies, to rendezvous under its walls. — Amount of Cana- dian force in hand to resist this triple invasion. The persevering efforts of Great Britain to appropriate Crnada. so often defeated, made it probable that she would now try, once for all, to gain her ends ; and at the same time wipe out her past disgraces, by crushing, at one blow, the small opposing force likely to be ranged against her overwhelming armed hosts. France, hope- less probably of finally preserving her finest dependency, made almost no further attempt to retain it by force of arms ; still its native defenders, all but abandoned by their mother country, none the less girded up their loins to face the storm of invasion about to assail them. " We shall fight," wrote Montcalm to the minister ; " and we shall bury ourselves, if need be, under the ruins of the '■• ♦ 198 HISTORY OF CANADA. i^ g. colony." Others said, " All our most alert and ralid males mnat march and fight ; let the civic officers, the priests, the women^ with persons of tender or advanced age, do the small labour — the wives of all functionaries, civil and military, setting an example to the rest." Such ^mis the stern resolution formed, by every elas» alike, to defend their common country to the last. The British, on their part, with forces fully capable of much sub- division, determined to attack, concurrently, Louisbourg, Carillon, and Fort Duquesne. The capture of Montreal was to be the appen- dix to that of Carillon. A large fleet and 14,000 of a land force were assigned to assault the first-named place; from 16 to 18 thousand men were ordered to invade Canada by way of lake George; and 9,000 others marched into the Ohio country to expel the French thence. Only an imperfect notion was formed^ in Quebec, of the numbers which were about to conjoin in a leaguer of that city ; but the temporary safety of both capital and colony were entirely due to the coming victory of Carillon, where,, as at Cressy, the victors repulsed an army five times more nume- rous than their own. • •.. . i, ^ During sfwing this year, the French troops, after some delay from want of provisions, marched to resume their positions on the frontiers, with orders to throw out parties to harass the enemy, cause him to divide his forces, and ascertain his hostile designs. Near Carillon 3,000 of our soldiers rendezvoused ; and a» many assumed positions on the banks of lake Ontario and at Nia- gara. These measures taken, the soldiery stood to their arms ; while the colonists scattered in the furrows of their ploughed fieldsi the few handfuls of seed-corn they had been able to redeem from the reserved b„^rea which gaunt famine had broken into and nearly devoured. Simultaneously^ the British broke bounds ; and it was upon Louisbourg that their first blows fell. — Admiral Boscawen sailed thither from Halifax, (N. S.) May 28, with 24 ships of the line, 18 frigates, and many transports, having troops on board and a large siege train. June 2, tlie expedition reached Louisbourg. Here werCj in garrison, 2,100 regulars and 600 militiamen; with 5 men of war and 5 frigates, moored in the harbour, to aid in defending the place against a combined force of 30,000 British BATTLE OP CARILLON. 199 [es must women y lur — the imple to ery elass nch sub- Carillon, e appen- ind force 16 to 18 of lake untry to formed^ oi-n in a pital and n, where^ ire nume- nae delay ns on the enemy, designs. and as d at Nia- ir arms ; hed fields sem from into and ras upon m sailed I the llne^ rd and a lisbourg. fcn^ with aid in British soldiers and sailors. M. Drucourt, who had succeeded to the Comte de Raymond as governor, resolved to make a stout defence, and not give in, even should no relief come, so long as the works were at all tenable by the small number of their defenders. The fortifications, indeed, had become everywhere ruinous, for want of reparation. The revitements* and most of the curtainsf had entirely crumbled away, and there was but one casemate;); and a magazine that were bomb-proof. The chief strength of the place lay in the difficulty of an enemy's disembarking to attack it, and in the facility with which the harbour entry could be barred against him. What remained undilapidated of the original works of defence, being formed of friable stone, as above noted, joined with bad mortar too, the probability was, that it could not long withstand the shock of heavy projectiles; the governor,consequently, prepared rather to oppose the enemy's disembarkation, than await his approach behind such ruins. Therefore it was, that he carefully fortified all the weak points of the coast in the environs of the town as far as to Gabarus bay, distant 1^ mile and near to where the British fleet anchored. Cormorant cove, being the most acces- sible pait of that line of coast, he bordered with a solid parapet, pierced for cannon and swivel-guns (^pierriera) of heavy calibre. In front of this entrenchment he formed a breastwork of felled trees (abattis), so closely set that it would have been difficult to find a passage through it, even when unmanned ; though it pre- sented an appearance, to the deceived eye, of an expanse of un- broken natural verdure. (Raynal.) — A series of interchained barges was ranged from Cape Noir to Cape Blanc, and batteries were erected upon them, commanding all points where a 1 rig was practicable. ... In presence of such obstacles, that operation became both diffi- cult and dangerous ; yet as the British could have no certainty of the concealed strength of resistance at Cormorant cove, it was precisely there that they touched ground on the 8th day of June. To perplex the attention of the French, they prolonged the line * Linings of stone, brick, &o. t Walls between bastions. t A subterranean chamber with a vaulted roof, used as a guard-house to defend the curtains, fosses, &c. — B, •Vi ■ ■ .f 200 BISTORT OP CANAUA, of their vessels, so as to threaten the whole seaboard, feigning to disembark at Laurembec and other points of it; but suddenly most of the British attacking corps, formed in three divisions, landed at the cove, while General Wolfe with 100 men, at a spot a little beyond, scaled a rock judged thitherto inaccessible, and kept possession of it, despite all attempts of the armed towns- men and savages, who tried to dislodge the enemy's soldiers. The governor, after leaving only 300 men in garrison, was pre- sent here with the rest. The works at Cormorant cove were thus manned by 2,000 soldiers and some savages. The British, who saw not yet the trap that had been mii fer them, continued their landing. Louisboui^ would have been saved if, the disembarkation once completed, they had advanced inland, in full confidence of having no formidable obstacles to encounter ; for then they must have quailed under the hail-storm of cannon-shot and musket- balls which the French, under secure covert, would assuredly have poured upon them It is not likely that one of them, in such a case, would have escaped death by bullets, or in the waves ; for the sea at that time was in a very troubled state, and an orderly re-embarkation they would have found diflBcult, or rather impos- sible. But French impetuosity, says Raynal, caused a well-laid scheme to miscarry. Hardly had the British landed their van- guard, and their vessels, nearing the shore, were about to disgorge the main body, than a brisk fire of musketry reaching those already on shore, and assailants hitherto concealed in the abattis coming numerously into view to take part in the fray, the danger of advancing further became apparent to the dullest of the British officers. Preparing to retrace their steps, they saw no othor means to descend than by way of the rock where Wolfe had posted a detachment. That general, then engaged in re-embarking the troops and getting off the barges, fwthwith ordered one of his officers to the perilous spot. V' yi* "%:'i. t- f«s.*y,i vfeaJ It was Major Scott who went thither with his company. The shallop he was in having sunk the instant after he put foot on land, he alone held to the rock with his hands ; and he now found only ten soldiers alive, out of the hundred lately posted on it. With this small number, however, he contrived to gain the heights. Thanks to a covert of brushwood, he stood his ground heroically BATTLE OF CARILLON. 201 against a party of French and savages seven times more nnmeroas than his own. The British troops, braving at once the raging sea, and the firing from the French batteries promptly directed on the contested rock, succeeded in securing the only point suitable for their disembarkation on this side. The position of the French, on the other hand, thenceforth became untenable. Fairly out- flanked, one of their batteries was soon carried. At that instant, it was rumoured that General Whitemore had disembarked at Cape Blanc, and was about to pass between the 2,000 French soldiers at the cove and the town ; into which the latter were forthwith recalled by the governor, after leaving 200 men killed, or captured. The fall of Louisbourg was now only a question of time ; but as a prolonged defence might become a means for de- laying, perhaps preventing, a direct attack on Canada, the com- mandant refused to let the five men-of war in the port put to sea.* The British operated briskly. June 12, General Wolfe, with 3,000 men, garrisoned the Pharo battery, the Royal battery, and other deserted works. The Pharo battery was important, as it commanded the port, the town fortifications, and a battery on the island facing the place. The siege of the latter forthwith com- menced. It was courageously defended. Seven thousand men at the most, including disembarked sailors, and a regiment which came in aid by sea during the siege, fought against a quadruple force during two months, with admirable courage aad patience. The besiegers, favoured by the broken ground, advanced their lines to within 600 yards of the town walls. The besieged made several sorties, but could not much interrupt the operations ac- tively carried on by the British. June 19, the Pharo battery, seated on a height scarcely attainable by the garrison's fire, began to play on the town. The cannonade, on both parts, was heavy ; but the French were obliged to bring the men-of-war 600 yards nearer to the town, to escape the enemy's shot ; which began to tell, also, upon the town-wall facing the Pharo. Three new bat- teries were erected, in succession ; and a mound {ipaulemetit) 450 yards long, was raised by the enemy, to facilitate their approaches, upon another site which commanded the place. June 29, the be- • Letter from M. Drucon-t to the minister, dated Sept. 23, 1758. 202 HISTORY OP CANADA. sieged, fearing lest the British fleet should enter the harbour, sank four vessels at the narrowest part of its entry. July 1, two more were sunk, in the same view, their masts standing above water. The fire from all the ramparts, meantiine, was constant, and several sorties were made. The governor's wife, Madame de Drucourt, immortalized herself by her heroism during the siege. To encourage the soldiers, she often passed and re-passed along the ramparts amid the cannonading, fired several great guns herself, rewarding the most alert artillerymen. She also dressed the hurts of the wounded, kept up their courage by her kind words, and, in short, enderx-ed herself to the men no less by a masculine courage than by exercising the gentler virtues more becoming her sex. Meanwhile, the walls ceased not to crumble everywhere under the enemy's projectiles : yet, determined as was the attack, no less per- sistent was the spirit of defence. The breaches made in the works were constantly repaired, as far as possible. July 21, a shell set fire to a French 74-gun ship in the harbour ; its powder- magazine blew up, and the fire spread to two more vessels, which also were consumed. Only two French men-of-war remained afloat ; and to save these, it was needful to steer them clear, not only of the enemy's cannon-range, but that of the burning ships ; for the guns of the latter being shotted, they were going off at every instant. Present salvage, however, proved to be no final gain, but the contrary ; for, ere the siege ended, they were cap- tured by the enemy, who entered the harbour during a dark night, cut out one, and burnt the other. This last blow determined the French to give in. It showed that the port was quite assailable and all but defenceless seaward ; while it was a scene of wreck within. The land works, also, were become untenable, for every battery on the ramparts was disor- ganized ; scarcely a dozen cannon remained undismounted, and many practicable breaches existed in the line of defence, which the weakened garrison could not now repair, a third of its numbers being killed or wounded. As, frr^m hour to hour, a general assault was apprehended by the townspeople, they adjured the governor to capitulate. He reluctantly yielded, and had to accept the terms granted by the foe, July 26, 1758. — Thus did Louisbourg, or rather its ruins, with the whole island of Cape Breton, pass into BATTLE OP Ci^BILLON. 203 British hands: the surrender of the isle of St. Jean (Prince Edward's) being also promised by the governor. He and his garrison, reduced to 500 soldiers and sailors, remained prisoners of war ; while the townspeople, it was ruled, were to be transported bodily to France. This conquest, which cost the besiegers only 400 men, killed and wounded together, greatly rejoiced Great Britain and her American colonies. Sent to London, trophies of the victory gained were paraded from Kensington palace to St. Paul's cathedral ; and thanksgivings were celebrated in all the churches, with tho greater ostentation as an oflFset was needful to make the people torget the discomfiture of Carillon, the unwelcome news of which had only then reached Britain. — Yet, after nil, Louisbourg was but a paltry fastness {une miserable bicoque.^) .,-■ ■,,.., o ; •,-, ,i , . ; v =: After this exploit, the British fleet set out to take possession of isle St. Jean, and to destroy the settlements of Gaspd and Mont- Louis, established in the Laurentian gulf by the Acadians and poor fishermen, all of whom the enemy bore away. The expedi- tion afterwards made an attempt on Miram^ohi, and finally re- tired about mid-October. Simultaneously, others of the British erected petty forts, as if to secure a foothold, on the northern margin of the bay of Fundy. The fall of Louisbourg and the loss of Cape Breton left Canada without a seaward defence, and cleared a free passage to Quebec for the enemy to enter in at. While General Amherst and Admiral Boscawcn were gatherin g laurels in Cape Breton, and on the adjoining seaboard. General Abercromby, ensconced Qapi) at the end of Lake George, was chewing, in silence and inactivity, the bitter cud of shame for the stinging defeat he had experienced just before. This general had reserved for himself the command of the * " Louisbourg is a little place, and has but one casemate in it, hardly big enough to hold the women. Our artillery made havoc among them (the garrison) and soon opened the rampart ; in two days more, we should certainly have carried it. If this force had been properly man- aged, there was an end of the French colonv m North America in one campaign ; for we have, exclusive of seaman and mariners, near forty thousand men in arms." — Letter from General Wolfe, to his uncle Major Wolfe, da/ed 27fA o/Juiy, 1758. " i •:H *" ■* S04 HISTORt OP CANADA. •I- M ttooph which were to act in the Champlain lake r^on, theirs being the chief operation in the tripartite campaign, as planned at head-quarters. His army was composed of 7,000 regulars and 9,000 provincials, besides from 400 to 500 savages, led by Colonel Johnson ; the collective force being cantoned near Lake George. When all was ready for an advance towards Montreal, the road to which Aberoromby undertook to clear of every obstacle set in his way, the first thing to be done was to force the French defensive line. M. de Vaudreuil doubted not that Carillon (Ticonderoga) would be attacked, after General Amherst departed for Louisbourg; but, as he had as yet received no provisions from France, he thought the best means of defending the central frontier would be to make a diversion. Therefore it was, that he persisted in a plan he had formed, to throw a strong corps on the southern lake- board of Ontario, force the Iroquois to renounce the British al- liance, prevent a refoundation of Oswego, make an irruption on Schenectady, and constrain the enemy to quite abandon the Cham- plain region. Such a demonstration, both in its political and mili- tary complexion, was of a very ticklish character : still Ldvis, with 80G regulars and 2,200 Canadians and western savages, prepared to realipe it ; but, just as he was about to proceed, word came from M. de Boulamaque, commandant on the Champlain frontier, that Abercromby, then at Fort Edward, was about to come down upon him with a large army. The original order to De L6vis was now countermanded ; and General Montcalm, after some wrangling with Vaudreuil regarding his instructions, set out from Montreal, June 24, with M. de Pontlevoy, chief engineer, to take charge of the troops at Carillon, where he arrived on the 30th. He there found 3,000 men assembled. Montcalm seemed purprised on finding that the British were already in act of descending Lake George : although, ever since spring-time, he had himself directed [Vau- dreuil's ?] attention to Fort Edward, and pressed [him ?] to send troops to Bourlamaque in any event. He now, without delay, sent word of what was passing to the governor-general, who hast- ened the march of the troops, already then on their way for his relief, under De L^vis : whose corps was composed of 400 regu- lars, 1,600 Canadians, and a few savages. The militias, too, were ordered to come up as soon as possible; but only a few reached BATTLE OF CARILLON. 205 the scene of action, even by forced marches, till the pressing need for them no longer existed. July 1, Montcalm made a movement in advance, echeloning^ his troops from Fort CanUon to th"?*foot of Lako George, to curb the enemy, and obstruct their landing. July 5, the British embarked, at the lake head, in 900 barges and 130 bateaux, while on numerous rafts cannon were mounted, constituting so many floating batteries. *' The sky was serene," says Mr. Dwight, " and the weather superb : our flotilla sped its way in measured time, in accord with inspiriting martial music. The standards' folds floated gaily in the sunshine ; and joyous anticipations of a coming triumph beamed in every eye. The firmament above, the earth below, and all things around us, form- ed together a glorious spectacle. The sun, since his course in the heavens began, rarely ever lighted up ^ scene of greater beauty or grandeur." • The British yan, 6000 strong, led by Lord Howe, reached the lake foot, early on the 6th, and landed at Oamp Briil^. As it approached, Bourlamaque fell back on La Chute, where Mont* calm was posted ; after waiting, but in vain, the return of M . de Trdp^zde, whom he had sent on a reconnaissance, to Mont Felde, with 300 men. The latter, at sight of the enemy, meant to rejoin Bourlamaque, but lost his way in the woods ; thereby, through the delay ensuing, just as he reached the spot whence he had set out his corps was surrounded by the enemy, and two-thirds of the men were killed, or drowned in attempted flight. The rest, who formed his rear-guard and had taken another route, arrived safely at La Chute, whither Tr^p^z^ and another officer were borne mortally wounded. It was also in this fortuitous skirmish that Lord Howe lost his life. He was a young man, but an officer of much promise, whose death was greatly mourned over by his compatriots. The amount of the enemy's force, and his intents, were now alike discernible. Montcalm broke up his camp at La Chute ; while, supported by the colonial regulars and 400 to 500 Cana- * Echelon^ Fr., is a stepping-bar or round in a ladder ; hence the mili- tary term 6chelonner, dispose parties of soldiers en Schelon (ladder-fash- ion) ; t. e. range them in detachments on a line, with interspaces at tQrminat9 iDtcfrvali.^JP. W 206 HISTORY OP CANADA. dians, just come up, he defiled towards the heights of Carillon, whero he proposed to do battle ; for it had been determined that, whatever might be the disparity in the numbers of the two armies, the entry to Canada should not be given up without a stru^le. Montcalm at first elected to make his stand at Fort St. Frederic (Crown-Point); but M. de Lotbinitire, who knew the country well, counselled him to prefer the heights of Carillon : the enemy, he said, could not pass that way, if it were (judiciously) occupied ; and it would be easy to strengthen the pass by entrenching, under the cannon of the fort ; whereas, he observed, the works needful to cover St. Frederic would take two months to execute: not to mention that, Carillon once cleared, the enemy could safely de- scend Lake Ohamplain, leaving the former stronghold unassailed, in his rear. Montcalm, feeling the cogency of this reasoning, halted the troops as soon as they reached Carillon in their retro- grade march ; then he gave them orders to take up a position in advance of the fort, and there entrench themselves, as proposed. The heights of Carillon are situated within a triangle formed by the discharge of the superflux waters of Lake George, named La Chute river, and Lake Champlain, into which they here flow. Some bluflFs (buttes), which are not lofty, and rise highest at the summit of the triangle, terminate, by an easy slope, towards the lake ; but present a steep frontage (escarpement) to the river, the latter having a strand alongside it about 50 yards broad. At the extremity of the triangle, on the edge of the frontage aforesaid, was a small redoubt, the fire from which radiated on the river and lake ; enfilading, toe, the sloping ground along the course of the stream. This redoubt was connected, by a parapet, with Fort Carillon (the ruins of which may still be seen). The fort, which could contain 300 to 400 men, lay in the lap of the triangle, and commanded the centre and right side of the plateau, as well as the plain below, in the direction of Lake Champlain and the river St. Frederic. The enemy in our front bivouacked during the night of July 6-7. The glare of their numerous fires indicated that they were in great number near the portage. The French entrenchments, of zigzag outline, were begun in the evening of the 6th, and carried on most actively on the 7th. They b^an at the fort, followed for some length the crest of the heights, in the direction of La Chute night; ! ; ■ I I .. ,1 BATTLE OP CARILLON. 207 of Carillon, rmined that, ; two armies, a struggle. St. Frederic the country ; the enemy, y) occupied ; entrenching, ;d, the works ) execute: not lid safely de- Id unassailed, lis reasoning, 1 their retro- a position in is proposed, iangle formed Jeorge, named hey here flow, lighest at the e, towards the the river, the road. At the age aforesaid, I the riyer and course of the wt, with Fort 'he fort, which e triangle, and eau, as well as 1 and the river iring the night cated that they sntrenchments, th, and carried rt, followed for in of La Chute river, and then turned to the right, in order to traverse the triangle at ita base, following the sinuosities of a gorge, of little depth, running across the plateau ; and, finally, descended to the hollow (has-fond)^ which extends to the lake. The lines of entrenchment might have about 600 yards of development, and a height of five feet : they were formed of felled trees, placed each on others ; and all disposed in such sort, that the larger branches, stripped of their leaves and pointed, turned outwards and formed a rude kind of chevaux-de-frise. Each battalion as it arrived, first taking the place it was to occupy in action, constructed its parts of the defences in- tonded to cover all. Every man worked with ardour at his sepa- rate task. The Canadians, who did not obtain hatchets till noon on the 6th, began their assigned portion of the abattis, in the hol- low towards Lake Champlain, and finished it just as the advancing British came into view. As the intermediate country between the troops and the enemy was thickly wooded, Montcalm had caused the nearer^ parts of it to be cleared, so that the latter should be the sooner seen, and have no covert when within gun- range. •'■" ■''= ^'' •• '"'' ■'""■' ;'• Meanwhile, Abercromby was completing the disembarkation of his army. Some prisoners he took misinformed him that the French had entrenched themselves merely to gain time, expecting the ar- rival of 3000 additional men, under De Ldvis, said to be on the way. The wily Abercomby determined to fall on at once, before the (imaginary) sucoour could come up. An engineer, sent by Abercromby to reconnoitre, returned and reported that the French works were incomplete ; upon which, he (boldly) put his army in motion. The vanguard, led by colonel Bradstreet, did not halt till it came within a short, mile of the French entrenchments, late on 7th July. Here the enemy's advanced corps passed the night ; the line of adversaries on each side of the narrow inter- space making ready for next day's action. The British army, deducting a few hundred men left at La Chute (probably for guarding the boats at thp foot of the lake), consisted of 15,000 prime soldiers, under ex *v.vn.,
in«t tliom l>y ,nnw coiijoinnl thoir HtronjithM, .'inil in a Holid hotly triod to loroo, soino- timos thocontrcof tho French, ntothor tiinosthirir rifi;lit, and n^ftin thoir \o{\ winu; — all in vain. Hut it was tho rij^ht of tho Kronch works that waw longest and niof^t ohstinatiily a»*Hiiilod ; in that (junr- iox, tho conihat was most Hunfj;uinary. Tho Hritinh ,u;ronadiorH and hij^lilandors thoro porsovorod in tho attack for throo hotirs, without flinching; or broakinu; rank. Tho hi}:;hlandorH above all, under Lord .Fohn Murray, covonMl thonisoivos with glory. They formed tho head of tho troops confronting tho Canadians, their light and pioturowiuo costume distlnguishiivj; thoni from nil other soldiers amid the flames an«l smoko. This corps lost tho half of its men, and 25 of its officers were killed or severely wounded.* At length this mode of attack failed, as the preceding had done, owing to the cool intrepidity of our troops ; who, as they fought, shouted Vive h rot f and cried " Our general for ever I" During tho different charges of tho enemy, the Canadians made several sorties, turned their flanks, and took a number of them prisoner. At half-past five, Abercromby, losing hopes of success for a moment, withdrew his columns into the woods beyond, to allow the men to recover their breath ; yet he resolved to mako one last attempt before quite giving up his enterprise. An hour having elapsed, his armyreturncd to the charge, and with itsmasscd strength once again assaulted the whole French line. This final attack failed even as the others. Thus fiurly baffled, tho British had perforce to retreat, leaving the Fjcnch masters of the field ; tho rear of tho former being protected by a swarm of riflemen, who skirmished with the Canadians sent in pursuit till night-fall. By this time, the French were exhausted with fatigue, but in- • Scarcely any of tho wounded higblanders ever recovered, oven those sent home as invalids ; their sores cankered, owing to the broken glass, ragged bits of metal, &c. used by the Canadians, instead of honest shot. {,, UATTI.K OV VMllLLOV. au toxiciit« prepare for their roooption a« hoforo. Tho troops thoroforo had to pass tho nif^lit in their position ; thoy cleaned their arms, and when day- light dawned noxt niornini^, set to work to coniplut12 HISTOKY OF CANADA. V I ' contemporary French accounts estimated the British loss at from 4 to 5 thousand. " Montcahn," said M. Dussieux, " stopped invasion by his bril- liont victory of Carillon ; certes, that was a deed to be proud of. But Montcalm spoke modestly of what he had done : * The only credit I can lay claim to,' wrote he next day to M. de Vaudreuil, ' is the glory accruing to me of conmianding troops so valorous... The success of the affair is due to the incredible bravery mani- fested both by oflBicers and soldiers.' " " During the evening of the battle-day, the fortunate and illus- trious general wrote, upon the battle-field itself, this simple and touching letter to his friend M. de Doreil : * The army, the too small army of the king, has just beaten his enemies. What a day for [the honour of] France ! Had I had two hundred savages to serve for the van of a detachment of a thousand chosen troops, led by De Ldvis, not many of the fleeing enemies would have es- caped. Ah ! such troops as ours, my dear Doreil — I never saw their match." Abercromby made his way to the head of Lake George in hot haste. Arrived there, he entrenched himself in the camp which he occupied before his short campaign ; ordering general Amherst, from Louisbourg, to join him without delay. The latter, who re-landed at Boston Sept. 13, took the road for Albany with 4,500 men. But the season was then too far advanced to make any new attempt for the current year — supposing always that Abercromby had inclina- tions that way ; and renewed invasion of Canada had to be adjourned till a more propitious time. Turthermore, the Carillon pass would have been more hard to force on a second attempt than at the first ; because the entrenchments there, which were then barricaded with felled trees, now consisted of regular embankments flanked by re- doubts armed with artillery. Bands of Canadians, and savages, also scoured the country far and near, and held in check the whole British army. They attacked its detachments even under the wails of Fort Edward ; near to which, M. de St. Luc captured a . convoy of 150 waggons. ^^ Nevertheless, the great numerical superiority of our enemies made their losses of men little felt^ for the recruits they constantly received more than compensated such deductions ; whereas the BATTLE OF CARILLON. 213 very successes of the French diminished the chances of their ulti- mately prevailing in so unequal a struggle as they had to main- tain. Abercromby, having learned that his descent on Carillon was the cause why De Ldvis had been called away from Fort Fronte- nac (Kingston), and that the place was nearly abandoned, sent colonel Bradstreet, with 3,000 men, bearing 11 guns and mortars, to surprise that important post, which was the entrepot of the French marine on Lake Ontario. That officer reached his desti- nation Aug. 25, having left the British camp secretly, and de- -.?ended the Oswego river to the lake. The fort contained only 70 men, but their commander, M. de Noyau, did not surrender it till the enemies' bombs made it untenable. The victors captured many cannon, quantities of small arms, loads of provisions, and nine newly armed barks, — part of the trophies brought from Os- wego. After loading his barges to the water's edge, Bradstreet released his prisoners on parole, burnt the fort, also seven of the barks, and returned to his own country ; where, soon afterwards, he re-established Fort Bull. This expedition did honour to the American colonel, and for a moment inquieted the colonial authorities, for it seemed to put in peril our superiority in the lake country, as that partly depended on the flotilla, laid up in ordinary at Frontenac. The mastery of Lake Ontario appeared to be so important, that M. de Vaudreuil, on learning that Bradstreet had made his descent at Frontenac, caused the ginirale (call to arms) to be beat, and ordered the town-major of Montreal, M. Duplessis, to gather all the savages he could, and recal 1,500 Canadians from field labour ; then to lead them forward, by forced marches, to relieve the garrison of Fron- tenac. That officer, however, upon reaching Fort Presentation (Ogdensburgh), was informed that Frontenac was already taken ; upon which he halted, and waited the arrival of further orders. He was then directed to detach 600 of his men for Niagara, in order to strengthen the post there. M. de Vaudreuil also sent for general Montcalm to Montreal, to deliberate upon what was to be done, now that Louisbourg had fallen, and Frontenac was ruined. It was resolved by the two chiefs that the latter should be refoun- ed \ and that Niagara should be re-taken were it to fall into the W !• 214 HISTORY OF CANADA. I i W i enemy's hands temporarily, as was then feared, being but weakly garrisoned; while Oswego was to be attacked, if the British thought fit to re-fortify that place. De Ldvis was named commandant of the great lake frontier ; and M. de Pontleroy, chief engineer, appoint- ed to restore the defensive works of Frontenac ; but this labour was not to be performed till the year following, the season being too far spent. If their superiority in numbers assured to the British the ad- vantages of a campaign in the Gulf of St, Lawrence, the same cause produced a like result in the Ohio valley, where the suc- cesses of the French were insufficient to compensate their nume- rical weakness. General Forbes directed the enemy's operations on this frontier. His army, composed of regular troops, under colonel Bouquet ; and of militiamen, under colonel Washington, assembled 6,000 strong at Raystown, 30 leagues from Fort Du- quesne, which they were to attack. An unpleasant recollection of Braddock's defeat induced the enemy to approach that fort by a new route, across the highlands. In mid-September, the British troops were still at Loyal-IIanning, where they raised a fort, 45 miles distant from the French post. Before. setting out himself, Forbes sent a detachment, 1,000 strong, under Major Grant, to reconnoitre ; and this corps reached undiscovered a spot within a short mile of Fort Duquesne. Grant's intent was to attack, during the night, those savages who usually camped round the place ; but the fires lighted before their huts, the common indica- tors of their presence, had been let burn out before he arrived, and he was obliged, before doing any thing further, to retire at break of day to the crest of a neighbouring hill, where his presence sur- prised the French. M. de Ligneris, successor of M. Dumas, at once assembled 700 to 800 men, who, led by M. Aubry, ascending to the position of the British, attacked and drove them into the plain. The savages, who had retired beyond the river, so as not to be come on unawares, retraced their steps, and, seeing the en- emies' repulse, joined the Canadians. The British, attacked again, were completely routed and dispersed ; they lost 300 men, killed or wounded, and more than 100 were taken prisoner, including 20 officers and Grant himself. Those who fled rejoined Forbes at Loyal-Hanning, whence ho had not stirred. It was now Novem- BATTLE OP CARILLON. 215 Dumas, at ber, and the season's snows began to fall ; it was therefore decided, in a council of war, that further aggressive operations should be postponed till next year ; but, before a retrograde movement was made by the British, some prisoners they took unfortunately dis- closed the weak condition of the French. The allied savages had left for their own villages, and the auxiliary corps from Detroit and the Illinois, sent in aid, through a misunderstanding that the enemies were already on their homeward route, had retired ; in fine, scarcely 500 men were then in garrison at Fort Duquesne. Forbes now changed his mind : leaving behind him his tents and heaviest baggage, he advanced, by forced marches, towards the place with all his troops and light artillery. M. de Ligneris, not able to face so superior a force, and hopeless of succour, embarked hi^ artillery in bateaux, burnt the fort, and retired with bis men to Fort Machault, near lake Erie. Forbes took possession of the relinquished ruins of a place, which had been such an eyesore to the British. The latter, willing to compliment their great minister, gave the name of Pittsburg to the heap of ashes found in a local- ity, now the site of a rich and flourishing city. Everywhere the season for repose was come, and the forces of the belligerents, on all the frontiers, entered into cantonments. Upon Lake George, the British armies, after receiving rein- forcements which mutual inaction rendered useless, took up their winter-quarters ; that of Abercromby, before retiring, burnt the defensive erections and obliterated the trenches formed at the head of Lake George. The balance of material advantage in the campaign of 1758, the fifth since host"' 'ties began, inclined to the British side in America : for they uecame masters, in autumn, of Louisbourg and Isle St. Jean; they burnt the Gaspd settlements, and gained a foothold on the north coast of Fundy Bay ; they razed Fort Fron- tenac and forced the French to leave that place, as well as Fort Duquesne : but so far as military glory was concerned, the French rose superior. Everywhere they had to contend against far greater numbers than their own ; at Louisbourg, disparity was as 1 to 4 ; at Carillon nearly 1 to 5 1 Never di' our race fight with more devotedness or greater intrepidity. If iij chiefs committed some faults, it cannot be said that those faults caused the evil con- ■■ 1* 216 HISTORY OP CANADA. summation becoming inevitable, the responsibility of which mnst be laid at the door of their sybaritic sovereign. Canada, left a prey to famine and the sword, could not for ever maintain a con- test against a maritime Power, mistress of those seas across which new armies were ever passing to reinforce Canada's enemies, far too powerful before. In other regions of the globe, France's fortunes were better that year. In the East, her fleets captured Gondelour, and burnt there ten British frigates ; they also took fort David and Divicot^ on the Coromandel coast. After a check at Raga, the French conquered the naboby of Arcate. In Europe, France achieved successes and sustained some reverses ; upon the whole, her posi- tion there was made no worse. A few victories counterbalanced some defeats in Germany ; and the duke d'Aiguillon annihilated at St. Cast the rear-guard of a British force, which for some time menaced the French coasts. So many efforts, however, to sustain a war over land and sea in every part of the world, ended by emptying the TQyal treasury. Pitt, aware of this, strove with redoubled energy to destroy or paralyse the forces of France in the New World. Financial embarrassments, added to gloomy prospects, now caused a new change in the French ministry. " For Bome time before," says M. Gudrin, " successive ministers flitted across the political scene like so many shadows ; this was true of the marine as of all other departments, under the semblance of a government which France possessed during that sad epoch of our history. Hardly had a newly inducted state functionary begun to acquire the rou- tine duties of his place, than he was forced to renounce it before effecting any thing. Only a little month after P^raine de Mauras succeeded to Machault in the bureau of marine and colonies, he had to make way for De Massiac, who in turn, after a few weeks' possession, was displaced in favour of Nicolas-Ren^ Berryer, a per- sonage not less hurtful than Jerome Pontchartrain had been be- fore. Berryer had been lieutenant of police ; and, as such, a chief purveyor of lodgers for the B istille, in which capacity he earned the favour of Pompadour : among the Paris commonalty, atrocious acts were laid to his charge, and he ran some risk of falling a vic- tim to the popular fury therefor. To this contemned, detested, and above all incompetent man, did the ruling demirep consign the BATTLE OF CARILLON. 217 nil must a, left a 1 a con- is which 3, far too e better id burnt Divicot^ French achieved her posi- ced some ed at St. menaced war over tying the id energy iTorld. )W caused before," )olitical as of all nt which Hardly the rou- before Mauras onies, he w weeks' er, a per- 3een be- a chief ;rned the itrocious ng a vio- ietested, sign the it department of marine ; now had our British enemies tried their utmost to deal a brain-blow to French interests, they could not have succeeded better than did the court favourite by this odious appointment." Marshal de Belle-Isle succeeded M. de Paulray as war minister ; and the duke de Choiseul replaced cardinal de Bernis, as minister of foreign affairs. These changes foreshadowed an ascend? ^y for the war party at court. Still, military interests fared no better for the change ; and disasters to the French arms continued increasingly, as we shall have too much occasion to see. To Canada, the new ministry was even less favourable than the old ; none of its members took thought for the necessities of the colony, or cared to stir up others to send out the succours which had been so urgently solicited. Meanwhile the paucity of soldiers and scarcity of victuals in the colony, became increasing as well as abiding evils. A portion of the cultivators having been diverted from their proper work in compliance with the exigencies of war, many farms lay fallow ; consequently, supplementary supplies of food were nor;?^ul. Large imports had taken place in previous years, larger wer^ .wanted now. On the other hand, hostilities, hotly maintained on the ocean, made transmission by sea hazardous, and imports uncertain ; thence it became indispensable to order matters so, that the greatest num- ber of rural labourers, which could by any possibility be spared ac intervals, should have allowance to quit the army, during seed- time and harvest : thus war and agriculture became each other's bane, and both were now advancing on the road to ruin. As early as the month of October, the governor-general and the intendant wrote to the minister, to inform him that the British meant to besiege Quebec in the ensuing year with large forces ; adding, that if Canada received no succour, attacked as it would be on all sides, its people must needs succumb ; that there were only 10,000 disposable men in arms to confront hosts of foes, as 4,000 troops (all there were besides) were wanted for transports, the garrisoning of Niagara, Frontenac, Presentation, &c. " We can- not count for much the inhabitants," it was observed : " they are wearied out by continual marchings ; yet it is to them we trust, as scouts for the army.* Their lands are but half cultivated ; their • " Ce sont eux qui font les dicouvertes pour Varm6e :" the above is a true if free interpretation of the foregoing words, if we mistake not. — B' «.. I \4 \\ : ^ 218 HISTORY OP CANADA. II > '.■•>. dwellings are falling to ruin ; they are ever campaigning, far away from wives and children, who mostly have not bread to eat There will be no tillage this year, for want of husbandmen." It was stated also by the authorities, that a distribution to the poorer classes, of bullock or horse flesh, at reduced prices, would have to take place. And, going into details, as to the amount of food considered to be" indispensable, 35 ships of 300 to 400 tons each, it was intimated, would be wanted to bear it across the ocean. All the private correspondence of the time evidences the truth- fulness of the official picture thus drawn of the colony's deplorable state. The breaches of trust and robberies habitually committed by the intendant and his confederates, progressed concurrently with the failing ability of the country to bear them. M. de Bougainville repaired to Paris, in view of urging upon the court the necessity there was for making an effort to avert the utter ruin of the colony, become imminent ; and M. de Doreil, who was to follow, was di- rected to sustain Bougainville's representations. Pressing as these were, they fell dead-born from the remonstrants' lips. In their impotence to succour the noble dependency of France she was about to lose, the king's ministers, as if to justify them- selves, took to addressing reproaches to tho intendant, regarding the excessive expenditure of the Canadian government. For some months, they had been advertised of what was going on ; for as early as August preceding, M. Doreil, emboldened by Montcalm, who honoured him with his friendship, thus wrote to the minister respecting a peccant functionary in the commissariat : " P^an has made so rapid a fortune (in eight years), that he is reputed to have netted two millions Canada is Britain's own, next year We are here like men moribund, whose last agony is near, although warded off for a short while by medical means." " You may look upon him (P^an) as one of the primal origina- tors of the mal-administration and approaching loss of this unfor- tunate country. I told you just now, that he is two millions in pocket; could we trust to public report, the sum that he has netted is nearer to four than two " A communication written in cipher, dated December 1758, transmitted to Paris, informed its recipient that all financial mat- ters were in Bigot's hands ; that he was uncontrolled in their '-■; v 1 BATTLE OP CARILLON. 219 management, acted under no direction, and was Bubject to no su- pervision ; further, that while his only care was to enrich himself, he played the part of an official despot. Partly to stifle animad- version, partly from weakness, it was added, he allowed his accom- plices to share in the public spoils. Among the most important of the latter, was one not named, but plainly indicated as " the min- ister's right hand " (Vceil mime du ministre) ; this was M. de la Porte, a court functionary at Versailles. Bigot really monopolized the whole trade of the colony, inner and outer, by the help of Pdan, Le Mercier, and others, who furnished provisions, implements, fuel, everything the government had need of; and the party habitually diverted the means of transport, pro- vided for public use, to private purposes. " Bigot," we read in one letter, '* ordered from France all that Canada was likely to want, not for account of the king, but to be entered in name of the 'great society;' which association sold stores for state use at whatever price the directors chose to put upon them." Bigot was also accused of falsifying the public accounts in his own peculiar way (A sa/agon), changing the titles of items of outlay, enhancing the amounts of articles delivered, &c. At length, Montcalm de- cided to indite (April 12, 1759) certain incriminating facts which he had previously declared (Nov. 4, 1757) " he could not bring himself to write." In a long ciphered despatch, addressed to mar- shal de Belle-Isle, then war minister, he began by imparting his own inquietudes regarding the destiny of Canada ; repeating that food and money were both wanting to the colony, and that the spirit of its people was depressed. " I have no faith whatever," added he, " either in M. de Vaudreuil or M. Bigot. The former is not fit to plan a military enterprise ; he has no activity, he gives his confidence to pretenders (empiriques). As for Bigot, his only aim is to enrich himself, his adherents and toadies (complaisants) Greediness has infected every one — officers, storekeepers, clerks — those who intermediate with the Ohio posts, and the savage tribes in the west, &c and all realise astonishing fortunes ; one officer, who entered as a private soldier 20 years ago, has netted 700,000 livres False accounts are exposed to no test ; if the savages had but a quarter of what is charged to the king on their aocount, he might have every nation of them at his '220 HISTORY OP CANADA. command, even those now in British pay All this corrupt- ness exerts a malign influence on the conduct of the war. M. de Vaudreuil, for whom one man is as good as another, would as lief entrust a great military operation to his brother, or to any other colonial officer, as to M. de Ldvis The choice is sure tofaJl on some one who has a finger in the fnmily pie (fe choix regarJe cexix qui partaffe le gdteau) : accordingly, M. Bourlamaque was not put in command at fort Duquesne, nor M. Senezergues, as I proposed. Had either been sent, the king would have been all the better served. Bl' what abases may not be expected to arise out of such a system I unoT which the smallest cadet, with a sergeant and one cannoneer, manning some petty outpost, shall return from it with certificates for 20,000 or 30,000 livres, as vouchers for the (pre- tended) value of articles furnished to the savages It would seem, really, that every one is in hot haste to realize a fortune be- fore the colony is quite lost to France : several perhaps wish for the ruin to be total, so that all recorded evidences of their specula- tions may be covered by its wrecks." — Recurring to the facts noti- fied in the anonymous letter of December, Montcalm wrote con- cerning the fur trade, on merchandize for savages' use, transports, &c. ex. gr. : " Immense forestallings are going on of all sorts of ar- ticles, which are re-sold at 150 per cent, advance of prices, for the benefit of Bigot and his adherents I have often spoken, in re- spectful terms, about their prodigal expenditure, to Messrs. de Vau- dreuil and Bigot, but each throws the blame of it on the other." In a letter written the same day (April 12, 1759) to M. le Normand, intendant for the colonies, Montcalm signalized the huge frauds of the colonial engineers charged with the direction of military works ; their dishonest contracts were also attested and denounced by M. de Pontleroy, royal engineer, whose own hands were unsoiled. A chief peculator in this department was Le Mer- cier, a creature of Vaudreuil and Bigot ; the king he grossly de- frauded in all purchases made of ordnance equipments, such as portable forges, ammunition and baggage carts, siege implements, &c. M. de Vaudreuil, an honest but weak man, had been encircled, seduced, and mystified (itovffi), by Bigot and Co. to such an ex- tent as to be entirely at their disposal j his ignoble subjection to them embroiling him with Montcalm, L^vis, Bougainville, Doreil, £ k^ «• BATTLE OP CARILLON. 221 I corrupt- . M. de lid as lief my other ure to fall anie ceux as not put proposed. ;he better ut of such it and one )m it with • the (pre- .. It would brtune be- as wish for jir specula- facts noti- wrote con- transports, sorts of ar- ces, for the ken, in re- rs. de Vau- le other." to M. le lalized the iirection of ttested and own hands as Le Mer- grossly de- ts, such as ements, &c. encircled, such an ex- ibjection to ille, DoreU, Pontloroy — in fine, with every honest man who could and would have set him right. So hoodwinked was he content to be, that in a letter to the minister of marine, dated Oct. 16, 1759, he formally defended the system of the intendant I and on the strength of the certificate of good conduct thus signed in favour of Bigot, that worthy continued his depredations, without feigning any further sense of shame.* All these complaints, all those accusations, disquieted the min- isters, without stimulating them to remedy the abuses denounced, or to supply needful succours to prosecute the existing war. But it was thought decent to say something, at least. Berryer, there- fore, wrote to the intendant (Jan. 19, 1759), that the exorbitant wealth of his (Bigot's) subalterns, exposed their superior's admi- nistration of the colonial finances to labour under general suspi- cion. In a letter, dated Aug. 29, the same minister being pre- viously advised that the colonial drafts {lettrm de change) for the current year had risen from 31 to 33 millions, testified still greater discontent, reproaching Bigot for outlays sometimes made without royal sanction, often without any necessity, and always without any regard to economy. Thus did ho terminate his strictures on this occasion ; '• You are directly accused of hampering the free provi- sioning of the colony ; for your commissary-general buys up all commodities, and sells them again at his own price. You have yourself, sir, bought at second and third hand, vhat you ought to have obtained at once, for the king's service, at a cheaper rate ; you have enriched persons, your connexions, whose interest you alone studied in your purchases, or in other ways ; you live in splendour, and indulge in high gambling,f in a time of general privation I desire you to reflect seriously on the manner in which you have till now performed the administrative duties which were laid upon you. It is of more consequence to you that this be done, than perhaps you are aware of." This despatch, which menaced to lay bare the secret doings of • The above details are borrowed from the admirable {beau) work of M. Ddssiecx, intituled, Canada sous la Domination Frangaise. t Bigot played to an amount sufficient to astonish the most hardened of our present gamblers. During the carnival of 1758, he lost over ■400,000 livres. 222 HISTORY OP CANADA. tho intondfint, scorned to nffoot him little, but in reality ho felt self-humiliated and npprcheneivo of conseijucnces ; for ho wom now made Honsiblo that he VfOB a fallen man in tho ostiuiation of his patrons at court. A second despatch ro-producod the foregoing re- proaches ; with super added throats, of a more pointed and explicit character than those indicated by tho first. Misfortunes and (tbstacles sour men's tempers, and end by en- gcnderinp; evil passions in the noblest hearts. Discords between do Vaudreuil and Montcalm assumed a graver character than ever before, after tho battle of Carillon. The latter, and his partisans, accused the former of having ex- posed the army to the risk of utter destruction, by dispersing it about lake Ontario and at the foot of lake George, by not calling tho Canadians and armed savages to bo ready to act at every point liable to be endangered. After tho battle of Carillon, Montcalm wrote to the minister that the governor's acts had exposed him, without proper means of defence, to the enemy's blows; but since victory had repaired this fault, there was no more to bo said on that head. Ho now declared, however, that to th eregulars was due tho whole credit of the triumph — an ungenerous observation, which serves to show the jealous animus which we have adverted to more than once. Then, after soliciting the rewards merited by soldiers so valorous, he added : " As for mo, I ask for no other guerdon than my recal from the king. My health is failing, my purse is getting thin ; by the year's end, I shall owe 10,000 crowns to the colonial treasurer. Worse than all, what between the un- pleasantness and contrarieties I have to endure, along with my impotence to do good or to prevent evil from being done — all things, in short, impel me to supplicate earnestly that his Majesty would let me return to France, for that is the only royal grace I covet." M. Doreil, who chose to express his friend's sentiments still more explicitly, criticized long before, as we have seen, but now with greater asperity, all the acts of the colonial administration. After the late victory, more especially, he put no curb upon his strictures : " The negligence, the ignorance, the tardiness, and the obstinacy of the governor, have well-nigh caused the loss of the colony Inaptitude, intriguing, lying, and cupidity conjoined, will doubt- less consummate its perdition." And as public report attributed He whic agaii defe Thus mini! that a Cai ness savag quali fit pe M( BATTLE OF CARILLON. 223 to the Canadians n p^reat piirt of tlio huccomhcs obtiiincd durint; the war, and uh tho king niifi;l»t ovcrnito their devotcdncHH, from what ho had boon told, M. Doreil informed tho miniHter that Montcalm asaurcd him in n confidential letter, that the CunadinnH and colonial regulars present at Carillon nmde but a poor figure ; whereas Mont- calm said c[uito the contrary in his official despatch sent to Paris. After sending several letters written in the above strain, Doreil think- ing ho had disposed the ministry for what was connng, in tho last of them (which was more violent than all the rest) he advised them to supersede Vaudrcuil, and put Montcalm in his place: " Whe- ther tho war continue or not," urged he, " if Canada is to bo re- tained by France, and its government based on u solid foundation, lot his Majesty confide the direction of it to the general. He pos- sesses political science, no less than military merit. Fitted to give counsel as well as to carry it out, ho is indefatigable, a lover of justice, scrupulously disinterested, perspicacious, active, and haa ever in view public* well-being ; in a word, he is at once a virtuous and accomplished man while, even were M. dc Vaudreuil his equal in such regards, he can never rid himself of the original demerit of being a born Canadian." All those intrigues, the particulars of which were publicly whis- pered, at length camo to the governor's knowledge. In advance of the expected change, tho French oflScers and soldiers began to carp at, and next to stigmatize unreservedly, the conduct of De Vaudreuil, attributing to him all the privations they endured. He thought it was full time to put a term to such a state of things, which might eventuate badly for every one ; but while protesting against what was going on, he laid himself open to the charge of defending himself no less passionately than others had attacked him. Thus, in a letter full of recriminations which he addressed to the ministers, he demanded the recal of Montcalm, under the pretext that the general had not the qualities in him needful for directing a Canadian war ; intimating, at the same time, that much gentle- ness and patience were indispensable for leading Canadians and savages, and he asserted that Montcalm possessed neither of these qualities. He wound up all by indicating chevalier de Ldvis as a fit person to succeed M. de Montcalm as leader of the troops. Montcalm, on his part, wrote to the minister, that " it was hard 334 HISTORY OF CANADA. Upon him to bo nlwayfl exposed to the noccBsity of juntifying him self." The day ufterwardH, ho went an intimation to Do Vaudrcuil, that \w thought thoy wore both in tho wn)n};, and a change ought U) take plaoe in their way of dealing with each other. Mont- calm also sent to him M. du Hougainville an \nn intermediator. A better understanding appeared to follow between them, but unfor- tunately lasted not long. Uouguinville, when rendering an account of his mission to the minister, aH.signcd as tho origin of the differ- ences, various " nusapprehensions (^tracastieneg), in tho minds of both chiefs, raised by subalterns interested in creating mutual dis- trust;" adding, that " intriguers who had perhaps a [lecuniary in- terest to serve, and had reasons arising out of their peculations to discredit tho severe judgment of their conduct by a scrutinizing and honest reporter, would doubtless endeavour to embroil tho dissen- tient parties more yet." These unfortunate dificrences the ministers knew not how to deal with ; a note, however, was drawn up and submitted to the council of state, to recal Montcalm, in obodionco to his own expressed wish, but with the title of lieutenant-general ; Do Ldvis to be his succes- sor, with the grade of major-general. The king, on due reflection made, did not approve of this arrangement, and the matter re- mained in abeyance. It was tl; ;ught dangerous, perhaps, on tho ono hand, to recal a successful ana popular general ; and on the other, hazardous to supersede a viceroy who had obtained from tho Ca- nadians such sacrifices of their means and lives without a murmur, as only tho most devoted subjects would submit to. The system of having two ciiief functionaries in one colony,. almost equal in power, was faulty in itself It would have been better, at the out- set, to have nominated a governor-general capable of ruling the state as well as leading the army ; instead of which, the minister had written to Montcalm, on his appointment, that ho was to be subordinate in all tilings to M. de Vaudreuil : while, in address- ing the latter, he wrote that M. de Montcalm was to command the land forces, but that he was to do so under bis (Vaudreuil's) orders, to which he was to conform in every way. At length, conciliatory missives were drawn up for the two chiefs, one addressed to Montcalm, the other to Vaudreuil, by the minis- try in the king's name, strongly recommending union and concord :il HATTLK OF CARILLON. 286 botwoon thorn. In Hprinj^, M. do Bou^ainvillo nrrivcd in Qucbeiu, \\\H Imndrt full of rcHJoiiipcnHCH. Vuudn'uil rciHuvrd tlio f,'rnnd croHH (»f tlio ordor of Ht, LouIh ; for M. do Montcnlni tlioro whh promotion to n lioutcnunt-R(incral»liip, for M. do Lovis tlio j^rndo of miijor-gonornl.* Jtourluniiu|uo and Honnczor^ioH woro upfxiint- cd bri;^adiorM. J{ou;{ainvillo waa niado u colonel, and a knight of St. Louis ; DuniaH, aid -major gcinoral, and inHjK'ctor of tho colonial rcgularH. Badges of Iwuiour and promotion wcro also awarded to Bovoral officorH of inferior note to the foregoing. TIicho recouj- ponsos, and still nioro tho pressing instances of tho ministers, brought tho rival chiefs into closer ptirsonal connexion, but with feelings as much estranged mutually as ever. ' Meanwhile tho war minister gavo small hopes of any considora- blo Buccour being sent; it was therefore in vain that Montcalm informed him— -no unexpected stroke of good fortune intervening, Buch as a great and successful demonstration by sea against tho British colonics, or-somo enormous blunder to bo committed by tho enemy's loaders- -that Canada would certainly bo con(j[uored in tho campaign of 17G0, if not in that of 1759 ; for tho British, ho observed, had (50,000 men ready to take the field, whereas tho French (in Canada) had but 10,000, or utmost 11,000. Tho minister wrote in reply, that reiiiforcements must not bo expected ; adding, that, " not only would additional troops bo a means of ag- gravating tho evils of the dearth which has too long afflicted the colony, but the chances arc great that, if sent thither, they would bo captured by the British on their way to you ; and as the king cannot pretend to send forces in any e(|ual proportion to those which the British can oppose to ours, tho only result of our in- creasing tho latter would bo, that tho cabinet of London would augment theirs in an over-proportion, so as to maintain the superi- ority which Britain has acquired in that part of your continent."f Accordingly, GOO recruits, two frigates, and 12 to 15 mcrcliant, vessels, chiefly Bigot's, and bearing cargoes for him — these wcro all tho succours which reached Quebec before the enemy's fleet came up. Although this virtually released the Canadians from the • These are tlie nearest English equivalents to marichal de camp and major-giniral. — B. t Letter, of date Feb. 19, 1159. - ' ' > Vol. II— p k S26 HISTORY OP CANADA. fealty they owed to France, since she recognized the absolute su- periority of the British in America, not one of them yet spoke of surrender ; they had still blood to shod and sacrifices that they could make for their fatherland ; and if some despairing words did arise, they proceeded from the French i-egulara rather than from the Canadian ranks. The British Government well knew Canada's distrcBB, and pre- pared to profit by it. The parliament freely granted all the eup« plies wanted, of men, money, and ships, to ensure the realization of the great enterprise the ministry had undertaken. If British advantages already gained were not brilliant, they were solid and important ; the roads to Quebec, to Niagara, and into western Canada lay open ; aiad the native tribes of the latter region were gained over. The savage nations of the west, foreseeing the coming fall of French domination in America, and willing to secure favour in time, had formed in October preceding an alliance at EaBton,*!" where attended Sir Wm. Johnson, f along with several gover* nors and a number of leading colonials. Thus was breaking up daily that admirable system of alliances, formed by Champlain and organized by Talon and Frontenac. The Treaty of Easton, Bays Smollett, paved the way for the military operations projected against Canada, and efifcoted in 1759. The British persisted in their plan for invading our country simul* taneously, at the centre and by its two longitudinal extremities. The immensity of their forces always necessitated a subdivision of them ; for, in a mass, its parts would have encumbered each other, and some become useless. Louisbourg having fallen, Quebec was the second fastness which had to be attacked by sea. Beneath the walls of the capital the three invading armies were to* meet, and overpower that last bulwark of France by their very weight. General Amherst, who had been formally thanked by parliament as well as Admiral Boscawen, for reducing Louiebourg, was sent to supersede Abercromby, the defeated of Carillon. A corps, 10,000 strong, was assigned to General Wolfe, a young oflBcer who • About 90 miles from PhiladelphiR,— J5. f A slight mistake : the worthy baionvt did not attend on the abori occasion.— £. the tion of tl embc colon 60,00( than How Lettei I absolute su- yet Bpokc of Hat tbcy could iide did arise, ban from the trefiB, and pre- cd all the eup- the realization n. If Britiah were eolid and I into western Lcr region were sing the coming :o secure favour ice at EaBton,t several gover- as breaking up by Champlain^ 2aty of Easton, itiona projected r country Bimul- nal cxtreniitieB. a BubdiviBion of crcd each other, len, Quebec was a. Beneath the ere to* meet, and oir very weight, d by parliament^ pbourg, waB sent illoE. A corps, ?oung officer who tend on the abori BATTLE OP CARILLON* 227 had gained distinction at Louisbourg. While he should ascend tho St. Lawrence, and invest Quebec, 12,000 men, under Amherst himself, was to make a renewed attempt (tho third) to force a passage by lake Champlain, descend the rivers Richelieu and St. Lawrence, and join his forces to Wolfe's at Quebec. Next, Qen« eral Prideaux, with a third corps, of regulars, provincials, and thousands of savages led by Sir W. Johnson, was charged to take Fort Niagara, descend lake Ontario, &o. towards Quebec, capturing Montreal by tho way, and equally join his fbrccs to those wliich would already have arrived at tho capital of Canada. Lastly, a fourth but smaller corps, under Colonel Stanwix, was to scour the country, reduce French fortlets wherever found, and clear the lake-board of Ontario from every enemy to Britain. The collective forces of the enemy which thus took tho field this year, exceeded 30,000 men ; they wore accompanied by parks of artillery, and pro- vided with all warlike requisites for sieges, «fec. In addition to this land armament, there" was sent from Britain, to aid the operations of her army, a fleet of 20 ships of the line, 10 frigates, and 18 smaller war vessels, under Admirals Saunders, Durell, and Holmes, with many transports for conveying Wolfe's division, from LouLsbourg to Quebec ; the whole expedition by sea, it being arranged, should rendezvous in the St. Lawrence, and cover the siege of that city by land. If we reckon the number of sailors and marines thus em- ployed at 18,000, and make an allowance for troops left to guard the British-American provinces, it will be found that the estima- tion of the enemy's strength, made by Montcalm, was not far wide of the mark. To conquer Canada, the invaders were obliged to embody three times more men than it contained soldiers and colonists fit to boar arms :* this fact attests tho fear which its warriors, bo few in number, had inspired in their enemy's iiearts. In view of preparing to oppose such hosts, an inquest was made in winter 1758-9, to ascertain the number of valid males in the colony ^ between the ages of 16 and 60 : when this was found to be rather * The Anglo-American journals estimated the British land-force at 60,000 men. " Britain has actually moro troops afoot in this continent than Canada nutr'^ers inhabitants, including men, women, and children. How is it possible to make head against such an armed multitude ?"— Letter of M. Boreil to the minister. 228 HISTORY OF. CANADA. more than 15,000 in all. The regular force afoot scarcely exdeeded 5,000.* At all times, it is well known, the Canadians were trained to the use of arms. May 20, the governor-general sent a circular to all the captains of militia, ordering them to have their companies ready to take the field at the first signal, each man provided with six days' provisions. In April preceding, the people were informed that tho storm of war was about to burst, and the bishop ordained prayers to be oflfered up in all the churches. The parishioners went thither in crowds on these occasions, in such sort as they had been used to when entering on a campaign. Early in spring, Captain Pouchot set out for Niagara with 300 men, regulars and Canadians, to repair and defend the fort there, if attacked ; but were it not so, he was charged to succour the posts near the Ohio, also to attack enemies in the field, on tempting oc- casions. Some war-barks were built, during winter, at Fort Pre- sentation (Ogdensburgh). M. de Corbi^re ascended beyond, to refound Frontenac (Kingston), in order to resume the mastery of Lake Ontario. Other craft were built at the foot of Lake Cham- plain, to protect the communications of Forts St. Frederic and Carillon ; and, whatever might befal these, to defend Fort St. John's (on the Richelieu). As soon as the season permitted, about 2,600 men took posts at intervals, on that frontier, from Chambly (below St. John's) to the foot of Lake George. This force was un- der the orders of brig.-general Bourlamaque, who was charged to strengthen the position of Carillon. But the additional works needed there were not completed when news brought by Colonel • Government of Quebec— ' , ,' (Official enumeration returns). V,511 men and youths. Three Rivers 1,313 " «« , Montreal 6,405 " «>; Total 15,229 «' :"'■-«%.:: X The number of regularly trained fccldiers was — Eight battalions of the line 8,200 men. .t.,>^i Recruits (just arrived from France) 600 " Total 5,300 «» .h\ v % .^^>.\ BATTLE OP CARILLON. 229 Boupjainville (from France), made it probable that Quebec was about to be assailed. An order, therefore, was sent to Bourla- maque, enjoining him, should the enemy come down in force, to destroy all the defences at both the above forts, and retreat to the Isle-aux-Noix (just below the embouchure of Lake Champlain). The chevalier de la Come, charged to keep the field at the foot of Lake Ontario with 12,000 men, was also, if needs must, to retire to the St. Lawrence rapids below la Presentation and there make a stand. These precautions having been taken, the rest of the troops were ordered to remain in readiness in their respective quarters ; while the governor-general, and Generals Montcalm and De Ldvis, as- sembled at Montreal, waiting the first movements of the enemy, to ascertain from these, in what direction it would be proper to send the disposable forces; as the superiority of the British in numbers made them masters of the situation for the time. Montcalm, however, soon chafed at this state of enforced inaction. He thought, too, that the* dispositions (by Vaudreuil) for the de- fence of Quebec had been tardily made — which was true enough ; but France ought to have had the capital properly fortified long before. We have already particularized what was done in that matter. In vain had M. Galissonidre, as well as so many others, enlarged upon the necessity of fortifying Quebec. He demon- strated, too, the necessity there was for preserving Canada itself, in behoof of the French royal navy and the trade of the mother coun- try ; and he observed that, if the colony was costly to her, the numerous strongholds which bristled with arms along the European frontiers, cost far more to maintain in defensive order. Vainly did he reason thus, again and again, with the king's ministers : a fatal repugnance ever prevented them from taking action in the case. In 1759, it was too late to repair the error. Our chief city's outer line of defence (mur d^ enceinte) was incapable of sustaining a siege. Montcalm, after extending his observation over all its most assailable parts, did not venture to decide, as yet, upon what should be done — and this the rather as the British forces were to act simultaneously at points removed «ach from the other : he therefore stood ready till some one of their armies should take the initiative, when he would know satisfactorily how he had best oppose them all. n:- ;/ . ;' '. '• 1 ':vvh BOOK TENTH. -t'. CHAPTER I. VICTORY OF MONTMORENCI AND FIRST BATTLE OF '•' m; . >t> "■'i ABRAHAM.— SURRENDER OF QUEBEC. ' 1759. lavasion of Canada. — Defensive means adopted. — The French army en- ^ trenches itself at Beauport, Ac, below Quebec. — The British troops land on the Isle d'Orl^ans.— Proclamation addressed by General Wolfe to the Canadians. — That General, judging (Tn attack on the French camp to be too hazardous, determines to bombard the city and ravage its environs. — The former set on fire. — Attack on the French lines at Montmorenci. — Wolfe being repulsed, returns dispirited to his camp, and falls ill. — He vainly attempts to put himself into communication with General Amherst at Lake Champlain. — His ofiScers advise that he should take possession, by surprise, of the Heights of Abraham, and thus force the French to quit camp. — General Montcalm sends troops to guard the left bank of the St. La' ^rence, above Quebec, up to the river Jacques-Cartier. — A great number of the Canadians, thinking all danger passed, quit the army to attend to field labour. — On the Lake Champlain frontier, M. de Bourlamaque blows up forts Carillon and St. Frederic, and retreats to the Isle-aux-Noix, followed by General Amherst with 12,000 men. — The British generals Prideaux and Johnson, operating towards Lake Erie, take Fort Niagara and force the French to retire to la Presentation, below Lake Ontario. — The British scale the Heights of Abraham, Sept. 13. — First drawn battle; defeat of the French and death of Montcalm : capitulation of Quebec. — General de L^vis takes command of the army, and intends to offer battle instantly ; but learning the surrender of the capital, retires to Jacques-Cartier and entrenches his troops. — The British army, enclosed in Quebec, prepares tojwinter there. — Proper succours asked in vain from France, for re-capturing the city. While M. de Vaudreuil and the generals were at Montreal, they received despatches from France, which determined Montcalm to » /' VICTORY OP MONTMORENCT. S31 leave for Quebec, where he arrived May 22 ; followed soon after- wards by the governor-general and M. de Ldvis. The ships had brought a confirmation of the report that a British fleet was on its way to the capital, which therefore became the first point to be defended. May 22, an express brought word of some enemy's ships having reached LoBic. " Coming events " thus " casting their sha- dows before," there was no time to lose, and all was now activity to realize means for a stout defence of the capital. In order to ob- struct the enemy's approach, river-buoys and all other indicators for safely navigating the flood were removed ; while fire-floats were pre- pared for igniting the enemy's ships as soon as they should reach the port. The garris'^n stores and government archives were re- moved to Three-Rivers, and the army magazines fixed at Montreal : only necessaries for one month were reserved at Quebec, to supply the daily wants of the troops and inhabitants. A portion of the little gr-'iin remaining in the upper country was purchased with money advanced by army oflicsrs. Finally, goods were bought to give as presents to those savage tribes about Niagara and Detroit, which either remained true to the French, or whose people disowned their alliances with the British. The gifts thus awarded would at least, it was hoped, secure their neutrality. These preliminaries arranged, the chiefs turned their attention to organizing the army, and to strengthening Quebec ; the loss of the latter, it was likely, would eventuate in that of all Canada. But as for the city defences, they were judged to be anything but impregnable, and especially weak on the land »vard side ; where the rampart, which was unprovided with parapet, embrasures, and can- non, was but six or seven feet in height, and protected outwardly neither by foss6 nor glacis : it was therefore decided unanimously, that the city should be put under cover of an entrenched camp, to be occupied by the bulk of the army. '^ . • ' Quebec is built, as has been said before, at the extremity of a promontory. To the east and the south the St. Lawrence, here about a mile ynde, rolls its deep waters ; to the north is the fine valley of the St. Charles river, which, at its embouchure, along with the greater stream forms a basin three or four miles in extent. The St. Charles' lower bed is entirely covered at high tide; but at full ebb, it is fordable. The promontory on which Quebec f • 232 HISTORY OP CANADA. Ii I I ; stands, being very steep towards the St. Lawrence, with an elevation ranging between 160 and 300 feet, was considered inaccessible, espe- cially on the city side.* The weakest points towards the port were protected by palisades and walls ; and the communications between low-town and high-town were cut, and defended by artillery. It was thought that batteries erected on the quays of the lower-town and on the scarp of the upper, would together bar all passage against an enemy, whether ascending from the lower, or descending by the upper flood. If this were so, all that was further wanted, in regard of the city's safety, was to close up the entry of the St. Charles river, and thence fortify its left strand, &c, (la Ca- nardUre), along with the northern shore of the St. Lawrence, from Beauport to the embouchure of the Montmorenci ; said fortifying line to be continued inland for some distance along the right bank of the latter stream, which, descending from the Laurentian highlands, crosses the highway along the left side of the flood it falls into just below. 4., ^i..- ! Vi ..rji.. ,„ r -. The entry of the St. Charles, at a point facing the Porte du Palais, was boomed with masts chained together, kept in place by anchors, and protected in front by five barges, each mounted with a cannon. Behind this first barricade three merchant-vessels were sunk, having a platform laid across them, and a battery superim- posed, armed with heavy ordnance, the gun-range of which radiated over the whole expanse of the bay. There waa besides, at the near end of the Beauport and Charlesbourg roads, a bridge of boats, traversing the St. Charles, defended at each extremity by a horn- work. The right bank of the same river, from the pontoons over it to the Porte au Palais, was bordered with entrenchments, having artillery mounted to defend the entry of the suburb of St. Roch, and prevent the enemy from gaining by surprise the heights of Quebec. — The army now changed position ; it passed from the right bank (of the lower St. Charles), whereon it was first en- trenched (on the city side), to the left ban^ of the St. Lawrence ; following a line beginning at the bridge of boats just mentioned, and continued to the embouchure of the Montmorenci, Tuth a short • " There is no reason to believe' — thus was the order of battle word- ed (June 10) — "that the enemy will think of passing in front of the city and landing at the Anse des Meres ; and, so long as the frigates remain to us, we have nothing to apprehend un that side." I* VICTORY OF MONTMORENCY. 233 awrence ; prolongation inland, a« aforesaid. This line was covered by en- trenchments, which followed the sinuosities of the ground, and were flanked by redoubts, with cannon mounted v every point where an enemy could land easily. In the centre of the line, at the issue of the Boauport stream, was moored a floating battery of 12 guns. The flotilla still remaining, consisting of two frigates, the barges, and fire-ships, were put in charge of Captain Vauquelin. Sentinelg were posted at intervals, on the margin of the flood, from Quebec to as far above it as the Anse du Foulon (" Wolfe's Cove "), where a steep path {rampe) was formed to communicate with the Plains of Abraham, on the plateau above. A small redoubt, with can- non mounted, guarded that passage. — Such were the preparations made for defending Quebec and its environs. According to the plan adopted (always supposing the St. Law- rence were barred in front of Quebec, and the Beauport army too solidly entrenched to have its lines forced), there was no chance for the invaders but to land on the right bank of the flood, proceed a certain distance upward, cross to the opposite (left) shore, make a short detour inlaid and re-descend. By the semeans, the French army might have been assailed in its rear, if either the Charlesbourg or Bourg-Royal road were followed. But this operation would have been diflScult, and doubtless was so considered (by the Bri- tish), because an enemy's retreat would have been impossible in case of a repulse. ,^ • (^.-ry-r t!^ -'v '♦/^ . ^" •*" i>-- '^ The French army was strengthening daily, by the arrival of militia-men from all parts of the country. In rural homesteads, there remained behind only aged men, women and children. Every male fit to bear arms presented himself at Quebec, at Cirillon, at lake Ontario, at Niagara, or at a post on lake Erie, or, in fine, at some point or other, even if as distai as that portion of the Ohio valley still possessed by the French. ,; . ■/. In the arrangement of the field forces, Montcalm's right wing, composed of the militias of Quebec and Trois-Rivi^res districts, 4,380 strong, under Messrs. de St.-Ours and de Bonne, occupied La Canardi6re (facing the city) ; the centre, composed of 2,000 r(^u- ars, under brigadier Sennezergues, guarded the space between the lower St. Charles and Beauport church ; the left, composed of the militia of Montreal district, numbering 3,450 men, under Messrs. ':^^ 884 HISTOUT op CANADA. Prud'homme and d'Herbin, extended from said church to the river Montmoronoi. G«nornl de Ldvis commanded tho whole left, Colonel de Bougainville the entire right, of tho general position ; while M. do Montcalm, taking charge of the centre, there esta- bliflhod his hoad-qunrters. A corps in reserve, composed of 1 ,400 colonial soldiers, 350 horsemen and 450 savages, under M. do Boishf^bert (an officer just returned from Acadia), took up a po- sition behind tho centre of the army, on the heights of Beauport. If to these forces wo add the sailors and 650 others in Quobeo garrison (tho latter being armed citizens), under M. de Raraesay, there is a resulting total of 13,000 combatants. ** We had not reckoned," said an ocular witness, " on realizing so largo a force, because so great a number of Canadians was not expected to be present : those only being called on who wore most able to bear the fatigues of war; but there was so great an emulation among tho people, that we saw arrive in camp oven octogenarians and lads of 12 to 13 years of age. Never were subjects of any king more worthy of his favour, whether regard be had to their constancy in toil, or to their patience in suflferings whioh have really been extreme in this country. In the army itself, every heavy burden was laid upon thorn." In the position we have described, then, the approaching enemy was to be confronted. The governor-general and the civil adminis- trators quitted the city meantime, and repaired to Beauport ; the chief families left for country places, taking with them their most precious effects. Meanwhile the first arrived British ships anchored at le Bic (the inaction of whioh caused surprise) formed only the van squadron, under Admiral DuroU, despatched from Louisbourg, to intercept and take vessels that might be sent from France. A powerful armament, under Admiral Saunders, sailed from England in Feb- ruary, to take on board, at Louisbourg, Wolfe's corps and trans- port the men to Quebec. But Saunders, finding the shores of Cape Breton clogged with ice, repaired to Halifax till the obstruc- tion should clear itself. When Louisbourg harbour became accessible, Wolfe * there embarked with 8 regiments of the line, 2 * Wolfe did not take ship at Louisbourg, but at Portsmouth ; having returned to England immediately after the capture of the former place —J. VICTOBY OF MONTMOBENCY, ETC. 235 battalions of Eoyal American fusiloors, 3 oompanios of Louis- bourg gronadiora, three conipanioB of rangers, an engineer corps, 1,000 royal marines; in all nearly 11,000 men.* General Wolfo was a young officer full of talent, who wan consumed with a desire to distinguish himself by brillant feats of arms. The duke of Bedford had given him a considerable place on the Irish staif, but he renounocd it for more active einploy- jnont : thus taking his chance of obtaining promotion through his •ervices in war. " Fortune has always favored our family," ho wrote ; " and even upon me she has bestowed a few of h(tr smiles : to her in future do I devote myself." His conduct at the siege of Louisbourg attracted public attention, and caused him to bo ohosen to command the expedition to attack Quebec ; it was a charge which demanded activity, daring, and prudence comb'ned. liieutenants were assigned f to him, of a like temper : those wore brigadiers Monkton, Townshend, and Murray, — all three in the flower of manhood, leaders who had studied the art of war, and gained experience in action. Wolfo was son of an invalid gen- eral, who had served with distinction. The three biigadicrs were of noble blood, and Townshend was heir-presumptive to a peerage. All four generals wore in full hopes of success. " If General Montcalm," cried Wolfe, " be capable of frustrating our efforts once more, this year, he may pass for a clever officer indeed ; or the colony has more resources than we know of; or else our own generals will turn out to be even worse than usual." The British combined fleet, consisting of 20 ships of the line, with 20 frigates and smaller war-vessels, followed by many trans- ports, ascended the St. Lawrence, and safely reached the Isle • The orders for payment of the troops prove, that there were at least 10,000 men ; inolading officers, and exclusive of royal marines. [If the " ordonnanoes de paiement " prove this, they prove something more : namely, that the Bigots were not all in one camp ; and that there must have been falsifiers of regimental accounts among the British paymas- ters ; they making charges for many more than they oouH J'^stify by correct muster-rolls. — B.} t They w"re not given to him, as M. Garneau supposes : he was al- lowed to make his own selection of every officer of rank in his detach- ment ; for such his corps was, rather than an " army," its amount being nearly a third leas than that stated above.— 5. - •' ^ - t- 2no inSTOUY OF CANADA. d'OrU^iuiM, Juno 25. KvorylMxIy w«h HurpriKcd nt llio ('tuMuy'H luck, in iluiH rm^:)|)in^ tlio (liinf^oi'H of {\w upwiinl |)iu«Nap;o ; but it hiM tniiispirod in our own iinio, ihiit a oiiptuin of a Kn>n«ih I'rimiU^ nanuul iVnis do Vitn^, tal(on priHonor during tlio war, pilotod tho .ships to Quohoo ; a piooo of trraHoii (or which ho wan rowardod hy a coniniiHsion in tiio Uritinh norvioo. In a nhort titiir, tlioro won> !10,()00 arniod ononii(\><, Hohliornand ;r ond, facing QuohiHi and licauport. Tho floot rondor.vou.sod undor oovor of tho ishind, and it^ ooniinandant rooonnoitn'd tho Itasin an»l out(>r p«>rt ; .lanio» {\wk, who iniuior- talisod hinisolf in alVor y**ii«''', iw so oonnnantiors who ovor oirouninavigatod tho gloh(», C.ook and Hongainvillo, wore thou in iidvorso proscncc, undor tho walls of Quohoo. ^ ' J>uriiig tho80 proooodings, tho French had prepared their in- cendiary inaehinos. Juno "IS, tho night being dark anil tho wind favouring, seven lire-ships, eaeh of IlOl) to K)() tons bunion, wore launched against tho Hritish shipping, then lying at anchor near tho Isle d"()rlians ; but the njatchos having boon lighted too soon, tlie enemy, atnrtlod at their flaming approach, sent out boats to intercept tlicm ; and the on^ws taking them in tow, led thorn to tlio shore, where they sooi\ burnt out harmlos-sly. A month atlor- wanis, some finvntfls were let down, with an e([ually bootless result: in fact, such devices, to which tho vulgar once ascribed tho most dostnictive oft'tHJts, aro ordinarily harmless enough, if tho party against whom they are directed bo on tho alert to avoid them. General Wolfo, who on his arrival addros.sod a long proclama- tion to tho Canadian jxHiplo, after carefully examining the situa- tion of Quebec and that of it»s covering army, found tho diflicul- ties in his way to bo grcjitor than ho at first supposed : on one side of him was a city founded on a rock, seemingly inuccesi^iblc ; on the other a numerous army strongly entrenched, blocking up its land approaches. "Wolfe's hesitations wore interpreted by Mont- calm as a tlii(!("H of Kroulor Hfcurity. - . '>!v A {lortioti ol'tlio ItriliHli wnuy (iroHwul to INiint(i-1i<1vy >Uitw ',\0, nnd (iH)k up (|uiirt('rH lading tlio h'ntnc^li Nd'l, id'ti^r diHlod^in^r ii (^orpH orOtiniidiiinM iind hiivii^ch who wttroHontacroHH uh u party oi'cdmnrv- tioti. Thin niovcuii'iittd' tlioid th(< flood to tho i'allH of tho (!iuiti(ru'>ro (nppttr ri^lit hank ol'tlh^St. fiawronuo) in tho ni^ht (d'.Iuly 12-l.'i, and nuirchod downward in two (;o!iunnH ; hut in tlx; darkncHH, onu coiutnti Hhot iihoad of tluMtthrr \^hilo [)aHHin^ a wood, and thathohind Huddonly porooivin;^ troopH hcforo tlnun (its own van) niinlook them for (MuunioH utid firud u|)oti tlu>m. Tho latter in turn, under n like niiHapprcditMiHion, returtuMl tho (iru; and fearing tluiir retreat WDuld he eut ofF "hy the imagined enemy, retreatiid in disorder. Their paniu being shared by tho men in the column behind, theso running as last as those, tluiy all arrived tx)geth(!r ut the shon; (larly enough to be able to re-eross tho flood before six o'elock in the morning, July 13. This Hkirmish was called the " KcholarH* battle " (^coiip dan dcoliern), because Homo boys from tho city schools, who formed part of the detachment, were the first cuusera of the mistake. During the same night, the battorlcH at Pointc-Ldvy opened fire on the city. It was now seen that the bcHicgers would not hesitate to resort to any extreme measure of hostility, and that tho harshest laws of war they would most rigorously execute ; for a ub&- lo88 bombardment could not advance their enterprise a single step. But such a measure, in America, was only the following up of a Bysteiu of devastations whicli, in Europe, would have called down upon its author the animadversion of the public {lesjicvplcH). Tho earliest projectiles which fell upon Quebec, every house in which became a butt for tho enemies' gunners, caused an instant exodus 238 HISTORY OP CANADA. of the citiiens, who took rcAi^o firat in the nuburbs and next in the country. The gunpowder in store was removed, and a portion of tho sappers and miners sot apart an a corps of firemen. In a month's time, the cathedral and the best houses were consumed. Tho Lower Town (hasse-viUe) wan entirely burnt, during tho night of Aug. 8-9 ; while the finest and richest portion of upper Quebec be- came a mere heap of ruins, and numbers of its chief citiicns, opulent ercwhile, woro thus reduced to indigence. Not a few of tho inhabi- tants, too, were killed outright. 1 he cannon on the ramparts be- came useless : but this was of the less consequence as the distance across the flood was too great for their shot to toll upon the British batteries, which were besides undistinguishable to tho naked eye, mtusked as they were by forest and bmshwood. After destroying tho city. General Wolfe fell upon the country parishes. Flo burnt all tho dwellings, and cut all the fruit-trees, from Montmorenci Falls to Cape Torment (30 miles below Quebec), on the left bank of the St. Lawrence. He did tho same at Malbaio (90 miles), and at the bay of St. Paul (60) ; also throughout the Isle d'Orldans, which is 20 miles long. The parishes on tho right bank of tho flood, from Berthier (24 miles) to the Rivi6re- du-Loup (80 miles), a range of twenty-three leagues, were ravaged and burnt in their turn ; as well as those of Pointc-Ldvy, St. Nicholas, Sainte-Croix (33), &c. Wolfe chose the night-time for committing those ravages, which he perpetrated on both sides of the St. Lawrence, wherever he could obtain a footing : ho carried oflF (enlevait) the women and children, [?] the victual and cattle. As the season advanced, this war of brigands extended itself; for Wolfe indulged in it to avenge himself for the checks he received, as well as to terrify the inhabitants. A detachment of 300 men, under Captain Montgomery, having been sent to St. Joachim, where some of the people stood on their defence, committed t^.cre the greatest cruelties. The prisoners taken were coolly and r.ost barbar- ously slaughtered.* M. de Portneuf, curate of the place, who • " There were several of the army killed and wounded, and a few prisoners taken, all of whom the barbarous Captain Montgomery, who commanded ns, ordered to be butchered in a most inhuman and cruel manaer." Manuscript Journal relating to the Operations before Quebec r! VICTOttY OF MONTMORENCY. 239 Btuckby his pariabionorR, in view of niiniHtering to Uicir fipiritual HoocIh,* waH attuckod and liuwu to pioocH with HubroH, Fruiu tho Bouuport ouuip woro H«>en, Miiuultunuoui^ly, tho fluiucH rising from Beaupr«S, und from tlie Isle of Orluans, uifio from suudry purttt oa tho ri^ht bank of tho flood. . , Theiio dovastutions, in which more than 1 ,400 hounes wero con* Bumed in tito rural districts,! did not tend * ■% the war to ft nooror conoluBion; for still the French stii - . one foot. Ai* tor BO much delay and m many ravngingn, ■ .*«j seeinj^ no other alternative, rcaolved to attack the position of Montcalm, on ita left flank. In order to this, he oauued the bulk of his army to be taken across the nortli channel of tho Isle d'Orloans to I'Ange- Gardion, while he sought means of fording the river Montmo- rency above the falls ; a ford there was, but Montcalm had been precautionary enough to raise a redoubt to prevent an enemy's pass* age. Frustrated on this side, Wolfe turned his attention elsewhere. Profiting by a favourable wind, he set sail, July 18, with four war-vcssels and two transports, braving the fire poured upon them, and passed safely above Quebec, by keeping near the shore on the Pointe-Ldvy side ; but after examining the left bank of the in 1759, kept by Golonel Malcolm Frazer, Lieutenant of tie 78tb or Praser's Highlanders. [Tlie captain here slandered, was the gallant and humane General Richard Montgomery, who afterwards fell in aa heroic attempt, as an American leader, to take Quebec by a midnight assault. — B.] * This soldier of the " church militant " (in a literal sense), was slaia fighting bravely with arms, not the cross, in hand. — B, f " We burned and destroyed upwards of 1,400 fine farm«houses, for we, during the siege, were masters of a great part of their country ; so that 'tis thought it will take them many a century to recover damage." Journal of the Expedition up the river St. Lawrence, &c., published in the New York Mercury of 3lst December 1759. Nevertheless a contem- porary writer, speaking of the conduct of M. de Contades and Marshal Richelieu in Germany, aa contrasted with Wolfe's in Canada, adds : " But, said the late General Wolfe, Britons breathe higher sentiments of humanity, and listen to the merciful dictates of the christian religion ; which was verified in the brave soldiers whom he led on to conquest by their shewing more of the true christian spirit than the subjects of His Most Christian Majesty can pretend to." — [Mark the naivete of all thiSi mockingly adds M. Garneau.->~.&.] ■■t ..i*f(* ' ■»' i^li- 240 HISTORY OF CANADA. \\\* flood, he found that nny attempt at landing his forces between the city and Cape llouge would be a perilous operation : he thought fit, therefore, to send up a detachment to Pointe-aux-Tremblcs to take prisoners ; and prepared to assail the French entrench- ments in front. He did not venture to disembark above Capo llougc river, wo know not why ; for if he had landed his men there, he would have outflanked Montcalm, and forced him to quit his position. An attack either on the right or the centre of the French presenting too many dangers to Wolfe, he resolved to assail them on their extreme left, facing the St. Lawrence, and along the right bank of the lower Montmorcnci river. Such were his next dispositions. ' As the left bank of the Monlmorenci, just beyond its embo\ichure, is higher than the right, Wolfe strengthened the batteries he already had there, the guu-range of which enfiladed, above that river, the French entrenchments. The number of his cannon and pieces for shelling, was raised to sixty. He caused sink, on the rocks level with the flood below, two transports, placing on each when in position, 14 guns. One vessel lay to the right the other to the left of a small redoubt which the French had erected on the strand, at the foot of the road to Courville, in order to defend, not only the entry of that road, which led to heights occupied by the French reserve, but also the ford of the Montmorency below the falls. Cannon-shots from the transports crossed each other in the direction of *hi- redoubt. It became needful, therefore, to silerice the fire of the latter, and cover the march of the assailants on this acces- sible point of our line ; therefore the Ce7iturion, a 60 gun-ship, was sent afterwards to anchor oppcsiUi the Falls, and as near as might bo to the shore, to protect the ford which the British forlorn hope was to cross, as soon as the attacking force should descend from their camp of I'Ange-Gardien. Thus 118 pieces of ordnance were about to play upon Montcalm's left wing.* Towards noon, July 31, all this artillery began to play; and, • Thirty at least of these touches d feu must bo deducted from M. Garneau's figures of summation ; for it is not likelj', that, while the star- board side of the Centurion was pouring broadsides on the enemy, her larboard guns were battering the opposite (Orleans) shore, occupied as it then was by the British under Major Uardy t — B, VICTORY OF MONTMORENCY. 241 ctwccn the lie. lliought c-Trcinbles cntronch- bovc Capo i his men ;cd him to ic centre of resolved to vrence, and Such were mbouchure, »atteric3 he , above that cannon and (ink, on the )ii each when icr to the left he strand, at not only the the French )W the falls, ic direction ce the fire of this acccs- ;un-ship, was ear as might brlorn hope cscend from of ordnance play; and, cted from M. rhile the star- lie enemy, her e, occupied aa at the same time, Wolfe formed his columns of attack. More than 1,500 barges were in motion in the basin of Quebec. A part of Monkt^ !i'8 brigade, and 1,200 grenadiers, embarked at Pointo-L«Svi, with intent to re-laud between the site of the Cenr turion and the sunken transports. The second column, composed of Townshend's and Murray's brigades, descended the heights of I'Ange-Oardien, in order to take the ford and join their forces to the first column at the foot of the Courville road, which was ordered to be ready posted, and only waiting for the signal to advance against the adjoining French entrenchments. These two columns numbered 6,000 men. A third corps, of 2,000 soldiers, charged to ascend the left bank of the Montmorenci, was to pass that river at a ford about a league above the FiUls, but which was guarded (as already intimated) by a detachment, under M. de Reptuitigny. At 1 p. m, the throe British columns were on foot to execute the concerted plan of attack, which would have been found far too complicated for troops less disciplined than Wolfe's. Montcalm, for some time doubtful about the point the enemy would assjiil, had sent orders along his whole line, for the men to be ready everywhere to oppose the British wherever they came forward. As soon as the latter neared their destination, De Ldvis sent 500 men to succour Repentigny (at the upper ford), also » small detachment to espy the manojuvres of the British when about to cross the lower ford ; while he sent to Montcalm for some" battalions of regulars, to sustain himself in case of need. The General came up, at 2 P. m. to examine the posture of matters at the left. He proceeded along the lines, approved of the dispositions of De Ldvis, gave fresh orders, and returned to the centre, in order to be in a position to observe all that should pass. Three battalions and some Canadians, from Trois-llivitires, came in oppor- tunely to reinforce the French left. The greatest part of these troops took post, as a reserve, on the highway, and the rest were directed on the ford defended by M. de Repentigny. The latter had been already hotly attacked by a British column, but he forced it to give way, after some loss of men. The retreat of this corps permitted that sent to succour Repentigny, to hasten back to the arena of the chief attack. Meanwhile, the barges bearing the Pointe-Lovi column, led by Vol. II — Q ' ■' 4 242 HISTORY OF CANADA. Wolfo in person, nHor ninking Hovornl ovoliitions, monnt to deceive the Fi'onch i\» to the real plaoo for limdiiig, was directed towards the sunken transports. The tide was now ebbing; thiispart of the bargx's wore grounded on a ridgo of rock and gravelly matter, which stopped their progress and caused some disoider; but at last all obstacles wore surmounted and 1.200 grenadiers, support- ed by other soldiers, landed on the St. liawrence strand. They wore to advance in tour divisions ; and ISlonkton's brigade, which was to embark later, had orders to loUow, and, us soon as Innd- od, to sust4\i»» them. l*'rom some misunderstanding, these orders were not punctually executed. The enemy formed in columns, indeed ; but Monkton's men did not arrive to time. Still the van moved, music playing, up to the (^mrville road redoubt, which the FnMich at once evacuated. The enemy's grenadiers took possession of it. and prepared toas.sail the entrenchments beyond, which were within musket-shot distanoi\ Wolfe's batteries had been ponring, over since mid-day, on the Canadians who defended this part of the line, a shower of bombs and buliet,s, which they sustained without, flinching. Having re-formed, the British advanced, with fixed bayonets, to attack the entrenchments ; their showy costume contrasting strangely with that of their adversaries, wrapped as these were in light capotes and girt round the loins. The Oann- dians, who eotnjwnsated their delicient disoiplineonly by their native courage and the great accuracy of their aim, waited patiently till the enenucs were a few yards distant fnmi their 1^ "» meaning to fire at them point-blank. The proper time oome, they di.«^chni^cd tliou pieces so rapidly and with such destrueti re etiect,* that the two British coUunns, despite all their ofticers' endeavours, were broken and took flight. They sought shelter «t first, against their foes' fire, behind the redoubt; but mt beinj^ allowed to re-form rank ;<, they continued to retreat to the luain body of their army, which had deployed a little further back. At this critical time, a violent thunder-stonn sujx^rvened, which lud the view of the combatants, on both sides, from each other, while the reverberatioiis of succes- • •' Their (men of) small-arma, in the trenches, lay cool till they were sure of their mark ; they then poured their shot like showers of hail, which caused our brave grenadiers to fall very fast." Jourmil of a Bridsh officer, , , .^ VlOTOnV ' MONTMORENCY. 243 Bivo poixlfl roso fur nbovo tlio din of butMo. When the rain-iniHt oloiircd off, tlio Oiinadiiins behold tho Brilish ro-cmbiirking with thoir wounded, after sotting flro to tho Bunkon trunHportn. Their army Ihinlly drew off, as it had advanced, somo corps in tho barges, others tnarolied landward, after re-crossing tho Montniorenei ford. Tho tire of thoir numerous cannon, however, continued till night sot in : atul it was estimated that the British discharged 3,000 cannon-balls during tho day and evening; while tho French iuid only a dozen pieces of cannon in action, but. those were very sor- viooablo in harassing the disembarking itritish. Tho loss of the French, wliieh was duo almost entirely to artillery liri;, was inconsiderable if we romenibor that they were for more than six hours exposed to .'t. Tho enemy lost about 500 men, killed and wounded, including many officers. Tho victory gained at JMontmorenci was duo chiefly to tho ju- dicious dispositions made by Do Levis, who with fewer troops in hand than Wolfe, contrived to unite a greater number than ho did at every point of attack. Supposing tho British grenadiers had surmounted tho ontronoliments, it is very doubtful whether they would have prevailed, oven had they boon sustained by tho rest of thoir army. Tho ground, from tho strand to tho Boauport road, rises into slopes broken by ravines, amongst which meanders the Oourvillo road; tho locality, therefore, was favourable to our nmrksmon. Besides, tho regulars in reserve were close behind, ovor ready to succour tho militiamen. CJeneral VVolfo returned to his camp, in great chagrin at the check he had just received. luiagination depicted to his a))pre- honsivc mind's eyo the unfavorable imj)ression this defeat wt»uld make in Britain ; ami ho figured tt) himself the malevolent jibes which would bo cast at him for unilertaking a task which he had proved himself to bo inconipctcnt to perform ! lie saw vanish, in a monuMvt, all his proud illusions of glory ; and Fortune, in whom he had trusted so much as we have seen, seemed about to aban- don him at the very outsi>t of his career as a commander-in-chief. It seemed as if his military perceptions had lost somewhat of thoir usual lucidity, when, after losing all hope of forcing the camp of his adversary, ho afterwards sent Murray, with 1,200 men, to destroy tho French flotilla at Trois-UiviOres, and to open a communicatiou S44 HISTORY OP CANADA. 1^ ml... with General Amlicrgt at Lake Champlain. Murray set out with 300 barges, but did not go far up the country, llepulsed twice at Poitito-iiux-Trcuibles by Bougainville, who with 1,000 men followed his movements, ho landed at Sainte-Crois, which place he burnt, as haa been already noticed. Thence departing, he fell upon Dcschambault, where he pillaged the French oflScers' baggage. [1] He then retired precipitately, without fulfilling his miBsiou. Ilis in- cursion, nevertheless, much disquieted Montcalm at first; for he sot out incognito for the, Jacques-Cartier, as fearing lest the British might take poFscssion of its lower course, gain a firm foothold there, and c-* oflf his communications with Avestern Canada; but learning that the latter were in full retreat when he arrived at Pointe-aux-Trembles, Montcalm retraced his steps. After this new repulse, a malady, the germ of which was pre- sent in the bodily frame of Wolfe long before, now suddenly deve- loped itself and brought him almost to death's-door. As soon as he convalesced, ho addressed a long despatch to Secretary Pitt, recounting the obstacles against which he had to struggle, and expressing the bitterness of his regret at the failure of all his past en- deavours. This letter (if it did little else) expressed the noble de- votedness to his country's weal which inspired the soul of the illus- trious warrior ; and thus the British people were more effected at the sorrow of the youthful captain than at the checks his soldiers had received.* The spirit of Wolfe, no less than his bodily powers, sank before a situation which left him " only a choice cf difficulties ; " thus ae expressed himself. Calling those lieutenants in aid, whoso char racter and talents we have spoken of, he invited them to declare * A sentimental assumption, hazarded from an imperfect knowledge cf facts. The despatch in question, written sixteen days before the capitulation of Quebec, came to hand only two days before Townshcnd's despatch, relating that event ; and was published only with the latter. It would never have seen the light for years, in all probability, but for the success following it which itd writer had almost ceased to hope for ; while its dark shading, by contrast, gracefully toned the vividness of the de- tails given by others of the events of the hero's closing career, and of the supreme houi- in which all of him that could die sank upon that earth •which thenceforward became consecrated ground to every true Briton. VICTORY OP MONTMORENCY. 245 whftt might be their opinions as to tlie best plan to follow for attacking Montcalm with any chance of success ; intimating his own belief also, which was, that another cHack should be made on the left wing of the Beauport camp. He was also clear for devasta- ting the country as much as it was possible to do, without prejudi- cing the principal operation of the campaign.* Generals Monkton, Townshcnd, and Murray replied, Aug. 20, that a second attack on the Beauport camp would be a hazardous enterprise; that, in their opinion, the surest means to strike u decisive blow would be, to land upon the right side of the St. Lawrence, pass along its banks for some way, cross to those oppo- site and operate above rather than below Quebec. " If we can maintain a new position on that side," wrote the generals, " we shall force Montcalm to fight wherever we choose ; we shall then be not only situated between him and his magazines, but also between his camp and the foujes opposed to Amherst. If he offer us battle, and he should lose the day, theu Quebec, probably all Canada, would fall into our hands — a result far greater than any that could accrue from a victory at Beauport : and again, if he cross the river St. Charles with forces enough to confront us in the posi- tion we have supposed, the Beauport camp, thereby weakened, miglit be oil the more easily attacked." The naval forces of the British giving them mastery on the flood, enabled Wolfe to trans- port his troops to all accessible places. The plan of the three generals was aporobated by their chief, and the necessary orders were given to execute it without delay. The idea of assailing Quebec on its harbour side had been given up before, as it would have been worse than rash to attempt such a thing. After decision taken, the British decamped from the Mont- morency, taking their artillery, &c., to Pointe Ldvy, Sept. 3. — Montcalm was reproached, by some, for not dis(juicting them in their retreat ; but this would have been difficult, not to say dan- gerous, considering the nature of the localities. The bombard- ment of tho city and the ravagings of the country were the only successful enterprises, as yet, of the enemy ; enterprises in theni- * It would be but right to call upon the author for his proofs of these suggestions, especially the latter, having been made by Wolfe. — B. -4 tf4rt tHRtonv or ovnum. M^iv^vi rt iHMM»lo« of ft^vvlMt* l»«M««^i» «'«MulohMl ii» \\w l«ili»uili«MiMtnim wKno <^M<'l^u\ now |»i\iil «novo !»Hontio» U> nn«f»llnjj[ ll>o 1^0 hunk ortlu> 1^00(1 ; l>nt {\\\<* Im» <>«• ln»ln!\ coHi'ltcil In ilo ho Ity the H^NiM-noVii-i'niMi^l nml m\nn» of hi« ort\oi>»T», Ho )«'»-^lsioi| ovci- Ih thi* l»oh<>r. tlntt tho AnsiMhv* 1^^^^•»»J^. tho 1'*nlli'»'M ^WollV's^ {\\\\\ A\\\\ \h'\\ »l' St^nofl, wiMi* tniUM'osoihlo wv vol v unlhoiontiy p;niui!oir '' Nono hul \\\'>\\," ho ohnoivod in w h'Hov nviiton \\\ tho oitv, vi>n )»!»vv hut to ^\\^^ tho \vov«|. wwA tho ihinu, will ho ihtno; Ht. in thrtt ort!»\\ yiM» nu^xt givi* np tlio pojtitlon yoti now ooonpv ( 1 yiohJ, in n^lvsMnvv to yx>nv t\pinion In tho nnittov. \hy 1 oun nolthor i^ivino wov ho rtn?»wvr«hlo \W o\ on(« whioh nniy iollow in w oumo mo nn rtMtrtin [^t».^MtvV Kvovy niiiht. yon inonr nf^ n»nny I'lukw tv« \-»n n^v ov)v><«o»< to in tho jn>»!«ont. Atvoinlinu; to M lith'lu. tho onon\y ninstxM's ns stom^ M tho t«\»ll» «» n»nnl ; «n»l It \n \^y^\' tnin thrtt ho hus wot HOO mon rtt \Nnwk h> \nnko thxoinos to t'ovtliy hin ortn\p. Yon hn\i\ hosi^h^s tho ^nvnioth inh«hltnnt». f\t>0 nnn« in jrtnvimM^ in tho oity, l.t\00 n\on on tho hi\tto«io«. mnl HM* tuinotl Uh\Mnvi"<« Vi^>iilrtnt jV!\ti»Hina t" nil thrtt is w«nto» nood not !»np|>i>!««* thiU o\tv Mnio<« hrtvo wind's to onuhlo tInMn. in ono nvaht. to oi>wn tho tH to om»rthnh» ; nnopovntlon «U tho nvMv nnlikoh- to trtko phnv. rtx tho nKsftilrtnti* w.'.«ltt> Ottv'tc <\^\n lo \"i\\ivhv«tl : " \\\ no \\iV aa >o\» \\A\ts IVw* «bo«t \\\^ Ktynt-Afft-^^^wn, iw\\\[ \\\\\\wv to \\\\f* the ui|irhV, till t\nMhov oc^t»M!«, ft^>m \\'^(> to '>00 of thooo whioh Moi\t\os!>o« hrt(» ni the port till «Uy\v t\\\\\ yt\\\ to hi«\ 50 tVow T\oi«-Kivi«M<>* who *tv ««f'nti|nt<'t^ ; w wnA thithtM- vVi, Wrtvttn with \M 1V>i!«-t\Mvi«Vi« *i\t-\\. \ f\wt\r to yon thrtt \00 t^\o« ^^^^^^^^^^v^,v^ ^^os^^v^. wiU !«lo|' n« rtvmy, iri^T^ tiwt^ to «0 to wftit «v l^^nn thi> vi)j;ht (of oin- |>ositio« ii\ tho tiol. ,\t th«> t>linhto»t t^ootnvMrtl nlitnn, \ nhnll WArt^h \liof with t^ttto tvfr\motit!« of) t?Hv<>ntt^ rtttit n«»nnt, whtoh tnoump \n Htn^ to-mlM•^^1w, Show Ujjthta to-ttl^ht in ontiv^rs ; And if tho ^•rknosjs l><> (twrtt, UffV.t nj> thv»>" rt!» _vov» hrtvp i« hrtf* «i the t«»|> n<\ rtV»H.v, > i n\\\\ If tho KIUHT lUSTI.W OK AIIHAIIAM. tt47 1li« i^itvo III ttitll^;Hliivllli*, tvliii witr* III imiiiiiiiiiikI iiii ||im( hUU\ I .UHU 1111*11, )iiii'l r«•^ullll-Hl mill iiilllUii ; itiiiiiti|r wliiiiii wi>i'it live «Miii|iiiiil<>n iirni»>iiinll('iii<, iiittl lIuM'iiviilrv : IumiImm ri'iiiriijciMl llii< |itiiii)| |itiiimil 1)11 (lit) liiioliiii iliiM'Hv iiidI (^l|M< Mmii^i<. llt'iMHiilh^ tiiiiri' MjiprnlMMiHivi', mil' i«iiiiin»imilt>i« whmi I'mimmI (Iikmi* ini)riiiitlill(< III' lll'lliMli iililinl vi'MMoJM i>rv III l*i»liili> iiiu Tt'i>iiiltli>«, li'i'iiiliifrliir llH'Miirctv •••' tln'iiinvi hIimi MliHOrt, Mii'v HiMil m fi'lHUiii'ciiit'iilFi III Uiiiijrniuvlliii, Alrniily lu^ittiv III! llii> mivii^i'M oritit* iiniiy liml juiiioil IiIh ililiiiii liillor liiiil iiiiw .'I.IMIU iiiiMi, |iiwl(>i| liolwiMMi Mllli'iv mill I'mImIo- mix TriMiiltli'M ; flicy \vi>ri< llio llii\vi>r ol'llio li'iiii|if(, Ili> wmn niii'«« niitro iiiliiiitniMliiMJ In wiiinli nil llii> oiioiiiy'n iiiii\iiiIm. wliiiOi lor ROViM'iil litiyn iih'IiiummI MiiniillmiiuniNly llii> lti>mi|iiii'l cmiip, ilio rilv, nitd llio iiiiiu'iinlitoM III' llii> iiniiv. MiMimvliilo, iiiiilloi'A IniikiMl nivnni'iililn in llii< iliri(> ; tint till* down IViilii liikon ('limiipliilii mnl ntilniiii \viIUMtl|ltl|j;ill;r. Mittll'lilllllli|lll<, wllit (•lUllllimiiliMl nil liio ( Mllllll- pliiiii lVniiliii|*, liitil iiiiiliM- IiIm nriliii-F) I ,rilM) FinlillorM mnl MOD (^ltln- (litiiH. IIIm iiiHlnii'liniiH run, lliiil lio \\\\h In liill liiit>k, mImhiIiI llit> (tnoniy cniilVniil ttini willi Biipnrlni" nnoos. (Jciii'inl AiiiIh'ifiI np(« I'iiIimI, nit (liin Fttilo, tvllli mi Itiipiirtin^r itniiy ; Iml rniiiniiilirmi* F«:iit^»;iiiitiiry ilolniit nl' liift oniinlryinon nl (Siiillmi wiii'iiml liiui to it«»( pi'itili'iilly. AHoi' iiBBninliliiifr IiIk linnpM iil. Alltmiy, Am- ItiM'Nf Hi>( null llioniM* •limit (I, itiiil (iiKMiiiipnil iimior nlinlloi- nl' ji'nrl. Wilwitnl, III' ni'iliM'litfj; niuOi i'i*«j,iiiii>nl. In «'nv<>l' llwH' wllli ii l»ln(r oiigini'or. Cnlniirl lMniilii«HHnii, IiiuumI llm pjmi nl' ji'iuti (joni'fiii, nil It lioi^lil (it unnin (Uf»l.iiti«»o rrniii lln» liik»>. mii|»rrniii llin plhMil' KnrI Willimn lliuiiy. Aiiiliot*Hl> oiiiliiiik(>il mi Itm Inkn, July 21, with 12,000 iiioii, iiirluiliiig 5,700 nyiilmH, tviili Tii jiiiHVK nrnt'ilitititoo, Wlioii llin villi t'niiiilioil llii> Inko I'mil, it liiid fniiio pkiniiiF«tiiii(i;i« willi Mnurlmiiiiipio'n nulpnplF*. wliioli loliriii^, tlio Ufilicili ill (wn (liiyn www ihmii gain liniu • A rrt«fi>, ilniihtlcKP, tliU |uirt I'f til" flory, fmiiulcil on u Vtiiikop jllip, mnl not iimU'BPivPil liy llt»» UiIUhIi Kiiblim.— W. ' * ' ' ' ;*' 318 .« HISTORY OP CANADA. It •> IP: / I ! \'\ for an orderly retreat to St. Frederic, leaving 400 men in Fort Carillon, but who left it on the 2Gth, after blowing up a portion of the walls. This important position was thus gained, at the cost of about 60 men, by the British. Bourlamaque, fearing to be outflanked by the enemy, blew up Fort St. Frederic, and retired to the lele-aux-Noix. Forthwith (Aug. 4), Amherst, with most of his army, took post at the site of St. Frederic, and begun to erect a new fort, named Crown- Point, intended to check the irruption of Canadian bands. Con- currently, for obtaining the mastery of Lake Champlain, he gave orders to construct some new vessels and to upraise the barks which the French sank before evacuating Carillon. These cares absorbed his whole attention till the month of October ! Bourlamaque, on hia side, expecting every moment to be at- tacked in the isle, employed all the means in his power to put obstacles in the enemy's way, by barring the double outlet of the lake, and fortifying the island between. But here, as at Quebec, the frontier was considered as lost by the French, had Amherst acted with any vigour. Intelligence sent to our people from Lake Ontario and Niagara was still worse. M. Pouchot, who set out for the latter place in autumn previous, but had not been then able to get beyond La Pr^entation, received orders to resume his march early in spring, so as to arrive in due time to relieve M. de Massan. He left Montreal accordingly, late in March, with about 300 soldiers and Canadians, tarried at La Presentation till two corvettes of 10 guns each were got ready, and reached Niagara April 30. He forth- with began to repair the fort, the walls of which were in ruin and the fosses all but filled up. Charged to cause the Ohio posts to be evacuated if they should be attacked, and hearing no news from that quarter, he sent a reinforcement, with supplies, to Ma- chault, where M. Ligneris commanded. His design was, to de- stroy the British forts of Pittsburgh and Loyal-Hanna, if opportu- nities occurred. The greatest agitation then prevailed among the Ohio and Lake tribes, because some of them still obstinately clung to the French side, though treaties had been concluded (in name of all) with the British. The successes of the latter were about to settle these difficulties in their favour, to the disquiet of many of 'II FIRST BATTLE OP ABRAHAM. 249 the savages, whoso future fate they thought likely tobeinj 'iously ftflFeoted thereby. The commandant of Niagara had man^ inter- views with their envoys, but no important results attended them. The Five Nations clung more closely than ever to the British ; insomuch that Pouchot could obtain from no Iroquois any precise account of the movements of enemies whom he thought still distant, when, July 6, they suddenly arrived in the vicinity of his post. In accordance with the plan of campaigning adopted by Bri- tain, one of her armies was to lay siege to Niagara. Brigadier- general Prideaux, charged with this service, left Schenectady, May 20, with five battalions of infantry, a park of artillery, and a large corps of savages led by Sir W. Johnson. He left Colonel Haldimand at Oswego, with directions to build a fort there, and himself embarked on Lake Ontario, July 1 ; disembarking, six miles distant from Niagara, without the French being informed of his approach. ♦> j.* Fort Niagara, being erected on a point of land, was easily in- vested. Pouohot had just finished its ramparts ; but the batteries of the bastions, which were A barbette,^ were not yet completed. He formed them of barrels, filled with earth. He strengthened with blindages f a large house, towards the lake, for an hospital ; and covered by other works his powder-magazines. His garrison was not quite 500 strong.| '' As soon fa Pouchot was certain of the enemy's presence, he sent a courier with messages, to Chabert at the Portage fort, to Ligneris at Fort Machault, and to the several commandants of Detroit, Presqu'ile^ Venango, and Le Boeuf, to fall back on Nia- gara with all their men and savages. Thus was abandoned a vast extent of territory, in one of the finest regions of the world. Chabert burnt his fort, and reached Niagara July 10. The night of that day, the British began a parallel GOO yards from the walls. July 13-22 they unmasked, in succession, several batteries, • A barbe, or barbet, is a platform without an epaulement : "a bar- bette," barbe-fashioned. — B, t Blindes are felled trees, interlaced with each other, to form a cover- ing for a trench. — B. X Pouohot : Mimoires $ur la derniire Guerre de VAmlrique Septentrio- nale. 1771. ^i; &« ^it^mi M^ 250 .» HISTOKY OP CANADA. t i»«. mounted with cannon and mortars, and attained to the outer wall of the place. The death of General Prideaux, killed by the bureii.. ', f a mortar, did not slacken the siege operations, which Sir W. .i bnson took charge of provisionally, and quickened to the utmost. Despite a hot fire kept up by the besieged the bastions were at length ruined, and the batteries on them quite swept away. The French were now fain to form others \ Ih packages of peltry, and to wad their cannon with pioces of blanket and shirt-strips. Still the enemy's firing increased in violence, and the defences were crumbling to pieces everywhere. A practicable breach existed, and there was but one man left for every ten feet of space there was to defend. During 17 days nobody had gone to rest, and many men were helplessly wounded. While Pouchot despaired of succour arriving from the evacuated French posts, July 23 he received letters, from IVAubry of Detroit and from De Ligneris, which informed him that there were on the way, to aid him, 300 French from Illinois, 300 others, and 1000 savages. Unfortunately the enemy knew all that passed in the fort, through the treachery of the couriers of D'Aubry and De Ligneris, who had even had with the savage allies of the British an interview, at which Johnson attended. The latter, informed by them of the approach of the French, resolved to lay an ambuscade to inter- cept them. He hid most of his own tvoops behind a rampart of felled trees, on the left side of the road leading from the Falls to the Fort of Niagara. The French, who had left 150 men at the foot of lake Erie in charge of the boats, were coming on unsuspect- ingly, 450 in number, with 1,000 savages, when they perceived the British. Seeing the Iroquois in the latter's company, the French savages refused to advance, under a pretext that they were at peace with the first-named. Though thus abandoned by their chief force, Aubry and Ligneris still proceeded on their way, thinking that the few savages they sav* were isolated men, till they reached a narrow pathway, when they discovered greater numbers beyond. They prepared to range their men in battle order, but neither time nor space would allow of this. At the first shock, indeed, they forced the British, who came from behind the fence (abattis) to attack them, to flee precipitately ; and they were about to charge them in turn behind their covert, when they FIRST BATTLE OP ABRAHAM. 251 wero assailed in front and roar by 2,000 men. Tho tail of their column, unable to resist, gave way and left its head exposed to the enemy's whole fire, which crushed it entirely. Some 50 men only wero left upright, who tried to retreat and fight both ; but they were charged with the bayonet and mostly laid prostrate. The remaining French were hotly pursued. The savages who had refused to fight were equally exposed to the fury of the enemy, and many of them fell under the blows of the latter in tho woods. Almost all the French officers were killed, wounded, or taken. Aubry, Ligneris, and other chiefs who were wounded, fell into British power. Those who escaped the massacre, joined M. de Rocheblave, and with his detachment retreated towards Detroit and other western lake posts. After this disaster, Johnson transmitted a list of his chief prisoners' names to M. Pouchot, who, doubting its accuracy, sent an officer to ascertain the facts, who reported that all were true. Then the garrison, reduced by a third in numbers, and worn out, accepted the honourable terms proposed by Johnson ; who was anxious to possess himself of the fort before the arrival of General Gage, then on hia way to take the chief command as Prideaux' successor. Niagara was one of the most considerable strongholds in Cana- da, and the most important of the lake posts through its situation. Its fall separated the upper lakes from the lower province, and the French found themselves thereby thrust back, on one side, to Detroit ; on the other, towards the St. Lawrence rapids above Montreal, for time had not permitted Fort Frontenac to be re- founded. Lake Ontario, therefore, now belonged to the British ; whose progress much embarrassed M. de Vaudreuil. In such a critical state of things, it was needful to run some risks to amend it if possible : he resolved to send M. de L^vis to make an armed tour of inspection of the upper province, to ascertain and report as to what were needful to be done, in order to retard the marches of the enemy towards the St. Lawrence and on Lake Champlain. He had under him 800 men, including 100 regulars draughted from the Beauport army, to reinforce the troops under M. de la Come, who commanded above Lake St. Frangois. M. de Ldvis set out Aug. 9, from Quebec, and left at Montreal, in ' ' < 9A9 ,M IIIRTOUV OK CANAnA. pniwinij;, 100 nton io iiiti in i'oii|iiii^ lli«> oropn, or until cortiiin n<>wii woii* i-oii\t'(l of \\w ikIviiiuh) of tlio Itrilinii, lli> (UHMiurn^dil, iit Iho Hinno tinio, (|«> prioHtu, Uio wonn'n, fl»» irliifirujr iukI reli' fu'uni:i to tak(> |>ui*t in linrvcHlin^j dntitvs. iih ujMtn tlin rotnrns of tlio sortfton grt'iitly ntit'd tlio Hiilvution of tho colony. Po l(«'vi« mmli' n nH'i>nnniH8ui\i'o hi* lar iw Knmtoniui ; lio oxiuninod (>v«'ry thinu;, inili«'iit<<(l nil tin* pitrtM ninn'Mioary to *i<>l'f tlio army. [To thooporationnof which, tmmn- whilo, wo now nn'all tho n>ad(»r'» attontion.] While M. do Uougainvillo wii« «'Hpying tho movon\enti< of tho 1^-itish before (^ueheo. thoy were makinfj; snndry fointH to hi(h> their nioditateiJ dosiuns. Dnrina; tho 7th, Hth, and !Uh day« of Septom- bor, n do«en of their wsseh asoondod tho St. Ijawrom'o, and invBt anchor at I'ajie Houfro. They had troops on board, and detach* inonts of thoHO were pent ashore at different points, to divide tlio Rttontion of tho French. A nioi(>ty of tho soldiers were landed on the riirht bank of (he Hood, while their otticors closely exa- mined the opj>osite shore, fnnn Qiteln'c to Oapo Umi^!:t\ trying; to discover the |>ftthway {rfiemin) at the Fiiller's Cove ascending to the plains of Abraham. Abo\»t tho same time, two French soKUers desertinl. and informed (uM\eriil Wolfe that a convoy of provisions was to pass before Quebec during the night 12-13 Sept. ensuing. Ever since the British were masters of tho flood above the oa- pital, the pn>visioning of the army by water conv(>yanco had beoonte almost im|iossiblo. It was needful, therefore, to transport Bupplios by land, fixmi the niagnzines at Hatiscan and Trt)iB- RiviC^res; and as there renjained in the country parts only aged riKHT HAITI, K OK AltKAHAM. 1263 incM, Wdiiinn, niul ttliiMnni, it, wim yot hy tliiiir wniik ImmIjck llmi tlip lriiiiN|Mirt Nirvii'p IiikI In bn poilinniicil. Tliun woro iHuivcyiMl, cm 271 iMirtn, Iroiii lliitimttui to lim(l-i|iiiirU)ni, on n lino IK It'ii^imn Inn^, 7(1)1 iimtrln \^\' Imhmiii iiimI iiutitl, yii'liliiip; Hiil>HiHt iixpocliMl thoy would l^n^ undiiro it ; and thi« men, who hud li'iivo to fM'Ourn tho (iropn only, uoiild not iorogo thikt prt^HHin^ duty. In thiH Htriiit, llx^^ront wiil<>r wiiy wait onct> Hgtiin oinployod, hu'/iirdoun iin it nii^lit ho t^t y\my it, lo rnahlo a Mupply to rcaoh itH di'i^tiniition (|niokly : thuH it wan that thr rou- voy wo liavo p<|)okrn of, linp|M>ti(>d to ho ox|)<>ditod. Ilntortunatrly, tho (wo do«ort(U"H (M)uintunioat4>d tho watoh-word {cniiniifin } that th« orowH of tho provinion bnr(i;o» woro to ^ivo to tho Hontinoh on Bhor« whilo ^lidin^ down tint (IikkI : and to coniplci^^ tho ohnptor ol'oroBB aocidontH.'in tho t'voiiinf^ oC Hopt. 12, Mont,()ahn, willuuit for(»warnin>^ tho hovra^, drow olV tho battalion ho had Oonscntod to send two dayn proviouH, to tho luMghtn abovo Quoboo. Oonoral VVollo dotorinined lo prolit by thono (ortuitouH oirouiu- BtnuooH by landing bin army nt tho l*'\dlor'« ('ovo (/I /»/»/•?/« Fnvhni) nnil Btrivin^j to carry tho adjoininif hoi^htrt. Tho lH't(ple, made him perilously independent of the head of the colony. He was never weary of decrying De Vaudreuil among his own intimates ; characterizing him as incapable,irrcsolntc,and faitli- less : while, by an artifice too often successful, he sought to exalt • Portrait of Montcaliu, by Moreau de St. JWry, in aa Elogc of tho Gbevalier de L^vis. FIUST lUTTLE OF AnTlATIAM. 261 own roputation by dobnwing that of his official Ruporior. In Bomo NotcH attributed to M. de BoMrlainaf)Uo, ropopitcd in the French war-offico, it is indited that the precipitation with which Montcalm acted on the plains of Abraham arose from his jealousies : l>e Yau- drouil it was, who gave tlio dircjction to wait till all the forces were assembled — that was enough, observes the writer, to determine the general to run counter to what was suggested, already disposed to envy the share his private soldiers had in a glory common to both. Ilis ambiti(m was, that his single name should outshine all others ; and this passion of his not a little impelled him to cause those enterprises to miscarry, the lionour attending which he could not monopolize. The germs of jealousy quickly fructified, and occa- sioned misunderstandings between the different corps, which, ag- gravated by a divided authority in the command, chusc*! ii8tam the br/ioor ol' tlio French fiM/is u> tlij ufc" ui')st '. as if people who were fcelni^ crushed under the v.'oi;^)! : oV owerpowering n tun bera of adversaries, wanted worda ;) " err .nr- agement alone, instead of the substantia] aid that w&» J,i:awfi o them ! The British government, spurred on and sustained by ih*; pow- erful voice of the nation, conducted itaelf very differently. It obtained from Parliament all the subsidies asked fbr, to carry on tho war with vigour. Numerous squadrons covered the seas of Europe, the Indian Ocean, and the Atlantic. It was resolved to bar the soa-wny between Canada and France, and to employ for this purpose such an amount of force, an to deprive the latter of the least chance of being able to send succour so as to re-establish her supremacy in America j and it was a result of this determin- ation that the latest convoy was sent for our relief; but which never reached its destination, as above noted. Behind those rampart lines, which covered America and separated Canadt from France, Britain now organiaed, as in the year pre- ceding, throe armies, to finish the colonial abasement of a power which she never ceased combatting ever since she planted a rival flagon the continent, and over whom Britain's great superiority in numbers were about to give her the victory. All tho Anglo- American provinces continued to manifest their ac(iU8tonied zeal for realizing a conquest they had so long and ardently desired. Their different legislatures voted supplies of money and men with so much the greater eagerness, as fruition of their wirihes seemed to be near. The three armies were to coi, Vin beside Montreal, and capture that last city which h( Id out. The garrison in Quebec was to bo reinfon i earV in the cam- paigning season, so as to bo strong ei sugh to ascftn ' the Lauren- tian valley. Brigadier Huviland had orders to assemble his troops on Lake Charoplain, force a passage at the Isle-auz-Noix and &t, John's, and march towards the point indicated ; finally, General Amherst was to assemble a numerous army at Oswego, descend the St. Lawrence, capture every po»t by the way, and join his to the two other corps before Montreal. Tho Fionch knew of all Vol. II. — s 274 HISTORY OF CANADA. their (jneiwiea' preparationB ; Do Vaudreuil and Do Ldvis thought wu!y of getting the start of tho British by a suddon attack of Qu(!bec, in ordor to extend their hands towards tbe expected suc- 00UI3 from France ; and which, should they arrive before British aid came, might, with tho resources in liand, have saved the colony. It waa refsolvcd, at first, to aaaiil Quebec during winter, but it wa« found nwcssary to wait till the spring-time. This delay gave tinw to roorgj»nizo our army, collect provisions, and prepare the boats needed to dewjend the flood when the seasonal ice broke up. Despite the mofifc earnest efforts, De Ldvis could not procure enough ctf oiege requioilteB- Ho was short of lusavy ordnance,and had but a scanty »toro of gunpowder. Still ho did not despair of iucceeding, cither by a surprise, or tluougli tho help of expected Rucoouni. To prevent tho enemy from divining his intents, but above all to keep up the courage of tho Canadians and harass the British gbrrison, he kept up potty bosliUtiety against the latter all tho winter through. Genera! Murray, on his part, nt^lected nothing to put himself in n state to rcpol all hostile attempts till the following campaign. He was well provided with artillery and stores of every kind, and untier him were the finest soldiers Britain could produce. No Moouer wm he established in tho city, than he addressed a pro- olamatioo to the Canadians, representing to them the inutility of ft louger ngsistarice, aa it woull expose them to all the evils result from «n opposition becoming olyeetless. Eleven neighbour- ing parish(?8, evacuated by the French, gave in, and took the oath of fealty to king George. Thei houses had been burnt, and the women and children, who had taken refuge in the woods, were forced to leave them, to escape death from cold and destitution. Tho inhabitants of Miramichi, llichiboucto, and other places about the Gulf of St. Lawrence, impelled by like misery, had submitted already to Colonel Frye, British commandant of Fort Cumberlaud at Chignectou. General Murray, meanwhile, pushed his outposts as far as Lo- retto and Sainte-Foye, two or three leagues from Quebec ; and a war of skirmishings continued, despite the season's rigour. The SECOND BATTLE OP ABRAHAM. 276 garrison, throughout the winter, was busily employed in such petty expeditions, fetching firewood from Capo Rouge, and work- ing at the city defences, wh'oh, after incredible labour, were made fit to sustain a siege ; the ramparts were completed and mounted with mortars and heavy cannon ; the redoubts too, already men- tioned, eight in number, were now finished. The soldiers execut- ed these works, notwithstanding maladies which broke out among them, between Dec. 21: (1759), and April 24 (1760), and proved fatal to nearly 500 of thom. On their side, the French were exhausted by the fatigues at- tending petty war, but still more from dearth of provisions. De Ldvis, who had cantoned most of his troops in different parishes of the governments of Trois-Rivi^res and Montreal, now began his preparations for an enterprise he meditated ; " an obstinate defence," as ho expressed it, in a memorial to Vaudreuil, " which could not fail to be advantageous to the atutc, by cutting out em- ployment for its enemies in America, as well as be honourable to the arms of France." To rc-animate the courjige of the people, and induce them to make now efforts and submit to fresh sacriGccs, the solemn voice of the Church was called in aid : a voice sure to find an echo in the heart of a population profoundly religious. The bishop, M. Du- breil de Pontbriant, who had taken refuge in Montreal,* issued a pastoral letter [mandcment) in which he said, " You arc not to forget, in your prayers, those who have died in defence of their country ; the names of the illustrious Montcalm and so many respectable officers, with those of tlie (slain) soldiers and militiamen must be kept in memory.... You will pray for the repose of their souls." They are very grave, very touching, such mortuary wordf, to which religion adds a character of sublimity I This call for the prayers of the faithful, in favour of the bravo who died in de- • Why tho good bishop should thus bo spoken of as a refugee, we caanot say ; yet tho words in the author's text convey an inhinuation that he was driven out of Quebec, in violation of article 6 of tho capitulation, granting "free exercise of the r.iixian religion, safeguards to all reli- gious (cloistered) persons as well as the bishop ;" the latter " being invited to como and exercise freely and with decency the functions of his office whenever he shall think proper."— £. 276 HISTORY OF CANADA. rending their religion, their laws, and their homesteads, — at a time when a call to arm wu« issued, — revived the national spirit, and redoubled the warlike energies of the Canadians. As for the r^ular soldiers, if a passion for military distinction alone inspired them, they had now a fair opportunity of acquiring it. After great efforts, Do Vaudreuil succeeded in collecting ai much provision as would subsist the army for some time when the scattered parts of it should re-unite. In April it was ready to be* gin the campaign, though the winter's ice had not yet cleared away. The regulars, espeolally their grenadier companies, had been re- cruited from tho two colonial battalions; with the latter, they numbered 3,600 men. Those militia forces called on to take part in the expedition numbered a little more than 3,000,i ncluding 370 savages. The collective army, wherein the Canadian element thus predominated, still did not comprise quite 7,000 combatants in all. Such was the whole armed force which could be raised to marcli agaiTist Quebec, for the inhabitantG of the lower districtii who Imd not submitted to the eaemy could not join the little army till af- ter the investment of the place ; while those of the valid male in- habitants directed to remain at Montreal and Trois-Rivi^res, were wanted there to lay the year's seed in the ground, and to de- fend the frontiers on the side of Lakes Champlain and Ontario.^ Without waiting for the navigation seaward to be quite open, De Ldvis sent orders (April 16 and 17) to the troops to quit winter- (juarters and march direct to Quebec, some by land, others by water. The fields were then covered with snow, and the banks of the St. Lawrence still clogged with unloosened ice, while its current was encumbered with floating ice, which moved with the flux and re« flux of the tide. De Levis issued a general order to the army, in • Extracts from the instructions of the gOTcrnor-gcneral to the cheva- lier de L6vi3 : "We have, after much exertion, collected all the (mate- rial) resources of the colony, supplies of provisions and warlike stores alike ; both are ia limited or rather insufficient quantity, therefore let every means be employed that zeal can suggest to supply deficiencies. — Our forces consist of neorly 3,500 troops, 3,000 militiamen of the go- Ternments of Montreal and Trois-Rivieres, with 400 savages of different natiODB." be till SECOND BATTLE OF ABRAHAM. 277 which he appealed to its sense of honour for making a signal repar- ation of the loss sustained on the 13th of September previous ; and reminded the soldiers, that the foes they had to face again were such as they had conquered at Oswego, Fort George (Wil- liam Henry 1), and Carillon. The troops, for whom these were glorious remembrances, set out on the 20th. Those who descend- ed the flood itself were on board two frigates, which served as a convoy for the smaller vessels, loaded with the artillery, provisions, and siege materials. But as the floating ice became more obstruc- tive the farther the flotilla proceeded, the troops were landed at Pointe-aux-Trembles. Only part of the artillery reached the Foulon (Wolfe's Cove). The whole of April 25 was spent in assembling the army at Pointe-aux-Trembles ; and the vanguard, under Bourlamaque, took the road next day. The occasion was pressing ; for Do Ldvis wished to fall una- wares upon til c(\pmy. Having found it impossible to cross Cape Rouge river at its outlet, because the banks, which are high and steep on the Quebec side, were guarded by the enemy he resolved to traverse the stream at Lorette, two leagues higher up, and pass over the marshes of La Sut^de, in order to reach the heights of Sainte-Foye. Bourlamaque restored the I' ridge over the river, which Hie Bri- tish hod broken down at his approach, and deprived them of the post they occupied at Lorette. De L^vis, who arrived just then, perceiving they had neglected to destroy a wooden causeway which had been laid across part of the marshes of La Sudde, caused the head of it to be occupied by the savages. His vanguard reaching those marshes at night-fall, he pursued his way over them, despite a thunder-storm, then raging, and took possession of some houses on the further side : he was now separated from the enemy only by a wood, about a mile in breadth. At daybreak, April 26, the French van cleared this wood, and confronted the British, whose position De L^vis proceeded to reconnoitre, while the rest of his troops, who had marched all night — their path indicated, it may be said, by lightning flashes — crossed the swamps and drew up on the further side. Our army, however, was not able to advance rapidly or secretly enough to bo able to roach Quebec unobserved. Although a ru- 278 HISTORY OF CANADA. luour was designedly spread abroad all the winter, that the Fronoh were about to come down upon Quebec with an army 12 to 16 thousand strong — the intent being that, when the threat were re- alized, at u later time, Murray should be less on his guard through previous fuliio alerts — still that general, having always been in doubt on the subject, stood prepared for whatever might occur. During April, menacing rumours assuming a more tangible shape, he judged it would be proper to rid himself of the city population, which would have become burdensome to him in oabc iu; were be- sieged; and ho gave notice to the people, f^n the 2l8t April, that tliey must leave the place by the 24lh. When the day came, the garrison soldiers, used as they were t«) all war's horrors, could not without pity see the wretched townsmen, with their wives and chil- dren, driven forth of the city walls, to seek shelter they knew not where, in a devastatetl country bared of all subsistence. Murray also caused the Cape llougo bridges to bo destroyed, as already narrated ; and sent troops to observe the movements of the Frenchj, if they came up. Those were the soldiers ranged before ours on the heights of Sainto-Foye ; they numbered from 2,500 to 3,000, and had some tield-pieoes : their lines extended from Sainte-Foyo church to the left bank of the road of La Sufide, by which the Fronchfwcre ascending in order to debouch on the plateau. The wood whence the French were issuing was 400 yards dis- tant from the enemy's front : now as the forest soil was marshy, the French could debouch only upon the highway. The space between the wood and the British was not wide enough to allow De L \ v^V. ""' -^-^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) // /> c ^\% K^ y. ip 1.0 I.I 1.25 2.5 :^ 1^ 12.0 1.8 1.4 — 6" V] <^ /2 V A ^ 'W '/ Photographic Sdences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. M580 (716) 872-4503 #* S80 HISTORY OF CANADA. » !m. t ! .; II' •I II'. . whole garrison,* the regulars in whif'h, not including officers, alone numbered 7714 combatants.f Excepting some hundred sick • " The 28th day of April, about 8 o'clock in the morniug, the whole garrison, exclusive of the guards.... marched out of town with 20 pieces of field artillery," — Fraser Manuscript. t Referring to regimental orders for liquidating arrears of pay up till April 24, or within four days of that of the second battle of Abraham, we have the following direction for paying the T8th or Highland regiment then in garrison : " By the Honble. James Murray, Esq., Governor of Quebec, &c. " You are hereby required and directed, out of such moneys as shall come to your hands for the subsistence of His Majesty's forces under my command, to pay or cause to be paid to Lieut. James Henderson, Dy. Paymaster of His Majesty's 78th Regt. of Foot or his assigns, the sum of two thousand one hundred and sixty-three pounds nineteen shillings and sixpence sterling; being for subsistence of said Regiment between the 24th day of February and the 24th day of April lt60, both days inclusive, as per account annexed : and for so doing this, with the ac- quittance of the said Lieut. James Henderson or his assigns, shall be to you a sufficient warrant and discharge. * *' Given under my hand, at Quebec, this 27th day of November IVJO. (Signed,) '* Jas. Mcbbay. (Countersigned,) " H. T. Cbahahe. " To Robert Porter, Esq., ■ Dy. Paymaster General." ;.. u vi::M,. 56 Sergeants fS) Is. p. ,_- :. 56 Corporals /3 Sd. 28 Drummers f8) 8d. _^ . , 1195 Privates fS) 6d. 1335 Total for one di t; I •• -V Total for 60 days £2,163 19 6 ' * •-■*'"^ (Signed,) " Jas. Hendbhson, Lt. and Dy. Paymaster 78th Regiment." [We firmly believe that Murray's strength scarcely exceeded a moiety of that assigned to him in the text ; to which M. G. appends, by way of proof, returns of the strength of one regiment. As we intimated before, there may have been Bigots (even VariJis) in the British as well as the French camp. Thus, on examining Lieut. Henderson's figures, we find that he charges for 61 days' pay, instead of 60 ; thus pocketing, inadver- tently or not, £35 93, 6d. ; the precise excess over £2,128 10s. Od., the proper total. But, in any case, the document, either on or off the face of it, does not justify the author's hardy assumptions.— .&.J diem . • . . .... £2 16 (( 1 17 4 tt 2 18 8 II 29 17 6 iv 35 9 , ^av«> up their urniH; whilo, concuircntly. tho regulars, I'aniiHhcd and despairing, dcHort- od in great, innnljerH. Sept. 7, llaviland'H army oanioup; and this Horved iw a signal for tho few suvagoft who Htill held to tho French, to depart all together. I'lr;', , iy ,.< .s^i.!; Ilaviland had left fort St. Frederic, Aug. II, with ;i,50() mon. Hougiiinvill(> retired hefore him, ((uittingHueeessivi'ly tho JHle-aux- Noix, Mt. .lohn'n, and oth^u* posts ; ho llitit the former reached Jion- gueuil without striking n blow, uiid was frco to joiu his forcos to i\\MVi (tf Mr.rray. The principal army waf< that of Andierst, who arrived from Schenectady at Oswego, tluly 0, with a j)art of his forces; and was joined, soon thereafter, by his rcarginnd, under nrig.-Uon. (^age. Thifi army, .' 1,000 strong, descending the St. Jjawrenoo, Jialteil before f«)rt do Li^vis. M. IVtuehot, ih*serted by the savages, Imd only 200 nu'u in gai'rison. lie resisted stoutly, however, and oven repelled an assault: it was only when ho saw lus ontronch- monta destroyed, the batteries ruined, all his oificers and a third of tl»e garrison killed or wounded, that he would surrender ; hav- ing had spirit enough to stay tho progress of au army 11,000 strong, lve days, with barely 200 men. Amherst resumed his descent, Aug. lil. Tho passage of tho ni- pitls was u perilous operation ; but ho chose to brave the danger in order to bar every route against tho French ; who spoke of retreating, if occasion arose, from IMontroal to Detroit, and from Detroit into Louisiana. Ue lost, at tho Cedars' rapids, Oi barges and 88 luon; and attiiined (driving La Corno before him) tho village of Laehino, <) leagues from Alontreal. He landed on the island Sept. r>, and invested tho city, ou it,s caslern sido, the sanio day. lie received, on l\is way thither, tho subinission of the inhabi- tant* of tho neighbouring country. Tho two other Uritish armies which ho had oxpcotod to joiu his, bolcaguorcd tho opposito sido rURfllON OK CANADA TO niUTAIN. 203 of thn plnoo on tli« Htli : ho that Montronl wiih wirronndcMl liy a oolUwtivo iinny iiioro tlian 17,000 strong, providtMl with numerous oannou. Montnml, hiiilt on tho Houthorn Blioro of «'" ishirid ol' thnt nnuKi, hotwopn a n^niarkahlo woody height and .m St, hawronoo, was onoirolod hy a nioro onolosing wall Honio 2 or 3 foot thick, run up in ko(>p out HavgPfl, and unlit to withstand tho nliook of arlillory. This wall, protiHitod hy a fonHc^, was niountod with six snuill piccos of cannon. A battery, containing six rusty guns, topped a hilluok within tho walls. Huoh woro tho dofoncoa Ixdiind whioh wore sholtorod tho wrecks of tho French army ! which, including inha- bitant's still under anus, was imw reduced to about, ;{,0(I0 men in all; exclusive of 500 soldiers who guarded Snintisllelen'H island, situated ojjposito to the city. Tho forces had provision in store oidy for lifteon days, and as much aninmni'ion as one encounter would exhaust. " During tho idght of Sejit. 6-7, N. do Vaudrouil - s. > '.^*. , .:- < ^ . ■ By this celebrated act, Canada passed finally under British domination, i'^reo exercise of the Catholic religion was guaranteed to its people, l/crtain si)ecilied ecclesiastical brotherhoods, and all communities of rcllifu'iisrs, were seeured in the possession of their goods, constitutions, and privileges; but like advantagoft 294 HISTORY OP CANADA. 1 1> JV i ■' * i were refused (or delayed) to the Jesuits, FranoiscaDs (KeeoIIets)^ and Sulpicians, until the king should be consulted on the subject. The same reservation was made as to the parochial clergy's titles. In respect of Canadian jurisprudence (les lois, U8age$, et cou- tumea du pays) asked to bo preserved intact, it was replied, that the inhabitants were now subjects of his British Majesty (and would be treated as such). Article 37 was inserted to tranquillize the minds of those possessed of real property (les fortunet partim- Hires) ; and the feudal landholders (seigneurs) had the address to obtain the intercalation therein of terms conservative of their rights of every kind : at least the words thus inserted, read as if they secured their seignorial privileges. The British took possession of Montreal the same day. The governor-general. Chevalier de Lpvis, the troops, the officers, both military and civil, all embarked for France. Before setting out, M. do Vaudreuil sent an order to M. de Belestre, commandant of Detroit (where 300 to 400 Canadian families were settk 1), as well as to the chiefs of other posts in the lake countries, to surren^ der them to Major Rogers, a famous partisan, or to his deputies. There rc-passad into Europe about 185 officers, 2,400 soldiers valid and invalid, and fully 500 sailors, domestics, women and children. The smallness of this proved, at once the cruel ravages of the war, the paucity of embarkations of succour sent from France^ and the great numerical superiority of the victor. The most notable colonists, at the same time, left the country. Their emi- gration was encouraged, that of the Canadian officers especially, whom the conquerors desired to be rid of, and whom they eagerly stimulated to pass to France. Canada lost, by this self-expatriation, the most precious portion of its people, invaluable as its members were from their experience, their intelligence, and their knowledge of public and commercial affairs. •' ii • -? > Thus, by the year 1761, French domination existed no longer in any part of Canada, after a duration of a century and a half. When quitting the country, M. de Vaudreuil paid this homage to its people in a letter to the ministry : " With these beautiful and vast countries, France loses 70,000 inhabitants of a rare qua. lity ; a race of people unequalled for tuoir docility, bravery, and 1 oyalty. The vexations they have suffered for many years, more CESSION OP CANAbA TO BRITAIN. 295 scolletB)^ subject. r's titles. , et cou- ied, that sty (and LnquilUze 1 particfu- ddress to eir rights 18 if they ay. The eers, both tting out, amandant BttU 1), as to surren- 1 deputies. [0 soldiers smen and el ravages m France, The most heir emi- lespeoially, sy eagerly tatriation, members :nowledge no longer id a half. ^s homage beautiful rare qua* ivery, and ears, more especially during the five years preceding the reduction of Quebec, — all without a murmur, or importuning their king for relief,— sufficiently manifest their perfect submissiveness." As for the French army of Canada, the mere recital of its deeds is its best eulogium. Never had France more intrepid or more devoted soldiers. Ten weak battalions, oftenest recruited in that country itself for want of men from Europe, had to defend that immense territory which extends from Acadia to lake Erie and beyond, against tenfold numbers of foes. Very few of those brave men returned to that native land, in which their ex-chief did this justice to their merits : '* They hav6 performed prodigies of valour," wrote he to the minister on his return ; adding, " they, like the armed Canadians, gave repeated proofs (especially on April the 28th) that the conservation of Canada were ensured, had it depended on their zeal and courage alone; and it was" the last of a series of misfortunes and fatalities, which, for some time past, befel the country, that the hoped-for succours from France were not sent at the critical moment. How- ever scanty they might have been, these would, in connection with our latest victory, have ensured the re-captuio of Quebec." — In the Same despatch De Ldvis reported of the governor- general, that he had, to the latest moment, done all for the colony's well-being that prudence and experience could suggest. The chevalier himself, after a short stay in France, had a com- mand assigned him in the French army then campaigning in Ger- many ; where he fought in the battle of Johannisberg, gained in 1762 by the Prince de Cond^, over the famous William duke of Brunswick. After the war concluded, he was appointed governor of Artois, nominated a marshal of France, and created a duke in 1784. Three years afterwards he died at Arras, whither he had gone to preside at a convocation of the several orders (itats) of the province. The latter caused his remains to be buried in that city with great observance, and set up a funereal monument in its cathedral, to honour his memory. His military career in Canada, especially after Montcalm's death, favourably manifested his courage in action and his skill in the art of war. His very presence inthe field seemed to ensure success ; for every fight he took part in became a victory : and we dare .1^ X t 296 .'■'tri- msTORY OP CANADA. j.»r» almost BSflurc ourselves, tlmt had ho been present nt Quebec on the 13th of September, the result of the day would have boen very difloront ; for he would have had influence enough over Mont- calm to hinder him from combatitig till all the troops could have been got together. Ue Levis was perhaps thi; only man in the colony capnble of saving it to France. His prudei\ee, more- over, always prevented him fron> taking part in the unfortunate quarrels which disunited Vaudrcuil and JMontealm ; and, if ho had not the vivacity of the latter, he had (jualities far more pre- cious for commanding an army, viz. souiul judgment, firmness, and (|uick solilierly perceptions of whatever were needful to bo done : to these cndowmcnt« he owed his unvaried success in war. 31. de IJourlamatpie died, in 17(54, while governor of Guadalouiie. As for Colonel Bougainville, it is well known that he played a gio" rious part, as a leading naval commander, in the French navy, when her fleets were combating for American independence ; and that he afterwards made his name yet more illustrious by his voy- jige around the world, and by bin geographical discoveries. The news of the submission of all Canada was followed in Bri- tain by a repetition of tho demonstratioJis of joy at the fall of Quebec. The king handsomely rewarded the oflicers who brought the despatches to London announcing tho desired event. — In France, the government had been long prepared for such a result, and had sent instructions to the colonial officials to obtain the best terms they could for tho inhabitahts, the chief victims of this great national disaster. But the French people, who know not the wretched state of their country's colonies, were sensibly affected by the loss of the finest and oldest transmarine depen- dency of France. Shame flushed their faces, chagrin gnawed their hearts, on learning the subjugation of 00,000 of their fellow-sub- jects, — a race speaking tho same language, living under the simie laws as they ; and who had in vain made every sacrifice, during seven years of trials and suffering, to escajM) a fate which a good government would have found means to save them from. But, in the face of Europe, the ministry took matters quite composedly ; and sought a pretext for veiling its own dishonour, by prosecuting with blind vindictiveness ahnost all tho colonial administrators — some of these being notoriously corrupt indeed, many prevaricating, CESRION OF CANADA TO BRITAIN. 297 but otliors entirely innocent; yot noarly ovory chief functionary from (Jivnadn, hooh after landing in Franco, was cited to appear as n oriminai before a judicial incjucHt, holden at the Chritelet in Pariw, When Bigot presented hiinHelf at VerHaillcH, M. iJerryer received him with indignity, and Hhowered reproaches on him. " ft is you," ho exclaimed, " who have ruined the colony! your expenditure baa been enormous ; you became a trader, and have amassed a largo fortune your administration has been unfair, your con- duct criminal." A universal cry arose against this officer, among all who took an interest in colonial matters : every Canadian, it was asserted, was ready to bear witness against the ox-intendant for his malversations. Uigot tried, but in vain, to plead his own justification. He retired, at lirst, to Bordeaux, and hearing, some months later, that there was an intent to arrest him, he returned to Paris, hoping to conjure tlio storm ; but found every avenue to the ministerial prt)8onco barred against him ; and, four days after- wards (Nov. 17 17(51), ho was thrown into the Bastilc, and there lay 11 months with all access denied to him. Concurrently, a score of others, accused as his accomplices, shared the same treatment ; while IJO more, who did not come forward, were ordered to bo ar- rested wherever found. Meanwhile, the council of state ordained the Chittelet court to put all upon their trial. Even the ox-governor-goneral did not escape the disgrace of being linstiUtid. This affront he owed perhaps as much to the (cri- minating) insinuations of Montcalm's partisans, as to the more perfi- dious calumnies of Bigot. The process of all was carried on brisk- ly, by ministerial desire; yet it lasted from Deo. 17G1 till the end of March 17G3. The accused obtained, in Oct. 1762, liberty to employ counsel to prepare their defences.— The Marquis do Vau- dreuil had to govern Canada during the most thorny time of its history. Ho repaired to Franco a poor man, after serving the king 6G years ; the earliest part of that long public career as governor of Trois-Rivi^res, and tho middle period as chief in Louisiana. While governor in tho latter, he became a proprietor of some plan- tations, which ho was forced to soil for the support of his rank in Canada. Ho had even sacrificcu, like Montcalm and Do Levis, his salary, in order to supply towards tho cloae of the war, what the state did not furuieh. Tlius, all lus fortuno, as ho said hiuisulf, ■ .\i I 298 HISTORY OF CANADA. I; * II • ■ t ,.* 1. oonsistod in hopos founded on the king's beneficence. His de- fence was dignified: he repelled the insinuations of the really guilty, and disdained attempting to justify himself by accusing others, rather exculpating indeed thoao Canadian officers whom Bigot slandered. " Brought up in Canada myself," he said, " I knew them every one, and I maintain that almost all of them are as upright as they are valorous. In general, the Canadians seem to be soldiers bom ; a mosouline and military training early inures them to fatigues and dangers. The annals of their expeditions, their explorations, and their dealings with the aborigines, abound in marvellous examples of courap^, activity, patience under privation, coolness in peril, and obedience to leaders, during services which have cost many of them their lives, but without slackening the ardour of the survivors Such officers as those, with a handful of armed inhabitants and a /ew savage warriors, have oflen disconcerted the projects, paralysed the preparations, ravaged the provinces, and beaten the troops of Britain when eight or ten times more numerous than themselves. In a country with frontiers so vast, such qual- ities were priceless." And he finished by declaring, that he " would fail in his duty to those generous warriors, and even to the state itself, if he did not proclaim their services, their merits, and their innocence." In corroboration of this testimony, we would observe, that all the military officers who remained in Canada after the final capitulation, were found to be much poorer after the war than before ; and that, among the civil functionaries, only the outlawed Deschesnaux, intendant's secretary, and some obscure tools of his, who fattened on the public wants, had their names in Canada rightly branded with ineffiiceable marks. . = >: ► * i i At length (Deo. 10, 1763), the president of the commission, as- sisted by 25 councillors of the Chdtelet, rendered his final decree re- garding the parties accused. De Vaudreuil (who died next year, less from old age than vexation of spirit) was, with five more, re- lieved (dechargis) from the accusation.* Bigot and Varin were sentenced to exile for life, their goods to be confiscated. Several of the accused were condemned to minor banishments, and to modified • Thig form of semi-acquittal wag doubtlesg intended to be dishonour- ing. It was equivalent to a Scots verdict of not protjen.— B. CESSION OP CANADA TO BRITAIN. S99 dishouoar- oonfisoationB, or to make various restitutions, to a oollcotive amount of 11,400,000 francs. Commissary-general Cadet, alone, was mulcted in six millions. In regard of others of the accused, further process was stayed.* It is certain that great dilapidations did take place ; but the reports of them were exaggerations of facts, as any one may be convinced of, by comparing the public expenditure in Canada with that of the Anglo-American colonies during the war. The raising and maintaining of 7,000 men in 1758, cost Massachusetts £180,- 000 sterling; besides £30,000 for defence of the frontier, or 5J million francs in all. In the very first year of the war, Canada had as numerous a force as this to subsist, not reckoning a portion of the Acadians then on its hands. That army, not much augmented up to the year 1 769, had to confront the far superior forces of the enemy, often marching to and fro between whiles, at distances widely apart, in order to defend frontiers extending from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Mississippi. The cost attending transports, in the then state of our roadways, would of necessity be enormous. Very soon, scarcity of provisions and goods, caused on one hand by the mastery of the enemy ou the high seaa, which caused interruptions of communication with France ; and, on the other, the suspended tillage of much of the cleared land through the military service im- posed on its cultivators, decupled state outlay ; for, owing to the ex- orbitant rise in price of all commodities, public expenditure, — all this rapidly mounted up. From 1,700,000 livres, its totality in 1749, it rose by successive yearly leaps to 2,100,000-2,700,000- 4,900,000-5,300,000-4,450,000 («ic)-6,100,000-ll,300,000- 19,250,000-27,900,000-26,000,000 francs; and, for the eight earlier months of 1760, to 13,500,000 : in all, a total of 123J millions. Of this sum, there remained due by the state 80 millions, for 41 of which it was in debit to Canadian creditors ; namely, 34 millions unpaid of intendant's notes-of-hand (ordonnances), and 7 millions in exchequer-bills (lettres de change). These state obli- gations (crdances) held by the Canadians, an immense amount for t Thus we, jaridically rather than literally, interpret the words, le jugement fut remit jtuqu'd plus ample informi. — B. !H 300 .V.wr HISTORY OF CANADA. '9.xr% such a country, became to tlicm -almost valueless in tlv3 end. Traf- iiokors and British oiBcers bought up, nt low rates, parcels of these paper-moneys, and rc-H*)ld portions of them to French factors on 'Chanm', in London, for Ciush. Throuj^h personal influences, a stipulation was made in the treaty of ITtKJ, granting a coni|)onsa- tion of 3,t)00,()00 francs for the reduction, oi)crated in France, of a moiety on the exche<^uer-bills, and of three-fourths on the in- tendants' notes; but the Canadians, to whom that reduction had caused a loss, at one stroke, of LJ9 millions on their cr^ancci*, de- rived little profit from the above-mentioned compensatory stipula- tion. The pajwr they still had in hand, remained long valueless; at la.st, in 17G5 they were invited to make declari'Monsof the items and amount of it, in schedules (hordJi the object of (to much hopofulncfw, it really began to prodpcr. Tho war agaiiiHt tho Natchez finished by beggaring the Went India Oompuny created iu 1723, and c' ^d it to demit to the king iUi righta over Louisiana, tho trade of h was then rendered I'reo. Tliat tine country, enjoying thonceibrth more liberty, naw its population, its settleutonts, its commerce augment ut firHt eluwly, but afterwards rapidly, despite the ohangcfulnesa which again ftffoctod it. Franco willed to realiso the project, formed iu the preceding century, of binding together Canada and Louihiana, iu order to bar tho western regions against the British, and cuuiine them to the Atlantic seaboard. Paucity of inhabitants, physical impracticabilities, vast regions with savage populations separating tho two countries, rendered the project inexocutable. After the poaoo of 1748, France seemed to occupy herself more seriously with the colonization of Louisiana. Although her measures were not always fortunate, and notwithstanding tho mistaken policy of most of the administrators whom she sent to govern the colony ; despite tlie disorders they created in commerce and finance, by imprudent emissions of notes-of-hand (ordonnancca) and paper- money, which soon fell into discro'Ut and became a prey to broker* age ; maugre all tliese drawbacks, wo say, Louisiana made rapid pro- gress by favour of the peace reigning within. But the calm it enjoyed was deoeitftil. At the moment when the colony attained the greatest prosperity it had known since its foundation, it waa stricken by the most grievous infliction a community can endure, subjection to an alien race, and a partition of its territory among rival nations.* When the French governor, M. d'Abadie, received, in 1764, the order from Louis XV to communicate the treaty of Paris to the colonists, it pained him so much that he died of chagrin. His successor, INI. Aubry, next charged with the sad mission, let time run on. The appalled Louisianians made representations in France (against the transference) in the most pressing and even pathetic terms ; and when some Spaniards came, in 1768, led by Don An- tonio d'Ulloa, a sage and moderate man, to take possession, the * New Orleans, though situated on the left bank of the Mississippi, iolMredi an far as Lake Pontcbartraio, to the territory ceded to Spain. CESSION OF LOUISIANA TO SPAIN. 803 ooloaistA oonstniiiitid him to ro-oiubark, pretending that France had no right to oodo its power over thom without their consent. Loui» XV wiu) thon obliged to adviao thom, that the ocwiion made waa ' irrovooiiblo. Next year, Goneral O'Uoilly urrivud, with 3,000 men. Tho pooplo opposed thomsolvoa to hirt landing ; but thoir nitigiHtrntoH Huccocdud in appeasing thom ; and thu proou- rator-goneral, M. Lafronidro, went to roccivo the Spaniard, and aasure him of tho submisnion of tho inhabitantii. O'Uoilly ma- nifested, at first, much benignity, maintained the ancient laws, and ouptivuted tho multitude by his conduct ; but these appear* anoes of justioo had no other aim than to conceal his own ertl designs or the stern instructions of his court ; for ho soon changed the laws ho seemed at first to respect, and upset tho whole interior administration. LafronitNro and the tribunals protested against those mutations. " O'Uoilly took advantage of this opposition," Bays Barb<5-Marbois, " to commit acts of violence and ferocity, which he mistook for those of wiso firmness." He called together twelve deputies of tho people, to fix a code of laws. Thoso de- legates mot in his house, and woro waiting to deliberate, when the doors of tho room wero suddenly opened, and O'Uoilly appeared at the head of a company of soldiers, who seized tho deputies, chained them, and thrust them into prison-cells. Six of thom wero shot, by his orders. Lafreniero, before dying, pro- tested his innoconco, and encouraged his five compatriots to suffer with firmness. Ho charged M. Noyan to send the scarf he wore to hia wife, for the use of his son when he came of age ; and gave himself orders to the soldiers to fire 1 abandoning to the stings of remorse the soul of the perfidious Spaniard who had set a snare for his victims. The surviving six deputies were transferred to dungeons in Cuba. Such were the tragical events which attended the passing of Loubiana under alien domination. There now remained to France, of all North America, only some befogged and sterile rocks, scattered on sea-margins, in the vicinity of Newfoundland. " Since the treaty of Bretigny," says Sismondi, " France had oonolttded no treaty so humiliating as that just signed in her name at Paris, to put an end to the Seven-Years' War. Now-a- days, that we know better the nature and extent of the regionn ''I: . ( ■ 304 r, , . IIIHTORY OF CANADA. « k " who \iti\'o »pin Amorlon ; now tlmi wf thoroin hohold u uroiii nutlun lUMHo nml cxpimil ; noliiiijhow iiiucli the jtoo|tl«n»r hor riico, >vl»oin nho K'lY Itcliitnl, linvo |»n>ni»«>rotl at (^iicImm', Moiitiviil, ninl New Oi'loiniM, I'lu'h livin^ (<«Hliliontiy onloring int(» tlui Sovcn \ oars' War, lor Ihoy HiilVonMl tho l»h>odioHt. dol'oatM ; and, had t,ht>y por- sistod in oontinniiiuj tho I'ontont, thoro wan ovory roawui t^o oxprct, that diNoonilitnro Htill nioro Kifj;nal would follow. Novor did hor gcnoralf* Hcom to bo ho \iltorly dostitnto oftalont; nt no tiino Wi^xvi hor m>ldiorM, naturally bravo, ho poor in niUHolo, ho ill »Mpiij>- pod, HO tn.ytorially wrotoliod ; novi'rhad thoy Iosm oonlldonco in their chiotH, nor ovor, from Ihoir indiHcipliiio, waH thoir conlldonco lo.ss in IhoniHolvoH than now : in a word, at no provioun tinn^ waH J^'ranoo ho litllo rodoubtablo to hor ononiioH, Hy iniploriiif.^ tho juiHiHtanoo of Spain, nho had only lod her noi^hbour upon tho »nn)o ntnd to ruin with horH(>ir, and on(< campaign nioru in common would havo rolY hor ally of hor mont important coh)tuoH. " IKnvovor disastrouH that poaco might bo, wo do not find, in tho niomoir.s of tho time, that tho writcru folt at all humiliatod ; Baolnmmont noonm to havo soon in the ovont only whoro- withal t<> supply pootvS with a subjoct lor vorncH of rolicitution and theatrical divortiscmonti*. At ouch pngo one fcoln, while roaditig those memoirH, how much the Mifc oi' France had become indifl'eront to hor national polity, power, and glory. Even thoHO Frenehmen who toi)lv the gretitest int^jrestin public matters, were obliviouH of their compatriot race in Canr.da and Louiwiaiva, ' who multiplied nlowly in the woods, who assooiat^^'d with savages; but who furnished no returns to tho cxeheciuor, no soldiers to tho royal host, no colonial merchandise for home traders 1' Tho petty settlements, for fishing cod, at St. I'ierre and ^liijuelon, the small islands of (Jrenada, St. Viuccnt, Dominica, and Tobago, uitpeurod iu tho eyes of tlie ship- ■^iW *-lM,f, ')»«.* ^»^!«.V* ■JT'^'S ^*| ' C'KHHION (»K !,0!IIH|ANA TO RI'AIN. noA I)orM of St, Mf»lo, NfttitoM, tuxl UnrtK'nux, fur iiiord ltiiiM>rtiml (lian nil (*iniiio nation wuh nrcnHtnining ifm'lf, tnnir lunl nioro, to a want «tr»yn)piitliy with itw ^ovcrntnont, tlio alioiiation inorfaHin^ In uroportion ax I'Vonoli writcrn tonk to Hfutlyinmtoliliciil <|ii('Htionn. It waM at tliiH«<|(ttoli that tlio wM'tnl' KooiiitniiMtM witro nioMi Mlirring ; and aOtT tli<' niiitr|ni« p«'itnry IxM-anic an affair of ntalt". Finally, Joiui-tIac»pi('« llmiM^'au, who, an early aM the year 17511, had napped the liaKeH upon whioli wiKMi^ty rewtM, inhin FHwotirHe on the Origin of Inecpiality ainon)^ Mankintl, pnMiMhed al'terwanlM h!,M " Kniile," and next hill " Social Cotnpaet " (^' (^imfnif t^itrinf): all niindH wore then connnoyed regarding the lii^heHt. <(UeHtio!iH of puhlid organisation, nuithe French wercMiot. ahle to eogitatcuin MuhjeetH of Huch high import, without hoing Htruck with the tmrcaHon, tho nhMiirditioH ovun,nhoundingin their own mlniinistration throughnut, all itrt partu: foroxaniple, the exclusion ofall hut thenohlechiMMlrotn every s\iperior grade in tho army, which iu tmit BOOK ELEVENTH. ; u - - -V.'. -Mi'.,,. •f v), .■ • t .I'lv . ■'■■ • ' ''I' ' :Ui.«5n;.!il CHAPTER I. MILITARY DESPOTISM— ABOLITION AND RESTORATION OF „,...,;,,, ,,,^ .„,;; THE ANCIENT LAWr, ^.v . ■:;-■■; .. •.«.>. ■" ' ' ' •'"-■■'■•■ 1760-1774. ~' ■ ''''-:;;^'^'^" '->. Vi. Cesaatioa of hostilities ; the Canadians return to their homesteads. — Military government and courts martial.— Emigration of Canadians to France. — The French laws discontinued, but the catholic religion tolerated. — Governor Murray replaces Amherst as generalissimo. — An executive, legislative, and judicial council constituted. — Divi- sion of Canada into two districts, and introduction of English laws. Murmurings of the people. — The British colonists demand an elective chamber, or representative assembly, from which Canadian members were intended to be excluded ; and accuse Murray of tyranny : that general quits the colony on leave, but does not return. — Risings of the western savages. — Gen. Carleton, appointed Murray's successor, makes changes in the governing council. — The people continue their oppo- sition to the new laws. — Official reports of five British crown-lawyers (Yorke, De Grey, Marriott, Wedderburn, and Thurlow) on the grie- vances of the Canadians. — A Legislative Council finally established, in 1774. Those Canadians who did not leave the army after the siege of Quebec, quitted it entirely after the capitulation of Montreal, and the most profound peace soon reigned in all the colony. Small appearances now would there have been of a long and sanguinary struggle, but for the devastations left behind it, especially in the district of Quebec, where nought could be seen but wreck and ruin. This region had been occupied, for two years, by contending hosts ; its capital had been twice besieged, twice bombarded, and almost annihilated ; its environs, having been the theatre of three battles, bore all the traces of a desperate armed struggle. The ruined inha- bitants, decimated in so many battle-fields, thought of nothing now but to take refuge on their lands, hoping thence to derive where- ifl 308 HISTORY OP CANADA. * » withal to repair their losses ; therefore, isolating themselves from their rulers, they gave themselves up entirely to rural pursuits. The victors, on their part, took fit measures for making sure of their precious conquest. Amherst chose troops for guardi.ig it, and sent the rest to Europe or into other colonies. He divided Canada into three departments, corresponding to the old divisions, and put them under martial law. General Murray was located at Quebec, general Gage at Montreal, colonel Benton at Three Rivers. Each of these chiefs was supplied with a secretary, of French- Swiss origin, as a lingual medium between the ruler and the ruled. The latter gentlemen were, M. Cramahd for Quebec district; M. Bruycires for Three-Rivers; and M. Mathurin for Montreal. Amherst, after giving final instructions to the three governors respectively, left Canada for New York. Murray constituted a military council for his district, composed of seven army officers, as judges of the more important civil and criminal pleas. This council held bi-weekly sederunts. Murray reserved to himself the jurisdiction, without power of appeal, over other cases ; or left them to the care of military subalterns in the country parts. General Gage, in his district, rather attempered the system ; for he authorized the parochial captains to settle any dif- ferences amongst the people according to their own discretion, but dissatisfied clients had a power of appeal to the nearest British commandant or to himself. At a later period, Gage divided his district into sub-districts, in each of which he established a justice court, composed of seven, six, or five (Canadian) militia officers. These bodies held fortnightly sessions, and were subordinated in authority to one or other of the three councils of war, composed of British military officers, located at Montreal, Varennes, and St. Sul- pice. There lay an appeal, in last resort, from the decisions of all these tribunals, in every disputed case, to Gage : at the same time, none of their penal sentences could be executed, without being first submitted to him, for approval, reversal, or commutation. Thus, through their militia officers, the Canadians of Montreal dis- trict at least shared in the administration of justice. In the district of Quebec, also, they participated somewhat in its jurispru- dence, through the agency of two of their compatriots, who were ap- pointed public procurators and legal commissaries before the mill- MILITARY DESPOTISM. 309 tary tribunal of Quebec city : one being Jacques Belcourt de Lafon- taine, ex-member of the sovereign council, for the country on the right bank of the St. Lawrence ; the other, Joseph Etienne Cugnet, seigneur of St. Etionno, for that on the left side of the river. At Three-Rivers, almost the same arrangement was made. This martial system was adopted in violation of the capitula- tions, which guaranteed to the Canadians the rights of British subjects ; rights by wliich their persons were not to be disposed of by any but their natural judges, unless by their own consent. It fell out, that when they hoped to enjoy legality under peaceful sway, they saw their tribunals abolished, their judges repelled, and their whole social organization upset, to make room for the most insup- portable of all tyranny, that of courts martial. Nothing did more to isolate the government and alienate the people from it, than this con- duct, long since repudiated by the law and custom of nations. Ig- norant as they were of the speech of their conquerors, the Canadians spurned the booted and spurred legists placed amidst them ; and, without complaining, for they were little used to soliciting, they settled their differences with each other ; or they applied to the parish clergy or local notables as arbitrators : by having recourse to whom, the influence over the people of these classes, in the seve- ral parishes, was greatly increased. By a happy effect of circum- stances seemingly adverse, pastor and flock had thus become as one in sentiment ; and, under the theoretical sway of the sword, clerical intermediation became the rule practically followed by and for each and all. The military organization adopted, attested the fear Ca idian resistance to alien domination had inspired, and its existence was approbated in Britain : only under this condition, however, that it was to cease as soon as a state of amity should supervene between her people and those of Fiance ; that time once com'e, regular civil government was to take its place. Yet the colony remained four years under martial law. This epoch in our annals is desig- nated as the " Reign of the Soldiery " (le regne militaire.) During all this time, the Canadian people hoped that France would not abandon them, but reclaim her own as soon as hostilities ceased. The clergy, not so confident as the laity, drew up two memorials on ecclesiastical affairs in Canada, one for the Duke de I ill 310 HISTORY OP CANAIM. >«. Nivernois, the other to the Duke of Bedford — these nobles being the two chief diplomatists employed for settling terms of pacifica- tion between France and Great Britain. A claim was preferred by the memorialists, that a warranty should be given for the bish- opric and seminary of Quebec. " The titular bishop," said they, " holds his powers and jurisdiction from his see itself; as soon as he is confirmed by the pope, the charge (place) becomes irrevo- cable." It was proposed that the bishops, in future, should be elected by the chapter, with a royal concurrence in the choice made — as was once the custom in the Church universal, and as is still done in Germany. After three years passed in a state of alternate hope and fear, the Canadians had perforce to renounce their latest illusion. Their destiny was bound irrevocably to that of the British people by the treaty of 1763. Consequent upon this event, a second emigration took place : numbers of commerci?lists, lawyers, ex-functionaries, with most of the leading men still remaining in the colony, left for France, after selling or abandoning estates, titles to which became subjects of after litigation, even down to the present times, among their descendants. None now lingered in the towns, but here and there a few subaltern placemen, some artisans, scarcely one mer- chant. The members of the different religious confraternities, with the rural populations of course remained. The mother country of those immigrants was touched at heart by the love for her which had drawn them to her shores. Her rulers showed them special favour ; and, for several of them, places were found in the government offices, in the navy, in the army, &c. — Some of those who had already filled high charges, were appointed to like posts in distant French dependencies. Thus M . de Repentig- ny, created marquis and become a brigadier-general, was appointed governor, 'first of Senegal, then of Mah^, in French India, where he died in 1776. M. Dumas became governor of the Mauritius and Isle r;f Bourbon. M. Beaujeu accompanied Lapeyrouse, aa aid-major-general against the British Hudson's Bay settlements, in 1 782. The Marquis de Villeray, made captain in the royal guards, may also be noted ; also M. Juchereau (Duchesnay) commandant of Charleviile. M. LeGardeur, Count de Tilly, Messrs. Pellegrin, de I'Echelle, La Come, became post-captains in the French navy. MILITART DESPOTISM. 311 The Count de Vaudreuil, as admiral during the American war for Independence, distinguished himself. Jacques Bedout, a native of Quebec, became a distinguished rear-admiral. Joseph Chaus- segros de Ldry, military engineer, was made a baron by Napoleon I for his great services. Other Canadian officers, ot actively em- ployed, yet pensioned by the government, lived together in Tadou- sac. Canadian and Acadian refugees in France were succoured even by the republicans of 1792. *• Those of them who remained in Canada, trusting to the pro- mises of the British that civil ru'^ should obtain, sent agents to London to proflFer homage to George III, and defend their inter- ests. When chevalier de Ldry and his wife, Louise de Brouages, one of the finest women of the time, were presented at court, the young king was so struck with madame's beauty that he said, " If all the Canadian, ladies resembled her, we may indeed vaunt of our beautiful conriueat." After the series of mournful scenes which we have had to un- fold to our readers' view, it is refreshing to be able to adduce a graceful trait like the foregoing. One of the Canadian agent'*, Etienne Charrest, who was chained to uegociate on the article of religion, as expressed in the Treaty of Paris, wrote several times on that subject to Lord Halifax, secretary of state. He demanded the maintenance of the colonial church establishment, and the restoration of French jurisprudence ; he complained against martial law, and deferred justice ; he recom- mended that the paper-money difficulty should be regulated, and that more time should be accorded for liquidation, as that fixed was too short for Canadian holders of state notes and bills ; many, pressed as they had been for cash, having parted with them for whatever money-dealers chose to give, {See Manuscripts in episco- pal archives, Quebec; especially letters, dated 16th andllthJan. 1764.) The churchmen's agents also made renewed demands for the maintenance intact of the Quebec see They offered to lodge the next bishop at the Seminary, of which he might be the Superior ; its members acting as canons, to constitute his chapter. " It is an established usage everywhere," they said, " that there is no seated bishop without a chapter." ;. ^i . - . '■ 'M •' % 312 HISTORY OF CANADA. .*» • f .■ ! ( The British government made objections, and refused to recog- nizi! a bishop, but cared not to put any obstruction in the way of one. The former was now occupied in organizing a regular colonial ad- ministration. The Canadians, meanwhile, felt all the chagrin arising from subjection to alien sway. Thoevils they had previously endured seemed light to them, compared to the suffering and humiliations which were in preparation, they feared, for thoia and their pos- terity. First of ail, the British wished to repudinte whatever was Canadian, and to deprive the habitants even of the natural advan- tages Canada offered to them by its extent. The colony was dis- membered. Labrador, from St. John's r. to Hudson'fi Bay, Anti- costi, Magdalen Island, were annexed go verumen tally to Newfound- land ; the two isles, St. John's (Prince Edward) and Cape Breton, to Nova Scotia ; the lands of the great lakes to the neighbouring Anglo-American colonies. Soon afterwards, a slice of territory was detached from Canada, and took the name of New Brunswick, with an administration apart. From parcelling out territory, the British passed to re-legislating. Their king, by his sole authority, without parliamentary sanction, abolished those laws of olden France, so precise, so clear, so wisely framed, to substitute for them the jurisprudence of England — a chaos of prescriptive and statutory acts and decisions, invested with complicated and barbaric forms, which English legislation has never been able to shake off, despite all the endeavours of its best expo- nents ; and the above substitutiou was effected, merely in order to ensure protection and the benefit of the laws of their mother coun- try to those of the dominant race who should emigrate to Canada. In an ordinance dated Sept. 17, 1764, it was assumed, that " in the supreme court sitting at Quebec, his Britannic Majesty was pre- sent in the person of his chief-justice, having full power to deter- mine all civil and criminal cases, agreeably to the laws of England and to the ordinances of this province." This was to renew the outrage {attentat) perpetrated on the Acadians ; if it be a verity to say, that a man's civism (7a patrie) is not limited to the space of a city's site, or to the bounda- ries of a province ; but is inherent to human affections, forms family ties, is incorporated with the laws, abides in the manners and customs of a people. No one in Britain raised his voice against so tyrannical an act, which deprived a country of its laws V I THE ANCIENT LAWS. 313 in view of an immigration scarcely begun, and which might never make headway. The Ca-^ adians were not deprived of their implied rights ia this respect alone : for in becoming British subjects, they, as such, ought to have acquired all constitutional rights inhering to that quality. Yet their king declared, that representative assemblies for Canada should be convoked only when circumstances allowed I This was at once to deprive them of a positive right, the full enjoyment of which would have ensured to them a continuance of others they specially enjoyed. • • . ^^ .; . , An order had been given, in royal instructions dated Deo. 7, 1763, to exact an oath of fealty from the Canadians. Mr. Gold- frap, the governor's secretary, wrote to the parish priests, three years thereafter, that if they refused to take that oath, they might prepare to leave Canada; while all other Canadians were also to be expelled if they too neglected to take the oath, or refused to sub- scribe the declaration of abjuration. It was ruled, likewise, that they were to renounce the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Rome ; also to repudiate the Pretender's claim to the British crown, of whom or respecting which they previously knew nothing whatever 1 Af- terwards, they were required to give up their defensive arms, or swear that they had none. — Schedules were drawn up of the land- ed estates of divers religious communities, and particulars de- manded as to the nature of their constitution, rights, privi- leges, amount of property, &c. ; with lists of the several churches, the number of clergy, amount of their incomes, &o. While these measures were in progress. General Murray was appointed governor-general in place of Sir JefFery Amherst, then in England, on leave, but whence he did not return. The latter was, in reality, the first British governor-general of Canada ; Gage, Murray, Burton, and next Haldimand (the last replacing Burton at Three Rivers, who was advanced to the charge of Montreal district), being all sub-governors only. Murray, become second governor-general, in obedience to his instructions formed a new executive council ; in which was vested, along with him- self, all executive, legislative, and judicial functions : the power of taxing, alone being excepted. This body, it was ordered, should be composed of the two lieutenant-governors (of Montreal and Three Rivers), the chief justice, the inspector-general of cus- .\^\\ '1- ■ ^. ,::.jif- : ► T ^ ■■I 314 HISTORY OF CANADA. ' » • tomB, nnd eight pcreonR chosen from amonpj the loading inhu- bitnntH of the colony. In tho wlcotion of the latter, only one native wuh admitted ; tho exceptional man being a person of no mark, and his name added merely to complete the requisite number. A hateful spirit of jealous exchisivenesa had dictated tho *• Instructi(ms " sent from London upon this occasion ; and in the sinister document containing them we may find the embodi- ment of that (lei^ply seated antipathy of race, which served Lord Durham, in our own day, with a pretext for rcvokin"- the consti- tution of 1701, and effecting tho reunion of all Ca ida under one government ; viz., an intent to swamp tho French-Canadians by means of a British majority. What remained undismembered of the country was subjected to n new division ; abridged Canada being parted into two dis- tricts, separated by the rivers St. Maurice and St. Franyois. As there were no protestants at Three Rivers to make magistrates of, that circumscription was annexed to those two districts, to enable justices of the peace resident in Montreal and Quebec to hold quarterly sessions in the former. Tho whole legal administration was now remodelled, and called "the court of king's bench ;" a sub- ordinate tribunal was also created, for tho adjudication of petty causes, denominated " the court of common pleas " : each of these tribunals being reputed as of similar constitution to the supreme courts of the same name in England ; and both were bound to render decisions bused on the laws and practice of England : except as regarded pending suits between Canadians, oommenccd before October 1, 1764. The judges for those courts were nominated by a majority of the councillors, but their appointment was sub- jected to royal confirmation or disapproval. The executive council itself could sit as a court of appeal from decisions passed in the king's bench and common pleas ; and the awards of the council were, in turn, liable to revision in the sovereign's privy -council, which thus judged in the last resort. The Canadians, to a man, repudiated the jurisprudence thus imposed upon them. In effect, English legislation has only served to favour over-centralization of landed estate in the mother country. The executive council, which was the medium employed in making those changes, discussed and passed a great number of ordinances : THE ANCIENT LAWS. 815 Buoh an, regulations rcgardinp the ourrcncy and billH of exchange ; with others for obliging landlonlH to register tho original titlo« to their estates ; for disallowing tho right of any one Ui leave the colony without official permission ; for fixing tho period of majority (coming of ago) ; for defining tho crimes of high treason and felony ; for regulating the police, &o. There was a project, at this time, for authorising a groat lottery with 10,000 tickets, representing an aggregate value of £20,000, for ro-construoting Quebec cathedral, which was destroyed during the siege of that city. Hy way of interesting the leading notables of Britain in the project, it was proposed to send copies of this lottery-scheme to the lords of tho treasury, tho prelates of Can- terbury and London, also to the Bible Society.* Such a proposal intimated, clearly enough, an intent to appropriate (for secular or protcstant uses), Canadian church property. Tho Board of Trade nominated, at the same time, a Mr. Knellor, as administrator of the estates of tho Jesuits. «• i*; \"\ •• t/*^ . • , ^i ; The people of the colony were vigilantly observed, their comings and goings seeming to bo subjects for distrust ; but the colonial authorities did not venture to execute rigid law upon them, such iw pressing the test oaths, or the yielding up of defensive arms, &c. Ever since tho death of M. do Pontbriant, tho episcopal throne of Quebec see had remained vacant. When hostilities ceased, tho grand-vicar and clergy applied to General Murray, demanding that the bishop and his chapter should bo invested with the like rights possessed by bishops and chapters in all catholic coun- tries. Murray commended this application to the favourable attention of tho British ministry ; and in 1763, sent his secretary, M. Cramah^, to London, to sustain the application. In 1765, all tho documents relative to this subject were submitted for consideration to the attorney and solicitors general for the time. Sir F. Norton and Sir W. de Grey, who expressed their opinion (in limine) f that, keeping in view the stipulation in the treaty of 1763 regarding the church of Canada, the catholics of that (now British colony) were not liable to the operation of the dis- • There was no " Bible Society " in existence at that time ; nor for forty years afterwards, namely, till a. d. 1803-4. — B. 316 HISTOUY OP CANADA. I ■ ■■• abilitlcn, imposed by Btatutory liiw, oti their co-religionists in Qrcat Britain. ])uring tlio luttcr year the chapter afUHMiiblcd und elected an their bshop M. do Moiitgolfler, Huperior of the Semi- nary of St. Sulpice at Montrcui ; but the government, taking ex- ception to this nomination — perhaps because the nominee was too French at heart — Montgolfier declined the charge, by a formal renunciation, made at Quebec, in 17G4. He designated, at the same time, M. Briand, a Breton by birth, one of the canons and grand-vicar of the diocese, to fill the vacant episcopal chair. iVI. Briand was elected in 1704 ; and, that same year, repaired to London. In 17(54, ho received, with the concurrence of George III, his bulls of investiture front I'ope Clement XIII, and was conse- crated in Paris as bishop ; upon which, ho returned to Quebec. Early in 17G5, Messrs. Amiot and Boisseau, having demanded for certain of their compatriots permission to assemble together, the executive council consented ; but on condition that two of its own members should be present, with power to dissolve such assemblies if they thought fit ; and that no concourse should be holden any- where but in Quebec. In 17G6, a similar demand, made by M. Hertel de llouville, in name of the seigneurs of Montreal, was accord- ed with the like restrictions. At a meeting which once took place in Montreal city, Governor Burton, who had not been previously consulted, wrote premptorily to the magistrates about the affair ; who thereupon informed him that all had been done in due order. This "ssurance, however, did not quite dispel the general's un- easiness ; as he observed in rejoinder, " In case you should stand in need of (my) assistance, I am ready to supply it." ' ■'■-■ There was small cause for wonder, that under such a system of tyranny and overturnings, its agents should tremble lest the pros- trate victims might desperately rise up against it. An unquiet feel- ing began, in fact, to take possession of the public mind ; presently, murmurs deep if not loud supervened, and were currently breathed. Even those who knew the Canadians to be so submissive at all times to authority, began to have fears as to what might result from the reigning discontent; especially when at length they heard the acts of the government loudly censured, with a freedom never known before. If General Murray were a stern, he was also an honorable and good-hearted man : he loved such Cana- THE ANCIENT LAWS. 317 dians as woro docilo under his sway, with tlio afFoction that a voturun beuru to liis faithi'uUcnt aoldiora ; and Nuchliko wcro the ha- hiUtnts, HO bravo in war, yet ho gentlo-teniporcd in times of peace. A soldier-like sympathy inspired hitn with favour for thow who had bravely fou^^lit hini in the battle-field ; their depressed situation too, under doiuineerinp; English masters, being not unlike that of the mountaineers of his native Seotland, ever so faithful to their princes ; this similarity strengthened his partiality for a race akin to his own in that regard. In order to relieve the general anxiety of mind, Governor Murray issued a proclamation, intimating, that in all legal process affecting the tenure of land and successionB to property, the laws and customs which had been in use under the French domination were to bo followed. This was reverting atonce to legality ; for if the British ministry had a right to alter the laws of the country without consulting the wishes of its peo- ple, it could only be done (at worst) by an act of parliament : a consideration which afterwards caused attorney-general Masdres to observe, while adverting to the consequents of the invasion of England by William the Norman, and to the conquest of Wales by Edward I, that the English laws had never been legally intro- duced to Canada ; seeing that king and parliament together, but not the king alone, could exert rightful legislatorial power over that colony : hence it followed, that (the British parliament having as yet taken no part in the matter) the accustomed French laws must be recognized as existent de jure, if abolished or in abeyance de facto. The governor-general, however, was trammelled in his beneficent tendencies by a knot of resident functionaries, some of whose acts made him often ashamed of the administration he was understood to guide. A crowd of adventurers, veteran intriguers, great men's menials turned adrift, &c., came in the train of the British soldiery, and swarmed after the capitulation of Montreal ; as we learn, from Murray's own despatches,that broken-down merchants, tradesmen of bad repute, with blackleg taverners, chiefly made up the band of Brito-Canadians earliest in the field of promise. Disrespectability was the rule, good character and probity of conduct were excep- tional qualities among them,* Then, as respected the government, • This depreciating account of the composition of the earlier immi- grations, must be taken with a due allowance of errors excepted. We I 1 i. . : !: 318 ItlBTOKY OF CANADA. » k ' all iUi funotionnrion, an woll u« tho judgon (and «von jurynion) woro to bo of Hritish rnco and prottwHorH of Honio proU'ntant faith. The liiHt chiof-juHtioo, nanuHl (Irogory, who hud boon lot out of priHon to pri'»i(Ui on tho bonoh, wnn ignorant uliko of oivil hiw and tho languiigo of tho country ; whihi tho attornoy-gonoral wiin but indifferently Httod for his phico. Tho \wvior of nominating to the aituations, of pntvinoiuS Hoorotary, of council recorder, of rogintrar, of provoMt inarnhul [?J, wan given to favouritca, who act thorn i up for Halo to tho higlioat bidder t The govt»rnor wuh soon eoiiHtraincd to Hunpend from tho oxor- oino of bin I'uuotitJUH tho chiof-justico, and to nond him back to Kngland. A garriHon-Hurgctm and a half-|w»y oflicer (M. Mabane and (Japtain FraHcr) Hat aH judgoH in the court of conimon picas. As these gentlemen had other employmontH also, their conjoint euiolumentu were necoHHarily very considerablo. Murray, dingUHted with his charge, could not contnin himself whon expressing his Hontiments regarding such a state of things to tho British ministry. " When it had been decided to recon- stitute civil government bore," wrote he, " wo were obliged to choose magistrates and select jiirymen out of a comnmnity oom- jHwed of Bomo 400 or 500 traders, artisans, and husbandmen, whoso ignorance unlits them therefor, and onnses them to bo de- spised. It it not to bo expected that such persons can help being intoxicated with tho pi>wiM.H which huve been, unox- pootedly even by themselves, ])ut into their hands; or that thoy will not hiwten to manifest (in their peculiar way) how skilful they aro in oxorcising it I Thoy cherish a vulgar hatred for the Canadian noblesse, on account of their titles to public honour and respect ; and they dctobl other colonists, be- have drawn tho following more fiivourahlo notico of somo of tho incomors, from ono of our best statistical authorities : — " A wido lield was now opened for tho attention of interest, and for tho operations of avarice. Every man who had credit with tho ministera at home, or influence with tho governors in tho colonies, ran for the prise of American territory. And many landowners in Great Ikitain, of no small importance, neglected tho portions of their fathers, for a portion of wilderness beyond the Atlantic." O. Oualmkhs' Estimate^ Jkc, p. US.—B. TniC ANCIKNT LAWR. U19 odUHO iho Inttor hnvu oontrivod to olu«lo tho illt^al opproiwion to wkioh it wiiH iiiloruiud to Hubjoot tliuiii." NotwitliHtaiuliii^ liirn« ooiioohmIohh iinulo to tlio prctoiiHiotiH of thoHo Now Colon iHtH,* tlioy wiiro not yot mitiNfiud ; tln-y uiinud u| liuvinK II ropn-Hontiitivo ^ovurnniont, in ordcir to ik)hm«'kh, in ull tlioir fullnoHM, llioHu niilivo ri^lttH wliiuli inhontd to lliuir quiilily iih llri- toHH, luid whioli tlioy liiid a right to vindicalo, i\wy iiwHirtod, wlior- «vor tho union Hug waved ovor tlioir hmdM, — not lormittiuK to d«- nounoothocoloniidnovornnH'utiiHdoMpotio. NovorthnKwH, whilo thus rotihiiniin;^ politioal IruncliiHOM i'or thontHolvoH, Ihoy rol'uHod to ox- ttnid thoni to thoir I't'llow-ooloniHlH of Fionch riici). Mon of Uri- tinh blood uj. >no woro fit to chiot or bo olootod I Thoy iii,siHt«d, uUo thut Knglirth law iind pruotino woro (or ought to bo) uh vulid in QuobiH) m in Jiondon ; and couHidtinsd tho rooognition of Danadiaa Ofttholioity, in an urticio of tho troaty of 17t»:i, at* otu) of thoHo ilhi. Mory oonvontiouH wliioh might bo violated without diHhoiiour. In a word, they willed that Canada Hhould bo no better treated than Iroland was by the Anglo-NorniariH, aH doHoribed by M. do Beau- mont. In order to conform to the iuHtructiimH given him, Murray con- voked, merely aH a formality however, a reproHontative aHHonddy; for ho know, beforehand, that tho CanadiauH, an uutholicH, would refuse to take the test ; and as it had been decided that a ehamlier entirely protostant would not be recognized, the project fell to tho ground. Jjoading Uritish rcHidentH, none the Iohh, got up aceuHations against tho governor and council, which they transmitted to Lon- don ; and also excited dissensions in the colony itself, loading to disorders in tho capital and other towns. M urray was charged with showing too much partiality for the military; while tho Ca- nada traders in London presented a petition to the Board of Trade and Plantations, against his administration, and asking for an elective assembly. Matters were carried to such a length in op-_ position to Murray, that tho homo government was forced to rccal him. This act was really more owing to the sympathy he seemed to show for tho Canadians, than to any roal abuse of his powers. i| I t I * The British rosidenta called themBolves discriminatingly tlie <*oId colonists," and the Freach-Canudians tho " now culoaists.'' — B. 320 HISTORY OP CANADA. > k In his reply to a complimentary address presented to him by the memherH of council at his deparure, he " hoped the government of his successor would not bo disturbed by a feeling of resentment against the authors of the odious calumnies that had been heaped on his own." When he reached London, he had only to show the estimate he drew up, in the year 1766, of the population of Canada, which comprised scarcely 500 protestants in all (there being but 36 families of them residing outside the town), to con- vince the home authorities of the impossibility there would be to exclude the representatives of nearly 70,000 catholics. At that time, according to official returns, there were only 136 protestants in the whole district of Montreal. A committee of privy council, appointed to investigate the charges against Murray, absolved him entirely ; but Canada was to know him no more. The protestant party in the colony (notwithstanding the ruling of Maseres), still insisted that the penality oppressing the Catho- lics of the three kingdoms should be extended to their Canadian co-religionists. Noting the close attachment of the latter to their faith, its more cautelous enemies in Britain wished to temporise, all the more surely to bring about its abolition. Thus an English university * proposed the following adverse tactics : " Never de- claim against the pope or catholicity, but undermine the latter se- cretly ; engage catholic females to marry protestant males ; never hold disputations with Romish churchmen, and beware of controversy with the Jesuits and Sulpicians ; delay pressing oaths of conformity upon the colonists , cause the bishop to lead a life of penury ; foment dissidences between him and the clergy ; exclude any European priest from the episcopal seat; discourage those inhabitants who have worthiness in them, from keeping up the old ideas ; if a clerical college be retained, eliminate from it the Jesuits and Sulpicians; also, all Europeans and their pupils, in order that, no longer having foreign • There were but two universities in England at that time, — those of Oxford and Cambridge. It would not Lave been difficult to point out, were the accusation found to be a tru3 bill, in which of the two it was this web of protestant Jesuitry was woven. The author not having done so, we beg his leave to insinuate, that the university in question (and very much in question too) must have been located in some cloudy region of " Utopia," i. e., the land of No-where. — B. ilt THE ANCIENT LAWS. 321 scholastic support, Canadian Romaninm may be buried in its own ruins ; hold up to ridicule those religious ceremonies which most impress the public mind ; prevent or obstruct catechising ; caress those clergymen who neglect their flocks,and allure such persons into dissipation, and raise in their minds a di^st at hearing confes- sions ; cry up parish priests who live luxuriously, who maintain a good table, drive about, and frequent loose society ; excuse the in- temperance of such, induce them to break their vow of celibacy, de- vised as that waa to impose on the simple ; finally, expose all (earnest) preachers to ridicule." The garrison chaplain of Quebec, who ministered to the protes- tante of that city, speaking more plainly than had been done be- fore, formally advised the executive council to take possession of the temporalities of the see for the bishop of London, so as to be en- joyed by the lattet and his successors. With respect to the estates of the religious communities, the lords of the treasury, whose regards were always attracted by this bait, wrote to receiver- general Mills, as part of their Instructions for the year 1765 : "seeing that the lands of those societies, particularly those of the Jesuits, were being united, or were about to be united, to the crown domains, you are to strive, by means of an arrangement with the parties interested in them, to enter into possession thereof in name of his Majesty ; at the same time, however, granting to those parties such annuities as you shall judge proper ; and you are to see that the estates in question are not transferred, and so be lost to the crown, by seques- tration or alienation." Before governor Murray left Canada, the savages of the western territory showed signs of a general rising against the whites. Scarcely had the French domination ceased in Canada, when the Indians felt the truth of an observation often made to them, that they would lose their political importance and independence as soon as they had to deal with one European nation only. Pon- thiac, an Ottawa chief, noted for his bravery, warlike talents, and deadly enmity to the British, whom he bid desperately fought against during the last war, projected their expulsion from the up- per lake regions ; and brought into his scheme, besides the Otta- was, the Hurons, Chippawas, Pouatatamis, and other tribes, whom the British had neglected to court as the French had done. He Vol. II — w J I I 1=' 339 HISTORY OP CANADA. r' t k triod to capture Detroit, and blockaded it for several months. He intended that the place, once in his hands, should become the head- quarters of a powerful confederation of native nations, which were to hem in the Anglo-American provinces, so that they should not overpass Niagara or the line of the Alieghanies. His allies got possession of Miohilimackinoo, and massacred the garrison.* Seven or eight British posts — Sandusky, St. Joseph, Mifimis, Presqu'ile, Venango, &o., fell into the hands of the savages, who ravaged the Pcnnsylvanian and Virginian frontiers, and defeated a detach- ment of troops at Bloody-lJridge. Two thousand whites wore slaaghtcred by the savages, or taken captive ; as many were obliged to flee the back settlements and seek the interior. But the pro- ject 'S Ponthiao was too extensive for his means to realize. The confederates, beaten at Bushy-llun by colonel Bouquet, and re- peatedly afterwards, had to make peace at Oswego, before the ar- • "During the year 1763, a famous chief of the Ottnwas called Pon- Uftc by tbo French, after fort Michilimackinac was surrendered to the British, got possession of it by a stratagem showing tho ingenuity of the man, and oharaoteristic of the crafty nature of the Indians generally. Pontiac being an inveterate enemy of the British, his being so near the garrison ought to have put the commandant on his guard. The fort was then on the mainland, near the southern part of the peninsula. The Ottawas in the neighbourhood prepared for a great game at ball, to which tho oflScers of the fort were invited. While engaged in play, one of the parties gradually inclined towards the fort, and tho other pushed after .hem. The ball was once or twice thrown over the pickets, and tho Indians were suftered to enter and procure it. Nearly a'l tho garri- son were present as spectators, and those on duty were alike unprepared or unsuspicious. Suddenly, the ball was again thrown into the fort, and the Indians rushed after it ; but not to return this time, to resume their suspended play. Mastering the sentries, they took possession of the place, while their companions massacred every one of the garrison, with the exception of the governor, whose lifb was saved, much at the intercession of M. de La*" glade, a Canadian gentleman, who was esteemed by the savages." — W. H. Smith's Canada, !fc. ; Bibauo'b Hitt. Cati., ii, 17-18. The former relates the event, without assigning a date, and makes a French garrison to be tho victims of Pontiac's guile ; the latter assigns the above date, which, if correct, proves that the garrison must have been British ; for M. de Yaudreuil, before he left Canada, sent orders to Belestre, the last French commandant of the fort, to give it up to Sajor Rogers, a partisan officer, of some note in hia day.— ^B. THE ANCIElfT LAWS. 333 rival of GOO Canadians, Bont by general Murray to the relief of the French settlers at Detroit. Ponthiao retired, with his family, into the wilderness. In 1769, ho came among the Illinois : at that time, there was much agitation among the aborigines. The British suspecting the intents of Ponthiao, a bush-ranger, named Williamson, caused that chief to be assiussinated, in the foreat of Cahokia, opposite Saint-Louis. It was during Murray's administration, that the first printing- press used in Canada was imported, and that the publication of tlio earliest newspaper known to it began. No. 1 of the Quebec Oazetle, with matter half French half English, appeared Juno 21 1764. This journal, started with a subscription-list of only 150 names, was, for a long time, a repertory of events merely, with- out political comments, which as the printers of it were commanded to abstain from, there cannot be obtained, in searching its early files, even a glfmpso of public opinion during the remainder of the 18th century. . , ; t „ Meanwhile tho British parliament passed a fiscal measure sure to cause an intense sensation among the old colonists, and which bo- came the means of arming the people of the Anglo-American pro- vinces against their mother country. Under a pretext that the late war had obliged tho British pcoplo to contract great debts, the provincials were to be taxed without their consent ; and a stamp- duty, with other imposts, were enacted in regard of all the colonists of British America. The whole thirteen provinces protested against the now tax. The Canadians and Nova Scotians remained passive upon the occasion. When this matter took a still moro serious a turn, the British mi- nistry was forced to follow less oppressive courses in Canada. The instructions sent for its governance were modified, and the chief men in place were changed for other functionaries. In 1766, Brigadier, general Carleton was appointed lieutenant-governor, along with a new chief justice (Hay), and a new attorney-general (Maseres) ; the latter was descended from a Huguenot family settled in England. Caileton was Murray's successor ; but major Irving, after the lat- ter's departure, performed ad interim the gubernatorial duties. One of Carlcton's earliest official acts was to erase Irving's name from the council roll, and that of surgeon Mabane, another coun- 334 HISTORY OP CANADA. ,*♦ cillor favoured by Murray. One Gluck, recorder in the common pleas, was cashiered for extortion about the same time. These changes were of good augury. For a long time ere the present, the Canadians had been com- plaining to the British home authorities ; but nothing short of an apprehension of what might betide from the serious troubles arising in the neighbouring colonies would have caused British mi- nisters to deviate from the usual polity pursued in Canada. They now transmitted the memorials of the Canadians to the Board of Trade, by which these were submitted to the attorney-general (Yorke) and the solicitor-general (De Grey). Pending official re- ports thereupon, the governmental ordinance of 1764 was dis- claimed by an order of privy council, and another was substituted giving the Canadians a right to act as jurymen in specified cases j also allowing Canadian advocates to plead, under certain restric- tions. . . t . The report of the above-mentioned English crown-lawyers was presented in April 1766. The writers admitted the defectiveness of the system of 1764, and imputed the evils resultant therefrom to two chief causes : namely, 1, administration of justice in new forms and a foreign language, without the concurrence of the Gallic Canadians, who in the courts understood neither the pleas ad- vanced, nor the decisions pronounced — the judges and barristers not speaking French, and most clients not comprehending English. This was found oppressive ; as parties to suits were exposed to the evil chances of igrorance and corruption, or, what was nearly tantamount, they had no confidence in the enlightenment and probity of the English judges and practitioners. 2. The alarm caused by the interpretation given to the proclamation of 1763, an interpretation which induced a belief that the intention of the government was to abolish the established jurisprudence of the colony. The [apparent] reason for abolishing which was not so much to extend the [supposed] advantages of English laws to the Canadians, or to protect more efficaciously their persons, property, and franchises, as to impose upon them, without any necessity therefor, arbitrary and novel rules, which would tend to confound and subvert rights instead of supporting them. Messrs. Yorke and Be Grey also expressed their general appro* THE ANCIENT LAWS. 325 val of a new system of judicature proposed by the lords com- missioners, one point being excepted. The latter wished to di- vide the province into three districts, and to establish a court of chancery, composed of the governor and his council ; which chan- cery should also be a court of appeal, it$ decisions being liable to revision by the privy council of the king. Second, a supreme court, composed of a chief-justice and three puisne judges, one of them, at least to be cognizant of the French language and laws ; it being held incumbent on all of them to confer, from time to time, with the most able Canadian advocates, in order to inform themselves of the olden jurispradenee. After recommending the nomination of some Canadians to the magistracy, the reporters, on the understanding that the laws of England were to be retained, observed, " It is a maxim of the law of nations, to ^low the old laws of a vaaquished people to subsist at least, till their conquerors substitut.i new, while it is oppressive and violent to change, suddenly, the laws of any country ; hence wise conquerors, after having provided for the material security of their acquisitions, will innovate slowly, and let their new subjects retain all such usages as are indifferent in their nature, especially those which regard the rights of property. In the case of Canada, cautious policy is especially needed, it being a great counuy, long in possession of French colonists a,nd improved by them We cannot introduce among them, at one stroke, English laws of pro- perty, with its forms of conveyancing, alienation, fines, its modes of shaping deeds and interpreting contracts, or our laws of succession, without committing manifest wrong, or at least occasioning the greatest confusion. Englishmen, who buy property in Canada, both can and should conform themselves to the laws regarding it therein, even as they already conform, in other parts of the em- pire outside of England, to local law and practice. English judges sent to Canada may easily, with the help of able Canadian practitioners, become acquainted with its laws, and be guided in their decisions by the legal practice they find established ; just as, in the Channel Islands, our judges decide according to the legis- lation of Normandy," Finally, the reporters advised that the Gallo-Canadian laws, for civil procedure, should be restored, and 1.'::): 1 1'^ •1 326 HIOTOBY OP CANADA. *» • proposed that the judges should make rules for the guidance of all the functionaries in the various courts. Ignoring the considerations of enlightened policy upon which the renderings of the crown-lawyers were founded, their recom- mendations were not adojpted. The home government, next year, directed Carleton to form a commission of inquiry r^arding the administration of justice in the colony. A prolonged investiga- tion took place, which merely served to confirm what was already too apparent, — the incurahle faultiness of the existing system ; the most able lawyer not being able to find his way out of a labyrinth of legal uncertainty and perplexed practice. The proposals for curing the evil only tended to embarrass the authorities who had the power of applying a remedy. The favourite idea always recurred of dividing the province into three districts. It was pro- posed to appoint, in each of those an English chief judge along with a Canadian assistant-j idge, to explain the law, but not to decide it ; a sheriff, and a public prosecutor. Several expe- dients were adduced for putting an end to the prevailing incerti- tude, in legal practice ; but the suggestors did not venture to in- timate a distinct preference for either English or French juris- prudence per se. Thus it was proposed, either to compile a new code, and abolish both English and French legism ; or to restore the latter, yet to engraft upon it those parts of English criminal law the most favourable to personal freedom ; or, lastly, to establish the laws of England, with exceptional leanings toward the accustomed laws and usages among the Gallo-Canadians. The governor-general did not recommend any of those expedients, in his report to the ministry, but proposed the adoption of a system more conformable to Canadian wishes ; namely, that English cri- minal procedure and penality should supersede French, and that the old civil laws of the colony should be restored without any modi- fication. Chief-justice Hay and attorney-general Maseres each made a report on the subject ; in which they advised the retention of all the old colonial laws concerning tenure of land, alienations, dowry, inheritance, and distribution of the property of persons dying intestate. The whole of those reports, with their appendices, were trans- mitted to England. In 1770, the members of privy council, to i*^.Ajs for consequences. ** The same kind of observation applies with still greater force against a change of the criminal law, in proportion as tho examples are more striking and the consequences more important. The general consternation which must follow upon the circumstance of being suddenly subjected to a now system of criminal law, cannot soon be appeased by the looseness or mildness of the code. ** From these observations, I draw it as a consequence that new subjects acquired by conquest have a right to expect from tlie benignity and justice of their conqueror tha continuance of all their old laws, and they seem to have no less rooMon to expect it from his wisdom. It must, I think, be tho interest of the conqueror to leave his new subjects in the utmost degree of private tranquillity and personal security, and in the fullest persuasion of their reality, without introducing needless occasion of complaint and displeasure, and disrespect for their own sovereign. He seems, also, to provide better for the public peace and order, by leaving them in the habit of obedience to their accustomed laws, than by undertaking the harsher task of compelling a new obe- dience to laws unheard of before. And if the old system happens to be more perfect than anything which invention can hope to substitute on the sadden, the scale sinks quite down in its favour." Thurlow said in conclusion : " Although the foregoing obser- vations should be thought just, as a general idea, yet circum- stanoes may be supposed under which it would admit some exceptions and qualifications. The conqueror succeeded to the sovereignty in a title at least as full and strong as the conquered oan set up to their private rights and ancient usages. Hence we infer the legality of every change in the form of government which tho conqueror finds essentially necessary to establish his sovereign authority and assure the obedience of bis subjects. This might possibly produce some alteration in the laws, especially those which relate to crimes against the state, religion, revenue, and other articles of police, and in the form of magistracy. But Iiir>.' THE ANCIENT LAWS. 333 it would also follow, that nuoh a ohango nhould not bo made with* out Bomo Buoh actual and cogent neccsaity, whioh real wisdom could not overlook or neglect ; not that ideal neoesHity whioh in** gonious speculation may always create by possible supposition, remote inference, and forced argument ; not the necessity of assimi- lating a conquered country, in tho articles of law and government, to the metropolitan state, or to tho older provinces which other aooidontH attached to the empire, for tho sake of creating a har- mony and uniformity in the several parts of that empire, unat- tainable, and, as I think, useless if it could be attained : not the necessity of stripping from a lawyer's argument all resort to the learnod decisions of tho Parliament of Paris, for fear of keeping up the historical idea of the origin of foreign laws : not tho neces- sity of gratifying tho unprincipled and impracticable expectations of those few among your Majesty's subjects * who may accidentally resort thither and expect to find in force the several laws of all the different places from which they came ; nor, according to my simple judgment, docs any species of necessity exist, that I have heard urged, for abolishing the laws and c^overnment of Canada." In presenco of the troubles in the thir on Anglo-American provinces, this reporter's cogent reprcsentatiuus and sarcastic logic powerfully aided the Canadian cause. The king's privy council, by the year 1773, had placed before it all these reports, &o. During nine years, Britain had been casting about, on all sides, for means of justification, in tho eyes of other nations, and to satisfy the public conscience, for abolishing the laws and religion which she had sworn, in treaties, to maintain for the Canadians. The justice due to them, as pointed out by Thurlow, would have had no effective recognition, and Canada would have passed under the yoke of a handful of aliens, with a religion and language, laws, and usages differing in toto from those of its people, but for the dawnings of the * Therefore merely iatimated here, that the expectations of the par- ties alluded to were founded on no reasonable basis ; whereas, by mis- translating his actual words thus, " les esp^rances impossibles de cette poign6e d'Anglais dSpourvus de tout principe," M. Oarneau has put a gloss upon them of an unfair and even slanderous character.— £. 334 HISTOET OV CANADA. i* « i "*' f-. American revolts. The British government deferred, till the year 1774, yielding the points at issue ; and it may be said that the revolution which saved the freedom of the United States, obliged Great Britain to leave the Canadians the enjoym'^nt of their institutions and laws ; in other words, to act justly by them, in order to be able to retain for herself at least one province in the New World. For some time p . viously, the patience of the natives and the violence of the Eiiglish party of Canadian residents, — among the hitter of whom Americanism wuanot quite absent, — ^formed a con- trast which called uy serious le.Hection in the British ministerial mind. The British filled all our municipal offices ; and the magis- trates of Montreal, as turbulent as the rest of their compatriots, had been summoned to appear before the governor and executive council ai Quel <), to answer certain accusations made against Uiem. One of c'om, named Walker, far fr>/m excusing himself, protested a^uinst the whole proceeding, so much in the American style, that the colonial attorney-general (Suckling) characterised his audacity as criminal. The Canadians, on their side, never slackened in their efforts to escape from the oppression under which they groaned. They complained to the government against the tyrannical and odious modes of corporation rule in Montreal. The executive council was constrained to write (July 12, 1769), to the magistrates of Montreal district, that it appeared, from ft f, become too noto- rious to be denied, that the kiag's subjects generally, the French- Canadians more especially, were made the daily objects of suffering and oppression to an intolerable extent, and which, act- ing for the public interest, the governi^ent could no longer toler- ste. A multitude of abuses were attributed to those magistrates ; for example, they were accused of " circulating papers in the different parishes signed by only one justice of the peace, to be filled up afterwards, under the form of writs, summons, arrests, taking property in execution, or other purposes, according to the circumstances of each case j the parties entrusted with serving such irregular documents not being proper officers : a practice so illegal in itself. 30 pernicious in its consequences, and so disho- nouring to the magistrates who authorized it, that the governor THE ANCIENT LAWS. 335 and council were unwilling to believe that such practices could exist, till the proofs brought forward left no room for doubt about the Btatter." The governor directed a committee of council to make an in- quest on the subject; which reported, Sept. 11, 1769, that the unduly extensive powers over real estate granted to justices of the peace by the ordinance of 1764, had been exercised in an arU- trary and oppressive manner, especially in Montreal district; that the magistrates thereof had exceeded their powers in many ca«es, and taken upon themselves a jurisdiction not assigned them by the royal will, and never entrusted to any tribunal judging summarily ; that one magistrate, in particular, had assumed an authority conferred only upon a quorum of three justices sitting in quarter sessions ; that, owing to an omission in decreeing, the magistrates exercised a dangerous authority, the result of which had been to fill the prison with the unfortunate, and bring their families to want. Finally, that the authority arrogated by those magistrates of selling landed estate at the lowest price, or else arbitrarily incarcerating debtors when insolvent, were acts of the most oppressive nature. The committee of council recommended that the portion of the ordinance of 1764 which gave justices of peace the right of de- ciding questions affecting real estate, should be abrogated ; that each justice of the common pleas should sit and adjudge in cases when the chose litigated did not exceed £10 sterling value ; lastly, that no writ of bodily caption or of seizure and sale, should take effect in any case where the amount of debt and costs, collectively, did not exceed 40 piastres. A time was arriving when the English government, better informed of the true interests of Great Britain, was about to announce a change of policy and make known the course it in- tended to follow in the affairs of Canada. The disputes with the New-Englanders and other provincials becoming more violent daily, this circumstance became a most urgent reason for dealing more tenderly with the Canadians. The governor-general fa- voured that course of action ; he believed that the surest means for ac(|uiring the confidence of our race was, to restore French jurisprudence. He had often evinced a desire that the Coutwmt HI i.i 336 HISTORY OP CANADA. .*»»■ .1 •;■ de Paris should be regularized, and reduced to a form better suited to the colony's wants. In this view, he now called in aid several native practitioners, such as Messrs. Cugnet (seigneur de St. Etienne), Jucheroau, Pressard, and others, who were charged with the difficult task. Their labours having been revised, in England, by Marriott, Thurlow, and Wedderburne, were publish- ed in duplicate (French and Englinh), under this title : " Abstract of those parts of the [juridical] customs of the viscounty and provostship of Paris, which were received and practised in the province of Quebec in the time of the French government; drawn up, by a select committee of Canadian gentlemen well skilled in the laws of France and that province, by desire of the Hon. Guy Cflrleton, Esq., captain-general and governor-in-ohief of the said province. London: 1773." The ultra-party for Canadian proscription were furious on being made aware of the new polity of the home government, and set up loud cries against it. Maseres, who returned to London, three or four years previously,* and was appointed a judge in exchequer, became the confidant and agent of this party. He, whom the Canadians had regarded as one of their protectors when he first came among them ; this man, descended from a family which religious fanaticism had proscribed in France, con- sented to become, like Marriott, an advocate of the Canadian pro- Bcriptionists in his adopted country ; and, in our aflfairs, played a double part which history has not yet cleared up. On one hand, in a report on Canadian matters published while their regu- lation was pending, he made a favourable review of the French laws; and during interviews with those charged to press their restitution, he defended the Canadian cause (according to Du Calvet) with great warmth ; on the other hand, among numer- ous papers p-inted under his direction, forming several volumes, if he did not manifest entire hostility to our civil and religious institutions, he showed little zeal for the preservation of those * Canadian Attorney-general Masere? did not leave finally till 1773, the year when he was appointed cursitor baion of the court of exche- quer. He died at Relgate in Surrey, May 19, 1824, aged 82 and some months.-— £. THE ANCIENT LAWS. 337 m better d in aid igneur do B charged ivised, in e publish- Abstract anty and jd in the ernment ; ;men well lire of the or-in-ohief iiriotis on ment, and Londr^ti, a judge in rty. He, protectors id from a ance, con- [adian pro- rs, played On one iheir regu- le French »ress their |ng to Du ig numer- |l volumes, religious of those ly till 1773, It of exche- and some conditions which seemed so essential to their well-being. Among other contradictions, one party, seeking for a solution of this enigma in his voluminous writings, and especially in the ** Cana- dian Freeholder," may think that he wished to lead the fanatics whom he served — by a chain of reasonings which they did not see the end of, but by which they could not help being bound — to a conclusion often the opposite of that they wished to arrive at : while another party can only see, in his contradictions, the underhand dealings of an intriguer or a traitor.* However this may be, Maseres informed those persons whose representative he Vioa [?] of the coming decisions of the home government. At this news, noting the turn affairs were taking, and learning the king's desire to attach the Canadians to his rule while the contest for independence was preparing in America, the protestant party in Canada thought the time was come for making vigorous de- • The memory of Francis Maseres is still fragrant in England ; thus it will be something novel for the few survivors among the many who knew and honoured him while living, to find him thus stigmatized as a double-dealer, and even denounced as a traitor I While reproduc- ing the French passage, in Saxon vernatcular, we cannot help expressing some surprise that any respectable author, candidly writing as ho would wish to be written of, should deliberately or heedlessly build so heavy a charge on such light foundations against one of the highest-minded legists of his age and country, — against the intimate friend and earnest condjutor of Sir Samuel Romilly, that other enlightened and most philan- rhropic o""'! leerisi ?'.♦"-, ^^ whose veins, too, as in Maseres' there cir- culated the best blood of two noble races) ; in disparagement, we say, of Baron Maseres, the friend of the genial-minded Charles Lamb, and pa- tron of the great-hearted Thomas Noon Talfourd, names united in life and death, both " to England's numory dear." No I we cannot believe that the man venerated in life ly such as these, was or could bo a "traitor ;" or even would condes',t!nd to be the sordid agent of any selfish party. Baron Maseres had the reputation, which no such " railing accusa- tion" as the above is likely to impair, of being a single-hearted and self- denyibg as well as a most accomplished man. He spent his inherited fortune and acquired income, mostly in acts of public utility and private kindness. His munificence, in both regards, seemed, in fact, to know no bounds, as the present writer has been assured by some who had per- sonal experience of his worch. A regard for justice to the memory of the great and good departed has alone dictated these lines. — B. Vol. II— X II 'SI. r. 338 HISTORY OP CANADA. »k 1.1 . monstrations, and demanding at last the fulfilment of the pro- mises, made in 1763, of constituting a representative government in the colony. In this view, several meetings were called, at the first of which forty persons attended. The associators nominated two committees of their body, one for Quebec, the other for Montreal ; and they lavited the French-Canadians to join with them in obtaining the boon desiderated. But the English ultra party used dissimulation, on the capital point of religion, in its proceedings. The representative assembly, convoked by General Murray in 1764, never acted, because the catholif deputies would not subscribe the oath of abjuration, and persov • otherwise eligible as members for another, feared that the same test would be applied again : thus subjecting them virtually to Anglican political ostracism. As in the petition to the crown for calling a free assembly, nothing was said in the foregoing regard. The catholics, cognizant as they were of protestant wishes although not express- ed, demanded that any memorial they were willing to subscribe should embody a request for catholics as well as protestant de- puties being called to sit in the proposed colonial parliament. The petitioners, thus forced to intimate their intents, refused to join in the demand ; and it was owing to this refusal that the Canadians who really desired to see a representative government established, generally if not universally declined to proceed any further in the matter. Some few, perhaps, would have concurred ; but most others absolutely refused, persuaded as they now were, more than ever, that the aim of the chief petitioners was to maintain the prin- ciple of exclusion, while yet profiting by the subscviption of catholic names : a persuasion which the events justified, since Maseres, acting afterwards in name of the same party, opposed himself to ike admission of catholics into the legislative council established by the act of 1774.* * This assamptioa is illogical , and, trieu bj the rulos of constitu- tional law, inrolres a direct non aequitur. The choice of a catholic, mad« by catholics, for their representative, is ac m)Z which British legislation, either home or colonial, does not, cannot prevent ; bat the selection of catholic members for a deliberative and execuUve council, by a protestant government, is a measure of a different, and would be considered by m ly (was by Maseres, perhaps) of a compromising cha- racter.— J8. - THE ANCIENT LAWS. 339 of the pro- rovernment lied, at the nominated 5 other for ) join with iglish ultra ^ion, in its by General if deputies v< otherwise est would be [can political illing a free he catholics, not express- to subscribe irotestant de- iment. The used to join le Canadians t established, ly further in jd; but most •e, more than tain the prin- on of catholic nee Maseres, cd himself to si I established s of constiiu- of ft cathalic, which British vent ; bat the cuViTe council, and would be >romi8iDg cha- After catholic refusals, the protestants addressed memorials to M. Cramah<5, lieuteaant-governor,* asking him to convoke an assem- bly of representatives. He replied, that the demand was of too important a nature for him or the council to concede ; but he would transmit it to those members of the British cabinet who took charge of colonial affairs. The protestants, obliged to act without catholic aid, drew up a petition, on their own behalf, in the matter, and sent it to London, for presentation to the king. It bore 148 signatures only ; two of the subscribers being Cana- dian-born protestants ; and it demanded, in general terms, the convocation of a representative assembly. The petitioners, at the same time, addressed a memorial to Lord Dartmouth, colonial secretary, asking his influence in their favour ; and intimating that the colonial administration passed ordinances opposed (in princip)'^) to the Inw of England ; that the country lacked pro- testant ministers'; that the Quebec Seminary had opened classes for the education of the young; and that (more alarming still!) only catholic ieaohers were employed therein. These remonstrants wrote, also, to the chief merchants of London, to engage them to take up the cause pleaded fur ; while in the province itself, coun- cillor Finlay was so strong for anglification, that, some years after- wards (1782), he proposed to establish English schools in the different parishes, and to prohibit the use of French in the law courts after a certain term of years. ; Meanwhile, in presence of such hostility among thti English co- lonists against the catholics, the British ministry did not venture to give a representative assembly to Canada. For the moment, they limited the mutations in contemplation to a legislative council, to be nominated by the king. Then Maaeres suggested that it should be composed of 31 irremoveable members ; that it should assemble only after public convocation ; proposing to allow the mem- bers to initiate laws, and to vote at discretion, but without a right to impose taxes. Lastly, to admit into it protestants only. • Mr. Cramah^ being, not lieut.-gorernor, as we have seen, but merely locum tenens during the absence of Sir Guy Carleton, it was strangely " absurd to proffer such a request to one who, even if he had been the '' chief functionary whose place he temporarily filled, had no power t j n grant it. — B. W. 340 HISTORY OF CANADA. *k While the protestant party thus demanded bondage for the c itholics, the latter never ceased trying to remove English preju- dices against them ; prejudices which their enemies sought ever to envenom by their writings and discourses. They also had their eyes directed to what was passing in the neighbouring provinces. They could judge correctly of their situation and of the mother country's American interests, as is proved in a Memoir cited in the Introduction to this work. That production exposed, with great force of logic, that if Britain were anxious to keep Canada, she ouglit to accord to its people all the rights of freemen ; that she ought to favour its religion, and not to undermine it by a destruc- tive system of exclusiveness ; and that there was no real religious liberty for catholics, if, in order to enjoy secular franchizes, they were obliged to renounce or tamper i^ith their faith. A number of French Canadians, on their part, held meetings • and, December 1773, signed a petition to the king, asking for the restitution of their ancient laws, and claiming the rights and privi- leges of other British subjects. This demand, which passed for an expression of the sentiments of a majority of the Gallo-Cana- dians, yet was subscribed only by a few of the seigneurs and some burgesses of the towns. There is reason to believe that the clergy concurred in the views of the petitioners, although, as is their wont, if they did make similar applications, they made them apart. The masses did not stir at all in the business ; and a belief (once current) that certain remonstrances then made in their name were actually theirs, is quite unfounded : they made no demonstrations whatever. In the depth of their distrust, they believed, with rea- son, that they would obtain no concessions from Britain ; since the whig or liberal party— although that which, through its par- liamentary leaders, Britons usually relied on for obtaining redress of the wrongs of the subject — was the political section which called out most loudly for the abolition of everything French in Canada, scarcely even excepting their religion. Our people, there- fore, let the petitioning seigneurs and their friends demand, un- sanctioned from the home government and legislature, what they would have asked for themselves ; the seigneurs, on the other hand, hoping that their cause ought to meet with some sympathy in the tory party, which possessed most political power and was formed chiefly J THE ANCIENT LAWS. >4< m ! for the ish preju- ight ever had their jroTinces. le mother r cited in )sed, mth. p Canada, ; that she a destnic- il religious hizes, they meetings j ing for the i and privi- passed for Grallo-Cana- •s and some the clergy as is their them apart, belief (once name were lonstrations with rea- tain ; since igh its par- ling redress tion which French in lople, there- emand, un- what they other hand, in the tory [med chiefly of the privileged classes in Britain, whose compeers, in some sort, our colonial feudalry were. The language of the latter, in thoir address to the throne, was redolent of profound respect. They at least did not seek, they said, to despoil the protestant townspeople of their rights, while seeking their own freedom ; thei/ did not crave the proscription of an entire race, because its religion was not the same: all that the Canadians wished to enjoy, said they, like the other subjects of Lis Majesty, was their rights and immunities as Britons: which the common law of England, indeed, assigned them. This requisitory was accompanied with a memorial in which the applicants claimed a right to participate in all public employments, military and civil : a claim against which Masercs, in name of his party [?], had strongly pronounced. They took occasion to remark, also, that the Canadian limitapy parallel of latitude 45*^ N., being fixed at 45 miles only from Montreal, straitened the province on that side, and de- prived it of its best lands ; that western Canada, embracing the regions about Detroit and Michilimackinac, ought to be restored to eastern Canada as far down as the left bank of the Mississippi, for the needs of the peltry trade ; and that the Labrador seaboard ought to revert to Canada likewise, for the sake of its fisheries there. The applicants added, that the colony, through the calamities of war, famine, disease, and other adverse vicissitudes it had long to subijiin, was not in a state to repay the cost of its government, and still less able to be at the charge of maintaining an elective assembly ; that a numerous council, composed of British and Canadian mem- bers, would be far more suitable in present circumstances ; last- ly, the applicants expressed a hope that their suit would be re- ceived with all the more favour, as the Gallo-Canadians possessed more than 5-6ths of the seigniories, and almost all the copyhold lands (Jterres en roture). Tbe disclamation of a desire for a representative assembly, has since been made a matter of reproach against the subscribers to the above petition. But, seeing that it was impossible to obtain a legislature in which (accordant to the British constitution itself, as it then stood) catholics would be eligible for election to seats ; those requisitionists acted wisely, while seeking the preservation of their religion and laws, to demand, simply, a legislative council I 342 HISTORY OF CANADA. ♦ k of royal nomination. What advantage, in effect, could the Cana- dians have derived from an elective assembly, whence they were excluded ? from a conclave sure to be composed of the declared foes of their language and all their dearest institutions ; from men, in fine, who, at that very time, willed to quite deprive them of pub- lic employment ; and who would, without doubt, have signalized the advent of a representative system by the proscription of all that was dearest and most venerable amongst men, — religion, law, and nationality ? The demands of the parties were met as favourably as could have been expected, considering the circumstances in which Brit- ain was then placed ; and those conceded served as bases ftr the law of 1 774 ; which formed part of a plan far more vast, since it was meant for all British America. The growing power of the thirteen Anglo-American provinces was becoming more and more redoubt- able to their mother country ; and a due consideration of the de- termined antagonistic attitude they now assumed, will further de- velop the true motives for the unwonted concessionary policy of the British government at this time. The lieutenantrgovemor, M. Cramah^, in 1772, tolerated the consecration of a coadjutor to the catholic bishop ; the burden of the episcopate, in so wide a diocese, being too great for one prelate to bear : this alone constrained M. Briand to ask for a helper. — . M. d'EsgUs, born in Quebec a. d. 1710, was elected, by a capitu- lary act of the chapter, in 1770 ; but the difficulties attending this ' nomination caused a delay of two years before it took full effect. These being at length surmounted, by the aid of governor Carle- ton, Clement XIV, with the assent of the king, granted the re- quisite bulls of confirmatioD ; and the coadjutor-elect was recog- nized, Jan. 22, 1772, as Bishop of Dorylaeum, in part, inf., with right of succession to the see of Quebec. The chapter of Quebec became extinct soon afterwards. Its latest capitulary act took place in 1773, and the last surviving canon died in 1776. Meantime, despite the ardent wishes of Britain for the extinc- tion of Catholicism (such is the inconstancy of all mundane things I) that the Jesuits, driven out of Paraguay, and expelled from France ever since the year 1 762, still maintained their position in Canada ; THE ANCIENT LAWS. 343 1 the Cana- e they were he declared ; from men, hem of puh- e signalized iption of all eligion, law, bly as could which Brit- ases fcr the t, since it was F the thirteen ttore redoubt- on of the de- ll further de- aary policy of tolerated the the burden of or one prelate jr a helper. — I, by a capitu- ittending this )ok full effect, jvernor Carle- anted the re- ect was recog- art. inf., with erwards. Its ast surviving and it required a papal decree, issued in 1773, to abolish that Order in our country. It was not till this took place, that the British government thought of appropriating their estates ; forget- ting, as it did, that the Jesuits were only the depositaries of that property, since it had been given to them by the kings of France for educating the people, and the instruction of the savages, of New France. The same administrator, M. Cramahd, also recommended, in 1773, the home government to treat the Canadians with liberality and justice in religious matters ; and Lord Dartmouth promised to follow a generous course with them (in all things). By way of consoling the party bent on proscription, Maseres wrote to its members, that he " hoped the colonists would bo more happy, in *ix or seven years' time, under the government established by the act of 1774, than under the injBuei\ce of an assembly..." composed of Catholics. It was in the year 1776, that the government, true to its first instincts, transformed the Jesuits' college into barracks for the gar- rison of Quebec. These good fathers had been obliged to dis- charge their pedagogues during the siege of 1759; and were not able to re-open the primary schools after the war was over. In 1778, the government took possession of the episcopal residence, granting in compensation, however, a yearly allowance of £150 to the bishop. The past acts of the reigning powers (upon the whole) allowed of no favourable augury as to their dispositions in our r^ard for the future ; and they allowed it to be understood that it was only pressure of external circumstances which constrained the British ministry to abate the rigour of their system of colonial polity, trusting to obtain thereby the good graces of the Canadians ; the concessions made for special purposes being fairly attributable neither to the high principles nor enlightened liberality of those who made them. ■or the extinc- idane things !) d from France on in Canada ; .-fV/r i T/,o;i rt. Itt? '1;*, 4.wJ),. (.. js ' .», ;^,! i< ••>■''■■■ •■-'■;;' 'J^i'^'j, CHAPTER II. *k AMERICAN REVOLUTION. ■...-.'.'..-■■ 1775. Disputes between Great Britain and her ancient colonies. — Dtviaions in the British parliament regarding that subject. — Advent of Lord North to the ministry. — Troubles at Boston. — Coercive measures applied by the mother country, which seeks to gain Canada by concessions — Pe- titions and counter-petitions of the Canadians and Anglo-Canadians ; reason for delays in deciding between those two parties. — The Quebec Act of 1774 ; debates in the house of commons. — Congress of Phila- delphia ; it classes the Quebec Act among American grievances.— Addresses of Congress to Britain and Canada. — General Carleton ar- rives in Canada. — Feelings of the Canadians regarding the coming struggle. — First hostilities. — Surprise and capture of Ticonderoga, Crown-Point, and St. John's. — Civil war. — Battle of Bunker's Hill. — General Invasion of Canada by the United States troops. — Mont- gomery and Arnold march on Quebec ; they take Montreal and Three Rivers. — The governor re-enters the capital as a fugitive ; the Ameri- cans lay siege to it. All the American colonies were now at open war against Bri- tain, and marching with rapid strides towards the revolution which was to achieve their independence. Ever since 1690, a year which operated changes so considerable in provincial constitutions, Britain ceased not to restrain American privileges, especially those of trade. We have seen, in another part of this work, which were the causes of those changes, and what was the character of the British colo- nials, whose sentiments and principles were mainly those of the English republican party in Cromwell's tirct. It is not to be won- dered at, therefore, if we find them repelling, in 1775, the pre- tensions of a mother country monarchic in its constitution. After passing the Navigation Act, to restrain the uolonial trade, Britain prohibited, in 1732, the export of hats and woollens from one province to any other; in 1733, the importation of sugar, rum, and molasses was subjected to exorbitant duties \ and in AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 345 1750 a law passed against erecting sawmills, or cutting pine and fir-trees in the forests. Finally, she claimed absolute authority over all the colonies. " It would bo a strange abuse of human rea- son to gainsay that right," said one M.P. ; adding, that treason and revolt were indigenous to the New World. Public opinion in Britain, on this point, had varied according to times and circumstances. New England, not to seem as if acting under British compression, when acquiescing in any act passed by parlia- ment, gave to each new law a local colour while promulgating it, thus giving it a semblance of American origin. The other provinces, inspired by a like feeling, had always held British pretensions in aversion ; and if they submitted to them occasionally, it was be- cause they did not think themselves potent enough to resist ; but their strength was daily increasing. The total Anglo-American population, which, about A.D. 1700, numbered 262,000 souls, had risen to three millions by the year 1774. Britain, recognized sole mistress of North America by the treaty of 1763, became more exacting than ever. She determined to draw a direct revenue from the Americans, to aid her in paying the interest of her pub- lic debt, which the recent Canadian war greatly augmented, not- withstanding that the Americans had expended two and a half million pounds sterling to defray its cost. The project of taxing the latter was (long before) suggested to Walpole, who replied, " I have the whole of Old England against me ; would ye that I should have New England too for my enemy ?" Secretary Gren- ville, who cared more to keep his ministerial place than did his predecessor, proposed in parliament, against his own desire, but to please George III, a series of i^ declaratory) resolutions, serving as the basis of a Stamp Act ; and these were adopted, without oppo- sition, in March 1764. All the colonists entered protests against the principles thus laid down. The austere Massachusetts-men observed, that if Bri- tain's power to tax the colonies, at her own discretion, were re- cognised by them, there would result a system of oppression which would soon become insupportable ; for, once let such asserted right be acknowledged, there would thenceforth be an impossibility to abolish or even modify any impost which the British might find it couvenient to lay on. *' We are not represented in the British par- I !| M 346 HISTORY OP CANADA. ♦ . *» • liiunent," they said. " What will prevent tlic house of cojnmons from trying to load our shoulders with burdens, too heavy for the people at homo to bear ? As British subjects (no matter where located) wo assort, that we are not imposuble except through our own representatives." The Anglo-Americans had other grievances besides to complain of. The presence of a standing army, in their midst, they found undesirable; augmoutationsof their judges' salaries they consider- ed an insidious means of making them subservient ; and the pro- vincial governors, no longer popularly chosen, as they once wercj ever manifested arbitrary dispositions. Despite all opposition made to the taxing project, the British l^slature passed a law in 1765, extending the provisions cf the existing acts impoiing stamp duties in Britain, to all its colonies. Franklin, resident agent in London for Massachusetts, wrote to his constituents, " The sun of liberty has set; we must trim the lamps of industry and economy." Although Franklin received fVom the government, about this time, a large grant of land on the Ohio,* he adhered to the most advanced opposition party in the colonies. The Americans had resolved to buy no goods from Britain ; this measure caused the mercantile classes there to take port with them in the dispute. The Virginians, inspirited by Patrick Henry, began their resistance to the American stamp act. By resolutions he proposed in assembly, and which passed after long debates, it was declared that provincials were not bound to obey any taxation-laws but those passed by their own representa- tives ; and that every man who inpugned this truth was a public enemy. As the discussion grew warmer, Henry's patriotism be- came more fervid. Making allusion to the evil fate of tyrants, he said, " Caesar had his Brutus, Charles I his Cromwell ; and George the Third ..." (here the orator was interrupted by cries of Treason I treason 1 1 when he continued) — "...and let George the Third, I say, take warning from those examples. If such a cau- tion smell of treason, I would fain be informed wherein it con- sists !" Several riots took place, but chiefly in Boston, where the people destroyed the stamp-office lately opened there. At Phila- • B. B. O'Callaohaii : Documentary History of New York. I AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 347 delphia, when tho vossel fVe5p;ht«(l from Enfi;land with dinmped papor entered tho port, nil the other Bhippinp; disphiyod their colourfl half-mast high, in flign of mourning ; and the church helld, muffled, toUal all day, as if for a funeral. Forthwith a congresB of doputieH, from all tho provinces, mot at Now York, and voted petitions to tho British parliament against its proceedings. Op- position became so general, that the British stamp-masters wcro obliged to shut up shop and return to England. Traders, lawyers, &o. met and agreed to suspend the oxerciso of their callings, rather than use stamps. Bales of these were seized and burnt by rioters, amid tho people's huzzas. Tho colonial merchants dropped their trade witli Britain for tho time. Presently local manufactures sprang up, concurrently with a stagnation of industrial pursuits in Britain ; al! which greatly embarrassed the ministry, some of whom were for employing exertion against the colonists, while others inclined for temporising with existing difficulties. Tho parliamentary session of 1766 opened most inauspioiously ; suffering and discontent were rife even in the three kingdoms. M ju- aced with a revolution, they proposed, Pitt and Burke aiding, to annul tho stamp acts which had outraged colonial feeling ; but that any act rescissory should, in its terms, vindicate absolute British rights over the provincials. The debates upon this proposal were long, and many of the spoeohes against it admirably eloquent, but the ministry outvoted their opponents. In order to regain popu- larity, the cabinet caused several measures to bo taken, favourable to colonial trade ; and obtained from France a liquidation of its paper obligations to Canada, which had remained in abeyance ever since the war of the conquest. The abrogation of the colonial stamp act was joyfully received in America, and for some time softened provincial hostility ; but quickly other troubles arose, tho first being mutual disaccord between the governor and assembly of Massachusetts. The Grenville ministry had fallen ; and Pitt, oreated Earl of Chatham, was at the helm of power. By one of those inconsistencies due to human ambition or weakness, the new ministers, several of whom had strongly op- posed British right to tax America — Chatham himself, more than any other — in 1767, initiated taxes on tea, paper, glass, &o. for export to the colonies. Parliament concurred, the king assented, l! 348 HISTORY OF CANADA. »» ' and the measure became law. To awe the colonists, the sittings of the New York provincial Assembly were suspended, as a penalty for repudiating British (fiscal) jurisprudence. Here was a new proof that philo-colonials in the mother country of any dependency, are often less animated by a regard for justice, than by a spirit of opposition to the cabinet of the day. Soon afterwards, the Grafton ministry, composed, according to "Junius," of deserters from every party, succeeded to the cabinet of Lord Chatham ; but who kept his situation, nevertheless, in G raf- ton's, though he was no longer popular. The new project of colonial taxation was yet more odious in America than the stamp act. Massachusetts was the first province which overtly resisted it, and proposed a general convention. Tlie arrival of General Gage, with four regiments and some artillery, put a stop, for a time, to those demonstrations; but discontent was not extinguished, it only smouldered, and was reproduced in all the other provinces. New neasures in Britain precipitated a crisis. Parliament addressed the king to send a special commission to Boston, to try all parties accused of high treason. British parliamentarians and American loyalists trusted thereby to intimidate the patriotic party. Sir W. Johnson thus wrote to Lord Hillsborough, in 17G9 : " I humbly intimate that I respectfully approve of the king's speech and the address, both just received from London. The firmness of the one, the unanimity of the other, aflFord me great satisfaction, and give me hopes that the unhappy dissensions, excited by turbulent fana- tics of this country, will end in a way compatible with the dignity of the crown and the true interests of the people."* Thus, in every age, is the future misinterpreted. Despite Johnsons exjwessed hopeful nes3,the Americans again resorted to trading non-intercourse with Britain. This step renewed the alarm of her merchants ; and the ministry announced an abrogation of all the lately imposed duties, except the article of tea, which was retained as a vindica- tion of home sovereignty. This was at once to confess its weak- ness, and to leave a door open for added discord. Meanwhile, Lord North (1770) taking the ministerial helm in • E. B. O'Callaqhan : Documentary History of the State of New York, U. 933. 4* III AMERICAN BEVOLUTION. 349 ngs of )enalty a new idency, pirit of iing to cabinet in Graf- colonial imp act. a it, and age, with to those it only IS. New iddressed ,11 parties A.mcrican Sir W. humbly and the the one, and give llent fana- le dignity ,, in every expressed tercourse [crchants ; imposed vindica- its weak- helm in hfew York, charge, carried out the polity of his predecessor. Concurrently, skirmishes took place in Boston, between the citizens and soldiers. Alarm spread to every province, and among all classes ; every one was apprehensive of what might follow ; but most of the colonists determining to vindicate their righta by force of arms, an organ- ized system of resistance was formed. The malcontents, however, were guarded in their expressions, though firm in an intent to make every sacrifice, if needful, to secure success. Massachusetts took the lead, directed by Hancock, Otis, and Adams. It soon became apparent that neither Old nor New England would bate a jot of their respective pretensions, and that the sword alone must decide the quarrel. In 1773, parliament passed an act authorizing the British India company to transport tea to America, on payment of the duties imposed by a previous act, of 1707. Forthwith, some consignees to whose address tho first cargoes were sent, had to refuse to receive them, under popular constraint. At Bostons parties who warehoused the tea when landed, were tarred and fea- thered. Three cargoes of tea were spilt in the harbour. Like outrages were committed in other places. Lord North, indignant at these audacities, and setting himself to punish the Bostonians, got an act passed (but not without parliamentary opposition) to close their port ; i. c. no vessels were to load or to discharge cargoes there till further orders. " Let us root out that wasp's nest," said an approving British legislator. Two other laws, of coercive kind, were presented by the ministry : one, abridging the franchises of Massa- chusetts, and prohibiting sedcrunts of assembly if not authorized by the governor ; the other, according immunity from the action of criminal procedure, to all functionaries engaged in suppressing riots, even should death ensue in any case. Such a law as this, under the ingeniously fictitious name of " an act of indemnity," was passed, to give a colour of legality to tyranny, during the troubles of 1838, in Canada. The passing of those two laws was as much opposed as the Boston port bill. Fox, Col. Barr^, Burke, and Lord Chatham protested against them. " We have crossed the llubicon," said one peer ; '* the watchword now is, JJdenda Carthago," Barrd exclaimed, " Take heed what ye do! the finances of Franco are now flourishing ; see if she do not in- tervene in our quarrel with the Americans." In fact, Choiseul ti. •• 1.1 350 HISTORY OF CANADA. *k ^' had skilfully prepared iaeans for taking signal vengeance on Bri- tain for the loss of Canada. Another parliamentary orator vehemently exclaimed, " I trust the Americans will resist these oppressive laws ; I desire at least, that they may. If they do not, I shall regard them as the most ahject of slaves I" Lastly, the British ministry introduced a fourth law, intituled " A Bill Tor Re-constituting the Government of the Province of Quebec," as all Canada was then called. This measure was the complement of a plan for administering the whole affairs of British America ; and as it imposed a system of absolutism upon us, it served to convince the older colonists of the after designs of Britain being inimical to their liberties : especially when they adverted to the past, and thought of her illiberal polity, so retrogressive ever since the revolution of 1689-90. The passing of such a law was indeed ominous of a still mor« evil future. Accordingly great outcries arose among the objects of it. They protested, more especially, against the recognition of catholicity as the spiritual establishment of Canada : but perhaps there was more craft than conscientious feeling in their remon- strances thereupon, as well knowing Old England's prejudices against our religion ; for, soon afterwards, the provincials, become republicans, allowed the Catholics the same franchises as them- selves in every respect. We all know the plans successively proposed, after the Conquest, for governing the Canadians ; that, in 1764, it was hostile to their freedom, whereas, in 1774, British jealousies were diverted from us for the time, and directed against the American people and their legislative assemblies. Self-interest thus triumphed over ignorance and passionateness. The abolition of the language and laws of the Canadians would inevitably cause them to take part with their malcontent neighbours ; and therefore it was that Bri- tain postponed the settlement of the Canadian question, from year to year, till the time was come when she felt impelled * ■ resort to repressive measures against her old colonists. The deci- sion of the home government as to the establishment of French law and usages in Canada, long depended on the result of the min- isterial determination to tax the southern provincials ; and their stern opposition to it decided the cabinet to turn a favourable ear to Caaadian reprcsentatioBS. By so doing, a louble end was 5e on Bri- iry orator esist these :f they do Lastly, the i Bill Tor bee," as all iinent of a ca ; and as mvince the ical to their id thought volution of lus of a still ; the objects ognition of at perhaps eir remon- prejudices ials, become 8 as thein- i Conquest, hostile to ire diverted Lcan people mphed over nguage and take part s that Bri- stion, from impelled ^ ^ The deci- of French of the min- and their ourable ear )le end was AMESiCAN BEVOLUTION. 351 attained : the clergy and upper classes being gained over, our people were induced to recognize British taxing supremacy ; for, in Cana- dian estimation, this acquiescence was regarded as a small matter in itselt, compared with its welcome accompaniment, — the conserva- tion accorded to cherished institutions which the Anglo-Americans had willed to be abased, or even annihilated. The Earl of Dartmouth, colonial secretary of state, introduced the bill of 1774 to the lords, who passed it without any diflBculty. Its provisions greatly enlarged the boundaries of the province of Quebec, as defined in 1 764. On one side, they were extended to the frontiers of New England, Pennsylvania, New-York (province), the Ohio, and the left bank of the Mississippi ; on the other, to the Hudson's Bay territory.* The bill preserved to the catholic colonists the rights a.ssured to them by capitulations, and relieved them from the operation of the British test act; French civil procedure was to be maintained, but English criminal law, and the English law of successions to property, were to be substituted for French. Finally, the bill gave to the province a governing council of 17 to 23 members, — part catholics, part protestants ; in whom were vested, in name of the sovereign, but subject to hb veto, all needful r^ulations of government and police ; they not to have power to levy any imposts except those indispensable for constructing and maintaining roads and public edifices. For the king was reserved the right of founding all tribunals, civil and ecclesiastical. The bill passed unanimously in the upper house, but was violently opposed in the lower house ; the commons de- bating the questions raised upon it for several days. Certain Lon- don trader8,t excited by their compatriots in Canada, made urgent • In 1175, a project for a pacification of the colonies was proposed to i!ie British ministry by Franklin, He stipulated thattt. Quebec Act should be rescinded, and a free government established in Canada. It was replied, that the act might be so far amended, as to reduce the province to the limits fixed by the proclamation of 1764. — Ramsay: History of the American Resolution. \ Why many of the upper and most of the substantial middU "glasses, with a majority of the clergy of London, should be denominated marc- kandt in M. Qarneau's text here, we cannot say ; except that men of French race, tacitly adopting a Napoleonic ancer, afiect to accoaat us all "a nation of shopkeepers,"— J3. I J?fi2 HISTORY OP CANADA. I y remonstrances against the bill and even employed stipendiary advocates to " show cause " why it should not pass. The friendf? of the bill, on the other hand, demanded that witnesses should be examined in its favour. Governor Carleton was summoned for that purpose, and gave excellent testimony as to Canadian deserv- ings : Chief-Justice Hay, Messrs. de" Lotbinidre, Maseres, and Marriott were also interrogated. The latter found himself ano- malously situated. Not being able, as attorney-general, to express direct dissent from a ministerial bill, he eluded most of the ques- tions addressed to him, so as not to say anything inconsistent with opinions formerly expressed by hiui in his report on Canadian aflfairs, for consideration by the privy council, — which clnshed, in many particulars, (as wo have seen) with the Quebec Act. He extricated himself with much dexterity, however, from the diffi- culty ; but the occasion served to shew how liable generrl interests are to be compromised, through personal exigencies, for the con- venience of men in place. Among the members in opposition to the measure, were Messrs. Townshend and Burke, also Col. Barrd. Most of the dissentients spoke against the restoration of French laws and the free exercise of the Catholic religion in the colony. They wished that a representa- tive chamber should be established, but with such studied reserva- tion, that it was plain they would admit no catholics into it. Conti- nuance of protestant domination, not general franchises, was the kind of political delegation alone meant to be conceded. Such were the inconsistencies in the men of the time ; for the upholders of Anglo-American claims, when in the house, were even foremost in wishing that Canadian catholics should have no political franchises. Fox stood forth, however, a noble exception to most others of hia party. He said : " From all that I have heard, it appears to be right to give a representative assembly to the Canadians. It is in behoof of that people I now speak, for is it not chiefly in their interest that the bill has been drawn up ? How that interest is to be secured but by free representation, I know not I have not yet heard one valid reason adduced why the Canadians should not bo represented by thoir own delegates. Much has been said, indeed, as to the peril of intrusting with political power men of alien race and manners \ but as the great bulk of the colonists are AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 353 itipendiary B friendP of Bhould be imoned for ian deserv- iseres, and imself ano- , to express >f the ques- inoonaistent »n Canadian 1 cliished, in so Act. He im the diffi- errl interests for the con- were Messrs. 3 dissentients pee exercise of a representa- died reserva- toit. Conti- lises, was the Such were upholders of n foremost in lal franchises, others of hi» appears to bo ians. It is in iefly in their interest is to .... I have adians should as been said, lower men of c colonists are attached to French laws and usages, if wo repose that power solely in the hands of a legislative council, shall we not be confining it to parties the most likely to bo obstinate in employing it exclu- sively for partisan legislation ? Nobody has said that the Romish belief naturally disqualifies a man for becoming politically un- franchised ; and I, for one, will never listen complacently to such an assertion. No man, intimately acquainted with the catholic mind, will say that there is anything in it opposed to the prin- ciples of political freedom. Its aspirations, though repressed by rulers in catholic countries, exist in the breasts of the people, cathcH lies and .protestants alike. If any danger there be, it is more likely to come from among the higher than the lower ranks." The premier. Lord North, immediately replied, " Will Britain be safe (for her interests are paramount in the jse) when* her chiefest powers are entrusted to an assembly representative of catholics ? I do not deny that such may be honest, capable, worthy, intelli- gent, and have just political appreciations ; but I still say, that it would not be wise for a protestant government to delegate its powers to a catholic assembly." It is certain, that distrust of Catholicism was a chief motive for preventing Britain from ac- cording an elective chamber to the Canadians ; just as a fear of the Americans became a reason for inducing the British to restore the civil jurisprudence of lower Canada. Restoration of our laws and free exercise of our religion were two capital points so just, so natural in themselves, that the oppo- sition could not attack them overtly. " What you ask," said Thurlow, " will bring about the subserviency of the Canadians. Here is what I should propose to do : Let such laws as have re- ference to superseded French sovereignty be replaced by such as arise out of British domination ; but in regard of all other legis- lation, in itself indifferent, and not affecting the relative position or mutual obligations of king and people, — humanity, justice, wis- dom, all conjoin in impelling us to leave this community even as we found it. . . But it is said that Brit/)n8 carry along with them their political franchises whithersoever they go, and thui we should be unjust to the new colonists did we subject them to unaccustomed laws I say that if a home-born Briton enter a colony con- quered by his race, he does not take thither his country's laws. Vol. II.~y W( lli^ ^ I ii* 354 HISTORY OP CANADA. I ; i** ' It in absurd to pretend, for example, that if any Englishman find it convcnicn :. to settle in Guernsey, the laws which prevail her", (London) flhnll bo aduiiniste^'ed for his convenience there." The oppDsition, jjfonoraliy, manitcsted much political chicanery on the occasion. In re^^ord of a legislative council of royal iionjination, instead of an assembly, nwst of the leading members, b«nng luuuperod by tlveir religious prejudices, spoke under great embar- rasRineut; and when Lord North opined that a catholic assembly wc'o undesirable, Mr. Pulteney, a loarling oppositionist, impru- dently exclaimed, " It does not thence necessarily follow, that Canada should have tso reproi^entiitivo chamber at all 1" Ho thus, intimated a wish tx) put the French-Canadians on an inferior political level to British colonists, being protectants. This was the weak point of the oppositionists to the bill ; for those among the latter, in all the American provinces, were in an overpowering majority, and fiercely contesting the supremaijy of the niother country. As for tlie a.ssertion, that by countenancing Catholicism in any part of British America, the Anglicjm church incurred danger, it was unworthy of any formal refutation. Finally, the bill paascd the houses, after receiving a few amend- ments in both, despitvi the opposition of I*ord Chatham ; who characterized it as " an oppressive and odious law." Vainly he called on t]\c t^ccupants of the episcopal benches to side v/ith him in resisting the establishing of popery in a country more extensive than insular Britain itself — Thenceforward, therefore, were our langu£ige and laws to arise from their temporary abas«;ment ; even as those of Saxon Britain in time overtopped the institutions forced ujxm it, for a season, by the Normans. No sooner did the Quebec Act pass, than the Londoners re- assembled, and voted an address to the king, praying he would re- fuse his assent to it. It wtis alleged that the provisions of the act struck at the fundamentals of the British constitution ; that French laws gave no security to person or property ; that the bill vio- lated the promise, embodied in the proclamation of 17G3, of estab- lishing English jurisprudence in the colony ; that popery was & bloody and idolatrous r«jligion : a monition being superadded, that the reigning family liad superseded the Stuart dynasty solely from regard for the uitiritonous yotciituutiiim of the former, and tho AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 865 bment; even institutions disqualifying; popishness of the latter. Among other objections to the mciLsuros w!ia this, that it pliused legislative power in the handa of revocable crown-councillors, &o. The lord-mayor, along with several aldermen and fully 150 notabilities, went in procession to St. James's palace, to present this address ; but on arriving there, they were informed by the lord chamberlain that the king could, according to usage, take no re- cognition of the decried bill till it were prelbnted to him in due form. His Majesty, in fact, was at that moment in the house of peers, pron^guiug parliament, after assenting to the Quebec Act along with other bills of the session : he singling out the former for special commendation, as being " founded on the plainest principles of justice and humanity:" adding that, he doubted not, " it would h".Vti tlie best effects, by calming the inquietudes and promoting the-well-being of our Canadian subjects." This official declaration greatly soothed the irritation caused by the stinging depreciations of colonial worth by the parliaraentjiry oppositionists. A supplementary bill, which became law at the same time, abol- ished the colonial customs-dues — ,those sole imposts levied by the French government ; and substituted for them duties on strong drinks, to provide means for supporting the civil and judicial ad- ministrations of Canada. Maseres forthwith advised the British or Protestant colonials of all that had been done and said. A meeting of them immediately took place, and resolutions passed demanding that the Quebec Act should be annulled. The agitation raised on the occasion spread to the Gallo-Canadian population, meetings of whom took place in which counter-resolutions were passed. About this time an unsigned letter appeared, which made some sensation; sufficient, indeed, to induce Maseres to refute it at length in one of a series of papers published by him in 1775, to support the pretensions of his party. The letter itself, artless in style but sincere in tone, circulating largely among the Canadians made a deep impression. ** Certain of the British among us," thus it ran, " are doing their utmost to indispose us to give accep- tance to the late acts for regulating the government of this pro- vince. They declaim especially against the restoration of French laws, wliich they represent as favouring tyranny. Their emissa- ii^ ■^'^#^, ^, 366 II18TORT »r CANADA. »» • ritw would fain pt'ritundo tho ui^iiiH(ri.(*l<<(), iliat wo iihnli yot <« doniod ; that our mtvornors are do*|K)tic, and the Hritiith lawH untavorablo in our logard : but. tho falfliduM)d of thoHttinipulntionK, i;t it not plain at tirHt blunh? What nwH'KMary connexion did wo find between our olden innlitu- tiouH and HaMtilin^i*, enfttrced oonncriptiouH, and govornuiental d(>H|MitiHm? I'ndor rep^>ro«l French lawt*, in < lens cjwtly than our own 'i* Do wo dmro to adopt tho law of primogeniture — its principle being all things to one, nothing for all — inHt«f our prcm'nt e(|uitji- blo Hystcm »)f HticcoRsion to rejil pro|H3rty ? Arc thoHo among you who wi.sh to ent do for the Hupport of the parnon and his family ? French law, 18 it not written in a languagi; known to you ? our own leginm, there- fore, id suitable to us in all ways ; and judicious UritoiiH, of whom there arc many in tho colony, own that yt»u cannot rightly be deprived of it. " Uut that is not the chief circumstanco tho most distasteful to tbixse envious men in the acts they wish you to atwist them in abro- gating. H'Ti' is the sore point, which they xtrivo to hide, but it is plainly apparent :— one «)f tho vituperated acts not only allows the exercise of your religion, but fretw you from all religious tests contrary thereto; thus a door is o{K>ned to admit you to public situations. Uoncc tho wrath of those people I Thus it is, that they print in their newspaprs di»tribej< against what they dosig- nat« as a detestable law ; an abominable measure, ' one whicli rccog- nixes a sanguinary religion, the profeusors Oi' which spread abroad doctriues redolent of impiety, murder, and rebellion.' The vio- Icuce of tlic lanjjiuage thus used \» iudicativo of tho malign acDti< AMKRtCAN RKVOLUTION. 8fi7 innnl<« It. oxproMoH; It. (linolnnonolin^rin nt not obtnining frnin pnr- linmcni iho privilc'gn «»f fitting in nn mwnniMy wIhmuhi you won* tohncxolinlod. I»y thotnorc ndniiniHtriilion of oiiIIin which, they well know, your n^ligioun ronm>i(>n('o would provonf. your talking ; thun did tho pftity trout tho Krotioh (Iroiwuniinn." Logic ho oogoiit us tho forogoiuf? protcd irroniMihlo nt. tho linio. NovortholoBH, KnrI (/luiulcn, in May 1775, prowntrd tlin (V nndinn pnttoHtiint petition iifi;iiin»t tho QuoIm'O not« to tho hou«o of lordn ; it whp, howovor, r(\jootod nt tho inntiuuM; of Lord I>nrt- niotith. A duplioiit ,lind diroot tho poopio in tlioir op|)OHition to tho lioino govonunont; hut for tho tinu', t<» givo " roooniinondationH " ••;:|y, thoMo to ho ii:*or- prot<';I a« m niiuiy ordorH. Tho nolonintn woro adviwd in diwon- tinuo tho ati) of ton and all othor artioUw iniportwl from Britain, until colonial wrong« should ho rodroHWHi. Tho oongrcw tlnm oonvokod mot nt IMiiladolphia oarly in Hoptomhor, nntl wit till <)o- tolM^r 20. Twolvo provinooH woro thoroin roprowMitod, by dolo^a- tOH from noarly '\ millionn of collootivo iM)pidation. Only (^anada find (loorgiii did not ontor into thiH now oonfedorntiim, oompoflod of nuwt tho poopio of MritiHh-Amorioa. Tho oongrcsH initiatod its proootMlingH by n Poclarntion of tho Rightfl of Man.— tho indiHp«in»ablo proliminnry of all rovoluticmn. This was followed by a ftorioa of roHolutions, dnbatod and piuwod, dotailing tho griovanooH (roal and allogod) of tho colonios, iimong whioh figurod tho passinf^ of tho QuoIhjc nvM ; a law whioh, it wm doclarod with affootod Holomnity, " rocognizcMl tho oatholio niligion, abolisbod tho orpiitnblo jurisprudonon of England ; and, ignoring tho nntagoniHtifl faith of tho old colonies, their laws and govern- ment, sot up civil and spiritiial tyranny in ('unada, to tho groat danger of tho neighbouring provinces; thow^ |)rovincoH whioh had 80 much aided Hritain to contjtier our country!" " Nor can we flupprcMs our astonislimont," it was added in voncluHion, " that a I. Ml Hi 358 niSTORY OP CANADA. V British parliament should ovor oousont to oBtablish in tliat colony a ruli^on that often dronohcdyour island in blood ^ ; and \\an dis- somiiiated impiuty, bigotry, persticution, murder, and re)>ollion, through every part of the world." This strain of language we Hhould designate as fanatical, had it been sincerely conceived ; but it was simply insensate, as proceeding I'roui men then about to call upon the Canadians to join them in acltieving colonial independence. That part of the Philudclphian demonstnition became a dead letter in Britain, yet perhaps was the means of losing Canada to thccon- federation ; such a declaration against Frenoli laws and Catholicism necessarily armed against the congress the Canadian jxiople ; while it violated those rules of eternal justice on which the Americans professed to base their recognition of the " rights of man." The congress afterwards caused three addresses to be drawn up, one, to George III ; another, to the British people, to justily them- selves for the adverse position they had taken up ; and a third, directly addressed to the Canadians, in which were expressed «iuite diiferent sentiments from those already cited, when speaking of the same people. The Canadians were now (at wearisome length) informed of tho advantages attending the enjoyment of a fixje coii- stitution, and of the defects of the new system our people were then living under. The testimony of Montos((uieu the addressers evoked, in condemnation of it. Finally, the addressed were adjured to join tho people of the other colonies, to vindicate the rights common to all ; and they were invited to send del^!;ate8 to another (con- stituent) congress soon to meet. *' Seize the opportunity thus pre- sented to you by Providence, " it was urged. " If you will to be free, free you must necessarily become... We are too well acquainted with the liberality of sentiment distinguishing your nation, to imagine that diflference of religion will prejudice you against a hearty amity with us. You know that'the transcendent nature of freedom elevates the minds of those who unite in the cause, above all such low-minded infirmities. Tho Swiss cantons furnish a memorable proof of this truth ; their Union is composed of ca- tholic and protestant states, living in the utmost concord and • This document, it is to be noted, was addressed "To the people of Great Britain." It was dated Sept. 5, 111^.— £. AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 359 ponco \rith each other; ami they arc thereby enabled, over since they bravely vindicattMl their fVccdoni, to defy and defeat every tyrant that hiut invaded thcni." This second address of the congress was sent to a rich Montreal morelwint, named Cazeau. He was an influential man, not otiiy with the Canadians, but also among the savages, through his trade with them and the numerous p(!i*sons he employed in business. Cazeau, who was a Frenchman by birth, had been ill used by the British government ; he consequently, took part readily with the inwur- gont colonials. As soon jus Thomas Walker, another Montreal merchant, who had taken upon him to represent Canada at the American congress, brought copies of the address of the Congress, the former set himself to spread them about all parts of the coun- try. Although the document probably expressed the real senti- ments of tha congress, it could not efface the impression from the Canadian mind of the previous insult offered to catholicity. Firm in their just distrust, most of the best friends of freedom refused to join in tlu; impending struggle. Many other Canadians, gained over by the law of 1774, promised fidelity to BriUiin, and kept their word. Thus a few words of proscription, emitted heed- lessly, were the remote cause why the American confederation now sees the redoubtable power of its repudiated mother country con- solidating in the north, and ever ready to come down heavily upon it with her warlike legions I Carleton, made major-general and created knight of the Bath for his good conduct, returned to Canada in 1774, and inaugurated the now constitution. He formed a legislative council of 23 mem- bers, of whom 8 were catholics. This council sat twice or thrice, and then adjourned. Several Canadians were placed in offices which had, till then, been filled exclusively by British or Swi.ss, — the posts of chief inspector of highways and French secretary excepted. The pay for these being small, they ever re({uired men versed in the language and habitudes of the colonials. Colonial feu- dality was respected ; and the Seminaries were recognized, in accor- dance with the rules of their foundation.* But the Canadians knew it was only from motives of policy that they wcic thus allow- ■4 i i • Royal Instructions of 1774. i i 360 IIIHTORY OP CANADA. r i*» " od to '4iko II Himro in Kovorniiig tho oountry ; Ihoy woni porfootly Oflrtttia thiit, whuUivor ohuii^t^H Untk pliioo, no ohiof \)\nul«l ovur \h) o|m>ii to any of them ; and iim for Iho Mniallor ohur^oN put within tlioir roiioh, only dooilo iiHpiriint^t would bo Holt'ottuI, whoHO HuhniiHNtviMioHM to tho ruling powurn ouuld Im woll uHoortuinod bot'nr«on the propagandinni iho AniorioauH wcro Htriving to nniintain apiiiiHt Ui-itinh Hway in (^madn, into whioh copioHof thu oongri>H.s' addroMH hud ponotratod by Hovoral wayH Hiinultanoounly. Tho tino nanu^H of " liWrty " and "national indopiiudonco " havo alwayH a charm for noblo inindM; n gunorouH Hpirit Ik over uiovod at t hi'ir vory Kound. Tho poliHhod I'ariHian, tho SwImm hordn- inan, fool tho naorod inttuonco, in common, of proulaimcd freedom. The address of tho congrcH8, therefore, dospito tho rccklcHMncHtt of partH of itH htrain, cauHcd a groat HcnNution among the Canadian rural {)opulationH and the Briti.sh towiiHmcn. Tho latter, now no longur hopeful of dominating thoir fellow colonistMof French race, moHtly bceamo American partiHatiH. Tho nituation of Carloton wiut a diifuMilt one at tluH criHiH. Happily for him, tho Canadian clergy and »n'i/nt'urs had become linnly bound to Uritinh intercHtH through tho continuation of feudal tonurcH and tho recognized right of tithing, two institutions which they could not ho{)0 to prcHurvo if a levelling i-ovolution sujxirvenod ; and with theso two orders of men nnuched the burgoss class in tho towns, which was us yut, however, neither numerous nor opulent. Through a fear of jeoparding their religion and nationality by entering into a confederation both protestant and alien in bl(H)d, — an apprehension not groundless, for tho men of that confederation had already incorjmrated the French settlements of Louisiana, — the clergy and seigneurs resolved to resist every assault of tho Anglo-Americans, and to retain our country for monarchic Bri- tain, 3,000 ujiles distant ; a patroness all the less likely, for that re- moteness, to become perilously inimical to Camidiun institutions. Besides, even had tho Canadians not been outraged by tho do- > ' A ■ AMRUIOAN RKVOMTTION. 861 M WOUM lr^on |>ui tl, whoHO iko a Hur IMt H)>MOnt lilutiMl by tho t'ron- tiiviiiK to iiicH ol' thti UiuoouHly. oiulonuo " it iH cvor viH«horJH- loHMIlCHB of tdiitn rurul no longor 00, luoHtly )n wiiH u ia» clergy |tH through right of troHcrvo if orders of UH UH yet, junlity by |i bl(K)(l,— • Moderation [liHiunu, — [lit of the Irohic Bri- hr that ro- litutioiiH. Ly tho do- olnrntinn ofrongroM nguiiiHi flntholirJHin nnd Kn'tich jurlHpriidrneo, th«»y ovtT pniNrrvt'd in thoir hoiirtn Ihnt hiitrcd for th«» Hrilinh rnoo, whcrnvt-r bom or l«wiitr«l, whioh Muy ••»d <'«mtrii<'t»'d during long warH ; tln>y tlioH niado no diHtinclion, in Ihrir niindM, lH««>yond : viewing both alike m one Inidy of turbu- lent and ainbitiouH opproHNorH. Knowing thirt common froling, the governor might unetntion waH, that if the OanadianH would not take up nrnm for IJritain, iu>itl»er would they light agnin.^t her. Several urii/neiiia, on the other hand, pronuHed to Oarleton that thi'y would mareli ngaiuHt the rj-beln at the head of their tenantH {rimtiloircii). Tho Hoquel proved, however, that tln'y undertook to do more than they were able to realixe, for, when they did iiHHendile their tenants nnd explain to them the (pu'HtionH at iHHue, with an intimation added, that the government looked U) the CanadiauH for warlike mip|K)rt, the latter refuHed to fight the AnntrioanH; thoHO " neu- t«^r8," HH they were ealled, obwirving, " Wo know neither tho Oftuw^ nor the likely n'Mult of tlu5 din'enmo(>H between the oonten- ding partioR. Wu Hhall ninnireHt our loyalty to the government wo livo under by a (piiot and HuhmiHNive life, but we will take no side in preHont quarrelM." In oertain diMtrietn, Home ardent youth- ful m'igneuni, trying the otfeot of nienaceri to eoiiHtrain t4!nantti to follow their lead, were obliged themHelvoR to fleo precipitately. Meanwhile, affairn were aHHinning a graver aH|M>«t, day by ecn conHonticnt), tho governor waH Htartled by an invamon from tho other Hide. Blood had already boon nhed, in April 1775, at Lexington and Concord, where the Britinh lo«t nearly 300 vnm in buttle agaiuHt the Amcricann. Tiu) latter were now arming i Ty where, also taking poHHcsHion of fortn, arsenalH, and government stoma. Colonels Ktban Allen and Arnold fell, una- wares, on fort Tioondoroga, garrisoned by 100 men, and captured 118 oannon, — tho latter a groat prizo for tho insurgents. Colonel 362 HISTORY OP CANADA. !* » ' Warner got hold of Crown Point, and obtained the niastc. of lake Champlain, without any loss of men. Fort St. John's u> t fell; but was retaken, the* da} ifter, by M. Picotc de Bclcstre, leader of 80 Canadian volunteers. The American congress met at Philadelphia, June 10. As the homo government decided to carry out its polity by force, the most energetic measures were promptly adopted for resistance to it. A new parliament had been culled, in order to test the opinion of the British people as to coercion for the Americans. The response lo the address from the throne returned no uncertain note ; the par- liament undertook to sustain the monarch in vindicating its own assumed supremacy of legislation over the colonies. The martial spirit of the Americans was contemptuously spoken of by one min- ister, who, when asking for a vote of men sufficient to make Gen- eral Gage's army at Boston 10,000 strong, observed, " This corps will assuredly suffice to bring the cowardly colonists to their senses.'* Franklin, after making vain effiirts in London to persuade the British ministry to adopt a pacific policy, returned to his own country, and prepared to assist, by wi?o counsels, his compatriots to carry on successfully a war he had done his utmost to prevent. Shortly thereafter, Generals Howe, Burgoyne, and Clinton arrived in America with reinforcements. The congress now directed the several provinces to be put in a defensive state. The British forces in Boston were blockaded by the provinciiU militia ; while a " continental army " was brigaded with General Washington as generalissimo. The congress, at the same time, voted another address to the Canadians, cxposipg the evil tendency of the Quebec Act, and justifying the seizure of Ticonderogft and Crown Point, as a needful measure for the secu- rity of nil the colonies. While the congress was sitting, the battle of Bunker's Hill was fought (June IG), during which Gage was twice repulsed, while attempting to take the entrenchments of the provincials by a.ssault, but gained his end in the third effort, his army being more nume- rous than their forces by a moiety. Thia battle, wherein the British lost many men, was the bloodiest and most obstinate of the whole war ; but, if lost, it made the Americans confident in their powers of resistance, avenged the parliamentary slightings of their prowess, and AMERICAN BEVOLUTION. 363 taught the British regulars to respect a courage which they found po deadly to encounter. Colonel Arnold, who had assisted to capture liconderoga, proposed to the congress to invade Canada; promising that he would take and hold the colony with 2,000 men only. The congress, menaceil by Carleton with an attack on that side, thought the best mode af averting it would be to march an army against Quebec, the water-ways to which lay open ever since the American:^ became masters of lake Cham plain. So hardy an enterprise would thus make the war offensive instead of doi'ensive. The congress was all the more inclined to tliis course, that they believed all the Canadians to be (their nobles and clergy excepted) malcontent under the new order of things, and would meet the armed Americans rather as friends than foes. General Schuyler was named, by the congress, chief of the arniy of the northj with orders to take St. John's, Montreal, and some Other places in Canada — provided the inlmbitauts offered no ob- struction. He foresaw that Carleton would leave Quebec with his troops, to defend the assailed frontiers : the conquest of the capital and key of the colony would thus become easy, for ii waa not likely that Britain could send succour before winter set in, when the navigation of the flood would necessarily cease. If these fond ex- pectations so indulged should be realized, though but in part, it was intended to make a lateral descent unawares on Quebec, by a detat ' - ment directed along the course of the rivers Kennebue and Chiiu- ditire. On the other liand, supjwsing the invaders could not take Quebec, still a leaguer of it would oblige Carleton to return ; thus leiiving the Canadian middle frontier again open to invasion by thu corps of Schuyler and Montgomery.* In fact, these generals disembarked under fort St. John's, in September, with a detach- ment 1,000 strong, but, finding the place formidable, and being harassed by a band of savages, led by the brothers Lorimier, the Americans retired to the Isle-aux-Noix. When entering our coun- * The latter was the snmo Montgomery who served under Wolfe in 1759, and commanded tlic British dctnchmont sent to burn St. .Joachim. After the war he married an American vfoman and settleil in New York. When the troubles between Britain and her colonies burst into open war, he sided with the insurgents, was welcomed as an ex-officer, and attained high grades in the revolutionary army. 1 S64 HISTORY OP CANADA. try, they addressed a proclamation to its people, annonnoing that the congress wished to extend to them more than the full franchises of British subjects, parts of which even th'^y had been unjustly de- prived of; that the congress' army was e'ubodied to act only against the royal troops, and that the persons, goods, civil freedom, and worship of the Canadians would be religiously respected. This proclamation was widely circulated in the colony. On the first report of invasion, Carleton directed troops to lake Champlain. There were but 800 regulars in all at his disposition. The people of the lower districts, indifferent to events, remained in their parishes ; those of the upper districts, being nearer to the scene of action, were diversely affected ; some inclining to side with the invaders, but, in general, from motives expressed, as we have al- ready learned from themselves, resolved to stand neuter. As for the Anglo-Canadians, who weighed so heavily in the balance when the agents of the mother country were distributing her favours I they now counted for little, their numbers being so few : besides, most of those few were, openly or secretly, partisans of the congress,* and the governor was well aware of the secret meetings these held at Quebec and Montreal. Such was the state of things when mar- tial law was proclaimed, June 9 ; the government having called out the militia previously, to repel invasion and maintain order in the province. This double measure, new to Canada, did not work well. Some parishes, put under constraint by M. de la Come, rose in resistance at the portage of Lachenaye. T^y prejudicing opi- nions, and recourse to threats, the indifferent were alarmed, and those who wavered were forced into open enmity to the govern- ment. The latter now called the clergy in aid. The bishop of Quebec addressed an encyclical lettter to his flock, exhorting the faithful to bo true to British allegiance, nnd to repel the American invaders. He strove to prove, at the same time, that their reli- gion would not be respected by puritans and independents if these obtained the mastery in the struggle going on, and that it would be folly to join them. Tliesc sentiments were more widely deve- loped by him afterwards, in a lengthy pastoral letter [martdenieiit) • MS. of Sanguinet, a Montreal barrister ; Journals of the provincial congress: ditto of the provincial conveation ; of the conmiitlee of safe- ty, dec. of New York state, vol. II. AMERICAN ttEVOLUTIOr. 3C5 that the chises of istly de- y against lom, and i ThU >8 to lake sposition. remained rcr to the ) side with re have al- i\8 for the when the mra 1 they tides, most congress,* these hold when mar- callcd out der in the not work oruc, rose icing opi- rmed, and le govem- bishop of irting the American their reli- ts if these t it would dely dcve- inlenient) provincial Llue of safe- published next year. Meantime, neither vSo proclamation, nor the encyclical, was able to move the Canadianb from their state of apathy. Finding the people deaf to his calls, the governor- proposed to raise a body of volunteers, to serve so long as the war should last : oifcring tempting conditions ; namely, each unmarried pri- vate to receive 200 acres of land, if married 250, besides 50 more for each of tbo children : the land to be holden free of all imposts for 20 years. Yet these offers attracted few recruits, and Carlo- ton had to look further afield. He bethought himself of Indian combativeness ; and sent emissaries among the native tribes, espe- cially the Iroquois, to enlist savage warriors. Fifteen years of pcuco were understood to have strengthened the Iroquois' confe- deration, and the Five Nations were resuming their tupremaey over a'l the oth«{r jiative races ; it seemed probable, therefore, that their example, if they acceded, would bo followed, and Britain thus be well supplied with an auxiliary force. But much address, and potent stinmlation, were needed to engage the Irocjuois chiefs to take part in a war which regarded them not. Their ciders look ed upon the anti-fraternal struggle among the whites as a kind of providential expiation for the ills that i:>oth belligerents had made the Indians endure. " Behold 1 " said they, " war now raging between men of one race; they arc contending which shall possess lands they have ravished from uts. What have we to do with either party ? When wc go to war, do any whit^e men join us ? No : they look on contentedly, and see us weaken ourselves by mutual slaughters ; ever ready to step forward, the battle once finish- ed, and enter I'non lands bedewed with our bloodshed. Their turn is now come ; let us imitate their past example, and look on complacently while they strive to exterminate each other. If they succeed it this, wo shall ligain possess the forests, prarie lands, and waters which belonged to cur ancestors." Cazcau, on his part, to deter the savages he traded with or influenced from taking part with the British, told them, " This b a family (juarrel : once made up, you will bo viewed as enemies by both the brotherhoods of Britain." 8ir W. Johnson, and Messrs. Campbell and De St. Luc, agents among the tribes, laboured in an opposite direction, and not without success among the t>! 366 HISTORY OF CANADA. ! ■ l! • younger ohici's. Campbell loaded them with presents ; Johnscu CHJt'ied or harunj^ued ; and, at length, many of the Indian rhiufs jrevo, induced to descend to Mortroal, to " take up the war hatchet.' ' They bound themselves to enter the field early in spring, or as soon as the British should be ready to begin their next campaign. While the governor was at Montreal, a troop of the Iroquois ar- rived, led by Colonel Guy Johnson, who impressed upon Carlcton the necessity there was for employing those savages at once, as what they could least endure was a state of inaction. The gover- nor replied, that his r(^ular forces were too few for campaigning; that the defence of the country depended entirely on its militia ; but that he hoped to be soon able to collect a respectable ibrce : meantime, that the savages must have their attention taken up, in vsome other way than that proposed,* for he did not think it would be prudent, as yet, to overpass the Canadian boundaries. The governor desired to succour St. John's, by means of the nrmed rural populations of Trois-llivitires and Montreal ; but, from what we have said above, it may be easily imagined such persons would not be very ready to go thither. The Chambly parishioners, at first all indifferent to the British cause, were now, many of them, actively hostile to it ; and had even sent emissaries into other parishes, to induce their people to do the like : intima- ting that the time was propitious for the Canadians to cast off tho yoke of Britain. Nearly the whole militia of the district of Trois-Rivit^res refused to march at command of the governor. Some few hundreds of royalists, responding to his call, assembled at Montreal ; but, perceiving that Car)i* n ^vag dubious of their fidelity, most of them returricd to th(! • ;< mes. The Chambly villagers joined an American dotachnieni, under Majors Brown and Livingston, whom Montgomery sent to take a small fort there, which was disgracefully yielded up, after 36 hours' invest- ment, by Major Sto|iford ; the walls being intact, the garrison relatively large, no ma\i of it hurt, and stores of every kind abounding. Stopford struck his flag, and gave up his .sword to the lucky Americans; who found in the fort 17 pieces of ord- • ivxtiacts from the records of Indian tra'isactions under the super- intcndencp of Sir Guy Carltton, during the year 17TI. AMEItiCAN REVOLUTION. i]f>7 were now, nanae, and mnch gunpowder - a wnrliko niiuution of which Mont- gomery W!i8 all but de'^titute ^.revion.ily, and whoso H«((ui8ition now enabled him to presH the Hiego of St. John's vigor.)UHly, the men of (/hanibly taking part therein. Tliua did the frontier con- test, through the partisanMhip of Borae Gallo-CanadianB, take the colour of a civil vrar. Most of the British in Canada, also, became during the autumn, openly or secretly, favourable to the American cause ; while many among the rural populations near the sieat of war either joined the insurgents, or prs'.vfd they ndght be successful ; while the rest remained (juite neuter. Only tiie clergy and sei- gneurs, with a portion of the men in towns, Htk 500 prisoners ; but they alloM/ed the offic(rrs cf the regvilars and all the Canadian vohintcerfi to keep thtiir arin«, out of u (feigned) respect for the courage they had mautfasUK,!* The uncxjKJctcd succeaueft which thuis illustrated Ae American arms at the outset warn jfjjaiiied at sruaU co«fc of men, even rcclton- iug thorie cnaualticH attendant on a contemfiorary attoinpi to take Montreal by .surpriw;, through the aid of eonfcdeniteu within that oity. Thia darin<^ enterpriac, adventured by Colone! Allen and Major Brown, failed foi want of proper concert in it& parts. Alien alone, with 110 men, waa to tmverae the ittland of Montreal, and feiichir.j? the eity, communicate with partiiianfi inKido ; but being encountered, at Longue I'ointo, by Major Garden, with 300 Canadian voluntt^rj* and <>0 British soldiers,f he wan surrounded, discomfited, and taken jirimner with moat of his paople. During the combat, the governor-general and General Freiicott were ensconced («t! UmiicM) m the city burrack, the troop« beinj^ formed in \\ii 8«juat(\ knapsack on baek, all ready io embark for Quebiro, had the rt^yaliwK been dcfeat*jd. The victory ciuspeaded Carleton'ii retreat, however, Muly for a fow d»y8 ; «», no fioonor was Montgo- mery mawtcr of 8i. dohn'x, than ho (JosjMvti'hed t.roop«, by forced marches, toward Montreal, Sorel, and Trois-Rivi^rea. The defec- tion of the inhabiliuilsi, and Miielea.j'a rrtreat, left Carleton iU- most without an ef'0)t. '^'^aws ab.'mdoned, h«.* jumped aboard a small vesacl in Montroid harbour. ..nd, with 100 jjoldiei-s and a few civilians, sot out for Quel)ec ; but winds proving advenw) to further rtailing prru,re83, he landed at jjavaltrie, a few leagues below Montreal, disguiMcd liiniHcIf as a villager, and went on • Jonrnttl ' ipt dn.'ing the Riege of Fort St. John, by one of iu defea* (lers (M. Ai.tolaf l\';ichcr.) t Memoirs i>f Colons' Kihan Allen, "About thirty of the British traders agreo pay them liberally for whatever supplies he obtained, and to punish stiverel;^ all maraudings. He set out, and it took him six weeL^ to clear the Alleghauies and pass from Cambridge to Quebec. He * Journal (Msi.> k«pl at Truis-Uivierea, iu 1775-0, by M. Badoaitx, a royalist nulMry. Vol. U. — z 1^ ii 3 ,, 370 HISTORY OP CANADA. arrived by the St. Lawrence at the Fuller's (Wolfe's) Cove ; en- oiimptng, Nov. 13, with 650 men only, on the Plains of Abraham. Forced to travel through a rugged wilderness, following the uourscit of rivers vexed with rapids, and penetrating interspaces full of obstructions, he was enabled finally to surmount the natural obstacles in his way only by sacrificing most of his ammunition and biiggagc, and by subsisting chiefly on such wild fniits, ko. an the country produced. Arrived at the Kennebec head-waters, ho sent back the isick and nil others who were knocked up, or whose heartB failed them. Too weak in numbers to attack Que- iKic without aid, he ascended the lefl bank of the flood to Pointe- Rux-TrembltM, to eil'ect a junction with Montgomery. Although their eolUictivo force, even then, did not exceed 1200 men, the twain desctindiod to Quebeo with their corps, and invested it early in December. The governor had re-entered the city Nov. 13, after having nar- rowly missed being taken prisoner at Pointc-aux-Trcmbles, where he desired to land. Ho was only just able to quit the village, as Ar< noid's troops entered it. He found most of the citizens of the capital divided into two antagonistic camps, while a third party was un- decided which standard to join. There had been several public meetings holden, to discuss and determine this matter. The very day the governor returned, a meeting was in progress in a chapel ; the question being mooted, whether the city should or should not be defended. One Williams, the first signer of the petition the Briti.«!' traders in the place addressed to the king the year before, and Vfi. had mounted the rostrum to persuade the townspeople to surrender the city to the army of congress, was so doing when Colonel Maclean ordered him to come down ; then the latter dis- suaded his auditors from following counsel so cowardly, and caused the assembly to disperse. A rumour aroeo, that the British in the place had proposrid terms of capitulation for the consideration of Arnold. As soon as the governor resumed his charge, ho set about putting the defensive works in proper order, and encouraging the citizens to do their duty by king and country. He assembled the trained bands (milice hourgeoitt), passed along their ranks, b(^inning with the native Can&dians, ranged on the right, to whom he put the question, Whether they were resolved to coiaport AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 371 love; en- ^brahun. (ring the iterspaces 10 natural imanition mils, &c. ad-wators, :ed up, or uck Que- to Pointe- Although I men, thy nvcstffd it laving nar- 8, where he age, 88 Ar- ' the capital 'ty was un- reral publio The very 1 ohapel ; should not ctitiou the ^car before, tispeoplo to oing when latter dis- and caused ititih in the ■deration of rgo, ho sot ncouraging } assembled icir ranks, it, to whom to cocaport themselves ns true men and loyal nubjeuts ? wh«in all responded U> the upptml by affirmative acclamations. The Brttish-borii militia men rcKpondod in like manner. But as there ittili remained m number of known or NusptHncd malcontenui, who wished, at loAst, the invading enemy to be sucuussful, the gov^niur ordained, on the 22nd day of November, that all those who would not take up arms for the common defence s^hoiild quit thr city. A numltcr (»f British merchantH, Adam Lymburner at their head, retiriMl into the island of Orloan."*, to Charlcsbourg, or to other places whore they had villas, to await the result of the leaguer, and hail it with u cry of (jhi »ave the King ! or Tkc t'ongrcs* for ever ! /* ac- cording to circumstances. * In ih« author':! text, " Vive I« roi I ou Vive la Ligue," — antagfoois* tic expresaiuna uf popular prctbrcncps not iatelligible to readers un- couvfirsaat Nfith French ruligio-ciril wars during the \ iddle and tatter decades of tlio Itith century. END or VULUMK J I II .•» CONTENTS. BOOK BIXTU. CHAPTER I. EOTABUriHMIIIT Ot LonillAIA.— 1083-1 713. rAoi Prorince of Luuiiiana. — Luuia XIV puta soveral veaseU at the iU- poaal of La Sale to fuund a 8eltlem«ut there.— Hia departure with a aquadron; and niisiioderatandiogB with hla colleague, M. de Heaujeu. — H<5 inisaea tbft dca-cntry of the MUsitmippi, and ia landed in Matagorda bay, Texaa. — •Sliameful ci/uduct ufUe«uj«!U, who leavea Ln Hale and the culunisla to their fate. — La Sale builda two furlleta, and calla nue St. Louia. — lie explorea aereral parta of the country, to no g(»od purpose, during aeveral montha, and loses many of hia men. — DcHpairing of finding the UiasisHippi, he aetd oi\t for the Illinoia, in view of obtaining aQccour from Fraaco.— Part of hia compauiona murder him and hia nepb«^w. — Hia aaaaasina fall out ; and two of their number Killed by lh« othora. — Joutel and aix ot the party, leaving the ron.spiratura bohlnd, reach l o Illinois. — Sad fate of moat of the party left in theTexaa territory .—O'lberrille undertakes to re^coloniae Louiai- ana, and aettlea a colony at Biloxi (,lti08-H). — Appearance of the Britiah on the Miasiaaippi. — The Muguenota ask leave to nettle in Louiaiana, but are refuaed. — D'lbcrvillo domsnda free trad«) for hia colony.— Illusive roetallio richea of the country.— The Biloxiaoa removed to Mobile in 1701.— -The colony progrHSiJes apace. — Death of M. d'Ibervillo. — An inttndancy appointed, and ita evil reaulta. — Louisiana ceded to H. do Crozal. (1712) 3 CHAPTER n. Tbbaty Cf Utbicht.— ' 701-1713. A French colony settled at Detroit.— Four yeara' peace. — " War of the Succession." — Operations In America. — Neutrality in thtf western region : hostilities confined to the maritime provincea.— Trinal state of Acudin, — Quarrela among the western savages.— IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) A 1.0 I.I |50 ■^" lilB M 12.0 12.2 1.8 1-25 III 1.4 i 1.6 V] ^.fJ^ ■% ^c^^ ''^y 7] '/ w Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 •374 HISTORY OF CANADA. *» • Raids in Now England by the French iind the Abcnaqnig. — Des- truction of Deerfield and Haverhill (1708). — Colonel Schuyler's remonstrances on theao acts, and M. do Vaudreuil's defence of them. — Captain Church ravages Acadia (1701). — Colonel Marck's two sieges of Port-Royal; is repulsed in both (1707). — Notices of Newfoundland ; hostilities in that island; M. de Subercase fails to take Fort St. John (1705). — M. de St. Ovide captures St. John (1709). — Further hostilities in Newfoundland. — The Anglo- American colonists call on the British government to aid them to conquer Canada : promises made in 1709, and again in 1710, to send the required aid, but none arrives. — General Nichjlsun besieges and takes Port-Royal. — The articles of its capitulution diversely interpreted. Resumption and termination of hostilities in Acadia. — Third attack meditated on Quebec, and double in- vasion of Canada; the Iroquois arm again. — Disasters of the British maritime expedition. — The Outagamis at Detroit ; savages' intents against that settlement ; their defeat, and destruction. — Re-establishment of Micliilimackinac. — Sudden change of ministry in England, its consequences. — Treaty of Utrecht ; stipulations in it regarding New France. — Reflections on the comparative strength of France at this time and at the death of Louis XIII. . . ' •'- • '' CHAPTER III. Colonization OP Cape Bbbton. — J 713-1744. Motives of the French Government for founding an establishment at Cape Breton. — Description of that island ; its name changed to " Isle-Royale." — British jealousies excited. — Plans of the Messrs. Raudot, for colonizing the island and making it a trading entre- pot (I70G). — Foundation of Louisbourg. — Notices of the island's later colonization ; its trade, &c. — M. de St. Ovide succeeds M. de Costebelle. — The Acadiana, being aggrieved, threaten to c-nigrate to risle-Royale. — Abortive attempt^ in 1619, to colonize St. John's (Prince Edward's) Island. — A few notices of that isle.. . 18 33 BOOK SEVENTH. CHAPTER I. Law's System — Conspibaoy of the Natchez. — 1712-1731. Notices of Louisiana and its inbabitanta.— M. Crozat's monopoly.— Civil government re-constituted.-La Coutume de Paris introduced as a legal code. — Abortive attempts to originate a trade with New CONTENTS. 375 les- er'a . e of ck'8 ices Fails ohn glo- hem .7:!0, ilsun . Uion 'ities 3 in- f the ages' Dn. — listry itions rative III... 18 Mexico. — Traffic among the aboriginal tribes, shared with the British coloDists.— The Natchez tribe exterminated by the French. . — M. Crozat throws up hia trading privileges in disgust; they are transferred to the Western Company, as re-instituted in favour of John Law and others. — Notice.s of this adventurer ; rise, progress, and fall of his banking and colonizing schemes, known as the Mississippi System. — Personal changes in the colonial ad- ministration. — New Orleans founded, in iTlfi, by M. de Bienville. —New organization of the provincial government. — Immigration of the West India Company's colonists ; the miserable fate of most of them. — Notices of divers French settlements. — War between France and Spain ; its origin and course. — Capture and re-cap- ture of PensAcola. — At the peace, the latter restored to Spain. — Recompenses to the Louisianian military and naval oflicers. — Treaties with the Chickasaws and the Ni-ichez. — Ilurric.neof Sept 12, 1722. — Charlevoix recommends missions, and his advice is adopted. — Louisianian trade transferred to the Company of the Indies, after the collapse of Law's company. — M. Perrier, a naval lieutenant, appointed governor of the province. — Most of the aboriginal tribes conspire to exterminate all the French colo- nists. — The Natchez perform the first act of this tragedy, with savage dissimulation and barbarity, but too prf c'pitately hap- pily for the remainder of the intended victims.- -S?r>rn reprisals of the French. — A few concluding words on the polity of the West India Company in Louisiana; which is fain to render up its modern privileges therein to the king 41 33 l731. >ly.- luced New .:K. ;:sH'. CHAPTER II. . -.-.v.,j/„vi.H v , Discovery of the Rocky Mountains. — 1713-1744. State of Canada; reforms effected and projected by M. de Vau- dreuil.— Rivalry of France and Britain in America. — The frontier question ; uncertain limits of Acadia. — The Abenaquis' territories. — Hostilities between that tribe and the New-Englanders — Mur- der of Pere Rasle. — Frontiers of western New France Encroach- ments on the Indian territories. — Plans of Messrs, Hunter and Burnet. — Establishments, one at Niagara by the French, one at Oswego by the British, are followed by complaints from the for- mer, and protests from the latter. — Fort St. Frederick erected at Crown-Point; a deputation from New England \ainly remon- strates against this step. — Loss of the Chameau, French passage- ship, in the Laurentian waters. — Death of M. de Vaudreuil ; his character. — M. de Beauharnais appointed governor-general, with M. Dupuis as intendant. — Death of M. de St. Vallier, second 376 HISTORY OF CANADA. >t • bishop of Quebec; (lisscnsions among his clergy about the inter- ment of Ilia corpse — these lead to a complication of troubles, in which the civil authorities take part ; the governor oetraying his duty to the state, the clergy come off with flying colours. — Ilecal of M. Dupuy, who is thus made a scape-goat by the French min- istry. — M. Hocquart nominated intcndant. — Intolerance of the clergy of the cathedral of Quebec. — Mutations in the episcopate for several years ; nomination of Messrs. de Mornay, Dosquet, de I'Aube-Riviere, as third, fourth, and fifth bishops ; appointment and settlement of M. Pontbriant as sixth prelate. — The Outa- ■ gan*'.3' hostilities avenged on their allies. — Travels and discov- eries of the Messrs. V^rendrye, in search of a route to the Pacific . Ocean : — they discover the Rocky Mountain range. — Unworthy treatment experienced by the family. — Appearances of war being imminent, M. de Beauharniiis takes precautionary measures, and recommends more to be adopted by the home authorities : the latter (as usual) repel or neglect his warnings. — Anecdote, afilecting the reputation of M. Van Renselaer, of Albany 5T BOOK EIGHTH. fP y ,., „ •.,/., CHAPTER I. V ..;,•, ^ ';,...■■,■, . . , «■ „ ' CoHMBncF, Indpsthy. — 1608-1744. Canadian trade ; evil effects of war upon it. — Its rise and progress : cod fisheries. — The peltry traffic the main branch of the commerce of Canada. From an early date, the fur traffic a monopoly.-— Rivalry of Canadian and Anglo-American fur-traders. — Policy of governors Hunter and Burnet. — Non-intercourse laws of 1 720 and 1727 ; their evil effects upon French colonial interests. — Various branches of Canadian industry iu former times.— Canadian Ex- ports, their nature.— Ginseng, notices of. — Mining and Minerals. — Quebec the great, entrepot. — Manufactures ; salt-works. — Post- ing commenced, in 1745. — Formation of an admiralty court ; ex- change for merchants opened. — Negro slavery in Canoda.— Money of the colony, its nature, And various depreciations, 81 CHAPTER II. / 3 LouiSBOURQ. — 1744-1748. Coalitions of European powers for and against the empress Maria- Theresa, which eventuate in a war between France and Britain.— First hostilities in America. — Cape Breton ; Louisbourg, and its •' CONTENTS, 3T7 61 defensive works. — Expedition of Duvivier to Oanso, &c.— OoTer- nor Shirley proposes to attack Louisboarg. — His plana disap- proved of by the council, hut welcomed by the people of Now England, and adoyited. — Colonel Pepperel and admiral Warren, with land and sea forces, invest the place. — Mutiny in the garri- scn. — Mr. Vaughan makes a bold and saccessful night assault, and destroys garrison stores. — Capitulation of Louisbourp ; the settlers taken to France. — Project for Invading Canada. — The duke d'Anville'd expedition, and the work cut out for it to per- form. — Of the disasters which attended it from first to last ; the duke dies of chagrin, and his successor in command kills him- self. — M. de Ramsay menaces Annapolis. — Part of his men attack and defeat colonel Noble and a corps of New-Englanders, at Grand-Pr^-aut-Mines. — The American frontiers invaded in many places, and the country ravaged. — Sea-fight near Cape Finisterre, and another at Belle-Isle ; the French defeated in both.— Count de la Galissoniere appointed interim governor of New France ; the previeus nominee, M. Jonquiere, being a prisoner in England. —Troubles with the Mi&mis. — Treaty of Aix-la-ChapoUe, and its conditions. — Concluding reflections on the past war 99 81 CHAPTER III. Thb li^ONTiBBs' Commission.— 1748-1755. The peace of Aix-la-Chapelie only a truce. — Britain profits by the ruin of the French war-marine 'o extend the frontiers of her pos- Bessions in America.-M. de la Gal'ssoniere governor of Canada. — , His plans to hinder the neighbouring colonies from aggrandizing themselves, adopted by the court. — Pretensions of the British.— Rights o'" discovery and possession of the French. — The limitary policy of Galissoniere expounded and defended. — Emigration of the Acadians ; part taken in their regard by that governor.-— He causes several ♦'orts to be raised in the west; founding of Ogdens- burgh (1749). — ib,> Marquis de la Jonquiere succeeds as gover- nor ; the French ministry directs him to adopt the policy of his pre- decessor. — De la Oorne and Major Lawrence advance to the Aca- dian isthmus, and occupy strongholds thereon ; i.e., forts Beausrf- jour, Gaspereaux, Lawrence, Des Mines, Ac. — Lord Albemarle complains, at Paris, of French encroachments (1749); reply theroto of M. Puyzieulx.— The French, in turn, complain of British hostile acts on sea.— The Acadians take refuge in St. John's (Prince Edward's) Island ; their miserable condition there. — Foundation of Halifax, N.S. (1 749).-A mixed commission, French and British, appointed to settle disputes about the frontier lines ; ill <: i V 378 HISTORY OF CANADA. u " first conferences, at Paris, on the subject.— Pretensions of the parties stateil and debated ; difficulties found to be insurmount- able. — AffHir of the Ohio; intrigues of the British among the natives of the regions around that river ; intrigues of the French among those of the Five Nations. — Virginian traffickers arrested, and sent as prisoners to France. — French and British troops sent to the Ohio to fortify themselves in the country. — The governor- general at issue ;vith certain Demoiselles and the Jesuits. — His mortal illness, death and character (1752). — The Marquis Duquesne succeeds him. — Affairs of the Ohio continued — Colonel Washington marches lo aitackFort Duquesne. — Death of Jumon- ville. — Defeat of Washington by M. de Villiers at Fort Necessity (1754). — Plan of the British to invade Canada; assembly of Anglo-American governors at Albany — General Braddock sent from Britain with an army to America, — Baron Dieskau arrives at Quebec with four battalions (1755). — IVogociationa between the French and British governments on the frontier difficulties. — Capture of two French ships of war by admiral Boscaweu. — France declares war against Great Britain 110 BOOK NINTH. TV 1 CHAPTER I. » •*' Thk Seven Years' War.— -1755-1756. Dispoaitions of mind in Britain and France at the epoch of the Seven Years' war. — France changes her foreign policy in forming an alliance with Austria ; ■^hich mutation only flattered the self- love of Madame de Pompadour. — Warlike enthusiasm in Great Britain and her colonies ; their immense armaments. — Small num- ber of the Canadian forces. — Plan of the first campaign; zeal of the Canadian people. — First operations. — Troops from Boston scour Acadia and capture Fort Beaus^jour, &c. ; exile and disper- sion of the French Acadians. — General Braddock advances towards Fort Duquesne; M. de Beaujeu marches to meet him ; battle of the Monongahela ; the British defeated, and Braddock killed.— A panic ensues in the American colonies.— The Canadians and savages commit great ravages, and take many prisoners. — British corps formed to attack Niagara and Fort Frederic. — Colonel Johnson encamps at the head of Lake George. — Baron Dieskau attacking him, is defeated and taken prisoner. — General Shirley delays the siege of Niagara. — Results of the campaign of 1755.— CONTENTS. 379 110 'rV Bad harrest in Canada ; a dearth cnsaes. — British preparations for the oampaign of 1766.— State of Canada; succour solicited from Franco. — General Montcalm, sent with a reinforcement of troops, arrives at Quebec in spring, ITSC — Plan of operations. — Disproportion of tlio forces of the two belligerent parties ; inva- sions projected by the British 136 CHAPTER II. Captum of OawKQc and Fobt "Willi am-Hbnrt, — 1756-1757. Alliances with the savages ; the Iroquois affeit a neutrality. — Mili- tary preparations. — Canadian bands afoot the whole winter of 1755-6. — Fort Bull razed, and an enemy's con"oy of 400 batef.ux dispersed. — Disaccord begun between the governor-general and Montcalm. — Siege of Oswego ; The garrison capitulates ; boo y gained by t,he victors ; The savages kill many of the prisoners ; the works of the place razed ; joy at its fall in Canada. — The British suspend all further operations in the fie I • for the year; the savages ravage their provinces. — The Canadians capture Orenville. — Dearth in Cauada; an arrival of famished Acadians, to make matters still worse. — Aid demanded from France. — Rapid increase of colonial expenditure. — Montcalm proposes to attack Acadia, rather than forts Edward and William Henry, — Pitt obtains ministerial power in Britain. — Renewed efforts made by the British government and people, in view of achieving American ascendancy in 1757. — Abortive enterprise against Louis- bourg. — Canadian bands afoot again during the winter of 1757-8 ; exploits of M. Rigaud. — Succours arrive from France ; the alli- ance of the savages secured. — Siege and capture of Fort William Henry ; — massacre of many of the prisoners taken, by the savages ; the works of the place razed. — The dearth in Canada becomes a famine ; the troops murmur at the privations they endure. — Disagreements become notorious among the colonial chiefs. — Varying fortunes of the French forces in Europe, Asia, &c. — The British raise an army 60,000 strong, for their American campaign of 1 758 169 CHAPTER III. Battlb of Carillon (Ticondeboqa).— 1758. The Canadians, left to their own means of defence, determine to fight to the last. — Plan of the British campaign : proposed simultaneous attacks on Louisbourg, Carillon, and Fort Duquesne. — Capture of Louiabourg, after a memorable siege, and invasio". of the island 380 HISTORY OP CANADA. I'-: