FOOTNOTES:

The fort thus easily won was a quadrangle, each face about 100 yards in length; thirty pieces of cannon were mounted upon the walls, and the rest of the artillery was in reserve, but the garrison was altogether insufficient for the defense of the works. The very large amount of stores, ammunition, and provision which were thus left exposed were of vital importance to the supply of the distant Western forts, and the detachments on the Ohio, at Fort du Quesne and elsewhere. In obedience to an unaccountable order of General Abercromby, Bradstreet had no choice but to burn and destroy the artillery, provisions, and stores of every kind, and even the shipping, except two vessels which were retained to convey the valuable peltries to the southern shores of the lake. The fort was also ruined and abandoned; however, M. du Plessis Fabiot sent on a detachment from La Chine, with M. de Pont le Roy, the engineer, who speedily restored it. At the same time, another body of troops was sent to strengthen the distant post of Niagara. In the mean while, Bradstreet re-embarked his force and returned to the British colonies by the same route as he had advanced.[140]

At this time Fort Frontenac was the general rendezvous of all the Northern and Western Indian nations, the center of trade not only with the French, but also among themselves. Thither they repaired from all directions, even from the distance of 1000 miles, bearing with them their rich peltries, with immense labor, to exchange for European goods. The French traders had learned the art of conciliating these children of the forest, and among them attachment and esteem overcame even the force of interest. It was notorious that the British merchants at Albany could supply far better and cheaper articles, and actually forwarded large stores of all kinds to furnish the warehouses of their Canadian rivals; yet the savages annually passed by this favorable market, and bore the spoils of the chase to the French settlement on the distant shores of Lake Ontario.

These annual meetings of the Red Men, however, had another object besides that of commerce; the events of the preceding year were related and canvassed, and council held upon the conduct of the future. Here feuds were reconciled by the good offices of neutral tribes, old alliances were strengthened, and new ones arranged. In these assemblies, the actual presence of the French gave them an important influence over the deliberations, and colored, to a considerable extent, the policy of the Indian nations. On every account, therefore, the destruction of Fort Frontenac was a great gain to the British cause.

It now remained for the Marquis de Vaudreuil to announce the loss of Fort Frontenac to the court of France, and to endeavor to make it appear that he was free from blame in the unfortunate transaction. He determined at all hazards to conceal the fact that his neglecting to forward the required re-enforcements was the direct cause of the disaster. The only mode of escape which suggested itself to his mean mind was to throw the blame upon another; the unhappy commandant, De Noyan, was selected as the victim of his falsehood. To prevent that officer from forwarding to France his own statement of the case, the treacherous governor himself undertook to represent the affair in a light that could not fail to clear De Noyan of all responsibility. The snare was successful; the brave commandant, guileless himself, doubted not the honor of his chief, and blindly trusted him. De Vaudreuil, unmindful alike of truth and justice, threw the whole weight of blame upon his subordinate, and ascribed without scruple the loss of the fort to the pusillanimity of the defenders. De Noyan, when too late, found that he had been cruelly deceived; he appealed in vain, again and again, to the court for redress, and at length retired from the service in which he had met only with treachery and injustice.

While Abercromby's intrenchments afforded him complete security, the presence of his great but now useless army gave no protection to the English frontier. The ever active and vigilant Montcalm lost no opportunity of harassing outposts, assailing remote settlements, and intercepting convoys. On the 17th of July, a party of twenty Provincials, with three officers, was destroyed by the French light troops in the neighborhood of Half-way Brook, and ten days afterward, near the same place, 116 wagoners, with their escort of sixteen Rangers, were surprised and horribly massacred, in spite of the late severe warning. At length the general was aroused to exertion: he selected Major Rogers, already famous in partisan warfare, and, with a force of 700 men, sent him to seek the marauders; they, however, effected their escape unharmed. When the British were returning from this vain pursuit, a dispatch arrived from head-quarters, directing them to scour the country to the south and east of Lake Champlain, and retire by the route of Fort Edward.

According to these orders, Rogers pursued his difficult march, without, however, much success in distressing the enemy, as, from the superior information furnished to the French by the Indians, they always managed to avoid the unequal combat. On the 8th of August, however, they assembled a force of about 500 men, and, choosing a favorable situation, in some measure surprised the British detachment, despite the unsleeping caution of its able chief. Rogers's strength had been by this time, through hardship, desertion, and other causes, reduced almost to a level with that of his present opponents, and it was not without extreme difficulty that he succeeded in holding his ground. In the first onset a major and two lieutenants fell into the hands of the enemy, and several of his advance guard were slain. However, under his brave and skillful conduct, the British soon, in turn, won the advantage, and, after a sharp and sanguinary combat of an hour's duration, the assailants abandoned the field, leaving no less than 190 of their men killed and wounded. Although the victors lost only forty of their number, fatigue, and the cautions observed by the enemy during the retreat forbade pursuit. Rogers therefore continued his march homeward, and arrived at head-quarters without any thing further worthy of record having occurred.

Brigadier-general Stanwix had been detached, with a considerable force of Provincial troops, to erect a fort in a favorable position on the important carrying place between Wood Creek, at the Oneida Lake, and the Mohawk River, with a view to encourage and protect the friendly Indians in those districts from the enmity of the French and their allies. He performed this valuable but unostentatious service with ability and success; the works which he there established and garrisoned still bear his name.[141]

We must now return to the third expedition of the campaign against Fort du Quesne, led by General Forbes. Although this chief had put his army in motion before Abercromby marched upon the Northern Lakes, he had not been able to get his last division out of Philadelphia till the 30th of June: 350 of the 60th, or Royal American regiment, 1200 of the 77th, Montgomery's Highlanders,[142]and upward of 5000 Provincials, composed his force.

The march over the Alleganies was long and difficult; the defiles, forests, swamps, and mountains were in themselves formidable obstacles, had there even been no hostile force in front. But the judicious arrangements of the general overcame alike the impediments and the perils of the advance, and some dangerous attacks of the Indians were repelled with vigorous alacrity. When the army reached Raystown,[143]a place about 90 miles from Fort du Quesne, Forbes halted his main body, and detached Lieutenant-colonel Bouquet, with 2000 men, to take post in advance of Loyal Hanning, while he constructed a new road, being determined not to avail himself of the route used by Braddock.

Bouquet was unfortunately fired with ambition to reduce the hostile stronghold before the arrival of his chief, and accordingly he detached Major Grant and 800 Highlanders to reconnoiter the works of Fort du Quesne. The major, probably with a similar ambition to that of his chief, endeavored to induce the French to give battle, and drew up his men on a neighboring height, beating a march as a challenge. The combat was accepted; the garrison sallied out, and, after a very severe action, routed the Highlanders with loss, and took 300 prisoners, including the commander. The broken remnant of Grant's force fell back in great disorder upon their comrades at Loyal Hanning.[144]

Cautioned, but not dispirited, by this untoward occurrence, Forbes advanced with his whole army as rapidly as the rugged country and unfavorable weather would permit, although so debilitated from illness that he was obliged to be borne on a litter. Several parties of French and Indians endeavored to impede his march, but were always repulsed; once, however, in a night attack, some loss and confusion were occasioned by the Highlanders and the Virginian Provincials firing upon each other through mistake. The French were not sufficiently elated by their victory over Grant to venture any serious opposition to Forbes's advance, and the loss of Fort Frontenac, from whence they had been expecting a supply of provisions and warlike stores, rendered successful resistance hopeless: M. de Lignières, their leader, therefore dismantled and abandoned the celebrated fort, and dropped down the stream of the Ohio to the friendly settlements on the Mississippi. The following day, the 25th of November, the British took possession of the deserted stronghold, and at once proceeded to put it in repair. Under the new owners, Pittsburg[145]was substituted for the former name of disastrous memory—Fort du Quesne.[146]

This advantage was of considerable importance to the British; the respect for their power among the Indians, which recent disasters in that country had much shaken, was fully restored, and most of the Western native tribes sent to offer aid, or, at least, neutrality. Brigadier-general Forbes lived but a brief space to enjoy the credit gained by this success; his naturally weak constitution was broken by the hardships of the expedition, and he died soon afterward at Philadelphia, in honor, and regretted by all who knew him.

With this expedition concluded the campaign of the year 1758. Although its events were checkered with disaster and disgrace, the general result was eminently favorable to England, and honorable to the illustrious minister who then directed her councils. The reduction of Louisburg and its dependencies would have been of itself sufficient to reward the sacrifices so freely made by her patriotic people. Now in possession of a magnificent harbor—the key of the River St. Lawrence, it would be an easy task to intercept any succor which France might endeavor to send to prop her tottering sway in Canada. The reduction of the Forts Frontenac and du Quesne had paralyzed the enemy's power in the West, and given to England all the territory for the possession of which the war had arisen. Abercromby's defeat had been solely a negative event; his overwhelming force still hung like a thunder-cloud upon the shores of the lakes, and Montcalm well knew that he owed his brilliant victory to the incapacity of the British general, not to the want of military virtue in the British troops. The men—whose desperate valor had been wasted against the impassable barrier at Carillon—burning with ardor to avenge their defeat under an abler chief, were still straining, like bloodhounds on a leash, by the Canadian frontier.

With the full accord of the British king and people, the great minister distributed honor and punishment to the principal actors in the important events of the past campaign. General Abercromby was superseded in his command,[147]and Amherst, the conqueror of Louisburg, appointed chief of the American armies in his place. Immediately on receiving this commission, the new general embarked at Halifax for Boston, and thence proceeded to New York, where he arrived on the 12th of December, and assumed the command of the forces. On the 24th of January following, the unhappy Abercromby sailed for England in the Remmington man-of-war. Brigadier-general Wolfe accompanied him, in consequence of permission granted in his original order of service to return when the expedition had succeeded. Colonel Monckton was left in command at Nova Scotia.

FOOTNOTES:[121]"Le Comte de Chatam, Guillaume Pitt, génie vaste, audacieux, intrépide, procure en peu d'années à l'Angleterre des succès si prodigieux, que l'evénement seul en prouvoit la possibilité."—Millot, tom. v., p. 47.[122]"An immediate conquest of the settlements of the French seemed to be requisite to the vindication of British power. How far such conquest, if effected, ought in policy to be preserved, was a more perplexing question; and, on the whole, the British minister was rather animated to prosecute hostilities than fixed in decisive purpose with regard to their ultimate issue.... From the extent and precision of political information for which Pitt was so justly renowned, it is impossible to suppose that he was unacquainted with the doubts which had been openly expressed, both in Britain and America, of the expediency of attempting the entire conquest of the French settlements in the New World; and a conviction prevailed with many American politicians that this conquest would destroy the firmest pledge which Britain possessed of the obedience of her transatlantic colonies."—Graham'sHist. of the United States, vol. iv., p. 24-26.[123]The Wood Creek connected with Lakes George and Champlain is to be distinguished from the Wood Creek more frequently mentioned in these wars, which was situated between the Mohawk River and Oneida Lake.[124]"This place was originally called Che-on-der-o-ga by the Indians, signifying, in their language,noise. Its name was afterward slightly changed by the French into its present appellation, which it has borne ever since it was first occupied and fortified by them in 1756. It was sometimes called Fort Carillon. This fortification cost the French a large sum of money, and was considered very strong both by nature and art. Its ruins are situated in the town of Ticonderoga, Essex county, they are among the most interesting in the country, and are annually visited by a great number of travelers."—Picturesque Tourist,.p. 209.[125]"The ruins of the old fortifications of Crown Point present an interesting object from the water. The embankments are visible, and indicate an immense amount of labor expended to make this place invulnerable to an approaching foe, either by land or water. Crown Point is eighteen miles north of Ticonderoga."—Picturesque Tourist, p. 113.[126]Graham, whose authority is always questionable where the comparative merits of the British regulars and Provincials[148]are concerned, asserts that "the French party consisted of regulars and a few Indians; and, notwithstanding their surprise and inferiority of numbers, displayed a promptitude of skill and courage that had nearly reproduced the catastrophe of Braddock.... The suddenness of their assault, the terror inspired by the Indian yell, and the grief and astonishment created by the death of Lord Howe, excited a general panic among the British regulars; but the Provincials, who flanked them, and were better acquainted with the mode of fighting practiced by the enemy, stood their ground and soon defeated them."—Graham'sHist. of the United States, vol. iv., p. 30.[127]"He was," says General Abercromby, "the first man that fell; and as he was, very deservedly, universally beloved and respected throughout the whole army, it is easy to conceive the grief and consternation his untimely fall occasioned."—Letter from the Right Honorable G. Grenville to Mr. Pitt, Wotton, August 23d, 1758."The great number of officers and men in the regular troops killed and wounded, and particularly the grievous loss we have sustained in the death of Lord Howe, are circumstances that would cloud a victory, and must therefore aggravate our concern for a repulse. I was not personally acquainted with Lord Howe, but I admired his virtuous, gallant character, and regret his loss accordingly. I can not help thinking it peculiarly unfortunate for his country and his friends that he should fall in the first action of this war, before his spirit and his example, and the success and glory which, in all human probability, would have attended them, had produced their full effect on our own troops and those of the enemy. You have a melancholy task indeed, affected as you justly are with this public and private sorrow, to communicate the death of Lord Howe to a brother that most tenderly loved him."I am ever your most affectionate brother,"George Grenville."—Chatham Correspondence.Even Graham admits that "Lord Howe exhibited the most promising military talents, and his valor, virtue, courtesy, and good sense, had wonderfully endeared him both to the English and to the Provincial troops. He was the first to encounter the danger to which he conducted others, and to set the example of every sacrifice which he required them to incur. He was the idol and soul of the army."—Vol. iv., p. 29. See Smollett'sHistory of England, vol. iv., p. 306."Lord Howe's memory was honored by a vote of the Assembly of Massachusetts for the erection of a superb cenotaph at the expense of the province, among the heroes and patriots of Britain, in the collegiate church of Westminster."—Belsham, vol. ii., p. 205."The popularity of his name has been, perhaps, impaired by the circumstance that his brother, Sir William Howe, commanded the British army in the Revolutionary war in America. It is still doubtful whether Lord Howe fell by the fire of the enemy, or by a misdirected shot from some unhappy hand among his own confused and startled soldiers."—Graham'sHistory of the United States, vol. iv., p. 30.Lord Howe was succeeded in his title by his brother Richard, afterward the celebrated admiral. He had already distinguished himself by the capture of the Alcide and the Lys.[128]See Appendix,No. LXV.[129]"The 42d regiment was then in the height of deserved reputation; in it there was not a private man that did not consider himself as rather above the lower class of people, and peculiarly bound to support the honor of the very singular corps to which he belonged. This brave, hard-fated regiment was then commanded by a veteran of great experience and military skill, Colonel Gordon Graham,[149]who had the first point of attack assigned to him: he was wounded at the first onset. How many this regiment, in particular, lost of men and officers, I can not now exactly say; what I distinctly remember having often heard of it since is, that of the survivors, every one officer retired wounded off the field. Of the 55th regiment, to which my father had newly been attached, ten officers were killed, including all the field officers. No human beings could show more determined courage than this brave army did."—Memoirs of an American Lady, vol. ii., p. 81.[130]"Captain John Campbell and a few men forced their way over the breast-work, but were instantly dispatched with the bayonet."—Stewart'sSketches of the Highlanders, vol. ii., p. 61.[131]It was at this period that Pitt commenced his bold, yet, as it proved, most safe and wise policy of raising Highland regiments from the lately disaffected clans. I have already alluded to this measure by anticipation. Let me now add only the glowing words which Chatham himself applied to it in retrospect. "My lords, we should not want men in a good cause. I remember how I employed the very rebels in the service and defense of their country. They were reclaimed by this means; they fought our battles; they cheerfully bled in defense of those liberties which they had attempted to overthrow but a few years before."—Lord Chatham'sSpeech in the House of Lords, December 2d, 1777, quoted by Lord Mahon,History of England, vol. iv., p. 133.[132]"So misinformed or so presumptuous was General Abercromby, that he expected to force this strong position by musketry alone, and had resolved to commence the attack without awaiting his artillery, which, for want of good roads, was yet lagging in the rear."—Lord Mahon'sHistory of England, vol. iv., p. 203.[133]Entick'sHist., vol. iii., p. 258; Mante'sHist. of the War, p. 151.[134]"How far Mr. Abercromby acquitted himself in the duty of a general, we shall not pretend to determine; but if he could depend upon the courage and discipline of his forces, he surely had nothing to fear, after the action, from the attempts of the enemy, to whom he would have been superior in number, even though they had been joined by the re-enforcement which he falsely supposed they expected. He might, therefore, have remained on the spot, in order to execute some other enterprise, when he should be re-enforced in his turn, for General Amherst no sooner heard of his disaster than he returned with the troops from Cape Breton to New England, having left a strong garrison in Louisburg,"—Smollett'sHistory of England, vol. iv., p. 309; Smith'sHistory of Canada, vol. i., p. 265."The British army, still amounting to nearly 14,000 men, greatly outnumbered the enemy; and if the artillery had been brought up to their assistance, might have overpowered with little difficulty the French and their defenses at Ticonderoga. Next to the defeat of Braddock, this was the most disgraceful catastrophe that had befallen the arms of Britain in America."—Graham'sHistory of the United States, vol. iv., p. 32.[135]Letter from the Earl of Bute to Mr. Pitt:"August 20, 1751."My dear Friend—I feel most sensibly this cruel reverse, and the loss of so many gallant men; but when I reflect on the part they have acted, I congratulate my country and my friend on the revival of that spirit which in former times was so conspicuous in this island. I think this check, my dear Pitt, affects you too strongly. The general (!!) and the troops have done their duty, and appear by the numbers lost to have fought with the greatest intrepidity; to have tried all that men could do to force their way. The commander seems broken-hearted at being forced (!!) to a retreat."Adieu, my dear Pitt, your ever most affectionate"Bute."—Chatham Correspondence, vol. i., p. 336.[136]"Thus does history transmit the virtues of one age to another, and thus does it hold forth warning of shame."—Bolingbroke.[137]See Appendix,No. LXVII.[138]"M. de Courcelers originated the design of building the fort at Catarocouy, but, being recalled before it could be carried into execution, M. de Frontenac carried out his plans in 1672, and gave his name to the fort. Lake Ontario also, for a long time afterward bore the name of Frontenac."—Charlevoix, tom. ii., p. 245."This fort was rebuilt by Frontenac in 1695, against the orders of M. de Pontchartrain. The after importance of this celebrated position fully justified Frontenac's opposition to the wishes of the French minister. The connection between Canada and Louisiana mainly depended upon the possession of Fort Frontenac, as was manifest upon its loss by the French. Kingston stands on the site of old Fort Frontenac; next to Quebec and Halifax, it is considered the strongest military position in British America."—Picturesque Tourist, p. 222.[139]Extract of a letter from an officer in Albany to a member of Parliament here (London), dated Sept. 13, 1758: "Frontenac (called here Cadaraque) was of great consequence to the French, both as to their influence on the Indians, by keeping up a communication between Fort du Quesne and Canada, and annoying us on the Mohawk River.... Colonel Bradstreet is a captain in our regiment.... He is a man of great spirit and activity; has been most of his life in this country, and understands things very well.... Col. Bradstreet has been near three years pressing the commanding general in North America to let him go against this fort, but they thought the undertaking too desperate, which he has now accomplished without the loss of a man, and at a very critical juncture.... Thus the French expedition against the German Flats, and probably this very town, is happily prevented; their shipping on the Lake Ontario, which made them so formidable, is destroyed; they have no vessels to send provisions into the other forts, and their fort, which kept the Indians so much in their interest, is destroyed; and the Six Nations (who, all but the Mohawks, would have left us) will now be more in our interest than ever. The taking of Frontenac gave more joy to the inhabitants of this place than even Louisburg itself, for it more nearly concerned them, and they say there will be now no more scalping."—The Public Advertiser, Jan. 20, 1759.[140]Extract of a letter from New York, dated Nov. 20, 1758: "Our army is gone into winter quarters, and I hope, when we make an attack again, to succeed; but we must first have more regulars from England. Our militia are not fit for a campaign. Our English soldiers will kill ten Provincials in point of fatigue. The affair of Colonel Bradstreet was a brave thing for us, but not one in five could go through that tiresome affair; for, after the place was taken, they buried thirty and forty in a day at Schenectady."—The Public Advertiser, Feb. 3, 1759.[141]"The village of Rome, fourteen miles west of Utica, is situated near the head waters of the Mohawk: it stands on the site of old Fort Stanwix, which was an important post during the Revolutionary and French wars."—Picturesque Tourist, p. 139.[142]"Several soldiers of this and other regiments fell into an ambush, and were captured by the Indians. Allan Macpherson, seeing his comrades horribly tortured to death, and knowing that the same fate awaited him, told the savages, through an interpreter, that he knew a wonderful secret of a certain medicine, which, if applied to the skin, would render it proof against any weapon. His tale was believed by the superstitious Indians, and, anxious to see the proof, they allowed him to gather herbs, and, having mixed and boiled them, to apply the concoction to his neck; he then laid his head upon a block, and challenged the strongest man to strike. A warrior came forward, and, to prove the virtue of the medicine, struck a blow with his tomahawk at full strength; the head flew off several yards. The Indians stood at first amazed at their own credulity, but were afterward so pleased at the Highlander's ingenuity in escaping the torture, that they refrained from inflicting further cruelties on their surviving victims."—Stewart'sSketches of the Highlanders, vol. ii., p. 61.Some of the Highland regiments sent to America were newly raised, and still, in a great degree, retained the wildness of their Celtic countrymen, as the following anecdote illustrates: "A soldier of another regiment, who was a sentinel detached from an advanced guard, seeing a man coming out of the wood with his hair hanging loose, and wrapped up in a dark-colored plaid, he challenged him repeatedly, and, receiving no answer (the weather being hazy), fired at him and killed him. The guard being alarmed, the sergeant ran out to know the cause, and the unhappy sentinel, strongly prepossessed that it was an Indian, with a blanket about him, who came skulking to take a prisoner, or a scalp, cried out, 'I have killed an Indian! I have killed an Indian!' but upon being undeceived by the sergeant, who went to take a view of the dead man, and being told that he was one of our own men and a Highlander, he was so oppressed with grief and fright that he fell ill, and was despaired of for some days. In consequence of this accident, most of these young soldiers being raw and inexperienced, and very few of them conversant in or able to talk English (which was particularly his case who was killed), these regiments were ordered to do no more duty for some time."—Knox'sHistorical Campaign, vol. i., p. 48.[143]Raystown is near Bedford.[144]Loyal Hanning, when fortified by General Forbes, on his return to Philadelphia, was called Fort Ligonier.[145]"With the unanimous concurrence of his officers, he altered the name of Fort du Quesne to Pittsburg, a well-earned compliment to the minister who had planned its conquest."—Lord Mahon'sHistory of England, vol. iv., p. 203.[146]"New York, Dec. 13. Early on Monday last an express arrived hither from the westward, and brought sundry letters which gave an account that General Forbes was in possession of Fort du Quesne; one of those letters said: 'Fort du Quesne, Nov. 26, 1756. I have now the pleasure to write to you from the ruins of the fort.... We arrived at six o'clock last night, and found it in a great measure destroyed. There are two forts about twenty yards distant; the one built with immense labor, small, but a great deal of strong works collected into little room, and stands at the point of a narrow neck of land at the confluence of the two rivers: it is square, and has two ravelins, gabions at each corner, &c. The other fort stands on the bank of the Allegany, in the form of a parallelogram, but not near so strong as the other. They sprung a mine, which ruined one of their magazines; in the other we found sixteen barrels of ammunition, &c., and about a cart-load of scalping-knives. A boy, who had been their prisoner about two years, tells us ... that they had burned five of the prisoners they took at Major Grant's defeat, on the parade, and had delivered others to the Indians, who were tomahawked on the spot. We found numbers of dead bodies within a quarter of a mile of the fort, unburied, so many monuments of French humanity. Mr. Bates is appointed to preach a thanksgiving sermon for the remarkable superiority of his majesty's arms. We left all our tents at Loyal Hanning, and every conveniency, except a blanket and a knapsack.' Another letter mentions that 'only 2500 picked men marched from Loyal Hanning ... that 200 of our people were to be left at Fort du Quesne, now Pittsburg—100 of the oldest Virginians, the others of our oldest Pennsylvanians.... The French judged rightly in abandoning a fort, the front of whose polygon is only 150 feet, and which our shells would have destroyed in three days. We have fired some howitzer shells into the face of the work, which is made of nine-inch plank, and rammed between with earth, and found that, in firing but a few hours, we must have destroyed the entire face."—The Public Advertiser, Jan. 20, 1757.[147]"He was a person of slender abilities, and utterly devoid of energy and resolution, and Pitt too late regretted the error he had committed in intrusting a command of such importance to one so little known to him, and who proved so unfit to sustain it."—Graham, vol.IV., p. 19.[148]"It was a circumstance additionally irritating and mortifying to England, that the few advantages which had been gained over the French were exclusively due to the colonial troops, while unredeemed disaster and disgrace had attended all the efforts of the British forces (1757)."—Graham'sHist. of the United States, vol. iv., p. 16.[149]Graham, in his "History," falls into the mistake of supposing that Lord John Murray commanded the 42d regiment, because it bore his name.

[121]"Le Comte de Chatam, Guillaume Pitt, génie vaste, audacieux, intrépide, procure en peu d'années à l'Angleterre des succès si prodigieux, que l'evénement seul en prouvoit la possibilité."—Millot, tom. v., p. 47.

[122]"An immediate conquest of the settlements of the French seemed to be requisite to the vindication of British power. How far such conquest, if effected, ought in policy to be preserved, was a more perplexing question; and, on the whole, the British minister was rather animated to prosecute hostilities than fixed in decisive purpose with regard to their ultimate issue.... From the extent and precision of political information for which Pitt was so justly renowned, it is impossible to suppose that he was unacquainted with the doubts which had been openly expressed, both in Britain and America, of the expediency of attempting the entire conquest of the French settlements in the New World; and a conviction prevailed with many American politicians that this conquest would destroy the firmest pledge which Britain possessed of the obedience of her transatlantic colonies."—Graham'sHist. of the United States, vol. iv., p. 24-26.

[123]The Wood Creek connected with Lakes George and Champlain is to be distinguished from the Wood Creek more frequently mentioned in these wars, which was situated between the Mohawk River and Oneida Lake.

[124]"This place was originally called Che-on-der-o-ga by the Indians, signifying, in their language,noise. Its name was afterward slightly changed by the French into its present appellation, which it has borne ever since it was first occupied and fortified by them in 1756. It was sometimes called Fort Carillon. This fortification cost the French a large sum of money, and was considered very strong both by nature and art. Its ruins are situated in the town of Ticonderoga, Essex county, they are among the most interesting in the country, and are annually visited by a great number of travelers."—Picturesque Tourist,.p. 209.

[125]"The ruins of the old fortifications of Crown Point present an interesting object from the water. The embankments are visible, and indicate an immense amount of labor expended to make this place invulnerable to an approaching foe, either by land or water. Crown Point is eighteen miles north of Ticonderoga."—Picturesque Tourist, p. 113.

[126]Graham, whose authority is always questionable where the comparative merits of the British regulars and Provincials[148]are concerned, asserts that "the French party consisted of regulars and a few Indians; and, notwithstanding their surprise and inferiority of numbers, displayed a promptitude of skill and courage that had nearly reproduced the catastrophe of Braddock.... The suddenness of their assault, the terror inspired by the Indian yell, and the grief and astonishment created by the death of Lord Howe, excited a general panic among the British regulars; but the Provincials, who flanked them, and were better acquainted with the mode of fighting practiced by the enemy, stood their ground and soon defeated them."—Graham'sHist. of the United States, vol. iv., p. 30.

[127]"He was," says General Abercromby, "the first man that fell; and as he was, very deservedly, universally beloved and respected throughout the whole army, it is easy to conceive the grief and consternation his untimely fall occasioned."—Letter from the Right Honorable G. Grenville to Mr. Pitt, Wotton, August 23d, 1758."The great number of officers and men in the regular troops killed and wounded, and particularly the grievous loss we have sustained in the death of Lord Howe, are circumstances that would cloud a victory, and must therefore aggravate our concern for a repulse. I was not personally acquainted with Lord Howe, but I admired his virtuous, gallant character, and regret his loss accordingly. I can not help thinking it peculiarly unfortunate for his country and his friends that he should fall in the first action of this war, before his spirit and his example, and the success and glory which, in all human probability, would have attended them, had produced their full effect on our own troops and those of the enemy. You have a melancholy task indeed, affected as you justly are with this public and private sorrow, to communicate the death of Lord Howe to a brother that most tenderly loved him."I am ever your most affectionate brother,"George Grenville."—Chatham Correspondence.Even Graham admits that "Lord Howe exhibited the most promising military talents, and his valor, virtue, courtesy, and good sense, had wonderfully endeared him both to the English and to the Provincial troops. He was the first to encounter the danger to which he conducted others, and to set the example of every sacrifice which he required them to incur. He was the idol and soul of the army."—Vol. iv., p. 29. See Smollett'sHistory of England, vol. iv., p. 306."Lord Howe's memory was honored by a vote of the Assembly of Massachusetts for the erection of a superb cenotaph at the expense of the province, among the heroes and patriots of Britain, in the collegiate church of Westminster."—Belsham, vol. ii., p. 205."The popularity of his name has been, perhaps, impaired by the circumstance that his brother, Sir William Howe, commanded the British army in the Revolutionary war in America. It is still doubtful whether Lord Howe fell by the fire of the enemy, or by a misdirected shot from some unhappy hand among his own confused and startled soldiers."—Graham'sHistory of the United States, vol. iv., p. 30.Lord Howe was succeeded in his title by his brother Richard, afterward the celebrated admiral. He had already distinguished himself by the capture of the Alcide and the Lys.

"The great number of officers and men in the regular troops killed and wounded, and particularly the grievous loss we have sustained in the death of Lord Howe, are circumstances that would cloud a victory, and must therefore aggravate our concern for a repulse. I was not personally acquainted with Lord Howe, but I admired his virtuous, gallant character, and regret his loss accordingly. I can not help thinking it peculiarly unfortunate for his country and his friends that he should fall in the first action of this war, before his spirit and his example, and the success and glory which, in all human probability, would have attended them, had produced their full effect on our own troops and those of the enemy. You have a melancholy task indeed, affected as you justly are with this public and private sorrow, to communicate the death of Lord Howe to a brother that most tenderly loved him.

"I am ever your most affectionate brother,"George Grenville."

—Chatham Correspondence.

Even Graham admits that "Lord Howe exhibited the most promising military talents, and his valor, virtue, courtesy, and good sense, had wonderfully endeared him both to the English and to the Provincial troops. He was the first to encounter the danger to which he conducted others, and to set the example of every sacrifice which he required them to incur. He was the idol and soul of the army."—Vol. iv., p. 29. See Smollett'sHistory of England, vol. iv., p. 306.

"Lord Howe's memory was honored by a vote of the Assembly of Massachusetts for the erection of a superb cenotaph at the expense of the province, among the heroes and patriots of Britain, in the collegiate church of Westminster."—Belsham, vol. ii., p. 205.

"The popularity of his name has been, perhaps, impaired by the circumstance that his brother, Sir William Howe, commanded the British army in the Revolutionary war in America. It is still doubtful whether Lord Howe fell by the fire of the enemy, or by a misdirected shot from some unhappy hand among his own confused and startled soldiers."—Graham'sHistory of the United States, vol. iv., p. 30.

Lord Howe was succeeded in his title by his brother Richard, afterward the celebrated admiral. He had already distinguished himself by the capture of the Alcide and the Lys.

[128]See Appendix,No. LXV.

[129]"The 42d regiment was then in the height of deserved reputation; in it there was not a private man that did not consider himself as rather above the lower class of people, and peculiarly bound to support the honor of the very singular corps to which he belonged. This brave, hard-fated regiment was then commanded by a veteran of great experience and military skill, Colonel Gordon Graham,[149]who had the first point of attack assigned to him: he was wounded at the first onset. How many this regiment, in particular, lost of men and officers, I can not now exactly say; what I distinctly remember having often heard of it since is, that of the survivors, every one officer retired wounded off the field. Of the 55th regiment, to which my father had newly been attached, ten officers were killed, including all the field officers. No human beings could show more determined courage than this brave army did."—Memoirs of an American Lady, vol. ii., p. 81.

[130]"Captain John Campbell and a few men forced their way over the breast-work, but were instantly dispatched with the bayonet."—Stewart'sSketches of the Highlanders, vol. ii., p. 61.

[131]It was at this period that Pitt commenced his bold, yet, as it proved, most safe and wise policy of raising Highland regiments from the lately disaffected clans. I have already alluded to this measure by anticipation. Let me now add only the glowing words which Chatham himself applied to it in retrospect. "My lords, we should not want men in a good cause. I remember how I employed the very rebels in the service and defense of their country. They were reclaimed by this means; they fought our battles; they cheerfully bled in defense of those liberties which they had attempted to overthrow but a few years before."—Lord Chatham'sSpeech in the House of Lords, December 2d, 1777, quoted by Lord Mahon,History of England, vol. iv., p. 133.

[132]"So misinformed or so presumptuous was General Abercromby, that he expected to force this strong position by musketry alone, and had resolved to commence the attack without awaiting his artillery, which, for want of good roads, was yet lagging in the rear."—Lord Mahon'sHistory of England, vol. iv., p. 203.

[133]Entick'sHist., vol. iii., p. 258; Mante'sHist. of the War, p. 151.

[134]"How far Mr. Abercromby acquitted himself in the duty of a general, we shall not pretend to determine; but if he could depend upon the courage and discipline of his forces, he surely had nothing to fear, after the action, from the attempts of the enemy, to whom he would have been superior in number, even though they had been joined by the re-enforcement which he falsely supposed they expected. He might, therefore, have remained on the spot, in order to execute some other enterprise, when he should be re-enforced in his turn, for General Amherst no sooner heard of his disaster than he returned with the troops from Cape Breton to New England, having left a strong garrison in Louisburg,"—Smollett'sHistory of England, vol. iv., p. 309; Smith'sHistory of Canada, vol. i., p. 265."The British army, still amounting to nearly 14,000 men, greatly outnumbered the enemy; and if the artillery had been brought up to their assistance, might have overpowered with little difficulty the French and their defenses at Ticonderoga. Next to the defeat of Braddock, this was the most disgraceful catastrophe that had befallen the arms of Britain in America."—Graham'sHistory of the United States, vol. iv., p. 32.

"The British army, still amounting to nearly 14,000 men, greatly outnumbered the enemy; and if the artillery had been brought up to their assistance, might have overpowered with little difficulty the French and their defenses at Ticonderoga. Next to the defeat of Braddock, this was the most disgraceful catastrophe that had befallen the arms of Britain in America."—Graham'sHistory of the United States, vol. iv., p. 32.

[135]Letter from the Earl of Bute to Mr. Pitt:"August 20, 1751."My dear Friend—I feel most sensibly this cruel reverse, and the loss of so many gallant men; but when I reflect on the part they have acted, I congratulate my country and my friend on the revival of that spirit which in former times was so conspicuous in this island. I think this check, my dear Pitt, affects you too strongly. The general (!!) and the troops have done their duty, and appear by the numbers lost to have fought with the greatest intrepidity; to have tried all that men could do to force their way. The commander seems broken-hearted at being forced (!!) to a retreat."Adieu, my dear Pitt, your ever most affectionate"Bute."—Chatham Correspondence, vol. i., p. 336.

[135]Letter from the Earl of Bute to Mr. Pitt:

"August 20, 1751.

"My dear Friend—I feel most sensibly this cruel reverse, and the loss of so many gallant men; but when I reflect on the part they have acted, I congratulate my country and my friend on the revival of that spirit which in former times was so conspicuous in this island. I think this check, my dear Pitt, affects you too strongly. The general (!!) and the troops have done their duty, and appear by the numbers lost to have fought with the greatest intrepidity; to have tried all that men could do to force their way. The commander seems broken-hearted at being forced (!!) to a retreat.

"Adieu, my dear Pitt, your ever most affectionate

"Bute."

—Chatham Correspondence, vol. i., p. 336.

[136]"Thus does history transmit the virtues of one age to another, and thus does it hold forth warning of shame."—Bolingbroke.

[137]See Appendix,No. LXVII.

[138]"M. de Courcelers originated the design of building the fort at Catarocouy, but, being recalled before it could be carried into execution, M. de Frontenac carried out his plans in 1672, and gave his name to the fort. Lake Ontario also, for a long time afterward bore the name of Frontenac."—Charlevoix, tom. ii., p. 245."This fort was rebuilt by Frontenac in 1695, against the orders of M. de Pontchartrain. The after importance of this celebrated position fully justified Frontenac's opposition to the wishes of the French minister. The connection between Canada and Louisiana mainly depended upon the possession of Fort Frontenac, as was manifest upon its loss by the French. Kingston stands on the site of old Fort Frontenac; next to Quebec and Halifax, it is considered the strongest military position in British America."—Picturesque Tourist, p. 222.

"This fort was rebuilt by Frontenac in 1695, against the orders of M. de Pontchartrain. The after importance of this celebrated position fully justified Frontenac's opposition to the wishes of the French minister. The connection between Canada and Louisiana mainly depended upon the possession of Fort Frontenac, as was manifest upon its loss by the French. Kingston stands on the site of old Fort Frontenac; next to Quebec and Halifax, it is considered the strongest military position in British America."—Picturesque Tourist, p. 222.

[139]Extract of a letter from an officer in Albany to a member of Parliament here (London), dated Sept. 13, 1758: "Frontenac (called here Cadaraque) was of great consequence to the French, both as to their influence on the Indians, by keeping up a communication between Fort du Quesne and Canada, and annoying us on the Mohawk River.... Colonel Bradstreet is a captain in our regiment.... He is a man of great spirit and activity; has been most of his life in this country, and understands things very well.... Col. Bradstreet has been near three years pressing the commanding general in North America to let him go against this fort, but they thought the undertaking too desperate, which he has now accomplished without the loss of a man, and at a very critical juncture.... Thus the French expedition against the German Flats, and probably this very town, is happily prevented; their shipping on the Lake Ontario, which made them so formidable, is destroyed; they have no vessels to send provisions into the other forts, and their fort, which kept the Indians so much in their interest, is destroyed; and the Six Nations (who, all but the Mohawks, would have left us) will now be more in our interest than ever. The taking of Frontenac gave more joy to the inhabitants of this place than even Louisburg itself, for it more nearly concerned them, and they say there will be now no more scalping."—The Public Advertiser, Jan. 20, 1759.

[140]Extract of a letter from New York, dated Nov. 20, 1758: "Our army is gone into winter quarters, and I hope, when we make an attack again, to succeed; but we must first have more regulars from England. Our militia are not fit for a campaign. Our English soldiers will kill ten Provincials in point of fatigue. The affair of Colonel Bradstreet was a brave thing for us, but not one in five could go through that tiresome affair; for, after the place was taken, they buried thirty and forty in a day at Schenectady."—The Public Advertiser, Feb. 3, 1759.

[141]"The village of Rome, fourteen miles west of Utica, is situated near the head waters of the Mohawk: it stands on the site of old Fort Stanwix, which was an important post during the Revolutionary and French wars."—Picturesque Tourist, p. 139.

[142]"Several soldiers of this and other regiments fell into an ambush, and were captured by the Indians. Allan Macpherson, seeing his comrades horribly tortured to death, and knowing that the same fate awaited him, told the savages, through an interpreter, that he knew a wonderful secret of a certain medicine, which, if applied to the skin, would render it proof against any weapon. His tale was believed by the superstitious Indians, and, anxious to see the proof, they allowed him to gather herbs, and, having mixed and boiled them, to apply the concoction to his neck; he then laid his head upon a block, and challenged the strongest man to strike. A warrior came forward, and, to prove the virtue of the medicine, struck a blow with his tomahawk at full strength; the head flew off several yards. The Indians stood at first amazed at their own credulity, but were afterward so pleased at the Highlander's ingenuity in escaping the torture, that they refrained from inflicting further cruelties on their surviving victims."—Stewart'sSketches of the Highlanders, vol. ii., p. 61.Some of the Highland regiments sent to America were newly raised, and still, in a great degree, retained the wildness of their Celtic countrymen, as the following anecdote illustrates: "A soldier of another regiment, who was a sentinel detached from an advanced guard, seeing a man coming out of the wood with his hair hanging loose, and wrapped up in a dark-colored plaid, he challenged him repeatedly, and, receiving no answer (the weather being hazy), fired at him and killed him. The guard being alarmed, the sergeant ran out to know the cause, and the unhappy sentinel, strongly prepossessed that it was an Indian, with a blanket about him, who came skulking to take a prisoner, or a scalp, cried out, 'I have killed an Indian! I have killed an Indian!' but upon being undeceived by the sergeant, who went to take a view of the dead man, and being told that he was one of our own men and a Highlander, he was so oppressed with grief and fright that he fell ill, and was despaired of for some days. In consequence of this accident, most of these young soldiers being raw and inexperienced, and very few of them conversant in or able to talk English (which was particularly his case who was killed), these regiments were ordered to do no more duty for some time."—Knox'sHistorical Campaign, vol. i., p. 48.

Some of the Highland regiments sent to America were newly raised, and still, in a great degree, retained the wildness of their Celtic countrymen, as the following anecdote illustrates: "A soldier of another regiment, who was a sentinel detached from an advanced guard, seeing a man coming out of the wood with his hair hanging loose, and wrapped up in a dark-colored plaid, he challenged him repeatedly, and, receiving no answer (the weather being hazy), fired at him and killed him. The guard being alarmed, the sergeant ran out to know the cause, and the unhappy sentinel, strongly prepossessed that it was an Indian, with a blanket about him, who came skulking to take a prisoner, or a scalp, cried out, 'I have killed an Indian! I have killed an Indian!' but upon being undeceived by the sergeant, who went to take a view of the dead man, and being told that he was one of our own men and a Highlander, he was so oppressed with grief and fright that he fell ill, and was despaired of for some days. In consequence of this accident, most of these young soldiers being raw and inexperienced, and very few of them conversant in or able to talk English (which was particularly his case who was killed), these regiments were ordered to do no more duty for some time."—Knox'sHistorical Campaign, vol. i., p. 48.

[143]Raystown is near Bedford.

[144]Loyal Hanning, when fortified by General Forbes, on his return to Philadelphia, was called Fort Ligonier.

[145]"With the unanimous concurrence of his officers, he altered the name of Fort du Quesne to Pittsburg, a well-earned compliment to the minister who had planned its conquest."—Lord Mahon'sHistory of England, vol. iv., p. 203.

[146]"New York, Dec. 13. Early on Monday last an express arrived hither from the westward, and brought sundry letters which gave an account that General Forbes was in possession of Fort du Quesne; one of those letters said: 'Fort du Quesne, Nov. 26, 1756. I have now the pleasure to write to you from the ruins of the fort.... We arrived at six o'clock last night, and found it in a great measure destroyed. There are two forts about twenty yards distant; the one built with immense labor, small, but a great deal of strong works collected into little room, and stands at the point of a narrow neck of land at the confluence of the two rivers: it is square, and has two ravelins, gabions at each corner, &c. The other fort stands on the bank of the Allegany, in the form of a parallelogram, but not near so strong as the other. They sprung a mine, which ruined one of their magazines; in the other we found sixteen barrels of ammunition, &c., and about a cart-load of scalping-knives. A boy, who had been their prisoner about two years, tells us ... that they had burned five of the prisoners they took at Major Grant's defeat, on the parade, and had delivered others to the Indians, who were tomahawked on the spot. We found numbers of dead bodies within a quarter of a mile of the fort, unburied, so many monuments of French humanity. Mr. Bates is appointed to preach a thanksgiving sermon for the remarkable superiority of his majesty's arms. We left all our tents at Loyal Hanning, and every conveniency, except a blanket and a knapsack.' Another letter mentions that 'only 2500 picked men marched from Loyal Hanning ... that 200 of our people were to be left at Fort du Quesne, now Pittsburg—100 of the oldest Virginians, the others of our oldest Pennsylvanians.... The French judged rightly in abandoning a fort, the front of whose polygon is only 150 feet, and which our shells would have destroyed in three days. We have fired some howitzer shells into the face of the work, which is made of nine-inch plank, and rammed between with earth, and found that, in firing but a few hours, we must have destroyed the entire face."—The Public Advertiser, Jan. 20, 1757.

[147]"He was a person of slender abilities, and utterly devoid of energy and resolution, and Pitt too late regretted the error he had committed in intrusting a command of such importance to one so little known to him, and who proved so unfit to sustain it."—Graham, vol.IV., p. 19.

[148]"It was a circumstance additionally irritating and mortifying to England, that the few advantages which had been gained over the French were exclusively due to the colonial troops, while unredeemed disaster and disgrace had attended all the efforts of the British forces (1757)."—Graham'sHist. of the United States, vol. iv., p. 16.

[149]Graham, in his "History," falls into the mistake of supposing that Lord John Murray commanded the 42d regiment, because it bore his name.

It will now be advisable to consider the state of the two great rival races on the North American continent, before entering upon the relation of the eventful campaign which was but the crisis of a surely approaching fate. Although the decisive blow that forever crushed the power of France was doubtless dealt by the immortal Wolfe upon the Plains of Abraham, the slow but certain conquest of Canada had progressed for many a previous year; with the wisdom and rectitude of the counselor, with the ax and plow of the settler, with the thrift and adventure of the merchant, with the sober industry of the mechanic, and the daring hardihood of the fisherman, was the glorious battle won. Against weapons such as these the chivalry of Montcalm and of his splendid veteran regiments vainly strove. To them victory brought glory without gain, inaction danger, and disaster ruin. Despite their courage, activity, and skill, the rude but vigorous British population, like surging waves, gained rapidly on every side, and at length burst the opposing barriers of military organization, and poured in a broad flood over the dreary level of an oppressed and spiritless land.

In the year 1759, the population of Canada had only reached to 60,000 souls, and it was found to have decreased during the last twenty years of war and want; of these, 6700 dwelt under the protection of the ramparts of Quebec, 4000 at Montreal, and 1500 at the little town of Three Rivers. The greater part of the remainder led a rural life on the fertile banks of the St. Lawrence and its tributaries, while a few wandered with gun and rod among Indian tribes scarcely more savage than themselves, over the prairies, and on the shores of the great lakes and rivers of the West. The settlements on both shores below Quebec were then almost as advanced as now: small white houses, dainty in the distance, stretched in rows for many miles along the level banks, or dotted the hill side in picturesque irregularity. Here and there, neat wooden churches, of a peculiarly quaint architecture, stood the centers of hamlets and knots of farms. In their neighborhood this encumbering forest was usually cleared away with careful industry, and each fertile nook and valley, and the borders of each stream, were rich with waving corn. Through these lower settlements a sort of rude track extended for many miles by the water side. On the large and beautiful island of Orleans many thousand acres of corn and pulse were sown, the farms carefully separated by wooden paling, and intersected with tolerable roads.

Between Quebec and Montreal, the banks of the Great River were hardly in so advanced a state as those toward the sea; the churches were fewer and more distant, the houses ruder and more scattered. There were many miles, indeed, where no traces of human industry greeted the traveler's eye. The shores of the great lakes, or, rather, expansions of the stream, were dreary swamps and thickets, and the slopes of the distant hills still bore the primeval forest. On the sandy flats of Three Rivers, in a scattered village, dwelt a population more numerous than that of the present day; a small surrounding district was cleared and cultivated, but the main occupation and support of the inhabitants was the fur trade with the Indians, who resorted thither from the unknown north by the waters of the broad streams here uniting with the St. Lawrence.

The rich and fertile island of Montreal was already generally cleared, and extensively but thinly peopled. The city, at times called Ville Marie in old maps, ranged somewhat irregularly for more than a mile along the river side, and was even then remarkable for the superiority of its public buildings over those of its colonial neighbors.

The Fathers of the Sulpician Order, by virtue of a grant in the year 1663, were proprietors of the whole of this rich district. They had established three courts of justice in the city, and erected a stately church of cut stone at a great expense. The Knights Hospitallers also possessed a very handsome building. A large, solid rampart of heavy beams, with eleven separate redoubts, protected the landward face of Montreal, and two platform batteries commanded the streets from end to end.

Here was the great dépôt of the northwestern fur trade, and here, also, the best market for the plentiful crops of the adjoining island, of the prairie, and of the Richelieu district.

In the month of June the savages came hither in canoes from places even at 500 miles' distance, to exchange their peltries for guns, ammunition, clothes, weapons, and utensils of iron and brass. The meeting or fair lasted for nearly three months, and during that time the town presented a strange and sometimes fearful spectacle; motley groups of fierce and hostile Indians occupied the streets, now engaged in bloody strife, again sunk in brutal intoxication. The French used every effort to prevent the sale of ardent spirits, but in vain, although sentinels were posted night and day to forbid the supply of the maddening liquor, and to preserve something of order in the wild gathering: all precautions proved ineffectual, and the drunkard frequently became also a murderer. At one time the little town of Chambly rivaled Montreal in the gainful but dangerous traffic; however, in 1759, there only remained a fort to prevent the English from enjoying the doubtful advantage of this trade. At Sorel, the entrance of the Richelieu River, an agricultural village had also arisen, rather beyond the neighboring settlements in extent and population.

Southwest of Montreal there was no town of any consideration. Near where the modern Kingston stands, a few poor hamlets were indeed grouped round Fort Frontenac, but on the shores of the sheltered Bay of Toronto, where 20,000 British subjects now ply their prosperous industry, myriads of wild fowl then found undisturbed refuge from the stormy waters of the lake. At Niagara there was a small village round the fort; there were trading posts at Detroit, Michillimackinac, and elsewhere; but the splendid tract of country lying between the northern shores of Erie and Ontario was almost unknown, save to the wandering Indian.

At this period, the first in importance, as well as population, among the settlements of New France, unquestionably was Quebec, the seat of government and of the supreme tribunals of justice. From its lofty headland the successors of the wise Champlain looked down upon the subject stream of the St. Lawrence, and held the great highway of Canada as if by a gate. No doubtful or hostile vessel could elude their vigilance; more than one powerful fleet had already recoiled shamed and crippled from before their embattled city. Here were deposited the public records, with most of the arms, ammunition, and resources of the colony; here, too, the principal establishments of religion, law, and learning were first founded and best sustained. The citizens and neighboring peasantry were less lowered by Indian intercourse than their other countrymen, and among them the refreshing immigration from the fatherland produced its most invigorating effect.

On the summit of the rocky height, a number of large and somewhat imposing public buildings, grouped irregularly together, with the well-built private dwellings of the wealthier inhabitants, formed the upper town. The lofty spires of no less than nine large ecclesiastical edifices arose within this comparatively limited space.

There were the bishop's palace, the courts of judicature, and the house of the Knights Hospitallers, the latter built of stone, extensive, handsome, and adorned with two stately pavilions. There, also, in a commanding situation, stood the Jesuits' college and their church, which was almost magnificent in the interior decorations. The governor's palace, however, erected in 1639, was the proudest ornament of the colonial capital.

Southwest of the Upper Town, on the crest of the headland, was the citadel, a large, imperfectly quadrangular fort, with flanking defenses at each corner, only protected, however, by a wall on the inner side. Further on, a large work of great design, but not yet finished, crowned the height of Cape Diamond:[150]from the northern angle of this work, an irregular line of bastioned defenses ran across the whole promontory to the River St. Charles. Some rude and imperfect field-works, with redoubts, strengthened the front toward the Plains of Abraham.

The Lower Town covered the beach of the Great River under the cliffs of the promontory: the dwellings, stores, and offices of the merchants, many of them handsome and solid, filled up this narrow space. The only edifice of note, however, was the church of Nôtre Dame de Victoire, built to commemorate Phipps's defeat in 1690. The defense of this part of the city was a large platform battery on the most salient point of the shore, placed scarcely above the level of the waters. The access from the Lower to the Upper Town was steep, narrow, and difficult, and protected by flanking loop-holed walls.

There was also a considerable suburb called St. Roch's, on the side of the River St. Charles, where dwelt the chief part of the laboring population, in irregular streets of mean and temporary houses. A large portion of the now valuable space was unoccupied, and here and there the rocky hill side remained as nature had made it. A few of the primeval forest trees still ornamented the gardens and terraces of the city, and clothed the neighboring cliffs.

In the wide plain lying by the banks of the River St. Charles, many handsome country houses and pleasant seats, with well-cultivated gardens and rich orchards, met the eye, and, on the slopes beyond, the trim villages of Charlesburg, Lorette, and Beauport; the distant mountain range, with its forest covering, formed, as now, the background of the broad and beautiful picture.

From the Falls of Montmorency[151]to Quebec, a continuous chain of intrenchments defended the northern bank of the St. Lawrence. A large boom lay across the mouth of the River St. Charles, and the bridge, about a quarter of a mile high up the stream, was protected by a "tête du pont." All these various works and fortifications were, however, rude and imperfect; the strength, as well as the beauty, of this magnificent position, was chiefly due to the bountiful hand of Nature.

The cultivation of the fertile Canadian soil was of a very rude description; but even the feeble industry of the "habitan" was generally repaid by rich and plentiful crops. The animals of the chase, and the inexhaustible supplies of fish in their lakes and rivers, were resources that better suited the thriftless and scanty population than the toilsome produce of the field. Tillage was neglected; they cared not to raise more grain than their own immediate wants demanded. The unparalleled monopolies of the colonial government deprived labor of the best stimulant—the certain enjoyment of its fruits. The farmer hardly cared to store up his superabundant harvest, when his haggard was exposed to the licensed plunder of cruel and avaricious officials, or served but as a sign where the domineering soldiery of Old France might find free quarters. He that sowed the seed knew not who might reap the crop. Often, when the golden fields were almost ripe for the sickle, the war-summons sounded in the Canadian hamlets, and the whole male population were hurried away to stem some distant Indian onslaught, or to inflict on some British settlement a ruin scarcely more complete than their own. In the early wars with the fierce Iroquois, this rude militia had ever answered their leaders' call with ready zeal, and fought with worthy courage; when the haughty savage was subdued and humbled, and a new and more dangerous foe arose in the hereditary enemies of their fatherland, the Canadians again took the field, strong in the spirit of national hatred. But as, year after year, the vain strife continued, and, despite their valor and even success, the British power hemmed them more closely in, their hearts sickened at the hopeless quarrel, and they longed for peace even under a stranger's sway. Their fields desolate, their villages deserted, their ships driven from the seas, what cared they for the pride of France, when its fruit to them was ruin, oppression, and contempt![152]What cared they for the Bourbon lily, when known but as the symbol of avarice and wrong!

The manufactures of this neglected though splendid colony scarcely merit even a passing notice. Flax and hemp were worked only sufficiently to show how much was lost in their neglect, and the clothing of this simple peasantry was chiefly of a coarse gray woollen stuff, the produce of their own wheels and looms. At the forges of St. Maurice, near Three Rivers, indeed, iron works were carried on with some skill, and profit to the employed, if not to the employers.

The commercial spirit of the French, such as it was, the fur trade almost wholly engrossed; the fisheries were never carried on with any vigor by the colonists; some adventurers, indeed, from the home ports, bore the produce of the northern waters, with Canadian timber and provisions, to the tropical islands, but even this limited trade was monopolized by a privileged few, through the corrupt connivance of the authorities. In the official returns of the colonial customs, there appears every year an enormous surplus of imports over exports, which can only be accounted for by the clandestine shipment of great quantities of furs and other goods, to restore in some measure the necessary balance of exchange. The sole view of the local officials was rapidly to accumulate wealth at the expense of the state or of their Canadian fellow-subjects; such of their books and accounts as fell into the hands of the English were so confused and irregular that it was difficult or impossible to discover the exact nature of their undoubted dishonesty.

The French East India company enjoyed the exclusive privilege of exporting the valuable furs of the beaver; they had therefore an agent, director, and controller in each separate government of Montreal, Three Rivers, and Quebec. A stated price was fixed for each skin, and on the hunter presenting it at the store, he received a receipt which became current in the colony as money, and was held to the last in higher estimation than the notes of the royal treasury. It has already been stated that bills of exchange to an immense amount on the government of France were afloat in the colony at a considerable depreciation; in the emergency of the year 1759, they ceased to be negotiable at any price.

Although the Canadian population was at this time poor, rude, and dispersed, it presented in some respects features usually characteristic of older and more prosperous communities. The emigration from whence it mainly sprung contained within itself the embryo forms of organization; nobility, clergy, merchants, and peasants were sent out from the fatherland, and commissioned especially for their several offices. No voluntary influx of ambitious, truculent, but energetic men swelled the population or disturbed the fatal repose of the young nation; no free development was permitted to its infant form, but, clothed in the elaborate garments of maturer years, the limbs were cramped, and the goodly proportions of nature dwarfed into a feeble frame. No safety-valve offered itself to the quick spirit of the young Canadian; military rank was limited to the favorites of the powers at home; mercantile success was debarred by vile and stupid monopolies; territorial possessions were unattainable but by interest or wealth: here the proud man, for a time, chafed and murmured, and at length strode away to the Far West, and sought the irresistible attractions of free and savage life.

No colony was ever governed by a succession of more able and excellent men than that of New France, perhaps none (except Algiers) has been apparently so much indebted to the mother country in tender infancy; none ever exhibited more thorough failure. A fertile soil, invigorating climate, and unsurpassed geographical advantages also offered themselves to the men of France; royal liberality and power lent them every aid; but, clogged by the ruinous conditions of their ecclesiastic and feudal organization, healthy action was impeded, and the seed, thus freely sown and carefully tended, grew up into a weak and sickly exotic. Experience has amply proved, as wisdom might have suggested, that in colonies, certainly, "the best government is that which governs least." When bold and vigorous men struggle forth from among the crowded thousands of the old communities, let them start in a fair race in the land of their adoption; the difficulties are great, let high hope cheer them; Nature there only opens her rich stores and bestows her treasures to brave and patient industry; the uncertain seasons, the Indian, and the wolf, are check and tax sufficient. The fatal error of despotic restraint cost France Canada by conquest, and cost us the noblest land God ever gave to man, by the deeper disgrace of a deserved and violent divorce.

The Canadian nobility, or rather gentry, were descended from the civil and military officers who from time to time settled in the country; through their own influence or that of their ancestors, this privileged class was altogether supported by royal patronage. Some enjoyed grants of extensive seigneuries;[153]others were speedily enriched by an appointment to the command of a distant post, where ample opportunities of dishonest aggrandizement were afforded and improved. Even the largest and least fortunate class were provided for by the less profitable favor of commissions in the colonial corps.

These favorites of power were generally vain and indolent men; they disdained trade and agriculture alike as beneath their high-born dignity; but they did not scruple to grasp at every convenient opportunity of easy profit, whether lawful or contraband; and they exacted, frequently with unequal justice, a large portion of the fruits of the earth from their peasant vassals. The feeble complaints of poverty against oppression were seldom loud enough to awake the attention of judges who were themselves often as guilty as the accused. From the especial favor enjoyed by the Canadian gentry under the rule of France, they were stanch to the last to her and to their own interests, and, as far as they went, were the most effective garrison in the colony: to them the prospect of British conquest was hateful and ruinous; with it must end their reign of corruption and monopoly.

At the time of the first settlement of Canada, the feudal system existed in the mother country in all its Gothic rigor, and thus it was naturally established in spirit and in letter as the basis of the new society. Every territorial possession in New France was originally held by grants under the strictest form of these iron laws; but, as the country became more populous and of increasing importance, a variety of modifications was gradually introduced, tending to curb the exorbitant power of the seigneurs, and proportionally to elevate the condition of their vassals. By degrees, many of the more obnoxious features of feudalism were effaced; and the nature of the tenure became to a certain extent adapted to the peculiar circumstances of the colony. The independent holdings by "free and common soccage" were not, however, effectually introduced till thirty years after the conquest.

The favored classes of the Canadians were devoted to social amusements; excursions by day, parties for gaming, and the dance at night, occupied their summer; and in winter, sleighing, skating, snow-shoeing, and evening réunion, turned that dreary time into a season of enjoyment. Lively, free, and graceful in manners, their vanity and want of education were little noticeable in the intercourse of daily life.[154]They were inclined to ostentation and extravagance;[155]the means, often unscrupulously procured, were squandered with careless profusion, and they generally endeavored to keep up an appearance of wealth beyond that which they really possessed. Henri de Pont Brian, bishop of Quebec, in his remarkable address to the Canadian people immediately before the conquest, draws a dark picture of the religious and moral condition of the inhabitants at the time, and attributes the threatened danger to the "especial wrath of Heaven for the absence of pious zeal—for the profane diversions—the insufferable excesses of games of chance—the contempt of religious ordinances—open robberies—heinous acts of injustice—shameful rapines. The contagion is nearly universal." Making every allowance for the worthy ecclesiastic's probable exaggeration of the causes which excited his indignation, the evidence of their own spiritual pastor must bear heavily against the reputation of the French colonists.

The clergy were usually classed in the second rank of Canadian precedence; in actual importance, however, they had no superior. Those holding the higher offices of the Church were chiefly or exclusively of French origin, and some among them were men of high talents and attainments; the parochial ministers and curates were generally colonists, sprung from the humble orders of society, locally educated, and limited in their ideas. Nevertheless, their influence over the still simpler parishioners was very great. These inferior clergy were placed under the absolute control of their bishops, by them promoted, removed, or dispossessed at pleasure; a certain degree of jealousy, therefore, not unnaturally mingled itself with the curate's reverend awe of his alien prelate, whose lessons of humility were often less strongly inculcated by example than by precept. Although many of the country priests exerted themselves zealously against the English, under the impression that a heretic conquest would be the ruin of their Church, they were not altogether contented with the intimacy of the connection that bound them to France. The idea had arisen, increased, and ripened among them, that from their own body a discriminating government could have selected wise and holy men upon whose heads the apostolic miter might have been judiciously placed. The arrival of a new bishop or other ecclesiastical dignitary from France was no more a matter of rejoicing to the reverend fathers of Canada than that of a Parisian collector or intendant to the provincial merchant and farmer. In the year 1759, however, the Bishop of Quebec, the Abbé de la Corne, was of Canadian origin; notwithstanding which, he was at that critical time in France. When the Bishopric of Quebec was erected by Louis XIV. in 1664, he endowed the new see with the revenues of the two abbacies, Benevent and l'Estrie; subsequently these were resigned to a general fund for the increase of small livings, from which a yearly income of 8000 livres was allowed instead for the colonial bishopric. The chapter was also enriched by a royal pension and an abbey in France, together valued at 12,000 livres annually.

Besides some liberal allowances from the French crown, the Hôtel de Ville, and other external sources, no less than one fourth of all the granted lands was bestowed upon the Church establishment, and the several religious, educational, and charitable institutions of the colony, and a tithe of a twenty-sixth part of all the produce of the fields was also appropriated to the support of the parochial clergy.

First in establishment, and beyond all compare foremost in importance among the religious orders in the colony, was that of the Jesuits: to their particular care were intrusted the education of youth and the Indian missions. Here, as in all other countries where that mysterious and once terrible brotherhood had taken root, the traces of their vampire energy were plainly and painfully visible. We can not, however, but regard with admiration the courage and unquenchable zeal of these extraordinary men; their union of strange and contradictory qualities astounds us: the strong will of the tyrant, the enterprise of the freeman, and the discipline of the slave. With variety and versatility of power, but singleness of purpose, they pursued their appointed course; whether warping the minds of their civilized pupils in the chill tranquillity of the cloister, or denouncing idols among the fiercest of the heathen, ever devoted and unwearied.

The mission of the Jesuit priests was to bring the savage, on any terms, within the pale of the visible Church; not to advance him in civilization, but to tame him to the utmost possible docility. They overleaped the tedious difficulties of conversion, and proselyted whole tribes in a single day. At times they even adapted the forms of Catholicism to the ferocious customs of the Indians. On one occasion, when the Christian Hurons were about to torture and slay some heathen Iroquois taken in battle, the missionary, by bribes and prayers, gained permission to baptize the victims, but made no intercession to save them from an agonizing death: while under the torments of the fire and the knife, they recited their new creed instead of chanting the last war-song. The Jesuit historian of this dreadful scene calls on his readers to rejoice in the providential mercy that brought the captured Iroquois within the blessed fold of the Church. In the triumph of Christianizing the heathen, he despised the task of humanizing the Christian.

Even the wise and benevolent Charlevoix seemed to have forgotten that Christianity is "the religion of civilized man," and that its doctrine and practice are utterly incompatible with the habits of savage life. He, in common with his Jesuit brethren, ever exhibited a jealous hesitation and dislike to the enlightenment of the Indians by secular instruction, or to the improvement of their physical condition; any effort made by others with this object caused them deep uneasiness. When, in 1667, M. de Talon, the intendant, urged by the far-sighted Colbert, endeavored to introduce the language and civilization of Europe among the savages, he was defeated by the determined opposition of the missionaries, who alone at that time exercised influence over the red children of the forest. Nearly twenty years afterward the same policy was pressed upon M. de Denonville, and by him attempted; but, as Charlevoix complacently says, when the French were brought into contact with the Indians for this purpose, "the French became savages instead of the savages becoming French." This readiness in adapting themselves to the habits of the natives, which for a time gained them great power and popularity,[156]was ultimately fatal to their success as colonists. The Anglo-Americans, on the other hand, despising their Indian neighbors, and, in return, hated and feared by them, were seldom or never infected by the contagion of savage indolence.

M. de Frontenac writes, in the year 1691, that "the experience of twelve years' residence in Canada has convinced me that the Jesuit missions ought not to be separated as they are from the settlements of the French, but that free intercourse should be encouraged between the Indians and Europeans; thus they might become 'francisé' at the same time that they are Christianized, otherwise more harm than good will accrue to the king's service."

But on this question of the improvement of the Indians, the civil and the military authorities of the colony were at perpetual issue with the formidable brotherhood; the Canadian people generally concurred with their temporal rulers on this point, hence it resulted that in later years the Jesuits were little loved or esteemed in the colony.

More than a century after the missionaries first penetrated the Indian's country, their writers describe his condition as disgusting and degraded, rather with contentment than with regret. From their observations we may learn the views of the Jesuits, and in a measure see the result of their practice. "It must nevertheless be confessed that things have somewhat changed on this point (native civilization) since our arrival in this country; some of the Indians already begin to provide for future wants in case of the failure of the chase, but it is to be feared that this may go too far, and by creating superfluous wants, render them more unhappy than they now are in their greatest poverty. The missionaries, however, can not be blamed for causing this danger; they well know that it is morally impossible to keep the 'juste milieu,' and provide the proper restraint; they have rather desired to share with the Indian the hardships of his lot, than to open his eyes to the dangerous means of its amelioration."

When at one time the Christianized Iroquois had remained at peace for the unusual period of six months, they almost forgot the neighborhood of deadly and implacable enemies; the missionaries could not prevail upon their careless disciples to take the necessary precautions for defense; they therefore redoubled their endeavors to sanctify, and prepare for the worst fate, those whom they could not preserve from it. In this respect the Indian proved perfectly docile, and became readily imbued with the sentiments suitable to his perilous position: he was, in consequence, soon reduced to a degree of indolence and indifference which has perhaps no parallel in history. Enthusiasts in the cause, the Jesuits, Charlevoix says, regarded "every simple Indian who perished as an additional intercessor above for them and their labor of charity."

Almost the only civilization, and permanent religious faith and practice, was established among the Indians by the labors of Protestant missionaries. They, from the beginning, sought to cherish habits of industry and forethought, and to give their converts a taste for the comforts of life. In every instance of successful effort in the cause of civilization, from the earliest time to the present day, the native population has increased in numbers, and become gradually exempt from that mysterious curse of decay which seems to cling to all the rest of their savage brethren.[157]

The descendants of the now neglected Jesuit converts are in no wise distinguishable from other savages. By the labors of the brotherhood no permanent impression was stamped upon the Indians; they yielded themselves up in a great measure to the guidance of their missionary, who, in return, taught them the outward form and ceremony of his faith, but nothing more. He was the mind and the soul of the community; he alone exercised forethought, guarded against danger, and measured out enjoyment; to a certain extent he improved the temporary circumstances of his disciples, but he robbed them of their native energy, and crushed all freedom of thought and of individual action: he being removed, the body remained deprived of all directing intellect: the condition of the Christianized but uninstructed savage soon became almost the lowest of human existence, till weakness, hardship, and famine swept him away from the scene of earthly suffering.

A very able writer on colonization ascribes the rapid decay in numbers of all Jesuit congregations, whether in the snows of Canada, or the burning sunshine of Paraguay, to the unnatural restraint in which they live. No vigilant superintendence, moral instruction, and physical well-being can compensate for the loss of freedom of action and the habit of self-guidance. The necessity of taking thought for himself, and living by the sweat of his brow, seems indispensable to the healthy action of man's nature. It can not be denied that many of these communities have held together for generations free from the corroding cares and corrupting vices of civilization; amply supplied (superstition apart) with religious instruction, and free from crime and punishment; and many may be tempted favorably to contrast the feeble innocence of this theocracy with the turbulent passions and vices which deform more advanced societies, and to forget that the man whose mind is thus enslaved is sunk below the level of his kind: his contentment and simplicity are apathy and ignorance, and his obedience is degradation.

Although the evident aim of the brotherhood is to paralyze intellectual life in others, nothing is left undone to give vitality to their own. The Jesuit regards his society as the soul or citadel of Catholic theocracy, and sacrifices to it every social tie, his free will, and his life: fired with its gigantic ambition and its pride, they become his faith and morals; his constant idea is the hope of his order's universal sway; in darkness and secrecy, with patience and invincible perseverance, he works on at the labor of centuries, devoted to the one great purpose, the fulfillment of which his dilating eye sees through the vista of unborn generations. Yet this wonderful organization holds the eternal passion of its deep heart riveted upon an object ever unattainable; for the Jesuit seeks not to rear the supremacy of his Church upon the firm foundations of virtue, truth, and reason; his earnest toil is wasted on the shifting quicksands of ignorance and superstition; the loftier the building, the more complete and extensive must be the ruin. Nevertheless, through failure and success alike, his faith's somber fire burns unceasingly upon the inward altar of his soul.

The merchants of Canada were chiefly of French, the retail dealers of native birth. From the nature of the colonial system, trade conferred neither wealth nor respect, except to the favored few enjoying monopolies. Every one in business was deeply involved by the depreciated bills of exchange upon the home government, and their only hope of ultimate payment rested upon the maintenance of the connection with the parent state. The trading classes may therefore be counted as generally hostile to the British power, but their importance was very small; like all the French race, they were more inclined to small trading transactions than those on a larger scale, and preferred enterprise to industry. It has been seen that one of the leading objects in the establishment of the colony was the trade in fur, especially that of the beaver; but the very abundance of this commodity ultimately proved of great detriment: the long and frequent journeys for the purpose of obtaining it gave the Canadians idle and wandering habits, which they could not shake off even when the low value of the now over-plentiful fur rendered their enterprises almost unprofitable.

The Canadian peasantry, or "habitans," were generally a healthy, simple, and virtuous race, but they were also extremely ignorant; indeed, the jealousy of their rulers would never suffer a printing-press to be erected in the country; few could read or write, and they were remarkably credulous of even the grossest fabrications which emanated from their superiors. Chiefly of Norman origin, they inherit many ancestral characteristics: litigious, yet impetuous and thoughtless; brave and adventurous, but with little constancy of purpose. The resemblance of the interior of a peasant's dwelling in Normandy, and on the banks of the St. Lawrence, was remarkable to a practiced eye: with the exception of the flooring—which in Canada is always of wood, and in France of stone—every thing is nearly the same; the chimney always in the center of the building, and the partitions shutting off the sleeping apartments at each end of the large room where the inhabitants dwell by day.

The French minister, Colbert,[158]in his instructions to M. de Talon and the Sieur de Courcelles, dwelt much on the dangerous practice of the early Canadian colonists building their residences without rule or order, wherever convenience suited, and neglecting the important point of settling near together for mutual assistance and defense. This system being obviously a serious obstacle to successful colonization, an edict was issued by the king that henceforth there should be no clearing of lands except in close neighborhood, and that the dwellings should all be built according to rule: this ordinance proved useless, as it would have been necessary for the habitans to commence the toilsome task of new clearing, and to abandon the lands where their fathers had dwelt. In 1685, however, the French government again renewed the attempt to alter this pernicious system, but Charlevoix says that "every one agreed that their neighbor was in danger, but no one could be got to fear for himself in particular." Even those who had been the victims of this imprudence were not rendered wiser by experience;[159]any losses that could be repaired were repaired as soon as possible, and those that were irreparable were speedily forgotten. The sight of a little present advantage blinded all the habitans to the future. This is the true savage instinct, and it appears to be inspired by the air of the country. In the present day an evil of exactly the opposite description exists; as population became denser, the settlements became continuous, and the holdings smaller. The habitans, who are social to a vice, can not be induced to separate and clear new lands on a fresher but remoter soil.

In 1689 the King of France was urgently entreated by Comte de Frontenac to make a great effort against the English at New York. His answer was that he could spare no forces from Europe for America, and that the Canadians, by settling in closer neighborhood, would be fully capable of defending themselves. Thus, while the king could not understand the difficulty of the habitans giving up their old and cherished homes to seek others closer together, on the other hand they could not be convinced of his inability to send supplies; and, indeed, the system advocated by the crown would have been more costly in property than the most vigorous aggressive campaign could have proved.

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