During the early part of the eighteenth century, the British North
American provinces had made extraordinary progress in population and
wealth--a progress then unequaled in the world's history, and only now
excelled by that of the Australian settlements. From many of the
European nations, swarms of the energetic and discontented poured into
the land of plenty and comparative freedom. By far the greater number of
immigrants, however, were from the British islands, and their national
character in a great measure, absorbed the peculiarities of all the
rest. The natural increase of the population also far exceeded that of
European states; the abundant supply of the necessaries of life, and
immunity from oppressive restraint, produced their invariable results.
In the absence of any harassing care for the future, early marriages
were almost universally contracted. The man who possessed no capital
but his labor found in it the means of present support, and even of
future wealth; if he failed to obtain remunerative employment in the old
districts, he needed only to carve out his way in the new. The fertile
wilderness ever welcomed him with rude but abundant hospitality; every
tree that fell beneath his ax was an obstacle removed from the road to
competence; every harvest home, an earnest of yet richer rewards to
come.
From the first, the British colonists had applied themselves to
agriculture as the great business of life; then trade followed, to
supply luxuries in exchange for superabundant products; and manufactures
came next, to satisfy the increasing necessities of a higher
civilization. From the peculiarities of the country, and the restless
and irregular habits of many of the earlier immigrants, a system of
cultivation arose, which, however detrimental to the progress of some
individuals, tended to develop the resources of the country with
astonishing rapidity. A number of the hardy men, who first began the
clearing of the wilderness, only played the part of pioneers to those
who permanently settled on the fertile soil: they felled the trees with
unequaled dexterity, erected log houses and barns, hastily inclosed
their farms, and, in an incredibly short space of time, reduced the land
to a sort of cultivation. With their crops, a few cattle, and the
produce of the chase, they gained subsistence for themselves and their
families. These men could not endure the restraints of regular society;
as the population advanced toward them, and they felt the obnoxious
neighborhood of the magistrate and the tax gatherer, they were easily
induced to dispose of their clearings at a price enhanced by that of
surrounding settlements: once again they plunged into the wilderness,
and recommenced their life of almost savage independence.
The new owner of the pioneer's clearing was generally a thrifty and
industrious farmer: his object, a home for himself and an inheritance
for his children. In certain hope of success, he labored with untiring
energy, and converted the half-won waste into a fruitful field. His
neighbors have progressed equally with himself; the dark shadows of the
forest vanish from the surrounding country; detached log huts change to
clusters of comfortable dwellings; churches arise, villages swell into
towns, towns into cities.
This system exercised an important influence on the politics and manners
of the colonists; the restless, impatient, and discontented found ample
scope and occupation in the wilderness, instead of waging perpetual
strife against the restraints of law and order in the older districts:
many of these men ultimately even became useful and industrious. The
acquisition of a little property of their own, and the necessity of law
and order for the preservation of that property, reconciled them to the
forfeiture of the wild liberty in which they had before exulted. The
truculence of the desperate often turned into the healthy ambition of
the prosperous.
Along the shores of the magnificent bays and estuaries of the Atlantic
coast had already arisen many populous and thriving cities. Boston
numbered more than 30,000 inhabitants; her trade was great; her shipping
bore the produce of all countries through all seas, either as carriers
for others, or to supply her own increasing demands; her sailors were
noted for hardihood and skill, her mechanics for industry, and her
merchants for thrift and enterprise; her councils, and the customs of
her people, still bore the stamp which the hands of the Pilgrim Fathers
had first impressed. Moral, sober, persevering, thoughtful, but
narrow-minded and ungenial, they were little prone to allow the
enjoyment of social intercourse to interfere with the pursuit of wealth.
Although at times oppressive and always intolerant themselves, they ever
resented with jealous promptitude the slightest infringement of their
own freedom of conscience or action. They despised but did not pity the
Indian, and had no scruple in profiting largely by the exchange of the
deadly fire-water for his valuable furs.
At the time of which we treat, the people of the New England States
numbered more than 380,000; they were the bone and sinews of British
power in America; in peace the most prosperous and enterprising, and in
war the most energetic, if not the most warlike, of the
Anglo-Americans. Their hostility against the French was more bitter than
that of their southern fellow-countrymen: in the advance guard of
British colonization they came more frequently in contact with the rival
power, and were continually occupied in resisting or imitating its
aggressions. The senseless and unchristian spirit of "natural enmity"
had spread in an aggravated degree among the children of the two great
European states who had cast their lot of life in the New World.
The colony of New York had also arrived at considerable importance, but,
from the varied sources of the original population, the 100,000
inhabitants it contained at the time of the war were less exclusively
British in character and feeling than their Puritan brethren of New
England. Many of the Dutch and Swedish farmers, as well as of the French
emigrants, retained unaltered the language and customs of their fathers,
and felt little affection for the metropolitan state, formerly their
conqueror, and now their somewhat supercilious ruler. The trade of New
York city, aided by the splendid navigation of the Hudson River, was
very large in proportion to the then small population of 8000. Great
quantities of corn, flour, and other provisions were conveyed from the
rich Western country by the inland waters to the noble harbor at their
mouth, and thence found their way to the West Indies and even to Europe.
The town of Albany, although inferior in population, was important and
prosperous as the chief depot for the Indian trade, and the place where
conferences were usually held between the English and the fast-failing
tribes of the once formidable Iroquois. New Jersey partook in some
respects of the characteristics of New York, and contained about 60,000
souls. Owing to the protection of the larger neighboring states, this
fertile province had suffered but little from Indian hostility, and the
rich soil and mild climate aided the undisturbed labors of its
husbandmen. The forests abounded with oak, ash, cypress, hickory, and
other valuable timber, and the cultivation of flax and hemp was largely
carried on: these different productions were disposed of in the markets
of New York and Philadelphia, principally for European consumption.
The great and prosperous State of Pennsylvania, nearly 5000 square miles
in extent, contained 250,000 inhabitants, and carried on a large trade
with Europe and the West Indies; through the rich and beautiful capital,
an immense surplus of agricultural produce, from its fertile soil, was
exported to other less favored countries. Philadelphia was happily
situated upon the tongue of land formed by the confluence of the two
navigable rivers, Delaware and Schuylkill; the streets were broad and
regular, the houses spacious and well built, and the docks and quays
commodious. This city still continued largely impressed by the spirit of
Quakerism; the stiffness of outline, the trim neatness of the dwellings,
the convenient but unpretending public buildings, and the austere
manners of the inhabitants, bespoke the stronghold of the formal men of
peace. Here it was, not twenty years afterward, in a vulgar and
unsightly brick edifice, that a few bold and earnest men pledged their
sacred honor, their fortunes, and their lives to an act, perhaps the
most important that history records--"THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE."
The State of Maryland lies next in succession southward; to the east and
south, the waters of the Atlantic and the Potomac River wash its fertile
shores. About 40,000 white men here held 60,000 of their negro brethren
in toilsome slavery, and enriched themselves by the fruits of this
unholy labor. Tobacco, large in quantity and good in quality, was the
staple produce of the country. The capital, Annapolis, was beautifully
situated on the banks of the Patuxent River.
South of the River Potomac and west of Chesapeake Bay, the State of
Virginia stretches inland to the Allegany Mountains. This rich province
produced corn and every kind of fruit in abundance; the forests were of
great extent and value, and supplied much good timber for exportation;
flax, hemp, tar, and iron were also produced in some quantity, but, as
in Maryland, the principal wealth of the country was in tobacco,
cultivated by the labor of nearly 100,000 slaves. The white population
numbered about 70,000. The magnificent Bay of Chesapeake extended
through this territory for nearly 300 miles from south to north, and
received many considerable streams at both sides. However, no commercial
town of any great importance had grown up on the shores of these
navigable waters.
The Carolinas, bounded to the north by Virginia, extend along the
Atlantic coast for upward of 400 miles, and stretch westward 300 miles
into the interior of the vast continent. They are divided into two
provinces, the North and the South; the first the more populous, richer
in production, more advanced in commerce and prosperity. Here, as the
tropics are approached, the sultry climate favors the cultivation of
rice, indigo, and tobacco: great numbers of slaves labored in the
fertile swamps, and beautiful but unhealthy valleys of these states,
enriching the ruling race by their lives of unrequited toil. We do not
find any exact record of the population at the time of which we treat,
but that of both the Carolinas was probably not less than 260,000; of
these more than one half were whites.
Georgia, the most southern of the British settlements in America, skirts
the Atlantic shore for about sixty miles, and includes the whole extent
of the Western country to the Apalachian Mountains, nearly 300 miles
away, widening gradually to 150 miles in breadth. To the south lay the
Spanish limits, marked by the River Altamaha, and the deserted fort of
San Augustin. At this time the province was thinly peopled, its
resources little known, and its luxuriant savannas still wasted their
exuberant fertility in rank vegetation and pestilential decay. The
inhabitants, however, raised some quantities of rice and indigo, and had
even made progress in the culture of silk. At Augusta, the second town
in importance, situated 200 miles in the interior, a profitable fur
trade was established with the Cherokees, and other comparatively
civilized Indians.
It has been seen that the British North American colonies contained
upward of 1,300,000 inhabitants at the commencement of the campaign
which destroyed the power of France on the Western continent. Enormous
as was this physical superiority over the rival colony of Canada, the
wealth and resources of the British bore a vastly greater proportion to
those of their enemies. Barnaby, an intelligent English traveler who at
this time visited America, informs us that all the luxurious fruits of
wealth were displayed in our transatlantic settlements; and that, in a
journey of 1200 miles through the country, he was never once solicited
for alms. At the same time, he observes that the people were already
imbued with a strong spirit of independence,[161] and that a deep but
vague impression existed that they were destined for some splendid
future. But among these sturdy and ambitious men mutual jealousies
rendered a permanent union of their councils apparently impossible; the
mother country failed in her effort to bring the strength of her
gigantic colonies to bear together[162] upon any imperial object,
although she subsequently succeeded but too well in creating unanimity
of feeling against herself.
By the fall of Louisburg, and the complete subjection of the Acadian
peninsula, the high road of the St. Lawrence lay open to the British
fleets; the capture of Fort du Quesne, and the occupation of the forks
of the Ohio, had given to England the command of the vast chain of
navigable communication which connected the Canadian lakes with the
distant waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Thus the 60,000 French of North
America were hopelessly isolated from their parent state, and left to
the mercy of their exasperated and powerful foes. Already their Indian
allies had wavered or seceded: no longer able to afford protection or
supply their commerce, the Canadian governor sank rapidly in savage
estimation; and even the "Great Father" beyond the seas ceased to be
regarded with the superstitious reverence formerly felt toward him by
his red children.
But the lofty spirit of France was still unbroken by these losses and
dangers; even in this time of need she disdained to abandon or modify
her pretensions to the dominion of those Western wilds of America, for
the possession of which she had first drawn the sword, and she
determined to risk the utter ruin of her transatlantic power rather than
patiently submit to its diminution. Quebec and Canada might have been
saved had she acquiesced in our just right and title to the ancient
limits of Acadia, as marked out by former treaties, and had she
refrained from the prosecution of that vast scheme of encroachment by
which the British settlements would have been inclosed from Louisiana to
the great lakes of the north.
At the same time, the British nation, inflamed by hopeful ambition, was
stimulated to renewed exertion by the triumphs and advantages of the
late campaign. Had the illustrious man who wielded England's strength
ever doubted in his own far-seeing mind the policy of removing the
Canadian incubus from the rising ambition of the colonies, the strong
tide of public opinion would have doubtless swept him away. But he
possessed neither the inclination nor the power to halt in the career of
glory and success, when the magnificent dominions of France in America
lay within his grasp: he firmly resolved to seize the prize, and devoted
all the energies and abilities of his mind to the one great object.
The British Parliament addressed the throne in terms of the highest
approbation of the minister; they applauded the conduct of the campaign,
and pledged themselves zealously and cheerfully to furnish all necessary
supplies. The king sent them a message representing the spirited efforts
made by his American subjects in the prosecution of the war, and
recommending compensation for the losses and expenses they had incurred
in the maintenance of his rights and England's glory; the prompt answer
was a vote of L200,000 for the required purpose. The people even
surpassed their representatives in ardor; one universal spirit pervaded
all ranks and classes--a confidence in British triumph and French
humiliation. The conquest of Canada was now the first and darling object
of the nation.
Mr. Pitt decided upon pursuing the same plan of operations which had
been partially successful in the last campaign: he purposed to throw
three separate expeditions at once against the three strongholds of
Canadian power, Niagara, Montreal, and Quebec. The mainspring of this
grand design was, that these attacks should be simultaneous, and thus
distract the attention and divide the force of the defenders. A
formidable armament was zealously and speedily equipped in the English
ports to carry a force of from 7000 to 8000 men, by the River St.
Lawrence to the walls of Quebec. The main army of America, 12,000
strong, was assembled on the woody shores of Lake George: it was
destined to penetrate the heart of Canada by the Richelieu River and
occupy Montreal, after having first overwhelmed the French detachments
at Ticonderoga and Crown Point; thence the British troops were to
descend the broad stream of the St. Lawrence till they joined their
strength to that of the besiegers of Quebec. At the same time, another
British corps, and a large body of Indians, was directed upon Niagara,
with orders to take and garrison the fort, and then hasten down over
Ontario, and the rapids of the Great River, to co-operate with the other
expeditions. This scheme was as impracticable in its execution, as it
was bold and comprehensive in design.
When Pitt cast his eyes over the scantily traced map of the Western
World, he disdained to note the almost insurmountable difficulties
which its broad blanks unobtrusively represented. As his bold hand
struck out the several lines of operation, he forgot the hideous
wilderness, the stormy ocean, and the dangerous lake, over the tracings
of which his pencil passed, and his daring heart doubted not for a
moment of success. It is a trite observation, that a combined movement
is always precarious, even under the most favorable circumstances.
Uncertainty of weather, or different degrees of zeal and activity in the
leaders, may disjoint the most elaborate scheme; but, in such a case as
this, with all the superadded chances of the sea, the river, and the
desert, a wisdom greater than that of the wisest, a power stronger than
that of the most powerful, could alone have given us the victory.
The French possessed the immense advantage of acting as it were on a
smooth high road, while their assailants were entangled in a broken and
difficult country. The River St. Lawrence furnished a means of
intercommunication that enabled them to throw the mass of their force
upon any one of the hostile armies they might select, and thus outnumber
each in succession; the bold position of Quebec supplied them with a
place of arms, and an advantageous battle-ground when all else should be
lost. The able and skillful Montcalm was not likely to fail in turning
these favorable circumstances to full account.
The most vulnerable, and, at the same time, the most vital part of
Canada was the spot where the Richelieu River pours into the St.
Lawrence. Thence to the magnificent harbor of New York, a scarcely
interrupted chain of navigable water, by the Lakes Champlain and George
and the Hudson River, offered a practicable route to the invading force.
Looking back upon the past with that wisdom which is the humble disciple
of experience, it would appear that the whole British power should have
been thrown at once upon that single point. By uniting the veteran corps
embarked in the fleet from England and Nova Scotia, with the formidable
force destined against Niagara, to the main army, nearly 25,000 British
troops could have been brought to bear against the feeble defenses of
the lakes, and poured down with irresistible strength on the Valley of
the St. Lawrence. Thence to Quebec the watery path lay free and
unembarrassed, and no hostile power existed strong enough to dare a
battle against such a host. In the mean time, the English fleet should
have anchored in the broad basin above the island of Orleans,
intercepted all European aid, and, by vigorous demonstrations, kept in
play as much as possible of the enemy's strength. Had this scheme been
adopted, the decisive battle might probably have still been fought on
the Plains of Abraham, but with far greater chances in favor of British
triumph than in the fight which was subsequently bravely won. The whole
disposable force of Canada would naturally have opposed the invading
army, and would have been either forced down upon the defense of Quebec,
or driven to an unequal combat. The French army overpowered and their
great stronghold taken, Montreal, with Niagara and the Western country,
must have lain an easy prey.
To find out the weakest point of the enemy's position, and to assail it
with his greatest power, was the constant aim of the first of modern
captains, and the talisman of his matchless success. The British
minister's scheme for the conquest of Canada presents exactly the
reverse of this system; the several strongholds of the French were
selected for simultaneous attack by separate and insufficient forces. By
an overruling Providence, however, the skill and daring of a British
general, and the valor of his troops, together with the incomprehensible
error of their chivalrous opponent, gave to the arms of England victory
and glory, and to the ruler of her councils complete ultimate success.
To pave the way for the campaign of 1759, a grand conference was held
with the Indians, in the October of the preceding year, at Easton, about
ninety miles from Philadelphia; there peace was formerly established
between England and the several native nations inhabiting the country,
which extends from the Apalachian Mountains to the lakes. Some tribes,
however, still held aloof. The business of the British agents at this
meeting was to ascertain the limits of the several lands about the
possession of which disputes had occurred with the natives, to
reconcile the bitter hostilities of different tribes against each other,
to remove every cause of misunderstanding between the Indians and
ourselves, and effectually to detach them from the interests of the
French. The conferences were continued from the 8th to the 26th of
October, when every article was finally arranged to the satisfaction of
all parties. The Indians were then given presents, made drunk, and
dismissed to their several dwellings.
General Amherst, and his gallant colleague Admiral Boscawen, had, as the
conquerors of Louisburg, received the high honor of thanks from the
representatives of a grateful people in the British Parliament. The
vigor, ability, and courage displayed by Amherst in the previous year,
inspired a universal hope of future success among his countrymen, and
all eyes were fixed with deep and sanguine interest on the movements of
the formidable armies which he was now to direct against the failing
power of the French. But the memory of Abercromby's fatal disaster was
still fresh in the English mind, and somewhat damped the rising hopes of
conquest and of glory. The difficulties before which he had recoiled,
disgraced and ruined, were since increased rather than diminished: the
fort of Chambly, which defended the pass by the Richelieu River to the
St. Lawrence, had been strengthened and garrisoned by a body of regular
troops and militia; Crown Point had been re-enforced, and an increase of
vessels had completely given the command of Lake Champlain to the
French.
The British colonies were eager in seconding the grand designs of the
parent state--designs, indeed, far more important to them than to
England. But they found it difficult to keep pace with the expenditure
which the great minister's splendid and thriftless conduct of the war
rendered necessary. Some reluctance was now expressed, especially in New
England, to raise the levies required by the Provincial governments. In
the opening of last year's operations it had been promised that a single
campaign would suffice to end with success the deadly and ruinous
strife. The same promise was now once more offered, but received by no
willing ears. The taxes were already excessive, the demand for men most
burdensome, and the liberal compensation voted by the British Parliament
was still insufficient to remunerate the colonists for past losses and
advances, and had been unfortunately so long delayed by official
interruptions as to create considerable mistrust and dissatisfaction. It
was not without much difficulty that Connecticut was induced to keep up
her last year's contingent of 5000 men, and Massachusetts at first
declined to raise more than the same number, until prevailed upon by the
instances of Amherst, who was universally respected and esteemed. The
thinly-peopled state of New Hampshire, however, exceeded her former
exertions, and sent no less than 1000 men into the field.
The movements of the last campaign, and the extensive preparations in
the British settlements, no longer afforded room for doubt that the aim
of England was the annihilation of the power of France in America. The
Marquis de Vaudreuil therefore issued a proclamation at the close of the
year 1758 to the several officers of Canadian militia, to excite their
zeal and quicken their activity in preparations for resistance.
"Notwithstanding our glorious successes," said he, "the state of the
colony is perilous. The enemy are making great efforts both by sea and
land; we must prepare, therefore, to meet them boldly as soon as the
season of the year allows them to act. No time must be lost in
organizing our defense." He then directed that all the male inhabitants
of the province, from sixteen to sixty years of age, should be enrolled
in the militia, and should remain in readiness to march at a moment's
notice.
The captains of militia faithfully endeavored to comply with these
orders, but the farmers, or habitans, showed great disinclination to
abandon the cultivation of their fields for the certain hardships and
dangers, and the uncertain glories of a soldier's life. Where the levies
were efficiently carried out, the country remained waste; the last
harvest had been far from abundant, and the rapacious seizures of grain
for the real or fictitious wants of the government caused a pinching
scarcity. The intendant had arbitrarily fixed the price of wheat at
twelve sous the bushel, yet none was sold under a far higher rate.
Every device of peculation was resorted to by the unworthy civil
officers to increase their gains from the distresses of the people,
while the vicious decrees of a corrupted court of law supported instead
of curbing them in their iniquities. Dishonest exactions and forced
contributions caused a reckless waste of those resources, upon the
enjoyment of which no man could confidently count, and the intendant,
finding it at length difficult or impossible to obtain the necessary
supplies, quartered the troops upon the unfortunate inhabitants.
The misery and distress of the colony at length deepened into absolute
famine. Cadet, the commissary-general, by the intendant's orders, killed
a number of horses for the use of the inhabitants and troops at Montreal
and Quebec. Finally the governor and M. de Montcalm dispatched an
officer to France with a detail of the deplorable state of Canada, and
an earnest entreaty for succor. This officer, the afterward celebrated
De Bougainville, although he had sailed very late in the autumn, escaped
the dangers of the season and the vigilance of the British navy, and
laid his melancholy dispatch before the throne of France.[163]
Early in January, 1759, a census was taken of all those capable of
bearing arms in Canada; the result showed 15,229 men. Of these, however,
a large proportion were neither available nor worthy of trust. A
detachment of artillery, eight battalions of French regulars, and
thirty-three companies of the marine or colony troops, formed the real
strength of the Canadian army.
Montcalm[164] was indefatigable in his preparations for the approaching
struggle. Regulars and militia were kept at constant work on the several
fortifications. Three armed vessels were built to command the navigation
of Lake Champlain. Captain Pouchot, a skillful engineer, was sent to
strengthen the works of Niagara, and undertake their defense. On the
14th of May, M. de Bougainville,[165] afterward distinguished alike in
literature and adventure, arrived from France with decorations and
promotions for the governor, the general, and other officers whose merit
had been conspicuous in the last campaign, but he was also bearer of the
alarming intelligence that England was about to assail the colony
forthwith both by sea and land. As yet, however, no supplies or
re-enforcements from France made their appearance in this hour of
peril, and the governor, M. de Vaudreuil, was simply instructed to make
the best provision in his power for the defense of Canada.
The governor addressed a notice to the militia to be ready at a moment's
warning, and endeavored to excite their somewhat dormant patriotism by a
spirited appeal. "This campaign," said he, "will give the Canadians an
opportunity of displaying once again their loyalty and valor: their king
doubts not that they will faithfully defend his and their rights, their
religion, homes, and properties against the cruel English. These
invaders hate our name and nation; they accuse us of the evil deeds of a
few savage Indians, and burn for revenge. We will protect our people by
every possible means from falling into the hands of our ruthless
enemies, and from such mercies as the people of Acadia, Cape Breton, and
St. John's received from them. Better would it be for us, our wives, and
our children, to be buried in the ruins of the colony, than to fall
alive into the hands of the English. We have, however, no fears for our
safety, and accordingly we direct that every suitable step be taken for
a successful defense."
A council of war was held at Montreal, which, after frequent meetings,
decided that a body of troops under Montcalm, with the brigadier-generals,
the Marquis de Levi and M. de Senezergues, should be posted at Quebec;
that M. de Bourlemaque should hasten to Ticonderoga, blow up the works at
the approach of the English, retire by the lake to Isle aux Noix, and
there make a stubborn resistance. The Chevalier de la Corne, with 800
regulars and militia, was directed to hold the rapids above Montreal, to
intrench himself in a strong position, and hold out to the best of his
power. These resolutions taken, Montcalm hastened to Quebec, and pushed
on the works of the city and its outposts. To embarrass the hostile fleet,
he removed the buoys and other marks for navigation in the Great River;
above all, he strove to raise the drooping spirit of the Canadian people.
[Footnote 161: " ... Such is the state of the governments, that there
can not on the continent be produced an instance of the governors being
able to carry his majesty's instructions into execution where the people
have disputed them, nor has all the power that the crown has thought fit
to add been able to support such; but the people have constantly
maintained themselves in their claims."--_Letter from Governor Pownall
to the Earl of Loudon, Boston, November 28th, 1757._]
[Footnote 162: "Each English colony in North America is independent of
the other, and each has its proper laws and coins, and may be looked
upon in several lights as a state by itself. From hence it happens that,
in time of war, things go on very slowly and irregularly here, for not
only the sense of one province is sometimes directly opposite to that of
another, but frequently the views of the governor and those of the
Assembly of the same province are quite different, so that it is easy to
see that, while the people are quarreling about the best and cheapest
method of carrying on the war, an enemy has it in his power to take one
place after another. It has commonly happened, that while some provinces
were suffering from their enemies, the neighboring ones were quiet and
inactive, as if it did not in the least concern them. They have
frequently taken up two or three years in considering whether they
should give assistance to an oppressed sister colony, and sometimes they
have expressly declared themselves against it. There are instances of
provinces who were not only neuter in these circumstances, but who
carried on a great trade with the power which at that very time was
attacking and laying waste some other provinces."--Kalm, in Pinkerton,
vol. xiii., p. 461.]
[Footnote 163: "L'etat etoit alors dans une situation peu favorable, et
le ministre, M. de Berryer, repondit aux instances de M. de Bougainville
en disant, 'Quand le feu est a la maison on ne s'occupe pas des
ecuries.' 'On ne dira pas du moins, monsieur, que vous parlez comme un
cheval,' repondit Bougainville. C'est lui-meme qui nous a raconte cette
anecdote, en ajoutant qu'il alla aussitot faire sa cour a Madame de
Pompadour, qui apaisa le ressentiment du ministre."--_Biographie
Universelle_, art. Bougainville.]
[Footnote 164: "Le Marquis de Montcalm, a la vie duquel etoit attachee
la conservation du Canada, avoit defendu cette colonie par des prodiges
de valeur, pris le fort St. George (Fort William Henry), et battu
vingt-mille Anglais a Ticonderoga. Mais nul secours ne lui etoit envoye;
on etoit force de prevoir qu'il succumberoit bientot."--_Histoire de
France pendant le Dix-huitieme Siecle_, par Charles Lacretelle, tom.
iii., p. 345.]
[Footnote 165: Bougainville, the celebrated circumnavigator, had been
appointed aid-de-camp to the Marquis de Montcalm in 1756. It must be
willful inaccuracy in the _Biographie Universelle_ to attribute the
taking of Fort William Henry, and the victory at Ticonderoga, Montcalm's
most remarkable achievements in Canada, to his aid-de-camp instead of to
himself. Bougainville had not had any opportunity of performing "des
services illustres" in Canada. "En 1758 le gouverneur du Canada envoya
de Bougainville en France pour demander des renforts. Il revint en
Jamaica 1759 apres avoir recu la recompense des services illustres qu'il
avoit rendus. Montcalm le nomma, a son retour, commandant des grenadiers
et des volontaires, et lui ordonna de couvrir avec ces deux corps la
retraite de l'armee Francaise, lorsqu'elle se replia sur Quebec.
Bougainville s'en acquitta avec la bravoure et l'habilete dont il avoit
donne tant de preuves.
"Il s'est eleve au rang des marins les plus celebres de la France.
"Bougainville est le premier Francais qui ait fait le tour du monde.
L'histoire de sa vie etonne par la variete des occupations aux quelles
il s'est livre et par la multitude des evenements qui la remplissent.
"Dans ses etudes a l'universite il manifesta de bonne heure une rapidite
de conception et une finesse de tact qui le firent reussir en meme tems
dans les genres les plus opposes. Il se faisoit egalement remarquer par
ses connoissances dans les langues anciennes, et par ses progres dans
les sciences exactes. Il marquoit pour les mathematiques des
dispositions peu communes. Il fut recu membre de la Societe Royale de
Londres pendant son court sejour dans cette capitale en caractere de
secretaire de l'ambassade, en 1754."--_Biographie Universelle_, art.
Bougainville.]