"C'est du cote de l'ouest, d'ou les sauvages pretendent etre venus,

qu'il placent le pays des ancetres, ou des ames. C'est, disent-ils, un

pays tres eloigne, et ou chacun est contraint de se rendre, apres son

trepas, par un chemin fort long et fort penible, dans lequel il y a

beaucoup a souffrir, a cause des rivieres qu'il faut passer sur des

ponts tremblants, et si etroits qu'il faut etre une ame pour pouvoir s'y

soutenir; encore trouve-t-il au bout du pont un chien, qui comme un

antre cerbere leur dispute le passage, et en fait tomber plusieurs dans

les eaux, dont la rapidite les roule de precipice en precipice. Celles

qui sont assez heureuses pour franchir ce pas, trouvent en arrivant, un

grand et beau pays, au milieu duquel est une grande Cabane, dont

_Tharonhiaouagon_, leur Dieu, occupe une partie, et Ataensic, son

ayeule, occupe l'autre. L'appartement de cette vielle est tapisse d'une

quantite infini de colliers de porcelaine, de bracelets, et d'autres

meubles, dont les morts, qui sont sous sa dependance, lui ont fait

present a leur arrivee. _Ataensic_ est maitresse de la Cabane, selon le

style des sauvages, elle et son petit fils dominent sur les manes, et

font consister leur plaisir a les faire danser devant eux. Il y a une

infinite de versions sur le pays des ames, mais ce qui je viens d'en

rapporter en est comme le fonds, ou tout le reste se reduit."--Lafitau,

tom. i., p. 402.

No. LIV.

"Un officier Francais, qui parle la langue Huronne comme les Hurons

meme, et qui connoit fort bien le genie des sauvages, m'a raconte un

fait, dont il a ete le temoin ... Quelques sauvages intrigues, au sujet

d'un parti de sept guerriers de leur village, et dont tout le monde

commencoit a etre en peine, prierent une vielle sauvagesse de _jongler_

pour eux. Cette femme etoit en grande reputation, et on avoit verifie

plusieurs de ses predictions, mais on avoit beaucoup de peine a la

determiner a faire ces sortes d'operations, quoiqu'on la payat bien,

parce-qu'elle souffroit beaucoup. Comme elle avoit de l'amitie pour moi,

dit cet officier, je me mis de la partie avec les sauvages, ajoutant

neanmoins tres peu de foy a ces sortes de choses, je la priai tres

fortement, et je fis tant, qu'elle s'y resolut. Elle commenca d'abord

par preparer un espace de terrain qu'elle nettoya bien, et qu'elle

couvrit de farine. Elle disposa sur cette poudre comme sur une carte

geographique, quelques paquets de buchettes, qui representaient divers

villages de differentes nations, observant particulierement leur

position, et les rhumbs de vent. Elle entra ensuite dans de grandes

convulsions, pendant lesquelles nous vimes sensiblement sept bluettes de

feu sortir des buchettes qui representoient notre village; tracer un

chemin sur cette farine et aller d'un village a l'autre. Apres d'etre

eclipsees pendant un assez long tems, dans l'un de ces villages, ces

bluettes reparurent au nombre de neuf, tracerent un nouveau chemin pour

le retour, jusqu'a ce qu'enfin elles s'arreterent assez pres du village,

ou paquet de buchettes, d'ou les sept premiers etoient d'abord sorties.

Alors la sauvagesse, toujours en fureur, troubla tout l'ordre des

buchettes, foula aux pieds tout le terrain qu'elle avoit prepare, et ou

cette scene venoit de passer. Elle s'assit ensuite et apres s'etre donne

le tems de se tranquilliser, et de reprendre ses esprits, elle raconta

tout ce qui etoit arrive aux guerriers, la route qu'ils avoient tenue,

les villages par ou ils avoient passe, le nombre des prisonniers qu'ils

avoient fait; elle nomma l'endroit ou ils etoient dans ce moment, et

assura qu'ils arriveroient trois jours apres au village, ce qui fut

verifie par l'arrivee des guerriers, qui confirmerent de point en point

ce qu'elle avoit dit."--Lafitau, tom. i., p. 387.

"Quoiqu' aujourd'hui les Abenaquis fassent tous profession du

Christianisme, ils ne laissent pas encore d'avoir quelquefois recours a

cet art qu'ils ont recu de leurs peres (la Pyromantie, ou Divination par

le feu). Ils s'en confessent neanmoins, a cause de l'horreur qu'on leur

en a inspire, mais il s'en trouve quelques uns qui cherchent a le

justifier. Une sauvagesse disoit a un missionnaire, qui tachoit de lui

faire concevoir sa faute: 'Je n'ai jamais compris qu'il n'y eut a elle

aucun mal, et j'ai peine a y en voir encore: ecoute, Dieu a partage

differemment les hommes; a vous autres Francois, il a donne l'ecriture,

par laquelle vous apprennez lea choses qui se passent loin de vous,

comme si elles vous etoient presentes; pour ce qui est de nous, il nous

a donne l'art de connoitre par le feu les choses absentes et eloignees;

suppose donc que le feu c'est notre livre, notre ecriture; tu ne verras

pas qu'il y ait de difference, et plus de mal dans l'un que dans

l'autre. Ma mere m'a appris ce secret pendant mon enfance, comme tes

parents t'ont appris a lire et a ecrire; je m'en suis servi plusieurs

fois avec succes, avant d'etre Chretienne, je l'ai fait quelquefois avec

le meme succes depuis que je la suis; j'ai ete tente, et j'ai succombe a

la tentation, mais sans croire commettre aucune peche.'"--Lafitau, tom,

i., p. 388.

Some of the Indians seem to have been acquainted with the mysteries of

_clairvoyance_. "Ils croyent qu'il y a des personnes que les esprits

favorisent d'avantage, qui sont plus eclairees que le commun, dont l'ame

scut, non seulement ce qui les concerne personnellement, mais qui voient

jusques dans le fonds de l'ame des autres, qui percent a travers le

voile qui les couvre, et y appercoit les desirs naturels et innes,

qu'elle a, quoique cette ame elle meme ne les ait pas apercus; c'est ce

qui leur a fait donner le nom de Iaiotkatta par les Hurons, c'est a dire

_voyans_, parce qu'ils voyent les hommes dans leur interieur."--Lafitau,

tom. i., p. 371.

Charlevoix also relates instances of the successful exercise of magical

arts.--Vol. vi., p. 92.

No. LV.

"In the neighborhood of Caughnawaga are the large tracts of land once

belonging to the Johnson family, whose possessions were all confiscated

at the period of the Revolution, in consequence of their adherence to

the British, who gave them compensation by grants of land in Canada. The

founder of this family is said to have acquired this fine tract of

country by a dexterous piece of management. He traded extensively with

the tribe of Mohawk Indians. Their chiefs were in the habit of applying

to him frequently for tobacco and rum, which they had, they told him,

dreamed that he was to give them. Johnson never failed to encourage

their strong faith in dreams, humoring their foible by acceding to every

request founded on them. Thus visits and dreams became frequent on the

part of the Indians. Johnson never sent them away empty handed. To every

request he replied, 'I will prove that you are right,' and presented

them with whatever they applied for, on the footing that they had

dreamed of it. At length the king had the conscience to dream that, if

he were invested with Johnson's military dress of scarlet and gold, he

should be as great a man as King George; and King George he soon in so

far became, for no long time elapsed before Johnson had him appareled as

he wished. But Johnson's turn to dream had now arrived, for he had all

the while attached the same weight to dreams. He dreamed that the nation

had, in consequence of his kindness to them, and in return for the

hospitality he had shown them, bestowed on him part of their territory,

which he had described, and which he of course took care should be

sufficiently extensive and valuable--in fact, one of the finest tracts

of land that it is possible to conceive. 'Have you really had such a

dream?' they exclaimed, with terror and alarm depicted on their

countenances. Being satisfied on this point, the chief or king convoked

his tribe, who deliberated, and then announced to the dreamer that they

had confirmed the dream. 'Brother Johnson,' they said, 'we give thee

that tract of land, but never dream any more.' The head of this family

was subsequently created a baronet, for his gallantry in the war, when

the French made an incursion from Canada in 1755."--Stuart's _America_,

vol. i., p. 71. See, also, Mrs. Grant's _Letters of an American Lady_,

for an account of Sir William Johnson's intercourse with the Indians.

Lafitau and Charlevoix write at great length upon the Indian faith in

dreams; Lafitau gives the following curious illustration of the extent

to which this superstition is carried: "Un ancien missionnaire m'a

raconte qu'un sauvage ayant reve que le bonheur de sa vie dependoit de

son mariage avec une femme qui etoit deja mariee a l'un des plus

considerables du village ou il demeuroit. Le mari et la femme vivoient

dans une grande union et s'entre-aimoient beaucoup. La separation fut

rude a l'un et a l'autre, cependant ils n'osoient refuser. Ils se

separerent donc. La femme prit un nouvel engagement, et le mari

abandonne, par complaisance et pour oter tout soupcon qu'il pensat

encore a sa premiere epouse, se marie avec une autre. Il reprit la

premiere cependant, apres la mort de celui qui les avait desunis,

laquelle arriva peu de temps apres."--Lafitau, vol. i., p. 364.

No. LVI.

"C'etoit une loi generale chez certains peuples barbares de l'antiquite

(AElian, _de Cois_, lib. iii.; Sext. Emp., _de Tybaren_.; Procop., _de

Etulis_., lib. ii.; _de Bello Gotico_; Stobaeus, _de Massag._, Serm. 122)

de faire mourir leurs viellards avant l'age de soixante ou soixante et

dix ans, soit qu'ils ne voulassent point parmis eux conserver des morte

payes, qui consumassent le peu qui restoit aux autres pour vivre: soit

qu'ils se persuadassent rendre service a ceux qu'ils faisoient ainsi

perir, en leur epargnant par une morte prompte et courte, la tristesse

et les ennuis d'un age avance, dont les infirmites peuvent etre

regardees comme une mort continuelle. Cela a ete, dit-on, une loi

generale parmi quelques peuples de l'Amerique, et une de nos dernieres

relations porte, qu'il y a une nation ou il n'est pas meme permis de

laisser passer aux femmes l'age de trente ans; ce qui paroitra sans

doute bien rigoureux a celles qui veulent encore etre jeune dans un age

plus avance.

"Les Algonquins et les autres nations errantes sont plus sujets a cette

inhumanite envers les viellards que les autres, parcequ' etant presque

toujours en voyage, et plus souvent reduits a la faim, l'incommodite des

viellards qu'il faut porter et nourrir, devient alors plus sensible. Ces

pauvres malheureux sont souvent les premiers a dire a celui qui les

porte, 'Mon petit fils, je le donne bien de la peine, je ne suis plus

bon a rien, casse-moi la tete.' On ne les ecoute pas toujours; mais

quelquefois aussi il arrive que le jeune homme epuise de lassitude et de

faim, repond froidement, 'Tu as raison, mon grand pere.' Il decharge en

meme tems son paquet, prend sa hache, et casse la tete au bon homme, qui

sans doute est fache interieurement d'etre pris au mot."--Lafitau, tom.

ii., p. 490.

In 1819, James writes thus of the same inhuman custom: "The worst trait

in the Indian character is the neglect shown toward the aged and

helpless, which is carried to such a degree that, when on a march or a

hunting excursion, it is a common practice to leave behind their nearest

relations when reduced to that state, with a little food and water,

abandoning them without ceremony to their fate. When thus abandoned by

all that is dear to them, their fortitude does not forsake them, and the

inflexible passive courage of the Indian sustains them against

despondency. They regard themselves as entirely useless; and as the

custom of the nation has long led them to anticipate this mode of death,

they attempt not to remonstrate against the measure, which is, in fact,

frequently the result of their earnest solicitation."--James's

_Expedition to the Rocky Mountains_, vol. i., p. 237.

"This cruelty to living relations strongly contrasts with the

extravagance and self-sacrifice of their mourning for the dead. The same

people who expose a living parent because they can not carry him, are

often found to convey the corpses of their departed friends to 'the

festivals of the dead,' during many days of wearisome journeying."--P.

de Breboeuf, _Relation de la Nouvelle France_; Charlevoix: Lafitau.

Catlin, one of the most partial observers, and the most zealous defender

of the Indian character, relates the following scene, of which he was an

eye-witness (in 1840): "We found that the Puncahs were packing up all

their goods, and preparing to start for the prairies in pursuit of

buffaloes, to dry meat for their winter's supplies. They took down their

wigwams of skins to carry with them, and all were flat to the ground,

and every thing packing up ready for the start. My attention was

directed by Major Sanford, the Indian agent, to one of the most

miserable and helpless-looking objects I ever had seen in my life--a

very aged and emaciated man of the tribe, who, he told me, was going to

be _exposed_. The tribe were going where hunger and dire necessity

obliged them to go, and this pitiable object, who had once been a chief,

and a man of distinction in his tribe, who was now too old to travel,

being reduced to mere skin and bone, was to be left to starve, or meet

with such death as might fall to his lot, and his bones to be picked by

the wolves! I lingered around this poor old forsaken patriarch for hours

before we started, to indulge the tears of sympathy which were flowing

for the sake of this poor benighted and decrepit old man, whose worn-out

limbs were no longer able to support him, and his body and his mind

doomed to linger into the withering agony of decay, and gradual solitary

death. I wept; and it was a pleasure to weep; for the painful looks and

the dreary prospects of this old veteran, whose eyes were dimmed, whose

venerable locks were whitened by a hundred years, whose limbs were

almost naked, and trembling as he sat by a small fire which his friends

had left him, with a few sticks of wood within his reach, and a

buffalo's skin stretched upon some crotches over his head. Such was to

be his only dwelling, and such the chances for his life, with only a few

half-picked bones that were laid within his reach, and a dish of water,

without means of any kind to replenish them, or move his body from that

fatal locality. His friends and his children had all left him, and were

preparing in a little time to be on the march. He had told them to leave

him; 'he was old,' he said, 'and too feeble to march.' 'My children,'

said he, 'our nation is poor, and it is necessary you should all go to

the country where you can get meat. My eyes are dimmed, and my strength

is no more; my days are nearly all numbered, and I am a burden to my

children; I can not go, and I wish to die. Keep your hearts stout, and

think not of me; I am no longer good for any thing.' In this way they

had finished the ceremony of _exposing_ him, and taken their final leave

of him. I advanced to the old man, and was undoubtedly the last human

being who held converse with him. I sat by the side of him, and though

he could not distinctly see me, he shook me heartily by the hand, and

smiled, evidently aware that I was a white man, and that I sympathized

with his inevitable misfortune. When passing by the site of the Puncah

village a few months after this in my canoe, I went ashore with my men,

and found the poles and the buffalo skin standing as they were left over

the old man's head. The fire-brands were lying nearly as I had left

them; and I found at a few yards' distance the skull and others of his

bones, which had been picked and cleaned by the wolves, which is

probably all that any human being can ever know of his final and

melancholy fate. This cruel custom of exposing their aged people

belongs, I think, to all the tribes who roam about the prairies, making

severe marches, when such decrepit persons are totally unable to go,

unable to ride or to walk, when they have no means of carrying

them."--Catlin's _American Indians_, vol. i., p. 217.

No. LVII.

"The child, in its earliest infancy, has its back lashed to a straight

board, being fastened to it by bandages, which pass around it in front,

and on the back of the board they are tightened to the necessary degree

by lacing-strings, which hold it in a straight and healthy position,

with its feet resting on a broad hoop, which passes around the foot of

the cradle, and the child's position (as it rides about on its mother's

back, supported by a broad strap that passes across her forehead), that

of standing erect, no doubt has a tendency to produce straight limbs,

sound lungs, and long life. The bandages that pass around the cradle,

holding the child in, are often covered with a beautiful embroidery of

porcupine quills, with ingenious figures of horses, men, &c. A broad

hoop of elastic wood passes around in front of the child's face to

protect it in case of a fall, from the front of which is suspended a toy

of exquisite embroidery for the child to handle, and amuse itself with.

The papoose (the Indian name for the cradle) seems a cruel mode of

confining the child; but I am inclined to believe it is a very good one

for those who use it, and well adapted to the circumstances under which

they live; in support of which opinion, I offer the universality of the

custom, which has been practiced for centuries among all the tribes of

North America, as a legitimate and a very strong reason. Along the

frontiers, where the Indians have been ridiculed for the custom, they

have in many instances departed from it; but even there they will

generally be seen lugging their child about in this way, when they have

abandoned almost every other native custom, and are too poor to cover it

with more than rags and strings, which fasten it to its cradle. The

infant is carried in this manner until it is five, six, or seven months

old.... If the infant dies during the time allotted for it to be carried

in this cradle, it is buried, and the disconsolate mother fills the

cradle with black quills and feathers, in the parts which the child's

body had occupied, and in this way carries it about with her wherever

she goes for a year or more; and she often lays or stands it against the

side of the wigwam, where she is all day engaged in her needle-work, and

chatting and talking to it as familiarly and affectionately as if it

were her loved infant instead of its shell that she was talking

to."--Catlin, vol. ii., p. 133.

No. LVIII.

The following is Lafitau's description of this barbarous operation: "Ils

cernent pour cet effet la peau qui couvre la crane, coupant au-dessus du

front et des oreilles jusqu'au derriere de la tete. Apres l'avoir

arrachee, ils la preparent, et la ramollissent comme ils ont coutume de

faire a celles des betes qu'ils ont prises a la chasse. Ils etendent

ensuite cette peau sur un cercle au ils l'attachent, ils la peignent des

deux cotes de diverses couleurs, quelquefois ils tracent du cote oppose

aux cheveux, le portrait de celui a qui ils l'ont enlevee at la

suspendent au bout d'une perche et la portent ainsi en triomphe. Ce

qu'il y a de surprenant, c'est que tous ceux a qui l'on fait cette

cruelle operation de leur enlever la chevelure, n'en meurent point, non

plus que du coup de casse-tete, dont on a cru les avoir assommes a n'en

plus revenir. Plusieurs en sont rechappes et j'ai vu une femme dans

notre mission, a qui apres un semblable accident, les Francois avoient

donnee le nom de la Tete-pelee, et qui se portoit fort bien. Elle etoit

mariee a un Francois Iroquoise, dont elle avoit des enfans." Lafitau

does not omit to notice the striking similarity between Indian and

Scythian barbarity; he cites the following passage from Herodotus as a

support and illustration of his own peculiar theory: "Un Scythe boit du

sang du premier prisonnier qu'il fait, et il presente au roi les tetes

de tous ceux qu'il a tues dans le combat; car en portant une tete il a

part au butier, auquel il n'a nul droit sans cette condition. Il coupe

la tete de cette maniere. Il la cerne autour les oreilles et ayant

separe le test d'avec le reste, il en arrache la peau, qu'il a soin de

ramollir avec ses mains, et d'appreter comme un apprete une peau de

boeuf. Il en fait ensuite un ornement, et l'attache au harnois de son

cheval en guise de trophee. Plus un particulier a de ces sortes de

depouilles, plus il est considere et estime."--Lafitau, tom. ii., 258;

Herodotus, lib. iv., n. 64.

"The scalping is an operation not calculated of itself to take life, as

it only removes the skin, without injuring the bone of the head, and

necessarily, to be a genuine scalp, must contain and show the crown and

center of the head--that part of the skin which lies directly over what

the phrenologists call 'self-esteem,' where the hair divides and

radiates from the center, of which they all profess to be strict judges,

and able to decide whether an effort has been made to produce two or

more scalps from one head. Besides taking the scalp, the victor

generally, if he has time to do it without endangering his own scalp,

cuts off and brings home the rest of the hair, which his knife will

divide into a great many small locks, and with them fringe the seams of

his shirt and leggins, which also are worn as trophies and ornaments to

the dress, and these are familiarly called 'scalp-locks.' ... As the

scalp is taken in evidence of a death, it will easily be seen that an

Indian has no business or inclination to take it from the head of the

living, which I venture to say is never done in North America, unless it

be, as has sometimes happened, when a man falls in the heat of battle,

and the Indian, rushing over his body, snatches off his scalp, supposing

him dead, who afterward rises from the field of battle, and easily

recovers from this superficial wound of the knife, wearing a bald spot

on his head during the remainder of his life."--Catlin, vol. i., p.

238.

No. LIX.

Charlevoix gives the following account of some of the games of chance in

use among the red Indians:

"_Le Jeu de Pailles._--Ces pailles sont de petits joncs de la grosseur

des tuyaux de froment et de la longueur de deux doigts. On en prend un

paquet, qui est ordinairement de deux cent un, et toujours en nombre

impair. Apres qu'on les a bien remues, en faisant mille contortions, et

en invoquant les genies, on les separe avec une espece d'aliene, ou un

os pointee, en paquets de dix; chacun prend le sien a l'aventure, et

celui, a qui echoit le paquet de onze, gagne un certain nombre de

points, dont on est convenu: les parties sont en soixante ou en quatre

vingt.... On m'a dit qu'il y avoit autant d'addresse que de hazarde dans

ce jeu, et que les sauvages y sont extremement fripons, comme dans tous

les autres; qu'ils s'y acharnent souvent jusqu'a y passer les jours et

les nuits.

"_Le Jeu de la Crosse._--On y joue avec une bale et des batons,

recourbes et termines par une espece de raquette. On dresse deux poteaux

qui servent des bornes, et qui sont eloignes l'un de l'autre, a

proportion du nombre des joueurs. Par exemple s'ils sont quatre vingt,

il y a entre les poteaux une demie lieue de distance. Les joueurs sont

partages en deux bandes, qui ont chacune leur poteau, et il s'agit de

faire aller la bale jusqu'a celui de la partie adverse, sans qu'elle

tombe a terre, et sans qu'elle soit touchee avec la main; car si l'un ou

l'autre arrive on perd la partie, a moins que celui qui a fait la faute

ne la repare, en faisant aller la bale d'un seul trait au but, ce qui

est souvent impossible. Ces sauvages sont si adroits a prendre la bale

avec leurs crosses, que quelquefois ces parties durent plusieurs jours

de suite.

"_Le Jeu du Plat, appelle aussi le Jeu des Osselets._--Il ne se joue

qu'entre deux personnes. Chacun a six ou huit osselets, que je pris

d'abord pour des noyaux d'abricots; els en ont la figure et sont de meme

grandeur, mais en les regardant de pres je m'apercus qu'ils etoient a

six faces inegales, dont les deux principales sont peintes, l'une en

noir, l'autre en blanc tirant sur le jaune. On les fait sauter en l'air,

en frappant la terre, ou la table, avec un plat rond et creux, ou ils

sont, et qu'ils font pirouetter auparavant. Si tous en tombant

presentent la meme couleur, celui qui a joue gagne cinq points, la

partie est en quarante, et on defalque les points gagnes, a mesure que

l'adversaire en gagne de son cote. Cinq osselets d'une meme couleur ne

donnent qu'un point pour la premiere fois, mais a la seconde on fait

rafle de tout. En moindre nombre on ne gagne rien. Celui, qui gagne la

partie, continue de jouer; le perdant cede sa place a un autre, qui est

nomme par les marqueurs de sa partie. Car on se partage d'abord, et

souvent tout le village s'interesse au jeu: quelquefois meme un village

joue contre un autre. Chaque partie choisit son marqueur, mais il se

retire quand il veut, ce qui n'arrive que lorsque la chose tourne mal

pour les siens. A chaque coup que l'on joue, surtout si c'est un coup

decisif, il s'eleve de grands cris: les joueurs paroissent comme des

fascines, et les spectateurs ne sont pas plus tranquils."--Charlevoix,

vol. v., p. 386; vol. vi., p. 26.

No. LX.

"The action in which Sir Richard met with his death is so extraordinary

that it well merits recital: its object was to surprise the Spanish

fleet when it rendezvoused at the Azores, on its return from America.

For this purpose, Lord Thomas Howard sailed from England with six of the

queen's ships, six victualers, and some pinnaces, Sir Richard Grenville

being vice admiral in the Revenge. Having set out in the spring, 1591,

they waited six months at Flores in expectation of their prize. Philip,

however, obtaining intelligence of their design, dispatched Don Alphonso

Barcau with fifty-three ships of war to act as convoy. So secure had the

English become by protracted delay, that this armament was bearing down

upon them before they had the least suspicion of its approach. Most of

the crews were on shore, providing water, ballast, and other

necessaries, and many were disabled by sickness. To hurry on board,

weigh anchor, and leave the place with the utmost speed, was their only

safety; and Grenville, upon whom the charge of the details at this

pressing crisis was imposed, was the last upon the spot, superintending

the embarkation, and receiving his men on board, of whom ninety were on

the sick-list, and only one hundred able for duty. Thus detained, he

found it impossible to recover the wind, and there was no alternative

but either to cut his mainsail, tack about, and fly with all speed, or

remain and fight it out single handed. It was to this desperate

resolution that he adhered. 'From the greatness of his spirit,' says

Raleigh, 'he utterly refused to turn from the enemy, protesting he would

rather die than be guilty of such dishonor to himself, his country, and

her majesty's ship.' His design was to force the squadron of Seville,

which was on his weather bow, to give way; and such was the impetuosity

of his attack, that it was on the point of being successful. Divers of

the Spaniards, springing their loof, as the sailors of those times

termed it, fell under his lee; when the San Philip, a galleon of 1500

tons, gained the wind, and coming down on the Revenge, becalmed her

sails so completely that she could neither make way nor obey the helm.

The enemy carried three tier of guns on each side, and discharged eight

foreright from her chase, besides those of her stern ports. At the

moment Sir Richard was thus entangled, four other galleons loofed up and

boarded him, two on his larboard and two on his starboard. The close

fight began at three in the afternoon, and continued, with some slight

intermission, for fifteen hours, during which time, Grenville,

unsupported, sustained the reiterated attacks of fifteen Spanish ships,

the rest not being able to engage in close fire. The unwieldy San

Philip, having received a broadside from the lower tier of the Revenge,

shifted with all speed, and avoided the repetition of such a salute; but

still, as one was beaten off, another supplied the vacant space. Two

galleons were sunk, and two others so handled as to lie complete wrecks

upon the water; yet it was evident no human power could save Sir

Richard's vessel. Although wounded in the beginning of the action, its

brave commander refused, for eight hours, to leave the upper deck. He

was then shot through the body, and as his wound was dressing he

received another musket ball, and saw the surgeon slain at his side.

Such was the state of things during the night; but the darkness

concealed the full extent of the calamity. As the day broke, a

melancholy spectacle presented itself. 'Now,' says Raleigh, 'was to be

seen nothing but the naked hull of a ship, and that almost a skeleton,

having received eight hundred shot of great artillery, and some under

water; her deck covered with the limbs and carcasses of forty valiant

men, the rest all wounded, and painted with their own blood; her masts

beat overboard; all her tackle cut asunder; her upper works raised and

level with the water, and she herself incapable of receiving any

direction or motion except that given her by the heaving billows.' At

this moment Grenville proposed to sink the vessel, and trust to the

mercy of God rather than fall into the hands of the Spaniards--a

resolution in which he was joined by the master gunner and a part of the

crew; but the rest refused to consent, and compelled their captain to

surrender. Faint with the loss of blood, and, like his ship, shattered

with repeated wounds, this brave man soon after expired, with these

remarkable words: 'Here die I, Richard Grenville, with a joyful and

quiet mind, for that I have ended my life as a true soldier ought to do,

fighting for his country, queen, religion, and honor.'"--_Report of the

Truth of the Fight about the Isles of the Azores_, 4to, 1501, quoted in

Tytler's "Life of Raleigh."

No. LXI.

"Pocahontas, before her marriage, was instructed in the principles of

the Christian religion, which she cordially embraced, and was baptized

by the name of Rebecca. Soon after, she set sail to visit England. As

soon as Smith heard of her arrival, he sent a letter to the queen,

recounting all her services to himself and to the nation, assuring her

majesty that she had a great spirit, though a low stature, and earnestly

soliciting her majesty's kindness and courtesy. Mrs. Rolfe was

accordingly introduced, and well received at court. At first James

fancied that Rolfe, in marrying her, might be advancing a claim to the

crown of Virginia; however, by great pains, this idea was at last driven

out of his brains. Mrs. Rolfe was for some time, as a novelty, the

favorite object in the circles of fashion and nobility. On her

introduction into these, she deported herself with a grace and propriety

which, it is said, many ladies, bred with every advantage of education

and society, could not equal. Purchas mentions meeting her at the table

of his patron, Dr. King, bishop of London, where she was entertained

'with festival state and pomp,' beyond what, at his hospitable board,

was shown to other ladies. She carried herself as the daughter of a

king, and was respected as such. She was accompanied by Vitamokomakkin,

an Indian chief and priest, who had married one of her sisters, and had

been sent to attend her. Purchas saw him repeatedly 'sing and dance his

diabolical measures.' He endeavored to persuade this chief to follow the

example of his sister-in-law, and embrace Christianity, but found him 'a

blasphemer of what he knew not, preferring his God to ours.' He insisted

that their _Okee_, having taught them to plant, sow, and wear a cork

twisted round their left ear, was entitled to their undivided homage.

Powhatan had instructed him to bring back every information respecting

England, and particularly to count the number of people, furnishing him

for that purpose with a bundle of sticks, that he might make a notch for

every man. Vitamokomakkin, the moment he landed at Plymouth, was

appalled at the magnitude of the task before him; however, he continued

notching most indefatigably all the way to London; but the instant that

he entered Piccadilly, he threw away the sticks, and on returning,

desired Powhatan to count the leaves on the trees, and the sand on the

sea-shore. He also told Smith that he had special instructions to see

the English god, their king, their queen, and their prince. Smith could

do nothing for him as to the first particular; but he was taken to the

levee, and saw the other three, when he complained bitterly that none of

them had made him any present. As soon as Smith learned that Pocahontas

was settled in a house at Brentford, which she had chosen in order to be

out of the smoke of London, he hastened to wait upon her. His reception

was very painful. The princess turned from him, hid her face, and for

two hours could by no effort be induced to utter a word. A certain

degree of mystery appears to hang on the origin of this deadly offense.

Her actual reproaches, when she found her speech, rested on having heard

nothing of him since he left Virginia, and on having been assured there

that he was dead. Prevost has taken upon him to say that the breach of

plighted love was the ground of this resentment, and that it was only on

believing that death had dissolved the connection between them that she

had been induced to marry another. I can not in any of the original

writers meet with the least trace of this alleged vow, and should be

sorry to find in Smith the false lover of the fair Pocahontas. It would

not also have been much in unison with her applauded discretion to have

resented a wrong of this nature in such a time and manner. I am

persuaded that this love was a creation of the romantic brain of

Prevost, and that the real ground of her displeasure was, that during

the two years when she was so shamefully kept in durance, she had heard

nothing of any intercession made in her favor by one whom she had laid

under such deep obligation, and really the thing seems to require some

explanation. It appears that when Smith at last was able to draw speech

from the indignant fair one, he succeeded in satisfying her that there

had been no such neglect as she apprehended, and she insisted on calling

him by the name of father.

"It is said that Pocahontas departed from London with the most

favorable impressions, and with every honor, her husband being appointed

Secretary and Recorder General of Virginia. But Providence had not

destined that she should ever revisit her native shore. As she went down

to embark at Gravesend she was seized with illness, and died in a few

days. Her end is described to have edified extremely all the spectators,

and to have been full of Christian resignation and hope."--Murray's

_America_. See Smith, in Pinkerton, vol. xiii., p. 120-123; Beverley;

Prevost, _Hist. Gen. des Voyages_, vol. xiv., p. 471; Purchas, vol. iv.,

1774.

No. LXII.

"The historians of Virginia have left some records respecting this

unfortunate race, who have not even left behind a relic of their name or

nation. A rude agriculture, devolved solely on the women; hunting,

pursued with activity and skill, but rather as a pastime than a toil;

strong attachment of the members of the little communities to each

other, but deadly enmity against all their neighbors, and this

manifesting itself in furious wars--these features belong to the

Virginians, in common with almost every form of savage life. There are

others which are more distinctive. Although a rude independence has been

supposed to be, and in many cases is, the peculiar boast of the savage,

yet, when a yoke of opinion and authority has once been established over

his mind, he yields a submission more entire and more blind than is

rendered to the most absolute of Eastern despots. Such a sway had the

King of Virginia. 'When he listeth,' says Smith, 'his will is a law, and

must be obeyed; not only as a king, but as half a god they esteem him.

What he commandeth they dare not disobey in the least thing. It is

strange to see with what great fear and adoration all this people do

adore this Powhatan; at the least frown of his brow their greatest

spirits will tremble with fear.' Powhatan (father of the celebrated

Pocahontas; see Appendix, No. LXI.) had under him a number of chiefs,

who ruled as supreme within their own circle; and they were so numerous,

and covered so large an extent of territory, that Powhatan is often

dignified by Europeans with the title of emperor.

"The priests and conjurers formed a separate order, and enjoyed that

high influence which marks a certain advance in the social state. They

possessed some knowledge of nature, and of the history and traditions of

their country, superior, at least, to that of their ruder countrymen.

Their temples were numerous, formed on a similar plan to those of

Florida, and each served by one or more priests.

"Beverley was the man who made the most close inquiry into the Virginian

mythology. He did not meet with all the success he wished, finding them

excessively mysterious on the subject. Having got hold, however, of an

intelligent Indian, and plied him heartily with strong cider, he at last

got him to open his heart in some degree. As he declared his belief in a

wise, perfect, and supremely beneficent being, who dwelt in the

heavens, Beverley asked him how then he could confine his worship to the

devil, a wicked, ugly, earthly being. The Indian said that they were

secure as to the good being, who would shower down his blessings without

asking any return; but that the evil spirit was perpetually busy and

meddling, and would spoil all if court were not paid to him. Beverley,

however, pressed upon him how he could think that an insensible log, 'a

helpless thing, equipped with a burden of clouts,' could ever be a

proper object of worship. The visage of the Indian now assumed a very

marked and embarrassed expression. After a long pause, he began to

utter, in broken sentences, 'It is the priests;' then, after another

pause, 'It is the priests;' but 'a qualm crossed his conscience,' and he

would say no more.

"Beverley had been so well informed upon this last point, in consequence

of a favorable accident of which he had availed himself. While the whole

town were assembled to deliberate upon some great state affair, he was

ranging the woods, and stumbled upon their great temple. He resolved not

to lose so favorable an occasion. After removing about fourteen logs,

with which the door was barricadoed, he entered the mansion, which

appeared at first to consist only of a large, empty, dark apartment,

with a fire-place in the middle, and set round with posts, crowned with

carved or painted heads. On closer observation, he at length discovered

a recess, with mats hung before it, and involved in the deepest

darkness. With some hesitation he ventured into this wondrous sanctuary,

where he found the materials, which, on being put together, made up

Okee, Kiwasee, or Mioceos, the mighty Indian idol. The main body

consisted of a large plank, to whose edges were nailed half hoops, to

represent the breast and belly. Long rolls of blue and red cotton cloth,

variously twisted, made arms and legs, the latter of which were

represented in a bent position. The reputation of the god was chiefly

supported by the very dim religious light under which he was viewed, and

which enabled also the conjurer to get behind him, and move his person

in such a manner as might be favorable to the extension of his

influence, while the priest in front, by the most awful menaces,

deterred any from approaching so near as might lead to any revelation of

the interior mysteries.

"Smith alleges against the Virginians that they made a yearly sacrifice

of a certain number of children; but it appears clear, from the

statements of Beverley, that he misunderstood, in this sense, the

practice of _huskenawing_, a species of severe probation through which

those were required to pass who desired either to be chiefs or priests.

On this occasion, after various preparatory ceremonies, the children are

led naked through two lines of men, armed with bastinadoes, which are

employed with great rigor against the victims, who, after running

through this gauntlet, are more dead than alive, and are covered with

boughs and leaves of trees. If any expire under this trial, it is

esteemed that the Okee has fixed his heart upon him, and carried him

off. The rest are conveyed into the depths of a wood, and shut up into a

cage or pen, where they are plied with intoxicating drugs till they are

said to become for several weeks actually deranged. By this process

they are supposed completely to lose all memory of what they have seen

and known in their former life, and to begin a new and brighter era.

They must not, on their return home, recognize their nearest friends or

comrades, the most common objects, nor even know a word of their own

language; all must be learned afresh. If any indications of memory

escape, the youth must pass again through the dreadful ordeal. Above

all, he must be careful not to have retained the slightest recollection

of any property he may have possessed, and which the neighbors usually

consider a favorable opportunity to appropriate.

"These Indians had not the least tincture of science, nor, of course,

used any form of writing. They made, however, paintings of animals and

other natural objects, by the form and natural position of which

information was transmitted; but it is to be regretted that none of the

Virginian paintings have been preserved to compare with those of the

Mexicans."--Murray's _America_, vol. i., p. 235. See _History of

Virginia_, by R. Beverley, a native and inhabitant of the place. 8vo.

London, 1702.

No. LXIII.

The following is Hennepin's account of the voyage of the first vessel

built by Europeans on the American lakes:

"It now became necessary for La Salle, in furtherance of his object, to

construct a vessel above the Falls of Niagara sufficiently large to

transport the men and goods necessary to carry on a profitable trade

with the savages residing on the Western lakes. On the 22d of January,

1679, they went six miles above the falls to the mouth of a small creek,

and there built a dock convenient for the construction of their

vessel.[229]

"On the 26th of January, the keel and other pieces being ready, La Salle

requested Father Hennepin to drive the first bolt, but the modesty of

the good father's profession prevented.

"During the rigorous winter La Salle determined to return to Fort

Frontenac;[230] and leaving the dock in charge of an Italian named

Chevalier Tuti, he started, accompanied by Father Hennepin, as far as

Lake Ontario; from thence he traversed the dreary forests to Frontenac

on foot, with only two companions and a dog, which drew his baggage on a

sled, subsisting on nothing but parched corn, and even that failed him

two days' journey from the fort. In the mean time, the building of the

vessel went on under the suspicious eyes of the neighboring savages,

although the most part of them had gone to war beyond Lake Erie. One of

them, feigning intoxication, attempted the life of the blacksmith, who

defended himself successfully with a red-hot bar of iron. The timely

warning of a friendly squaw averted the burning of their vessel on the

stocks, which was designed by the savages. The workmen were almost

disheartened by frequent alarms, and would have abandoned the work had

they not been cheered by the good father, who represented the great

advantage their perseverance would afford, and how much their success

would redound to the glory of God. These and other inducements

accelerated the work, and the vessel was soon ready to be launched,

though not entirely finished. Chanting Te Deum, and firing three guns,

they committed her to the river amid cries of joy, and swung their

hammocks in security from the wild beasts and still more dreaded

Indians.

"When the Senecas returned from their expedition they were greatly

astonished at the floating fort, 'which struck terror among all the

savages who lived on the great lakes and river within 1500 miles.'

Hennepin ascended the river in a bark canoe with one of his companions

as far as Lake Erie. They twice pulled the canoe up the rapids, and

sounded the lake for the purpose of ascertaining the depth. He reported

that with a favorable north or northwest wind the vessel could ascend to

the lake, and then sail without difficulty over its whole extent. Soon

after, the vessel was launched in the current of Niagara, about four and

a half miles from the lake. Hennepin left it for Fort Frontenac, and,

returning with La Salle and two other fathers, Gabriel and Zenobe

Mambre, anchored in the Niagara on the 30th of July, 1769. On the 4th of

August they reached the dock where the ship was built, which he calls

distant eighteen miles from Lake Ontario, and proceeded from thence in a

bark canoe to their vessel, which they found at anchor three miles from

the 'beautiful Lake Erie.'

"The vessel was of sixty tons burden, completely rigged, and found with

all the necessaries, arms, provisions, and merchandise; it had seven

small pieces of cannon on board, two of which were of brass. There was a

griffin flying at the jib-boom, and an eagle above. There were also all

the ordinary ornaments and other fixtures which usually grace a ship of

war.

"They endeavored many times to ascend the current of the Niagara into

Lake Erie without success, the wind not being strong enough. While they

were thus detained La Salle employed a few of his men in clearing some

land on the Canadian shore opposite the vessel, and in sowing some

vegetable seeds for the benefit of those who might inhabit the place.

"At length, the wind being favorable, they lightened the vessel by

sending most of the crew on shore, and with the aid of their sails and

ten or a dozen men at the tow-lines, ascended the current into Lake

Erie. Thus, on the 7th of August, 1679, the first vessel set sail on

the untried waters of Lake Erie. They steered southward after having

chanted their never-failing Te Deum, and discharged their artillery in

the presence of a vast number of Seneca warriors. It had been reported

to our voyagers that Lake Erie was full of breakers and sandbanks, which

rendered a safe navigation impossible; they therefore kept the lead

going, sounding from time to time.

"After sailing without difficulty through Lake Erie, they arrived on the

11th of August at the mouth of the Detroit River, sailing up which they

arrived at Lake St. Clair, to which they gave the name it bears. After

being detained several days by contrary winds at the bottom of the St.

Clair River, they at length succeeded in entering Lake Huron on the 23d

of August, chanting Te Deum through gratitude for a safe navigation thus

far. Passing along the eastern shore of the lake, they sailed with a

fresh and favorable wind until evening, when the wind suddenly veered,

driving them across Saginaw Bay (Sacinaw). The storm raged until the

24th, and was succeeded by a calm, which continued until next day noon

(25th), when they pursued their course until midnight. As they doubled a

point which advanced into the lake, they were suddenly struck by a

furious wind, which forced them to run behind the cape for safety. On

the 26th the violence of the storm compelled them to send down their

top-masts and yards and to stand in, for they could find neither

anchorage nor shelter.

"It was then the stout heart of La Salle failed him; the whole crew fell

upon their knees to say their prayers and prepare for death, except the

pilot, whom they could not compel to follow their example, and who, on

the contrary, 'did nothing all that time but curse and swear against M.

la Salle, who had brought him thither to make him perish in a nasty

lake, and lose the glory he had acquired by his long and happy

navigation on the ocean.' On the 27th, favored with less adverse winds,

they arrived during the night at Michillimackinack, and anchored in the

bay, where they report six fathoms of water and a clay bottom. This bay

is protected on the southwest, west, and northwest, but open to the

south. The savages were struck dumb with astonishment at the size of

their vessel and the noise of their guns.

"Here they regaled themselves on the delicious trout, which they

described as being from 50 lbs. to 60 lbs. in weight, and as affording

the savages their principal subsistence. On the 2d of September they

left Mackinack, entered Lake Michigan (Illinois), and sailed forty

leagues to an island at the mouth of the Bay of Puara (Green Bay). From

this place La Salle determined to send back the ship laden with furs to

Niagara. The pilot and five men embarked in her, and on the 10th she

fired a gun and set sail on her return with a favorable wind. Nothing

more was heard from her, and she undoubtedly foundered in Lake Huron,

with all on board. Her cargo was rich, and valued at 60,000 livres.

"Thus ended the first voyage of the first ship that sailed over the

Western lakes. What a contrast is presented between the silent waves and

unbroken forests which witnessed the course of that adventurous bark,

and the busy hum of commerce which now rises from the fertile bottoms,

and the thousand ships and smoking palaces which now furrow the surface

of those inland seas!"--_American Tourist._

[Footnote 229: There can be but little doubt that the place they

selected for building their bark was the mouth of the Cayuga Creek,

about six miles above the falls. Governor Cuss says "the vessel was

launched at Erie;" Schoolcraft, in his Journal, says, "near Buffalo;"

and the historian Bancroft locates the site at the mouth of Tonawanda

Creek. Hennepin says the mouth of the creek was two leagues above the

great falls; the mouth of the Tonawanda is more than twice that

distance, and the Cayuga is the only stream that answers to that

description.]

[Footnote 230: Now Kingston, Canada.]

No. LXIV.

MILITIA OF CANADA BEFORE THE CONQUEST IN 1760.

"All the inhabitants of the colony, by virtue of the Law of Fiefs

(except such gentlemen and other persons who, by their employments, had

the privilege of nobles), were militia-men, and enrolled in the several

companies of militia of the province. The captains of militia were the

most respectable persons in the country parishes, and were entitled to

the first seat in the churches; they also received the same distinctions

as the magistrates in the towns; they were held in great respect, and

government exacted from the inhabitants obedience to the orders they

signified to them on the part of government. If any of the inhabitants

did not obey orders, the captains were authorized to conduct them to the

city, and, on complaint, they were punished according to the nature of

the delinquency. When the government wanted the services of the militia

as soldiers, the colonels of militia, or the town majors, in consequence

of a requisition from the governor general, sent orders to the several

captains of militia in the country parishes to send a certain number of

militia-men, chosen by those officers who ordered the draughts, into

town, under an escort commanded by an officer of militia, who conducted

them to the town major, who furnished each militia-man with a gun, a

capot or Canadian cloak, a cotton shirt, a cap, a pair of leggins, a

pair of Indian shoes, and a blanket; after which they were marched to

the garrison to which they were destined. The militia were generally

reviewed once or twice a year to inspect their arms. The militia of the

city of Quebec were frequently exercised, and the company of artillery

every Sunday were exercised at the great gun practice, under the orders

and directions of the artillery sergeant major of the king's troops. To

excite the emulation of the militia-men, a premium was given to such as

excelled. The captains in the country were obliged to execute all orders

addressed to them by the governor general, and also all processes from

the intendant respecting the police, and also with regard to suits

touching fiefs. They were also obliged to execute all orders respecting

the roads from the grand voyer. It was customary for the governor

general to deliver to the several captains of militia every year, by way

of gratification, a quantity of powder and ball."--General Murray's

_Report_.

No. LXV.

"When the French began their settlements in Canada, the country

exhibited one vast and unbounded forest, and property was granted in

extensive lots called _seigneuries_, stretching along either coast of

the St. Lawrence for a distance of ninety miles below Quebec, and thirty

miles above Montreal, comprehending a space of three hundred miles in

length.

"The _seigneuries_ each contain 100 to 500 square miles, and are

parceled out into small tracts on a freehold lease to the inhabitants,

as the persons to whom they were granted had not the means of

cultivating them. These consisted of officers of the army, of gentlemen,

and of communities, who were not in a state to employ laborers and

workmen. The portion to each inhabitant was of three acres in breadth,

and from seventy to eighty in depth, commencing on the banks of the

river, and running back into the woods, thus forming an entire and

regular lot of land.

"To the proprietors of _seigneuries_ some powers, as well as

considerable profits, are attached. They are by their grants authorized

to hold courts and sit as judges in what is termed _haute_ and _basse

justice_, which includes all crimes committed within their jurisdiction,

treasons and murders excepted. Few, however, exercised this privilege

except the ecclesiastical seigneurs of Montreal, whose right of

jurisdiction the King of France purchased from them, giving them, in

return, his _droit de change_. Some of the seigneurs have a right of

villain service from their tenants.

"At every transfer or mutation of proprietor, the new purchaser is bound

to pay a sum equal to a fifth part of the purchase money to the seigneur

or to the king; but if this fine be paid immediately, only one third of

the fifth is demanded. This constituted a principal part of the king's

revenues in the province. When an estate falls by inheritance to a new

possessor, he is by law exempted from the fine.

"The income of a seigneur is derived from the yearly rent of his lands,

from _lots et vents_, or a fine on the disposal of property held under

him, and from grist mills, to whose profits he has an exclusive right.

The rent paid by each tenant is considerable; but they who have many

inhabitants on their estates enjoy a tolerably handsome revenue, each

person paying in money, grain, or other produce, from five to twelve

livres _per annum_. In the event of a sale of any of the lots of his

_seigneurie_, a proprietor may claim a preference of repurchasing it,

which is seldom exercised but with a view to prevent frauds in the

disposal of the property. He may also, whenever he finds it necessary,

cut down timber for the purpose of building mills and making roads;

tithes of all the fisheries on his domain likewise belong to him.

"Possessed of these advantages, seigneurs might in time attain to a

state of comparative affluence were their estates allowed to remain

entire. But by the practice of divisions among the different children of

a family, they become, in a few generations, reduced. The most ample

share, which retains the name of _seigneurie_, is the portion of eldest

son; the other partitions are denominated _feofs_. These are, in the

next generation, again subdivided, and thus, in the course of a few

descents, a seigneur is possessed of little more than his title. This is

the condition of most of those estates that have passed to the third or

fourth generation.

"The inhabitants, in like manner, make divisions of their small tracts

of land, and a house will sometimes belong to several proprietors. It is

from these causes that they are in a great measure retained in a state

of poverty, that a barrier to industry and emulation is interposed, and

that a spirit of litigation is excited.

"There are in Canada upward of 100 _seigneuries_, of which that of

Montreal, belonging to the seminary of St. Sulpicius, is the richest and

most productive. The next in value and profit is the territory of the

Jesuits. The members of that society who resided at Quebec were, like

the priests of Montreal, only agents for the head of their community.

But since the expulsion of their order from France, and the seizure by

the Catholic sovereigns of Europe of all the lands of that society

within their dominions, the Jesuits in Canada held their _seigneurie_ in

their own right.

"Some of the domiciliated savages held also in the province land in the

right of seigneurs.

"Upon a representation of the narrow circumstances to which many of the

_noblesse_ and gentlemen of the colony were reduced, not only by the

causes already assigned, but by others equally powerful, Louis XIV. was

induced to permit persons of that description to carry on commerce by

sea or land without being subjected to any inquiry on this account, or

to an imputation of their having derogated from their rank in society.

"To no _seigneurie_ is the right of patronage to the Church attached; it

was upon the advancement of the pretensions of some seigneurs, founded

on their having built parochial churches, that the king in 1685

pronounced in council that this right should belong to the bishop, he

being the most capable of judging concerning the qualifications of

persons who were to serve, and the incomes of the curacies also being

paid from the tithes, which belonged to him alone. The right of

patronage was at the same time declared not to be reputed an

honor."--Heriot's _Canada_, p. 98.

No. LXVI.

"Louis Joseph, marquis de Montcalm de St. Veran, lieutenant general,

naquit au chateau de Candiac, pres de Nimes, en 1712. Sa famille,

originaire du Ronerque, joint ordinairement a son nom celui de

Gozon.[231] L'education du Marquis de St. Veran fut confiee, ainsi que

celle de son frere aine, enfant celebre,[232] aux soins de Dumas,

l'inventeur du bureau typographique. Quoiqu'il fut sorti a l'age de

quatorze ans des mains de cet habile instituteur, pour entrer dans la

carriere militaire, il avoit si bien profite de ses lecons qu'il

conserva le gout de l'etude jusque dans le tumulte des camps; et

l'etendue de ses connaissances justifia son ambition et son esperance

d'etre admis a l'Academie Royale des inscriptions et belle-lettres de

Paris. Il ne vecut pas assez pour jouir de cette honneur.

"Sa vie militaire a jette un grand eclat. Il se distingua des les premiers

pas dans la carriere, recut trois blessures a la bataille de Plaisance, et

deux au funeste combat d'Exilles (ou de l'Assiette).[233] Il etoit alors

colonel d'infanterie. Devenue brigadier il passa dans la cavalerie et fut

fait mestre-de-camp d'un regiment de son nom. Marechal-de-camp en 1756 il

alla commander en chef les troupes chargees de la defense des colonies

Francaises dans l'Amerique Septentrionale."-_Biographie Universelle_,

art. Montcalm.

The French troops that served in Canada, being desirous of erecting a

monument in honor of Montcalm, their general, who fell in the action at

Quebec, when we also lost the brave Wolfe, a French colonel wrote to the

Academy of Belles-Lettres for an epitaph to be placed over Montcalm's

tomb, in a church in that city, which occasioned the following letter

from M. de Bougainville, member of the academy, to Mr. Pitt:

"Sir,--The honors paid, under your ministry, to Mr. Wolfe, assure me

that you will not disapprove of the grateful endeavors of the French

troops to perpetuate the memory of the Marquis de Montcalm. The body of

their general, who was honored by the regret of your nation, is interred

in Quebec. I have the honor to send you an epitaph made for him by the

Academy of Inscriptions. I beg the favor of you, sir, that you will be

pleased to examine it, and, if not improper, obtain leave for me to send

it to Quebec, engraved on marble, and to be placed on the Marquis de

Montcalm's tomb. Should such leave be granted, may I presume, sir, that

you will be so good as to inform me of it, and at the same time to send

me a passport, that the marble, with the epitaph engraved upon it, may

be received into an English ship, and Mr. Murray, governor of Quebec,

allow it to be placed in the Ursuline Church. You will be pleased, sir,

to pardon me for this intrusion on your important occupations; but

endeavoring to immortalize illustrious men and eminent patriots is doing

honor to yourself.

"I am, with respect, &c.,

DE BOUGAINVILLE."[234]

Mr. Pitt's answer:

"Sir,--It is a real satisfaction to me to send you the king's consent on

a subject so affecting as the epitaph composed by the Academy of

Inscriptions at Paris for the Marquis de Montcalm, and which it is

desired may be sent to Quebec, engraved on marble, to be placed on the

tomb of that illustrious soldier. It is perfectly beautiful; and the

desire of the French troops which served in Canada to pay such a tribute

to the memory of their general, whom they saw expire at their head in a

manner worthy of them and himself, is truly noble and praiseworthy.

"I shall take a pleasure, sir, in facilitating every way such amiable

intentions; and on notice of the measures taken for shipping this

marble, I will not fail immediately to transmit you the passport you

desire, and send directions to the governor of Quebec for its reception.

"I withal beg of you, sir, to be persuaded of my just sensibility of

that so obliging part of the letter with which you have honored me

relating to myself, and to believe that I embrace as a happiness the

opportunity of manifesting the esteem and particular regard with which I

have the honor to be, &c.,

W. PITT

"_London, April 10th, 1761_."

The epitaph was as follows:

Utroque in orbe aeternum victurus,

Ludovicus Josephus de Montcalm Gozon,

Marchio Sancti Verani, Baro Gebriaci,

Ordinis sancti Ludovici commendator,

Legatus generalis exercituum Gallicorum;

Egregius et civis et miles,

Nullius rei appetens praeterquam verae laudis,

Ingenio felici, et literis exculto;

Omnes militiae gradus per continua decora emensus,

Omnium belli artium, temporum, discriminum gnarus,

In Italia, in Bohemia, in Germania

Dux industrius.

Mandata sibi ita semper gerens ut majoribus par haberetur.

Jam clarus periculus

Ad tutandam Canadensem provinciam missus,

Parva militum manu hostium copias non semel repulit,

Propuguacula cepit viris armisque instructissima.

Algoris, inediae, vigiliarum, laboris patiens,

Suis unice prospiciens, immemor sui,

Hostis acris, victor mansuetus.

Fortunam virtuti, virium inopiam peritia et celeritate compensavit;

Imminens coloniae fatum et consilio et manu per quadrimum sustinuit,

Tandem ingentum exercitum duce strenuo et audaci,

Classemque omni bellorum mole gravem,

Multiplici prudentia diu ludificatus,

Vi pertractus ad dimicandum,

In prima acie, in primo conflictu vulneratus,

Religioni quam semper coluerat innitens,

Magno suorum desiderio, nec sine hostium moerore,

Extinctus est

Die xiv. Sept., A.D. MDCCLIX., aetat. XLVIII.

Mortales optimi ducis exuvias in excavata humo,

Quam globus bellicus decidens dissiliensque defoderat,

Galli lugentes deposuerunt,

Et generosae hostium fidei commemdarunt.

TRANSLATION.

Here lieth,

In either hemisphere to live forever,

Lewis Joseph de Montcalm Gozon,

Marquis of St. Veran, Baron of Gabriac,

Commendatory of the Order of St. Louis,

Lieutenant general of the French army;

Not loss an excellent citizen than soldier,

Who knew no desire but that of true glory;

Happy in a natural genius, improved by literature,

Having gone through the several steps of military honors

With uninterrupted luster,

Skill'd in all the arts of war,

The juncture of times, and the crisis of dangers,

In Italy, in Bohemia, in Germany,

An indefatigable general.

He so discharged his important trusts,

That he seemed always equal to still greater.

At length, grown bright with perils,

Sent to secure the province of Canada,

With a handful of men

He more than once repulsed the enemy's forces,

And made himself master of their forts,

Replete with troops and ammunition.

Inured to cold, hunger, watchings, and labors,

Unmindful of himself,

He had no sensation but for his soldiers;

An enemy with the fiercest impetuosity,

A victor with the tenderest humanity.

Adverse fortune he compensated with valor,

The want of strength with skill and activity,

And, with his counsel and support,

For four years protracted the impending fate of the colony.

Having with various artifices

Long baffled a great army,

Headed by an expert and intrepid commander,

And a fleet furnished with all warlike stores,

Compelled at length to an engagement,

He fell, in the first rank, in the first onset,

With those hopes of religion which he had always cherished,

To the inexpressible loss of his own army,

And not without the regret of the enemy's,

XIV. September, A.D. MDCCLIX., of his age XLVIII.

His weeping countrymen

Deposited the remains of their excellent general

In a grave,

Which a fallen bomb in bursting had excavated for him,

Recommending them to the generous faith of their enemies.

--_Annual Register_, 1762.

[Footnote 231: "La famille de Montcalm joint ordinairement a son nom

celui de Gozon, sons lequel elle s'illustra au quatorzieme siecle; le

grand-maitre de l'ordre de St. Jean de Jerusalem, qui obtint cette

dignite pour avoir delivre l'ile de Rhodes d'un dragon qui la ravageoit.

Les grans bois de la terre de Gozon, vendu domainalement, portent encore

le nom de dragonnieres, d'apres la tradition que c'est la que le

chevalier Dieu Donne exercoit ses chiens a la poursuite d'un dragon

artificiel avant d'attaquer celui que desoloit l'ile de Gozon. La meme

tradition de la famille Montcalm a conserve le nom du fidele domestique

qui accompagna ce heros; il se nomma Roustan. On grava sur son tombeau

cette courte inscription, 'Draconia Extinctor.' Plusieurs critiques ont

cherche a jeter des doutes sur le combat de Gozon. On peut voir dans le

Dictionnaire de Chaufepie, les raisons qu'on leur oppose, tirees de

l'existence de serpents monstreux, prouvee par l'accord des historiens

anciens, et par les recits des voyageurs, comme par le temoignage des

monuments contemporains, des Chroniques de l'Ordre de Malte, et enfin

d'une tapisserie sur laquelle est represente le memorable combat de

Gozon."--_Biographie Universelle_, art. Gozon.]

[Footnote 232: "Le frere aine de Montcalm, Jean Louis Pierre Elizabeth

de Montcalm de Candiac, etoit un enfant celebre, qui attira l'attention

et les hommages des savants a Nimes, a Montpellier, a Grenoble, a Lyons,

a Paris. Sa vie n'eut que sept ans de duree, et cependant outre sa

langue maternelle qu'il connoissait par principes, il avoit des notions

assez avancees de Latin, de Grec, et d'Hebreu, il possedoit toute

l'arithmetique, savoit la fable, le blason, la geographie et plusieurs

parties importantes de l'histoire sacree et profane, ancienne et

moderne. Il etoit l'eleve de Dumas aussi bien que son frere; sa mort fut

causee par une hydropisie de cerveau."--_Biographie Universelle_, art.

Candiac.]

[Footnote 233: "Le Comte de Belleisle avoit la promesse du baton de

Marechal de France s'il reussissait de penetrer dans le coeur du Piemont

avec l'armee du Dauphine. Le 19 Juillet, 1746, a la pointe du jour, il

commenca l'attaque memorable et sanglante, ou tous les prodiges de la

valeur Francaise furent vains. Quatorze bataillons Piemontais

defendaient le col de l'Assiette qui couvroit, a la fois, Exilles et

Fenestrelles. Desespere du mauvais succes d'une attaque desapprouvee par

les generaux les plus experimentes, le Comte de Belleisle se mit a la

tete des officiers de l'armee, dont il forma une colonne, et qui,

presque tous, vinrent se faire tuer au pied des retranchemens. Blesse

aux deux mains, Belleisle tachoit d'arracher les palisades avec les

dents, lorsque il recut un coup mortel. Les Francois repousses et sans

chef firent leur retraite sur Briancon."--_Biographie Universelle_, art.

Belleisle.]

[Footnote 234: Jean Pierre de Bougainville was Secretary to the French

Academy of Inscriptions. He died in 1763, at the age of forty-one, of

asthma, brought on by intense application. His brother, Louis Antoine,

the celebrated circumnavigator, who had been Montcalm's aide-de-camp,

retired from the service in 1790. He was afterward made a count and a

senator by Bonaparte, became member of the National Institute, and of

the Royal Society of London. He died at Paris in 1811, at the age of

eighty-two.]

No. LXVII.

MEMOIR OF GENERAL WOLFE.

James Wolfe was the second son of Colonel Edward Wolfe, who was

afterward colonel of the 8th Regiment, and died on the 27th of March,

1759, but a short time before the death of his gallant son. Colonel

Wolfe had served and won honorable estimation, under Marlborough in

early life; on his return from the continental wars he married Miss

Harriett Thompson, sister to the then member of Parliament for York. The

inhabitants of that city made a vigorous effort to appropriate the honor

of James Wolfe having been born among them, and a controversy in prose

and verse, neither of them of a very brilliant description, was long

carried on in the periodicals of the day, between the capital of the

North and the quiet village of Westerham. Whatever the merits of the

writers upon either side may have been, and their power of wit and

argument, there were a few lines in the parish register of the Kentish

hamlet which proved more convincing than any thing else; James, son of

Colonel Edward Wolfe, was baptized on January 11th, 1727. On a tablet

erected to his memory in Westerham Church, it is stated that he was born

on the 2nd of January, 1727.

The vicarage house of the village was the place of Wolfe's birth, then

leased to his father by the Reverend George Lewis, the vicar, whose son

was vicar when Wolfe died, and wrote the inscription for his monument.

The elder brother of this gallant general died young; he himself was

sent to a respectable private school in the neighborhood, where,

although an ardent and clever boy, he was not distinguished for any very

remarkable characteristics.

When only fourteen years of age he embarked with his father, who was

engaged in the expedition to Flanders under Lord Cathcart; the youth,

however, who was then and always of a very delicate constitution, fell

ill, and was under the necessity of being landed at Portsmouth. After a

little time, his health being somewhat re-established, he joined his

father on the Continent, and at once began to read the lessons of

military art in the stern school of reality.

On the 3rd of November, 1741, Colonel Wolfe caused his youthful son to

be appointed to a commission in a battalion of marines which he himself

commanded. On the 27th of March, 1742, James Wolfe removed into the 12th

Regiment as ensign, and fought at the battle of Dettingen in that same

year. In April he appears to have been on leave, traveling probably for

health; in this month he writes to his mother, dating Rome, a grateful

and affectionate letter. On the 14th of July, 1743, he was promoted to a

lieutenancy in the same regiment, while serving with the allies behind

the Scheldt, and in 1744 was engaged under Wade in his inglorious

operations; in that year he was given a company in the 4th Regiment; in

the following, he fought under the Duke of Cumberland in the fatal but

glorious battle of Fontenoy. Up to this time Wolfe had been with his

regiment in every engagement in which it had taken part, and had already

gained greater distinction than can usually fall to the lot of those in

the junior ranks of the army. In 1746 he fought under Hawley in the

front line at the disgraceful rout at Falkirk, and his conduct, even in

that unfortunate occasion, called forth the praise of his superiors. In

the same year his services were transferred to a service more worthy of

his future fame than the obscure and painful struggles of a civil war;

he served and gained new approbation under the gallant Ligonier at

Liers.

On the 5th of February, 1746-7, he was raised to a majority in the 33d

Regiment. This step of rank afforded new opportunity to this gallant

youth; at the battle of La Feldt, in the same year, he distinguished

himself in so remarkable a manner, that the British general-in-chief,

the Duke of Cumberland, publicly thanked him on the battle-field. On the

5th of January, 1748-9, he removed into Lord George Sackville's, the

20th Regiment of Foot.

Wolfe commanded this regiment during the absence of the colonel for a

considerable time, and soon brought it into a state of the highest

discipline. Wherever he went, he received the praise of the different

general officers commanding, and gained the esteem and regard of all who

became acquainted with him in civil or military life. His regimental

orders, which are still extant, are admirable, and furnish ample

evidence of zeal for, and knowledge of, his profession.

In February, 1748-9, Wolfe served at Stirling, in Scotland; in April, at

Glasgow; in October, at Perth. March 20th, 1749-50, he was made colonel

of the regiment which he had for some time so admirably commanded; in

October he was at Dundee, in November at Banff; and remained in Scotland

till 1753, when he removed to Reading, where his regiment was reviewed

and highly commended by the Duke of Cumberland. In December in that year

he was at Dover Castle. In 1755 he was at Winchester and Southampton; at

the end of October he marched to Gravesend, and in December to

Canterbury. While in the south of England, he constantly practiced his

regiment in such evolutions as might be necessary to oppose the landing

of an invading army, and wrote an elaborate code of instructions, to be

acted upon in case of any attempt being made upon the coast. At the same

time, a number of his trained soldiers were withdrawn to fill up the

ill-fated ranks of the 44th and 48th, then about to sail for America

under Braddock, where many of them perished miserably and ingloriously.

Early in 1757, Lieutenant-colonel Wolfe was selected, on account of his

known merit, by Mr. Pitt to serve as quarter-master general of the force

sent against Rochefort, under Sir John Mordaunt, the general, and Sir

Edward Hawke, the admiral. While the expedition lay motionless in Basque

Roads, from the untoward dissensions between the naval and military

officers, Wolfe landed one night alone upon the hostile shore, and

walked two miles up the country. He found that there were no real

difficulties in the way of debarkation, and that no preparations had

been made to oppose it. When he returned to the fleet he reported the

result of his observations, and strongly, but vainly, urged the general

to land, and at once attack Rochefort. Finally, he pledged himself to

carry the place, should three ships of war and 500 men be placed at his

disposal. The proposal was neglected: however, the zeal and daring shown

by the gallant young soldier on this occasion confirmed Pitt in the

estimate which he had formed of his character. Some more days were

wasted in inaction, and at length the expedition, having destroyed the

unimportant fortifications of Aix, returned ingloriously to England.

Wolfe's merit was thrown out in strong relief by the incapacity of

those under whom he served; while they were despised, he was honored.

The rank of brevet colonel on the 21st of October of that year was his

first reward.

On the 23d of January, 1758, Mr. Pitt made Wolfe brigadier general, and

gave him the command of a brigade under Amherst, in the expedition

against Louisburg, disregarding the mere official routine of seniority.

Events soon proved the wisdom of the selection. From thenceforward

Wolfe's biography is English history. However, it may be added that he

was made colonel of the 67th Foot on the 21st of April, 1758. In

January, 1759, Pitt again selected him for service. This time he was to

command in chief: he was gazetted as major general, and intrusted with

the conduct of the arduous expedition against Quebec.

It is a painful duty to repeat here an anecdote of Wolfe, which stands

recorded by the high authority of Lord Mahon. The young general dined

with Mr. Pitt shortly after his appointment to the command, a third

person only being present. After dinner, when the conversation turned

upon the approaching expedition, Wolfe became unreasonably excited: he

strode about the room, flourished his sword, and broke forth in a style

of vaporing altogether surprising in a man of real spirit. When he at

length departed, Mr. Pitt remained dismayed at having intrusted the fate

of the country and of the ministry in such hands. Happily, he did not

suffer new doubts to alter his former arrangements.

For some time Wolfe appears to have been unsuccessful in a suit which he

pleaded to Miss Lowther, and, in consequence, his naturally domestic

mind was re-strung to the harsher tones of ambition. Subsequently,

however, he became engaged to this lady, and the marriage was to have

been celebrated immediately on his return from the expedition against

Quebec. After his death Miss Lowther became Duchess of Bolton, but

tradition says that she always wore henceforth a pearl necklace which he

had given her, covered with black velvet, in memory of the departed.

Wolfe was a plain man: his features were sharp, his forehead somewhat

receding, his hair sandy or red, and, contrary to the fashion of the

time, was not powdered; his skin was coarse, fair, and freckled; but his

mouth wore a smiling and gentle expression, and his eyes were blue and

benignant. He was delicate from early youth, and the seeds of fatal

diseases were displayed in his constitution. At first his address and

manner were unengaging, but he invariably endeared himself to all with

whom he was familiar. All his thoughts and actions were influenced by a

deep religious feeling. When a courtier remonstrated with the king upon

Wolfe's appointment to command the expedition against Quebec, saying

that "he was mad" (meaning that he was over-religious), the king

replied, "If he be mad, I wish he would bite some of my other generals."

Wolfe was assiduously and conscientiously attentive to his profession,

and was constitutionally and steadily daring. His mind was clear and

active, his temper lively and almost impetuous; he was independent

without pride, and generous to profusion. "He never caviled with his

instructions, or hesitated to obey orders; exact in discipline himself,

he was always punctual to obey. His judgment was acute, his memory quick

and retentive, and his disposition candid, constant, and sincere. The

union of the gentle and the bold, of ambition and affection, formed the

peculiar charm of his character. His courage never quailed before

danger, nor shrank from responsibility."

Little is known of Wolfe's private life. Dr. Southey contemplated the

task of writing his biography, but abandoned it from the want of

materials. To Lord Mahon and Mr. Gleig we are indebted for some very

interesting particulars, and for a few judiciously selected portions of

such of the hero's letters as are still extant. It only remains to

conclude this imperfect memoir with a few of these selections.

On first assuming the command of a regiment, Wolfe writes, "I take upon

me the difficult duty of a commander. It is a hard thing to keep the

passions within bounds, where authority and immaturity go together. It

is hard to be a severe disciplinarian, yet humane; to study the temper

of all, and endeavor to please them, and yet be impartial--to discourage

vice at the turbulent age of twenty-three."

His letters breathe a spirit of tenderness and gentleness, over which

ambition could not triumph. In writing to his mother on the 28th of

September, 1755, he says, "My nature requires some extraordinary events

to produce itself. I want that attention and those assiduous cares that

commonly go along with good nature and humanity. In the common

occurrences of life I am not seen to advantage." So far back as the 13th

of August, 1749, he writes also to his mother from Glasgow, "I have

observed your instructions so rigidly that, rather than want the word, I

got the reputation of being a very good Presbyterian by frequenting the

Kirk of Scotland till our chapel opens." Again he writes to his mother

from Inverness, November 6th, 1751, "There are times when men fret at

trifles, and quarrel with their tooth-picks. In one of these ill habits

I exclaim against my present condition, and think it the worst of all,

but coolly and temperately, it is plainly the best. Where there is most

employment and least vice, there should one wish most to be."

On the 18th of February, 1755, he writes to his father, "I find that

your bounty and liberality keep pace, as they usually do, with my

necessities. I shall not abuse your kindness, nor receive it

unthankfully, and what use I make of it shall be for your honor and the

king's service--an employment worthy of the hand that gives it." His

amiable temper strongly inclined him, from an early age, to domestic

life; in the letter, November 6th, 1751 (before quoted), he declares

that he has "a turn of mind that favors matrimony prodigiously; I love

children, and think them necessary to people in their later days." He,

however, struggled with these wishes, and for a long time overcame them,

from his ardent love of fame.

Of Wolfe's life we know but little; the waves of oblivion have closed

over it, but the story of his death remains forever treasured in

England's grateful memory.

"Annual Register," May, 1760.

Some gentlemen in the parish of Westerham, in Kent, have erected a plain

monument to the late General Wolfe, in the inscription on which the

extraordinary honor intended his memory by his sovereign is hinted at,

and the impropriety of a more expensive monument in that place justly

shown. The table is of statuary marble, beautifully executed by Mr.

Lovel, near Cavendish Square.

JAMES,

Son of Colonel Edward WOLFE, and Henrietta his wife, was born in

this parish, January 2d, 1727,

And died in America, September 13th, 1759.

"While George in sorrow bows his laurel'd head,

And bids the artist grace the soldier dead,

We raise no sculptured trophy to thy name,

Brave youth! the fairest in the list of fame.

Proud of thy birth, we boast th' auspicious year;

Struck with thy fall, we shed a general tear;

With humble grief inscribe one artless stone,

And from thy matchless honors date our own."

"I DECUS I NOSTRUM."[235]

"Annual Register," October, 1773.

On an oval tablet on front of the sarcophagus of General Wolfe's

monument in Westminster Abbey, just opened, is the following

inscription:

To the memory of

JAMES WOLFE, Esq.,

Major General and Commander-in-Chief

Of the British Land Forces

On an expedition against Quebec,

Who,

Surmounting, by ability and valor,

All obstacles of art and nature,

Was slain,

In the moment of Victory,

At the head of his conquering troops,

On the 13th of Sept., 1759,

The King

And the Parliament of Great Britain

Dedicate this monument.

"Annual Register," 1762.

The Right Honorable the Earl Temple has lately dedicated a most

magnificent building at Stowe, of the Ionic order, CONCORDIAE ET

VICTORIAE.

In the pediment of the portico is a fine alto relievo, representing the

four quarters of the world bringing gifts to Britain. In the portico, or

ante-temple, two medallions, _Concordia foederatorum_, _Concordia

civium_. Over the door, _Quo tempore salus corum in ultimas angustias

deducta nullum ambitioni locum relinquebat_. In the inner temple, in a

niche facing the entrance, the statue of BRITANNIA: over which, in a

tablet, _Candidis autem animis voluptatum, praebuerint in conspicuo

posita, quae cuique magnifica merito contigerunt_. On the walls, fourteen

medallions, representing the taking of Quebec, Martinico, &c.;

Louisburg, Guadeloupe, &c.; Montreal, &c.; Pondicherry, &c. Naval

victory off Belleisle, naval victory off Lagas, Crevelt and Minden,

Fellinghausen; Senegal and Gorce, Niagara and Crown Point, Beau Sejour

and Fort du Quesne, Cherburg and Belleisle. On a hill at a distance, in

a diagonal line, runs an obelisk above a hundred feet, inscribed

TO MAJOR-GENERAL WOLFE.

_Ostendunt Terris nunc tantum Fata._

[Footnote 235: Is in white marble letters, inlaid in a ground of black

marble.]

No. LXVIII.

"Lord Howe always lay in his tent with the regiment which he commanded,

while the rest of the army were quartered in the town and fort of

Albany. This regiment he modeled in such a manner that they were ever

after considered as an example to the whole American army. Lord Howe

laid aside all pride and prejudice, and gratefully accepted council from

those whom he knew to be the best qualified to direct him. Madame

Schuyler was delighted with the calm steadiness with which he carried

through the austere rules which he found it necessary to lay down. In

the first place, he forbade all displays of gold and scarlet in the

rugged march they were about to undertake, and set the example by

wearing himself an ammunition coat, that is to say, one of the surplus

soldiers' coats cut short. This was a necessary precaution, because, in

the woods, the hostile Indians who started from behind the trees usually

caught at the long and heavy skirts then worn by the soldiers; and, for

the same reason, he ordered the muskets to be shortened, that they might

not, as on former occasions, be snatched from behind by these agile

foes. To prevent the march of his regiment from being descried at a

distance by the glittering of their arms, the barrels of their guns were

all blackened; and to save them from the tearing of bushes, the stings

of insects, &c., he set them the example of wearing leggins, a kind of

buskin made of strong woolen cloth. The greatest privation to the young

and vain yet remained. Hair well dressed and in great quantity was then

considered as the greatest possible ornament, which those who had it

took the utmost care to display to advantage, and to wear in a bag or

queue. Lord Howe's was very full and very abundant; he, however, cropped

it, and ordered every one else to do the same.

"The austere regulations and constant self-denial which he imposed upon

the troops he commanded were patiently borne, because he was not only

gentle in his manners, but generous and humane in a very high degree,

and exceedingly attentive to the health and real necessities of the

soldiery. Among many instances of this, a quantity of powdered ginger

was given to every man, and the sergeants were ordered to see that when,

in the course of marching, the soldiers arrived hot and tired at the

banks of any stream, they should not be permitted to stoop to drink, as

they generally inclined to do, but be obliged to lift water in their

canteens, and mix ginger with it. This became afterward a general

practice, and in those aguish swamps through which the troops were

forced to march, was the means of saving many lives. Aunt Schuyler, as

this amiable young officer familiarly styled his maternal friend, had

the greatest esteem for him, and the greatest hope that he would at some

future time redress all those evils that had formerly impeded the

service. The night before the march they had a long and serious

conversation. In the morning Lord Howe proposed setting out very early;

but, when he arose, was astonished to find Madame Schuyler waiting, and

breakfast ready; he smiled, and said he would not disappoint her, as it

was hard to say when he might again breakfast with a lady. Impressed

with an unaccountable degree of concern about the fate of the enterprise

in which he was embarked, she again repeated her counsels and her

caution; and when he was about to depart, embraced him with the

affection of a mother, and shed many tears, a weakness she did not often

give way to. A few days after Lord Howe's departure, in the afternoon, a

man was seen coming on horseback from the north, galloping violently,

without his hat. Pedrom ran eagerly to inquire, well knowing he rode

express. The man galloped on, crying out that Lord Howe was killed.

Shrieks and sobs of anguish re-echoed through every part of the

house."--_Letters of an American Lady_, vol. ii.; p. 73.

No. LXIX.

"Le troisieme de Juillet de cette annee Samuel de Champlain fonda la

ville de Quebec, capitale de la Nouvelle France, sur la riviere

septentrionale du fleuve St. Laurent a six-vingt lieues de la mer, entre

une petite riviere qui porte le nom de St. Charles et un gros cap, qu'on

appelle le Cap aux Diamans, parce qu'on y trouvoit alors quantite de

diamans assez semblables a ceux d'Alencon."--_Fastes Chronologiques_,

1608.

"Cape Diamond abounds with very fine specimens of quartz, or rock

crystals. I have myself, in walking on the banks of the river at the

foot of the rocks, found many of them. They are discovered from the

brilliancy of their reflecting surfaces: they sparkle like the diamond,

and hence the place had its name. On examination, I have generally found

that they are pentagons, terminating in a point, and possessing

_naturally_ much of the brilliancy and polish of a cut diamond; and

they are so hard, that, like a diamond, they cut glass."--_Gray's

Canada_, p. 68.

"The mountain on which Quebec is built, and the hills along the River

St. Lawrence, consist of it for some miles together on both sides of

Quebec. About a yard from the surface this stone is quite compact, and

without any cracks, so that one can not perceive that it is a slate, its

particles being imperceptible. It lies in strata, which vary from three

or four inches to twenty thick and upward. In the mountains on which

Quebec is built the strata do not lie horizontal, but dipping, so as to

be nearly perpendicular, the upper ones pointing northwest and the lower

ones southeast. From hence it is, the corners of these strata always

strike out at the corners into the streets, and cut the shoes in pieces.

I have likewise seen some strata inclining to the northward, but rather

perpendicular, as the former. The strata are divided by narrow cracks,

which are commonly filled by fibrous white gypsum, which can sometimes

be got loose with a knife, if the larger stratum of slate above it is

broken in pieces; and in that case it has the appearance of a thin white

leaf. The large cracks are almost filled up with transparent quartz

crystals of different sizes. One part of the mountain contains great

quantities of these crystals, from which the corner of the mountain

which lies to S.S.E. of the palace has got the name of Pointe de

Diamante, or Diamond Point."--Kalm, in Pinkerton, vol. xiii., p. 678.

No. LXX.

"The Cherokees are planters and farmers, tradespeople and mechanics.

They have corn-fields and orchards, looms and work-shops, schools and

churches, and orderly institutions. In 1824, when the population of the

Cherokees was 15,560 persons, it included 1277 negroes; they had 18

schools, 36 grist-mills, 13 saw-mills, 762 looms, 2486 spinning-wheels,

172 wagons, 2923 plows, 7683 horses, 22,531 black cattle, 46,732 swine,

2546 sheep, 430 goats, 62 blacksmiths' shops, &c., with several public

roads, and fences, and turnpikes. The natives carry on a considerable

trade with the adjoining states, and some of them export cotton to New

Orleans. A printing-press has been established for several years, and a

newspaper, written partly in the English and partly in the Cherokee

language, has been successfully carried on. This paper, called the

_Cherokee Phoenix_, is written entirely by a Cherokee, a young man under

thirty. The missionaries among them declare that the converts generally

are very attentive to preaching, and very exemplary in their conduct.

Public worship, conducted by native members of the church, is held in

three or four places remote from the station. The pupils are making

great progress at the schools. Many of them are leaving the schools with

an education sufficient for life. New Echota is the seat of government

of the Cherokees. The provisions of the Constitution are placed under

six heads, divided into sections. The trial by jury is in full

operation. The right of suffrage is universal; every free male citizen

who has attained the age of eighteen years is entitled to vote at public

elections."--Stuart's _Three Years in North America_, vol. ii., p. 143.

"The Creeks, Cherokees, and Choctaws certainly hold out a promise of the

gradual attainment of civilization.... The recent invention of written

characters by a full-blood Cherokee,[236] consisting of eighty-four

signs expressing all the dominant sounds of that language, and the great

number of half words among them, are both favorable to this change of

life. The best proof that they are advancing from their savage state to

a higher grade is, that their numbers increase, while almost all other

tribes spread over the American continent far and near are known to

diminish in numbers so rapidly that common observation alone would

enable any one to predict their utter extinction before the lapse of

many years."--Latrobe, _Rambler in America_, vol. i., p. 163.

The Stockbridge Indians (so called from Stockbridge, Massachusetts) are,

upon the whole, considered to have made greater attainments in the

useful arts of civilized life, and also in the Christian religion, than

any other tribe of the aborigines. They heard the preaching of Brainard

and Edwards, and have enjoyed Christian privileges and education with

little interruption for more than ninety years. The Stockbridge Indians,

and the Oneidas, under the celebrated Oneida half-blood Mr. Williams,

were the principal of those unfortunate New York Indians who were

persuaded, on the faith of solemn treaties, to leave their homes in New

York and form new settlements among the wild Indian tribes beyond the

Mississippi. One of the visitors to these new settlements, after the

Indians had been a few years established there, thus describes the

improvements they had effected in this remote wilderness: "On the east

bank of Fox River they had in the course of some half dozen years

reared a flourishing settlement; built houses and barns in the usual

style of the white settlements under similar circumstances; cleaved away

portions of the forest, and reduced their farms to an interesting state

of improvement; organized and brought into solitary operation a

political and civil economy; established schools, and in 1830 were

building a very decent Christian church; had erected mills and

machinery; exhibiting, in a word, a most interesting phasis of

civilization, along with the purest morals under the simplest

manners."--Colton's _Tour among the Northwest Indians_, vol. i., p. 203.

This American writer is justly indignant at the cruel and dishonest

policy of the American government in driving these unfortunate wanderers

away from the new home solemnly promised them into the wild and dreary

regions of the Far West, as soon as the settlement at Fox River was

ascertained to possess sufficient natural advantages to entitle it to

form a part of the Union.

[Footnote 236: "It is remarkable that a red Indian should have been able

to accomplish that which no civilized societies have accomplished during

thousands of years. He had already attained to manhood when he invented

an alphabet of his own language, having no knowledge of any other. The

idea of writing Cherokee struck him on hearing several whites boasting

of their superiority over the Indians, and adding that they could do

many things which the red man never dared attempt, particularly in

committing to paper a conversation, so as to make it understood by all,

even in the most distant parts. He determined to try if it was not

possible. At first he saw no other chance of executing his project than

to make a sign or figure for every sound, which he partly learned by

heart himself, partly gave to his own family to learn and remember; but,

after working at it a whole twelvemonth, he found that the number of

signs already amounted to several thousands, and that it was impossible

to retain them in the memory. He now began to divide the words into

parts, and then discovered that the same syllables might be applied to a

variety of words. Exulting in this discovery, he continued his exertions

with unremitting zeal, and directed his attention particularly to the

sounds, and thus discovered at last all the syllables in the language.

After working upon this plan for a month, he had diminished the number

of sounds to eighty-four, of which the language at present consists. He

first wrote them on sand, afterward cut out the signs in wood, and

finished by printing them such as they now are in the Cherokee

Phoenix."--Arfwedson's _United States and Canada_.]

No. LXXI.

Articles of Capitulation demanded by M. de Ramsay, the king's

lieutenant, commanding the high and low towns of Quebec, chief of the

Military Order of St. Louis, to his excellency the general of the troops

of his Britannic majesty.

"The capitulation demanded on the part of the enemy, and granted by

their excellencies, Admiral Saunders and General Townshend, &c., &c., is

in manner and form as hereafter expressed:

"I.M. de Ramsay demands the honors of war for his garrison, and that it

shall be sent back to the army in safety, and by the shortest route,

with arms, baggage, six pieces of brass cannon, two mortars or

howitzers, and twelve rounds for each of them. The garrison of the town,

composed of land forces, marines, and sailors, shall march out with

their arms and baggage, drums beating, matches lighted, with two pieces

of French cannon, and twelve rounds for each piece, and shall be

embarked as conveniently as possible, to be sent to the first port in

France.

"II. That the inhabitants shall be preserved in the possession of their

houses, goods, effects, and privileges.--Granted, upon their laying down

their arms.

"III. That the inhabitants shall not be accountable for having carried

arms in the defense of the town, forasmuch as they were compelled to do

it, and that the inhabitants of the colonies, of both crowns, equally

serve as militia.--Granted.

"IV. That the effects of the absent officers and citizens shall not be

touched.--Granted.

"V. That the inhabitants shall not be removed, nor obliged to quit their

houses, until their condition shall be settled by their Britannic and

most Christian majesties.--Granted.

"VI. That the exercise of the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion

shall be maintained, and that safeguards shall be granted to the houses

of the clergy and to the mountaineers, particularly to his lordship the

Bishop of Quebec, who, animated with zeal for religion, and charity for

the people of his diocese, desires to reside in it constantly, to

exercise freely, and with that decency which his character and the

sacred offices of the Roman religion require, his episcopal authority in

the town of Quebec, whenever he shall think proper, until the possession

of Canada shall be decided by a treaty between their Britannic and most

Christian majesties. The free exercise of the Roman religion is granted,

likewise safeguards to all religions persons, as well as to the bishop,

who shall be at liberty to come and exercise, freely and with decency,

the functions of his office whenever he thinks proper, until the

possession of Canada shall have been decided between their Britannic and

most Christian majesties.

"VII. That the artillery and warlike stores shall be faithfully given

up, and that an inventory of them shall be made out.--Granted.

"VIII. That the sick and wounded, the commissaries, chaplains,

physicians, surgeons, apothecaries, and other people employed in the

service of the hospitals, shall be treated conformably to the cartel of

the 6th of February, 1759, settled between their Britannic and most

Christian majesties.--Granted.

"IX. That before delivering up the gate and the entrance of the town to

the English troops, their general will be pleased to send some soldiers

to be posted as safeguards upon the churches, convents, and principal

habitations.--Granted.

"X. That the king's lieutenant commanding in Quebec shall be permitted

to send information to the Marquis de Vaudreuil, governor general, of

the reduction of the place, as also that the general may send advice

thereof to the French ministry.--Granted.

"XI. That the present capitulation shall be executed according to its form

and tenor, without being subject to non-execution under pretense of

reprisals, or for the non-execution of any preceding capitulation.--Granted.

"Duplicates hereof, taken and executed by and between us, at the camp

before Quebec, this 18th day of September, 1759.

"CHARLES SAUNDERS, GEORGE TOWNSHEND, DE RAMSAY."

No. LXXII

Extracts from "Lettres de M. le Marquis de Montcalm, G.G. en Canada, a

MM. de Berryer et de la Mole, 1757-1759. Londres, 1777."

In 1757.--Letter 1. Montcalm informs M. de Berryer that he carries on a

correspondence with the English planters by giving them a few prohibited

articles. "They dupe their own people, who think they dupe us; their

letters discover to me many curious political secrets. Our governors of

Canada have neglected the only means of making the country prosperous

... another system is indispensable."

S.J., of Boston, writes to Montcalm, "The cause of your non-progress

lies in the genius of your nation. Your governors were French gentlemen,

hating and despising commerce--wealth, commerce, and strength are

inseparable--your skeleton colony has lost more in a year than it can

regain in ten. Your commerce with us ought to be free and unfettered....

We shall soon break with England for commercial reasons."

Montcalm observes on the foregoing, "Let us beware how we allow the

establishment of manufactures in Canada; she would become proud and

mutinous like the English. So long as France is a nursery to Canada, let

not the Canadians be allowed to trade, but kept to their wandering,

laborious life with the savages, and to their military exercises. They

will be less wealthy, but more brave and more faithful to us.

"We may lose Canada--no great loss, if we keep some port in North

America for fishing and trade.... The English settlers are as hostile to

their mother country as to us. The state of their country is

singular--not a city is fortified. The English governors often wished to

fortify, but the people objected. If Canada be in the hands of an able

(French) governor when the certain quarrel comes on, it will repay us

for all former cost. England made a great mistake in not taxing these

colonies from the first, even ever so little. If they now attempt

it--revolt."

Letter from M. de Montcalm to M. de Mole, Premier President au

Parliament de Paris, 1759:

"MONSIEUR ET CHER COUSIN,

"Me voici, depuis plus de trois mois, aux prises avec M. Wolfe: il ne

cesse jour et nuit de bombarder Quebec, avec une furie qui n'a gueres

d'example dans le siege d'une place qu'en veut prendre et conserver. Il

a deja consume par le feu presque toute la basse ville, une grande

partie de la haute est ecrasee par les bombes. Mais ne laissa-t-il

pierre sur pierre, il ne viendra jamais a bout de s'emparer de cette

capitale de la colonie, tandis qu'il se contentera de l'attaquer de la

rive opposee, dont nous lui avons abandonne la possession. Aussi apres

trois mois de tentative, n'est il pas plus avance dans son dessein qu'on

premier jour. Il nous ruine, mais il ne s'enrichit pas. La campagne n'a

gueres plus d'un mois a durer, a raison du voisinage de l'automne,

terrible dans ces parages pour une flotte, par les coups de vent qui

regnent constamment et periodiquement.

"Il semble qu'apres un si heureux prelude, la conservation de la colonie

est presque assuree. Il n'en est cependant rien: la prise de Quebec

depend d'un coup du main. Les Anglois sont maitres de la riviere: il

n'ont qu'a effectuer une descente sur la rive, ou cette ville, sans

fortifications et sans defense, est situee. Les voila en etat de me

presenter la battaille, que je ne pourrai plus refuser, et que je ne

devrai pas gagner. M. Wolfe, en effet, s'il entend son metier, n'a qu'a

essuyer le premier feu, venir en suite a grand pas sur mon armee, faire

a bout partant sa decharge, mes Canadiens, sans discipline, sourds a la

voix du tambour, et des instrumens militaires, deranges par cet escarre,

ne scauront plus reprendre leurs rangs. Ils sont ailleurs sans

bagonettes pour repondre a celles de l'ennemi: il ne leur reste qu'a

fuir, et me voila, battue sans ressource. Voila ma position!... Position

bien facheuse pour un general, et qui me fait passer de bien terribles

momens. La connaissance que j'en aye m'a fait tenir jusqu'ici sur la

defensive, qui m'a reussi; mais reussira-t-elle jusqu'a la fin? Les

evenemens en decideront! Mais une assurance que je puis vous donner,

c'est, que je ne survivrois pas probablement la perte de la colonie. Il

est des situations ou il ne reste plus a un general, que de perir avec

honneur: je crois y etre: et sur ce point je crois que jamais la

posterite n'aura rien a reprocher a ma memoire; mais si la Fortune

decide de ma vie, elle ne decidera pas de mes sentimens--ils sont

Francois, et ils le seront, jusque dans le tombeau, si dans le tombeau

on est encore quelque chose! Je me consolerai du moins de ma defaite, et

de la perte de la colonie, par l'intime persuasion ou je suis, que cette

defaite vaudroit un jour a ma patrie plus qu'une victoire, et que le

vainqueur en s'aggrandissant, trouveroit un tombeau dans son

aggrandissement meme.

"Ce que j'advance ici, mon cher cousin, vous paroitra un paradoxe; mais

un moment de reflexion politique, un coup d'oeil sur la situation des

choses en Amerique, et la verite de mon opinion, brillera dans tout son

jour. Non, mon cher cousin, les hommes n'obeissent qu'a la force et a la

necessite; c'est a dire, que quand ils voyent arme devant leurs yeux, un

pouvoir toujours pret, et toujours suffisant pour les y contraindre, ou

quand la chaine de leurs besoins leur en dicte la loi. Hors de la point

de joug pour eux, point d'obeissance de leur part; ils sont a eux; ils

vivent libres, parce qu'ils n'ont rien au dedans, rien au dehors, qui

les oblige a se depouiller de cette liberte, qui est le plus bel

appanage, la plus precieuse prerogative de l'humanite. Voila les hommes!

et sur ce point les Anglois, soit par l'education, soit par sentiment,

sont plus hommes que les autres: La gene de la contrainte leur deplait

plus qu'a tout autre: il leur faut respirer un air libre et degage; sans

cela ils sont hors de leur element. Mais si ce sont la les Anglois de

l'Europe, c'est encore plus les Anglois d'Amerique. Une grand partie de

ces colons sont les enfans de ces hommes qui s'expatrierent dans ces

temps de trouble, ou l'ancienne Angleterre, en proye aux divisions,

etoit attaquee dans ses privileges et droits, et allerent chercher en

Amerique une terre, ou ils puissent vivre et mourir libres, et

presqu'independents; et ces enfans n'ont pas degeneres des sentimens

republicains de leurs peres. D'autres sont des hommes, ennemis de tout

frein, de tout assujettissement, que le government y a transporte pour

leur crimes. D'autres, enfin, sont un ramas de differentes nations de

l'Europe, qui tiennent tres peu a l'ancienne Angleterre par le coeur et

le sentiment, tous en general no se soucient gueres du roi ni du

Parlement d'Angleterre.

"Je les connois bien, non sur des rapports etrangers, mais sur des

correspondances, et des informations secrets, que j'ai moi-meme menages,

et dont un jour, si Dieu me prete vie, je pourrais faire usage a

l'avantage de ma patrie. Pour surcroit de bonheur pour eux, tous ces

colons sont parvenu dans un etat tres florissant; ils sont nombreux et

riches; ils recueillent dans le sein de leur patrie, toutes les

necessites de la vie. L'ancienne Angleterre a ete assez sotte, et assez

dupe, pour leur laisser etablir chez eux les arts, les metiers, les

manufactures; c'est a dire, qu'elle leur a laisse briser la chaine de

besoins, qui les lioit, qui les attachoit a elle, et qui les fait

dependants. Aussi toutes ces colonies Angloises auroient depuis long

temps secoue le joug, chaque province auroient forme une petite

republique independante, si la crainte de voir les Francois a leur porte

n'avoit ete un frein, qui les avoit retenu. Maitres pour maitres ils ont

prefere leur compatriotes aux etrangers, prenant cependant pour maxime,

de n'obeir que le moins qu'ils pourroient; mais que la Canada vint a

etre conquis, et que les Canadiens et ces colons ne fussent plus qu'un

seul peuple, et la premiere occasion, ou l'ancienne Angleterre

sembleroit toucher a leurs interets, croiez-vous, mon cher cousin, que

colons obeiroient? Et qu'auroient-ils a craindre, en se revoltant?

* * * * *

"Je ne puis cependant pas dissimuler que l'ancienne Angleterre avec un

peu de bonne politique pourroit toujours se reserver dans les mains une

ressource toujours prete pour mettre a la raison ses anciennes colonies.

Le Canada considere dans lui-meme, dans ses richesses, dans ses forces,

dans le nombre de ses habitans n'est rien en comparaison du conglobat

des colonies Angloises; mais la valeur, l'industrie, la fidelite de ses

habitans, y supplie si bien, que depuis plus d'un siecle ils se battent

avec avantage contre toutes ces colonies: dix Canadiens sont suffisants

contre cent colons Anglois. L'experience journaliere prove ce fait. Si

l'ancienne Angleterre, apres avoir conquis le Canada scavoit se

l'attacher par la politique des bienfaits, et se le conserver a elle

seule, si elle le laissoit a sa religion, a ses loix, a son language, a

ses coutumes, a son ancienne gouvernement, le Canada, divise dans tous

ces points, d'avec les autres colonies, formerait toujours un pais

isole, qui n'entreroit jamais dans leurs interets; ... mais ce n'est pas

la la politique Brittannique. Les Anglois font-ils une conquete, il faut

qu'ils changent la constitution du pays, ils y portent leur loix, leur

coutumes, &c., &c.... Voila les Canadiens transformes en politiques, en

negocians, en hommes infatues d'une pretendue liberte, qui chez la

populace tient souvent en Angleterre de la licence, et de la nardin....

Je suis si sur de ce que j'ecris, que je ne donnerai pas dix ans apres

la conquete de Canada pour en voir l'accomplissement.

"Voila ce que, comme Francois, me console aujourd'hui du danger eminent

que court ma patrie, de voir cette colonie perdue pour elle.

"Du camp devant Quebec, Jan.

MONTCALM.

"24 d'Aout, 1759."

THE END.

[TRANSCRIBERS NOTE: Original spelling has been retained]