Amherst, careful and prudent;* and Wolfe, prompt, adventurous, and untiring. How far the merit of the achievement is due to Wolfe, and whether he was rightly called by his contemporaries "the Hero of Louisbourg," the reader may judge. The appellation, however, in nowise disparages General Amherst; for it shows that he not only recognized the abilities of a subordinate officer, but was also too high-minded to permit any jealous feeling to pervert his judgment, or impede the cause he had at heart. And, as Southey considered that no higher compliment could be paid to a commander-in-chief than to say he understood the merits of Nelson, and left him to act as he thought fit; we may add, it is equally complimentary to Amherst to say that he supported rather than curbed the zeal and skill of Wolfe.

Of the other expeditions set on foot in America, that against Crown Point and Ticonderoga was frustrated through the rashness of Abercromby; but the failure was somewhat compensated by the "great stroke," as Wolfe called it, at Frontenac, where, on the 27th of August, Colonel Bradstreet seized the supplies laid up for the more remote French posts, and afterwards captured their shipping on Lake Ontario. The success of this dashing exploit greatly facilitated the operations against Fort du Quesne, which was finally abandoned by the French on the 24th of November, when we became masters of that stronghold, the contention for which had kindled the strife between our colonists and those

* "General Amherst goes on carefully, and will not lose any lives he can save by carrying on approaches." (From original letter of a Scotch officer, July 6.)

of France. On the whole, therefore, the former had reason to be satisfied with the results of the campaign; for by the reduction of Isle St. Jean, Frontenac, and Du Quesne, they were delivered from all fear of incursions. The capture of Cape Breton was, however, the most effectual blow that France had received since the beginning of the war; for with Louisbourg she lost the only spot from whence she could carry on her cod-fishery, her main depôt for reinforcements and stores to support her armies in North America, and the bulwark of Canada.

461.

CHAPTER XX.

SALISBURY.-BATH.-LONDON.

NOVEMBER, 1758-FEBRUARY, 1759.

In England, the people had so long been accustomed to hear nothing from America but of delays and disasters, that the intelligence of the capture of Cape Breton, and the annihilation of the French fleet, was received with as much surprise as joy. On the 18th of August, Captains Edgecomb and Amherst, who were deputed by the Admiral and General, delivered their dispatches to the King, when his Majesty presented each of them with £500; and on the 7th of September the colours taken at Louisbourg were carried in procession from Kensington, and solemnly deposited in St. Paul's. Although our great success was magnified by English, and misrepresented by French writers, it nevertheless considerably raised the military reputation of England, and increased her influence throughout Europe. Yet Pitt, who had anxiously watched for tidings from America,† foreseeing that it was there the struggle for supremacy between the

* See 'The Idler,' No. 20, August 26th, 1758.

+ See his letter to Lady Hester Pitt, dated "July 1st, 1758." ('Chatham Correspondence,' vol. i. p. 321.)

rival nations must eventually be decided, regarded the war upon the Continent as of secondary moment, and devoted all his energies towards the accomplishment of still grander projects for another campaign in the Western hemisphere. In this determination he was further encouraged by the discovery that England had now one or two Generals to whom he could confidently entrust those bold designs, the execution of which demanded. military leaders of vigour, discernment, and patriotism akin to his own.

As the Namur,' with her consorts, the 'Royal William' and the captured 'Bienfaisant,' arrived off the Land's End, towards the close of day they fell in with a French fleet of seven men-of-war, homeward-bound from Quebec. A few shots were exchanged, but the enemy slipt away during the night, and were almost out of sight next morning. Admiral Boscawen, therefore, thinking it useless to give chase, the English squadron anchored at St. Helen's on the 1st of November, and the same evening Wolfe dispatched a note to his mother by the Admiralty messenger, announcing his arrival at Portsmouth. Next day he repaired to Salisbury, where his regiment was stationed, and on the 6th writes to his father:

Somebody told me that you were seen in London within these few days, which I was particularly pleased to hear, because at Portsmouth there was a report of your being out of order. You might well expect that I should have been to pay my duty to you before this time; but it seemed right to wait

for the Marshal's leave to go to town, and nowhere so properly as at the regiment. His Excellency hath not done me the honour to answer my letter yet, and I cannot stir till he does; so I must content myself with wishing you and my mother all imaginable good.

He soon afterward came to town, and on the 17th writes from Blackheath to his uncle in Ireland :

Dear Sir,

I wish I could say that my health was such as a soldier should have. Long passages and foggy weather have left their natural effects upon me. The people here say I look well. No care shall be wanting to get ready for the next campaign. They can propose no service to me that I shall refuse to undertake, unless where capacity is short of the task. We met a squadron of homeward-bound French men-of-war, and did our utmost to engage them, though with inferior force. Their destruction would almost have annihilated the French navy. My father looks well, and is well for the time of life; and my mother does not complain. I hope you continue to enjoy a share of health. My father tells me that he has added something to my cousin Goldsmith's little income; his liberality towards such of our relations as need it is most commendable. If fortune smile upon us, I shall endeavour to follow his example.

Admiral Boscawen, on taking his seat in the House of Commons, received the thanks of Parliament, which were also transmitted to General Amherst; but Wolfe being a subordinate officer, his conduct was not noticed. A few days after his arrival in London, however, he wrote the following "modest and manly" letter to the Prime Minister; in consequence of which he was soon afterwards promoted to the rank of Major-General, and