discharge of an unspent grenade or gun, and the crackling of every variety of explosive matter, the fearless English tars, grappling the brûlots, towed them away from the fleet, and then ran them ashore, where they continued to burn until five o'clock next morning. By their lurid light, not only were the crowded river and island brightly illuminated, but likewise, for two or three hours of the night, the far-off mountains, the city-covered cape, and the French encampment were clearly revealed. "They were certainly," says an eye-witness, "the grandest fireworks (if I may be allowed to call them so) that can possibly be conceived, every circumstance having contributed to their awful, yet beautiful appearance, and afforded a scene infinitely superior to any adequate description.'

In his "orders" of the 29th, the Commander-in-chief severely rebuked the conduct of the men who had abandoned their posts and spread groundless alarm to the camp. "Next to valour," he added, "the best qualities in a military man are vigilance and caution." The of ficer who commanded the advanced parties was put under arrest, for trial by court-martial; but, on account of his excellent character, at the intercession of Brigadier Monckton, Wolfe subsequently pardoned him.

The storm of the 27th having taught Admiral Saunders that the channel between the Isle of Orleans and the south shore did not afford secure anchorage, he determined upon carrying the shipping under his command into the basin of Quebec. It being believed, however, that the French had constructed redoubts upon Point

* Captain Knox's Journal, vol. i. p. 298.

Levi, from whence they might annoy the fleet, the Admiral requested of Wolfe to drive the enemy from this commanding position, and occupy it himself. Accordingly, on the 30th, Monckton's brigade crossed over to the village of Beaumont, and after a slight skirmish with a detachment of Canadian Militia, took possession of the church, on the doors of which the Brigadier posted a translation, in French, of the following manifesto :

By his Excellency James Wolfe, Esq., Colonel of a Regiment of Infantry, Major-General, and Commander-in-chief of his Britannic Majesty's Forces in the River St. Lawrence, etc.

The formidable sea and land armament which the people of Canada now behold in the heart of their country, is intended by the King, my master, to check the insolence of France, to revenge the insults offered to the British colonies, and totally to deprive the French of their most valuable settlement in North America. For these purposes is the formidable army under my command intended. The King of Great Britain wages no war with the industrious peasant, the sacred orders of religion, or the defenceless women and children; to these, in their distressful circumstances, his royal clemency offers protection. The people may remain unmolested on their lands, inhabit their houses, and enjoy their religion in security. For these inestimable blessings I expect the Canadians will take no part in the great contest between the two crowns. But if, by a vain obstinacy and misguided valour, they presume to appear in arms, they must expect the most fatal consequences,—their habitations destroyed, their sacred temples exposed to an exasperated soldiery, their harvest utterly ruined, and the only passage for relief stopped up by a most formidable fleet. In this unhappy situation, and closely attacked by another great army, what can the wretched natives expect from opposition?

The unparalleled barbarities exerted by the French against

our settlements in America might justify the bitterest revenge in the army under my command; but Britons breathe higher sentiments of humanity, and listen to the merciful dictates of the Christian religion. Yet, should you suffer yourselves to be deluded by an imaginary prospect of our want of success; should you refuse these terms, and persist in opposition, then surely will the law of nations justify the waste of war, so necessary to crush an ungenerous enemy; and then the miserable Canadians must in the winter have the mortification of seeing their very families, for whom they have been exerting but a fruitless and indiscreet bravery, perish by the most dismal want and famine. In this great dilemma, let the wisdom of the people of Canada show itself. Britain stretches out a powerful, yet merciful hand; faithful to her engagements, and ready to secure her in her most valuable rights and possessions. France, unable to support Canada, deserts her cause at this important crisis, and during the whole war has assisted her with troops, who have been maintained only by making the natives feel all the weight of grievous and lawless oppression.

Given at Laurent, in the Island of Orleans, this 28th day of June, 1759.

519

CHAPTER XXII.

BANKS OF THE ST. LAWRENCE.

JULY-AUGUST, 1759.

CANADA, dating from the foundation by Champlain of the fort and city of Quebec, had now been about one hundred and fifty years in the possession of France. But it was not until 1663, when M. de Mezy was appointed Governor, with a council of seven officials to assist him in the administration, that New France attained the distinction of a royal government; the control of the colony having hitherto been vested in adventurers, who assumed the management of its affairs solely with a view to trading speculations. At a later period an Intendant of Police, Finance, and Marine was sent from France, an appointment which excited great jealousy on the part of the Governors, with whose authority the power of the Intendants frequently came into collision, and gave rise to endless disputes about the relative rank and province of the two functionaries. Quebec became a bishopric in 1670, when, at the desire of the Jesuit missionaries, who had gained great influence in the colony, and wished to have a person of distinction at the head of their Church, François de Laval, Abbot of Montigny, was sent out as the first colonial bishop.

The population of Canada, in 1759, did not number more than 65,000 souls, of whom nearly 7000 dwelt in Quebec, 4000 in Montreal, and 1500 in the village of Trois Rivières.* The remainder occupied little settlements and farms on the fertile banks of the St. Lawrence and its tributaries; a few of the more adventurous being trappers and voyageurs, who wandered through the northern forests and the western prairies, or upon the shores of the Great Lakes, intermixing with the aborigines, than whom they were hardly more civilized. The élite of the Canadian aristocracy were the descendants of those officers, civil and military, who had from time to time settled in the country, and to whom extensive grants of land were assigned. These were the seigneurs, who enjoyed various immunities, and exercised feudal rights. They were, for the most part, vain and ostentatious men, who disdained business of every kind, and prided themselves upon their high descent and dignity. Having, as they thought, much to fear and nothing to hope for from a change of sovereigns, they were essentially loyal to the French crown. Neither did the ecclesiastical dignitaries, who ranked next after the seigneurs, and were generally of French birth, desire a heretic government. But it was not altogether so with the parochial priests and curés born and educated in the colony, who, jealous of the foreign hierarchy, to none of whose offices they might aspire, were at the same time impoverished through the government monopolies and extortions which oppressed the small traders, farmers, and peasantry, from whom they derived their fluctuating incomes.

*Bouchette.