 Chapter 8 of the Conquest of New France. This is a LibreVox recording. All LibreVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibreVox.org. The Conquest of New France by George Rong. Chapter 8, The Victories of Montcom. In France's last most determined and most tragic struggle for North America, the noblest aspect is typified in the figure of Montcom. The Circle of the King and his mistress at Versailles does not tell the whole story of France at this time. No doubt Madame de Pompadour, made and unmade ministers, but behind the ministers, was the great administrative system of France with servants alert and deficient and now chiefly occupied with military plans to defeat the great Frederick of Prussia. At the same time, the intellect of France was busy with problems of science and was soon to express itself in the massive volumes of Diderot's Encyclopedia. The soldiers of France were preparing to fight on many battlefields. The best of them took little part in the debilitating pleasures of Versailles. Louis-Joseph-Martin Qui de Montcom was a member of the ancient nobility of Longduck in the south of France. He was a scholar, a soldier and a landowner. He could write a Latin inscription by the battle and manage a farm all with excellence. His was a fruitful race. His wife had borne him 10 children, of whom six had survived. He was sincerely religious, a family man enjoying quiet evenings at home. In his career as no doubt in that of many other French leaders of the time, we find no lurid lights, no gay scenes at court, nothing but simple and laborious devotion to duty. Though a grand senior, Montcom was poor, his letters showed that his mind was always much occupied with family affairs, the need of economy, the careers. His sons, his mill, his plantations. He showed the minute care in management, which the French practiced better than the English. In 1756, he was 44 years of age. A soldier who had campaigned in Germany, Bohemia and Italy had known victory and defeat, had been a prisoner in the hands of the Austrians and had made a reputation as a man fit to lead. He lived far from court and went to Paris only rarely. It was this quiet man who on January 31, 1756, was summoned to Paris to head the military force about to be sent to Canada. Diosco was a captain in English hands and Montcom was to replace Diosco. Thus began that connection of Montcom with Canada, which was destined three or four years later to bring to him first victory and then defeat, death and undying fame. On receiving his appointment, he went to Paris, thanked the king in person for the honor done him and was delighted that his son, a mere boy was given the rank and pay of a colonel, one of the few abuses of court favor, which we find in his career. On March 26, 1756, Montcom embarked at Brest with his staff or had not yet been declared that already Britain had captured some 300 French merchant ships, had taken prisoner nearly 10,000 French sailors and was sweeping from the sea, the fleets of France. Owing to the fear of British cruisers, the voyage of Montcom had its excitements. As usual, however, France was earlier in the field than Britain, who had an April no force ready for America, which could intercept Montcom. The storms were heavy and on Easter day when Mass was celebrated, a sailor firm on his feet had to hold the chalice of the officiating priest. On board there were daily prayers and always the service ended with cries of God, save the king. Some of the officers on board were destined to survive to a new era in France when there should be no more a king. Montcom had with him a capable staff and a goodly number of young officers, gay, debonair, thinking not of great political designs about America, but chiefly of their own future careers in France and facing death like heartily enough. Next to Montcom in command was the Chevalier de Lévis, a member of a great French family and himself, destined to attain the high rank of Marshal of France and a capable though not a brilliant soldier whose chief gift was tagged and the art of managing men. Third in command was the Chevalier de Boulas Mach, a quiet reserved man with no striking social gifts and in consequence, not likely at first to make a good impression. Though Montcom, who was at the beginning a little doubtful of his quality, came in the end to rely upon him fully. The most brilliant man in that company was the young Colonel de Bougainville, Montcom's chief aide to camp. Though only 27 years old, he was already famous in the world of science and was destined to be still more famous as a great navigator to live through the whole period of the French Revolution and to die only on the eve of the fall of Napoleon. In 1756, he was too young and clever to be always prudent in speech. It is from his quick eye and eager pen that we learn much of the inner story of these last days of New France. Montcom discusses frankly in his letters, these and other officers with whom he was on the whole well pleased. In his heart, he could echo the words of Bougainville as he watched the brilliant spectacle of the embarkation at breast, what a nation is ours happy as he who leads and is worthy of it. He was in the spirit of confidence that Montcom faced the struggle in America. For him, sad days were to come and his sunny, vivacious, southern temperament caused him to suffer keenly. At first, however, always full of brilliant promise. So eager was he that when his ship's labor calmed in the St. Lawrence, some 30 miles below Quebec, he landed and drove to the city. It is the most beautiful country in the world. He writes highly cultivated with many houses, the peasants living more like the lesser gentry in France than like peasants and speaking excellent French. He found the hospitality in Quebec such that a Parisian would be surprised at the profusion of good things of every kind. The city was, he thought, like the best type of the cities of France. The Canadian climate was health giving, the sky clear. The summer not unlike that of long duck but the winter drying since the severe weather caused the inhabitants to remain too much indoors. He described that Canadian ladies as witty, lively, devout, those of Quebec amusing themselves a play, sometimes for high stakes, those of Montreal with conversation and dancing. He confessed that one of them proved a little too fascinating for his own peace of mind. The intolerable thing was the need to meet and pay court to the Indians whom the governor, the Marquis de Vaudelulia regarded as valuable allies. These savages, brutal, changeable, exacting won't come from the first despise. It filled him with disgust to see them swarming in the streets of Montreal, sometimes carrying bows and arrows. Their coarse features were disfigured by war paint and a gaudy headdress of feathers. Their heads javened with the exception of one long scalp lock. Their gleaming bodies nearly naked were draped with dirty buffalo or beaver skins. What allies for a refined grand senior of France, it was a costly burden to feed them. Sometimes they made howling demands for brandy and for bruyen by which they meant human blood. Many of them were cannibals. Once Montcom had to give some of them at his own cost. A feast of three oxen roasted whole. To his disgust they gorged themselves and danced round the room, shouting their savage war cries. The governor of Canada, Pierre de Rigo, Marc-Hida Baudrillier, belonged to one of the most ancient families of France related to that of Levy. He had been born in Canada where his father was governor for the long period of 22 years from 1703 to 1725. And in his outlook and prejudices he was wholly of New France with a passionate devotion to its people and a deep resentment at any heirs of superiority assumed by those who came from old France. A certain admiration is due to Baudrillier for his championship of the Canadians and even of the savages of the land of his birth against officers of his own rank and caste who came from France. There was in Canada the eternal cleavage in outlook and manners between the old world and the new which is found in equal strength in New England in which was one of the chief factors in causing the American Revolution. Baudrillier born at Quebec in 1698 had climbed the official ladder step by step until in 1742 he had been made governor of Louisiana a post he held for three years. He succeeded at Marquis Duquesne as governor of Canada in the year before Montcom arrived. He meant well but he was a vain man always a leading figure in the small society about him and obsessed by fussy self-importance. He was not clever enough to see through flattery the intended bego next to the governor the most important man in Canada enable and corrupt Rascal knew how to manage the governor and to impose his own will upon the weaker man. Baudrillier and his wife between them had a swarm of needy relatives in Canada and these and other Canadians who sought favors from the governor helped to sharpen his antagonism to the officers from France. Baudrillier believed himself a military genius. It was he and not Montcom who had the supreme military command and he regarded as an unnecessary intruder this general officer sent out from France. Now that Montcom was come Baudrillier showed a malignant alertness born of jealousy to snub and check him outward courtesies were of course maintained Baudrillier could be bland and Montcom restrained in spite of his southern temperament but their dispatches showed the bitterness in their relations. The court of France encouraged not merely the leaders but even officers in support and opposed to communicate through their views a valuable correspondence about affairs in Canada has been preserved Baudrillier himself must have tried the patience of the French ministers for he wrote a prodigious link exalting his own achievements to the point of being ludicrous. At the same time he belittled everything done by Montcom complained that he was ruining the French cause in America into that he was in league with corrupt elements in Canada and in the end even went so far as to request his recall in order that the more plant navy might be put in his place. The letters of Montcom are more reserved unlike Baudrillier he never stood to false it he knew that he was under the orders of the governor and he accepted the situation. When operations were on hand Baudrillier would give Montcom instructions so ambiguous that if he failed he would be sure to get to this credit well if he succeeded to Baudrillier would belong the glory. War is at best a cruel business in Europe its predatory barbarity was passing away and there the lives of prisoners and of women and children were now being respected Montcom had been reared under this more civilized code and he and his officers were shocked by what Baudrillier regarded as normal and proper warfare in 1756 the French had a horde of about 2000 savages who had flocked to Montreal from points as far distant as the Great Plains of the West they numbered more than 30 separate tribes or nations as in their pride they called themselves and each nation had to be humored and treated as an equal for they were not in the service of France but were her allies. They expected to be consulted before plans of campaign were completed the defeat of Braddock in 1755 had made them turn to the prosperous cause of France Baudrillier gave them what they hardly required encouragement to wage war in their own way the more brutal and ruthless the war on the English he said the more quickly with their enemies desired the kind of peace that France must have the result was that the Western frontiers of the English colonies became a hell of ruthless massacre the savages attacked English settlements whenever they found them undefended a pioneer might go forth in the morning to his labor and return in the evening to find his house in ashes and his wife and children lying dead with the scalps torn from their heads as trophies of savage prowess four years until the English gained the upper hand over the French this awful massacre went on hundreds of women and children perished Baudrillier reported the pride to the French court the number of scalps taking and in his annals such incident were written down as victories he warned Mount Com that he must not be too strict with the savages or someday they would take themselves off and possibly go over to the English and leave the French without indispensable allies he complained of the lofty tone of the French regular officers towards both Indians and Canadians and are sure the French court that it was only his own tax which prevented an open breach Canada lay exposed to attack by three roots by Lake Ontario by Lake Champlain and by the St. Marks in the sea it was vital to control the route to the West by Lake Ontario vital to keep the English from invading Canada by way of Lake Champlain vital to guard the St. Lawrence and keep open communications with France Mount Com first directed his attention to Lake Ontario Oswego lying on the south shore was a fort much prized by the English as a base from which they could attack the French fort Fratignac on the north side of the lake and cut off Canada from the west if the English could do this they would redeem the failure of Braddock and possibly turn the Indians from a French to an English alliance the French intern were resolved to capture and destroy Oswego in the summer of 1756 they were busy drawing up papers and instructions for the attack Mount Com wrote to his wife that he had never before worked so hard he kept everyone busy his aide to camp his staff and his secretaries no detail was too minute for his observation he regulated the changes of clothes which the officers might carry with them he inspected hospitals stores and food and he even ordered an alteration in the method of making bread he reorganized the Canadian battalions and in every quarter stirred up new activity he was strict about granting leave of absence sometimes as working day endured for 20 hours to bed at midnight and up again at four o'clock in the morning he went with Levy to Lake Champlain to see with his own eyes what was going on there then he turned back to Montreal the discipline among the Canadian troops was poor and he stiffened it thereby naturally causing great offense to those who liked slack ways and hated to take trouble about sanitation and equipment he held interminable conferences with his Indian allies they were astonished to find that the great soldier of whom they had heard so much was so small in stature but they noted the fire in his eye he despised their methods of warfare and notes with a touch of irony that while every other barbarity continues the burning of prisoners at the stake has rather gone out of fashion though the savages recently burned an English woman and or some merely to keep in practice Frontcom made his plans secretly and struck suddenly in the middle of August 1756 he surprised and captured Oswego and took more than 1600 prisoners of these in spite of all that he could do his Indians murdered some the blow was deadly the English lost fast stores and now the French control the whole region of the Great Lakes the Indians were on the side of the rising power more heartily than ever and the unhappy frontier of the English colonies was so harried that murderous savages ventured almost to the outskirts of Philadelphia Montcom caused Tadeum to be some on the scene of his victory at Oswego in August he was back in Montreal where again was some another joyous Tadeum he wrote letters and high praise of some of his officers especially the Bour Le Maac, Malartique and La Pauze the last and unowned Devin some of the Canadian officers praised by Rodrigo he had tried and found wanting don't forget he wrote to Levy that Mercier is a feeble ignoramus Saint-Luc, a prattling boaster Montigny, excellent but a drunkard the others are not worth speaking of including my first Lieutenant General, Rigo this Rigo was the brother of Rodrigo when the governor wrote to the minister he for his part said that the success of the expedition was wholly due to his own vigilance and firmness aided chiefly by this brother, Montfua and the Mercier both of whom Montcom describes as inept Rodrigo adds that only his own tack kept the Indian allies from going home because Montcom would not let them have the plunder which they desired Montcom struck his next blow at the English on Lake Champlain in July 1757 he had 8,000 men at Ticonderoga at the northern end of Lake George 2,000 of these were savages drawn from more than 40 different tribes a lawless horde whom the French could not control a Jesuit priest saw a party of them squatting round a fire in the French camp roasting meat on the end of sticks and found that the meat was the flesh of an Englishman English prisoners sick with horror were forced to watch this feast the priest's protest was dismissed with anger the savages would follow their own customs let the French follow theirs the truth is that the French had been only too successful in drawing the savages to them as allies they formed now one quarter of the whole French army they were of little use as fighters and probably in the long run the French would have been better off without them if however Moncombe had caused them to go Audrey would have made frantic protests so that Moncombe accepted the necessity of such allies each success however brought some new horrors at the hands of the Indians Moncombe captured Fort William Henry at the southern end of Lake George in August a year after the taking of Oswego Fort William Henry was the most advanced English post in the direction of Canada the place had been left weak for the Earl of Luton commander in chief of the British forces in America was using his resources for an expedition against Louisbourg which wholly failed Colonel Monroe the brave officer in command at Fort William Henry made a strong defense but was forced to surrender the terms were that he should march out with his soldiers and the civilians of the place and should be escorted in safety to Fort Edward about 18 miles to the south this time the savages surpassed themselves in treachery and savagery they had formally approved of the terms of surrender but they attacked the long line of defeated English as they sat out on the march butchered some of their wounded and seized hundreds of others as prisoners Moncombe did what he could and even risked his life to check the savages but some 50 English lay dead and the whole savage horde decamped for Montreal carrying with them 200 prisoners Moncombe burned Fort William Henry and withdrew to Ticonderoga at the north end of the lake why Oswego had he not advanced further south into English territory taken Fort Edward week because the English were in a panic menace Albany itself and advanced even to New York Moncombe's answer was that Fort Edward was still strong that he had no transport except the backs of his men to take cannon 18 miles by land in order to batter its walls and that his Indians had left him moreover he had been instructed to hasten his operations and allow his Canadians to go home together the ripening harvest so that Canada might not starve during the coming winter but we were pressed at the French court for his charges against Moncombe and without doubt produced some effect French attack was never exhibited with more grace than in the letters which Moncombe received from his superiors in France urging upon him with suave courtesy the need of considering the sensitive pride of the colonial forces and of guiding with the light rain the barbaric might of the Indian allies it is hard to imagine an English secretary of state administering a rebuke so gently and yet so unmistakably Moncombe well understood what was meant he knew that some intrigue had been working at court but he did not suspect that the governor himself all blandness and compliments to his face was writing to Paris for luminous attacks on his character and conduct in the next summer, 1758 Moncombe won another great success he lay with his forces at Ticonderoga the English were determined to press into the heart of Canada by way of Lake Champlain all through the winter after the fall of Fort William Henry they had been making preparations on a great scale at Albany by this time Amherst and Wolfe were on the scene in America and they spent this summer in an attack on Louisbourg which resulted in the fall of the fortress on the old fighting ground of Lake Champlain and Lake George the English were this year making military efforts such as the Canadian frontier had never before seen William Pitt who now directed the work from London had demanded that the colonies should raise 20,000 men a number well fitted to dismay the timid legislators of New York and Pennsylvania that Albany 15,000 men came marching in by detachments a few of them regulars but most of them colonial militia who as soon as winter came on would scatter to their homes the leader was General Abercrombie a leader needless to say with good connections in England but with no other qualification for high command on July 5, 1758 there was a site on Lake George likely to cause a flutter of anxiety in the heart of Moncombe at Ticonderoga in a line of boats six miles long the great English host came down the lake and early on the morning of the sixth landed before the fort which Moncombe was to defend the soul of the army had been a brilliant young officer Lord Howe who shared the hardships of the men washed his own linen at the brook and was the real leader trusted by the inept Abercrombie it was a tragic disaster for the British that at the outset of the fight Howe was killed in a chance Moncombe's chief defense of Ticonderoga consisted in a felled forest he had cut down hundreds of trees and on high ground in front of the fort made a formidable abatee across which the English must advance Abercrombie had formed into one of Moncombe artillery would have knocked a passage through the trunks of the trees which formed the abatee Abercrombie however did not wait to bring up artillery he was confident that his huge force could beat down opposition by rapid attack and he made the attack with all courage and persistence but the troops could not work through the thicket of fallen trunks and as night came on they had to withdraw baffled next day like George saw another strange spectacle a British army of 13,000 men the finest ever seen hitherto in America retreating in a panic with no enemy in pursuit nearly 2,000 English had fallen while Moncombe's loss was less than 400 he planted a great cross on the scene of the fight with an inscription in Latin that it was God who had wrought the victory all Canada had a brief period of rejoicing before the gloom of final defeat settled down upon that country End of Chapter 8 Chapter 9 of the Conquest of New France by George Rong this LibriVox recording is in the published domain Chapter 9 Moncombe at Quebec the rejoicing in Canada was brief before the end of the year the British were victorious at both the eastern and western ends of the long battle line Louisburg had fallen in July Fort Duquesne in November Fort Frontignac giving command of Lake Ontario and which at the west had surrendered to Bradstreet in August just after Moncombe's victory at Ticonderoga the Ohio was gone the great fortress guarding the gateway to the Gulf was gone the next English attack would fall on Quebec Moncombe had told Beau Trouillet in the autumn with vigorous precision that the period of petty warfare for taking scalps and burning houses was passed it was time now to defend the main trunk of the tree and not the outer branches the best Canadians should be incorporated into and trained in the battalions of regulars the militia regiments themselves should be clothed and drilled like regular soldiers interior posts such as Detroit should be held by the smallest possible number of men this council enraged Beau Trouillet Moncombe he wrote was trying to upset everything Beau Trouillet was certain that the English would not attack Quebec there is a melancholy greatness in the last days of Moncombe he was fighting against fearful odds with only about 3,000 trained regulars and perhaps four times as many untrained Canadians and savages he was confronting Britain's might on sea and land which was now thrown against New France from France itself, Moncombe knew that he had nothing to hope in the autumn of 1758 he sent Beau Gambe to Versailles that brilliant and loyal helper managed to elude the vigilance of the British fleet reached Versailles and there spent some months and varied and resourceful attempts to secure aid for Canada he saw ministers he procured the aid of powerful connections of his own and of his fellow officers in Canada he went to what was at this time the fountain head of authority at the French court and it was not the king the king is nothing wrote Beau Gambe the martianess is all powerful prime minister Beau Gambe saw the martianess Madame de Pompadour and read to her some of Moncombe's letters she showed no surprise and said nothing her habit as Beau Gambe has said by this time the name of Moncombe was one to charm within France Beau Gambe wrote to him I should have to include all France if I should attempt to give a list of those who love you and wished to see you marshal of France even the little children know your name there had been a time when the court thought the recall of Moncombe would be wise in the interests of new France now it was Moncombe's day and the desire to help him was real France however could do little ministers were courteous and sympathetic but as Barrier, minister of Maureen said to Beau Gambe with the house on fire in France they could not take much thought of the stable in Canada this Barrier was an inept person he was blindly ignorant of naval affairs course, obstinate, a placement who owed his position to intrigue and favoritism his only merit was that he tried to cut down expenditure but in regard to the Navy this policy was likely to be fatal it is useless said this guardian of France's Maureen to try to rival Britain on the sea and the wise thing to do is to save money by not spending it on ships Barrier even sold to private persons stores which he had on hand for the use of the fleet if the house was on fire he did not intend it would seem that much should be left to burn the old Duke de Belleville minister of war was of another type a fine and efficient soldier he explained the situation frankly in a letter to Montcom Austria was an exigent ally and Frederick of Prussia a dangerous foe France had to concentrate her strength in Europe the British fleet he admitted paralyzed efforts overseas there was no certainty or even probability that troops and supplies sent from France would ever reach Canada France the Duke said guardedly was not without resources she had a plan to strike a deadly blow against England and in doing so would save Canada without sending overseas a great army the plan was nothing less than the invasion of England and Scotland with the great force the enterprise which nearly half a century later Napoleon conceived as his master's stroke against the proud maritime state during that winter and spring France was building a great number of small boats with which to make a sudden descent and to land an army in England if this plan succeeded all else would succeed Montcom must just hold on conduct a defensive campaign and above all retain some part of Canada since as the Duke said with prophetic foresight if the British once held the whole of the country they would never give it up Montcom himself had laid before the court a plan of his own he estimated that the British would have six men to his one rather than surrender to them he would withdraw to the far interior and take his army by way of the Ohio to Louisiana the design was a wild council of despair for he would be cut off from any base of supplies but it shows the risks he was ready to take in him now the court had complete confidence Audrey was instructed to take no military action without seeking the council of Montcom the King wrote Belleville to Montcom relies upon your zeal your courage and your resolution some little help was sent the British control of the sea was not complete since more than 20 French ships eluded British vigilance bringing military stores food for Canada was confronted by famine 400 soldiers and Burgambia himself with a list of honors for the leaders in Canada Montcom was given the rank of Lieutenant General and but for a technical difficulty would have been made a Marshal of France all this reliance upon Montcom was galling to Vaudruia this weak man was entirely in the hands of a corrupt circle who recognized in the strength and uprightness of Montcom their deadly enemy an incredible plundering was going on its strength was in the blindness of Vaudruia the secretary of Vaudruia Grosse de Saint-Sauveur an ignorant and greedy man was a member of the ring and yet had the entire confidence of the governor the scale of the robberies was enormous Begaux the intendant was stealing millions of francs today the head of the supplies department was stealing even more they were able men who knew how to show diligence in their official work more than once Montcom praises the resourcefulness with which Begaux met his requirements but it was all done at a fearful cost to the state under assumed names the ring sold to the king of whose interest they were the guardians supplies at a profit of 100 or 150% they made vast sums out of transport they drew pay for feeding hundreds of men who were not in the king's service they received money for great bills of merchandise never delivered and repeated the process over and over again to keep the Indians friendly the king sent presents of guns ammunition and blankets these were stolen and sold even the bodies of Acadians were sold they were hired out for their keep to a contractor who allowed them to die of cold and hunger hundreds of the poor exiles perished the nemesis of a despotic system is that however well-intentioned it may be its officials are not controlled by an alert public opinion and yet must be trusted by their master France met well by her colony but the colony unlike the English colonies was not taught to look after itself while nearly everyone in Canada understood what was going on it was another thing to inform those in control in France Laporte, the secretary of the colonial minister was in the service of the ring he intercepted letters which should have made exposures until found out he had the ear of the minister and echoed the tone of lofty patriotism which bego assumed in his letters to his superiors history has made Moncombe one of its heroes and with justice he was a remarkable man who would have won fame as a scholar had he not followed the long family tradition of a soldier's career Borgambille once said that the highest literary distinction of a Frenchman of chair in the academy might be within reach of Moncombe as well as the baton of a martial of France he had a prodigious memory and had read widely his letters written amid the trying conditions of war are nervous, direct, pregnant with meaning the notes of a penetrating intelligence he had deep family affection adieu my heart I believe that I love you more than ever I did before these were the last words of what he did not know was to be his last letter to his wife in the midst of a gay scene at Montreal in the spring of 1759 he writes to Bure Lamac then at Lake Champlain with acute longing for the south of France in the spring for six or seven months in the year he could receive no letters and always the British command of the sea made the expected arrival uncertain when shall I be again at the chateau of Condiac with my plantations, my oaks my oil mill, my mulberry trees, oh good God he lays bare his spirit especially to Bure Lamac a quiet, efficient, thoughtful man like himself and enjoins him to burn the letters which he does not happily for posterity scandal does not touch him but like most Frenchmen he is dependent on the society of women he lived in a house on the ramparts of Quebec and visited constantly the salon of his neighbor in the Rue du Poirau the beautiful and witty Madame de la Naudière and two or three other households he was also intimate and the bishop was a sympathetic friend his own taste with those of the scholar and more and more during the long Canadian winters he enjoyed evenings of quiet reading the elder, Mirabeau, father of the revolutionary leader of 1789 had just published his Amis des Hommes and this we find Moncombe studying but above all he reads the great encyclopedia of Dietelo by 1759 seven of the huge volumes have been issued they started the intellectual world of the time and Moncombe set out to read them omitting the articles which had no interest for him or which he could not understand C is a copious letter in and encyclopedia and Moncombe found excellent the articles on Christianity, College, Comedy, Comet, Commerce, Council and so on Wolfe soon to be his opponent had the same taste for letters the two men unlike in body for Wolfe was tall and Moncombe the opposite were alike in spirit pains taking students as well as men of action at first Moncombe had not realized what was the deepest shadow in the life of Canada perhaps chiefly because Vaudry was always at Montreal Moncombe preferred Quebec and was surprised and charmed by the life of that city it had he said the air of a real capital there were fair women and brave men sumptuous dinners with 40 or 50 covers brilliantly lighted salon a vivid social life in which he was much courted the intendant Bigo was agreeable and efficient soon however Moncombe had misgivings it was a gambling age but he was staggered by the extent of the gambling at the house of the intendant he did not wish to break with Bigo and there was perhaps some weakness in his failure to denounce the orgies from which his conscience revolted he warned his own officers but he could not control the colonial officers and Vaudry was too weak to check a man like Bigo whence came the money and time Moncombe understood well enough he himself was poor to discharge the duties of his position he was going into debt and he had even to consider the possible selling of his establishment in France he had to beg the court for some financial relief at the same time he saw about him a wild extravagance there was famine in Canada during the winter of 1758 to 59 the troops were put on short rations and in spite of their bitter protests had to eat horse flesh suffering and starvation were heavily on the poor through lack of food people fell fainting in the streets but the circle of Bigo paid little heed and feasted, danced and gambled Moncombe pours out his soul to Gourlamac he spends he says sleepless nights and his mind is almost disordered by what he sees in his journal he notes his own fight with poverty and its contrast with the careless luxury of a crowd of worthless hangers on making four or 500,000 francs a year and insulting decency by their lavish expenditure one of the ringer clerk with a petty salvia-based creature spends more on carriages, horses and harness than a faupiche and reckless young member of the Nouveau-Riche would spend in France corruption in Canada is protected by corruption in France Moncombe cries out with a devotion which his sovereign hardly deserved though it was due to France or so oh king, worthy of better service, dear France crashed by taxes to enrich greedy names the weary winter of 1758-59 at length came to an end in May the ships already mentioned arrived from France bringing Bourguinville and among other things the news that Pitt was sending great forces for a decisive attack on Canada at that very moment indeed the British ships were entering the mouth of the St. Lawrence Canada had already been cut off from France Moncombe held many councils with his officers the strategy decided upon was to stand at bay at Quebec to strike the enemy if he should try to land and to hold out until the approach of winter should force the retirement of the British fleet End of chapter nine Chapter 10 of the Conquest of New France by George Rong this LibriVox recording is in the public domain Chapter 10 the Strategy of Pitt during four campaigns the British had suffered humiliating disasters it is the old story in English history of caste privilege and deadly routine bringing to the top men inadequate in the day of trial it has happened since even in our own day as it has happened so often before it seems that imminent disaster alone will arouse the nation to its best military effort in 1757 however England was thoroughly aroused there you then on her own special element the sea touched her vitally Admiral Bing through sheer cowardice as was charged had failed to attack a French fleet aiding in the siege of the island of Menorca which was held by the English and Menorca had fallen to the French such was the popular clamour at this disaster that Bing was tried condemned and shot there was also an upheaval in the government at no time in English history where men more eager for the fruits of office and now even in a great crisis the greed for spoils could not be shaken off the nation demanded a conduct of the war which sought efficiency above all else politicians however insisted on government favours in the end a compromise was reached at the head of the government was placed a politician the Duke of Newcastle who loved jobbery and patronage and politics and who doled out offices to his supporters at the war office was placed pit with a free hand to carry on military operations he was the terrible cornet of horse who had harried Walpole in the days when that minister was trying to keep out of war he knew and even loved war his fierce national pride had been stirred to passion by the many humiliations of the hand of France and now he was resolved to organize to spend and to fight until Britain trampled on France he had the nation behind him he bullied and frightened the house of commons members trembled if Pitt turned on them by his fiery energy by making himself a terror to weakness and incompetence he won for Britain the seven years war though Pitt became secretary of state for war in June 1757 not until 1758 did the tide begin to turn in America but when it did turn it flowed with resistless force in little more than a year the doom of new France was certain the first great French reverse was at a point where the naval and military power of Britain could unite in attack Pitt well understood the need of united action by the two services Halifax became the radiating center of British activities here in 1757 before Pitt was well in the saddle a fleet and an army gathered to attack Louisbourg an enterprise not carried out that year partly because France had a great fleet on the spot and partly to an account of the bad quality of British leadership only in the campaign of 1758 did Pitt's dominance become effected with him counted one quality and one alone efficiency the old guard at the war office were startled when men with rank years influence and every other claim but competence for their tasks were passed over and young and obscure men were given high command to America in the spring of 1758 were sent officers hitherto little known Edward Baskowen commander of the fleet and veteran among these leaders was a comparatively young man only 47 Jeffrey Amherst just turned 40 was commander in chief on land next in command to Amherst was James Wolf aged 30 these young and vigorous men knew the value of promptness or they would not have been tolerated under Pitt before the end of May 1758 Baskowen was in Halifax Harbor with the fleet of some 40 warships and a multitude of transports on board were nearly 12,000 soldiers more than 11,000 of them British regulars the colonial forces now play a minor part in the struggle Pitt was ready to send from England all the troops needed the array at Halifax the greatest yet seen in America numbered about 20,000 men including sailors before the first of June the fleet was on its way to Louisburg the defense was stubborn and James Wolf who laid the first landing party had abundant opportunity to prove his courage and capacity by the end of July however Louisburg had fallen and nearly 6,000 prisoners were in the hands of the English it was the beginning of the end in the autumn Wolf was back in England where he was quickly given command of the great expedition which was planned against Quebec for the following year Admiral Sir Charles Saunders who seems almost old compared with Wolf for he was nearly 50 was in chief command of the fleet Amherst had remained in America as commander in chief and was taking slow deliberate thorough measures for the last steps in the conquest of New France to be too late had been the usual fate of the many British expeditions against Canada no one however dared to be late under pit on February 17, 1759 the greatest fleet that had ever put out for America left Portsmouth more than 250 ships set their sails for the long voyage there were 39 more ships carrying 14,000 sailors and Marines and 200 other ships manned by perhaps 7,000 men in the merchant service but ready to fight if occasion offered altogether nearly 30,000 men now left the shores of England to attack Canada there's a touch of doom for France and the fact that its own lost fortress of Louisbourg was to be the rendezvous of the fleet Saunders however arrived so early that the entrance to Louisbourg was still blocked with ice and he went on to Halifax in time he returned to Louisbourg and from there the great fleet sailed for Quebec the voyage was uneventful we can picture the startled gaze of the Canadian peasants as they saw the stately array many miles long pass up the St. Lawrence on the 26th of June Wolf and Saunders were in the basin before Quebec and the great siege had begun which was to mark one of the turning points in history nature had furnished a noble setting for the drama now to be enacted Quebec stands on a bold semi circular rock on the north shore of the St. Lawrence at the foot of the rock sweeps the mighty river here at the least breadth in its whole course but still a flood nearly a mile wide deep and strong its currents change ceaselessly with the ebb and flow of the tide which rises a dozen feet though the open sea is 800 miles away behind the rock of Quebec the small stream of the St. Charles furnishes a protection on the landward side below the fortress the great river expands into a broad basin with the outflow divided by the island of Orléans in every direction there are cliffs and precipices and rising ground from the north shore of the great basin the land slopes gradually into a remote blue of wooded mountains the assailant of Quebec must land on low ground commanded everywhere from heights four seven or eight miles on the east and as many on the west and both ends of this long front are further natural defenses at the east the gorge of the Montmorency river and at the west out of the Cap Rouge river Wolf's desire was to land his army on the Beau-Port shore at some point between Quebec and Montmorency but Montcom's fortified post behind which lay his army stretched along the shore for six miles all the way from the Montmorency to the St. Charles Wolf had a great contempt for Montcom's army five feeble French battalions mixed with undisciplined peasants if only he could get to close quarters with the wily and cautious old fox as he called Montcom already the British had done what the French had thought impossible without pilots that steer their ships through treacherous channels in the river and through the dangerous traverses near Cap Tour Montt Captain Cook Destin to be a famous navigator was there to survey and mark the difficult places and British skippers laughed at the forecasts of disaster made by the pilots whom they had captured on the river the French were confident that the British would not dare to take their ships farther up the river past the cannonade of the guns in Quebec though this the British accomplished almost without loss Wolf landed a force upon the lower side of the gorge at Montmorency and another at the head of the island of Orleans he planted batteries at Point-le-V across the river from Quebec and from there he battered the city the pleasant houses in the rue de Palois which Montcom knew so well were knocked into rubbish and its fascinating ladies were driven desolate from the capital but this bombardment brought Wolf no nearer his goal on the 31st of July he made a frontal attack on the flats at Beauport and failed disastrously with the loss of 400 men time was fighting for Montcom by the 1st of September Wolf's one hope was in a surprise by which he could land an army above Quebec the nearer to the fortress the better its feeble walls on the landward side could not hold out against artillery Babu Gambia guarded the high shore and marched his men incessantly up and down to meet threatened attacks on the heights the battalion of Guillain was encamped on the plains of Abraham to guard the Foulon this was a cove on the river bank from which there was a path much used by the French for dragging up provisions leading to the top of the cliff at a point little more than a mile from the walls of the city on the 6th of September the battalion of Guillain was sent back to the Beauport lines by order of Baudrillieu Montcom countermanded the order but was not obeyed and Wolf saw his chance for days he threatened the landing above and below Quebec now at one point now at another until the French were both mystified and worn out with incessant alarms then early on the morning of the 13th of September came Wolf's master stroke his men embarked in boats from the warships lying some miles above Quebec dropped silently down the river close to the North Shore made centuries believe that they were French boats carrying provisions to the Foulon landed at the appointed spot climbed up to Cliff and overpowered the sleeping guard a little after daylight Wolf had nearly 5,000 soldiers a thin red line busy preparing a strong position on the plains of Abraham while the fleet was landing cannon to be dragged up the steep hill to bombard the fortress on its weakest side Montcom had spent many anxious days he had been incessantly on the move examining for himself over and over again every point Cap Rouge, Beaufort, Montmorency reviewing the militia of which he felt certain inspecting the artillery that commenced the aria and everything that mattered at three o'clock in the morning of one of these days he wrote to Bourlamaque at Lake Champlain noting the dark night the rain his men awake and dressed in their tents everyone alert I'm booted and my horses are saddled which is in truth my usual way of spending the night I've not undressed since the 23rd of June on the evening of the 12th of September the batteries at Pointe-Lavis kept up our furious fire on Quebec there was much activity on board the British warships lying below the town boats filled with men rode towards Beaufort as if to attempt the landing during the night here the danger seemed to lie at midnight the British boats were still hovering off the shore the French troops manned the entrenched lines and Montcom was continually anxious a heavy convoy of provisions was to come down to the Foulon that night in order to have been given to the French posts on the north shore above Quebec to make no noise the arrival of the convoy was vital for the army was pressed for food Montcom was therefore anxious for its fate when at break of day he heard firing from the French cannon at Samo above Quebec had the provisions then been taken by the English near his camp all now seem quiet he gave orders for the troops to rest drank some cups of tea with his aid to camp John Stone and Scotch, Jacobite and at about half past six rode towards Quebec to the camp of Madrid to learn why the artillery was firing at Samo immediately in front of the governor's house he learned the momentous news the English were on the plains of Abraham soon he had the evidence of his own eyes on the distant heights across the ballot he could see the red coats no doubt Montcom had often pondered this possibility and had decided in such a case to attack it once before the enemy could entrench and bring up cannon a rapid decision was now followed by rapid action he had a moment's conversation with Vaudry the French regiments on the right of Vaudry's camp lying nearest to the city were to march at once to John Stone he said the affair is serious and then gave orders that all the French left except a few men to guard the ravine at Montmorillon Sea should follow quickly to the position between Quebec and the enemy a mile away off to this point he himself galloped already by orders of the officers on the spot regiments were gathering between the walls of the city and the British the regiments on the French right at Beauport were soon on the move towards the battlefield but two thousand of the best troops still lay inactive beyond Beauport John Stone declares that Vaudry countermanded the order of Montcom for these troops to come to his support and ordered that not one of them should budge there was haste everywhere by half past nine Montcom had some 4,000 men drawn up between the British and the walls of Quebec he hoped that Beauport advancing from Cap Rouge would be able to assail the British rear surely Beauport understands that I must attack the crisis was over in 15 minutes Montcom attacked it once his line was disorderly his center was composed of regular troops his wings of Canadians and Indians these fired irregularly and lay down to reload thus causing confusion the French moved forward rapidly the British were coming on more slowly the French were only some 40 yards away when there was an answering fire from the thin red line for Wolf had ordered his men to put two balls in their muskets and to hold their fire for one red volley then the roar from Wolf's center was like that of a burst of artillery and when the smoke cleared the French battalions were seen breaking in disorder from the shock the front line cut down by the terrible fire a bayonet charge from the Redcoats followed some 5,000 trained British regulars bore down working great slaughter on 4,000 French many of them colonials who had never before fought in the open the route of the French was complete some fled to safety behind the walls of Quebec others down that cote Saint-Jean-Vivre and across the Saint-Charles river where they stopped pursuit by cutting the bridge both Wolf and Montcom were mortally wounded after the issue of the day was really decided and both survived to be certain the one of victory the other of defeat Wolf died on the field of battle Montcom was taken into a house and Quebec and died early the next morning it is perhaps the only incident and history of a decisive battle of world import followed by the death of both leaders each made immortal by the tragedy of their common fate at two o'clock in the afternoon of the day of defeat Vaudry held a tumultuous council of war it was decided to abandon Quebec where Montcom lay dying and to retreat up the St. Lawrence to Montreal through the defense of which La Vie had been sent before the fight that night the whole French army fled in panic leaving their tents standing and abandoning quantities of stores Vaudry who had talked so briefly about death in the ruins of Canada rather than surrender gave orders to Ramazet commanding in Quebec to make terms and haul down his flag on the third day after the battle the surrender was arranged on the fourth day the British marched into Quebec wherever since their flag has floated meanwhile Amherst the commander-in-chief of the British armies in America was making a tourism advance towards Montreal by way of Lake Champlain he had occupied both Diconderogo and Crown Point which had been abandoned by the French across his pathway Boulot-Manc Eau Noir another British army having captured Niagara was advancing on Montreal down the St. Lawrence from Lake Ontario Amherst however made little progress this year in his menace to Montreal and soon went into winter quarters as did the other forces elsewhere the British victory therefore was as yet incomplete the year 1759 proved dire for France she was held fast by her treaty with Austria and at ruinous cost was ever sending more and more troops to help Austria against Prussia the great plan of which Boulot-Eau had written to Montcom was the chief hope of her policy England was to be invaded and London occupied if this were done all else would be right it was not done France could not parry pits blows in Africa in the West Indies in India the British won successes which meant the ruin of French power in three continents French-Adimals like Champlain and La Clue were no match for it by Scowen, Hawke and Rodney all seamen of the first rank and made the stronger because dominated by the fiery pit they kept the French squadrons shut up in their own ports when it last on November 2017 1759 Champlain came out of breast and fought Hawke Cabellon Bay the French fleet was nearly destroyed and the dream of taking London ended in complete disaster end of chapter 10 Chapter 11 of the Conquest of New France by George Wong this Librebox recording is in the public domain Chapter 11 the fall of Canada though Quebec was in their hands the position of the British during the winter of 1759 to 60 was dangerous in October General Murray who was left in command saw with misgiving the great fleet sail away which had brought to Canada the conquering force of wolf and saunders Murray was left with some 7,000 men in the heart of a hostile country and with a resourceful enemy still unconquered preparing to attack him he was separated from other British forces by vast race of forest and river and until spring should come no fleet could aid him three enemies of the English the French said exultingly would aid to retake Quebec the ruthless savages who haunted the outskirts of the fortress and massacred many and in cautious straggler the French army which could be recruited from the Canadian population and above all the bitter cold of the Canadian winter to Murray as to Napoleon long afterward in his rash invasion of Russia General February was indeed the enemy about the two or three British ships left at Quebec the ice froze in places that doesn't feed thick and snowdrifts were piled so high against the walls of Quebec that it looked sometimes as if the enemy might walk over them into the fortress so solidly frozen was the surface of the river that Murray sent cannon to the south shore across the ice to repel a menace from that quarter there was scarcity of firewood and of provisions scurvy broke out in the garrison many hundreds died so that by the spring Murray had barely three thousand men fit for active duty throughout the winter Levy now in command of the French forces made increasing preparations to destroy Murray in the spring the headquarters of Levy were at Montreal here Baudrillier the governor kept his little court Ian Levy worked harmoniously for Levy was conciliatory and tactful for a time Baudrillier treasured the thought of taking command in person to attack Quebec in the end however he showed that he had learned something from the disasters of the previous year and did not interfere with the plans made by Levy so throughout the winter Montreal had its guilloties and vanities as of old there were feasts and dances but overall brooded the reality of famine in the present and the foreboding of disaster to come by April 2017 60 the St. Lawrence was open and though the shores were covered with masses of broken ice the central channel was free for the boats which Levy filled with his soldiers it was a bleak experience to descend the turbulent river between banks clogged with ice when Levy was not far from Quebec he learned that it was impossible to surprise Murray who was well on guard between Cap Rouge on the west and Beauport on the east the one thing to do was to reach the plains of Abraham in order to attack the feeble walls of Quebec from the landward side since Murray's alertness made impossible attack by way of the high cliffs which Wolf had climbed in the night Levy had to reach Quebec by a circuitous route he landed his army a little above Cap Rouge marched inland over terrible roads in heavy rain and climbed to the plateau of Quebec from the rear at Saint-Foix on April 27 1760 he drew up his army on the heights almost exactly as Wolf had done in the previous September Murray followed the example of Montcom he had no trust in the feeble defenses of Quebec and on the 28th marched out to fight on the open plain the battle of Saint-Foix followed exactly the precedence of the previous year the defenders of Quebec were driven off the field in overwhelming defeat the difference was that Murray took his army back to Quebec and from behind his walls still defied his French assailant Levy had poor artillery but he did what he could he entrenched and poured his fire into Quebec in the end it was seapower which balked him on the 15th of May when a British fleet appeared round the head of the island of Orléans Levy withdrew in something like panic and Quebec was safe Levy returned to Montreal and to this point all the forces of France slowly retreated as they were pressed in by the overwhelming numbers of the British at Oswego the scene of Montcom's first brilliant success four years earlier Amherst had gathered during the summer of 1760 an army of about 10,000 men from here he descended the Saint Lawrence in boats to attack Montreal from the west from the south down Lake Champlain and the Richelieu River to the Saint Lawrence came another British force under Haveland also to attack Montreal at Quebec Murray put his army on transports left the city almost destitute of defense and thus brought a third considerable force against Montreal there was little fighting the French withdrew to the common objective as their enemy advanced early in September Levy had gathered at Montreal all his available force amounting now to seriously more than 2000 men for Canadians and Indians alike had deserted him the British pressed in with the slow and inevitable rigor of a force of nature on the 7th of September their united army was before the town and Amherst demanded instant surrender the only thing for Vadry to do was to make the best terms possible on the next day he signed a capitulation which protected the liberties and property and religion of the Canadians but which yielded the whole of Canada to Great Britain the struggle for North America had ended in the moment of triumph Amherst inflicted on the French army a deep humiliation to punish the outrages committed by their Indian allies in the early days of the war loudened the commander-in-chief in America had vowed that the British would make the French sick of such inhuman villainy and teach them to respect the laws of nature and humanity Washington speaks of his deadly sorrow at the dreadful outrages which he saw the ravishing of women the scalping alive even of children the Liddelfians had seen the grim spectacle of a wagon load of corpses brought by mourning friends and relatives of the dead and laid down at the door of the assembly to show the past of his legislators what was really happening the French regular officers as we have seen had hated this kind of warfare Bougainville says that his soul shuddered at the sites in Montreal where the whole town turned out to see and English prisoner killed boiled and eaten by the savages were still captive mothers were obliged to eat the flesh of their own children the French believed that they could not get on without the savage allies who committed these outrages and they were not strong enough to coerce them Amherst on the other hand held his Indians in check and rebuked outrage now he was stern to punish what the French had permitted he could write proudly to a friend that the French were amazed at the order in which he kept his own Indians not a man woman or a child he said had been hurt or a single atrocity committed it was a vivid contrast with what had taken place after the British surrender to Montcom at Fort William Henry the day of retribution had come because of such outrageous the French army was denied the honors of war usually conceded to a brave and defeated foe the French officers and men must not Amherst insisted serve again during the war Levy protested and begged Vaudruyre to be allowed to go on fighting rather than accept the terms but in vain the humiliation was rigorously imposed and it was a silent host which the British took captive France had lost an empire it was nearly three years still before peace was signed at Paris in 1763 to Britain France yielded everything east of the Mississippi except New Orleans and to Spain she ceded New Orleans and everything else to it she had any claim the Fleur de Lis floated still over only two tiny fishing islands off the Newfoundland shore all the glowing plans of France's leaders of Urchelieu of Louis XIV of Colbert of Frontagnac of the heroic missionaries of the Jesuit order seemed to have come to nothing the fall of France did much to drag down her rival already was America restless under control from Europe there was now no danger to the English in America from the French peril which had made insecure the borders of Massachusetts of New York of Pennsylvania and Virginia and had brought widespread desolation and sorrow with the removal of the menace went the need of help and defenses for the colonies from the motherland the French believed that there was a natural antipathy between the English of the old world and the English of the new was in reality based on the fact of a likeness so great that neither would accept control or patronage from the other towards the Englishman who assumed heirs of superiority the antagonism of the colonists was always certain to be acute open strife came when the assumption of superiority took the form of levying taxes on the colonies without asking their leave in no remote way the fall of French Canada by removing a near menace to the English colonies led to this new conflict and to the collapse of that older British empire which had sprung from the England of the stewards when Montreal fell there were in the Saint Lawrence many British ships which had been used for troops and supplies before the end of September the French soldiers and also the officials from France who desired to go home were on board the ships bound for Europe by the end of November most of the exiles had reached home burying receptions awaited them Levy who took back the army was soon again by consent of the British government in active service fortune smiled on him to the end he died a great noble and martial of France just before the revolution of 1789 but in that awful upheaval his widow and his two daughters perished on the scaffold Vaudry's shallow and vain incompetence did not go unpunished he was put on trial accused of a share in the black frauds which had helped ruin Canada the trial was his punishment he was acquitted of taking any share of the plunder and so drops out of history Bijaud and his gang on the other hand were found guilty of vast depredations the former attendant was for a time in the Bastille and in the end was banished from France after being forced to repay great sums we find echoes of the luxury of Quebec and the sale in France of the rich plate which the rascal had acquired there were however other and even worse plunderers they were tried and condemned chiefly to return what they had stolen we rather wonder that no expiatory sacrifice on the scaffold was required of any of these naves Lali Talandal who as the French leader in India had only failed and not plundered was sent to a cruel execution under the terms of the surrender and of the final treaty of peace in 1763 civilians in Canada were given leave to return to France nearly the whole of the official class and many of the large landowners the seniors left the country in Canada there remained a priesthood largely native but soon to be recruited from France by the upheaval of the revolution a few senorial families natural leaders of their race a peasantry exhausted by the long war but clinging tenaciously to the soil and a good many hardy pioneers of the forest men skilled in hunting and in the use of the axe out of these elements amounting in 1763 to little more than 60,000 people has come that French Canadian race in America now numbering perhaps three millions the race has scattered far it is found in the mills of Massachusetts in the cane breaks of Louisiana on the wide stretches of the prairie of the Canadian west but it hasn't always kept intact its strong citadel on the banks of the St. Lawrence New France was in reality widely separated in spirit from old France before the new master in Canada made the division permanent the imagination of the Canadian peasant did not wander across the ocean to France he knew only the scenes about his own heart and in them alone were his thought and affections centered the one wider interest which the habitant treasured was the love for the Catholic church of his fathers and of his own spiritual hopes it thus happened that when France in revolution assailed and for a time over through the church within her borders the heart of french Canada was not with France but with the persecuted church she hated the spirit of revolutionary France Thaidaumes were sung at Quebec in thanksgiving for the defeats of Napoleon in language and what literary culture they possessed in traditions and tastes the concrete people remained French but they had no allegiance divided between Canada and France to this day they are proud to be simply Canadians rooted in the soil of Canada with no debt of patriotic gratitude to the France from which they sprung or to the Britain which obtained political dominance over their ancestors after a long agony of war to the British crown many of them feel a certain attachment because of that liberty guaranteed to them to pursue their own ideals of happiness in preserving their type of social life their faith and language they have shown a resolute tenacity to this day they are as different in these things from their fellow citizens of British origin in the rest of Canada as were their ancestors from the English colonies which lay on their borders the French in Canada are still a separate people from time to time a nervous fear seizes them less too many of their race may be lost to their old ideals in the Anglo-Saxon world surging about them then they listen readily to appeals to their racial unity and draw more sharply than ever the lines of division between themselves and the rest of North America they remain a fragment of an older France remote and isolated still dreaming dreams like those of Frontagnac of old of the dominance of their race in North America and asserting passionately their rights in the sort of Canada to which first of Europeans they came at the mouth of the Mississippi in the Louisiana founded by Louis XIV along the St. Lawrence in the Canada of Champlain and Frontagnac with a resolution more than half pathetic and in a world that gives little heed men of French race are still on guard to preserve in America the liniments of that older France long since decayed in Europe which was above all the eldest daughter of the church End of Chapter 11 End of The Conquest of New France by George Rong