Chapter XXI: Appendix: No. I (7)

"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.