country. Let us not, therefore, foolishly bring certain ruin upon ourselves, merely to indulge our passions or to please the English. Let us rather leave the French and English in a position which will make either of them set a high value on our friendship." This was their former and favorite system; but as they considered it shameful to desert the English openly, they concluded on effecting their purpose by enveloping their treachery under the most profound secrecy and diabolical cruelty. "The lawless savages, says Raynal, "the religious Hebrews, the wise and warlike Greeks and Romans, in a word, all people, whether civilized or not, have always made what is called the rights of nations to consist in craft or violence."

The English army halted on the banks of a small river, where they encamped and waited for the artillery and ammunition, which were following at a slower rate than the march of the main body of the troops. The Iroquois, who, in the meantime, spent their leisure hours in hunting, flayed all the animals they killed, and sunk their skins in the river, a little above the English camp. The English, who had no suspicion of the fatal treachery, continued to drink of the poisoned water, and such numbers were carried off in consequence, that it soon became necessary to suspend all military operations. They were, therefore, compelled to return to New York, where they learned that the destination of the fleet, which was to proceed with troops to besiege Quebec, was changed, and that they were ordered to Lisbon, to protect Portugal from the Spaniards.

Soon after the peace of Utrecht, the English built a fort on the banks of Lake Ontario, which secured them a great share of the fur trade. The French, also, rebuilt the fort at Niagara, and strengthened their garrison at Detroit, which commanded the great line of intercourse in their dealings with the Indians of the west, as well as the track of communication with Louisiana, the Illinois and the Mississippi, which was frequently interrupted by the warlike Antigamis, and their allies the Sioux and Chickasaws. M. de Vaudreuil, at length, brought these savages to pacific overtures; and as a means of increasing the population of the French settlements and strengthening the garrison, he proposed that one hundred and fifty of the convicts which were condemned in France to the galleys, should be annually sent to Canada. A this period, (1714,) there were no more than four thousand five hundred men, from fourteen to sixty years of age, able to bear arms, in all Canada, while the English colonies could raise about sixty thousand.

CHAPTER XXIX.

General state of Canada.-Indian massacres.-Wolfe's expedition.-Cupture of Quebec by the British.-Submission of the whole province to the British.-Government adopted for Canada.-The British constitution introduced into Canada.-Mal-administration.-Disaffection of the Canadians.-Demand for reforms.-Insurrection of 1837.-The American "sympathizers."-Affair of the steamboat Caroline.-Lord Durham appointed governor.-Battle of Odelltown.-Declaration of independence.-Battle of Prescott.-Incursion of the sympathizers at Sandwich.-The insurrection suppressed.-Affair of M Leod.

CANADA enjoyed a long period of tranquillity under the administrations of De Vaudreuil, and Beauharnois, Galissoniere, Jonquiere, Longueil and Du Quesne, his successors. In 1755, the Sieur de Vaudreuil Cavagnal assumed the government. The origin of the war, which broke out at this period between England and France, will be related in the history of the United States. Canada was soon menaced with hostilities. The defeat of Braddock took place in 1755, and the following year the Marquis de Montcalm, who had arrived in Canada from France, with a strong force, destroyed the English fort of Oswego, the outworks of Fort George, and a flotilla, designed to attack Crown Point. Fort George was captured by the French and Indians the year after, and two thousand people were massacred by the savages, under the command of Montcalm. This outrage, instead of striking a terror into the British and Americans, aroused them to resistance, and led the way to a series of vigorous military operations, which, in a short space of time, resulted in the total overthrow of the French

power in North America. A grand scheme was projected for the conquest of Canada, by attacking Quebec, Fort Niagara, Ticonderoga and Crown Point. The army despatched against Quebec was placed under the command of General Wolfe; the fleet designed for the same service was commanded by Admiral Saunders. General Amherst marched against Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and Sir William Johnson, who succeeded General Prideaux, against Niagara.

In the month of June, 1759, the English fleet reached the island of Orleans, where Wolfe landed with an army of eight thousand. The French disposable forces, exclusive of the garrison of Quebec, consisted of about ten thousand men, with a reserve of two thousand. Wolfe first attempted the entrenchments of Montmorenci, landing his troops under cover of the fire from the ships of war; but he was gallantly repulsed by the French. After some delay, it was determined to effect a landing so as to carry the Heights of Abraham, above Quebec. This daring resolution was effected on the 12th of September, with surprising secrecy and intrepidity. The ships of war sailed nine miles up the river, above Quebec, to Cape Rouge. This feint deceived M. Bourgainville, who, with his division of the French army, proceeded still farther up along the banks of the river, to prevent the British debarking. During the night the English ships dropped down silently with the current to Wolfe's Cove, and at four o'clock in the morning the troops began to land. At eight, the British army ascended the precipitous heights, with two field-pieces in front; the forty-eighth regiment and the light infantry forming a reserve, and the royal Americans covering the landing.

The Marquis de Montcalm, who was then at Beauport, marched across the St. Charles on the 13th, and imprudently formed in front of the British army, with only one field-piece, and before he could concentrate all his disposable forces. He then advanced most gallantly; but the scattered, quick firing of the troops, which commenced when within about two hundred and fifty yards of the English line, was far from being so effective as that of the British. The latter moved forward regularly, firing steadily, until within twenty or thirty yards of the enemy, when they gave a general volley, and the French were soon after routed. Bourgainville had just then appeared in sight, but the fate of Canada was decreed, the critical moment was gone,-and he retired to Point au Trembles, where he encamped, and from thence he retreated to Three Rivers and Montreal. There was also a body of French troops near Beauport, which were not engaged. Had

CANADA.

281 all the forces been concentrated under Montcalm, it is doubtful if the heroism of the British troops could have secured the victory. The most extraordinary bravery was displayed both by the English and the French. Both armies lost their commanders. Wolfe expired with victory accompanying the close of his splendid career. At the age of thirty-five, when but few men begin even to appear on the theatre of great deeds, inheriting no family pretensions, and unassisted by faction or intrigue, he held a command of the highest responsibility, and with a truly unblemished character, fulfilled the most sanguine expectations of his country. The Marquis de Montcalm, an officer of equal bravery, died of his wounds a few days after. Quebec capitulated on the 18th, to General Murray, who succeeded to the command. He, however, committed a most egregious error sometime afterwards, by leaving Quebec to attack M. Levi, who was encamped with the French army at Sillery, and who completely defeated General Murray, and compelled him to retire within the walls of Quebec, with the loss of his artillery and nearly one third of his army.

The fort at Niagara was in the meantime reduced by Sir William Johnston, and the forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point by General Amherst. They were consequently enabled to concentrate their forces and form a junction with General Murray. Previously to this, on learning that the English fleet was in the St. Lawrence, and that the armament sent from France to relieve Quebec was captured in the Bay de Chaleur, by a squadron from Louisburg under Captain Byron, the French forces retreated to Montreal, where the governor-general, M. de Vaudreuil, determined to make a desperate stand. Being, however, invested by the united forces of the three British generals, he found further resistance useless, and capitulated on the 8th of September, 1760, when Montreal and all the French fortresses in Canada were surrendered to Great Britain. The peace of 1762 secured the permanent possession of Canada to that nation.

An attempt was made at first to give an English form of government to Canada, but this policy was changed at the period of the American revolution, and care was then taken to separate Canada as much as possible from the other British colonies, by a close observance of French usages. In 1791, however, through the exertions of Mr. Pitt, a constitution was established, similar in general spirit to that of Great Britain, with legislative bodies consisting partly of hereditary and partly of representative members. There appears to have been considerable mal-administration from the beginning, and the Canadians were uttering constant complaints. Nothing particularly worthy of attention occurred for a

long period, except the events connected with the war of the revolution and that of 1812, which are reserved for the history of the United States.

Great uneasiness began to manifest itself among the Canadians in 1834. Complaints against the authority of the council which was appointed by the crown, and the oppressive action of the law of tenures, showed the deep dissatisfaction of the people with the government. These grievances increased from year to year; the legislature became involved in altercations with the governor; the English cry of "Reform" was raised in Canada, and, in 1837, the Canadian House of Assembly boldly protested against the arbitrary conduct of the British government, and declared that they should suspend their deliberations till the proposed reforms were effected. The French population, particularly, were enthusiastic in their opposition to the British government, and one of their class, Papineau, distinguished himself above all others of the reform party in the legislature. Towards the end of 1837, the disaffection had risen to an alarming height. The troops were put in preparation for a popular outbreak, and reinforcements ordered from Halifax. A great popular meeting of the French patriots was held at St. Charles, in the county of Richelieu. and many attended with arms. They set up a pole, surmounted by a cap of liberty; Papineau and other popular orators addressed them; patriotic hymns were sung, and the whole assembly took an oath to devote themselves to their country. This was the signal for open insurrection. Acts of violence soon followed, and many arrests were made. A troop of cavalry, escorting a number of prisoners, was attacked and put to the rout by the insurgents. The disturbances extended from the city of Montreal to the Niagara frontier. The revolutionary forces were much augmented by bands of adventurers, or "sympathizers," from the United States. This caused much ill blood between the two nations, and led to an affair which threatened to involve the United States and Great Britain in war. A body of the revolutionists had encamped on Navy Island, in the River Niagara, just above the falls. A steamboat called the Caroline, belonging to an American, had been employed in making trips between the American shore and this island. On the night of the 29th of December, 1837, while the Caroline was lying at Schlosser, within the limits of the state of New York, she was boarded by an armed party of British, set on fire, and sent over the cataract. One of her crew was killed. This occurrence became the subject of a long correspondence between the American and British governments, which we shal) advert to more particularly in its place.