The Campaign of 1760 in Canada

Campaign of 1760 in Canada,
The

Project Gutenberg's The Campaign of 1760 in Canada, by Chevalier
Johnstone This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and
with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: The Campaign of 1760 in Canada A Narrative Attributed to
Chevalier Johnstone
Author: Chevalier Johnstone
Release Date: September 19, 2005 [EBook #16724]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE
CAMPAIGN OF 1760 IN CANADA ***

Produced by Alison Hadwin, Sankar Viswanathan, and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

THE CAMPAIGN of 1760 in CANADA
A NARRATIVE ATTRIBUTED TO CHEVALIER JOHNSTONE.

Published under the Auspices of the Literary and Historical Society of
Quebec
QUEBEC: PRINTED AT THE "MORNING CHRONICLE" OFFICE
1887.

[PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE LITERARY AND
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF QUEBEC.]
ATTRIBUTED TO CHEVALIER JOHNSTONE.

Hope that heavenly, healing balm, that gift from Providence, blended
with persecutions to blunt the sharpness of their sting and hinder the
unfortunate from being overwhelmed, and sinking under the load of
their afflictions, never dies out--never abandons the distressed. "We
don't believe in dangers," says Machiavel, "until they are over our
heads; but we entertain hopes of escaping them when at a great
distance." Hope does not abandon the pale, dying man: in his agony he
still fells life, and in his thoughts he does not detach himself from it.
Death strikes, before his heart has realized that he could cease to live.
Search in the prisons: hope dwells there with the wretch who next day
is to undergo his sentence of death. Every time the bolts rattle, he
believes his deliverance entering with the jailer. Whole years of slavery
have not been able to wear out this consoling sentiment. These
contradictions,--these differences of seeing,--these returns,--this stormy
flow and ebb, are so many effects of hope, which plays upon us and
never ceases. It is inherent in human nature to hope in adversity for a
favorable change of fate, however the appearances may be ill-grounded
of an end to its pain and suffering.
The Canadians, without the least apparent reason, still flattered
themselves to save their country, and did not lose the hope of retaking
Quebec, though without artillery and warlike stores. All minds were
occupied during the winter in forming projects of capturing that town,

which were entirely chimerical, void of common sense, and nowise
practicable. No country ever hatched a greater number--never projects
more ridiculous and extravagant; everybody meddled. The contagion
spread even to my Lord Bishop and his seminary of priests, who gave
their plan, which, like all the others, lacked only common sense and
judgment. In short, a universal insanity prevailed at Montreal. Amongst
thousands of the productions of these distempered brains, that of
surprising Quebec by a forced march in winter and taking it by escalade,
was the only one where there was the least chance of success. This
project was for some time agitated so seriously, that workmen were
employed in making wooden ladders; but having always looked upon it
as a wild and extravagant fancy of priests and old women, I constantly
argued against it whenever they spoke of it, and it was continually the
topic of conversation.
The Upper Town of Quebec lies upon the top of a rock, about two
hundred feet high, almost perpendicular in some parts of it, and
everywhere extremely steep and inaccessible, excepting towards the
_Hauteurs d'Abraham_, which is a continuation of the same hill, that
begins at Quebec and ends at Cap Rouge, diminishing gradually in
height in the space of these three leagues. The Lower Town is a narrow
piece of ground, from a hundred to four or five paces[A] broad,
between the foot of the rock and the St. Lawrence.
There is a street which goes up to the Upper Town without a
continuation of houses; it is impossible to climb up the rock from the
Lower Town, as I was employed three weeks upon it with miners and
other workmen, to render all the footpaths impracticable; we finished
only a few days before the arrival of the English fleet (in 1759). A town
built upon a vast extent of ground, which would require an army to
defend it, such as Ghent in Flanders, and which might be approached
on all sides at the same time, in order to divide the troops of the
garrison equally over all the town, may be surprised and taken by
escalade, and in our desperate situation might have been attempted by
risking all for all. A surprise in a dark night must naturally spread
universal terror, disorder and