een transferred for the time
from the Old World to the New, we reach the hour which was to mark
an epoch in history. The time, the thirteenth of September, 1759;
the place, the Heights of Abraham at Quebec. There and then was
fought out one of the pivotal battles of the ages. It was the
closing act in a great drama. The question to be determined:
Whether the English-speaking race or its hereditary foe was to
be master of the continent. It was in reality a struggle for empire
--the magnificent domain stretching from the St. Lawrence to the
Gulf of Mexico. The incidents of the battle need not now be told.
Never were English or French soldiery led by more knightly captains.
The passing years have not dispelled the romance or dimmed the
glory that gathered about the name of Wolfe and Montcalm. Dying
at the self-same moment--one amid the victors, the other amid the
vanquished--their names live together in history.

"By the treaty of Paris which followed, France surrendered to
her successful rival all claim to the domain east of the Mississippi
River. In accordance with the terms of the treaty, Gage, the
commander of the British forces in America, took formal possession
of the recently conquered territory. Proclamation of this fact
was made to the inhabitants of the Illinois country in 1764, and
a garrison soon thereafter established at Kaskaskia. Here the rule
of the British was for the time undisputed. British domination in
the Mississippi Valley was, however, to be of short duration. Soon
the events were hastening, the forces gathering, which were in turn
to wrest from the crown no small part of the splendid domain won
by Wolfe's brilliant victory at Quebec.

"In this hurried review I reach now an event of transcendent interest
and one far-reaching in its consequences. While our Revolutionary
War was in progress, and its glorious termination yet but dimly
foreshadowed, General George Rogers Clark planned an expedition
whose successful termination has given his name to the list of
great conquerors. Bearing the commission of Patrick Henry, Governor
of Virginia, the heroic Clark crossed the Ohio and began his
perilous march. After enduring untold hardships, the undaunted
leader and his little band reached Kaskaskia. The British commander
and his garrison were surprised and quickly captured. The British
flag was lowered, and on the fourth day of July, 1778, the Illinois
country was taken possession of in th