vered from the surprise which
for the moment he felt, when the bandage was taken off his eyes, and he
saw so brilliant an array of soldierly men, he read the letter, which,
"by the orders of the King and Queen of England and of the government
of the colony of New England," demanded "the surrender of the forts and
castles undemolished, and of all munitions untouched, as also an
immediate surrender of your persons and property at my discretion."
The envoy, when the whole letter was read, took out his watch, and
remarking that it was ten o'clock, asked that he be sent back by
eleven. Count de Frontenac's answer was defiant. He refused to
recognise William of Orange as the lawful sovereign of England, and
declared him an "usurper." The haughty governor continued in the same
strain for a few moments longer, and when he had closed, Phipps's
messenger asked that the answer be given in writing. "No," he replied,
"I have none to give but by the mouth of my cannon; and let your
general learn that this is no way to send a summons to a man like me.
Let him do the best on his side, as I am resolved to do on mine."

Phipps and his officers determined to attack Quebec in the rear by the
way of Beauport, {201} simultaneously with a fierce cannonading by the
fleet. A considerable force, under the command of Major Walley,
landed, and after some days of unhappy experiences, during which Phipps
showed his incapacity to manage the siege, the former was obliged to
find refuge in the ships, without having succeeded in crossing the St.
Charles. By this time Frontenac had at least three thousand men, many
of them veterans, in Quebec, and Phipps considered it his only prudent
course to return to Boston, where he arrived with the loss of many
vessels and men, chiefly from disasters at sea. The French had lost
very few men by the cannonading and in the skirmishing on the St.
Charles--probably not more than sixty killed and wounded--and
celebrated their victory with great enthusiasm. Religious processions
marched through the streets to the cathedral and churches, _Te Deums_
were chanted, the colonial admiral's flag, which had been cut down by a
lucky shot from the fort, was borne aloft in triumph, a new church was
consecrated to _Notre Dame de la Victoire_, and a medal was struck in
Paris in commemoration of the event. In Boston, the people received
with dismay the news of the failure of an expedition which had ended so
ignobly and involve