preparing the above chapter, including the secret instructions of the
King to Wolfe and to Saunders, and the letters of Amherst to Wolfe and
to Pitt. Other correspondence touching the same subjects is printed in
_Selections from the Public Documents of Nova Scotia,_ 441-450. Knox,
Mante, and Entick are the best contemporary printed sources.

A story has gained currency respecting the last interview of Wolfe with
Pitt, in which he is said to have flourished his sword and boasted of
what he would achieve. This anecdote was told by Lord Temple, who was
present at the interview, to Mr. Grenville, who, many years after, told
it to Earl Stanhope, by whom it was made public. That the incident
underwent essential changes in the course of these transmissions,--which
extended over more than half a century, for Earl Stanhope was not born
till 1805,--can never be doubted by one who considers the known
character of Wolfe, who may have uttered some vehement expression, but
who can never be suspected of gasconade.

Chapter 25

1759

Wolfe at Quebec

In early spring the chiefs of Canada met at Montreal to settle a plan of
defence. What at first they most dreaded was an advance of the enemy by
way of Lake Champlain. Bourlamaque, with three battalions, was ordered
to take post at Ticonderoga, hold it if he could, or, if overborne by
numbers, fall back to Isle-aux-Noix, at the outlet of the lake. La Corne
was sent with a strong detachment to intrench himself at the head of the
rapids of the St. Lawrence, and oppose any hostile movement from Lake
Ontario. Every able-bodied man in the colony, and every boy who could
fire a gun, was to be called to the field. Vaudreuil sent a circular
letter to the militia captains of all the parishes, with orders to read
it to the parishioners. It exhorted them to defend their religion, their
wives, their children, and their goods from the fury of the heretics;
declared that he, the Governor, would never yield up Canada on any terms
whatever; and ordered them to join the army at once, leaving none behind
but the old, the sick, the women, and the children.[700] The Bishop
issued a pastoral mandate: "On every side, dearest brethren, the enemy
is making immense preparations. His forces, at least six times more
numerous than ours, are already in motion. Never was Canada in a state
so critical and full of peril. Never were we so destitute, or threatened
with an attack so fierce, so general, and so o