the General and the so-called Canadian
party proceeded. Vaudreuil wrote earnestly to the Court to have
Montcalm recalled; while Montcalm, who was not blind to the
malversations of Bigot and his clique, made this matter the burden of
some of his official letters. The result was a rebuke administered to
Vaudreuil and the Intendant, which further heated their feeling
against Montcalm. Bougainville was despatched to France to lay an
account of the dire distress of Canada before the Court. Montcalm's
letters highly commended the envoy, but Vaudreuil as promptly
described him as a creature of the General, and their quarrel did not
help New France at the Royal Court. Berryer, the Colonial Minister,
received Bougainville coldly, and to his appeal for help replied: "Eh,
Monsieur, when the house is on fire one cannot concern one's self with
the stable." But the Canadian envoy responded, with caustic wit, "At
least, Monsieur, nobody will say that you talk like a _horse_."

Berryer's remark, however, exactly described the state of affairs.
Worsted by Clive at Plassey, and by Frederick the Great at Leuthen and
Rossbach, even the loss of Louisbourg, the Forts Duquesne and
Frontenac, could hardly add to France's cup of bitterness, and to save
herself in Europe she was prepared for sacrifice in America. Within
the single twelvemonth during which Pitt had been at the helm of
England, France had altered her pretentious claim upon almost the
whole of North America to the extremely reasonable demand for a
foothold on the river St. Lawrence. Even this last claim was now
assailed; and as she fell back into her last intrenchments, the armies
of England advanced to the final encounter.

[Illustration: GOVERNOR OF NEWFOUNDLAND, 1759]

The general hopelessness of the situation in Canada is reflected in
a letter written by the Minister of War, M. de Belleisle, to Montcalm,
under the date 19th February, 1759: "Besides increasing the dearth of
provisions, it is to be feared that reinforcements, if despatched,
would fall into the power of the English. The King is unable to send
succours proportional to the force the English can place in the field
to oppose you....You must confine yourself to the defensive, and
concentrate all your forces within as narrow limits as possible. It is
of the last importance to preserve some footing in Canada. However
small the territory preserved may be, it is indispensable that _un
pied_ should be retained in North