From Cabot to Montcalm
the Rise and Fall of New. France. By. George M. _Wrong. (Miemillatn. 2 vole. 42s.) THE early history of Canada under its French founders is a fascinating subject, as all who have read Francis Parkman's volumes well know. It loses nothing of its charm while gaining in completeness and accuracy in the substantial work which the ablest of modern Canadian scholars, Dr. Wrong, has based on the researches of a lifetime. Dr. Wrong takes a generous view of the limits of his theme, for he begins with the discovery of America by Eric the Red and by Columbus and. John Cabot, and he. gives a chapter to Drake's voyage round the world and landing in " New Albion "- perhaps in British Columbia or Alaska. , But, French Canada owed its origin to Jacques Cartier of St. Malo who discovered the St. Lawrence in 1535, and ascended the river as far as the site of Montreal and wintered at what is now Quebec. ROberval in 1541 was named Viceroy of New France, but the attempt to colonize Canada was premature and failed. .
Sixty years .Iater Henri IV., everywhere the opponent of Spain, encouraged new plans for settlement in the New World, first in Acadia (Nova Scotia) and then on the St. Lawrence. The founding of Quebec in 1608 by Samuel Champlain was decisive. Four years later New France again received Viceroy and slowly grew up. In 1648 Montreal was founded by apious company of nursing sisters and priests. French missionaries devoted themselves to the task of converting the Indians and gave their lives freely in the service. Dr. Wrong's account of the sufferings endured, by the settlers at,the hands of the Iroquois is painful reading. It was unfortunate, as he says, that the French encountered the Hurons first and took their part against their hereditary enemies. But the Iroquois were not the " noble savages " dear to romantic hearts, but a peculiarly cruel and treacherous people. When Colbert came into power and sent a French- regiment to pacify the St. Lawrence valley, the Mohawk section of the Iroquois were easily subdued. Frontenac extended the colonY, westward to Lake Ontario in 1673, and La Salle made his famous journey southward from the Great Lakes down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, where he proclaimed the annexation .of Louisiana in 1682. Meanwhile, our North American colonies had been growing steadily, northward and westward. The Iroquois; as enemies of France, were the friends of the English. War between France and England in Europe led to hostilities in America, and both sides, but
especially the French, used Indian allies in border Jaide attended with horrible atrocities.
In his second volume Dr. Wrong gives an admirable deserip7 tion of New France between the.Peace of Utrecht (1718) ,and the wars that began in 1740 and lasted, with a brief interval, to the fall of Montreal in 1760. Canada, he says, was then. in a bad way. The fur trade had declined and fallen into the hands of the English. The population was poor and stagnant under a feudal and clerical regime. France showed little interest in her colony. The administration was controlled by a corrupt clique of officials who made fortunes by embezzling State moneys.. Acadia was lost at Utrecht. Louisbourg, the fortress built on Cape Breton to defend the St. Lawrence, Was captured by New England levies in .1745 . but restored in exchange for Madras three years later. The Seven Years; War was to settle the long quarrel. Dr. Wrong emphasize:, as few English writers have done, the disasters with which the Canadian campaign began for us. Braddock's defeat before Fort Duquesne in 1755 was followed by three victories for Montcalm on the Canadian frontier in three successive summers. When Wolfe was sent in 1759 to attack, Quebec, the British_ position seemed desperate. It is true that Montcalm was hampered by the jealous Governor, Vaudrenil, and his rascally staff, and that his forces were ill-disciplined and much outnumbered by the invaders. But Wolfe's colleague, Amherst, was slow and timid in his advance on Montreal, and Wolfe spent the whole summer in face of Quebec without making any impression on Montealm's stubborn defence. Had he not tried his brilliant surprise. attackon the Heights of Abraham, he might have been forced to retire with the fleet before the .river froze, and Canada. might yet have been saved to France by some turn of fortune's wheel in Europe. Wolfe's daring plan might have failed at the outset if most of the Canadian guards at the top of the cliff path had not gone home to-gather in the harvest. Again, his little force on the-Heights might have been hammered to pieces if the commandant of Quebec had not refused to lend Montcalm more than three out of his twenty-five field guns. But Wolfe was born to take risks, and there lies the secret of his victory which made New France a British colony. Dr. Wrong promises another volume on the succeeding period of British rule which, by respecting the religion and customs of the people, made them loyal British citizens without ceasing to be French Canadians. That story is well worth telling:
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