BRIGADIER MURRAY DETACHED UP THE RIVER.

Immediately after this mortifying check, in which above five hundred men, and many brave officers, were lost, the general detached brigadier Murray, with twelve hundred men, in transports, above the town, to co-operate with rear-admiral Holmes, whom the admiral had sent up with some force against the French shipping, which he hoped to destroy. The brigadier was likewise instructed to seize every opportunity of fighting the enemy’s detachments, and even of provoking them to battle. In pursuance of these directions, he twice attempted to land on the north shore; but these attempts were unsuccessful. The third effort was more fortunate. He made a sudden descent at Chambaud, and burned a considerable magazine, filled with arms, clothing, provisions, and ammunition. The enemy’s ships being secured in such a manner as not to be approached, and nothing else occurring that required the brigadier’s longer stay, he returned to the camp, with intelligence obtained from his prisoners, that the fort of Niagara was taken, Crown Point abandoned, and general Amherst employed in making preparations to attack the corps at the isle aux Nois, commanded by M. Burlemaque. The disaster at the Falls of Montmorenci made a deep impression on the mind of general Wolfe, whose spirit was too great to brook the most distant prospect of censure or disgrace. He knew the character of the English people—rash, impatient, and capricious; elevated to exultation by the least gleam of success, dejected even to despondency by the most inconsiderable frown of adverse fortune; sanguine, even to childish hyperbole, in applauding those servants of the public who have prospered in their undertakings; clamorous, to a degree of prosecution, against those who have miscarried in their endeavours, without any investigation of merit, without any consideration of circumstances. A keen sense of these vexatious peculiarities conspiring with the shame of disappointment, and eager desire of retrieving the laurel that he might by some be supposed to have lost at the Falls of Montmorenci, and the despair of finding such an occasion, excited an internal agitation, which visibly affected his external frame, and disordered his whole constitution, which was naturally delicate and tender. Among those who shared his confidence, he was often seen to sigh; he was often heard to complain; and even in the transports of his chagrin declare, that he would never return without success, to be exposed, as other unfortunate commanders had been, to the censure and reproach of an ignorant and ungrateful populace. This tumult of the mind, added to the fatigues of the body he had undergone, produced a fever and dysentery, by which for some time he was totally disabled.

Before he recovered any degree of strength, he desired the general officers to consult together for the public utility. It was their opinion, that, the Points of Levi and Orleans being left in a proper state of defence, the rest of the troops should be conveyed up the river, with a view to draw the enemy from their present situation, and bring them if possible to an engagement. This measure, however, was not adopted, until the general and admiral had reconnoitred the town of Quebec, with a view to a general assault; and concluded from their own observations, reinforced by the opinion of the chief engineer, who was perfectly well acquainted with the interior of the place, that such an attack could not be hazarded with any prospect of success. The ships of war, indeed, might have silenced the batteries of the lower town, but they could not affect the upper works, from which they must have sustained considerable damage. When we consider the situation of this place, and the fortifications with which it was secured; the natural strength of the country; the great number of vessels and floating batteries they had provided for the defence of the river; the skill, valour, superior force, and uncommon vigilance of the enemy; their numerous bodies of savages continually hovering about the posts of the English, to surprise parties, and harass detachments; we must own that there was such a combination of difficulties as might have discouraged and perplexed the most resolute and intelligent commander.