QUEBEC TAKEN.

Immediately after the battle of Quebec, admiral Saunders, who, together with his subordinates Durell and Holmes, had all along co-operated heartily with the land-forces for the advantage of the service, sent up all the boats of the fleet with artillery and ammunition; and on the seventeenth day of the month sailed up with all the ships of war, in a disposition to attack the lower town, while the upper part should be assaulted by general Townshend. This gentleman had employed the time from the day of action in securing the camp with redoubts, in forming a military road for the cannon, in drawing up the artillery, preparing batteries, and cutting off the enemy’s communication with the country. On the seventeenth, before any battery could be finished, a flag of truce was sent from the town, with proposals of capitulation; which, being maturely considered by the general and admiral, were accepted, and signed at eight next morning. They granted the more favourable terms, as the enemy continued to assemble in the rear of the British army; as the season was become wet, stormy, and cold, threatening the troops with sickness, and the fleet with accident; and as a considerable advantage would result from taking possession of the town while the walls were in a state of defence. What rendered the capitulation still more fortunate for the British general, was the information he afterwards received from deserters, that the enemy had rallied, and were reinforced behind cape Rouge, under the command of M. de Levy, arrived from Montreal for that purpose, with two regular battalions; and that M. de Bougainville, at the head of eight hundred men, with a convoy of provisions, was actually on his march to throw himself into the town on the eighteenth, that very morning on which it was surrendered. The place was not then completely invested, as the enemy had broke the bridge of boats, and posted detachments in very strong works on the other side of the river St. Charles. The capitulation was no sooner ratified, than the British forces took possession of Quebec on the land side; and guards were posted in different parts of the town, to preserve order and discipline; at the same time captain Palliser, with a body of seamen, entered the lower town and took the same precautions. Next day about a thousand prisoners were embarked on board transports, which proceeded to France with the first opportunity. Meanwhile the inhabitants of the country came in great numbers, to deliver up their arms, and take the oath of fidelity to the English government. The death of Montcalm, which was indeed an irreparable loss to France, in all probability overwhelmed the enemy with consternation, and confounded all their councils; otherwise we cannot account for the tame surrender of Quebec to a handful of troops, even after the victory they had obtained: for although the place was not regularly fortified on the land-side, and most of the houses were in ruins, their walls and parapets had not yet sustained the least damage; the besiegers were hardly sufficient to complete the investiture; a fresh army was assembled in the neighbourhood, with which their communication continued open; the season was so far advanced, that the British forces in a little time must have been forced to desist by the severity of the weather, and even retire with their fleet before the approach of winter, which never fails to freeze up the river St. Laurence.

Immediately after the action at the Falls of Montmorenci, general Wolfe had despatched an officer to England, with a detail of that disaster, written with such elegance and accuracy, as would not have disgraced the pen of a Cæsar. Though the public acquiesced in his conduct, they were exceedingly mortified at his miscarriage; and this mortification was the greater, as he seemed to despair of being able to strike any other stroke of importance for the accomplishment of their hope, which had aspired at the absolute conquest of Canada. The first transports of their chagrin were not yet subsided, when colonel Hale arrived in the ship Alcide, with an account of the victory and surrender of Quebec; which was immediately communicated to the people in an Extraordinary Gazette. The joy which this excited among the populace rose in proportion to the despondence which the former had produced: all was rapture and riot; all was triumph and exultation, mingled with the praise of the all-accomplished Wolfe, which they exalted even to a ridiculous degree of hyperbole. The king expressed his satisfaction by conferring the honour of knighthood upon captain Douglas, whose ship brought the first tidings of this success; and gratified him and colonel Hale with considerable presents. A day of solemn thanksgiving was appointed by proclamation through all the dominions of Great Britain. The city of London, the universities, and many other corporations of the kingdom, presented congratulatory addresses to his majesty. The parliament was no sooner assembled, than the secretary of state, in the house of commons, expatiated upon the successes of the campaign, the transcendent merit of the deceased general, the conduct and courage of the admirals and officers who assisted in the conquest of Quebec. In consequence of this harangue, and the motion by which it was succeeded, the house unanimously resolved to present an address, desiring his majesty would order a monument to be erected in Westminster-abbey to the memory of major-general Wolfe; at the same time they passed another resolution, that the thanks of the house should be given to the surviving generals and admirals employed in the glorious and successful expedition to Quebec. Testimonies of this kind, while they reflect honour upon the character of the nation, never fail to animate individuals to a spirited exertion of their talents in the service of the public. The people of England were so elevated by the astonishing success of this campaign, which was also prosperous on the continent of Europe, that, far from expressing the least sense of the enormous burdens which they bore, they, with a spirit peculiar to the British nation, voluntarily raised large contributions to purchase warm jackets, stockings, shoes, coats, and blankets, for the soldiers who were exposed to the rigours of an inclement sky in Germany and America. But they displayed a more noble proof of unrestrained benevolence, extended even to foes. The French ministry, straitened in their finances, which were found scarce sufficient to maintain the war, had sacrificed their duty to their king, and every sentiment of compassion for his unhappy subjects, to a thirst of vengeance, and sanguinary views of ambition. They had withdrawn the usual allowance from their subjects who were detained prisoners in England; and those wretched creatures, amounting in number to near twenty thousand, were left to the mercy of those enemies whom their sovereign had taken such pains to exasperate. The allowance with which they were indulged by the British government effectually secured them from the horrors of famine; but still they remained destitute of other conveniences, and particularly exposed to the miseries of cold and nakedness. The generous English beheld these forlorn captives with sentiments of sympathy and compassion; they considered them as their fellow-creatures and brethren in humanity, and forgot their country while they beheld their distress. A considerable subscription was raised in their behalf; and in a few weeks they were completely clothed by the charity of their British benefactors. This beneficent exertion was certainly one of the noblest triumphs of the human mind, which even the most inveterate enemies of Great Britain cannot but regard with reverence and admiration.—The city of Quebec being reduced, together with great part of the circumjacent country, brigadier Townshend, who had accepted his commission with the express proviso that he should return to England at the end of the campaign, left a garrison of five thousand effective men, victualled from the fleet, under the command of brigadier Murray; and, embarking with admiral Saunders, arrived in Great Britain about the beginning of winter. As for brigadier Monckton, he was conveyed to New York, where he happily recovered of his wound.