To-day, in the Council of War, Bigot stood up to respond to
the appeal of the Governor. He glanced his eye coolly, yet
respectfully, over the Council. His raised hand sparkled with gems,
the gifts of courtiers and favorites of the King. "Gentlemen of the
Council of War!," said he, "I approve with all my heart of the words
of His Excellency the Governor, with reference to our fortifications
and the maintenance of our frontiers. It is our duty to remonstrate,
as councillors of the King in the Colony, against the tenor of the
despatches of the Count de Maurepas. The city of Quebec, properly
fortified, will be equivalent to an army of men in the field, and
the security and defence of the whole Colony depends upon its walls.
There can be but one intelligent opinion in the Council on that
point, and that opinion should be laid before His Majesty before
this despatch be acted on.
"The pressure of the war is great upon us just now. The loss of the
fleet of the Marquis de la Jonquiere has greatly interrupted our
communications with France, and Canada is left much to its own
resources.
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