.. rather than
receive orders in the Government [_of Nova Scotia_] from an officer
younger than myself (though a very worthy man), I should certainly have
desired leave to resign my commission; for as I neither ask nor expect
any favour, so I never intend to submit to any ill-usage whatsoever."
Many other papers in the Public Record Office have been consulted in
preparing the above chapter, including the secret instructions of the
King to Wolfe and to Saunders, and the letters of Amherst to Wolfe and
to Pitt. Other correspondence touching the same subjects is printed in
_Selections from the Public Documents of Nova Scotia,_ 441-450. Knox,
Mante, and Entick are the best contemporary printed sources.
A story has gained currency respecting the last interview of Wolfe with
Pitt, in which he is said to have flourished his sword and boasted of
what he would achieve. This anecdote was told by Lord Temple, who was
present at the interview, to Mr. Grenville, who, many years after, told
it to Earl Stanhope, by whom it was made public. That the incident
underwent essential changes in the course of these transmissions,--which
extended over more than half a century, for Earl Stanhope was not born
till 1805,--can never be doubted by one who considers the known
character of Wolfe, who may have uttered some vehement expression, but
who can never be suspected of gasconade.
Chapter 25
1759
Wolfe at Quebec
In early spring the chiefs of Canada met at Montreal to settle a plan of
defence.
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