Montcalm hastened thither, and Vaudreuil
followed. The Governor-General wrote to the Minister in his usual
strain, as if all the hope of Canada rested in him. Such, he says, was
his activity, that, though very busy, he reached Quebec only a day and a
half after Montcalm; and, on arriving, learned from his scouts that
English ships-of-war had already appeared at Isle-aux-Coudres. These
were the squadron of Durell. "I expect," Vaudreuil goes on, "to be
sharply attacked, and that our enemies will make their most powerful
efforts to conquer this colony; but there is no ruse, no resource, no
means which my zeal does not suggest to lay snares for them, and
finally, when the exigency demands it, to fight them with an ardor, and
even a fury, which exceeds the range of their ambitious designs. The
troops, the Canadians, and the Indians are not ignorant of the
resolution I have taken, and from which I shall not recoil under any
circumstance whatever. The burghers of this city have already put their
goods and furniture in places of safety. The old men, women, and
children hold themselves ready to leave town. My firmness is generally
applauded. It has penetrated every heart; and each man says aloud:
'Canada, our native land, shall bury us under its ruins before we
surrender to the English!' This is decidedly my own determination, and I
shall hold to it inviolably." He launches into high praise of the
contractor Cadet, whose zeal for the service of the King and the defence
of the colony he declares to be triumphant over every difficulty.
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