Of twenty-one persons brought to trial ten
were condemned, six were acquitted, three received an admonition,
and two were dismissed for want of evidence. Thirty-four failed to appear,
of whom seven were sentenced in default, and judgment was reserved in
the case of the rest.[860] Even those who escaped from justice profited
little by their gains, for unless they had turned them betimes into land
or other substantial values, they lost them in a discredited paper
currency and dishonored bills of exchange.
[Footnote 860: _Jugement rendu souverainement et en dernier Ressort dans
l'Affaire du Canada_. Papers at the Chatelet of Paris, cited by
Dussieux.]
While on the American continent the last scenes of the war
were drawing to their close, the contest raged in Europe with
unabated violence. England was in the full career of success;
but her great ally, Frederic of Prussia, seemed tottering to his
ruin. In the summer of 1758 his glory was at its height.
French, Austrians, and Russians had all fled before him. But
the autumn brought reverses; and the Austrian general, Daun,
at the head of an overwhelming force, gained over him a
partial victory, which his masterly strategy robbed of its
fruits. It was but a momentary respite. His kingdom was exhausted
by its own triumphs. His best generals were dead, his best soldiers
killed or disabled, his resources almost spent, the very chandeliers
of his palace melted into coin; and all Europe was in arms against him.
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