Latest / Comic History of the United States / This Country of Ours, Part 5-Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall

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This Country of Ours, Part 5-Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall · Comic History of the United States

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  Speaker 1: Chapter forty five of This Country of Ours. This is
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  Speaker 1: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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  Speaker 1: This Country of Ours by H. E. Marshall, Chapter forty five.
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  Speaker 1: How the Mississippi was discovered. While the shores of the
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  Speaker 1: Atlantic from Nova Scotia to Georgia were being claimed and
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  Speaker 1: peopled by the British, another and very different nation laid
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  Speaker 1: claim also to the Mighty Continent. Before Jamestown was founded.
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  Speaker 1: The French had already set foot upon the Saint Lawrence
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  Speaker 1: long before the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from Plymouth. The flag
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  Speaker 1: of France was floating from the Citadel of Quebec, and
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  Speaker 1: the French laid claim to the whole of Canada. But
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  Speaker 1: the French and the British claimed these new lands in
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  Speaker 1: very different ways. The Englishmen came seeking freedom and a
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  Speaker 1: new home. The Frenchmen came seeking adventure. The Englishmen painfully
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  Speaker 1: felled trees and cleared land, toiling by the sweat of
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  Speaker 1: his brow, for the comfort of a home. The Frenchmen
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  Speaker 1: set up crosses on the edge of pathless forests, claiming
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  Speaker 1: unknown lands for God and his king. He came as missionary,
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  Speaker 1: trader and adventurer rather than as farmer, and led on
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  Speaker 1: by zeal for religion or desire for adventure, he pushed
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  Speaker 1: his settlements far into the wilderness. So long years went
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  Speaker 1: by all along the Atlantic coasts, spread fertile fields and
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  Speaker 1: fair homesteads. The British were content to live on the
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  Speaker 1: lands which they had cleared and tilled, and no adventurer
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  Speaker 1: sought to know what lay beyond the Blue Mountain range
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  Speaker 1: which shut him from the west. Far otherwise was it
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  Speaker 1: with the French. Priests and traders were both full of
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  Speaker 1: a desire for conquest and adventure. Many of them, indeed,
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  Speaker 1: were so driven by the rowing spirit that they left
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  Speaker 1: the towns altogether and lived alone among the forests, tracking
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  Speaker 1: the wild animals, and only coming to towns to sell
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  Speaker 1: the skins and get provisions. These trappers brought back with
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  Speaker 1: them many strange tales of the forests and unknown wilds.
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  Speaker 1: They spoke of the Mississippi, or Great Water, of which
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  Speaker 1: the Indians told marvelous tales, and at length it seemed
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  Speaker 1: to their hearers that this great water could be no
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  Speaker 1: other than the long sought passage to India and the East.
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  Speaker 1: Many people, fired by these tales went in search of
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  Speaker 1: this great water. In sixteen seventy three, two priests named
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  Speaker 1: Marquette and Joliette were the first to discover it. For
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  Speaker 1: many miles they floated down the Mississippi. On either side
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  Speaker 1: stretched endless forests and plains of waving grass, haunts of
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  Speaker 1: wild animals and of the Indians almost as wild. On
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  Speaker 1: they went passed the mouth of the Yellow Missouri, on
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  Speaker 1: still till they came to the river Arkansas. At last,
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  Speaker 1: sure that the great river went southward and not westward,
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  Speaker 1: as they had supposed, they decided to return. It had
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  Speaker 1: been easy enough floating down, but now they had to
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  Speaker 1: battle against the stream, and it was only after weeks
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  Speaker 1: of toil that they at length reached Canada again with
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  Speaker 1: their news. When he heard their story, another adventurer named
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  Speaker 1: Renee Robert Cavalier Sieur de la Salle became eager to
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  Speaker 1: make certain of their discovery and follow the river all
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  Speaker 1: the way to its mouth. With great care and trouble,
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  Speaker 1: he made his arrangements. He thought it would be impossible
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  Speaker 1: to compass so great a journey by canoes, so he
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  Speaker 1: built a little ship, which he called the Griffin. It
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  Speaker 1: was the first ship which had been seen by the
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  Speaker 1: Indians round Lake Erie, and in amazement and fear they
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  Speaker 1: came to stare at it. In their ignorant terror, they
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  Speaker 1: would have destroyed it had not careful watch been kept.
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  Speaker 1: From the very beginning of his expedition, LaSalle found many difficulties,
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  Speaker 1: but at length they all seemed to be overcome, and
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  Speaker 1: he set out with his friend Anri de Tonti and
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  Speaker 1: about forty men. Tanty was a man of courage, as
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  Speaker 1: bold and enterprising as LaSalle himself. He was too much
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  Speaker 1: feared by the Indians, who thought him a great medicine man.
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  Speaker 1: For while fighting in Europe, he had had one hand
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  Speaker 1: shot off, but he had replaced it with an iron hand,
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  Speaker 1: which he always wore covered with a glove. The Indians
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  Speaker 1: did not know this, and once or twice, when they
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  Speaker 1: had been troublesome, he had brought them to order by
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  Speaker 1: knocking them down with this hand. Not knowing the secret
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  Speaker 1: of it, they marveled greatly at his strength, and fearing him,
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  Speaker 1: accordingly called him iron Hand. One of LaSalle's great deasfficulties
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  Speaker 1: was lack of money, so before leaving the Great Lakes,
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  Speaker 1: he collected a quantity of furs. Then he sent back
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  Speaker 1: the griffin and half his men, with orders to sell
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  Speaker 1: these furs and return with supplies for the expedition as
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  Speaker 1: quickly as possible. With the rest of his men, LaSalle
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  Speaker 1: journeyed on to the head of Lake Michigan in canoes.
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  Speaker 1: It was no easy journey, for storms swept the lake.
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  Speaker 1: The waves tossed their frail canoes hither and thither, so
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  Speaker 1: that they were often in danger of drowning. They were
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  Speaker 1: harassed too by unfriendly Indians. At length, worn out by fatigue,
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  Speaker 1: starving with cold and hunger, they reached the appointed place
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  Speaker 1: to await the return of the griffin, But the griffin
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  Speaker 1: never came. In vain, LaSalle scanned the gray waters. Day
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  Speaker 1: after day passed, and no white sail flecked the dreary expanse.
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  Speaker 1: The griffin was never heard of more. With a heavy heart,
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  Speaker 1: Usal at length gave up the weary watch and decided
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  Speaker 1: to go on with such men and supplies as he had.
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  Speaker 1: But with every step fresh difficulties arose. LaSalle had many enemies,
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  Speaker 1: and they did their best to hinder and hamper him.
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  Speaker 1: His own men were discontented and mutinous. They had no
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  Speaker 1: love for their leader, no enthusiasm for the expedition, and
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  Speaker 1: the hardships and dangers of the way made them sullen.
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  Speaker 1: They were half starved and worn out with fatigue. All
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  Speaker 1: they wanted was to get back to a comfortable life.
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  Speaker 1: They were sick of the wilderness and its hardships. Added
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  Speaker 1: to this, the Indians told them blood curdling tales of
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  Speaker 1: the terrors of the Father of waters. It was a
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  Speaker 1: raging torrent of whirlpools, they said, full of poisonous serpents
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  Speaker 1: and loathly monsters. Those who ventured on it would never return.
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  Speaker 1: This was more than the men could face. They chose
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  Speaker 1: rather the possibility of death among the Indians and the
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  Speaker 1: wilderness to its certainty among such horrors, and some of
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  Speaker 1: them ran away. Depressed by this desertion, La Salle resolved
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  Speaker 1: to camp for the rest of the winter. So on
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  Speaker 1: the banks of the River Illinois he built a fort,
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  Speaker 1: which he called Crevecoeur, or heartbreak. But Lasal's brave heart
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  Speaker 1: was not yet broken, and here he began to build
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  Speaker 1: a new ship in which to sail down the Mississippi.
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  Speaker 1: There was wood in plenty around, and the work was begun.
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  Speaker 1: But many things, such as sails and rigging, which were
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  Speaker 1: necessary for the ship, the wilderness could not supply, and
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  Speaker 1: seeing no other way, Lasal resolved to go back to
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  Speaker 1: Fort Frontenac to get them, leaving Tonty meanwhile to look
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  Speaker 1: after the building of the ship. It was March when
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  Speaker 1: LaSalle set out on his tremendous walk of a thousand miles.
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  Speaker 1: With him he took a faithful Indian guide and four Frenchmen,
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  Speaker 1: and seldom have men endured a journey more ter. The
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  Speaker 1: spring sun was just beginning to thaw the ice and
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  Speaker 1: snow of winter, so that the prairies were turned to
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  Speaker 1: marshes into which the travelers sank knee deep. The forests
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  Speaker 1: were pathless thickets, through which they had to force away
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  Speaker 1: with axe and hatchet as a pathway. The rivers were
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  Speaker 1: useless to them, for the ice was so thin that
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  Speaker 1: it would not bear their weight, and later, when it
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  Speaker 1: thawed and broke up, they still could not use their
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  Speaker 1: canoes lest they should be shattered by the floating masses
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  Speaker 1: of ice. All day long, they toiled knee deep in
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  Speaker 1: mud and half melted snow, laden with baggage, guns and ammunition.
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  Speaker 1: At night they lay down without shelter of any kind.
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  Speaker 1: They were often hungry. They suffered constantly both from cold
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  Speaker 1: and heat, for at noon the sun beat down upon
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  Speaker 1: them fiercely, and at night the frost was so bitter
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  Speaker 1: that the blankets in which they lay wrapped were frozen stiff.
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  Speaker 1: The hardships of that journey were so tremendous that the
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  Speaker 1: marvel is that anyone lived to tell of them. Indeed,
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  Speaker 1: one by one the men fell ill, and when at length,
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  Speaker 1: after three months of pain and peril, they arrived at
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  Speaker 1: their journey's end, only LaSalle had strength or courage left here.
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  Speaker 1: More bad news greeted LaSalle, for he now heard that
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  Speaker 1: a ship sent out from France, laden with supplies for him,
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  Speaker 1: had been wrecked. But even this cruel stroke of fortune
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  Speaker 1: could not break his spirit. Once more, he set about
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  Speaker 1: gathering supplies and made ready to return to fort heartbreak.
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  Speaker 1: But worse was yet to come. La Salle was about
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  Speaker 1: to start when he received a letter from Tanty. From
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  Speaker 1: this he learned that soon after he had left, nearly
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  Speaker 1: all his men had mutinied. They had rifled the stores
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  Speaker 1: and demolished the fort. Then throwing into the river. Everything
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  Speaker 1: they could not carry had ate off. Only three or
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  Speaker 1: four had remained faithful. With these, Tanty was now alone
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  Speaker 1: in the wilderness. This staggering news only made La Salle
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  Speaker 1: more eager to set out, for he could not leave
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  Speaker 1: his brave friend thus helpless. So once more the toilsome
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  Speaker 1: journey was begun. But when heartbreak was reached, Lasal found
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  Speaker 1: no friend to welcome him. All around there was nothing
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  Speaker 1: but silence and desolation and ghastly ash strewn ruins. The
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  Speaker 1: unfinished ship, like some vast skeleton, huge and gaunt, alone
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  Speaker 1: bore witness that white men had once been there. Still,
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  Speaker 1: La Salle would not despair. He spent the winter making
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  Speaker 1: friends with the Indians and searching earnestly for some trace
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  Speaker 1: of Tonty. The winter was unusually severe. The whole land
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  Speaker 1: was covered with snow, and both LaSalle and some of
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  Speaker 1: his men became snow blind for days. But at last,
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  Speaker 1: with the melting of the snows, light and joy came
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  Speaker 1: to him, the blindness passed. Tanty was found once again.
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  Speaker 1: The friends met, each had a tale to tell, a
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  Speaker 1: tale of bitter disappointments and defeats. Yet in spite of
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  Speaker 1: all the blows of fortune, l'sal would not give in
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  Speaker 1: Once more. He set about making preparations for the expedition.
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  Speaker 1: But now he gave up the idea of building a
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  Speaker 1: ship and decided to trust to canoes alone. It was
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  Speaker 1: midwinter when all was ready. The rivers were frozen hard,
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  Speaker 1: so placing their canoes on sledges, the men dragged them
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  Speaker 1: over the ice. As they went southward, and spring came on,
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  Speaker 1: the ice melted and would no longer bear them. The
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  Speaker 1: stream was soon filled with floating masses of broken ice,
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  Speaker 1: so they were obliged to land and wait until it
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  Speaker 1: had melted. Then once more they set out every day.
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  Speaker 1: Now they drifted farther and farther into the heat of summer.
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  Speaker 1: The sun shone softly through the overhanging trees. The river
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  Speaker 1: banks were gay with flowers, and bright plumaged birds flashed
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  Speaker 1: through the sunlight. After the tortures of the past winters,
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  Speaker 1: this green and fertile land seemed a very paradise. So
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  Speaker 1: on the adventurers passed where never white man had passed before,
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  Speaker 1: and at length they reached the mouth of the Mighty River,
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  Speaker 1: and stood upon the shore of the Gulf of Mexico,
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  Speaker 1: and here in sixteen eighty two, while wondering savages looked
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  Speaker 1: on this mere handful of white men claimed all the
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  Speaker 1: land through which they had passed for their king. The
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  Speaker 1: long silence of the wilderness was awakened for the first
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  Speaker 1: time by the sound of Latin chance. Guns were fired,
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  Speaker 1: and to the shouts of God save the King, a
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  Speaker 1: pillar was set up. End of chapter forty five, read
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  Speaker 1: by Kerri Shallenberg www dot Kray dot org in January two,
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  Speaker 1: thy ten in San Diego, California, Chapter forty six of
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  Speaker 1: This Country of Ours. This LibriVox recording is in the
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  Speaker 1: public domain. This Country of Ours by H. E. Marshall,
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  Speaker 1: Chapter forty six. King William's War and Queen Anne's War.
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  Speaker 1: At this time in Europe, France and Britain were at war.
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  Speaker 1: When King William came to take possession of Britain, James
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  Speaker 1: the Second ran away to France. The King of France
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  Speaker 1: received him kindly and soon declared war upon William. The
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  Speaker 1: war was fought not only in Europe, but in America also,
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  Speaker 1: and it is known in America as King William's War
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  Speaker 1: because William was King of Great Britain at the time.
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  Speaker 1: It was the beginning of a fierce struggle between British
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  Speaker 1: and French for possession of the vast continent of America,
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  Speaker 1: a struggle which was to last for seventy years, a
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  Speaker 1: struggle in which not only the white people, but the
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  Speaker 1: Indians also took part, some fighting for the British, some
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  Speaker 1: for the French. King William's War sixteen ninety to sixteen
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  Speaker 1: ninety seven. At this time Frontenac was Governor of Canada.
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  Speaker 1: He was one of the greatest nobles of France and
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  Speaker 1: lived surrounded with state and splendor, proud and haughty, and
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  Speaker 1: of a fiery temper. With white men, he quarreled often,
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  Speaker 1: but he knew better than any other how to manage
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  Speaker 1: the Indians, and they feared him as they feared no
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  Speaker 1: white ruler who came before or after him. He would
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  Speaker 1: not allow the chiefs to call him brother, as other
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  Speaker 1: governors had done. They were his children. To them, he
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  Speaker 1: was the great father. Yet if need be, he would
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  Speaker 1: paint his face, dress himself in Indian clothes, and tomahawk
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  Speaker 1: in his hand, lead the war dants, yelling and leaping
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  Speaker 1: with the best of them. King Louis now gave Frontenac
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  Speaker 1: orders to seize New York, so that the French might
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  Speaker 1: have access to the Hudson River and a port open
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  Speaker 1: all the year round and not frozen up for months
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  Speaker 1: at a time like Quebec. So Frontenac made ready his forces.
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  Speaker 1: He gathered three armies and sent them by different ways
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  Speaker 1: to attack the British. But few of these forces were
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  Speaker 1: regular soldiers. Many of them were Indians. Still more were
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  Speaker 1: couriers des bois, wild bush rangers, who dressed and lived
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  Speaker 1: more like Indians than white men, and were as fearless
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  Speaker 1: and lawless, and learned in the secrets of the forest
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  Speaker 1: as the Indians. These armies set out in the depth
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  Speaker 1: of winter. French and Indian alike, were smeared with war
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  Speaker 1: paint and decked with feathers, shod with snow shoes. They
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  Speaker 1: sped over the snow, dragging light sledges behind them, laden
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  Speaker 1: with food. For twenty two days they journeyed over plains,
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  Speaker 1: through forest, across river, but at length one of the
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  Speaker 1: armies reached the village of Schenectady, the very farthest outpost
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  Speaker 1: of New York. The people had been warned of their danger,
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  Speaker 1: but they paid no heed. They did not believe that
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  Speaker 1: the danger was real. So secure, indeed did they feel
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  Speaker 1: that the gates were left wide open, and on either
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  Speaker 1: side for sentinels stood two snow men. In all the
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  Speaker 1: village there was no sound, no light. Everyone was sleeping peacefully.
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  Speaker 1: Then suddenly, through the stillness there rang the awful Indian
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  Speaker 1: War whoop. In terror, the villagers leaped from their beds,
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  Speaker 1: but before they could seize their weapons, they were struck down.
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  Speaker 1: Neither man, woman, nor child was spared, and before the
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  Speaker 1: sun was high, Schenectady was a smoking, blood stained ruin.
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  Speaker 1: The other parties which Frontenac had sent out also caused
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  Speaker 1: terrible havoc. They surprised and burned many villages and farms,
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  Speaker 1: slaughtering and carrying prisoner the inhabitants. Thus, all New England
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  Speaker 1: was filled with bloodshed and terror. But these horrors, instead
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  Speaker 1: of making the British give in, made them determined to
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  Speaker 1: attack Canada. New York and the colonies of New England
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  Speaker 1: joined together and decided to make an attack by land
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  Speaker 1: and by sea. But what with mismanagement, sickness, and bickerings
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  Speaker 1: among the various colonies, the land attack came to nothing.
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  Speaker 1: It was left for the fleet to conquer Canada. The
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  Speaker 1: Little New England Fleet was commanded by Sir William Phipps,
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  Speaker 1: a bluff, short tempered sailor. He sailed up the Saint
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  Speaker 1: Lawrence and anchored a little below Quebec. Then the watching
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  Speaker 1: Frenchmen saw a small boat put off, flying a white flag.
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  Speaker 1: As it neared the shore, some canoes went out to
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  Speaker 1: meet it and found that it was bringing a young
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  Speaker 1: British officer with a letter for Count Frontenac. The officer
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  Speaker 1: was allowed to land, but first his eyes were blindfolded.
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  Speaker 1: Then as he stepped on shore, a sailor seized each arm,
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  Speaker 1: and thus he was led through the streets. Quebec is
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  Speaker 1: built on a height, and the streets are steep and narrow,
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  Speaker 1: sometimes being nothing more than flights of steps. And now,
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  Speaker 1: instead of being taken directly to the governor, the young
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  Speaker 1: officer was dragged up and down these steep and stony streets.
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  Speaker 1: Now here now there he was led, stumbling blindly over
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  Speaker 1: stones and steps, and followed by a laughing, jeering crowd,
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  Speaker 1: who told him it was a game of blind man's bluff.
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  Speaker 1: At last, thoroughly bewildered and exhausted, he was led into
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  Speaker 1: the castle and the bandage was suddenly taken from his eyes.
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  Speaker 1: Confused and dazzled by the bright light, he stood for
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  Speaker 1: a moment, gazing stupidly about him. Before him, haughty and defiant,
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  Speaker 1: stood Frontenac, surrounded by his officers. Their splendid uniforms glittered
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  Speaker 1: with gold and silver lace. Their wigs were curled and powdered.
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  Speaker 1: Their hats were decked with feathers, as if for a
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  Speaker 1: ball rather than for war. For a moment, the young
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  Speaker 1: Englishman stood abashed before them. Then, recovering himself, he handed
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  Speaker 1: his commander's letters to Frontenac. The letter was written in English,
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  Speaker 1: but an interpreter read it aloud, translating it into French
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  Speaker 1: in haughty language, it demanded the surrender of Quebec in
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  Speaker 1: the name of William and Mary within an hour. When
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  Speaker 1: the reading was finished, the officer pulled his watch out
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  Speaker 1: of his pocket and held it towards Frontenac. I cannot
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  Speaker 1: see the time, said he. It is ten o'clock, replied
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  Speaker 1: the Englishman. By eleven, I must have your answer. Frontenac's
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  Speaker 1: brow grew dark with anger. Hitherto he had held himself
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  Speaker 1: in check, but now his wrath burst forth. By heaven,
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  Speaker 1: he cried, I will not keep you waiting so long.
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  Speaker 1: Tell your general that I do not acknowledge King William,
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  Speaker 1: the Prince of Orange, who calls himself so, is a usurper.
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  Speaker 1: I know of no king of England save King James.
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  Speaker 1: The Englishman was quite taken aback by Frontenac's vehemence. He
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  Speaker 1: felt he could not go back to his leader with
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  Speaker 1: such an answer. Will you give me your answer in writing?
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  Speaker 1: He said, no, thundered Frontenac, I will answer your general
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  Speaker 1: with the mouths of my cannon. Only let him do
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  Speaker 1: his best, and I will do mine. And with this
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  Speaker 1: answer the Englishman was forced to be content once more.
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  Speaker 1: His eyes were blindfolded, and again he was jostle and
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  Speaker 1: hustled through the streets until he reached his boat. When
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: Phipps received Frontenac's proud answer, he prepared to attack, but
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: he was no match for the fierce souls lion of
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: a Frenchman. The New Englanders were brave enough, but they
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: had little discipline, and worse still, they had no leader
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: worthy of the name. They spent shot and shell uselessly
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: battering the solid rock upon which quebec Is built. Their
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: aim was bad, and their guns so small that even
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: when the balls hit the mark, they did little damage.
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: At length, having wasted most of their ammunition in a
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: useless cannonade, the British sailed away. The men were dejected
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: and gloomy at their failure. Many of their ships had
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: been sorely disabled by the French guns, and on the
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: way home several were wrecked. As the others struggled homeward
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: with their tail of disaster, New England was filled with
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: sadness and dismay. The attack on Canada had been an
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: utter failure, yet had Phipps but known it. Quebec was
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: almost in his grasp, for although there were many enough
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: within the fortress, there was little food, and even before
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: he sailed away, the pangs of hunger had made themselves felt.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: For seven years more the war lingered on, but now
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: it chiefly considedstead of border raids and skirmishes, and the
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: New Englanders formed no more designs of conquering Canada, and
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: at length, in sixteen ninety seven, with the Treaty of Riswick,
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: King William's War came to an end. In seventeen o one, James,
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: the exiled King of Britain, died and Louis of France
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: recognized his son James as the rightful king of Britain.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: This made King William angry. Louis also placed his grandson,
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: the Duke of Anjou, on the throne of Spain. This
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: made King William and the British people still more angry,
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: for with a French king on the throne of Spain,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: they thought it very likely that France and Spain might
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: one day be joined together and become too powerful. So
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: King William again declared war on France, but before the
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: war began he died. Queen Mary's sister Anne now became Queen.
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: She carried on the war already declared. This war brought
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: fighting in an America as well as in Europe. In
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: America it is called Queen Anne's War and in Europe
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: the War of the Spanish Succession Queen Anne's War seventeen
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: o two to seventeen thirteen. This war was carried on
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: in much the same manner as the last. There were
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: Indian massacres, sudden sallies, attacks by land and sea, but
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: this time the British were more determined, and although another
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: attack on Quebec failed, just as the attack made by
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: Phipps had failed one on Nova Scotia succeeded in the
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: south too, the Spaniards were defeated at Charleston. Taken altogether,
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: the British had the best of the fighting, and when
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: at length peace was made by the Treaty of Utrecht
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: in seventeen thirteen, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and the Hudson Bay
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: territory were given up to the British. Thus, both in
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: west and north the British enclosed the French possessions end
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: of chapter forty six Chapter forty seven of This Country
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: of Ours. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: This Country of Ours by H. E. Marshall, Chapter forty seven.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: The Mississippi Bubble being thus encroached upon by the British,
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: the French became more determined to shut them out from
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: the south. Already twelve years after LaSalle's death, another attempt
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: had been made to found a town at the mouth
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: of the Mississippi, and this time the attempt was successful.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: This time the expedition was led by Pierre le Moyne,
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: Sieur de Iberville. In sixteen ninety eight, with two ships,
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: he sailed out from France, and after some trouble found
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: the mouth of the Mississippi. He did not, however, build
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: his fort here, but on the coast of what is
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: now the state of Mississippi. Then, leaving one of his
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: officers and his brother in command, he sailed home again
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: to France. While Dberville was away, his brother Bionville started
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: on an expedition to explore the Mississippi, and soon he
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: discovered that the French had taken possession. None too soon,
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: for not far from where New Orleans now stands, he
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: fell in with a British ship. On board were a
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: lot of French Huguenot families who had come to found
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: a settlement on the Mississippi. Bionville talked to the captain,
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: who told him that this was one of three ships
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: sent out from England by a company formed of Huguenots
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: and Englishmen who intended to found a colony on the Mississippi.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: They were not sure, however, whether they were on the
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: Mississippi or not. Bionville at once assured them that they
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: were not, but were instead on a river which belonged
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: to Louis of France, where all the French had several settlements.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: The British captain believed what he was told, and, much
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: to the Frenchman's delight, turned back. Just at the spot
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: where this took place, the river makes a bed, and
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: because of this it was given the name of English Bend,
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: by which name it is known to this day Dayberville
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: only stayed long enough in France to gather more colonists,
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: and returned at once to Louisiana, where he founded two
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: more towns along the coast. But the colonists sent out
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: by Louis were of the lowest. Many of them were
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: little more than rogues and vagabonds, the mere off scourings
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: of the towns. They were idle and extravagant, and the
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: colony did not prosper. Instead of putting gold into louis
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: pockets as he had hoped, he had constantly to pour
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: it out to maintain the colony. Of that Louis soon
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: grew tired. Besides this, he wanted all the money he
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: could gather to carry on the war, Queen Anne's war,
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: which was still raging, so in seventeen twelve he handed
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: Louisiana over to a wealthy merchant named Crozat to make
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: what he could out of it. Such great power was
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: given to this merchant, that he was little less than
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: a king. He had every monopoly. Nobody in the colony
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: could buy or sell the smallest thing without his permission,
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: and everyone had to work for him, and not for themselves.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: But the people were, by no means willing workers. They were,
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: said one of their priests, nearly all drunkards, gamblers, blasphemers,
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: and foes of everything that was good. And when they
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: found that they are expected to work merely to put
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: money into the proprietor's pocket, they would not work at all.
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: So very soon Crozat found he could make nothing out
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: of the colony, and after some vain efforts to make
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: it pay, he gave up his charter, and Louisiana once
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: more became a royal possession. Meanwhile, France itself was in
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: sore straits for money. Louis the fourteenth, that magnificent and
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: extravagant monarch, had died and left his country beggared and
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: in want. The Duke of Orleans now ruled as regent
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: for a little Louis the fifteenth He was at his
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: wits end to know where to find money. When a
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: clever Scott's adventurer named John Law, came to him with
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: a new and splendid idea. This was to use paper
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: money instead of gold and silver. The Regent was greatly
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: taken with the idea, and he gave Law leave to
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: issue the paper money. It was quite a good idea
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: had it been kept within bounds. But it was not
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: kept within bounds. All France went mad with eagerness to
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: get some of the paper money, which was they thought
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: going to make them rich forever. Besides issuing paper money,
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: Law started what was known as the Mississippi Scheme or
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: Company of the Indies. In seventeen seventeen, Louisiana, which had
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: been received back from Crozat, was handed over to John Law,
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: who undertook to settle the country and work the gold
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: and silver mines which were supposed to be there. Law
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: began at once to fill all France with stories of
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: Louisiana and its delights. Gold and silver mines, he said,
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: had been discovered there, which were so rich that they
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: could never be used up. Lumps of gold lay about everywhere,
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: and one might have them for the picking up. As
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: for silver, it was so common that it had little
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: value except to be used for paving the streets. In
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: proof of these stories, lumps of gold said to have
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: come from Louisiana were shown in the shops of As
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: to the climate, it was the most perfect on earth.
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: It was never too hot and never too cold, but
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: always warm and sunny. The soil was so fertile that
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: one had but to scratch it to produce the finest crops.
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: Delicious fruits grew everywhere and might be gathered all the
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: year round. The meadows were made beautiful, and the air
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: scented with the loveliest of flowers. In fact, Louisiana was
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: painted as an earthly paradise where nothing the heart could
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: desire was lacking. People believed these stories, and believing them,
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: it was not wonderful that they desired to possess for
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: themselves some of these delights. So rich and poor, high
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: and low, rushed to buy shares in the company. The
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: street in Paris, where the offices of the company were
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: was choked from end to end with a struggling crowd.
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: The rich brought their hundreds, the poor their scanty savings.
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: Great lords and ladies sold their lands and houses in
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: order to have money to buy more shares. The poor
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: went ragged and hungry in order to scrape together a
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: few pence. Peers and merchants, soldiers, priests, fine ladies, servants, statesmen,
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: laborers all jostled together and fought to buy them magic
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: paper which would make them rich and happy. Beyond belief.
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: Fortunes were made and lost in a day. Some who
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: had been rich found themselves penniless. Others who had always
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: lived in poverty, found themselves suddenly rolling in wealth which
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: they did not know how to use. And John Law
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: was the wizard whose magic wand had created all these riches.
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: He was flattered and courted by every one. The greatest
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: princes in the land came to beg favors of him.
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: They came to him to beg and he treated them
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: haughtily as beggars, and bade them wait. Day by day
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: and month by month. The madness increased, and the gigantic
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: bubble grew larger and larger. Bionville, meanwhile, who had been
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: deprived of his governorship, was once more made governor of Louisiana.
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: With a company of settlers. He returned again to the
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: colony in seventeen eighteen, and he at once set about
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: building a capital which in honor of the regent he
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: called New Orleans. The place he chose for a capital
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: was covered with forest, so before any building could be done,
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: fifty men were set to fell the trees and clear
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: a space, and then the first foundations of the new
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: great city of New Orleans were laid. But still the
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: colony did not prosper, for the colonists were, for the
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: most part rogues and vagabonds, sent there by force, and
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: kept there equally by force. They looked upon Louisiana as
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: a prison and tried constantly to escape from it. Meanwhile,
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: no ships laden with gold and gems reached France, for
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: no gold mines had ever been discovered. Then people began
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: to grow tired of waiting. Some of them began to
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: suspect that all the stories of the splendors of Louisiana
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: were not true, and they tried to sell their paper
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: money and paper shares and get back the gold which
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: they had given for them. Soon everyone wanted to sell,
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: and no one wanted to buy. The value of the
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: paper money fell and fell until it was worth less
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: than nothing. People who had thought themselves millionaires found themselves beggars.
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: Law who had been flattered and courted was now hated
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: and cursed, and in of his life. He fled from
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: France in seventeen ninety to die miserably in Italy a
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: few years later. As to Louisiana, a new set of
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: stories were told of it. Now it was no longer
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: described as a sort of earthly paradise, but as a
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: place of horror and misery. It was a land of
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: noisome marsh and gloomy forest, where prowled every imaginable evil beast.
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: At certain times of the year, the river flooded the
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: whole land, so that the people were obliged to take
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: refuge in the trees. There they lived more like monkeys
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: than men, springing from tree to tree in search of food.
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: The sun was so hot that it could strike a
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: man dead, as if with a pistol. This was called sunstroke.
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: Luscious fruits indeed grew around, but they were all poisonous,
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: and those who ate of them died in agonies. In fact,
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: Louisiana was now pictured as a place to be shun,
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: as a place of punishment. Be good, or I will
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: send you to the Mississippi was a threat terrible enough
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: to make the naughtiest child obedient. The Mississippi bubble burst,
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: but still France clung to Louisiana. Once again, it became
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: a royal province, and at length, after long years of struggle,
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: it began to prosper. The French had thus two great
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: centers of power in America, one at Quebec amid the
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: pine trees and snows of the north, and one at
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: New Orleans, amid the palm trees and sunshine of the South.
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: And between the two fort after fort was built, until
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: gradually North and South were united. Thus Lsalle's dream came true.
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: It was during the time of peace after the end
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: of Queen Anne's War that the French had thus strengthened
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: their hold on America and joined Canada Louisiana. They had
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: also built a strong fortress on the island of Cape Breton,
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: which commanded the mouth of the Saint Lawrence. This fortress
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: was called Louisbourg in honor of King Louis and it
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: was the strongest and best fortified in the whole of
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: New France. The walls were solid and high, and bristled
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: with more than a hundred cannon. The moat was both
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: wide and deep. Indeed, the French believed that This fort
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: was so strong that no power on earth could take it.
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: But the days of peace sped fast. Soon once more
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: Europe was ablaze with war, France and Britain again taking
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: opposite sides. In Europe, this war is called the War
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: of the Austrian Succession because it was brought on by
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: a quarrel among the nations of Europe as to who
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: should succeed to the throne of Austria. In America, it
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: is called King George's War, as King George the Second
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: was king of Britain at the time. Like the other
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: wars before it, it was fought in America as well
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: as in Europe. The chief event in America was the
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: capture of Louisbourg in seventeen forty five. That redoubtable fortress,
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: which it was thought would hold off any attack, yielded
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: after six weeks to an army chiefly composed of New
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: England farmers and fishermen, and led by a main merchant
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: who had no knowledge of war. When the news that
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: Louisbourg was taken reached New England, the people rejoiced, bells
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: were rung, cannons were fired, and bonfires blazed in all
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: the chief towns in England itself. The news was received
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: with surprise and delight, and Pepperrell, the merchant soldier, was
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: made a baronet and could henceforth call himself Sir William Pepperrell.
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: But when the French heard that they had lost their
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: splendid American fortress, they were filled with dismay. One after another,
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: three expeditions were sent to recapture it, but one after
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: another they miscarried, and when at length in seventeen forty
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: eight peace was agreed upon, Louisbourg was still in the
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: hands of the New Englanders. The peace which was now
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: signed is called the Peace of ex la Chapel. By
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: it it was agreed that each side should give back
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: all its conquests, so that after all the terrible loss
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: and bloodshed, neither side was one whit the better. The
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: New Englanders had been greatly delighted at their conquest of Louisbourg.
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: The French, on the other hand, were greatly grieved, and
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: when terms of peace were discussed, Louis the fifteenth insisted
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: that Louisbourg should be restored. That cannot be said, King George,
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: it is not mine to give, for it was taken
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: by the people of Boston. The French, however, were firm,
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: so King George gave way and Louisbourg was re stored
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: to France, and Madras in India, which the French had taken,
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: was in exchange restored to Britain. When the New Englanders
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: heard of it, they were very angry. Madras was nothing
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: to them. It was but a petty factory on the
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: other side of the globe, while Louisbourg was at their
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: very doors and of vast importance to their security. They
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: had to obey and give it back, but they did
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: so with bitterness in their hearts against a king who
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: cared so little for their welfare. And of chapter forty
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: seven read by Kerries Shallenberg in February twenty ten. Chapter
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: forty eight of This Country of Ours. This LibriVox recording
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: is in the public domain. This Country of Ours by H. E. Marshall,
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: Chapter forty eight. How a terrible disaster befell the British army.
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: We have now seen something of the great struggle between
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: French and British for the continent of America. War after
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: war broke out, Peace after peace was signed, but each
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: piece was no more than a truce and even when
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: the noise of Cannon ceased, there was nearly always war
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: with the Red Man, for he took sides and fought
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: for French or British. And as years went past, the
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: struggle grew ever more and more bitter. If the French
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: had their way, the British would have been hemmed in
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: between the Alleghenies and the Sea. If the British had
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: had their way, the French would have been confined to
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: a little strip of land north of the Saint Lawrence.
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: It became plain at length to everyone that in all
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: the wide continent there was no room for both one
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: must go, but which the peace at Ex la Chapelle
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: was not a year old before the last great struggle began.
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: Both French and British had now cast their eyes on
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: the valley of the Ohio, and the spot where Pittsburgh
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: now stands became known as the Gateway of the West.
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: The British determined to possess that gateway, but the French
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: were just as determined to prevent them ever getting through it.
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: So the French began to build a line of forts
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: from Lake Erie southward to the Gate of the West.
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: Now Virginia claimed all this land, and when two French
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: forts had been built, the Governor of Virginia began to
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: be both alarmed and angry. He decided, therefore to send
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: a messenger to the French to tell them that they
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: were on British ground and bid them to be gone.
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: It was not an easy task, and one which had
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: to be done with courtesy and firmness. Therefore, Dinwiddie resolved
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: to send a person of distinction, so as his messenger
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: he chose a young man named George Washington. He was
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: a straightforward, tall young man, well used to a woodland life,
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: but with all a gentleman, the descendant of one of
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: the old royalist families who had come to Virginia in
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: the time of Cromwell, and just the very man for
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: the Governor's purpose. It was a long and toilsome journey
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: through pathless forest, over hills, deep snows and frozen rivers,
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: a journey which none but one skilled in forest lore
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: could endure. But at length, after weeks of weary marching,
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: Washington arrived at Fort Le Boeuf. The Frenchman greeted him
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: courteously and entertained him in the most friendly fashion. During
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: the three days which the commander took to make up
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: his answer. The answer was not very satisfactory. The commander
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: promised to send Dinwiddie's letter to the governor of Canada,
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: but meanwhile he added, my men and I will stay
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: where we are. I have been commanded to take possession
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: of the country, and I mean to do it to
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: the best of my ability. With this answer, Washington set
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: out again, and, after many adventures and dangers, arrived safely
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: once more at Williamsburg. In the spring, the frenchmen marched
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: south to the gateway of the West. Here they found
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: a party of British who had begun to build a fort.
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: The French, who were in far greater numbers, surrounded them
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: and bade them surrender. This the British did, being utterly
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: unable to defend themselves. The French then seized the fort,
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: leveled it to the ground, and began to build one
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: of their own, which they called Fort Duquaine. Upon this,
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: Dinwiddie resolved to dislodge the French, and he sent a
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: small force, and when its leader died, he took command.
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: But he was not able to dislodge the French, so
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: after some fighting, he was obliged to make terms with
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: the enemy and march home discomfited. Up to this time,
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: the war was purely an America one. France and Britain
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: were at peace, and neither country sent soldiers to help
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: their colonies. It was the settlers, the farmers, fishermen and
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: fur traders of New England and New France who fought
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: each other, and in this the French had one great
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: advantage over the British. The French were united, the British
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: were not. New France was like one great colony, in
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: which every man was ready to answer the call to battle.
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: The British were divided into thirteen colonies. Each one of
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: the thirteen colonies was jealous of all the others. Each
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: was selfishly concerned with its own welfare, and quite careless
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: of the welfare of the others. But already the feelings
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: of patriotism had been born. Among the many who cared
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: nothing for union, there were a few who did. There
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: were some who were neither Virginians nor New Englanders, neither
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: Georgians nor Carolinians, but Americans. These now felt that if
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: they were not to become the vassals of France, they
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: must stand shoulder to shoulder. A congress of all the
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: northern colonies was now called at Albany to discuss some
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: means of defense, and at this congress Benjamin Franklin proposed
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: a plan of union. But the colonies would have nothing
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: to say to it. Some took no notice of it
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: at all. Others treated it with scorn, or said it
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: put too much power into the hands of the king.
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: As to the King, when he heard of it, he
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: rejected it also, for said he it gave too much
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: power to the colonies. So for the time being, nothing
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: came of it. Meanwhile, the governors of the various colonies
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: wrote home to England, and, seeing how serious the matter
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: was becoming, the British government sent out two regiments of
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: soldiers to help the colonies. They were about a thousand
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: men in all and were under the leadership of Major
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: General Edward Braddock. As soon as the French heard this,
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: they too sent soldiers to Canada. It was just like
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: a game of catch, who catch can For as soon
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: as the British knew that French troops were sailing to America,
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: they sent a squadron to stop them, But the French
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: had got a start and most of them got away.
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: The British ships, however, overtook some which had lagged behind
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: the others. As soon as they were within hailing distance.
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: A red flag was suddenly run up to the masthead
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: of the British flagship. Is this peace or war? Shouted
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: the French captain. I don't know, answered the British, but
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: you had better prepare for war. He, however, gave the
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: Frenchman little time to prepare for The words were hardly
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: out of his mouth before the thunder of cannon was heard.
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: The Frenchmen fought pluckily, but they were far outnumbered and
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: were soon forced to surrender. Thus, both on land and
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: sea fighting had begun. Yet war had not been declared,
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: and King George and King Louis were still calling each
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: other dear cousin or dear brother, and making believe that
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: there was no thought of war. But the little success
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: on sea was followed up by a bitter disaster on land.
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: General Braddock now commanded the whole army, both home and colonial.
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: He was a brave and honest man, but obstinate, fiery, tempered,
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: and narrow. He had a tremendous idea of what his
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: own soldiers could do, and he was very scornful of
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: the colonials. He was still more scornful of the Indians.
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: These savages, he said to Franklin, may indeed be a
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: formidable enemy to your raw American militia. But upon the
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: King's regular and disciplined troops, Sir, it is impossible that
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: they should make any impression. The haughty savages were quick
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: to see that he looked down upon them. He looks
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: upon us as dogs, they said, and drawing their ragged
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: blankets about them, they stalked off. Deeply offended with the
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: same narrow pride, Braddock turned away. Another useful ally, this
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: was Captain Jack the Black Hunter. He was a white man,
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: but he roamed the woods dressed like an Indian, followed
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: by a band of men as reckless and lawless as himself.
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: The Black Hunter, however, although he dressed like an Indian,
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: was the white man's friend, the red man's deadly foe.
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: He had been, at one time, it was said, a
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: peaceful settler, living happily with his wife and children. But
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: one day he returned from hunting to find his cottage
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: in ashes, and his wife and children dead among the
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: ruins in his grief and rage, he vowed eternal vengeance
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: on the Indians who had done the evil deed, robbing
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: him forever of home and happiness. Henceforth he roamed the woods,
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: a terror to the red men, for his aim was unerring.
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: He could steal through the forest as silently as swiftly
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: as they, and was as learned in all the woodland lore.
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: His very name indeed struck terror to the hearts of
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: all his foes. Black Hunter, now with his wild band
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: of followers, offered his help to Braddock. They were well armed,
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: They cared neither for heat nor cold. They required no
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: tents nor shelter for the night, nor did they ask
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: for any pay. General Braddock looked at the gaunt, weather
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: beaten man of the woods, clad in hunting shirt and moccasins,
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: painted and bedecked with feathers like an Indian. Truly a
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: strange ally, he thought, I have experienced troops, he said,
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: on whom I can depend, And, finding that he could
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: get no other answer, Black Hunter and his men drew
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: off and disappeared into the woods whence they had come.
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: On the other hand, Braddock had much to put up
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: with the whole success of the expedition depended on swiftness.
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: The British must strike a blow before the French had
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: time to arm. But when Braddock landed nothing was ready.
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: There were no stores, no horses, no wagons, and it
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: seemed impossible to gather them. Nobody seemed to care greatly
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: whether the expedition set out or not, so goaded to fury,
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: Braddock stamped and swore, and declared that nearly every one
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: he had to do with was stupid or dishonest. But
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: at length the preparations were complete, and in June the
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: expedition set out. From the first things went wrong. Had
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: Braddock gone through Pennsylvania, he would have found a great
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: part of his road cleared for him. But he went
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: through Virginia and had to hew his way through pathless forest.
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: In front of the army went three hundred axe men
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: to cut down trees and clear a passage. Behind them,
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: the long baggage train jolted slowly onwards, now floundering axel
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: deep through mud, now rocking perilously over stumps or stones
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: on either side. Threading in and out among the trees,
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: marched the soldiers. So day after day, the many colored
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: cavalcade wound along, bugle call and sound of drum awakening
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: the forest silences. The march was toilsome, and many of
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: the men, unused to the hardships of the wilderness, fell ill,
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: and the slow progress became slower. Still. At length, Braddock
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: decided to divide his force, and, leaving the sick men
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: and the heaviest baggage behind, press on more rapidly with
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: the others. It was George Washington, who went with him
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: as an aide de camp, who advised this. So the
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: sick and all baggage that could be done without were
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: left behind with Colonel Dunbar. But even after this the
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: progress was very slow. Meanwhile, news of the coming of
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: the British army had been carried to the French at
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: Fort Duquaine, and when they heard how great the force was,
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: they were much alarmed. But a gallant frenchman named Bougeau
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: offered to go out and meet the British lie in
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: wait for them and take them unawares. But to do
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: this he had need of Indian help, So council fires
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: were lit and Boujeau flung down the war hatchet, but
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: the Indians refused it, for they were afraid of the
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: great British force. Do you want to die our father,
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: they asked, and sacrifice us also. I am determined to go,
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: said Boujeau, What will you let your father go alone?
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: I know we shall win. Seeing him so confident, the
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: Indians forgot their fears, and the war dance was danced.
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: Then smeared with paint, and led by Boujeau himself dressed
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: like a savage, they marched to meet the British. There
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: were about six hundred Indians and half as many Frenchmen.
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: Stealthily they crept through the forest, flitting like shadows from
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: tree to tree, closing ever nearer and nearer upon the British.
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: They meanwhile had reached the river Monongohila. They crossed it gaily,
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: for they knew now that Fort Duquainne was near There
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: toilsome march was at an end, and victory was sure.
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: It was a glorious summer morning. The bands played, the
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: men laughed and shouted joyously. The long line swept onward,
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: a glittering pageant of scarlet and blue, of shining steel
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: and fluttering banners. Then suddenly, out of the forest darted
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: a man dressed like an Indian. When he saw the
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: advancing column, he stopped. Then turning, he waved to some
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: one behind him. It was Bourgot, and at his signal
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: the air was rent with a terrible Indian war cry,
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: and a hail of bullets swept the British ranks, shouting
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: God Save the King. The British returned to fire, but
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: it availed little, for they could not see the enemy
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: from the shelter of the forest. Hidden behind trees, the
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: French and Indians fired upon the British. They were an
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: easy mark, for they stood solidly, shoulder to shoulder, their
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: scarlet coats showing clearly against the green background. Still, the
• 54:17
  Speaker 1: British stood their ground, firing volley after volley. It was
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: quite useless, for they could see no enemy. The puffs
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: of smoke were their only guides. To aim at the
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: points where the smoke came from was all they could do,
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: but for the most part, their bullets crashed through the
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: branches or were buried in tree trunks, while the pitiless
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: rain of lead mowed down the red coats. The American
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: soldiers fared better, for as soon as they were attacked,
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: they scattered and from behind the shelter of trees fought
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: the Indians in their own fashion. Some of the British
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: tried to do the same, but Braddock had no knowledge
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: of savage warfare. To fight in such a manner seemed
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: to him shocking. It was unsoldierly, it was cowardly. So
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: he swore savagely at his men, calling them cowards, and
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: beat them back into line with the flat of his sword.
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: And thus, huddled together they stood a brilliant living target
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: for the bullets of the savages. Braddock himself fought with fury.
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: He dashed here and there, swearing, commanding, threatening. Four horses
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: were shot under him, and at last he himself fell
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: wounded to death. Washington, too, fought with fearless bravery, trying
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: to carry out Braddock's frenzied orders, and although he escaped unhurt,
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: his clothes were riddled with holes, and twice his horse
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: was shot under him. For nearly three hours, the terrible
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: carnage lasted. Then flesh and blood could stand no more,
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: and the men broke rank and fled. All night they
• 55:54
  Speaker 1: fled in utter route, bearing with them their wounded leader.
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: They reached Dunbar's camp, but even then they did not
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: pause for the news of the disaster had thrown the
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: whole camp into confusion. Frantic orders were given and obeyed
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: with frenzied haste. Wagon loads of stores were burned, barrels
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: of gunpowder were staved in, and the contents poured into
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: the river. Shells and bullets were buried. Then the work
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: of destruction complete, the whole army moved on again in
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: utter rout. And now Braddock's dark last hour had come.
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: Brooding and silent, he lay in his litter. This awful
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: defeat was something he could not grasp. Who would have
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: thought it? He murmured, Who would have thought it? But
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: his stubborn spirit was yet unbroken. We will know better
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: how to do it another time, he sighed. A few
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: minutes later he died. His men buried him in the
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: middle of the road, Washington reading over him the prayers
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: for the dead. Then, lest the Indians should find and
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: desecrate his last resting place, the whole army passed over
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: his grave. End of chapter forty eight, read by karsh
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: Allenberg www dot Kray dot org in February twenty ten,
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: Chapter forty nine of This Country of Ours. This LibriVox
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: recording is in the public domain This country of Ours
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: by H. E. Marshall, Chapter forty nine, The End of
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: French rule in America. Braddock's campaign was a complete disaster.
• 57:43
  Speaker 1: The French had triumphed, and even those Indians who up
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: till now had been willing to side with the British,
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: were anxious to make friends with the French, for were
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: they not the stronger. Surely it seemed to them the
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: white father of the Saint Lawrence was more powerful than
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: the white father of the Hudson. If the English will
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: not suffer the branches of the Great Tree of Peace
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: to hide us from the French, they said, we will
• 58:08
  Speaker 1: go farther off. We will lie down and warm ourselves
• 58:12
  Speaker 1: by the war fires of the French. We love to
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: hear the sound of the war whoop. We delight in
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: the war yell. It flies from hill to hill, from
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: heart to heart. It makes the old heart young, It
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: makes the young heart dance. Our young braves run to
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: battle with the swiftness of the fawn. If you will
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: not fight, the French will drive us from our hunting grounds.
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: The English king does not aid us. We must join
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: the strong. Who is strong? Who is strong the French?
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: The English have become weak. War was now really declared
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: between France and Britain, and fighting took place in Europe
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: as well as in America. And in America things went
• 58:53
  Speaker 1: ill for the British. Defeats and disasters followed each other.
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: Things were muddled and went wrong continually. For truth to tell,
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: the British had no great leader, either in England or
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: in America, while the French had the Marquess Montcalmbe, one
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: of the best soldiers in the French Army, as their
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: commander in chief. At length, however, a great man came
• 59:15
  Speaker 1: to power in England. This was William Pitt, known as
• 59:19
  Speaker 1: the Great Commoner. He was, it has been said, the
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: first Englishman of his time, and he made England the
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: first country in the world. He was a great judge
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: of men, and he had a happy way of choosing
• 59:31
  Speaker 1: the right man for the right place. So now instead
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: of defeats came victories, not only in America, but all
• 59:38
  Speaker 1: over the world. We are forced to ask every morning,
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: said a witty man of the time, what victory there
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: has been? For fear of missing one. In America, Louisbourg
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: fell once more into the hands of the British. Fort
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: Duquaine too was taken, and the misery of Braddock's disaster
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: was wiped out. Then, in alle honor of the great statesman,
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 1: the name of the fort was changed to Pittsburgh. It
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: is still called by that name and is now one
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: of the world's greatest manufacturing cities. And where Braddock fought
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 1: and fell stretches a network of streets. But although the
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: British had many successes, the Key of Canada defied all
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: efforts to take it. Quebec still frowned upon her rock,
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: invulnerable as in the days of old lion hearted Frontenhach.
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 1: Among the men Pitt had chosen to lead the armies
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 1: in America was Major General James Wolfe. He was a
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: long legged, red haired Englishman. There was nothing of the
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: hero about his appearance except his bright and flashing eyes.
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: It was this man who was sent to capture Quebec.
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: Many people were astonished at Pitt's choice. He is mad,
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: said one stupid old man. Mad is he said, King George.
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: Then I wish he would bite some others of my generals.
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 1: Led by a daring old sea captain, the British warships
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: passed safely up the Saint Lawrence and anchored off the
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: Isle of Orleans, a little below Quebec. Once more British
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: guns thundered against the high rock fortress. The town was
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: laid in ruins. The country round was but a barren waste.
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: Yet the fortress of Quebec was no nearer being taken
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: than before. Weeks and months went past. The fleet rocked
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: idly at anchor. The troops lay almost as idle in
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: their tents. Only the gunners had work to do. And
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: although they shattered the walls of Quebec, the Frenchmen were undaunted.
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: You may ruin the town, they said, but you will
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: never get inside. I will have Quebec if I stay
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: here till the end of November, replied Wulf. But Montcalm
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: smiled grimly. Winter, he knew, would be his ally, for
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 1: then the Saint Lawrence would be frozen from bank to bank,
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 1: and before that the British must sail away or be
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: caught fast in its icy jaws. Wolf, who was frail
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 1: and sickly by nature, now broke down beneath the strain
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 1: and the constant disappointments. Helpless and in agony, he lay
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: on his sick bed, his mind still busy with plans
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 1: of how to take Quebec. Doctor, he said, I know
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: you can't cure me, but patch me up till I
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: see this business through. Soon he was about again and
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 1: making plans for his last desperate attempt to take Quebec.
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 1: Seeking to find a means of reaching the fortress, he
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: had himself examined all the north shores of the Saint Lawrence,
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 1: and just a little above the town he had found
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: one spot where a narrow pathway led up the steep cliffs.
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: It was so steep and narrow that the French never
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: dreamed of anyone making an attack that way, and it
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 1: was carelessly guarded. But dangerous though it was, it seemed
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 1: to Wolfe the only way, and he determined to attempt
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 1: it soon. His preparationations were made, and one dark, moonless
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: night in September, a long procession of boats floated silently
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 1: down the river. In one of the boats sat wolf
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 1: and as they drifted slowly along in the starlight, in
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 1: a low voice, he repeated Gray's poem called an elegy
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 1: in a country churchyard. The boast of heraldry, the pomp
• 1:03:22
  Speaker 1: of power, and all that beauty, all that wealth e'er
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 1: gave awaits alike the inevitable hour. The paths of glory
• 1:03:29
  Speaker 1: lead but to the grave gentlemen, said Wolf when he finished,
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 1: I would rather have written those lines than take Quebec.
• 1:03:39
  Speaker 1: In dead silence, now the boats drifted on. Then suddenly,
• 1:03:43
  Speaker 1: out of the darkness rang a sharp challenge. Who goes there?
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 1: Was asked in French France, replied a Highland officer, who
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 1: spoke good French. What regiment, shouted the Sentry. The Queen's,
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 1: answered the officer glib, for luckily he had learned from
• 1:04:02
  Speaker 1: French prisoners that boats with provisions were expected by the enemy,
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 1: and that very likely the Queen's regiment would convoy them.
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 1: The Sentry was satisfied and let the boats pass, but
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 1: they were not safe yet. A little further on they
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 1: were challenged again. The same officer replied, speak louder, cried
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 1: the Sentry. Hush, replied the Highlander, provision boats. I say,
• 1:04:28
  Speaker 1: do not make a noise. The British will hear us.
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 1: The Sentry was quite deceived. He let the boats pass,
• 1:04:35
  Speaker 1: and very soon the men were safely landed. Then the
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 1: climb began. Like wild mountain cats, the men dashed at it.
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: They swung themselves up by branches of trees, gripping projecting
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 1: stones and roots with hand and knee. It was hot,
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 1: breathless work. But soon they were near the top. But
• 1:04:52
  Speaker 1: they had been heard once more, the challenge rang out,
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 1: Who goes there? France panted a voice from below, But
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 1: this time the sentry was not deceived. He could see nothing,
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 1: but he fired at a venture down into the darkness.
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 1: It was too late. The first men had reached the top,
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 1: and the guard was overpowered. So hour by hour, up
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 1: the steep cliff, the Red Coats swarmed unhindered. When morning dawned,
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 1: four thousand British stood upon the plains of Abraham. This
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 1: is a very serious business, said Montcalm when he heard
• 1:05:29
  Speaker 1: of it. But it can only be a small party. Soon, however,
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 1: more news was brought to him. It was no small party.
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 1: Then we must crush them, he said, and with pale
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 1: set face, he rode forth to battle. It was ten
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 1: o'clock when the fight began. The French attacked first. The
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: British awaited them calmly as they dashed on over the plain.
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 1: On they came nearer and nearer. Then suddenly the order
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: was given, and cheering wildly. The British charged. A shot
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 1: struck Wolf in the wrist. Without pausing, he tied a
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 1: handkerchief about it. Again he was hit. Still he went on.
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 1: Then a third shot struck his breast, and he fell hastily.
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 1: He was carried to the rear and laid upon the ground.
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 1: It is all over with me, he sighed. Then he
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 1: lay still in a sort of stupor. Suddenly one of
• 1:06:24
  Speaker 1: the officers beside him cried out, they run, they run,
• 1:06:29
  Speaker 1: Who run, said Wolf, rousing himself the enemy, Sir, answered
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 1: the officer, They give way everywhere. Now God be praised,
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 1: murmured Wulf, I die happy. Then, turning on his side,
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 1: he died everywhere. The French fled, and in their mad
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 1: rush they carried along with them their gallant leader Montcalm.
• 1:06:51
  Speaker 1: He was sorely wounded, but still sat his horse as
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 1: he rode within the gates of Quebec. Here an excited,
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 1: eager crowd was gathered wait for news, and when they
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 1: saw Montcalm's well known figure on his black horse, they
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 1: were seized with dismay, for his face was white and drawn,
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 1: and blood flowed from his breast. Alas Alas cried, a
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 1: woman in a piercing voice of despair. The marquess is killed.
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 1: It is nothing, It is nothing. Good friends, he replied,
• 1:07:21
  Speaker 1: do not trouble about me. So saying, he fell from
• 1:07:24
  Speaker 1: his horse into the arms of one of his officers.
• 1:07:28
  Speaker 1: That night he died. He was glad to go. It
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 1: is better for me, he said, for I shall not
• 1:07:34
  Speaker 1: live to see Quebec surrender. With him died the last
• 1:07:39
  Speaker 1: hope of New France. The story of New France was done.
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 1: The story of Canada was about to begin, as well
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 1: as that of her mighty neighbor. For as a great
• 1:07:49
  Speaker 1: English historian has said, with the triumph of Wolf on
• 1:07:53
  Speaker 1: the Heights of Abraham began the history of the United States. Meanwhile, however,
• 1:07:59
  Speaker 1: the war still dragged on for another year. Then the
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 1: following summer, Montreal surrendered to the British, and French rule
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 1: in America was completely at an end. Fighting in America
• 1:08:12
  Speaker 1: was over, but the war still went on in other
• 1:08:14
  Speaker 1: parts of the world. Spain had also joined in the struggle,
• 1:08:18
  Speaker 1: and from them the British took Cuba and the Philippine Islands.
• 1:08:23
  Speaker 1: But at length, in seventeen sixty three, peace was made
• 1:08:26
  Speaker 1: by the Treaty of Paris. By this treaty, Britain was
• 1:08:31
  Speaker 1: confirmed in her claim to nearly the whole of French
• 1:08:33
  Speaker 1: possessions in America, so that from the Atlantic to the Mississippi,
• 1:08:37
  Speaker 1: and from the Gulf of Mexico to Hudson Bay was
• 1:08:40
  Speaker 1: now declared British, except the peninsula forming Florida that the
• 1:08:45
  Speaker 1: Spaniards claimed. So in exchange for it, the British gave
• 1:08:49
  Speaker 1: back Cuba and the Philippines, and to make up to
• 1:08:53
  Speaker 1: Spain for the loss of Florida, France gave them New
• 1:08:56
  Speaker 1: Orleans and resigned to Spain all claims to the land
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 1: which Leusal had called Louisiana. Thus nothing remained to France
• 1:09:04
  Speaker 1: of all her great possessions in America, and the vast
• 1:09:07
  Speaker 1: continent was divided between Spain and Britain. Never in all
• 1:09:12
  Speaker 1: known history had a single treaty transferred such enormous tracts
• 1:09:16
  Speaker 1: of land from one nation to another. And of Chapter
• 1:09:21
  Speaker 1: forty nine, read by Kara Shallenberg in February twenty ten,
• 1:09:32
  Speaker 1: Chapter fifty of This Country of Ours, This LibriVox recording
• 1:09:36
  Speaker 1: is in the public domain. This Country of Ours by H. E. Marshall,
• 1:09:40
  Speaker 1: Chapter fifty. The Rebellion of Pontiac. Do you not know
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 1: the difference between the King of France and the King
• 1:09:47
  Speaker 1: of Britain. A Frenchman once asked an Indian, go, look
• 1:09:51
  Speaker 1: at the forts which our king has built. You will
• 1:09:53
  Speaker 1: see that you can still hunt under their very walls.
• 1:09:56
  Speaker 1: They have been built for your good in the places
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 1: where you go. British, on the other hand, are no
• 1:10:01
  Speaker 1: sooner in possession of a place than they drive the
• 1:10:04
  Speaker 1: game away. The trees fall before them. The earth is
• 1:10:07
  Speaker 1: laid bare, so that you can scarcely find a few
• 1:10:09
  Speaker 1: branches with which to make a shelter for the night.
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 1: The Frenchmen spoke truth. The British settlers were for the
• 1:10:16
  Speaker 1: most part grave and earnest men who had come to
• 1:10:19
  Speaker 1: seek new homes. They felled trees and built their houses,
• 1:10:23
  Speaker 1: and plowed the land, turning wilderness into cornfields and meadow.
• 1:10:28
  Speaker 1: The Frenchmen came for the sake of religion or for adventure.
• 1:10:31
  Speaker 1: They set up crosses and claimed the land for God
• 1:10:34
  Speaker 1: and the King. They scattered churches and hamlets far in
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 1: the wilderness, but left the wilderness and the forest still
• 1:10:41
  Speaker 1: the red man's hunting ground. The Frenchmen treated the Indians
• 1:10:45
  Speaker 1: with an easy careless sort of friendliness, while most of
• 1:10:48
  Speaker 1: the British looked down upon them as savages. So very
• 1:10:53
  Speaker 1: soon after the British took possession of Canada, the Indians
• 1:10:56
  Speaker 1: became very discontented. For now they got no more presents,
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: they were no longer treated as brothers, and they were
• 1:11:03
  Speaker 1: hurt both in their pockets and their pride. The English
• 1:11:07
  Speaker 1: mean to make slaves of us, they said in haughty indignation,
• 1:11:10
  Speaker 1: and soon a plot to murder all the British was formed.
• 1:11:15
  Speaker 1: The French, who still lived in Canada, encouraged the Indians
• 1:11:18
  Speaker 1: in their discontent, telling them that the English meant thoroughly
• 1:11:21
  Speaker 1: to root them out. Then a great medicine man arose
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 1: among them, who preached war. The Great Spirit himself appeared
• 1:11:30
  Speaker 1: unto me. He said, thus, he spake, I am the
• 1:11:33
  Speaker 1: Lord of Life. It is I who made all men.
• 1:11:36
  Speaker 1: I work for their safety. Therefore I give you warning.
• 1:11:40
  Speaker 1: Suffer not the English to dwell in your midst lest
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 1: their poisons and their sickness destroy you utterly. When they
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 1: heard the medicine man speak, thus the Indians were greatly stirred.
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 1: The Lord of Life himself, they said, moves our hearts
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 1: to war. They became ever more and more eager to fight.
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 1: They only wanted a leader, and found one in Pontiac,
• 1:12:03
  Speaker 1: chief of the Ottawas. He was subtle and fierce, haughty
• 1:12:08
  Speaker 1: and ambitious, and by far the most clever and powerful
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 1: chief who ever took up arms against the white man.
• 1:12:16
  Speaker 1: Now he sent messengers to all the Indian villages, both
• 1:12:19
  Speaker 1: far and near. With them, these messengers carried a hatchet
• 1:12:23
  Speaker 1: stained with blood, and a war belt of scarlet wampum.
• 1:12:27
  Speaker 1: When they came to a village, they called the braves together.
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 1: Then in their midst their spokesmen flung down the blood
• 1:12:33
  Speaker 1: stained hatchet, and holding the belt in his hand, he
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 1: made a passionate speech, reminding the red men of their
• 1:12:39
  Speaker 1: wrongs and calling upon them to be avenged upon their foes.
• 1:12:43
  Speaker 1: And wherever the messengers went, the blood stained hatchet was seized,
• 1:12:48
  Speaker 1: and the war dance danced at length. All was arranged,
• 1:12:53
  Speaker 1: and upon a certain day in May, the Indians were
• 1:12:55
  Speaker 1: to rise in a body and slay the British to
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 1: a man. Only the French were to be spared. Pontiac
• 1:13:03
  Speaker 1: himself was to attack Fort Detroit. And so quietly and
• 1:13:06
  Speaker 1: secretly were the preparations made that no one had the
• 1:13:09
  Speaker 1: slightest suspicion of what was going forward. But the day
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 1: before the attack, a farmer's wife rode across the river
• 1:13:16
  Speaker 1: and went to the Indian village to buy some maple sugar.
• 1:13:20
  Speaker 1: While she was there, she was much astonished to see
• 1:13:23
  Speaker 1: some of the Indian braves filing off the barrels of
• 1:13:26
  Speaker 1: their guns. The sight made her uneasy. I wonder what
• 1:13:31
  Speaker 1: they are up to, she said. When she got home,
• 1:13:34
  Speaker 1: she told her friends what she had seen. I believe
• 1:13:38
  Speaker 1: they are up to some mischief, she repeated. I think
• 1:13:41
  Speaker 1: so too, said a blacksmith. They have been asking me
• 1:13:44
  Speaker 1: to lend them files and saws. As the settlers talked
• 1:13:49
  Speaker 1: the matter over, they became at length so uneasy that
• 1:13:52
  Speaker 1: they sent to tell Major Gladwin, the commander of the fort,
• 1:13:55
  Speaker 1: of what they had seen. He, however, thought nothing of it.
• 1:14:00
  Speaker 1: But later in the day a young Indian girl came
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 1: to see him to bring him a pair of moccasins,
• 1:14:05
  Speaker 1: which he had asked her to make. She seemed very
• 1:14:08
  Speaker 1: sad and downcast, and after she had given the Major
• 1:14:11
  Speaker 1: the moccasins, she still loitered about. What's the matter, asked
• 1:14:16
  Speaker 1: a young officer The Indian girl did not answer. She
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 1: only looked at him gravely with sorrowful brown eyes. Still
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 1: she lingered about. It was nearly dark time, almost to
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 1: close the gates. At last, the young officer watching her
• 1:14:33
  Speaker 1: became certain that something was the matter, and he urged
• 1:14:36
  Speaker 1: his commander to see the girl again. Major Gladwin at
• 1:14:40
  Speaker 1: once called the girl to him, What is the matter?
• 1:14:43
  Speaker 1: He asked, why are you so sad? Still she would
• 1:14:47
  Speaker 1: not speak. Then the major talked to her kindly, promising
• 1:14:51
  Speaker 1: that whatever her secret was, it would be safe with him,
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 1: and that he would never betray her. So at length,
• 1:14:58
  Speaker 1: the Indian girl spoke. The Indians mean to kill you all,
• 1:15:03
  Speaker 1: she whispered. The braves have filed off the ends of
• 1:15:06
  Speaker 1: their gun barrels so that the guns can be hidden
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 1: beneath their blankets. Tomorrow Pontiac will come with many warriors
• 1:15:12
  Speaker 1: and will ask to hold a council within the fort.
• 1:15:15
  Speaker 1: He will make a speech and offer you a peace
• 1:15:17
  Speaker 1: belt of wampum. At the end of the speech, he
• 1:15:19
  Speaker 1: will turn the belt around. That will be the signal.
• 1:15:23
  Speaker 1: The chiefs will then spring up, draw the guns from
• 1:15:25
  Speaker 1: their hiding places, and kill you. All Indians outside will
• 1:15:29
  Speaker 1: kill all your soldiers, not one of you will escape, So,
• 1:15:34
  Speaker 1: saying the girl went sadly away. Gladwin at once called
• 1:15:38
  Speaker 1: his officers and told them what he had heard. They
• 1:15:41
  Speaker 1: were convinced now that evil was afoot, and all night
• 1:15:44
  Speaker 1: they kept watch lest the Indians should change their minds
• 1:15:47
  Speaker 1: and make their attack during the night. But the night
• 1:15:52
  Speaker 1: passed peacefully. When morning came, a great many Indians were
• 1:15:56
  Speaker 1: seen to be gathered about the fort, and at ten
• 1:15:58
  Speaker 1: o'clock Pontiac, followed by his chiefs, entered the gateway. They
• 1:16:04
  Speaker 1: stalked in proudly garbed in all the glory of savage splendors.
• 1:16:09
  Speaker 1: They were cloaked in bright colored blankets and hung about
• 1:16:11
  Speaker 1: with beads and hawk bells. Their heads were decorated with
• 1:16:15
  Speaker 1: eagle feathers, and their faces hideously painted. Pontiac came first,
• 1:16:21
  Speaker 1: and as he passed beneath the gateway, he started and
• 1:16:24
  Speaker 1: drew a sharp, deep breath, for both sides of the
• 1:16:27
  Speaker 1: narrow street were lined with soldiers, gun in hand. He
• 1:16:31
  Speaker 1: had been betrayed, Yet the haughty chiefs made no sign
• 1:16:35
  Speaker 1: in silence. They stalked on, not a muscle of their faces,
• 1:16:39
  Speaker 1: moving here and there as they passed on, they saw
• 1:16:43
  Speaker 1: traders standing about in groups, every man fully armed. Not
• 1:16:48
  Speaker 1: a woman or child was to be seen. At length,
• 1:16:52
  Speaker 1: the Indians reached the council hall. Here they found the
• 1:16:55
  Speaker 1: commander seated awaiting them, surrounded by his officers. They too
• 1:17:00
  Speaker 1: were armed, for every man of them wore a sword
• 1:17:03
  Speaker 1: by his side and a brace of pistols in his belt.
• 1:17:07
  Speaker 1: Ill at ease, now, the Indians gazed at each other
• 1:17:10
  Speaker 1: in doubt what to do. Then Pontiac spoke why. He asked,
• 1:17:16
  Speaker 1: do I see so many of my father's braves standing
• 1:17:19
  Speaker 1: in the street with their guns? Because I exercised my soldiers,
• 1:17:25
  Speaker 1: replied Gladwin calmly, for the good of their health, and
• 1:17:28
  Speaker 1: also to keep discipline. This answer made the Indians still
• 1:17:33
  Speaker 1: more uneasy, but after some hesitation, they all sat down
• 1:17:36
  Speaker 1: on the floor. Then, with due ceremony, Pontiac rose, and,
• 1:17:41
  Speaker 1: holding the belt of peace in his hand, began to speak.
• 1:17:45
  Speaker 1: His words were fair. They had come, he said, to
• 1:17:48
  Speaker 1: tell of their love for the English, to smoke the
• 1:17:51
  Speaker 1: pipe of peace and make the bonds of friendship closer.
• 1:17:56
  Speaker 1: As he spoke his false and cunning words, the officers
• 1:17:59
  Speaker 1: kept to watchful eye upon him. Would he give the
• 1:18:03
  Speaker 1: signal or not, they asked themselves. He raised the belt.
• 1:18:09
  Speaker 1: At that moment, Gladwin made a quick, slight signal. Immediately
• 1:18:13
  Speaker 1: from the passage without came the sound of grounding arms
• 1:18:16
  Speaker 1: and the rat tat of a drum. Pontiac stood rigid
• 1:18:20
  Speaker 1: as one turned to stone. Then, after a moment's deathly silence,
• 1:18:25
  Speaker 1: he sat down. In the silence, Gladwin sat looking steadily
• 1:18:30
  Speaker 1: and fearlessly at the Indians. Then he replied shortly to
• 1:18:33
  Speaker 1: Pontiac's fine speech. The friendship of the British should be theirs,
• 1:18:38
  Speaker 1: he said, so long as they deserved it. The council
• 1:18:42
  Speaker 1: was at an end. The gates of the fort, which
• 1:18:45
  Speaker 1: had been closed, were now thrown open again, and the
• 1:18:47
  Speaker 1: savages balked in their treachery, stalked back to their wigwams.
• 1:18:53
  Speaker 1: But Pontiac was not yet beaten, and again he tried
• 1:18:57
  Speaker 1: to master the fort by treachery, And when he found
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 1: the gates of the fort shut against him, his rage
• 1:19:03
  Speaker 1: was terrible. Then, seeing they could not win Fort Detroit
• 1:19:07
  Speaker 1: by treachery, the Indians attacked it in force. But in
• 1:19:11
  Speaker 1: spite of all his horde of warriors, in spite of
• 1:19:14
  Speaker 1: all his wiles, Pontiac could not take the fort, although
• 1:19:18
  Speaker 1: he besieged it for a whole year. Meanwhile, the savages
• 1:19:22
  Speaker 1: overran the whole country, and every other fort save Fort
• 1:19:26
  Speaker 1: Pitt and Fort Niagara fell into their hands. More often
• 1:19:30
  Speaker 1: than not. They won their way into the forts by treachery,
• 1:19:33
  Speaker 1: and having entered, they slew without mercy men, women and children.
• 1:19:39
  Speaker 1: At Mitchellimackinac, the Redskins invited the officers and soldiers to
• 1:19:43
  Speaker 1: watch a game of ball. The invitation was accepted, and
• 1:19:47
  Speaker 1: nearly all the soldiers stood about watching while the Indians,
• 1:19:50
  Speaker 1: with piercing yells, dashed madly hither and thither after the ball.
• 1:19:55
  Speaker 1: Crowds of Indians also looked on, among them many squaws
• 1:19:58
  Speaker 1: wrapped in colored blankets. The game was played just outside
• 1:20:02
  Speaker 1: the fort. The gates stood open, and most of the
• 1:20:04
  Speaker 1: soldiers had strolled out without their weapons to watch. Suddenly
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 1: the ball flew through the air and landed close to
• 1:20:12
  Speaker 1: the gate of the fort. There was a mad rush
• 1:20:15
  Speaker 1: after it. As they ran, the Indians snatched the hatchets
• 1:20:19
  Speaker 1: and knives which till now the squaws had hidden beneath
• 1:20:22
  Speaker 1: their blankets. Screams of delight were changed to war cries.
• 1:20:26
  Speaker 1: The two officers who stood by the gate were seized
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 1: and carried away prisoner, while the rabble stormed into the fort,
• 1:20:32
  Speaker 1: slaying and robbing at will. Every one of the British
• 1:20:35
  Speaker 1: was either killed or taken prisoner, but the French were
• 1:20:38
  Speaker 1: left alone. Thus all the land was filled with bloodshed
• 1:20:44
  Speaker 1: and horror. There was no safety anywhere. In every bush
• 1:20:48
  Speaker 1: an Indian might lurk, and night was made terrible with
• 1:20:51
  Speaker 1: blood curdling war cries. For nearly three years the war lasted,
• 1:20:56
  Speaker 1: but by degrees Pontiac saw that his cause was lost.
• 1:21:00
  Speaker 1: The French did not help him as he had expected
• 1:21:02
  Speaker 1: they would. Some of his followers deserted, and other tribes
• 1:21:06
  Speaker 1: refused to join him, And at last he saw himself
• 1:21:09
  Speaker 1: forced to make peace. So there were flowery speeches and
• 1:21:13
  Speaker 1: the exchange of wampum belts, and peace was made. Then
• 1:21:19
  Speaker 1: Pontiac's army melted away like snow in summer, and the
• 1:21:22
  Speaker 1: great chief himself retired to the forest to live among
• 1:21:25
  Speaker 1: his children and his squaws. A few years later he
• 1:21:29
  Speaker 1: was traitorously slain by one of his own people. End
• 1:21:35
  Speaker 1: of chapter fifty, and that's the end of part five
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 1: of this Country of ours read by Kershalenberg w w
• 1:21:42
  Speaker 1: W dot kre dot org