CHAPTER III.
LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE CANADIAN CONSTITUTION.
1. Peace of Paris, 1763.—General Murray took the command of the British army after the death of Wolfe, and De Lévis succeeded Montcalm. Though Quebec had fallen, the Governor, Vaudreuil, and De Lévis, were not willing to surrender Canada to the English without a struggle. The walls of Quebec had been partly beaten down, and a great portion of the city had become a mass of ruins by the cannonading of the British, and Murray, fully expecting an assault from the French, at once began to put the fortress into as good a condition as possible. His army, especially the Highlanders, suffered much from the cold, which was very severe that winter. The French in Quebec and the British army were on very friendly terms, and much kindness was shown to the suffering soldiers by the inhabitants, the nuns knitting long hose to protect the unfortunate Highlanders from the effects of the frost and cold. Towards spring De Lévis advanced with an army of seven thousand men to retake Quebec, and Murray was foolhardy enough to march out of the city against him. The British numbered but three thousand men, (so much had they suffered during the winter) and in the second battle of Plains of Abraham, they were defeated and compelled to retreat, in haste, within the walls of Quebec. The siege lasted some time longer, until the St. Lawrence becoming free of ice, a British fleet sailed up the river, and De Lévis, in despair, returned to Montreal. In September, Murray and Amherst united their forces before Montreal, and Vaudreuil and Lévis feeling the impossibility of defending the city with the few weary and disheartened men at their disposal, surrendered all Canada to England, on the 8th of September, 1760.
Three years later the Seven Years’ War was brought to a close, and Canada was formally given to England; France ceding all her possessions in America east of the Mississippi except New Orleans, and the island of St. Pierre and Miquelon near Newfoundland. Besides these great territories England gained largely in India and other parts of the world. The treaty: that closed this war is known as the Peace of Paris.
