QUEBEC; ENGLISH TRIUMPH.

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other places, and thus weaken his lines. The small number of the French now told heavily against them; they had a very small population to draw upon for reinforcements, their colonies were poor and weak, and most of the men and supplies for the army had to be brought from abroad-an uncertain source of supply, as the English almost controlled the mouth of the St. Lawrence.

It was imonly gross carelessness But the English had to Montcalm. More than

80. Quebec; English Triumph. (1759-1763.) — The English, on the contrary, had a population more than ten times as great as the French, and all their supplies could be obtained easily and cheaply from their own homes; their settlements, moreover, were compact and easily accessible. possible not to foresee the result; could prevent final English success. meet a brave and skilful leader in once Wolfe was almost ready to give up the attempt to take Quebec. Standing upon a high cliff, between the St. Lawrence and the St. Charles, the town was protected on three sides by water, and on the fourth rose precipitous rocks, which seemed inaccessible to an attacking force; but Wolfe determined to scale them and gain a position on the Heights of Abraham nearly west of the city. This was accomplished one dark night, and so he was able to meet the French on equal ground. In the battle which followed, both Wolfe and Montcalm were mortally wounded, the former dying upon the field of battle. Quebec was surrendered; and though the French tried to recapture it, they were unsuccessful, and Montreal, their last stronghold, was taken in 1760. The forts of Crown Point and Ticonderoga and Niagara had been previously captured, so the English were everywhere triumphant. The capture of Quebec was the great turningpoint in American colonial history.

81. Conditions of Peace; Results of the War. (1763.) (1763.) In 1763 peace was made, by which France lost all her possessions in America, except two small islands near Newfoundland, reserved for fishing purposes. To England were given all the possessions east of the Mississippi River, except New Orleans, which, with the land immediately around it, was given to France, with all the claims west of the river. Spain gave Florida to England in return for Havana, which a combined force of English and provincials had captured during the war. But France, by a secret treaty, gave New Orleans, and all her claims west of the Mississippi River, to her ally, Spain, in order to compensate her for the loss of Florida. England gave up all claims to lands beyond the Mississippi, which thus became for nearly fifty years the western boundary of English settlements. The North American continent was now divided between England and Spain, the one a strong and the other a weak power, but as the settlements of each were far distant from those of the other, they were not likely to interfere for some time. Thus the English could expand in all directions, and the north, south, and west were without fear of any foe, except the scattered Indian tribes, which were daily becoming less dreaded. The colonists had borne the greater part of the expenses of the war, and felt its horrors most. Most of the money to carry it on had been voted by their own Assemblies, and their own representatives had laid the heavy taxes which were necessary in order to raise the large sums needed. All the colonies had taken part in the struggle, and they had learned to look upon the successes as largely their own. They had become better acquainted with each other, and had also learned their own strength. Through the absence of dangers, they were led more and more to depend upon themselves, and to look less and less for the aid of the mother country. Prominent

CENTRAL NORTH AMERICA, 1763-AFTER THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
(According to Peace of Paris)

CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAČ.

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Frenchmen and others saw this at the time, and said that, in giving up Canada, France was preparing the way for the independence of the English colonies. Benjamin Franklin, though one of the shrewdest of men, thought otherwise.

82. Conspiracy of Pontiac. (1763-1769.) - Before the English were secure in their new possessions, there was a war with the Indians in 1763-64. This was the result of the conspiracy of Pontiac, an Ottawa chief. He had been an adherent of the French, and could not believe that they were defeated, but thought they would surely return. He succeeded in inducing a number of tribes to make a grand effort to drive out the English. With this object in view, a number of posts were surprised, and garrisons were put to death. For a time it seemed as though there would be a renewal of the horrors of the old Indian wars. But the Indians did not agree among themselves, and peace was finally made in 1766. Pontiac was assassinated by another Indian in 1769.