did not reach 9000 men, or 5000 less than the regular and Colonial army under Montcalm, whose lines extended behind batteries and earthworks from the St. Charles River, which washes the base of the rocky heights of the town, as far as the falls of Montmorency.  The French held an impregnable position which their general decided to maintain at all hazards, despite the constant efforts of Wolfe for weeks to force him to the issue of battle.  Above the city for many miles there were steep heights, believed to be unapproachable, and guarded at all important points by detachments of soldiery.  Wolfe failed in an attempt which he made at Beauport to force Montcalm from his defences, and suffered a considerable loss through the rashness of his grenadiers.  He then resolved on a bold stroke which succeeded by its very audacity in deceiving his opponent, and giving the victory to the English.  A rugged and dangerous path was used at night up those very heights which, Montcalm confidently believed, “a hundred men could easily defend against the whole British army.”  On the morning of the 13th September, 1759, Wolfe marshalled an army of four thousand five hundred men on the Plains of Abraham where he was soon face to face with the French army.  Montcalm had lost no time in accepting the challenge of the English, in the hope that his superior numbers would make up for their inferiority in discipline and equipment compared with the smaller English force.  His expectations were never realized.  In a few minutes the French fell in hundreds before the steady deadly fire of the English lines, and Montcalm was forced to retreat precipitately with the beaten remnant of his army.  Wolfe received several wounds, and died on the battlefield, but not before he was conscious of his victory.  “God be praised,” were his dying words, “I now die in peace.”  His brave adversary was mortally wounded while seeking the protection of Quebec, and was buried in a cavity which a shell had made in the floor of the chapel of the Ursuline Convent.  A few days later Quebec capitulated.  Wolfe’s body was taken to England, where it was received with all the honours due to his great achievement.  General Murray was left in command at Quebec, and was defeated in the following spring by Levis in the battle of St. Foye, which raised the hopes of the French until the appearance of English ships in the river relieved the beleaguered garrison and decided for ever the fate of Quebec.  A few weeks later Montreal capitulated to Amherst, whose extreme caution throughout the campaign was in remarkable contrast with the dash and energy of the hero of Quebec.  The war in Canada was now at an end, and in 1763 the treaty of Paris closed the interesting chapter of French dominion on the banks of the St. Lawrence and in the valleys of the Ohio and the Mississippi.

Section 5.—­Political, economic and social conditions of Canada during French ride.