[Footnote 778:  Johnstone, Dialogue.]

[Footnote 779:  Malartic a Bourlamaque,—­Sept. 1759.]

The army followed in such order as it might, crossed the bridge in hot haste, passed under the northern rampart of Quebec, entered at the Palace Gate, and pressed on in headlong march along the quaint narrow streets of the warlike town:  troops of Indians in scalp-locks and war-paint, a savage glitter in their deep-set eyes; bands of Canadians whose all was at stake,—­faith, country, and home; the colony regulars; the battalions of Old France, a torrent of white uniforms and gleaming bayonets, La Sarre, Languedoc, Roussillon, Bearn,—­victors of Oswego, William Henry, and Ticonderoga.  So they swept on, poured out upon the plain, some by the gate of St. Louis, and some by that of St. John, and hurried, breathless, to where the banners of Guienne still fluttered on the ridge.

Montcalm was amazed at what he saw.  He had expected a detachment, and he found an army.  Full in sight before him stretched the lines of Wolfe:  the close ranks of the English infantry, a silent wall of red, and the wild array of the Highlanders, with their waving tartans, and bagpipes screaming defiance.  Vaudreuil had not come; but not the less was felt the evil of a divided authority and the jealousy of the rival chiefs.  Montcalm waited long for the forces he had ordered to join him from the left wing of the army.  He waited in vain.  It is said that the Governor had detained them, lest the English should attack the Beauport shore.  Even if they did so, and succeeded, the French might defy them, could they but put Wolfe to rout on the Plains of Abraham.  Neither did the garrison of Quebec come to the aid of Montcalm.  He sent to Ramesay, its commander, for twenty-five field-pieces which were on the Palace battery.  Ramesay would give him only three, saying that he wanted them for his own defence.  There were orders and counter-orders; misunderstanding, haste, delay, perplexity.

Montcalm and his chief officers held a council of war.  It is said that he and they alike were for immediate attack.  His enemies declare that he was afraid lest Vaudreuil should arrive and take command; but the Governor was not a man to assume responsibility at such a crisis.  Others say that his impetuosity overcame his better judgment; and of this charge it is hard to acquit him.  Bougainville was but a few miles distant, and some of his troops were much nearer; a messenger sent by way of Old Lorette could have reached him in an hour and a half at most, and a combined attack in front and rear might have been concerted with him.  If, moreover, Montcalm could have come to an understanding with Vaudreuil, his own force might have been strengthened by two or three thousand additional men from the town and the camp of Beauport; but he felt that there was no time to lose, for he imagined that Wolfe would soon be reinforced, which was impossible, and he believed that the English