Levis was so incensed at the demand that the troops should lay down their arms and serve no longer during the war that, before the capitulation was signed, he made a formal protest[854] in his own name and that of the officers from France, and insisted that the negotiation should be broken off.  “If,” he added, “the Marquis de Vaudreuil, through political motives, thinks himself obliged to surrender the colony at once, we ask his permission to withdraw with the troops of the line to the Island of St. Helen, in order to uphold there, on our own behalf, the honor of the King’s arms.”  The proposal was of course rejected, as Levis knew that it would be, and he and his officers were ordered to conform to the capitulation.  When Vaudreuil reached France, three months after, he had the mortification to receive from the Colonial Minister a letter containing these words:  “Though His Majesty was perfectly aware of the state of Canada, nevertheless, after the assurances you had given to make the utmost efforts to sustain the honor of his arms, he did not expect to hear so soon of the surrender of Montreal and the whole colony.  But, granting that capitulation was a necessity, his Majesty was not the less surprised and ill pleased at the conditions, so little honorable, to which you submitted, especially after the representations made you by the Chevalier de Levis."[855] The brother of Vaudreuil complained to the Minister of the terms of this letter, and the Minister replied:  “I see with regret, Monsieur, that you are pained by the letter I wrote your brother; but I could not help telling him what the King did me the honor to say to me; and it would have been unpleasant for him to hear it from anybody else."[856]

[Footnote 854:  Protet de M. de Levis a M. de Vaudreuil contre la Clause dans les Articles de Capitulation qui exige que les Troupes mettront bas les Armes, avec l’Ordre de M. de Vaudreuil au Chevalier de Levis de se conformer a la Capitulation proposee.  Vaudreuil au Ministre de la Marine, 10 Sept. 1760.  Levis au Ministre de la Guerre, 27 Nov. 1760.]

[Footnote 855:  Le Ministre a Vaudreuil, 5 Dec. 1760.]

[Footnote 856:  Le Ministre au Vicomte de Vaudreuil, Frere du Gouverneur, 21 Dec. 1760.]

It is true that Vaudreuil had in some measure drawn this reproach upon himself by his boastings about the battles he would fight; yet the royal displeasure was undeserved.  The Governor had no choice but to give up the colony; for Amherst had him in his power, and knew that he could exact what terms he pleased.  Further resistance could only have ended in surrender at the discretion of the victor, and the protest of Levis was nothing but a device to save his own reputation and that of his brother officers from France.  Vaudreuil had served the King and the colony in some respects with ability, always with an unflagging zeal; and he loved the land of his birth with a jealous devotion that goes far towards redeeming his miserable defects.  The King himself, and not the servants whom he abandoned to their fate, was answerable for the loss of New France.