"Sir,—It is a real satisfaction to me to send you the king's consent on a subject so affecting as the epitaph composed by the Academy of Inscriptions at Paris for the Marquis de Montcalm, and which it is desired may be sent to Quebec, engraved on marble, to be placed on the tomb of that illustrious soldier. It is perfectly beautiful; and the desire of the French troops which served in Canada to pay such a tribute to the memory of their general, whom they saw expire at their head in a manner worthy of them and himself, is truly noble and praiseworthy.
"I shall take a pleasure, sir, in facilitating every way such amiable intentions; and on notice of the measures taken for shipping this marble, I will not fail immediately to transmit you the passport you desire, and send directions to the governor of Quebec for its reception.
"I withal beg of you, sir, to be persuaded of my just sensibility of that so obliging part of the letter with which you have honored me relating to myself, and to believe that I embrace as a happiness the opportunity of manifesting the esteem and particular regard with which I have the honor to be, &c.,
W. Pitt
"London, April 10th, 1761."
The epitaph was as follows:
Utroque in orbe æternum victurus,
Ludovicus Josephus de Montcalm Gozon,
Marchio Sancti Verani, Baro Gebriaci,
Ordinis sancti Ludovici commendator,
Legatus generalis exercituum Gallicorum;
Egregius et civis et miles,
Nullius rei appetens præterquam veræ laudis,
Ingenio felici, et literis exculto;
Omnes militiæ gradus per continua decora emensus,
Omnium belli artium, temporum, discriminum gnarus,
In Italia, in Bohemia, in Germania
Dux industrius.
Mandata sibi ita semper gerens ut majoribus par haberetur.
Jam clarus periculus
Ad tutandam Canadensem provinciam missus,
Parva militum manu hostium copias non semel repulit,
Propuguacula cepit viris armisque instructissima.
Algoris, inediæ, vigiliarum, laboris patiens,
Suis unice prospiciens, immemor sui,
Hostis acris, victor mansuetus.
Fortunam virtuti, virium inopiam peritia et celeritate compensavit;
Imminens coloniæ fatum et consilio et manu per quadrimum sustinuit,
Tandem ingentum exercitum duce strenuo et audaci,
Classemque omni bellorum mole gravem,
Multiplici prudentia diu ludificatus,
Vi pertractus ad dimicandum,
In prima acie, in primo conflictu vulneratus,
Religioni quam semper coluerat innitens,
Magno suorum desiderio, nec sine hostium mœrore,
Extinctus est
Die xiv. Sept., A.D. MDCCLIX., ætat. XLVIII.
Mortales optimi ducis exuvias in excavata humo,
Quam globus bellicus decidens dissiliensque defoderat,
Galli lugentes deposuerunt,
Et generosæ hostium fidei commemdârunt.
TRANSLATION.
Here lieth,
In either hemisphere to live forever,
Lewis Joseph de Montcalm Gozon,
Marquis of St. Veran, Baron of Gabriac,
Commendatory of the Order of St. Louis,
Lieutenant general of the French army;
Not loss an excellent citizen than soldier,
Who knew no desire but that of true glory;
Happy in a natural genius, improved by literature,
Having gone through the several steps of military honors
With uninterrupted luster,
Skill'd in all the arts of war,
The juncture of times, and the crisis of dangers,
In Italy, in Bohemia, in Germany,
An indefatigable general.
He so discharged his important trusts,
That he seemed always equal to still greater.
At length, grown bright with perils,
Sent to secure the province of Canada,
With a handful of men
He more than once repulsed the enemy's forces,
And made himself master of their forts,
Replete with troops and ammunition.
Inured to cold, hunger, watchings, and labors,
Unmindful of himself,
He had no sensation but for his soldiers;
An enemy with the fiercest impetuosity,
A victor with the tenderest humanity.
Adverse fortune he compensated with valor,
The want of strength with skill and activity,
And, with his counsel and support,
For four years protracted the impending fate of the colony.
Having with various artifices
Long baffled a great army,
Headed by an expert and intrepid commander,
And a fleet furnished with all warlike stores,
Compelled at length to an engagement,
He fell, in the first rank, in the first onset,
With those hopes of religion which he had always cherished,
To the inexpressible loss of his own army,
And not without the regret of the enemy's,
XIV. September, A.D. MDCCLIX., of his age XLVIII.
His weeping countrymen
Deposited the remains of their excellent general
In a grave,
Which a fallen bomb in bursting had excavated for him,
Recommending them to the generous faith of their enemies.
—Annual Register, 1762.