[134] "How far Mr. Abercromby acquitted himself in the duty of a general, we shall not pretend to determine; but if he could depend upon the courage and discipline of his forces, he surely had nothing to fear, after the action, from the attempts of the enemy, to whom he would have been superior in number, even though they had been joined by the re-enforcement which he falsely supposed they expected. He might, therefore, have remained on the spot, in order to execute some other enterprise, when he should be re-enforced in his turn, for General Amherst no sooner heard of his disaster than he returned with the troops from Cape Breton to New England, having left a strong garrison in Louisburg,"—Smollett's History of England, vol. iv., p. 309; Smith's History of Canada, vol. i., p. 265.
"The British army, still amounting to nearly 14,000 men, greatly outnumbered the enemy; and if the artillery had been brought up to their assistance, might have overpowered with little difficulty the French and their defenses at Ticonderoga. Next to the defeat of Braddock, this was the most disgraceful catastrophe that had befallen the arms of Britain in America."—Graham's History of the United States, vol. iv., p. 32.
[135] Letter from the Earl of Bute to Mr. Pitt:
"August 20, 1751.
"My dear Friend—I feel most sensibly this cruel reverse, and the loss of so many gallant men; but when I reflect on the part they have acted, I congratulate my country and my friend on the revival of that spirit which in former times was so conspicuous in this island. I think this check, my dear Pitt, affects you too strongly. The general (!!) and the troops have done their duty, and appear by the numbers lost to have fought with the greatest intrepidity; to have tried all that men could do to force their way. The commander seems broken-hearted at being forced (!!) to a retreat.
"Adieu, my dear Pitt, your ever most affectionate
"Bute."
—Chatham Correspondence, vol. i., p. 336.
[136] "Thus does history transmit the virtues of one age to another, and thus does it hold forth warning of shame."—Bolingbroke.
[137] See Appendix, [No. LXVII.]