[119] The Abbé de Fénélon was the half-brother of the illustrious Archbishop of Cambray, the author of "Telemachus." He was tried by Frontenac and the Superior Council for having, at the preceding Easter, preached at Montreal a violent sermon against the corvées (enforced labor) to build up Fort Frontenac, &c. He refused to acknowledge the competency of the tribunal to try him, appeared before it with his hat on, &c. Frontenac had him committed for contempt. Altogether it was a curious squabble, the decision of which was ultimately left to the French King.— (Parkman's Frontenac, p. 37, M. Faillon, _La Colonie Française, Vol. III, pp. 515, 517.)
[120] Montcalm, de Vaudreuil, de Longueuil, de Bougainville, LaCorne, de Beaujeu, Taché, de Léry, de St. Ours and others constituted this party of honourable men.
[121] MÉMOIRES sur les affaires du Canada, 1749-60.
[122] Servants, lackeys and nobodies were named store-keepers, "leur ignorance et leur bassesse ne font point un obstacle," say the Mémoires, 1749-60.
[123] "He (deCallières), says Parkman, laid before the King a plan, which had, at least, the recommendation of boldness and cheapness. This was to conquer New York with the forces already in Canada, aided only by two ships of war. The blow, he argued, should be struck at once, and the English taken by surprise. A thousand regulars and six hundred Canadian Militia should pass Lake Champlain and Lake George, in canoes and bateaux, cross to the Hudson, and capture Albany, where they would seize all the river-craft, and descend the Hudson to the town of New York, which, as Callières states, had then about two hundred houses and four hundred fighting men. The two ships were to cruise at the mouth of the Harbour, and wait the arrival of the troops, which was to be made known to them by concerted signals, whereupon they were to enter and aid in the attack. The whole expedition, he thought, might be accomplished in a month, so that by the end of October, the King would be master of the country….
It will be well to observe what were the instructions of the King towards the colony which he proposed to conquer. They were as follows: If any Catholics were found in New York, they might be left undisturbed, provided that they took an oath of allegiance to the King. Officers, and other persons who had the means of paying ransoms, were to be thrown into prison. All lands in the colony, except those of Catholics swearing allegiance, were to be taken from the owners, and granted under feudal tenure to the French officers and soldiers. All property, public or private, was to be seized, a portion of it given to the grantees of the land, and the rest sold on account of the King. Mechanics and other workmen might, at the discretion of the commanding officer) be kept as prisoners to work at fortifications and do other labor. The rest of the English and Dutch inhabitants, men, women, and children were to be carried out of the colony, and dispersed in New England, Pennsylvania or other places, in such manner, that they could not combine in any attempt to recover their property and their country. And that the conquest might be perfectly secure, the nearest settlements of New England were to be destroyed, and those more remote, laid under contribution.—(Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV, p. 187-9.)
[124] See Appendix, verbo "CONQUEST IN NEW YORK."
[125] THE CHIEN D'OR A LEGEND OF QUEBEC.
[126] L'INTENDANT BIGOT.
[127] For the names of the victims and further particulars, vide 2nd Volume du Dictionnaire Généalogique, par l'Abbé Tanguay.