18 Round about a throne, where, sitting In state his glory well befitting, The ruler of the realm was seen. And all with pearl and ruby glowing Through which came flowing, flowing, flowing, And sparkling evermore, A troop of Echoes, whose sweet duty Was but to sing, In voices of surpassing beauty, The wit and wisdom of their king. But evil things, in robes of sorrow, Assailed the monarch's high estate And travelers now within that valley While, like a ghastly, rapid river, A hideous throng rush out forever, 5 LXXXII. THE HEIGHTS OF ABRAHAM. BY FRANCIS PARKMAN.' For full two hours the procession of boats, borne on the current, steered silently down the St. Lawrence. The stars were visible, but the night was moonless and sufficiently dark. The general was in one of the foremost boats, and near him was a young midshipman, John Robinson, afterwards Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. He used to tell in his later life how Wolfe, with a low voice, repeated Gray's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard" to the officers about him. Probably it was to relieve the intense 10 strain of his thoughts. Among the rest was the verse which his own fate was soon to illustrate The paths of glory lead but to the grave." "Gentlemen," he said, as his recital ended, "I would rather have written those lines than take Quebec." None 15 were there to tell him that the hero is greater than the poet. As they neared their destination the tide bore them in towards the shore, and the mighty wall of rock and forest towered in darkness on their left. The dead stillness was suddenly broken by the sharp "Qui vive?" of a French sentry, invisible in the thick gloom. "France!" answered a Highland officer of Fraser's regiment, from one of the boats of the light infantry. He had served in Holland, and spoke French fluently. "Á quel régiment ?”1 5 25 He knew "De la Reine,” replied the Highlander. that a part of that corps was with Bougainville. The sentry, expecting the convoy of provisions, was satisfied, and did not ask for the password. 5 Soon after, the foremost boats were passing the heights of Samos, when another sentry challenged them, and they could see him through the darkness running down to the edge of the water, within range of a pistol shot. In answer to his questions, the same officer replied in French, "Provision boats. Don't make a noise, the English will 10 hear us." In fact, the sloop of war Hunter was anchored in the stream not far off. This time, again, the sentry let them pass. In a few moments they rounded the headland above the Anse du Foulon. There was no sentry there. The strong current swept the boats of 15 the light infantry a little below the intended landingplace. They disembarked on a narrow strand at the foot of heights as steep as a hill covered with trees can be. The twenty-four volunteers led the way, climbing with what silence they might, closely followed by a 20 much larger body. When they reached the top, they saw in the dim light a cluster of tents at a short distance, and immediately made a dash at them. Vergor leaped from bed and tried to run off, but was shot in the heel and captured. His men, taken by surprise, 25 made little resistance. One or two were caught, and the rest fled. The main body of troops waited in their boats by the edge of the strand. The heights near by were cleft by a great ravine choked with forest-trees, and in its depths & ran a little brook which, swollen by the late rains, fell plashing in the stillness over a rock. Other than this no sound could reach the strained ear of Wolfe, but the gurgle of the tide and the cautious climbing of his ad 30 vance parties as they mounted the steeps at some little distance from where he sat listening. At length from the top came a sound of musket shots, followed by loud huzzas, and he knew that his men were masters of the position. The word was given; the troops leaped from 5 the boats and scaled the heights, some here, some there, clutching at trees and bushes, their muskets slung at their backs. Tradition still points out the place, near the mouth of the ravine, where the foremost reached the top. Wolfe said to an officer near him, “You can10 try it, but I don't think you'll get up." He himself, however, found strength to drag himself up with the rest. The narrow, slanting path on the face of the heights had been made impassable by trenches and abatis, but all obstructions were soon cleared away, and then the15 ascent was easy. In the gray of the morning the long file of red coated soldiers moved quickly upward, and formed in order on the plateau above. Before many of them had reached the top, cannon was heard close on the left. It was the battery at Sa-20 mos firing on the boats in the rear and the vessels descending from Cape Rouge. A party was sent to silence it. This was soon effected, and the more distant battery at Sillery was next attacked and taken. As fast as the boats were emptied they returned for the troops left on 25 board the vessels, and for those waiting on the southern shore under Colonel Burton. The day broke in clouds and threatening rain. Wolfe's battalions were drawn up along the crest of the heights. No enemy was in sight, though a body of Canadians 30 had sallied from the town and moved along the strand towards the landing place, whence they were quickly driven back. He had achieved the most critical part of his enterprise, yet the success that he coveted placed him in imminent danger. On one side was the garrison of Quebec and the army of Beauport, and Bougainville was on the other. Wolfe's alternative was victory or ruin; for if he should be overwhelmed by a combined attack, retreat would be hopeless. His feelings no man s can know, but it would be safe to say that hesitation or doubt had no place in them. He went to reconnoiter the ground, and soon came to the Plains of Abraham, so called from Abraham Martin, a pilot known as Maitre Abraham, who had owned a 10 piece of land here in the early times of the colony. The Plains were a tract of grass, tolerably level in most parts, patched here and there with cornfields, studded with clumps of bushes, and forming a part of the high plateau at the eastern end of which Quebec stood. On 15 the south it was bounded by the declivities along the St. Lawrence; on the north by those along the St. Charles, or rather along the meadows through which that lazy stream crawled like a writhing snake. At the place that Wolfe chose for his battlefield the plateau was less than 20 a mile wide. Thither the troops advanced, marched by files till they reached the ground, and then wheeled to form their line of battle, which stretched across the plateau and faced the city. It consisted of six battalions and the detached 25 grenadiers from Louisbourg, all drawn up in ranks three deep. Its right wing was near the brink of the heights along the St. Lawrence, but the left could not reach those along the St. Charles. On this side a wide space was perforce left open, and there was danger of being 30 outflanked. To prevent this, Brigadier Townshend was stationed here with two battalions, drawn up at right angles with the rest, and fronting the St. Charles. The battalion of Webb's regiment, under Colonel Burton, |