Literature.

THE SCOT IN NEW FRANCE. By J. MACPHERSON LE MOINE, Quebec. A Review, by Captain COLIN MACKENZIE, F.S.A. Scot., &c.

Ir is not always a pleasant task to criticise one's friends; for the critic, to deserve his name, must feel that he has a duty to discharge to the public, before which even the ties of friendship must give way. But it is a real pleasure when he can review the work of his confrere and not only do his "spiriting gently," but announce that the task has been well performed, If it be true, as Lord Byron avers, that " a book's a book, although there's nothing in't," may not a pamphlet nearly aspire to the title of a book, when not only is its matter clearly and succinctly laid before the reader, but when it further possesses a copious store of valuable quotations always to the point? Such is the brochure entitled "The Scot in New France," compiled by Mr J. M. Le Moine, president of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, under whose auspices it is published. No one could perhaps have been found better fitted to undertake this "ethnological study," as it is called, than Mr Le Moine, combining as he does in his own person the Norman blood of old France with that of the Gael of Albyn. The family of Mr Le Moine originally came from Pistre, near Rouen, in Normandy, and were closely connected with another famous Norman-Canadian family-the Le Moines, Barons de Longueuil. His maternal grandfather was Daniel Macpherson, who was born in Inverness in 1752. Mr Macpherson emigrated to America, but when the Colonies threw off their allegiance to the mother country, he was one of those staunch loyalists who gave up the land of their adoption and removed to Canada, sooner than fail in the duty which they conceived they owed to their sovereign. Mr Macpherson first settled in Sorel, where he married a Miss Kelly; and afterwards engaged in fisheries and agriculture at Douglastown with great success. Subsequently he started a large fishing establishment at Point Saint Peter, Gaspé, and died at Saint Thomas, Montmagny, in June 1840, aged 88 years. Mr John Macpherson Le Moine, who is well known at the Canadian Bar, has made the study of the history of his native city of Quebec a "labour of love," and the labour also of no inconsiderable portion of a busy life; and although the present writer had only once the pleasure of meeting him, still for several years, before and since a correspondence has been kept up betwixt, them, chiefly on matters connected with the part played by the Scots nation in the history of Canada. The correspondence first commenced when General Stewart's statement, that Fraser's Highlanders wore the kilt in wintertime during their service in Canada, having been doubted, Mr Le Moine, with some slight assistance from the writer, was successful in upholding General Stewart's character for truthfulness. This, therefore, will sufficiently explain the reasons which induced the writer to accede to his friend's request, and make "The Scot in New France" known to the reading public of the Highlands, through the columns of the Celtic Magazine.

Mr Le Moine opens his "Inaugural Lecture" to the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec with a reference to the discovery of Canada by Jaques Cartier, and enquires, "Were Cartier's followers all French?" Although emphasis is laid upon such names as Michel Herue and Herue Henry, I fail to see in them any evidence of Scots nationality. The most likely compatriot in the list is one Jehan Go, who, for all we can say, may have been a descendant of the famous Hal o' the Wynd, who fought for his own hand. Guesses are, however, of but little worth from a literary point of view, and as Got is the name borne by, perhaps, the most talented actor at present on the French stage, it is much more reasonable to assign a Gallic descent to Jehan Go, Cartier's able-bodied seaman, rather than to claim him as our own countryman--John Gow.

Mr Le Moine, however, reaches terra-firma when he introduces us to "Maitre Abraham "—Abraham Martin dit l'Ecossais-the King's Saint Lawrence pilot. Master Abraham, to whom belonged the level tract called from him the "Plains of Abraham," little imagined when in the year 1664, at the ripe age of 75, he lay upon his deathbed, what doughty deeds would be done by his countrymen on those same plains, a little less than one hundred years later. Further on we come to mention of Master Abraham's contemporary, Captain Louis Kirke, a Scots Calvinist in the service of Louis XIII., who, in 1629, hoisted his standard on the bastions of Fort Saint Louis, as the "Master of Quebec."

Mr Le Moine now allows a considerable lapse of time to intervene in his narrative, without comment, and abruptly brings his readers to the last years of French supremacy in Canada. Two or three pages are devoted to the adventures of Major Stobo, a Glaswegian, chiefly gleaned from his Memoirs, printed at Pittsburg in 1854. These being inaccessible to the majority of the readers of the Celtic Magazine, I may perhaps be pardoned for reproducing a portion of them, in Mr Le Moine's own words :

Five years previous to the battle of the Plains of Abraham, one comes across three genuine Scots in the streets of Quebec-all however prisoners of war, taken in the border raids-as such under close surveillance. One, a youthful and handsome officer of Virginia riflemen, aged 27 years, a friend of Governor Dinwiddie, had been allowed the range of the fortress, on parole. His good looks, education, smartness (we use the word advisedly), and misfortunes seem to have created much sympathy for the captive, but canny Scot. He has a warm welcome in many houses-the French ladies even plead his cause; le beau Capitaine is asked out; no entertainment is considered complete without Captain-later on Major Robert Stobo. The two others are Lieutenant Stevenson, of Rogers' Rangers, another Virginian corps, and a Leith carpenter, of the name of Clarke. Stobo, after more attempts than one, eluded the French sentries, and still more dangerous foes to the peace of mind of a handsome bachelor— the ladies of Quebec.

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A plan of escape between him, Stevenson, and Clarke was carried out on 1st May 1759. 'Major Stobo met the fugitives under a wind-mill, probably the old wind-mill on the grounds of the General Hospital Convent Having stolen a birch canoe, the party paddled it all night, and, after incredible fatigue and danger, they passed Isleaux-Coudres, Kamouraska, and landed below this spot, shooting two Indians in self defence, whom Clarke buried after having scalped them, saying to the Major: 'Good sir, by your permission, these same two scalps, when I come to New York, will sell for twenty-four good pounds: with this I'll be right merry, and my wife right beau.' They then murdered the Indians' faithful dog, because he howled, and buried him with his masters." It was shortly after this that they met the laird of the Kamouraska Isles, le Chevalier de la Durantaye, who said that the best Canadian blood ran in his veins, and that he was of kin with the mighty Duc de Mirapoix. Had the mighty Duke, however, at that moment seen his Canadian cousin steering the four-oared boat,

loaded with wheat, he might have felt but a very qualified admiration for the majesty of his stately demeanour and his nautical savoir faire. Stobo took possession of the Chevalier's pinnace, and made the haughty laird, nolens volens, row him with the rest of the crew, telling him to row away, and that had the Great Louis himself been in the boat at that moment, it would be his fate to row a British subject thus. "At these last mighty works," says the Memoirs, "a stern resolution sat upon his countenance, which the Canadian beheld and with reluctance temporised." After a series of adventures, and dangers of every kind, the fugitives succeeded in capturing a French boat. Next they surprised a French sloop, and, after a most hazardous voyage, they finally, in their prize, landed at Louisbourg, to the general amazement. Stobo missed the English fleet; but took passage two days after in a vessel leaving for Quebec, where he safely arrived to tender his services to the immortal Wolfe, who gladly availed himself of them. According to the Memoirs, Stobo used daily to set out to reconnoitre with Wolfe; in this patriotic duty, whilst standing with Wolfe on the deck of a frigate, opposite the Falls of Montmorency, some French shots were nigh carrying away his "decorated" and gartered legs.

Stobo next points out the spot, at Silleny, where Wolfe landed, and soon after was sent with despatches, via the St Lawrence, to General Amherst; but, during the trip, the vessel was overhauled and taken by a French privateer, the despatches having been previously consigned to the deep. Stobo might have swung at the yard-arm in this new predicament, had his French valet divulged his identity with the spy of Fort du Quesne; but fortune again stepped in to preserve the adventurous Scot. There were already too many prisoners on board of the French privateer. A day's provision is allowed the English vessel, which soon landed Stobo at Halifax, from whence he joined General Amherst, "many a league across the country." He served under Amherst on his Lake Champlain expedition, and there he finished the campaign; which ended, he begs to go to Williamsburg, the then capital of Virginia.

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It seems singular that no command of importance appears to have been given to the brave Scot. On the 18th February 1760, Major Stobo embarked from New York for England, on board the packet with Colonel West, and several other gentlemen. One would imagine he had exhausted the vicissitudes of fortune. no-A French privateer boards them in the midst of the English Channel. Major again consigns to the deep his letters, all except one, which he forgot, in the pocket of his coat, under the arm-pit. The despatch forgotten in his coat, on delivery to the great Pitt, brought back a letter from Pitt to Amherst. With this testimonial, Stobo sailed for New York, 24th April 1760, to rejoin the army engaged in the invasion of Canada; here end the memoirs.

"It has been suggested," say the Memoirs, "that Major Stobo was Smollet's original for Captain Lismahago (the favoured suitor of Miss Tabitha Bramble) in the adventures of Humphrey Clinker. It is known, by a letter from David Hume to Smollet, that Stobo was a friend of the latter author."

Mr Le Moine next proceeds to condemn the policy which led France to withhold aid from the Jacobites, and which thus brought about the failure of the risings, initiated for the purpose of obtaining the re-establishment of the Stuart dynasty. The following sentences will serve to show the author's line of argument :-" Monsieur Michel tells us that the Scots, in 1420, landed in thousands in France to fight the English. In 1759, we shall also find some thousands in America, enlisted to fight the French. About that time great changes had taken place in Scotland. The disaster of Culloden, in 1746, had opened out new vistas, Fate had that year set irrevocably its seal on a brave people; the indifference of France had helped on the crisis. Scotchmen had had occasion to test the wise saying,Put not your faith in Princes.' The rugged land of the Gael had been left to itself to cope with the Sassenach. Old France was forgetful of her pledged friendship-of her treaty of 1420; what was worse- -of more recent promises, This memory had rankled in the breast of the fierce children of the mist.' A desire for revenge-such after

the defeat of Culloden, was one of the motives stimulating the conduct of Highlanders with regard to France. Trusting to their swords and welltempered dirks, they sought their fortunes on American soil, readily entering into the scheme to dislodge the French from Louisbourg and Quebec; in this deadly encounter the ardent Scot showed himself as true in his allegiance to Britain as he had been to France, when his faith was plighted and his arm raised, to smite the then traditional enemy of France -England."*

The author then discloses another side of the question-Jacobite officers, such as Tryon, Maceachren, and the Chevalier Johnstone, serving with the French forces, and the latter, as aide-de-camp to General de Levi, fighting against his countrymen upon the plains of Abraham. We also learn that the Chevalier (whose admirable account of the '45 is so wellknown) was the author of "Two Siege Diaries and a Dialogue of the Campaigns of 1759-60 in Canada." A long account is also given of his adventures, which are already too notorious to deserve reproduction here.

Mr Le Moine now approaches the final struggle which culminated in Wolfe's victory, and fated Canada to become an appanage of the British Crown. He prefaces this with a list of officers, and some remarks upon the celebrated Fraser's Highlanders (the first of the three 78th's),† which, being taken from Stewart's Sketches, need not be touched upon; but the following remarks and anecdotes are well worthy of repetition :

If at times one feels pained at the ferocity which marked the conflict, and which won for Fraser's Highlanders at Quebec the name of Les Sauvages d'Ecosse, one feels relieved, seeing that the meeting was inevitable. The kilted Highlanders of 1759 were popularly known among the peasants as "Les Petites Jupes "—(i.e., Little Petticoats). Most exaggerated stories were circulated as to their ferocity.

He next goes on to quote Stewart, I. 303, in evidence of this; but here he errs, as the passage he gives is taken from "Letters from Guadaloupe," and refers simply to the notions entertained of the Highlanders, by the French inhabitants of that island.

After briefly mentioning that Fraser's Highlanders distinguished themselves at the taking of Louisbourg in 1758, Mr Le Moine continues:"A singular incident marked the engagement at Carillon on the 8th July

* Mr Le Moine's argument is borne out by the following quotation I make from a note in Stewart :—“ An old Highland gentleman of seventy years of age, who had accompanied Fraser's regiment as a volunteer, was particularly noticed for the dex. terity and force with which he used his broadsword (at Louisbourg). This gentleman was Malcolm Macpherson of Phoiness, in the county of Inverness. A long and ruin. ous law-suit, and, as he himself said, a desire of being revenged on the French for their treacherous promises in 1745, made him take the field as a soldier. A near relation of his of the same name, when well advanced in years (for he had joined the Rebellion in 1745), acted nearly in a similar manner."-C. M.

The three Regiments are as follows:-(1), The 78th Fraser's Highlanders, raised in 1757 by Simon Fraser, Master of Lovat, which must not be confounded with the 71st, or Fraser's Highlanders, raised by the same gentleman in 1775 and disbanded in 1783. The men of the former regiment mostly settled in Canada, as will be seen from Mr Le Moine's narrative. (2), The 78th, Seaforth's Highlanders (now the 72d), raised in 1778, by Kenneth Mackenzie, Earl of Seaforth. (3), The 78th Highlanders, Ross-shire Buffs, raised by Francis Humberston Mackenzie, Lord Seaforth, in 1793. -C. M.

1758, where a Scotch regiment suffered fearfully." As proof of this he quotes the following from Garneau's History of Canada:— "The British Grenadiers and Highlanders there persevered in the attack for three hours. without flinching or breaking rank. The Highlanders, above all, under Lord John Murray covered themselves with glory. They formed the troops confronting the Canadians, their light and picturesque costume. distinguishing them from all other soldiers amid the flames and smoke. The corps lost half of its men, and twenty-five of its officers were killed or severely wounded."* The next quotation is from Maple Leaves, a work also from the pen of Mr Le Moine, comprising anecdotes and stories illustrative of Canadian history and folk-lore :

Some Highlanders taken prisoners by the French and Canadians huddled together on the battlefield, and expecting to be cruelly treated, looked on in mournful silence. Presently a gigantic French officer walked up to them, and whilst exchanging in a severe tone some remarks in French with some of his men, suddenly addressed them in Gaelic. Surprise in the Highlanders soon turned to positive horror. Firmly believing no Frenchman could ever speak Gaelic, they concluded that his Satanic Majesty in person was before them--it was a Jacobite serving in the French army.

Mr Le Moine then reverts to Fraser's Highlanders, and their appearance at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.

Of the conduct of the Regiment on that eventful 13th September, an eye-witness, Malcolm Fraser, then a Lieutenant in this corps, has left an excellent narrative.+ From it we give the following extracts :-"After pursuing the French to the very gates of the town, our regiment was ordered to form, fronting the town on the ground where the French formed first; at this time the rest of the army came up in good order. General Murray having then put himself at the head of our regiment, ordered them to fall to the left and march through the bush of wood towards the General Hospital, where they got a great gun or two to play upon us from the town, which, however, did no damage, but we had a few men killed and officers wounded by some skulking fellows, with small arms, from the bushes and behind the houses of the suburbs of St Louis and St John." We shall interrupt this quotation of Lieutenant Fraser's journal to insert some details, very recently furnished to us, by our respected townsman, John Fraser, Esq., better known as Long John Fraser; his memory is still green despite the frost of many winters. "In my youth," says Mr Fraser, "I boarded with a very aged militiaman who had fought at the battle of the Plains; his name was Joseph Trahan. In 1759 Trahan was aged 18 years. Frequently has this old gossip talked to me about the incidents of the fight. I can well recollect old Trahan used to say how Montcalm looked before the engagement. He was riding a dark or black horse in front of our lines, bearing his sword high in the air, in the attitude of encouraging the men to do their duty. He wore a uniform with large sleeves, and the one covering the arm he held in the air, had fallen back, disclosing the white linen of his wristband. When he was wounded a rumour spread that he was killed; a panic ensued, and the soldiers rushed promiscuously from the Buttes a nepveu towards the Coteau

* The Highlanders under Lord John Murray were no other than the famous Black Watch, and what is above called "the engagement at Carilton," is better known to Highlanders as "the disaster of Ticonderoga.' The Highlanders cut through the abbatis with their claymores, and some, driving their dirks between the stones of the wall, succeeded in mounting the fort, but they were eventually called back by General Abercromby. The 42d lost 8 officers, 9 sergeants, and 297 men killed (or more than one-half of the killed of the whole attacking force); and 17 officers, 10 sergeants, and 306 men wounded. The enemy, who were completely sheltered in the fort and outworks, numbered 5,000 men, of whom 2,800 were French regular troops of the line.C. M.

+ Published under the auspices of the "Literary and Historical Society of Quebec -1867-8."