The Battle of Ste. Foye

DURING the winter, in the midst

of his pressing anxieties, rumours

had not failed to reach General

Murray from time to time, of

preparations on a large scale for an attack on Quebec. Organised by the capable hand of de Levis, Montcalm's able friend and colleague, it was hoped all the fallen fortunes of the country would yet be retrieved. Several dates were named for the attempt, and tales of scaling-ladders, arms, and provisions for fifteen thousand men, showed that the Canadians were very much on the alert.

Naturally there was a great deal of patriotic zeal among the people, and this was encouraged to its height. British authority had not as yet been exercised except in the immediate vicinity of Quebec ; but the knowledge of coming events had spread throughout the country, and it may be imagined that neither without nor within the

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