He gave also instructions to the effect that all his papers be delivered in to the hands of M. de Lévis, for whom he expressed the highest regard. Having thus done with all earthly cares, he devoted his last moments to the thoughts. of God and eternity. During that gloomy night he was often heard praying aloud, and thanking the merciful Providence for having favoured him, in his hour of defeat, with the blessed consolations of faith. () At five o'clock in the morning he breathed his last.

All was confusion in Quebec, and no workman could be found to make a coffin for the illustrious dead. Seeing this, an old servant of the Ursulines, called the "Bonhomme Michel," — weeping mightily, says the annalist of the Monastery,-contrived to make with a few boards a kind of shapeless box. It was in this rude and humble bier that the mortal remains of Louis de Montcalm, Marquis de St-Véran, lieutenant-general of the King of France, commander of the Order of St. Louis, were laid. On the evening of that day, the 14th of September, — at nine o'clock, the funeral procession made its way through the dark streets, lined with shattered houses and walls towards the Ursuline's chapel, the only one that had not been utterly ruined by the English shells. M. de Ramezay, the officers of the garrison, and a gathering of citizens including many women and children, followed the coffin in a dismal silence, their hearts burdened with grief and anxiety. The sad ceremony was presided over by M. Resche, the parish priest of Notre-Dame, assisted by canons Collet and Cugnet.

(1) Les Ursulines de Québec, Vol. III, p. 7.

They sang the Libera in which the eight nuns present behind their grating, joined their trembling voices. A few torches shed their pale light on the melancholy scene. The coffin was lowered into the grave that had been dug under the floor through which a shell had made a large excavation and all was over. Once more had been fulfilled the historical omen: "La guerre est le tombeau des Montcalm." (1)

Montcalm's loss was mourned by the whole army and country. The letters and writings of Levis, Bougainville, Johnstone, Bernier, Foligny, Mgr. de Pontbriand, gave expression to the universal sorrow. But there was one exception. Vaudreuil's spiteful rivalry was not to be stopped by the death of Montcalm. As soon as he had reached Montreal, he began to cast aspersions on and to defame the memory of the man whose lips were sealed for ever. Speaking of the departed general, he wrote to the Minister of Marine: "From the moment of Monsieur de Montcalm's arrival in this colony, down to that of his death, he did not cease to sacrifice everything to his boundless ambition. He sowed dissension among the troops, tolerated the most indecent talk against the government, attached to himself the most disreputable persons, used means to corrupt the most virtuous, and when he could not succeed became their cruel enemy." These shameful attacks against a dead man, were as calumnious as they were ungenerous. To use Parkman's expressions, "when Vaudreuil charges Montcalm with attaching to

(1) War is the tomb of the Montcalms.

, et mois de Septembre, a ete inhume, dans l'Eglise des Religieuses Ursulines de Québec, deur de l'Ordre Royal et Militaire de St Louis, Commandant en Chef des Troupes de Terre en l'Amé. Haut et puissant Seigneur Louis Jos. Marquis de Montcalm, Lieutenant-Général des Armées du Roy, Comman

himself the most disreputable persons and using means to corrupt the most virtuous," the true interpretation of his words, is that the former were disreputable because they disliked him (the Governor), and the latter virtuous because they were his partisans." (1)

We have mentioned one exception. We should have mentioned two. The notorious Bigot tried also to cover Montcalm's grave with ignomy. When he was put on his trial in France on account of his robberies in Canada, he had the audacity, in his factums, to call the late general an informer. But the mother and the wife of Montcalm asked leave to appear in the case as plaintiffs, and, at their request, this base imputation was suppressed as calumnious.

Besides his mother and wife, Montcalm had left five children: two sons and three daughters. The King's favours were continued to his family. Madame de Montcalm retained part of her husband's pension of 4,000 francs; each of the children received a pension of 900 francs. The eldest son succeeded his father at the head of his regiment, and the younger, who was a knight of Malta, was appointed captain of a company in the same body. In 1773, the King granted to one of Montcalm's daughters, who was to be married to the viscount de Damas, a pension of 4,000 francs. During the french Revolution, when the National Assembly enacted the suppression of all pensions, a Member of the House asked that an exception be made in favour of the Montcalm family. " M. de Montcalm's services," he said, "made our name famous in the New as well as in the Old

(1) Montcalm and Wolfe, vol. II, p. 320,