And So Invincible Was His Fortitude That Not Even
The Severity Of This Mortal Stroke Could Abate His Gallant Spirit Or
Alter His Intrepid Bearing.
Supported by two grenadiers - one at each
side of his horse - he re-entered the city; and in reply to some woman
who, on seeing blood flow from his wounds as he rode down St. Louis
street, on his way to the chateau, [210] exclaimed, Oh, mon Dieu!
mon Dieu!
Le marquis est tue! courteously assured them that he was
not seriously hurt, and beg them not to distress themselves on his
account. Ce n'est rien! Ce n'est rien! Ne vous affligez pas pour
moi, mes bonnes amies. The last words of WOLFE - imperishably
enshrined in history - excite, after the lapse of a century, the
liveliest admiration and sympathy, and similar interest may, perhaps
be awakened by the narrative of the closing scene in the eventful
career of his great opponent.
On the 24th of March, 1761, the French troops who had served in Canada
under Montcalm, through M de Bougainville, applied to the British
Government for leave to raise a monument to the illustrious dead hero.
The British Government, through Mr. Pitt, sent back to Paris on the
10th April, 1761, a graceful letter of acquiescence. The inscription
had been prepared by the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles
Lettres. Unfortunately the marble on which the inscription was
engraved by some cause or other never reached Canada. However, in
1831, Lord Aylmer erected over the tomb of the marquis, in the
Ursuline Convent, a simple mural tablet of white marble, having the
following concise and beautiful epitaph from his Excellency's own
pen -
HONNEUR
a
MONTCALM
Le Destin en lui derobant la Victoire
L'a recompense par une mort glorieuse.
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