hus by sea and land Canada soon found herself on
the defensive.

Of Schuyler's raid nothing need be said except that he reached
Laprairie, opposite Montreal, where he killed a few men and destroyed
the crops (August 23, 1690). It was a small achievement and produced
no result save the disappointment of New York that an undertaking upon
which much money and effort had been expended should terminate so
ingloriously. But the siege of Quebec by {124} Phips, though it
likewise ended in failure, is a much more famous event, and deserves to
be described in some detail.

The colony of Massachusetts mustered its forces for a great and unusual
exploit. Earlier in the same year a raid upon the coasts of Acadia had
yielded gratifying results. The surrender of Port Royal without
resistance (May 11, 1690) kindled the Puritan hope that a single summer
might see the pestiferous Romanists of New France driven from all their
strongholds. Thus encouraged, Boston put forth its best energies and
did not shrink from incurring a debt of L50,000, which in the
circumstances of Massachusetts was an enormous sum. Help was expected
from England, but none came, and the fleet sailed without it, in full
confidence that Quebec would fall before the assault of the colonists
alone.

The fleet, which sailed in August, numbered thirty-four ships, carrying
twenty-three hundred men and a considerable equipment. Sir William
Phips, the leader of the expedition, was not an Englishman by birth,
but a New Englander of very humble origin who owed his advancement to a
robust physique and unlimited assurance. He was unfitted for his
command, both because he lacked experience {125} in fighting such foes
as he was about to encounter, and because he was completely ignorant of
the technical difficulties involved in conducting a large,
miscellaneous fleet through the tortuous channels of the lower St
Lawrence. This ignorance resulted in such loss of time that he arrived
before Quebec amid the tokens of approaching winter. It was the 16th
of October when he rounded the island of Orleans and brought his ships
to anchor under the citadel. Victory could only be secured by sudden
success. The state of the season forbade siege operations which
contemplated starvation of the garrison.

Hopeful that the mere sight of his armada would compel surrender, Phips
first sent an envoy to Frontenac under protection of the white flag.
This messenger after being blindfold