1690.] MISTAKE OF MASSACHUSETTS. 285 



Massachusetts had made her usual mistake. She 

 had confidently believed that ignorance and inex- 

 perience could match the skill of a tried veteran, and 

 that the rude courage of her fishermen and farmers 

 could triumph without discipline or leadership. 

 The conditions of her material prosperity were 

 adverse to efficiency in war. A trading republic, 

 without trained officers, may win victories ; but it 

 wins them either by accident or by an extravagant 

 outlay in money and life. 



ernment, it fell for a time to the value of from fourteen to sixteen 

 shillings in the pound. 



In the Bibliotheque Nationale is the original draft of a remarkable 

 map, by the engineer Villeneuve, of which a facsimile is before me. It 

 represents in detail the town and fortifications of Quebec, the surround- 

 ing country, and the positions of the English fleet and land forces, and 

 is entitled PLAN DE QUEBEC, et de ses Enuirons, EN LA NOU- 

 VELLE FRANCE, ASSIEGE PAR LPS ANGLOIS, h 16 cTOc- 

 tobre 1690 jusqu'au 22 dud. mois qu'ils s'en afferent, appres auoir este bien 

 battus PAR M r . LE COMTE DE FRONTENAC, gouuemeur general 

 da Pays. 



