A half-century of conflict. France and England in North America. Part ...

140 LOUISBOURG TAKEN. [1745.by the ships, jointly with the land force, no doubt hastenedthe surrender. Beauharnois, governor of Canada,ascribes the defeat tothe extreme activity withwhich the New England men pushed their attacks.The Hcibitant de Louishourg says that each of thetwo commanders was eager that the keys of thefortress should be delivered to him, and not to hiscolleague ;that before the surrender, Warren sent anofficer to persuade the French that it would be fortheir advantage to make their submission to himrather than to Pepperrell ; and that it was in fact somade. Wolcott, on the other hand, with the bestmeans of learning the truth, says in his diary thatPepperrell received the keys at the South Gate.The report that it was the British commodore, andnot their own general, to whom Louisboui-g surrendered,made a prodigious stir among the inhabitantsof New England, who had the touchinesscommon to small and ambitious peoples ; and as theyhad begun the enterprise and borne most of itsburdens and dangers, they thought themselves entitledto the chief credit of it.Pepperrell was blamedas lukewarm for the honor of his country because hedid not demand the keys and reject thecapitulationif they were refused. After all this ebullition itappeared that the keys were in hishands, for when,soon after the siege, Shirley came to Louishourg,Pepperrell formally presented them to him, in presenceofthe soldiers.Warren no doubt thought that he had a right to