It has been said that their hearts warmly sympathized with the struggle of the Americans for freedom, and that they believed that to aid Great Britain would be to strike a blow at liberty itself. The facts of the case do not justify any such assumption. Looking back upon that memorable rebellion by the light of the hundred years which have elapsed since its occurrence, there are not many right-thinking persons of British blood who will be disposed to regret its issue. But the "shot heard round the world," of which Emerson so eloquently sings, produced no echo in the hearts of French Canadians. They were simply indifferent. They had no stomach to draw their swords and perform military service in behalf of a cause which did not appeal to their enthusiasm. Whatever sympathies they had were undoubtedly enlisted on the side of the Americans, but these were too weak to impel them to endanger their lives. They had enjoyed an interval of peace, and many of their most pressing grievances had been redressed. They owed a debt of gratitude to their Governor, and they were willing to repay it by passive fealty; but they were as lukewarm as erst were the people of Laodicea. It was in vain that the seigniors mustered their tenants and expatiated on the nature of feudal services, and the risk of confiscation which they would incur by refusing to render such services in this hour of need. They almost to a man denied the right of their seigniors to exact military services from them. In a word, they refused to fight. The Governor was thus placed in an extremity. He had only two regiments of troops at his disposal--the 7th and the 26th. Their combined strength was about 850 men. The British colonists were even less disposed to draw sword than the native Canadians. The American Congress believed the Canadian people to be favourable to their cause, and resolved to strike a blow which should be decisive. They despatched a force of nearly 2,000 men into Canada by way of the River Richelieu, under the command of Generals Schuyler and Montgomery. Another expedition, consisting of a force of 1,100 men, under Colonel Benedict Arnold, was simultaneously despatched from Boston to Quebec by way of the Rivers Kennebec and Chaudière. The campaign was not badly planned. The larger of these forces was to capture the forts on the way from Albany to Montreal. Upon reaching Montreal that town was to be captured and invested, after which a descent was to be made to Quebec and a junction formed with Arnold.