There was in Canada the eternal cleavage in outlook
and manners between the Old World and the New, which is found in
equal strength in New England, and which was one of the chief
factors in causing the American Revolution. Vaudreuil, born at
Quebec in 1698, had climbed the official ladder step by step
until, in 1742, he had been made Governor of Louisiana, a post he
held for three years. He succeeded the Marquis Duquesne as
Governor of Canada in the year before Montcalm arrived. He meant
well but he was a vain man, always a leading figure in the small
society about him, and obsessed by a fussy self-importance. He
was not clever enough to see through flattery. The Intendant
Bigot, next to the Governor the most important man in Canada, an
able and corrupt rascal, knew how to manage the Governor and to
impose his own will upon the weaker man. Vaudreuil and his wife
between them had a swarm of needy relatives in Canada, and these
and other Canadians who sought favors from the Governor helped to
sharpen his antagonism to the officers from France. Vaudreuil
believed himself a military genius.
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