Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Memoir of General Montgomery
Should my good fortune give me success, I shall return home as soon as possible. I have lost the ambition which once sweetened a military life - a sense of duty is the only spring of action. I must leave the field to those who have a more powerful incentive. I think our affairs at present are in so prosperous a situation that I may venture to indulge myself in that sort of life which alone gives me pleasure. Should the scene change, I shall always be ready to contribute my mite to the public safety.
In thus Speaking of our affairs, he must clearly have been referring to the prosperous situation of the revolutionary government rather than to any hopeful prospect he may have perceived in his operations before Quebec. Alas for him and his adopted country, what a change a fortnight brought to those bright dreams of release from duties! Yet the concluding sentence in this letter to his father-in-law betrays the principal cause of his failure in the attack on Quebec, the force of which, perhaps, his un?inching spirit underestimated. Speaking of his small army, he writes The unhappy passion for going home which prevails among the troops has left me almost too weak to undertake the business I am about. But this is anticipating an explanation of causes which will come later on.
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