The thanks of parliament were voted to Amherst and
Boscawen. Boscawen received them in person, being a member
of the House of Commons. The speaker read the address,
which was couched in the usual verbiage worked up by one
of the select committees employed on such occasions. But
Boscawen replied, as men of action should, with fewer
words and much more force and point: 'Mr Speaker, Sir,
I am happy to have been able to do my duty. I have no
words to express my sense of the distinguished reward
that has been conferred upon me by this House; nor can
I thank you, Sir, enough for the polite and elegant manner
in which you have been pleased to convey its resolution
to me.'
The American colonists in general rejoiced exceedingly
that Louisbourg and all it meant had been exterminated.
But, especially in New England, their joy was considerably
tempered by the reflection that the final blow had been
delivered without their aid, and that the British arms
had met with a terrible reverse at Ticonderoga, where
the American militia had outnumbered the old-country
regulars by half as much again.
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