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^^ts^im m i|e §tkmt of C|e Canaks, 
 
 ON THE 
 
 MOST ECOimmCAL PROCIPLES OF BLOOD XM TREASURE* 
 
 BY A. W. PLAYFAIR, LIEUT.-COLONIJL LANARK RiPLES. 
 WITH AN APPENDIX, .. 
 
 O.t THE SUBJECT OF THE GREAT LAKES, THEIR DEFEXCES, ETC BEIVQ A V 
 ARTICLE COPIED FROM THE "ATLANTIC JIONTHLY.-' ' 
 
 "The power that slumbers in a peasant's arm."— Napoleon. 
 ''French infantry can never be too young."— Marshal 9miK 
 
 ^. 
 
 The Editor of the. " Biilish Standard." 
 
 Sir,- In addrebding jou again on the subject 
 of our pQsition, I beg to .na'*e aXew remaiks on 
 my letter, dated 17tfi July, 1863, which, though 
 prolentous in several particulars relative to o'ur 
 critical situation, the press generally passed over 
 m silence, because, I suppose, they considered it 
 prudent not to make public our weakness or lia- 
 bilities. Under an absolute monarchy such as 
 Kussia, they would be perfectly correct in their 
 views ; but under our system of responsible -rov- 
 ernment it is quite diUerent. To carry "any 
 great measure, popujar opinion must buoy them 
 up.. Instance the Militia Bill, which upset the 
 Cartrer-Macdonald Ministry. Of course, then, 
 . the people must be convinced of their situation, 
 and the dire necessity for a National effort to 
 avert a National danger, either real or imaginary. 
 It real, hence the absolute necessity; if imagin- 
 ary, »*e err only on the safe Bide. Little more 
 than twelve months have passed, and several 
 prominent features, in that brief time, more or 
 less developed the soundness of my remaiks. 
 Ut: 1 he late catastrophe, and the committee to 
 examine and report on the solidity of the rocks 
 on the Northern side of the St. Lawrence, at 
 guebec, conftrms my opinion "that heavy shot 
 directed against those rocks would bring guns 
 -ind wall like an avalanche into the lower town." 
 M: The prepafation being made to fortify the 
 heights on the south side, pointed out by me. 
 Ihe ettcr says: "These heights are more ele- 
 vated than the Dui+am Terrace, oi- the grand 
 battery; they command part of the upper town 
 and pan of the lower, custo.n-house, shinpi„,r, 
 etc., and are not tco low to rjof^enhe citndel, 
 ivhi'.'h shots would rebound into the town." I 
 do not presume to say that these fortifications 
 are to be made in consequence of mv letter; but 
 J can say, that [ never heard of them until snn'.n 
 months alter it was written, and that I gave 
 some hints on the subject in a letter written to 
 the correspondent of the London Times, when 
 His Koyal Highue88 the Prince of Wales visited 
 
 S«f»f I oj^served, also, should the Norlh&rn 
 States of the American Uniou detlare war 
 against Gijat Britain, thousands would rush to 
 heir standard wahout a bounty to serve in a 
 war with Canada. -"^The enenues of England 
 SKfP, » ?r ^«^"/«'!S'-«ting to the United 
 States, and they would rejoice at the opportunity 
 afforded tor depriving her of any of ner U :,v,ie8.^ 
 Ihe public meetings in the United Slates show- 
 that my observations on this subject were correct, 
 and that we ought to be prepared fot every 
 emergency from without, as well us from i.icendf 
 aries within. I also rr -narked that, with breech- 
 loading rifl|3, men lying on their bellies vTas the 
 only way for the /vjilitia to receive the enemy. 
 Ihe reason is obvious : the invaders must be ex- 
 posed in advancing, and with breechloaders, 
 several more shots can be fired by each indi- 
 vidual while endeavouring to repel their (the in- 
 vaders ) advance. If they have muzzle-loadars. 
 the forces acting on the defensive must either 
 stand up to lorad or turn on th?ir backs. If they 
 stand up they assume the most attractive atti- 
 tude to the eye of the enemy, in drawin"' the 
 ramrod, ramming down, and returning it. "is it 
 not simitar to a man that beckons to another at 
 a distance, wishing to attract his attention ? HV» 
 not only attracts his attention, but he expose* 
 his person to the enemy's fire. If he loada on 
 his back, he requires more time, fires fewer shots 
 at the udvanciitg enemy, and takes up more 
 room on the ground ; the sum total of which is— a 
 less quantity of load thrown in a given time from 
 u given space and fjom a given number of men 
 at a critical moment. It was the teavv shower 
 of lead at Now Orleans, thrown from small space 
 ihat stopped the advancing British; and a 
 similar heavy shower of metal thrown by the 
 British ajainst the head of the column of the 
 French Impc-:::' Guards at Waierioo, caused 
 that column to recoil. The British were formed 
 four deep at the time. With broechloadore, the 
 men ho quite still, occupying only twonty-two 
 mches, leaning on the left olbow, graaping the 
 
w 
 
 rifle with tbe left liaiid, capping and loading 
 with the right; theii- ^reen blanket, rolled, 
 forming a restfor.their rifles, and a partial cover- 
 ing for themselves ; nearly the same as did the 
 British Light Infantry in Egypt, taking sight 
 over their knapsacks while lying on the ground. 
 In this position, they would take deliberate aim, 
 holding their breath while pulling the trigger. 
 Judging distances is the most difficult and re- 
 quires the most practice of any duty an officer has 
 to do in the field, even at n common review or 
 inspection. I saw . > regiment of th6 line inspected 
 tt short time since by Sir Fenwick Williams, and 
 "was asked at dinner by one of the officers, what 
 I thought of their appearance? I answered, 
 ''admirable! all but your distances." The 
 Montreal Volunteers marched through the streets 
 like Regulars ; but the moment they got into the 
 field, they lost their distances ; and if this is 
 difficult with a few paces, how much more so in 
 judging of the distance of tn enemy at from 100 
 to 800 yards ? >tA. meritorious officer may climb 
 the ladder offame and get to the top of his pro- 
 fession, and still be deplorably deficient in this 
 essential branch ; for in one of the engagements 
 fought in the Crimea, when the l^ussian cavalry 
 •were'advancing on Sir Colin Campbell, he ordered 
 Lis .regiment to fire a volley. A correct ac- 
 count of the battle says that the enemy was too 
 far off for the shot to reach them, and that the 
 volley did no exiicution; but a second volley, 
 fired when they had got closer, emptied some of 
 their saddles, and the rest went to the right 
 abuut. Thus, then, whatever judge of distances 
 Sir Colin might have been at other time.% he 
 missed his distance on that occasion. Ofiicers 
 judge the distance in tiring volleys, and the men 
 place their sights according to directions ; but in 
 skirmishing, und in many other insltlnces, it re- 
 quires the men to judge for themselves ; hence 
 all the men in the Regular service are taught to 
 judge distances. I have dwelt tbe longer on this 
 modt essential object with the hope of endeavor- 
 ing to convince the government of the necessity 
 of a staff of Musketry Instructors being sent to 
 Canada. It is an old and a true saying, " AV^hat 
 is worth doing at all, is worth well doing;" that 
 is, methodically — calling in art and science to our 
 ttssistanoe. 
 
 2. To hit the mark, the rifle must be held in a 
 perfectly level position ; but this can be aecom- 
 
 Elished to perfection without much practice 
 y inserting a small spirit-level transversely just 
 below the breech ; all that would be required of 
 the rifleman would be to s«e the bead when he 
 took aim, for it would only show itself when the 
 forearm was horizontal and in line with the notch 
 in the back sight. I may conclude this part of 
 my letter by merely observing, that, ns the Brit- 
 ish and French are abuut to arm troopj with 
 breech-loiideis, I was not behind the tiire in 
 recommending them for the use of our Militia 
 and Volunteers for the defence of Canada, in my 
 letter o!' 1803. 
 
 As Pali ick ; ovc 8U73 : " A weli-.Trmcd nation 
 
 is a strong nation ; and ur strong nut ion is a siit'e 
 
 nation ; and a sate nation is a peaceable nation : 
 
 she reposes in her own strength." 
 
 It is a Bolema duty for our leaders lo study 
 
 economy in blood: we have none tospar^. " If 
 we are driven by necessity into war, our enemies 
 are about 7 to 1 ; our position for defence a very 
 difficult one — length without breadth ; our stake 
 at issue enormous ; a foreign emigration filling 
 the enemy's ranks-'-ranks trained in the tented 
 field — many of them our implacable enemies, 
 with no failure to their treasury ; and so long as 
 their fanatacism lasts, and old rags can be manu- 
 factured into ppper, their pride will be gratified, 
 and they can pour out the vial of their wrath 
 against England on the heads af loyal inoffensive 
 Canadians, on Canadian soil. These are momen* 
 tons truths; and we are drifting into the vortex 
 with our eyes open, perfectly cojiteut with raising 
 a few Volunteers, which, meritorious »*s is the 
 act in the individuals that compose the com- 
 panies, is not a flash in the pan to the real neces- 
 sities of our position. Not a gun, mounted or 
 dismounted, except one, on the citadel of Que- 
 bec, but is hehind the times we live in to defend 
 our frontier towns and cities, arm our flotillas ; 
 nor have we a field piece (with the exception of 
 a few brought out at the time of the Trent affair) 
 fit to cope with the enemy iij the field, with tbe 
 stern reality before our eyes of the advantage of 
 the modern artillery of France over the Aus* 
 triaiis at the battle of Solferino, and the con- 
 tinued struggle in England and France to arm 
 their ships with rifled cannon. The correspond- 
 ent of the London Times says: "After the 
 terrible lesson of Solferino, no English force 
 should be allowed to go into action on such un- 
 equal terms as the Ausirians did." No time, 
 therefore, should be lost, if recent experiments 
 are not at variance with my assertions, in the 
 erection of establishments at Ottawa, Montreal, 
 and Quebec, for rifling the best of our old guos. 
 It may be said Kingston may be more conveni- 
 ent. True, in some respects ; but not so safe, 
 for it would also be more convenient for an 
 enemy to surprise and shell the town in its pres- 
 ent state from heavy guns afloat, and compel it 
 to surrender. Ottawa is fifty miles inland; 
 " Strong.by nature," as reported by Col. Bye to 
 Lord Wellington : a dense population around it, 
 with internal communication to Montreal, and a 
 canal to transport the guns to and from the 
 lakes. We are quite sensible that England will 
 do all that is in her power ; but it is too much 
 to expect her to dupply us with rifled guns at the 
 present, for her own safety depends on her 
 Keeping pace with France — in short, with the 
 whole continent of Europe — in this essential part 
 of her armament ; but she might send out the 
 necessary Staff, end our Provincial Government 
 join in the outlay ; for we pust not expect to 
 get off scot free from the impending scourge 
 that looms in our immediate front. The estab- 
 lished fact of ihe superiority of rifled cannon 
 over smooth bored ones shuws that what is pro- 
 posed is neither an experiment nor a specula- 
 tion, but an absolute necessity. Ttiu advan- 
 t(i;,'e3 would bo great, by placing us, in the first 
 pia.cc, more on an equality in the rieid iu pro- 
 portion to the Mumber oflour guns ; and in our 
 forts and ships a rifled .'{2-pounder would be as 
 effective as a GH pounder throwing round shot: 
 for the 32pounder would throw cylindro-conical 
 
 ' w 
 
 •■ 
 
Cl!^ 
 
 " 
 
 shot, weighing nt least 501l>s. Tlieso ;r"ns are^ 
 much handier in f'orta thun any others ; and 
 being comparatively light, vessels are thereby 
 ecabled to carry a greater num'jer of guns. 
 Thus, a vessel carrying rifled thirty-two pound- 
 ers could throw more metal at a broadside than 
 could one armed with 68-pouoder3 throwing 
 round shot. The great push in France at the 
 present time is the arming of Jhernavy with 30 
 pounder rifled guns, having grooves three inches 
 in breadlh, and an eighth of an inch in depth, 
 with a twist of one-sixth ; and I am sensible 
 that England is not far behind her. What has 
 been said of 32-pound6rs is applicable to all 
 other gnns, whatever their calibre may be. 
 From which well-ascertained facts the following 
 advantages are to be gained by having our guns 
 rifled: 1. Carry greater distance; 2. Greater 
 weight of metal; 3. Greater accyiracy iu striking 
 the object aimed at ; ^lld, 4. Greater velocity, 
 which increases the momentum. 
 
 In my former letter, 1 also observed what a 
 mark for riflemen would our militia officers 
 be in their scarlet coats, while the men were in 
 homespun grey 1 The letter reads thus : " Only 
 " think for a moment of our youths standing up 
 "in scarlet as a target for a quick-sighted rifle- 
 
 (( 
 
 man, 
 
 lying in the grass or in a corn-field, 
 " dressed 'u\ pea-green, with a telescope or re- 
 " volving rifle !" How far I am again astray, 
 let the correspondent of the New York Herald 
 before Yorktown prove. He says : 
 
 " Our skirmishers, intent m astronomers, silent as 
 lishermeri,. lie iiniJer rover ail day, like our riflemen 
 before Sebastopol. For three days now ibey httvo 
 prnotised before the rebel battrtes. 'Numerous glasses 
 observe every movement made ; and, if an adventu- 
 rous rebel indulges in a peep, he is ot'coitrse mstantly 
 wen and in t.intly announced. ' There'.^ a head !' says 
 one, and instantly five or six begin lo hunt for it 
 throus;h those wonc^rf'ul telescope sights and soirie 
 tiiilhei' directions from the original discov irer helps 
 the huit. Should that head go dowi; aa soon as it is 
 seen, the better for it. Sometimes listav* long enough 
 to be Ibund and sighted, itnd then is almost inevitably 
 piep'ed ; fjr the accuracy of tire with these rilles nt 
 REST 19 scarcely less than miraculous." 
 
 Not only scarlet for the militia and some of 
 the volunteers, but our riflemen with their invi- 
 sible ORKfcN— that is, if I understand my mother 
 tongue, the green invisible, not the ri/lcman. 
 Hence, if the green be invisible, it leaves the 
 rifleman in visible black. Now black is as con- 
 spicuous as scarlet : it not, why is the "bull's 
 eye " in the British service painted black ? To 
 confirm mv assertion, let me a?k another ques- 
 tion which I on'ce put to a colonel that had 
 bel«nged to the Rifle Brigade. I remarked to 
 him that his uniform was too dark, and asked 
 him if the dress was no.t intended to make them 
 as invisible as possible. He replied, " Ofcourse 
 it is.'" I then asked him, '< Which would be 
 the moat invisible iu a grass field — a green 
 parrot or a crow?" He immediately admitted 
 my argument to be correct : and further, the 
 oflicers are preposterously conspicuous. I took 
 
 n noBitmn iiino 
 
 iHi-fV/l wvn 
 
 »u« Ar_i. 
 
 ijic T uiui:- 
 
 teers who were being reviewed by H. 11. H. the 
 J*rince of Wales, rtt Montreal, and I could with 
 my naked eye discern every officer when ho 
 faced to the right by his steel scabbard, and 
 
 when he wlj<>elea Into line (his cofllo ornaments) 
 breastplate, chain, and whistle. If the majority 
 of these gentlemen (should they be called into 
 action) do not pay too much for their whistle, 
 then I, know noihiog of war on this continent, 
 or the Prussian army anything of war in the 
 present day on the continent of Europe. In 
 1849-50, at the commencement of iheScleswig- 
 Holstien difficulty, the Danish riflemen picked 
 otf the Prussian offiicers to such an extent that 
 all their ornaments, helmeta, buttons, etc. etc. 
 were ordered to ba bronzed. These oflRcers 
 have plain clothing like th6 men, but of finer 
 material, The eighteen manoeuvres, as prac- 
 tised in the British army, are copied from the' 
 Prussians ; und if we have copied our tactics 
 from the great Frederick, we sliould not be toa 
 prpud to profit by the further experience of th» 
 Prussian system in conforming dress to the exi- 
 gencies of the times, in which life and success, 
 in action are so intimately blended. Again : I 
 see a gMieral order in the United States' army, 
 that sashes, shoulder straps, and saddle-trappings 
 on the officers' horses, are not lo be worn in the 
 field, in consequeivse of the great number of 
 officers that have been either killed or wounded 
 in proportion to the rank and .lie. I could mul - 
 tiply proofs ; but sufficient has been stated to 
 show the necessity of a change in the present 
 uniform ; for the mode of warfare on this conti- 
 nent, so -far as small arms are concerned, is 
 more American than European — the Americans 
 having derived their rudiments of warfare from 
 their various contests with the aborogines. 
 
 COL. JEUVOIh' REPORT. , 
 
 Colonel Jervois' Report on the Defence of 
 Canada has just come to hand,. and I hasten to. 
 make a few remarks. 
 
 He tells us that Canada with men and money 
 can be defended, I am of the same opinion.. 
 He proposes extensive fortifications, that will 
 cost £1,. 143, 000, bat does not say how long it 
 will take to have these fortifications in readiness; 
 to defend tlie country. Is it ti be supposed that 
 the Americans will be so complaisant as to wait 
 until the works are all finished, armed and gar- 
 risoned with experienced gunners? Is it '';the 
 custom of war in like cases?" Did not the 
 Americans send tlieir ships to sea with sealed. 
 instructions, to be opened in certain latitudes on 
 a particular day, and what was the information 
 when opened ? War declared at Washington 
 with England this day at 12 o'clock! Thus a 
 broadside into the Belliudere then in sight 
 knocking in her poop, was the first notice of th« 
 war of 1812. If they declare war, is it not 
 more than probable they will do it immediatelr 
 niter the difftirence between them and the Soutk 
 is settled? Or, why would the North propose at 
 the peace conference not to disband the Southera 
 Army, but turn them over to the North for 
 foreign purposes, which must mean Canada, or 
 Mexico? This shows plainly what they want to 
 vxu Vi'tisic incy nnvG so iar^e an aruiy oi cAuctieiiC- 
 ed men. If this should take place, what good 
 could result from unfinished fortifications? And, 
 if they were finished, fortified cities are not what 
 they were in ancient times. Marshal Soalt 
 
w 
 
 jnnd« a Hpeech pf two honnJi^mtion against for- 
 tified cities, at the time Louis Phillippe proposed 
 to fortify P^rii. The renowned Murshul gave 
 n number of instances of armies leaving the for- 
 t'fied critics and coming out to meet the eJiemv. 
 He defended Toulon himself with 21,000 men 
 aijainst 71,000, — not by sliuttin^ himself up in 
 liie town, but by entrenching his army in advance 
 of the city. And the Duive of VVelhngton in his let- 
 ififf to Sir John Burgoyne, who wished to erect 
 BOi^e fortifications at the time England expect- 
 ed invasion, repliei— «• I know of no ijjode of 
 , resistance, much less of protection from danger, 
 except by an army in the field." Again, in his 
 
 fublic letter on the same subject he said, "If 
 50,000 militia were raised, and the regular 
 jarmy auginented, he would undertake to defend 
 England." Napoleoh the I. dreaded an en- 
 trenched camp. The night previous to the bat- 
 ,tle of Waterloo, he ordered his engineera to be 
 out before day^ so as to reconnoitre ag soon as 
 light, and report if the British had thrown up 
 entrenchments during the night; and when he 
 ;i;eceiv,ed the report in the morning th^t they ihad 
 jioi, he exclaimed with a strtile on his counte- 
 nance, ''Thei;! I have them, these English." 
 ,Pf course I do not mean Quebec, the key to the 
 panadas, or ^Kingston the naval dock yard wiih 
 its stores — they must be fortified if time pe^-mits. 
 A letter recently written by Lt.-Genl. Cust to 
 ^he London Times on Canadian defence, sup- 
 ports my argument. He says, " The classic 
 ram paKS of Antwerp, which have figured ;n so 
 many pages of military history, have already 
 necome pleasure grounds for the recreation of 
 
 ihe inhabitants. 1'he intrenched camp that has 
 isen formed around it extends for several miles 
 in front of the old walls," Again, he says, " If 
 } _ am not mistaken, the continental engineers 
 Xive a very extended preference to entrenched 
 .camps about towns as a general principle." 
 
 I think we have some proof of the folly in the 
 Southern policy, spending so much time, blood 
 ^nd treasure, in fortifying and defending towns 
 and cities, and losing them one after another, 
 being decimated piete-mcal, shutting themselves 
 up in fortifications, and allowing thesurroundin'^ 
 country, with their communications to be de*- 
 ptroycd, and their snpplies cut off— dividing 
 th«ir force instead of concentrating it. The re*- 
 volutionary club in Paris denounced as traitora 
 any of their commanders that would risk a battle 
 with part of their army. Concentrated action 
 was their decree, and the guillotine was the re- 
 ward of disobedience. Rapidity and ccncentrn- 
 tion were the two great characteristics of Napo- 
 leon's success in planting the standard of France 
 on most of the capitals of Europe. Wellington 
 said, " Napoleon nad the greatest power of con- 
 centrating an army of any man he ever saw or 
 read of." Wo cannot build fortifications with 
 that rapidity the stake at issue demands. Aor 
 can we concentrate our garrisons when the 
 forts are built. A sufficient number of troops 
 mupt be left to defend iheni. £r»0,000 1ms boen. 
 voted in the Imperial Parliament for this year; 
 and suppose our Provincial Legislative vote the 
 .same sum for the same purpose, that, would make 
 £100,000. "T*he coW of (lie forrilications is esti- 
 
 mated at £1,. 34.1,000. At that rate it would 
 lake upwards of thirteen years to accomplish the 
 work i)ropGsed ; but, the money might be bor- 
 owed, and the forts built in a much shorter 
 time. But after they are built what is five or six 
 fortifications to defend lOOO miles of frontier 
 with $200,000,000" of public property on the 
 lines. It is true the distance is shortened — a 
 great part of Canada is left to defend itself^ all 
 south of the St. Lawrence, except the ground 
 covered by the intended fortification opposite 
 Montreal, and all west of Lake Ontario, left to 
 the tender mercies of an yivading army, compos- 
 ed of the scum of all nations, to commit rapine 
 9,nd plunder with impunity. But we are told in 
 the report for our consolation, " Only about six 
 months in the year, vhen military operajio^is 
 on a large scale could be carried on against 
 them, and thus tltose forces could resist an attack 
 with the best possible chaiicc of success." Let 
 me ask while w,e are shut up in fortifications, 
 Avhat would the enemies' raiders be doing ? Let 
 some ofthe unfortunate inhabitants of the once 
 fruitful valley of the Shenandoah answer my 
 question, or some of the homeless sufferers on the 
 line of death and destruction in Sherman's ,ex- 
 .tensive march. Would they not destroy every 
 thing that sustains life in man or beast ? and as 
 Canada in its present state is like the mathemati- 
 cian's definition of a line, length without breadtl?, 
 take up some position and cut off all communica; 
 tion with the arsenal at Quebec ? Was it not by 
 this mode of virarfare llichmond fell, and are we. 
 with our eyes open going to fall into ihe san3i,e 
 trap? Was it not the fear of communication 
 being cut off that caused the late Sir G«orge 
 Prevost in the war of 1812 to keep a great part 
 of his army along the line to protect the muni- 
 tions of war? And, was it not the absorbtion of 
 so large a part of the Canadian army rt»at caused 
 that great statesman the late Lord Castlereagh 
 to say, "Canada is alongside a powerful repub- 
 lic, and in the event of anojther war must have 
 internal communications ?" • 
 
 Fortified cities invite a seige train to bring all 
 the horrors of war to your own fireside. Forti- 
 fications are things of time— small arms for the 
 njasses arc for the moment. Napoleon, medita- 
 ting on the battle-field at Lut^cen, and observing 
 the slender figures and long hair of the peasant? 
 youths of Prussia clothed as they left the plough, 
 with two-thirds more of his conscripts, cold in 
 death, exclaimed, " The might that slumbers ii^ 
 a peasant's arm!" Give u^ breech-loading 
 rifles, and we will show the might that slumbers 
 in the arms of the Yeomanry of Canada, who 
 have too much sense to exchange their alJegiancQ 
 from the mild sceptre of Queen Victoria for a 
 land of debt and despotism. 
 
 It is stated in the report that military opera- 
 tions cannot be earned on in winter. Thi* 
 shows a want of provincial knowledge. Mor.t- 
 gomory made an attempt to storm Quebec in 
 winter ; Col. MacDonald of the Glengarry Fenci- 
 njPK naggAd over the ioe wh^n ths snow ws°. dsc! 
 and took Ogdensburgh. The 104th Regt. march- 
 ed from St. John, New Brunswick op snow-shoes 
 to Quebec in the depth of winter, some hundreds 
 of miles, without a mark on a tree, with from four 
 
 A 
 
 ^ 
 
ll 
 
 J 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 to flix foot ©r snow under our feet, a donse forrst 
 in front, and nouj^lu but the canopy of Heaven 
 over our heads— draggin^j on Indian sleiglis our 
 arms, knapsacks, provisions &c. &c., numbering 
 1000 bayonets, besides fifty officers and non 
 commissioned officers, without losing a single 
 man, although many nights we dug out the 
 pnow with our snovvshoee— made fires, and lay 
 on the hemlock brush. We crossed the ice at 
 Quebec on the 27th day, in good health and 
 spirits, rested ten days, started off the 18th 
 of March atiptoe for the seat of war, 350 miles 
 further, three feet of snow, which in a short 
 itime became mud under our feet. Thus military 
 operations can be carried on in winter, *in Bri- 
 ' Xish North America, as well as in Northern 
 Europe, of which I conld giv,o many instances. 
 I confess that opposite these intended fortifications 
 at Montreal, is the;most beautiful champagne 
 .country I ever saw, and a large army might be 
 .cantoned. I commanded a detachment at 
 La Oolle, and I never passed from Laprarie to 
 St. Johns without its putting me in mind of a 
 long line of tents, — the sjrnall whitewashed 
 houses for so many miles on the road, which is a 
 perfect level.^ Now ihey have railroads lending 
 from the United States. Again, I would observe 
 the moat or wet ditch at certain seasons of the 
 rear might be of great advantage to the enemy. 
 It will freeze over, and I know by the rapids Ih 
 the river there will be a decline in the ditch. 
 A temporary dam might raise the water, and 
 village pumps abstracted and put through the 
 ^Ce make it thick enough in one night for any 
 jpurpose that m4y be required by the assailing 
 (force. This is no" experiment. Any person 
 reading details of campaigns in Northern 
 Europe must be assured of it. How often did 
 Napoleon croes his artillery in the morning on 
 ice that would just bear the men to rig°the 
 l^umps the nights before ? Again, let me ask the 
 question, what is to be done with the mountain 
 ^hat commands the whole of the city of Mon- 
 treal, and the internal part of the proposed for- 
 tifications ? Does it not .extend for some dis- 
 tance north west? Could not an enemy land 
 above and take possession of it ? Is it not the 
 moat commanding position ? Then it ought to 
 become the citadel, and its name should be 
 Mo,un,t Eoyal. Fronj the best information I could 
 gain from prisoners, at the time the Americans 
 fn&d& three attempts to take Montreal, in the 
 war of 1812, one under General Hampton 500O 
 strong, repulsed by the gallant Col. Do Sala- 
 herry at Chataguay. A second landing at Fort 
 George, expecting to enlarge their army by 
 marching through the Province, "giving an op- 
 •portunity for the discontented to join them, re- 
 pulsed at Stoney Creek, by the force under Col. 
 ^arvey ; the third, landing at Crysler's F-.rm 
 rapulsed by the 49lh and Canadian Fencibies' 
 under Col. Morrison, to the best of my memory. 
 Thus the enemy attempted to gain possession of 
 Montreal, once only from the south shore and 
 TT.-T.-C t.-T tuc iiuitii rmuic oi vne C5i. jjawieiiee : 
 and, unquestionably, a Us.ited States' army 
 could be; landed much easier at Cornwall than 
 at Montt;eal. It is true Victoria Brid-'-c requires 
 a substantial /e/<? rfw;)fl»f. * 
 
 III a pamphlet published on a PacTic railway, 
 in 1852, I auvocuted a Union of the Britisti 
 American Provinces, because union is strength^ 
 morally and physically, and would place us in a 
 better position for defence. I have strong rea- 
 sons to advocate iheir union now, and can add 
 something more to my former opinion. We cdn- 
 not in all conscience expect Lower Caaadi&n 
 ministers, during our present alliance, to assist 
 in any great improvements to the West, as it 
 would only add to present difficulties with re- 
 sjjeet to the vexed question of representation by 
 population. A Federal Union v'ould do away 
 with this obstacle, and Upper Canada might then 
 extend her improvements, which are induce- 
 ments to immigration, as far and fast as she i» 
 able ; and as a populaiion which has an interest 
 in the soil is the right stamp for militia to defend 
 the country, it would be sound T)oli6y to consum- 
 mate it with as little delay as possible. The 
 next desirable object, within the power of our 
 own Legislature, is an increase in our defen- 
 sive force, which could be accomplished by an 
 alteration in the militia law, changing the ages 
 of the service men from 18 to 45 to 16 to 50.— 
 England, at the time she expected to be invaded 
 by France, made all liable to carry arms from 17 
 to 50 ; but many between fifteen and sixteen 
 were enrolled in the Volunteer force, the writer 
 amongst others. Mere boys (gallant little fei- 
 lows!) of from twelve to fifteen, twice repulsed 
 the storming party at Fort Fisher ; and when 
 refused permission to go to the front, volun- 
 teered to escort prisoners. To defend Canada 
 .systematically, I would recommend the forma- 
 tion of two Staff corps, one for each Province. 
 They should each consist of one lieutenant- 
 colonel, one major, six captains, and twelve first 
 lieutenants, from the Rifle Brigade, or some 
 other Kifle regiment of the regular service, and 
 six second lieutenants whose connexions are 
 bona fide settlers in Canada, and whose good 
 conduct and loyalty are conspicuous. They 
 should be highly recommended from a respect- 
 able source for loyalty. As vacancies occur, 
 they should receive promotion in the Canadian 
 Provincial Staff corps, which should be kept up 
 in time of peace, and become a Provincial estab- 
 lishment altogether, so that, like Switzerland, 
 we might be prepared to defend the country at 
 any moment^ at the least expense of blood and 
 treasure. Each company should have twelve 
 drill sergeants and twelve buglers, and whatever 
 number of musketry instructors that could in the 
 meantime be spared from the military school at 
 llythe, m Kent, to each regiment, until a suffi- 
 cient number of British Americans were trained 
 for that purpose in schools under the imniediate 
 superintendence of the lieutenant-colonels and 
 adjutants o** the Canadian Staff corps, at their 
 permanent headquarters, where ground should 
 be purchased, butts erected, &c., for this most 
 requisite object. England could offer no ob- 
 jcition ; for the better we are meoared to defV>r.d 
 «.urselves the less number of British troops we 
 should require ; and the officers coi^ld have no 
 ob|cction on their part, as they would of course 
 have ororaotion— a major the rank of lieutenant- 
 colonel, a captain a majority, first lieutenant* 
 
compaiiie«. second lieutcnniits mmh first lieu 
 teuuiita. Thus, in bo^:iuiiri;^ .at the foundation, 
 we may short.y organize a Proviiiciul militury 
 nucleus, on the most, approved principles of mod- 
 ern waifare. 
 
 Having proposed the means for instruction in 
 drjil, musketry, and bugle sounds, I wauld now 
 propose, that, with ns little delay as possihip, 
 arrangements be made to procure 2&0,000 
 breech-loading rifled of thp most approved pat- 
 tern, to be issued to the ballotted men in the 
 rural districts— the oath of allegiance adminis- 
 tered, and a receipt taken— with strict orders to 
 place them over the heads of their beds, with 
 120 rounds of ball cartridge to each man, which 
 •would enable our mihtia to punish on the spot 
 any intruders, and increase their cowfidence in 
 themselves. They would naturally say, " There 
 are 200,000 of us, and we have twenty-four mil- 
 lions of location tickets divided amongst us, 
 which we will deal out to all raiders wiih^a will- 
 ing mind and a liberal hand.'' J am fully aware 
 that there is British military authority against 
 me in proposing to issue the arms to the men.— 
 Col. Lyceans in his Report proposed the build- 
 ing in whic',. the arms and clothing were to bo 
 be deposited to be .surrounded by a stone wall, 
 and all the garrison to defend it was one soli- 
 taty stair .sergeant I Col. Murdo, a Superin- 
 tendent of Volun.eers in England, suggests, 
 with the approval of Col. Jervois, that the build- 
 ing should be surrounded by pickets. 1'his 
 might do foi defence in the North-west against 
 Indians, tiui permit me to observe, in the face 
 of this threefc'ld opinion, i.hal there is a wonder- 
 ful difference between our happy island home, 
 with its superaLundant population of twenty- 
 three millions — itt standing army— surrounded 
 by the monarchs of the ocean, manned by tens 
 of thousands of her renownad " blue jackets" 
 — and Canada, a thousanf' liles in length, with 
 1 sparse population of less than three millions, 
 alongside. a powerful Jtepublic of nearly thirty 
 millions, with a network of railways to the 
 dividin-g line— a standing army of lour hundred 
 thousand men, who are inured to hardship, and 
 have been engaged in the destruction of life 
 and property during the past four years, and to 
 which may be added a body of England's most 
 implacable enemies, begging to be allowed to 
 form the van in the invasion of Canada, without 
 either bounty or pay I 
 
 In the opinion of that great master of the art 
 of war, Napohon, the two most prominent fea- 
 tures in a good General are courage and judg- 
 metit, i.e., to know when to fight, and when t°o 
 let it alone. These he termed Generals of equi- 
 librium. Now, judgment is the quality of dis- 
 tinguishing propriety and impropriety. We show 
 our courage by wishing to have arms to defend 
 our country. Would we show our judgment in 
 exposing them to be taken,— perlaps used 
 agamst ourselves, or destroyed by military raids 
 wholesale ? Who ever hoard of a regiment de- 
 positing their ftiuis in one house, and sleeping in 
 another on the borders of another State ? Dis- 
 cretion is said to be the better part of valour.— 
 It will be said the arms will be destroyed, &c., 
 Ac. An Act of Parliament on the subject, and 
 
 the Staff Corps will see. to that port of the busi- 
 ness. 
 
 But to effectually defend Canada, we must 
 have a Navy on the Lakes. So far as Ontarit* 
 and Erie are concerned, the Biitish government 
 can send out gunboats ; and what is wanted in 
 capacity must be made up in numbers. Boats of 
 light draught and heavy guns are for some pur- 
 
 f loses more efficient than large vesse's. .It ha» 
 )etn said, if our fleet had drawn less water, Cron- 
 stadt would have crumbled into dust. Durintr 
 tho Russiati war, it cannot be denied that smalT 
 vessels of light draught and heavy metal effected 
 the most in_piry to the enemy in that controversy 
 on water : witness Bomersiind. The necessity 
 for a fleet is obvious, from tlve history of the war , 
 of 1812. The destruction of the fleet on Lake 
 Erie caused General Proctor's disastrous retreat. 
 The dest.uction of the fleet on Lake Champlaia 
 caused^the retreat of Sir George Prevosi with, 
 his army from flattsburg. The great caution of 
 the Admiral on Lake Ontario, Sir James Yeo,. 
 always refusing to come to an action unless he 
 iiad the weather guage, saved Kingston. Dur- 
 ing the short time he was obliged to remain in, 
 port, Toronto was taken,— the fo^-t blown up — 
 government-house and property reduced to ashes,, 
 and Gen. Sir Robert II. Sheafe obliged to re- 
 treat with his army. Thus, a fleet is a decided 
 necessity, for all the Army that could be sent to- 
 Kingston, and above, would be of no avail.— 
 While the enemy could place heavy guns afloat, 
 infantry or field artillery could not show them- 
 selves. What I have said of the defences of 
 Lake Ontario relative 1o gun-boats is applicable 
 to Lake Erie. On'y the Rideau canal is safe 
 from the enemy ; and quite the reverse is the 
 case I am soiry to say with the Wetland Canal, 
 li.ike Huron is entirely out of our power to de- 
 fend by water, unless a fleet was'built; which, 
 would be a great risk, as there is ship navigation 
 from Lake Michigan into it, on which the Amer- 
 icans are building their gun-boats, and have also 
 a numerous mercantile marine, which would im- 
 mediately be press'-d into the service, either in 
 the shape of privateers, or sold to the Govern- 
 ment as was done during the last war upon the 
 sea coast. It would be consummate folly to at- 
 tempt to send up armed vessels from Lake Erie 
 info Lake Huron after hostilities had commenced, 
 —Detroit (the Narrows) and the St. Clair Flats, 
 with the numerous Americans living on the south 
 shore of the narrow liver, giving tho enemy an 
 opportunity to stud the passage with innumer- 
 able torpedoes, which precludes the possibility 
 of successful communication. Thus not only 
 are we shut out of Lake Huron, but out of Lake 
 Superior also, with its copper mines, and our. 
 j)ostal communication with the Red River settle-' 
 ment with 10,000 inhabitants, except by the cir- 
 cuitous route of Hudson's Bay onceiayear, leav- 
 ing a coast undefended of about 800 miles. — 
 Thus, it is evident that soun 1 policy shows us 
 that a inariiime supremacy on onr side oh ths 
 Lakes is necessary, becttuse our object and aim 
 i? profound ^eace, endeavoring only to hold our 
 own. The Americans, on the contrary, are 
 nggressii^e, for the purpose of enforcing the 
 Monroe doctrine. I sje no other way to nc- 
 
 ii' 
 
 t 
 
 i 
 
O' 
 
 t 
 
 
 tompli.sh (Ilia deairalile object than the coniple 
 t'Oii of the yttawa Canal, whicli will ;rivH usiri- 
 lernal communicHtiou, and enable the •' blue 
 jackets'" of old Kngland, ia their own shipa, to 
 ra°et their American cousins on fresh water. — 
 This would be the cheapeat and surest way of 
 establishing a supremacy on the lakes. The es- 
 timate lai'd down in the report of the En^jineeris 
 $12,057,680, calculated for vessels of 1,000 tons 
 burden— twelve feet water on the mitre sills- 
 locks forty-6ve feet wide and two hundred and 
 lifty feet lon^'. Internal communication was 
 first mooted by Lord Castlereagh, and was fol- 
 lowed up by Earl Bathurst in forming the Perth 
 Military depot, and Kichmond Military setUe- 
 ment 5 and when Lord Wellington became Mas- 
 ter-General of Ordnance he sent out Col, Bye to 
 construct the Kidenu Canal and purchase any 
 place strong by nature. Col. Bye reported Ot- 
 tawa "strong by nature," and could be made, 
 very strong by art : and he in consecjucnce was 
 directed to purchase all he thought iiecessary.— 
 Hence the great boon in the Ordnance lands.— 
 Here we have demonstration of the opinion of 
 the great statesman above mentioned of the 
 necessity of internal communication, carried out 
 ■ at the expense of the Imperial treasury. The 
 question will perhaps be asked, the same as I 
 "»ve put to Col. Jervois relative to fortifications 
 at Montreal,— what good would an unfinished 
 canal do in the event of a war? I answer, no 
 ibore good than unfinished fortiacations. 
 
 But the Ottawa canal i;j not only a military 
 necessity, but a commercial desideratum of the 
 greatest magnitude, not only to thfj Canadas but 
 10 Great Britain ; and I may go further by add- 
 ing Europe and tl^e Nortt-western States of 
 America, and still further, the world at large, 
 as I shall demonstrate before closing this sub- 
 ject. In the first place, England, wit^h her con- 
 tracted island territory, and large manufacturing 
 population, imports annually a vast amount 0* 
 breadstuflFs ; and Chicago, on Lake Michagan, I's 
 J)erhap8 the cheapest part in the known world 
 for an abundant supply of the necessaries of life. 
 The value of br^adstuffs imported into Liverpool 
 alone from" this quarter, from 18GI to 1863, was 
 £12,643,918 : the Iransft expenses, owing to 
 the inadequate means of conveyance, amounted 
 to £8,826,851, the original cost at Chicago 
 being only £3,817,517. By the expenditure of 
 £4,000,e00, including the alterations atLachinc, 
 a saving of live hundred miles will be obtained ; 
 and vessels drawing twelve feet of water, built 
 in the primeval forest, can be laden with bread- 
 htuffs, and proceed direct to Liverpool without 
 .breaking bulk, which will reduce the price of 
 freight at least one half. I need not say that a 
 country that can raise one hundred and fifty, 
 millions of bushels of wheat and five hundred 
 millions bushels of corn, aftd immense quantities 
 of pork and beet", must consume an immense 
 amount ot maiuifaetuiTjd goody ; ujid thus Xi:>: \ 
 thi.ik that Great Britain as well as Canada has 
 tt direct interest in the enterprise, and that it 
 will prove a commerci U benefit as it is a mili- 
 tary NKCES31TY. Bui what has been already 
 said is scarcely a tithe of the advanta^'es which, 
 by the constructioa of the canal in question, 
 
 would accrue politically and commercially tp 
 the nation. And when' peace shall have been 
 fully established between the two sections 
 of the llepublic, another link may be added to 
 this chain of ship navigation in the shape of a 
 railway fifteen hundred mil«s in length from the 
 head waters of Lake Superior westwardly, by 
 which a communication will' be opened for mili- 
 tary and commercial purposes l)etween the At- 
 lantio and Pacific oceans ; and England cannot 
 surrender this communication with^ i perilling 
 her high standing as a • ation. She wou'd have tu 
 aid the construction of this great line of raii-my, ,, 
 if she wishes to preserve her ascendancy on this 
 continent and the sceptre of commerce between 
 Europe and Asia in her own hand ; for the day 
 18 fast approaching when the products of the 
 East \Yill net be carried round the globe to 
 supply the remaining fourth. Doubling the 
 Cape of Good Hopp to bring the products of 
 the East to this coniinent, may be compared to 
 the sun travelling round the world instead of the 
 world revolving on its own axis. The Eastern 
 terminus would be at the mouth of Fraser River 
 which empties into the St. Fuca straiU, 6600 
 miles from Canton, the commercial capital of u 
 nation coutainiiig four hundred millions of inha- 
 bitants. If I place one foot of my compasses 
 at the mofulh of Fraser liiver a"nd describe 
 a circle, the other will pass through Lon- 
 don, the largest commercial city in Europe, 
 and through Canton, the largest commerciaU-ity 
 ill Asia : consequently, they are equi-distant. To 
 Canton it is ship navigation ; to London it would 
 be fifteen hnndred miles railway, and the ic- 
 maiuderofthe distance ship navignlion of one 
 thousand tons burthen. The Kev. G. C. Nicely 
 says : *' Its maritime importance is entirely con- 
 fined to the straits of Juan de Fuca and 
 the southern extremity of Vancouver's Island. 
 Here are presented a series of splendid har- 
 bours, uniivalled in quality and capacity, at 
 least within the same limits ; and here, as has 
 been remarked, it is evident the future empo- 
 rium of the Pacific in Westerly A meri 3a will be 
 found." 
 
 The London Morning Chronicle says : " No 
 one can doubt that the western coast of North 
 America is about to become the theatre of vast 
 commercial and political importance; and it is 
 impossible ic estimate adequately the value 
 which may soon accrue to every harbour, coal 
 mine, forest, and plain, in that quarter jof the 
 globe." 
 
 And Sir James Brooke, the Rajah of Borneo, 
 thus writes:— "By the adoption of a foreiirn 
 policy, in entire harmony with the spirit of t^e 
 age, our merchants would obtain access to every 
 portion of the 12,000 islands : that ij to say, be 
 permitted to supply more or less largely forty 
 millions of people. There is not a single island 
 in this iromensy group which would not contri- 
 .M!(c va-ua')le materiais to Ihu commerce of tiie 
 woRi.i). Ouif ima,'iiiatio^t is apt to be dazzled 
 by the mention of gold, diamonds, spices, odo- 
 riferous gums, and all those cost'y articles of 
 luxury witii^ which nearly every part of Asia 
 abounds. The Archipelago is not wanting in 
 ^eso fascinating commodities: gold aud dia- 
 
monda exist in great quantities in JJornco. It 
 hu8 hepti 811-,'gestud, too, that the maritime dia- 
 trict« of Pulo Hatamaiitan would pioduee cotton 
 not inferior in quality to that grown in the up- 
 ]an<U of Geor;,'iu. In this case, no language can 
 
 oxag^'erale the importance of the island to Great 
 Britain; for. doubtl^s, a time will come when 
 the United States, applying themselreH more ex- 
 tensively to manufacturi.'S, will consume the 
 whole of the cotton grown in the Southern 
 States, when we shall obviously be dependent 
 for a supply on the various provinoes of India 
 and the islands of the Archipelago,'' 
 
 This is the second time I published the im- 
 portant information given by Sir /ames Brooke, 
 relative to the facilities of obtaining cotton in- 
 dependent of the Southern States. The first 
 was in 1852 in a pamphlet on a railway from 
 Lake Superior to Fraser River. Perhaps, if the 
 merchants had then taken the hint, there would 
 not h'ftve beeii 80 much distiess in England for 
 that article tis has been of !ate. 
 
 These two links between the Atlantic and 
 Pacific oceans once accomplished, 'those inland 
 seas would become the centre of the commerce of 
 the North American continent. I base this 
 opinion on the facilities which exist for the navi- 
 gation of those spacious waters, extending 600 
 miles from north to south and upwards of 800 
 from east to west, washing the shores for some 
 thousands of miles of fertile lands, with their 
 tributaries and outlets of natural and artificial 
 navigation, roads and railways to the interioi 
 tti.d to the Atlantic seaboard. And as the sev- 
 eral arteries,' veins, &c., receive the blood pro- 
 pelled through the heart and diffuse it through 
 the whole system, so produce oc manu- 
 ufactures from the Pacific arriving at the the ter- 
 minus at Lake Superior would be divided into i>i- 
 numerable channels of trade and by them dis- 
 tributed all over the continent.. In the first 
 instance, 800 miles of the shore of the above 
 named Lake with its different avenues of trade, 
 would be opened to a vast territory, capable of 
 sustaining many millions of inhabitants j and as 
 soon as they dsscend into Lake Huron, two 
 great arteries of commerce immediately present 
 themselves — the one on the right hand through 
 Lake Michigan by Chicago, &c., by natural 
 and artificial navigation, to the ' Gulf of 
 jyiexico ; the other on the left hand by the legi- 
 timate course of the St. Lawrence waters a°jd 
 lakes improved by" the artificial navigation of 
 the Welland Canal, presenting on its way to the 
 Gulf of St. Lawrence various conveyance in the 
 shape of canals and railroads to the American- 
 Atlantic cities. And last, but not least, the Ot- 
 tawa Canal advocated in these pages, which 
 would enter the mouth ot' French Itiver where it 
 empties into the Georgian Buy, and where a 
 Navy yard and depot must be established as soon 
 us we can get guns afloat to protect it, while 
 being constructed. 
 
 Our geographical portion givesrus an advan- 
 tage in a Pacific railway, as wel! as for the tiu!!- 
 «it of produce from Chi^cajjo to Europe by Que- 
 bec, over i he United Stales, which no exer.ion 
 can obviate, providiug we avail ourselves of our 
 Quttonal highways decreed by Divine Providence. 
 
 A degree of longitude at the cqirator id sixty 
 miles, and at sixty degrees is only thirty miles or 
 one-half. Now the route from the weatern coast 
 of Ireland^ by Quebec to the Pacific, at the 
 mouth of Fraser Itiver may traverse ten degrees 
 of latitude, that is, from latitude 45 dog. to 66 
 deg. 'I he 45th deg. is forty miles and fifteen 
 seconds; the 55th deg. is 34 miles and foity-oiie 
 seconds. We might average it at 39 miles, 
 which is not quite | of a deg. at the equator.— 
 Hence the time is not far distant when, by ateam 
 navigation and railway, passengers wiil be nearly 
 halfway across this continent to the Pacific by 
 the tinio a steamer to New York will reach the 
 wharf. The mail via Quebec will be within 1500 
 miles of the terminus at the mouth of Fraser 
 Kiver. It must be remembered that, when the 
 steamer arrives at Quebec, another bound for 
 New York, allowing equal speed, will be 470 
 geographical miles from New York, allowing 
 twelve miles an hour lor an Atlantic steamer on 
 the average,, and twenty-four miles an hour for 
 the rail cars. And as they do not measure by 
 geographical miles for rail cars we will add fifty 
 iM round numbers to put the whole into statnte 
 miles, which will be 520. Double that for the 
 speed of the cars, and the mail bags will be 1040 
 miles on their way across the continent. 
 
 From what has been said it is obvious that 
 Lower Canada and the eivsteru part of Upper 
 Canada have but one interest; and the ball is at 
 our foot, if we only improve the golden moment.. 
 Ihe real highway of the world will be open 
 through our capital, and a vast amount of pro- 
 duce that would otherwise be drawn cfTto the 
 Atlantic cities will pass through Quebec Li a 
 letter which I wrote some twelve years since, I 
 stated (and I am of^he same opinion still), that, 
 if .Montreal or Quebec is to become the New 
 Orleans of the St. Lawrence, one or other of 
 them must intercept the traffic of the Lakes • 
 and it is only by constructing the Ottawa canal 
 and railway that this grand object can be at- 
 tained, and Lower Canada become the empo- 
 rium of Western produce, and assume that 
 position in the commercial world that nature 
 has designed. 
 
 It is impossible to imagine the advantages, 
 commercially, poHtically, and in a military point 
 ot view, if the chain of communication pointed 
 out by me was once formed. Only think for a 
 moment: 1500 miles of railway to connect, on 
 British territory, our great inland navigation to 
 an ocean 11,000 miles long ahd 7000 broad— a 
 chain passing- over a country with the or« of 
 every metal struggling through its surface, and 
 coal cropping out four hundred miles of the 
 way ; at the same t\me opening up a little world 
 for the redundant population of Europe, and' 
 enabling England to turn the tide of emigration 
 which is now flowing ^o the United States to her 
 own dominions, emancipating the Red River 
 colony, etc. If I am correct, British Columbia 
 accoriling to ship reckoning is 20,000 miles froift 
 En-latid by bca ; through British America it is 
 only 6500. Oa • Legislature have already granted 
 4 000,000 aciei towards Ihe (ost of cons ruct- 
 ing a r^iiiway through ihe Ottiwa vhliey. If 
 this railroad were constructed, roinfcrcements 
 
 
 * / 
 
f 
 
 might be sent in lees than a quarter of the time 
 required by the old route, as they would pass 
 over the continent by rail (and if the route 
 once pointed, out by me between Quebec and 
 the straits of Belle Isle is practicable, of which 
 1 tried to jret a reconnoisance when I had aaeat 
 in Parliament, tjoops could be carried froni the 
 western coast of Ireland to the Pacific in ten 
 daprs.) Here, then, is an advantage in a military 
 pomt of view. Again, conimercially : it is 14,- 
 000 miles from Canton to England by the Cape 
 of Good Hope ; from England'to Lake Superior 
 4100. By the first mentioned route, goods 
 would be carried, from China to Lake Superior, 
 tt distance of 18,100 miles. When the proposed 
 route shall have been constructed, 7100 miles 
 will bring goods to the shores of the great Lake 
 —the commercial heart of North America— thus 
 saving about 9000 miles. It will not only be 
 the centre of commerce, but it is the geographi- 
 cal centre: it is half way between St.° Puca 
 straits and Halifax, and abont equi-distant from 
 the isthmus of Darien and the Polar sea. 
 
 And I repeat what I have publiahed previously, 
 vvhile Enjrland continues to hold the North 
 American Provinces, she may be compared to a 
 mighty Colossos, with one foot on the Atlantic 
 und the other on the PaciOc, holding in his 
 hand the sceptre of the commerce of Europe 
 and Asia, with the highway of the world beneath 
 his feet. 
 
 I cannot close this letter without some obser- 
 vasions on the cond jct of our trans Atlantic en- 
 emies—not only ours, but England's also. I 
 wbuld inform them that their speeches and wri- 
 t ngs are cherished, and go the rounds of the 
 American newspapers. I would also remind 
 them that history tells us " that the pen of the 
 notorious infidel, Tom Paine, did more for the 
 Kevolution of America than any 10,000 men 
 with their bayonets." All the difference be- 
 tween them and him is, they are finishing what 
 he began, by dropping us into the hotbed of Re- 
 publicanism. How dishonorable I Low unjust 1 
 how cruel I What base ingratitude to abandon 
 the sons of U.E. Loyalists, whose fathers left 
 their homes, their all, and fled into a wilderness 
 rather than forfeit their allegiance to the Brit- 
 ish Crown I and many of the younger branches 
 thus nurtured in the lap of loyalty fought side by 
 side with the British troops in the war of 1812, 
 sealed their principles with their life's blood, and 
 were uarned on the same pile, or buried in the 
 same grave, with the Regulars ; and at the same 
 tinie4U*«taM*i4»lw«re building up a Confede- 
 racy on this continent which, from its extensive 
 seaboard, would become a most gigantic mari- 
 time power such as the world has never witness- 
 ed j and such will eventually be the case if 
 Britisb America falls into the hands of the Uni- 
 ted States with their uncompromising ideas of 
 
 America for the Americana ; and of coorso all 
 the West India Islands as the broad Atlantic are 
 to be the boundary, known as the Monroe Doc- 
 trine, a transcript of Jacobinism to the very let- 
 ter. Were not the revolutionary armies sent out 
 by the Decree of the Jacobin Club in Paris to 
 revolutionize and establish republicanism on tho 
 continent of Europe? It is the same ism and 
 the self-same spirit raising its hydra head in 
 America. Witness the Mexican movement for 
 the extermination of monarchy in that quarter, 
 and the selection of members for a military 
 commission holding the power of life and death 
 (a packed jury under payment and expecting pro- 
 motion) to try civilians in time of peace for mur- 
 der, not trusting to the ordinary channels of jus- 
 tice m the courts of law already established. 
 
 But in returning again to the policy of those 
 degenerate Englishmen who are supporting Ja- 
 cobinism on this continent, I would observe it is 
 surprising the severe lesson they have lately had 
 in England in the want of raw material to keep 
 some millions of their people from almost star- 
 vation does not open their eyes to the great re- 
 sources of this continent, and the contingencies 
 to which England is liable with her amall terri- 
 tory and numerous' manufacturing population. 
 J <?f° well rememler '?hen the 41b loaf wag Is 
 lO^d in London, and fct ihat period England had 
 only between ten and eleven millions of people : 
 I can also remember that cheap bread was tht» 
 constant cry of the manufacturing communily, 
 and tne large loaf at a small price was the stalk- 
 ing horse into Parliament in the manufacturinir 
 districts. At the present, England has 23,000,- 
 000, and the bosom of the noble St. Lawrence is 
 the highway to the largest bread market in the 
 world. I ask, is it sound policy to let it go out 
 ot our hands ? Again, as long ns I can remem- 
 ber, politicians of all shades contended for bal- 
 ance of power : as soon as Britioh America goes 
 by the board, balance of power goes with .t. 
 Let me ask— with Russia, United States, France, 
 Spain, Portugal, Mexico, &c., and England, 
 like Noah s dove, not a place for the sole of her 
 foot, where would be the balance of power, and 
 as Dr. Russell says with it, «• the decadence of 
 the British Empire ?" 
 
 After my letter was in type, and the filrst por- 
 tion of It published, 1 saw a well-written article 
 on '« The Great Lakes j their Outlets and De- 
 fences, in the Perth Coukieb, copied from tho 
 Atlantic Monthly for June, by an American : 
 and as truth loses nothing by investigation, I 
 will give It verOaium in the shape of an Appeu- 
 
 Bathurst, June Ist, 18C5. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 ■'Hfc ' ;1^ t(V r:.T;>'?<i Sjil "^ : 
 
 hcd I'-B'vnwrftiH •. 
 
 The 6reat Lakes; their Outlets and Defences. 
 
 Four y«ars ago there appeared in this magazine 
 two articles upon the Great Lakes and their bar- 
 ttors* In these papers the commercial importance 
 of the Lakes was set fourth, and it was shovrn that 
 their commerce was at that time nearly equai in 
 ■iimount to the whole for ign trade of the country. 
 Within those four years the relative value of these 
 two branches of commerce has greatly changed. 
 The foreign trade, under the eflforts of open foes 
 aox*. secret enemiesi, bad fallen off verj 
 largely. A. committee ct the New York Board of 
 Trade, in an appeal to the Secretary of the Ne,?!' 
 for protection against Bi'iii<)b pirates, made tiie 
 atatemvjnt, that the imports into that port, duriog 
 the first quarter of 1860, in American vessels, were 
 $62.598,326,— in foreign vessels, $30,918,051 ; and 
 that ip 1863, during the same period, the iraporta 
 in Americdn vessels were $23,403,830,— in foreign 
 ■vessel?, $65,689,853 ;■— In other words, that in three 
 years of war, o'lr navigation on the ocean had de- 
 clined more than one half, and that of foreign 
 nativ'^ns had increased in nearly tbe same propor- 
 tion. 
 
 The two gr.'at branches of internal trade be- 
 fore the war consisted of tbe trade of the lakes and 
 the canals leading fiom them to U e seaboard, and 
 tbe trade of the Mississippi and its tributaries. The 
 latter branch being mterrupted or dastroyed by ibf 
 Rebellion, it follows that at the present time tha 
 principal commeri^e left to ih»! Atlantic cities is 
 that of tbe Urtat Lakes and the 8:b^ea about them, 
 usually known as the Northwest. 
 
 Tbe commerce amounts at present to at least 
 ♦ Tv«;lve hundred millions oC dollars .aniiually, and 
 increaseD 30 rapii'ly thi;t all estimates of its pro- 
 spective value have hitherto fallei far short of the 
 truth it euiplcs about two thousand vessels and 
 twoflty tbonsaim siiilord, besides four great lines of 
 .a:lroad. It sends lo the seaboard one hundred 
 million bushels of grain,two mii;i ns hogs, und iialf 
 r. million of C9tile, <;omposing ,he principal part of 
 the food of the Atlantic Stales, (it being well 
 known that the wheat crop of New Yortt would 
 hardly feed her people for oue-lhirdof theyeai.and 
 thttt of New liujjland is buftlc'Qi-t for only nboui 
 thie weeks' coosumptic n,) and atfoiding a larg<> 
 surplus fur exportation. 
 
 1^'n a memorial of the Hon. S. B. Uuggles of Niw 
 york to Presidept Lincoln, on tlie euiargumeut of 
 the New York caurtls, be '.ays, —'The cereal weullU 
 yearly lioated on these waters now exceeds one 
 huudicd million tushuis. it is diQicait to present 
 
 *;»et Ncu. for February and Mtcroli, 1801 ~ 
 Vol. Vir, pp. 22tt, 3i:j. 
 
 a distinct idea of a quantitj cQ enormous. Suffice 
 it to say, that the portion of it (about two-thirds) 
 moving lo market on the Erie and Osweffo Canals 
 requires aline of b'^ats more than forty miles long 
 to carry it.' On the lakes it i equirea a fleet of five 
 thousand vessels, carrying twenty Ihcusani busb- 
 el.i each. If loaded in railroad-cars of the usual 
 capacity, it would take two hundred and fitty 
 thousand of them, or a train more than one thou- 
 sand mil'^s in length. The four great lines from 
 the Lakes to tbe seaooard would each hftve to run 
 four hundred ours a day for half the yeur lo carry 
 this grain to market Speaking of the grain-trade, 
 Mr. Ruggles says, — 'Its existence is a tiew iact in 
 the history of man. In quantity, it already much 
 exceeds ttie whole export ofcereals trora theRnssian, 
 Empire, tbe grea' compeer of tbe United Statef, 
 whose total export of cereal? was in 1857 but forty- 
 uiiie million bubbeis, being less than half tbe 
 amount carried in 1861 uponthe American Laker. 
 It was tbe constant aim of ancient Rome, even in 
 the zenith of its power, lo provision tbe caj-ital an^l 
 the adjacent provinces from the outlying poriiors 
 of tbe empire. The yearly crop contributed by 
 Egypt wild Hfteen million bushels Under the pr».- 
 dent administration of tbe Eni|ieror Severn?, u large 
 stornol corn was accumulated a^d kept on hand, 
 sufficient to guard the empire fromlamine for seven 
 years. The total amount thus provided was but 
 one hundred a^d ninety million bushels. Tbe pro- 
 duct of 1800 in the five Lake States of Ohio, Michi- 
 can, Indiana, Illinois, und Wisconsin, was tbi«u 
 hundred and tifty-tour million buibels.' 
 
 Another branch of tbe Lake trade, which is jet 
 in ItB infancy, but which i)roaiise8 'o reach vast 
 propor'ions in a le\, years, is thy iron ai.d cop}' ;. 
 trade ot Lake Superior. In I9ti4 about two hun- 
 dred and forty-eight thousand tons of iron ore and 
 sevenlpen thousand tons of copper ore and metal 
 were shipped from that lak^,— enough t<; load 
 thirteen hundred and tvver?ty-five vesnuls of two 
 
 hundred tons bu>den. Tbis 'f'f|i<i,tyyi*]iiHik'yfl1!"""' 
 u,i within the last ten years. 
 
 Lei the Erie and Oswego Canals ba H.stiu en- 
 largpj, as advocated so o'dy by Mr Pv .gles, let 
 the railroad lines ba ((luipped with douiic tracks, 
 and this trade n'' the Lnke country will coon ful- 
 low them up ana outs;rip their effof'S.-. The min 
 is now living in Obicttgo, bardi) past middle ugf , 
 wlio, less than thirty yeare agi; shioimd tbe h.si 
 invoice of graiu froni that city which now ships 
 nity miili'jiis ; and sbouie be hvu to the coiuuiou 
 age of mankind, he will probuoly see the &l piutut 
 ot H hundred niiltions from that port alone. 
 
 The population of Illinois has duibled in each of 
 
the last two dncftdes, and there is no reaion why it 
 should not continae tu do so iotbe next That would 
 gire it in 1870 about three and a half millions of 
 jpeiople, lEdRtvf'^eid' feraaeni and producers, attd 
 tfcfnwrt who; by 'the help of their fertile soil, the 
 eaM of its tJalt'iVation; And the Keneral use of agri- 
 cultural machinery, are able to prod u fee a very 
 large amount of grain or meat to the working 
 hand. • • m . 
 
 Tbeeefl««jt8 of sail-'vesaels and steamers.and these 
 rallroad-traina which go Eastward thus loaded -with 
 gfbln and provisions, return West with freight more 
 rarious, though as valuable. The ieas, silks, and 
 apices of Inula, the coffee of Brazil, the sugar and 
 cigars of Cubaithe wines and rich fabrics of Prance, 
 the varied manufactures of England, and the pre- 
 ■ducts of the Nev? England workshops and factoiies, 
 all find a market in the Northwest. 
 
 What, then, is the proper and sufficient outlet of 
 this commerce? The Canadians, a'lLougU theit 
 share of it ia only one-quarter as large as our own, 
 have shown us the way. They have constructed 
 canals connecting Lakes Erie and Ontario, and 
 others around the rapids of the St. Lawrence.— 
 Let us dc the sams on «he American side, so that 
 •vessels may load in Chicago or Milwaukee, and de- 
 liver tb*ir cargoes in New York, Boston, or Liver- 
 pool, without breaking hulk. To Europe this is 
 the shorter route, as the iiguies will show •— 
 
 Distance from Chicago to New York 
 
 by lakes, canal, and river 1,500 miles. 
 
 Distauce from New York to Liverpool. U. 980 " 
 
 4 480 " 
 iDistance from Chicago to Aloatreal by ' 
 
 WelUnd Canal 1,343 miigg. 
 
 Distance Irom Montreal to Liverpool. .2,740 •' 
 
 4,088 " 
 
 The St. La yrence River is the natural outlet of 
 the Lakes, and, if rendered accessible to us by can- 
 als, must b3 the cheapest outlei. It ig well knowa 
 that a few years ago corn was worth on the prai- 
 ries of Illinois only ten cents per bushel, whon the 
 same article was selling in New York at seventy 
 cents, six-seveaths of the price being consumed 'a 
 transportation. The consequencf; was, tbal many 
 tarmor.s found it more for their interest to usetueir 
 surplus corn for fuel than to sell it for ten cents.— 
 Tlie great disturbance iu values caused by the war 
 and tl'e vast uernand for grain and forage for the 
 ar.ny, have r-duced this disproportion iu prices 
 very much for the time, out it may be looktd for 
 again on the return of peace. 
 
 No# it would seem that one of the moat import- 
 ant questions to be settled in thiscountrv is how to 
 cheaptu food. If by the construction oUhoso can- 
 als to give access to the St. Lawrence, grain can 
 be laid down ;n New York ten cents u bushel cheap- 
 er than it now is doue, the saving on the present 
 khipments ofhreadstuffj from the Lakes would be 
 ten millions nf dollars aou ..ly. It ia probable, 
 however, that the saving in freight would be much 
 givaier than this, if the canals were built ot'suOici- 
 ent capacity to admit the Inrgesi class of Lake ves- 
 bels Thi J direct irade between the Upper Lakes 
 and Europe was commenced a few yerfrs bafore the 
 
 to assume important proportions, when the war 
 jiMt tt stop to It; as it has to so much uf our foreign 
 cot>»nierc«. 
 
 Ahiie th3 jiresent article w.\s in preparation, the 
 bill for the coustiuction of these canals passed t.e 
 Mouse of Uopreseutatives, as also one for the deei - 
 ining of the illinoia and Michigan Canalu, conceru- 
 
 -in^ which the report of the Hon. Isaac N. AraoW, 
 orlDiaois, chairman of the committee of the House 
 oatht defenqe o^' lakes and rivers, thus remarks: 
 — The,,yealu5»tiop of the grand ideitofa 8hip-c«D»l 
 from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi, for military 
 and commercial purposer, ia the great work of the 
 age. In effect, oommercially, »t turns the Missis- 
 sippi into Lake Michigan, and makes an outlet for 
 the Great Lakes at New Orleans^ wid of the Miss- 
 issippi at New York. It brings together the two 
 great systems of water communication of our coun- 
 try,— the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence, and 
 the canals connecting the Lakes with the oceau on 
 the cast, and the Mississippi and Missouri, with all 
 their tribu'varies, on the west and south. This com- 
 mniiicatioa, so vast, can be tffected at small ex- 
 pense, and with no Jong delay. It is but carrying 
 out the plan ©f Nature. A great river, rivalling 
 the St. Lawrence in volume, at no distant day was 
 discharged from Lake Michigan, bv the Illinois in- 
 to the Mississippi. Its banks, its 'current?, its' is- 
 land-S and deposits can s'ill be easily traced, and 
 it only needs a deeipeuing of the present chgnnel 
 for a few miles, to re-open a magnificicnt river from 
 Lake Michigan to the Mississippi.' 
 
 It is a very important point, in considering this 
 this .question of tha enlaigroent of existing canals 
 and the construction of new ones, that 
 they have, under the new condiiious of 
 naval warfare, come to be an important element 
 m the harbor defences of the Lakes. We have the 
 testimony 9f Captain Ericsson himself, whose Mon- 
 itor vessels have aiready done so much for the 
 country, as to this availability. He writes,— "An 
 impregnable war-vessel, twenty-five feet wide and 
 two hundred feet long, with a shot proof turret 
 cirryiuQc a gun of fifteen inch calibre, with a ball 
 of four hundred and fifty pounds, and capable of 
 destroying any hostile vessel that can be puton the 
 Lakes, will draw, without ammunition, cdal . r 
 stores, but six leet and six inches water, and con- 
 sequently will need only a canal wide and deep 
 enough to float a vessel of those dimensions, with 
 locks of sufficient size to pass it." 
 
 Great Britain has already s«cured to herself the 
 means of access to the Lakes by her system of Ca- 
 nadian canals, and the Military Committee of the 
 House express the opinion, that, in case of a war 
 with that power, "a small fleet of light-draught 
 heavily armed, iron^clad gunboats, cau.d, in one 
 short month, in despite of any opposition that could 
 be miu, oy extemporized batteries, ,,ass up tha 
 Ht Lawrence, and shell every city and village from 
 Ogdensbuigh to Chicago. Atone blow it could 
 sweep our commerce from that entire chain ol 
 lakes. Such a fleet would have it in its power to 
 infiict a loss to be reckoned only by hundreds of 
 iri'llions, so vast is the wealth thus eaposed to the 
 depredations of a maritime enemv.' We were saved 
 from such a blow, .i few months'ago, oniy by tha 
 faiure of the Uebel agents in Canada to procure 
 eii. er, by purchase or piracy, a swift armed 
 steamer. 
 
 Ever since the War of 1S12, England ha? beea 
 preparing, lu the event of anotltir war, to strike 
 at that, our vital point. In 1814 the Uuke of Wel- 
 liugion deckled "that a naval superiority on the 
 LaKes is asm? qua iion of success in war nn .1... 
 iroulier ot i;an.ija " Years before, William Half 
 Governor of the Norihwestcru Territory, made thJ 
 same declaration to our Government, and the t«i,. 
 tore of Detroit by the British In 18U was due L 
 their fnllure to respond to his appeal for a naval 
 foi-cj. In 1817 the Lakes were put ou a ,eace es- 
 tablishmeutofonegunoneachsiJe, which was » 
 good b irg»in for England, she h.iv.i„g .it ihal iitu» 
 
12 
 
 larger interefU on ifa« L»ke« than the United 
 Stales. Nov oora ezoeed hers in the latie of foi'r 
 to one. 
 
 What said the London THmes in January. 1862, 
 in reference to the Trent excitement? *Aa soon as 
 the St. Lawrence opens again there will be an 
 end of our difficulty. We ^cao then pour into the 
 Lakes such a fleet of gunboals, aad other crafr, 
 as will give us the complete aad ioimediate com- 
 mand of those waters Directly the navigation is 
 clear, we can send up vessel after vessel without 
 restriction, except such as are impoSBd by tho sizs 
 of the canal j. The Americans would have no such 
 resource. They would have no access to the 
 Lakes fron the sea, aud it U impossible that they 
 could construct vessels of any considerable powe.* 
 in the interval that would elapse before the ice 
 broke up. With the opening of spring the Laked 
 would be ours.' 
 
 This isjust what the English did in the War of 
 1812. Tney secured the command of the Lakes at 
 the beginning of the war, an<^ kept it and that of 
 Sill the adjacent country, till Perry built a fleet on 
 Lake Erie, with which he wrested their eupremacy 
 trom them by hard fighting. Let us not be caught 
 in that way a second time. 
 
 There is a party in the country oppos'^d to the 
 enlargement of these canals . It is represented in 
 Congress by able men. Their principal arguments 
 are the following: Ist, that there is no mUitary ne- 
 cessity for the enlargement ; tbat materials for 
 building gunbjats can be accumulated at various 
 points on the Lakes, lobe itsed in the event of war. 
 'iSnd, tbat by sending a strong force to destroy the 
 Canadian canals, )he enemy's gunboats can be pre- 
 venred from entering the Lake;*. A third argu- 
 ment is, tbat ii is useless to attempt to contend 
 with England, the greatest naval power in the 
 world ; that we shall never have vesjels enough to 
 afford a fleet on the coast and one nu the Lakes ; 
 tbat England would never allow us to equal her in 
 •that respect, and that it would be cbcngino: the 
 entire policy of the nation to attempt it. A fourth 
 argument which we have seengravelystated aganist 
 the canal enlargements is, tbat the motiih of the 
 Ht Lawrence is the place to defend thd Lakes, and 
 that, if tbat hole we.o stopped, the rats couid not 
 enter. 
 
 In reply to the first of these arguments, the 
 above quotation from the London / t>>»e8 shows 
 xliAt the Biitisi Government well know the impoi- 
 lance uf striking the first blow, and that lonsr be- 
 fore our gunboats could be launched that blow 
 woulu have been delivered. 
 
 As to the second we may be sure that the Giina- 
 diau canals would be defended with all the power 
 and skill of EnKland; and we know, by the expe- 
 rience of the last four years, the diflfereuce between 
 utfeniiive and defensive warfare, both sides being 
 equally matched in fishting qualities. 
 
 The third argument is the same used by Jeffer- 
 aon and his party before the War of 1812. He 
 thought that to build war vessels was only to build 
 tliem for the Kritieb, as they would be sure to take 
 \hem. As to changing the policy of t^e nation, 
 
 luady changed, and forever. Its policy has here- 
 lofjiM t)een a ^iouiheru policy, a slave-holders' po- 
 licy; it hts ditcouraged tiie navy, and kept it 
 UtHSa to the sniallesi p(is!«l>fle liimcnsioiis, becauM 
 u aavy is ekteniially a Northern insti^utioo. You 
 caaiiut m»u a oavy with slaves or mean whiles ; 
 
 itjniist have acommtrcial maiine bobiod it, and 
 tbat the Soatb never nad. Our oavy ought never 
 agaia to be inferior in fighting streogth to that of 
 England. In tbat way we iball always avoid 
 war. 
 
 As to the plan of defending the Lakes at the 
 mojth of the St Lawrence, we would ask this ques- 
 tion : U the blockad ' of Wilmington was a task 
 beyond the power of our navy, how would it be 
 able to blockade an estuary from fifty to a hundred 
 miles in width ? 
 
 With these enlarged canals, by which gunboats 
 and monitors could be moved fiom the Atlantic and 
 the Mississippi to the Lakes and vice versa, and 
 by the system of shoie defences recommended some 
 years ago by General Totten, namely, strong forti- 
 fications at Mackinaw, perfectly commanding those 
 slraite.and serving as a refuge to Wir steamers, 
 works at the lower «^ud of Lake Huron, at Detroit, 
 and at the entrance of Niagara River, these waters 
 will be protected from all foreign enemies. Lake 
 Ontario will also need a system of works to pro- 
 tect our important canals and railroads, which in 
 many places approach so near the shore as to be in 
 danger from an enterpr'sing enemy. It ie recom- 
 mended by the Military Committee, thala naval de- 
 pot should be eat^b'.isbed at Erie, as the most safe 
 and suitable harbor on the Lake of tbat name. 
 
 If, as 13 probable, a naval station and depot 
 should ba thought necessary on the Upper Lakes 
 the city of Milv/aukee has strong claims to be cho- 
 sen for it& site. There is the best and safest hii- 
 bor on Lake Michigan, so situated an 
 to be easily defended, in the .midst of a heavily- 
 timbered country, accessible to the iron and cap- 
 per of Lake Superior and the coal of Illinois. Mil- 
 waukee enjoys one of the cheapest marke'sfbr 
 foorl, togetbei with a very healthy climate Final- 
 ly, she is connected by rail with the great Western 
 centres of population, so 'hat all the necessary 
 troops for her defence could be gathered about ht>c 
 at twenty-four hours rotice. 
 
 U may hi well here to remark, that as yet the 
 Northwest has had little assislanflc from the Gen- 
 eral Qovarnment. Large sums of money have 
 annually been laid out in the defences of the sen- 
 bo trd, ooth North and South, while this immense 
 Lake region has had the annual appropriation of 
 one eighteen pounder I Every small river and 
 petty inlet ou th« Southern coast, whence a bale of 
 cotton or a barrel of turpentine could be shipped, 
 has had its fort; while the important post of Mack- 
 inaw, the Gibralter of th^ Lakes, is garrisoned by 
 an invalid sergeant, who sits solitary on its ruinous 
 walls. 
 
 The result at which we arrive is, that these ca- 
 nal enlargements would at once be valuable, both 
 HS commercial and military works. They have a 
 uatioaal importance, in that they will assist in 
 feeding and defending the nation. The States iu- 
 teresled in them have*a population of ten millions, 
 they have seventy-one represen tatives in Cong-ss, 
 and they have furnished fully one half of the light- 
 ing men who have gone to defend out flag and pro- 
 tect our nationality in the field. How that work 
 hss h££;: i!r..^s. let ihs the victorlcns CAmpaiso! nt 
 Grant and Sherman attest. Those great leaders 
 are Western men, aud their invincible coluinus, 
 who, from Belmont to Savannah, have, like Oroa- 
 well'i lionsides, 'never met an enemy whom they 
 have not broken in pieces,' are mea of Westein 
 birth or training. 
 
id it, and 
 ight never 
 to that of 
 %jB avoid 
 
 Lea at the 
 this quesi 
 as a task 
 said it be 
 a handred 
 
 1 gan>H>ats 
 lantio and 
 veraa^ and 
 Qded eome 
 trongfarti- 
 iding those 
 steamerd, 
 at Detroit, 
 ese waters 
 iee. Lake 
 
 to pro- 
 
 I, which in 
 
 ae to be in 
 
 ie recom- 
 
 anavtil de- 
 most safe 
 name, 
 and depot 
 )per LakeR 
 B to be cho* 
 safest h-M- 
 mted an 
 ' a heavily- 
 
 1 and cep- 
 noii. Mil- 
 iiarkc*6 ibr 
 bte Final- 
 at Weitern 
 
 necessary 
 1 about ht>c 
 
 t aa yet the 
 n tbe Qen- 
 loney have 
 of the sea- 
 113 immcDse 
 oprialioa of 
 river and 
 ce A bale of 
 be shipped, 
 )3t of Mdck- 
 Ti-isooed by 
 
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 The following id au American view of Northern 
 Frontier Defences, fron the Ogdensburg Advance : 
 
 In an article on this subject some few days since, 
 we attempted to show the error iato which our 
 Government had fallen, by cnmmeucing to fortify 
 at the western end of our Northern frontier ; and 
 that the true policy for the protection of our lakes 
 would be to shut out ingress from tbe sea, by plac- 
 ing fortifications upcn the St. Lawrence river 
 which being accomplished we could safely trust to 
 the overwhelming number and power of our lake 
 marine. In that article we also endeavored to 
 show that the bar in front of our village furnished 
 a very appropriate site for such purpose iuasmuch 
 as all vessels would come within short and easy 
 range of its guns. Important, however, as the ex- 
 terior ot this village is for tbe purpose of mere de- 
 fence to the property and business of t\m west, it is 
 eutitled to much greater consideration for the advan- 
 tages it possssea for serviug es a base of ooerations 
 for the invasion of Canada whenever that exigency 
 becomes a necessity. And first as to the facilities 
 it possesses for massing of troops and munitions of 
 
 war : We have two railroads terminating here 
 
 one piercing that great avenue the New York Cen- 
 tral, from which branch off in all directions west 
 and south, other railroads that bring this place' 
 within a few hours reach of those extreme of our 
 country. The other leads to that great net work of 
 New England railroads which traverse almost every 
 town and village within her territory. Besides 
 these we have water communication by means of 
 the St. Lawrence, directly with Lake Ontario, and 
 with the exception of a short break between Lake 
 Erie, for which a railroad is substituted, with all 
 the States lying west of us to the waters of the Miss- 
 issippi. So far then as mere accessibility of con- 
 venience for collecting the material of war is con- 
 cerned, it possesses advantages equal in any degree 
 to those of any other town or village upon our 
 Northern frontier. But these advantages, althong^h 
 great, are not to be compared in importance with 
 those we pos3«ssfrom oui- being within such short 
 striking distance of the very vitals of Canada. At 
 this place the St Lawrence is about a mile in width 
 and under cover of the guns from the foct we pro- 
 pose, the troops who accumulated here could easily 
 be transported to the other shure. Once then in 
 siege tbe terminus of the Ottawa and Prescott 
 
 92553 
 
 Railroad, leadlbg to tbe capital of the Canadas and 
 whose depot ik immediately on tbe shorv: of tbe 
 river, and a short quarter of a mile back, we tap 
 that great artery of the Oanadas, through which 
 their very life-blood flows, the Grand Trunk Rail- 
 road. The comncnnication between the two Pro- 
 vinces being cut off by tbe St. Lawrence River and 
 the Grand Trunk Railroad, but one other, of very 
 litt'e practical importance exists— that by means 
 of the Rideau Canal, at Ottawa, and from thence 
 to Kingston. If this also be desired to be taken 
 we are only within fifty-five miles of Ottawa City 
 — the entrance to the canal from the Ottawa River. 
 The chain of locks at that place once destroyed 
 would require quite a lengthy campaign in which 
 to effect their replacement. This jrief statement 
 of facts must show, we think, that Ogdensburg: is 
 the key that not only locks out the entrance from 
 the sea, but also unlocks to us the defences of a 
 neighbor who may need ere long some correction 
 for growing misconduct. Her chief power, the pro- 
 tection of England, would be most effectually crip- 
 pled by lines of communication being cut off, and 
 the whole of the upper province would be obliged 
 to bear the burnt of our arms single-handed and 
 alone. The result of such a combat needs no pro- 
 phet to foretell. 
 
 I leave the country to judge if eight hundred 
 thousand pounds expended in small arms would not 
 be more efficient in defending the Canadas than one 
 million three hundred thousand ^MfeB* expended 
 in fortifications. It is not presumption in me to 
 say I know something of the subject I have been 
 writing upon. I was trained in my youth in the 
 Regular Service to European tactics ; I was active- 
 ly employed the whole of the war of 1812, and 
 when the 104th was reduced to a skeleton, I volun- 
 teered to command a gun boat, with a crew of 60 
 men and two heavy gnns. I have no pecuniary 
 object in view ; my only aim is the continuation of 
 British connexion. Any patriot editor that will re- 
 print these crjide ideas of mine, jumbled together, 
 will confer a favor, and one copy mailed to me 
 will be lull payment for the copyright.