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Outbreak of the War of
1812.—Expressions of the American Press and Public Men.—Situation of Affairs
in-Upper Canada.—Colonel Denison's Account of General Brock's
Difficulties.—Treason of Willcocks, Mallory, Marcle and other
Renegades.—Extra Session of Parliament Summoned.—Martial Law
Proclaimed.—Expulsion of Willcocks and Marcle.
It would be foreign to the
purpose of a work such as this to enter at any length into the cause which
led to the War of 1812. The people of Glengarry, indeed those of Canada, had
nothing to do with that. This matter has been discussed at length by various
writers on the subject, by James in "The Military Occurrences of the War,"
by Christie in his admirable "History of Lower Canada," by Auchinleck in the
"History of the War of 1812-13-14," and later by Colonel Coffin in his
"Chronicle of the War of 1812," published as late as 1864. My object is
simply to show that the war having come upon us, owing to no act of ours,
the Highlanders of Glengarry did their share of the work and merited the
high encomium of Colonel Carmichael passed upon them in his letter to Sir
James Macdonell in 1840, which I quoted on the title page.
Suffice it to say that they
were fighting for their homes, for the possession of British North America
was what the Americans aimed at. Not only, however, were they lustful of
further territorial aggrandizement, but they recognized the fact that, as
stated in the "Weekly Register " :
"The conquest of Canada will
be of the greatest importance to us in distressing our enemy; in cutting off
his supplies of provisions and naval stores for his West India Colonies and
home demand. There is no place from where she can supply the mighty void
that would be occasioned by the loss of this country, as well in her exports
and imports. It would operate upon him with a double force; it would deprive
him of a vast quantity of indispensable materials, as well as of food, and
close an extensive market for his manufactures. Canada and Nova Scotia, if
not fully conquered immediately, may be rendered useless to him in a few
weeks. Without them, and particularly the latter, he cannot maintain these
terrible fleets on our coast which we are threatened with, or bridge our
harbours with frigates, admitting he may have no use for them to defend his
own shores; for he will not have a dockyard, filling the purposes of his
navy, within three thousand miles of us."
Mr. Porter, then Chairman of
the Committee on Foreign Relations, said:—
"These Provinces were not
only immensely valuable in themselves, but almost indispensable to the
existence of Great Britain, cut off as she now is, in a great measure from
the north of Europe. He had been credibly informed that the exports from
Quebec alone amounted during the last year (1810) to near six millions of
dollars, and most of these, too, in articles of the first necessity—in ship
timber and in provisions for the support of her fleets and armies."
Britain's battle, therefore,
became our fight, and our defence not only an obligation to us but a duty
she owed to herself and her supremacy on the sea. Canada was to be the
battle-ground, and the success of the war must largely depend on the temper
and loyalty of its people; and though there were traitors within the gates
the great bulk of them proved equal to the emergency. Such of the veterans
of the War of 1776-83 as were left had their experience to fall back upon
and place at the service of the Crown, though their limbs had lost the
elasticity of youth, and in most cases were crippled with age and the
hardship incidental to their lot; while the children of those who had gone
proved true to the loyalty. of their forefathers and the obligations
incumbent upon subjects of the British Crown.
"We will drive the British
from our continent" was the text of their speeches and manifestoes. "The
Falls of Niagara could be resisted with as much success as the American
people when they should be called into action," cried an excited orator in
Congress. "I am willing," was the magnanimous declaration of Mr. Grundy of
Tennessee, "to receive the Canadians as adapted brethren. * * I feel anxious
not only to add the Floridas to the south, but the Canadas to the north of
this empire.'" The willingness, however, was not reciprocal, and we purposed
to hold our own on what the were pleased to term "their" continent. The
Canadian people, less inflated and less vulgar and verbose, gave them their
answer on many a hard contested field during the next few years.
Henry Clay said: "It is
absurd to suppose we shall not succeed in our enterprise against the enemy's
Provinces. We have the Canadas as much under our command as Great Britain
has the ocean, and the way to conquer her or the ocean is to drive her from
the land. I am not for stopping at Quebec or anywhere else, but I would take
the whole continent from them and ask no favours. * * * We must take the
continent from them—I wish never to see a peace till we do. God has given us
the power and the means; we are to blame if we do not use them." It is a
curious coincidence that this same Henry Clay signed the treaty of peace at
the close of the War and that it did not give the United States a single
inch of Canadian territory.
Dr. Eustis, the Secretary at
War of the United States, said: "We can take the Canadas without soldiers;
we have only to send officers into the Provinces, and the people,
disaffected toward their own government, will rally around our standard."
There can be no doubt but
that they counted, and counted largely, on a portion, a large and
influential one, of our population, being inimical to Great Britain, and
that they had, unfortunately, some ground for this impression will shortly
be shown.
My friend Colonel George
Taylor Denison, of Toronto, who, like all the members of his distinguished
family, for several generations, has done so much by precept and example to
keep alive the spirit of loyalty and patriotism among our people, in an
admirable lecture on the opening of the War of 1812, recently delivered
before the Sons of England in Toronto, has outlined far better than I could
attempt to do, the situation of affairs at the time, the difficulties
General Brock had to face, and the measures he took to meet them. He has
most kindly placed it at my disposal, with permission to use it to the
fullest extent—a courtesy of which I most gladly avail myself. He first
refers to the fact that England was engaged in the mightiest effort she had
ever made, carrying on, almost single-handed, a war against the greatest
soldier and conqueror of modern times, if not of all time. From 1793, with a
slight intermission, she had been continually engaged in war. The British
troops had been fighting in the Peninsula with varying success for four
years. One army under Sir John Moore, had been obliged to retreat in 1809 to
Corunna and embark for England; while Lord Wellington had been obliged to
fall back to the shelter of the lines of Torres Vedras in 1810 and across
the Portuguese frontier in 1811 and to retreat from Burgos in 1812. The
national debt had increased from £240.000,000 to about £740,000,000 sterling
during the preceding nineteen years, an increase of over £126,000,000, or
$130,000,000 per annum. The total debt was fifteen times larger than the
present debt of Canada, while the population of Great Britain and Ireland
was not more than three and a half times our present population. Napoleon
was at the zenith of his power. The whole of Europe, except Russia, was
under his control. On the 12th June, 1812, he crossed the Niemen to invade
Russia at the head of about half a million of the best troops of Europe.
Alison says:
"The commands of Napoleon
were as readily obeyed by the Italians, Germans or Prussians as by the
Guards of the French Empire."
Napoleon left Paris for this
campaign on the 9th May, 1812, and six weeks after, on the 18th June, the
United States declared war against England. The population of Upper Canada
was then estimated at about 70,000, of Lower Canada about 230,000, in all
about 300,000. The population of the United States was over 8,000,000. The
population of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was slightly
more than double that of the United States, but it was a population
exhausted by nineteen years of war, burdened with a debt relatively four
times as great as the present debt of Canada is to the Canadian people, and
facing in mortal struggle nearly all Europe, lead by the greatest captain of
the age.
England's difficulty was the
Republic's opportunity. Madison and his government, believing that England
was upon the verge of ruin, were determined to bring on war, and nothing but
the public voice restrained them from sooner commencing hostilities. Sir
George Prevost and General Brock knowing this, made it their constant study
to guard against anything that would enable the War Party in the States to
influence the minds of the people against England. This strong desire to
conquer and acquire Canada was increased somewhat by the belief that England
was in extremities, but principally from the belief that Canada, weak in
numbers as she was, was still weaker in consequence of divided councils and
internal disaffection. The confidence of the politicians at Washington in
the certainty of the acquisition of Canada was absolute.
Now let us consider General
Brock's position. For the defence of this Province he had to rely upon the
regular troops and the quota of militia that 70,000 people could furnish. On
the breaking out of hostilities the regular force in Upper Canada amounted
to barely 1,500 men, composed of:—The Forty-First Regiment, 900; Tenth
Veterans, 250; Newfoundland Regiment, 250; Royal Artillery, 50; Provincial
Seamen, 50.
In Lower Canada Sir George
Prevost had about 3,000 regular troops. The total number of men capable of
bearing arms in Upper Canada was about 11,000. The proportion available for
active service constantly was estimated at about 4,000. At the beginning of
1812, the United States had a regular army of 5,500 men. On the 11th
January, 1812, five months before the Declaration of War, an Act of Congress
was passed for raising 25,000 men for five years. In the next month an Act
was passed to organize 50,000 volunteers, and in April 100,000 militia were
called called into active service for the purpose of military drill. During
the whole war the United States regular army amounted to about 30,000. The
whole militia force raised during the war was 471,622, making a grand total
of over half a million engaged in the effort to conquer Provinces containing
a total population of 300,000. Another great difficulty was the lack of
military stores and supplies. General Brock had no uniforms to clothe the
militia, and therefore issued a recommendation to them that each man, as far
as his circumstance and situation allowed, should provide himself with a
short coat of some dark coloured cloth, made to button well around the body,
and trousers suited to the season, with the addition of a round hat. It was
also recommended to the officers on every occasion when in the field to
dress in conformity with the men, in order to avoid the bad consequences of
a conspicuous dress.
Flour was scarce, the price
having risen before the War to $3.50 a barrel, and many of the militia were
drilling in their naked feet, while Brock was without a military chest,
without money enough to buy provisions, blankets or even shoes for the
militia. He made his wants known to a number of gentlemen of credit, who
formed themselves into what was called "the Niagara and Queenston
Association," and several thousand pounds were issued in the shape of bank
notes, which were currently received throughout the country. This enabled
Block to fit out his expedition to Detroit. The want of arms was also
severely felt until the capture of Detroit placed at his disposal 2,500
muskets of General Hull's army, which were used to arm Canadian Militia.
There also he captured a quantity of cannon that were of service in
subsequent operations.
In addition to the enormous
odds against him, the lack of supplies, arms, men and money, there was one
difficulty worse than all others, namely, internal disaffection and
treachery. The regular force under General Brock was apparently utterly
inadequate to defend so long a frontier, even if assisted by the hearty
support of the whole population of the Province. Here, however, came Brock's
greatest danger, enough to appall the stoutest heart. Upper Canada had been
settled by different classes of settlers. The first arrivals, in 1784, were
the loyal fighting men of the Revolutionary War, men who had made enormous
sacrifices and suffered untold hardships to maintain the unity of the Empire
and their allegiance to their Sovereign. These men had settled along the
Niagara frontier, on the Bay of Quinte and along the St. Lawrence.
When in 1792 Colonel Simcoe
arrived as first lieutenant-Governor of this Province, being anxious to
secure additional population he established a most liberal system of
granting the public lands to bona fide settlers. His principal efforts were
directed to inducing emigration from the United States. He felt that,
although the Revolutionary War had ceased nine years before, there was still
in the United States a large number of people whose sympathies were with the
Royal side, and who would feel more satisfied in Canada under the old
allegiance, and would probably move here if inducements were held out by a
liberal system of free grants. His policy had the result of adding largely
to the population of the Colony. Many doubtless came who were loyal in their
tendencies, but they were different from the men of extreme views, who
fought throughout the War, and left the States at its close. The weak point
in the policy, however, was that the liberal inducements as to land tempted
a large number of Yankee settlers to emigrate to Canada simply from
mercenary motives, bringing with them the Republican sentiments which were
so obnoxious to the loyal element which had opened up the first settlements
in the forest. This class of disloyal mercenary Yankee settlers was more
numerous than is now generally known, and of all the difficulties General
Brock had to face, the lukewarmness, disloyalty, and, in many cases, secret
and in others open treason of these settlers was the most dangerous and
disheartening.
One of this disloyal type
named M. Smith, who was given a passport to leave the country shortly after,
the War broke out, has left a short history of the War, published in
Baltimore in 1814. He admits that he came from Pennsylvania to Upper Canada
in 1808, not because he preferred the Government of Great Britain to that of
the United Slates, but in order to obtain land on easy terms. He says that a
large proportion of the population of Upper Canada consisted of the same
class and their children.
The United Empire Loyalists
were, as has been mentioned, principally settled along the St. Lawrence, on
the Bay of Quinte, on the Niagara frontier and some in Toronto and in its
neighborhood. From Toronto westward to the Detroit River, all along the
shores of Lake Erie and in the London district, the then settlers were
principally of the mixed class, that is the later United Empire Loyalist
settlers, and the Yankee settlers who came with them on the same pretexts,
but really from mercenary motives.
For years the United States
had been preparing for war, and Yankee emissaries had been insidiously
encouraging disaffection, and spreading fear and doubt among the people. The
continued Indian wars the United States had diverted a portion of the stream
of Yankee migration into Canada, and consequently the western district
received a considerable number of Yankee farmers, who took up lands, and
wherever they settled spread more or less the republican and revolutionary
ideas in which they had been brought up. Of course many of these secondary
emigrants were loyal and true to the Government of their adopted country,
and fought for it, but the majority of this class were essentially
disaffected and disloyal.
It was among these men that
Yankee emissaries were sent to consult and advise, and the Yankee newspapers
were filled with the reports of so-called travellers as to the disloyal
state of public opinion in the Province. It was positively stated that our
people would make no defence against invasion, and they would submit at
once. General Hull's proclamation to the Canadians was evidently based on
this belief, that he was bringing them the blessings of freedom for which
they were longing. The first invasion was made into the Western district at
Detroit. This frontier was far removed from the enemy's base of supplies,
and was the most remote and difficult line for them to operate upon; yet the
movement on Canada was commenced there, evidently in the hope that in that
section, where the disloyal faction were settled, they would meet with the
least resistance and receive the greatest support from the inhabitants. The
disaffection of these aliens was to a great extent instrumental in plunging
the two countries into war. Had the people of the United States known that
the Canadian people as a whole were thoroughly-loyal, and would have fought
as stubbornly as they did in defence of their King and Country, there would
have been no war.
On the 2nd December, 1811,
General Biock, says, in a letter to Sir George Prevost: "I cannot conceal
from Your Excellency that unless a strong regular force be present to
animate the loyal, and to content the disaffected nothing effectual can be
expected." On the 4th February, 1812, Brock opened the session of the
Legislature and urged upon the House: 1. A rnilitia supplementary Act. 2.
The suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. 3. An alien law. 4. The offer of a
reward for the apprehension of deserters.
"The many doubtful characters
in the militia," he says in one of his despatches, "made me anxious to
introduce the oath of abjuration into the bill. It was lost by the casting
vote of the chairman. The great influence which the numerous settlers from
the United States possess over the decisions of the Lower House is truly
alarming, and ought immediately by every practical means to be diminished."
The bill for the suspension of the habeas corpus was also beaten by a very
trifling majority. Willcocks, Mallory and Marcle were all members of this
House and leading spirits of the Opposition.
When war was declared, Brock
at once called out the flank companies of the militia. This produced a force
on the Niagara frontier of eight hundred men, who turned out very
cheerfully, and he calculated that all over the Province the number would
amount to about four thousand men. In the districts originally settled by
the United Empire Loyalists the flank companies were instantly completed
with volunteers, an almost unanimous disposition to serve being manifested,
and on these men General Brock seems to have depended to overawe the
disaffected and to aid him in the field. In fact he said in reply to an
address at Kingston that it was the confidence inspired by the admirable
conduct of the York and Lincoln Regiments of Militia which had induced him
to undertake the expedition which terminated in the capture of Detroit,"
These men who were with him when he died at Queenston were the sons of the
loyal veterans of the Revolution. All along the St. Lawrence the same spirit
was manifested, the men of Glengarry in particular performing at Chateauguay
and in other fights the most brilliant services for Canada.
On the 6th July General Brock
issued a proclamation, ordering all persons suspected of traitorous
intercourse with the enemy to be apprehended and treated according to law.
His letters are filled with references to his anxiety as to the machination
of the disloyal and disaffected
On the 12th July General Hull
invaded Canada at Sandwich, and the militia in that district behaved very
ill. They seemed either to lose hope or to be disaffected. Five hundred of
them, principally of these alien settlers, gave in their adhesion to the
enemy, and a party of General Hull's cavalry, amounting to about 50 men, led
by a traitor named Watson, a surveyor from Montreal, were able to penetrate
eastward as far as Westminster, about 110 miles east of Sandwich, a
conclusive proof of the apathy, to say the least, of the settlers in that
district. The Yankee settlers in the Norfolk district also refused to turn
out.
At this time General Brock
called the Parliament together, and on the 27th July, 1812, opened an extra
session. In his speech he says: "A few traitors have already joined the
enemy; have been suffered to come into the country with impunity, and have
been harboured and concealed in the interior. * * * To protect and defend
the loyal inhabitants from their machinations is an object worthy of your
most serious deliberation." His speech concluded with these well known and
memorable words showing in the face of all his difficulties and dangers, and
in the face of overwhelming odds, the true heroism and confidence of a
gallant soldier:
"We are engaged in an awful
and eventful contest. By unanimity and despatch in our councils and by vigor
in our operations we may teach the enemy this lesson, that a Country
defended by free men, enthusiastically devoted to the cause of their King
and constitution, can never be conquered."
Two days later Brock appealed
to the militia of York, the York flank companies, whether they would follow
him anywhere in this Province or out of it, in defence of it. The whole
force volunteered cheerfully, without a moment's hesitation. The House,
however, refused to suspend the Habeas Corpus Act, or to act as promptly as
he desired. The disloyal section, led by Willcocks, assisted by Abraham
Marcle, did everything they could to thwart and embarrass General Brock. The
state of the country certainly required prompt and vigorous measures, but
many of the House of Assembly were seized with apprehensions, and
endeavoured to avoid incurring the indignation of the enemy. In consequence
of these difficulties Brock, feeling that General Hull's emissaries
throughout the country were numerous and active, called together the
Executive Council on the 3rd August, and made the following representation
to them.
"That the House of Assembly,
instead of prompt exertions to strengthen his hands for the Government of
the militia, providing for security from internal treason by the partial
suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, authorizing a partial exercise of
martial law concurrently with the ordinary course of justice, and placing at
his disposal the funds not actually applied of the past appropriation, had
consumd eight days in carrying a single measure of party, the repeal of the
school bill, and passing an Act for the public disclosure of treasonable
practices before the magistrates should have the power to commit without
bail. That under these circumstances little could be expected from a
prolonged session. The enemy had invaded and taken post in the western
district; was multiplying daily his preparations to invade in others; that
the militia in a perfect state of insubordination had withdrawn from the
ranks in actual service; had refused to march when legally commanded to
reinforce a detachment of regular forces for the relief of Amherstburg had
insulted their officers and some, not immediately embodied, had manifested
in many instances a treasonable spirit of mutiny and disaffection; that the
Indians on Grand River, tampered with by disaffected whites, had withdrawn
from their volunteer services, and declared for a neutrality which was
equally inadmissible as with the King's other subjects. That in the Western
and London districts several persons had negotiated with the enemy's
commander, hailing his arrival and pledging their support. That the King's
forces consisted of the 41st, nine hundred strong, part of the Royal
Newfoundland two hundred, with a detachment of Royal Artillery and several
vessels. That the extent of coast and distance of prominent parts would
divide that force to support and countenance the militia. That the conduct
of the western militia had exposed the regulars at Amherstburg, and had made
a large detachment of the 41st with militia from the home and Niagara
districts. That the commandant at St. Joseph had taken Mackinac and might
descend to Amherstburg, and compel the invaders to retreat, with the aid of
the detachment not on the march to Long Point; but that no good result could
be expected unless he had power to restrain the militia and general
population from treasonable adherence to the enemy or neutrality by summary
procedure-asked whether it would be expedient to prorogue the House of
Assembly and proclaim martial law."
The Council adjourned till
the next day, the 4th of August, for deliberation, and then unanimously
expressed the opinion that, under the circumstances of the Colony, it was
expedient after the prorogation of the Assembly that the General should
proclaim and exercise martial law under authority of his commission from the
King. On the 5th Brock prorogued the House and proclaimed martial law. In
all probability the action contemplated by General Brock became known on the
4th, for on the 5th, the day of prorogation, the loyal party carried in this
same House a most spirited and patriotic address to the people of Upper
Canada. In this it is stated that the population is unterminedly hostile to
the United States, and "the few that might be otherwise inclined will find
it to their safety to be faithful," and calls upon the people to "deem no
sacrifice too costly which secures the enjoyment of our happy Constitution."
The outlook must have been
very disheartening to General Brock when he wrote this minute for the
Council on the 3rd of August. With only a handful of troops and no money or
supplies, with a House of Assembly weak and timorous, and containing a few
infamous secret traitors, sufficiently influential to delay and embarrass
every step for the defence of the country; with an invading army within our
borders, and a portion of the militia in the invaded district mutinous and
disloyal. The turning point was the proclaiming of martial law on the 5th of
August. Then Brock was master of the situation, and the change in the
prospects in a few days was almost miraculous. That very day the stirring
address from the House went forth to the people. The next day Brock left for
Amherstburg, arriving there on the 13th at midnight. On the 15th he was at
Sandwich, with three hundred and thirty regulars, four hundred militia and
six hundred Indians. On the morning of the 16th he crossed to the Michigan
side of the river, with these thirteen hundred and thirty men, and captured
Detroit, with the whole of Hull's army of two thousand five hundred men and
their immense stores and supplies. Two or three days after he set out again
for York, where he arrived on the 27th August.
The success at Detroit, so
unexpected as it was, produced an electrical effect throughout Canada. It
inspired the timid, fixed the wavering and awed the disloyal. After this
event the disaffected saw that it was as much as their property and lives
were worth to disobey orders, and what they were at first compelled to do,
after a little while they did from choice. Aliens were required to take the
oath of allegiance or leave the Province. Many were sent out of the country,
large numbers left on their own account—passports being furnished those
desiring to leave. Those who refused the oath of allegiance, or to take up
arms to defend the country, and remanded in the Province after the 1st of
January, 1813, were to be considered enemies and spies and dealt with
accordingly. "When the militia of the London district were ordered out,
Smith, the author already referred to, says:
"Many refused of their own
accord and others were persuaded so to refuse by a Mr. Culver and a Mr.
Beamer and one more, who rode among the people for six days telling them to
stand back. However, they were apprehended and the most of the people became
obedient. After this they had their choice to go or stay, and some went."
This power of compelling the
traitorous to cease their treason soon bore fruit. Large numbers went to the
States, among them three members of Parliament—Joseph Willcocks, the leader
of the Opposition, Benjamin Mallory and Abraham Marcle. At the next session
Willcocks and Marcle, who were still members, were expelled the House "for
their disloyal and infamous conduct in having traitorously deserted to the
enemy." Mallory had not been re-elected in 1812. Willcocks was killed at
Fort Erie in 1814 in command of a regiment in the Yankee army—Mallory served
during the War as major in the same regiment. Fifteen traitors were tried at
Ancaster during the war and sentenced to death. Seven of them were hanged
together at that place by order of General Drummond and eight were sent to
Quebec for punishment. A large number of the disloyal must have been
arrested and put in prison very early in the war, for on the day of the
battle of Queenston Heights, October 13, 1812, the Jail and Court House at
Niagara were filled with political prisoners, as well as the block house in
Fort George, amounting altogether to over three hundred aliens and traitors
in custody, with only a few raw militia to guard them. When Brock lost his
life at Queenston he did not have many more than three hundred soldiers with
him in action, as the main forces had not come up. After the commencement of
the war the officers of the army, the Indians and the loyal militia all
volunteered their services to force the few laggards into the ranks. They
thought it hard and unreasonable that they should bear all the burden and
dangers of the war, and a number of them were zealously engaged in bringing
forward the disobedient. Some forty men of Colonel Grahame's regiment
refused to turn out in the neighborhood of Whitchurch township and retired
Into the wilderness, and the whole regiment volunteered to go out and fetch
them in, an offer Colonel Grahame did not accept, probably feeling that such
men were better in the woods.
The result of the war was
practically that the disloyal minority were driven out, and the apathetic,
unable to avoid serving the country, soon became enthusiastic in the cause.
Three years of war weeded out the bad elements and welded the Canadians into
a loyal and patriotic people. It also stopped the Yankee emigration, and
afterwards the country was filled up with loyal English, Irish and Scotch,
who settled here that they might retain their allegiance and remain under
their flag.
Canada can never again be
called upon to face such dangers and difficulties. It seems impossible that
the odds could ever again be anything like so great against us, and although
unfortunately we might have a few traitors among us, yet there are too many
sons of Canada born upon her soil and too many other men loyal to their
Sovereign and to the land of their adoption for a small fraction of
strangers to be able to seriously endanger the national life.
Colonel Denison very properly
adds that:
The experience of 1812
teaches us that internal treachery and the intrigues of a faction in favour
of annexation, although the faction may be small in numbers and weak in
influence, may yet involve the two countries in war and bring untold misery
and immense loss of life and property upon our country. The belief that the
Canadians wanted annexation, a belief industriously fostered and encouraged
by the United States Government, alone enabled them to prevail upon their
people in 1812 to engage in an aggressive war, and to-day the right-thinking
masses of the United States would forbid a war of aggression upon Canada,
unless they believed we desired the change and would yield to it without
bloodshed. The man who advocates annexation in Canada is therefore playing
into the hands of our worst enemies in the States, and doing all he can to
embroil us in war. Whenever we hear of men advocating annexation, and there
are a few cranks who do, we should remember that they are the most dangerous
type to the country. |
