The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-12-13

horrors OF war, and yet be taught the Gospel of
peace. The barracks of the soldiers are striking.
ly neat, but not at all intended to foster luxu.
rious ease. They are allowed so much beef Der
day, and may have it cooked in any form they
choose; but they must eat it from a tin or
wooden dish, placed upon a bare pine board.
In the same room, are arranged the iron bed.
steads for sleeping, and the coarse blankets for
covering, without the comfort of mattresses or
the cleanliness of sheets. But they are not al
lowed to live this easy and sumptuous life more
than year or two at time, but are sent to
the East or the Indies, to accustom them to
hardship, and prepare them for the vicissitudes
of active warfare.
On the plains of Abraham, without the fort
ress, are erected the four Martello towers, which
overlook the whole city; and, being built of
solid stone masonry, and mounted by cannon,
and suspected to be connected by subterranean
passages, they are very formidable means of
defence. The walls of the town and of the
fortress are fifty feet in thickness, and at all
important points are mounted by cannon and
sentinels, who are commanded never to slum.
Der or sleep, are stationed at short intervals
throughout the city.
In q time Of peace, aid when it does not
seem that there couid ever again be possitili.
ty of danger, all this parade and expense
seems like childish folly. But nations wsre a
long time in learning, ain peace, to prepare for
war" and it is wise perhaps not to forget 4.
We stood upon the spot where the gallant
Wolfe breathed out his life, exclaiminf, al
die happy;" and where the not less gallant
Montgomery fell, ere his mission had beean to
be accomplished. Judged by the walior's
standard, regarded in the light of hefSism,
none in ancient or modern story have Con a
brighter name, or wreathed their memor, ss in
more imperishable laurels. And he VIII had
he lived, would have worn the victor's own,
deserves something more than hero's tonor.
Glorious as the victory was as mere tr} ,mph
of arms, as a moral victory it was mo, i'm
portant and more glorious, though this view of
it may not have been among the considerations
of the conquered or the conquerors. By the
right of discovery and the right of possession,
the country belonged to the Catholic King !;
but, had he retained it, forever banished would
have been religious freedom, and the Protest
ant energy and enterprise, which have come here
to flourish, and add strength and beauty to the
kingdom, would have gone elsewhere, or, what
is perhaps more probable, these peaceful val
leys would have been the scene of continual re-
bellions, and more blood would have, been
eventually shed, in petty and Intellectual strifes,
than was shed on the CORY plains of Abraham.
1t is three years from being century since
the English have been the rulers of this peo-
pie; and there is not in the world couotry SO
free, where the weight of Governmer is so
light, and where the inhabitants live COM
fortably, and enjoy in such measure u the
pleasures and good things Of life. We ought
to blush that it is the land to which the who
are born beneath the waving stars and stripes
must flee for liberty, that to the citizens of Re-
publican America it is the "home of d eexile
and the asylum of the fugitive!" If II Eng
lish had not conquered ii, it might ere Il s have
been numbered among the Federal Sta IS, and
then there would not have been spot on the
American continent to which the son Of op.
preston might fee-not tree or rock itfwhose
shadow they could have found shelter How
many millions in the present and futuI gene
rations have reason to rejoice at the victory
which British valor gained on the he shts of
Abraham