Volcano weekly ledger., 1856-01-19
From the London Telegraph, Oct 20.
War with the United States.

large army, as compared with Great Britain
or France. But let it not be forgotten that
the marantine shipping of the United States
rivals our own in tonnage The U. States
are in position to fit out superb feet from
the merchant navy, composed of sailing ves-
sells and steamers. The ocean would literal
ly swarm with their armed clippers, and the
commerce of England within six months af-
ter the declaration of hostilities, would be
almost annihilated. Not ship that left our
English ports for the East or West Indies,
Australia, the Cape, or Canada, would ever
reach her destination This would be con-
summation we should not at all relish. In
point of fact, while we could assemble great
naval squadrons, the United States would, at
the same time, sting us everywhere by a cloud
of hornets from which our commerce could
not escape. a ga4 n tlga 3cps
AS to our being able to effect any military
operations in war with the United States,
that is farce We have now some fifty
thousand men in the Crimea, which consti-
tutes the larger portion Of the rank and file
Of the British army The Americans, on
the contrary, possess the finest organized mi
litia in the world Their riemen are fault
one month of declaration of hostilites, the
Americans would and could muster an army
Of some FIVE hundred thousand men on the
British frontiers And although hastily sum-
moned to arms, they would not be raw re-
cruits, as ours, but well trained soldiers, for
each one, in his adventurings in the back
woods, has handled the rife with unerring
aim, bivoucked, winter and summer, in the
forest and on the prairie; pioneers of the
wilderness; men injured to danger and hard
ship---trained with the long rife in hand
from earliest boyhood; their own commissar-
iarts and engineers; at home in every posi-
tion--while trailing the wild Indian or en-
gagged in the bear or moose hunt-on foot
or on horseback-on the "long cob" or in
the canoe; wild, determined, fearless, wiry,
up to every work; each and every one of
whom considers himself fit to be President
or Commander-in-C Chief-such would form
the rank and file of an army of 500, 900
down casters on our frontiers; and work
well too. The Americans are peculiarly a
military people. They possess the qualifca-
tions for generalship, in which we are gre
viously deficient. There are hundreds Of
them who could command an army of inva-
sion with the most brilliant success. They
are fully up to their work, as soldiers; and, as
tacttions, they have not one whit degenera-
ted from their fathers who drove us from the
Union in l776, and combatted with us in
1914 As to martial enthusiasm, there is no
bound to it; the American is frey and amb-
tious. The future of the people is to be a
great military nation, which will sweep the
American continents from Hudson's Bay on
the north, to Cape Horn on the south, and
no nation can stay their destiny.
An American army would advance from
Maine to New Brunswick, and st. John and
Fredericton would fall without blow
Another army would simultaneously cross
the st. Lawrence, and invest Montreal and
Quebec. From New York State, Kingston
and Toranto would be summoned to surren-
der The lakes would swarm with Ameri-
can steamers. Bombard New York, and
the cities Of the Canadas would be razed to
the ground The knowledge of this fact
forms the strongest Notifications necessary to
protect the Atlantic cities. No power we
have in the Canadas, with all their loyal in-
habtants, could preserve them TO us They
would be invaded at fifty points at once, and
in one great combined movement the proyin-
ces would be wrested forever from the moth
er country. So much for the commencement
of the war; what would be the prospect Of
its termination2 The West India Islands
and the Bermudas, one by one, would fall to
the Americans. Thus our transatlantic pos
sessions would be lost. During this time
Australia would improve upon our difficult
ties and it is not too much to add that
Tasmania would hoist the lone star Of in5,e.
pendence. Our colonies lost to us 20 the At.
lantic and the Pacific, England. would in
truth, have achieved Q. grand success to re
munerate her for going to war about Cuba
We would impress this fact upon our readers
The declartion of hostilities with the United
States would sound the first knell to Eng
lands supremacy as a nation. Not only
should We be worsted abroad, but at home
in the general commotion Of affairs which
would follow--dynasties might change con
stitutions be overturned; that which is now
below will rise uppermost, and, in the froth
ing cauldron of our "hell BROTH thing:
stranger might occur in the worlds history
than, the child assuming the power and posi-
ton once maintained by the parent
Those who would urge war between Eng
land and the United States are no friends OF
their country and the Ministry who would
listen to such evil advice, would deserve at
the hands OF an infuriated people punish
ment which could only be expiated by their
lives. We have interfered between the Turk
that it is well and good--but emboldened
by that successful experiment, let us not in.
terfere between Spain and the United States
An ardent love of our country bids us to ex