Note 169 — Chapter VIII

"Dear Sir—Let no persuasion or plausible reason determine you to leave the plan of operations by the River St. Lawrence. To go by the lakes, through wild and almost inaccessible forests, has already proved dangerous, tedious, and expensive; will prolong the war, and, at the same time, enrich your commanders and contractors. What is more, we have seen that our regulars do not fight well in woods: the Indian yell is horrid to their ears, and soon throws them into confusion. If France had the superiority at sea we now enjoy, they would not leave us a single province or colony in all North or South America."—Mr. Beckford's Letter to Mr. Pitt. Fonthill, Dec., 1758; Chatham Correspondence, vol. i., p. 378.