[liguthall] POWNALL'S PART IN THE CONQUEST OF CANADA 267 



Secretary of the Lords of 'T.rade and friend of the Earl of Halifax, 

 their President. He was master of the necessary knowledge and in- 

 fluence, possessor, too, of what was far 'better, a most brilliant com- 

 bination of penetrating mind and eniterprising character. Coming to 

 America in 1753 as secretary to Sir Danvers Osbo-rn, Grovemor of New 

 York, who died on entering upon his office, he was thrown closely in 

 touch with De Lancey, and took part in the latter's great Colonial 

 Convention of 1754 at Albany, where he cauglht from the men of " ex- 

 perience and judgment " there assemibled " the actual state of the 

 American business and interest." 



fTiowards the end of 1756, Pownall, dissatisfied with the poor pro- 

 gress made up to that time, returned to England and wrote a memorable 

 letter to Lord Halifax which revolutionized the conduct of the war. 

 He pointed out " that after the English had been repeatedly dis- 

 " appointed in their attempts to penetrate the country by way of Croiwn 

 " Point and Lake Champlain, and had lost Oswego and the command 

 ' of Lake Ontario; considering the reason there was also to expect the 

 •'■ defection of the Indians in consequence thereof, there remained no 

 '' otlier alternative hut either to mal-e peace or to change the object of the war, 

 " by making a direct attack up the River St. Lawrence, upon Quebec 

 "itself; urged to a radical destruction of Canada.'^ "'The writer of 

 " these papers," he says (1) " came over to England in the latter end 

 " of the year 1756 to propose and state these reasons, nearly in the 

 " same f c.rm as afterwards repeated by the paper that follows ; particu- 

 "larly the necessity of two fleets and two armies; one army destined 

 '- for the attack, the other under orders to invest Canada by taking 

 " post somewîhere between Albany and Montreal, so as to cover the 

 '^■'English colonies, one fleet to escort and convoy the army up the 

 " River St. Lawrence and. the other ta cover and protect the sea line 

 " of the colonies." ^ tTihe object was adopted. Why nothing was 

 done in the year 1757, and why no more was done in the year 1758 than 

 the taking of Loui.^bourg, will be explained on a future occasion; the 

 ideas contained in the follo'wing paper lead to the rest: — 



'•' IDEA OF THE SERVICE IN AMERICA FOR .THE YEAR 1759. 



Boston, December 5th, 1758. 



"If the point disputed between us and the French be determin- 

 ^'ately and precisely und.erstood, the manner of conducting it may saon 

 "■' be fixed. If we are still, as we were at the first breaking out of the 

 '■ war, disputing about a boundary line, and for the possession of such 



^ Administration of the British Colonies, Appendix IX. 



