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Cogswell proceeded as far as Odelltown on his way to Quebec, 

 whence he wrote giving some rather vague details of the plan by which 

 "the independence of Canada" was to have been effected by the intro- 

 duction of "three or four thousand hardy men, ready to engage in any 

 desperate undertaking" disguised as lumbermen, who would be after- 

 wards secretly supplied with the necessary arms and ammunition. It 

 was intended that he should play the same part in this enterprise that 

 Governor Matthews had lately done with such marked success in East 

 Florida. The plot had originated with ex-President Jefferson, who had 

 hoped to put it into execution during the latter part of his administration. 



" No money or means were to have been spared and the regular 

 steps approximating towards its intended accomplishment had ad- 

 vanced infinitely beyond what the Government of Canada can have 



any idea of but his successor, Mr. Madison, who perhaps 



by nature is not calculated for bold undertakings, and has not, like 

 Mr. Jeff rson, been educated in the school of revolution and rebellion, 

 permitted a relaxation of the undertaking by withholding the pecuniary 

 supplies necessary for carrying out the service." * 



Before any reply from the Governor General could possibly be 

 received, the declaration of war became known and Cogswell hastily 

 returned to the United States. 



The wealthy and enterprising merchants of Montreal, who were 

 the principals in the Northwest and Southwest Fur Companies, were 

 so vitally interested that they had made extraoi dinary efforts to 

 procure the earliest intelligence of the action taken by Congress. In 

 this they were so successful that a special messenger conveying this 

 information was despatched from the city of New York on June 20, 

 and arrived in Montreal on the evening of the 23rd. No time was 

 lost in forwarding this important news to the Governor General, who 

 received it at Quebec on June 25, on his return from an inspection 

 of the militia at Three Rivers. At the same time the partners in the 

 Northwest Fur Company made an offer to transport a small detach- 

 ment of regular troops to reinforce the garrison of St. Joseph's island 

 in a brigade of canoes that they were preparing to despatch by way 

 of the Ottawa river to Sault Ste. Marie, f 



"This is an event we have ever deemed impossible," they re- 

 marked, "and can be accounted for on no principle short of French 

 bribery or actual insanity." f 



Another express was despatched from Albany on the morning of 

 June 21 by Mr. McTavish with the same intelligence to Lieut. Colonel 



*Cogswell to Prévost, June 22, 1812. 



fForsyth, Richardson & Co. and McTavish, McGilhvray & Co. to H. W. 

 Ryland, June 24, 1812 ; Prevo.st to Lord Liverpool, June 25; BajTies to Brock, June 25. 



