100 TRAVELS THROUGH LOWER CANADA : 
tories they were situated, long before the peo¬ 
ple of the States could have taken possession of 
them; for no part of their army was within 
hundreds of miles of the posts, and the country 
through which they must have past in getting 
to them was a mere wilderness; but if the 
f army had gained the posts, the states were in 
no condition, immediately after the war, to 
have kept in them such large bodies of the 
military as would have been absolutely neces¬ 
sary for their defence whilst at enmity with the 
Indians, and it is by no means improbable, but 
that the posts might have been soon abandon¬ 
ed. The retention of them, therefore, to the 
present day, was, in fact, a circumstance highly 
beneficial to the interests of the States, not¬ 
withstanding that such an outcry was raised 
against the British on that account, inasmuch 
as the Americans now find themselves possessed 
of extensive fortifications on the frontiers, in 
perfect repair, without having been at the 
expence of building them, or maintaining 
troops in them for the space of ten years, 
during which period no equivalent advantages 
could have been derived from their possession. 
It is not to be supposed, however, that the 
British government meant to confer a favour 
on her late colonies by retaining the posts; it 
was well known that the people of the new 
States would be eager, sooner or later, to get 
