[128] It strikes us as singular that Captain Roberts was not promoted to at least a brevet majority for the capture of this important post, although he had an overwhelming force, and took it without resistance. Was this promotion withheld because the capture was effected contrary to Sir George Prevost's orders?
[129] "The land, in the centre of this island, is high, and its form somewhat resembles that of a turtle's back. Mackinac, or Mickinac, signifies a turtle, and michi (mishi), or missi, signifies great, as it does also, several, or many. The common interpretation of the word Michilimakinac, is the Great Turtle."—Henry's Travels and Adventures in Canada and the Indian Territories, between the years 1760 and 1776.
[130] James' Military Occurrences.
[131] Pictorial History of England.
[132] John Grahame, of Claverhouse, was mortally wounded at the pass of Killicrankie, in 1689, and died the next day. With him expired the cause of James the Second in Scotland, as, although the war languished in the highlands for two years after, nothing of importance occurred. When William was urged to send more troops into Scotland, he replied: "It is unnecessary, the war has ended with Dundee's life."
[133] While these remarks were in type, we heard accidentally of a large monument, in the cathedral at Winchester, to the memory of Sir George Prevost, with a laudatory inscription, for a copy of which we immediately wrote to a friend, and which we now transcribe without comment, as we respect the feelings of conjugal affection by which the epitaph was evidently dictated.
"Sacred to the memory of Lieut.-General Sir George Prevost, Baronet, of Belmont, in this County, Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in North America; in which command, by his wise and energetic measures, and with a very inferior force, he preserved the Canadas to the British Crown from the repeated invasions of a powerful enemy. His constitution at length sank under incessant mental and bodily exertion, in discharging the duties of that arduous station; and having returned to England, he died shortly afterwards in London, on the 5th of January, 1816, aged 48, thirty-four years of which had been devoted to the service of his Country. He was intered near the remains of his father, Major-General Augustus Prevost, at East Barnet, in Hertfordshire. His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, to evince in an especial manner the sense he entertained of his distinguished conduct and services during a long period of constant active employment, in stations of great trust, both Military and Civil, was pleased to ordain, as a lasting Memorial of His Majesty's Royal Favor, that the names of the Countries where his Courage and Abilities had been most signally displayed—the West Indies and Canada—should be inscribed on the Banners of the Supporters, granted to be borne by his Family and Descendants. In testimony of his Private Worth, his Piety, Integrity and Benevolence, and all those tender, domestic virtues, which endeared him to his Family, his Children, his Friends, and his Dependants, as well as to prove her unfeigned Love, Gratitude, and Respect, Catherine Anne Prevost, his afflicted Widow, caused this Monument to be Erected. Anno Domini 1819."
[134] Including the editor, ten; viz. two died young, of scarlet fever, and were buried in the same coffin; two drowned at different times; two slain; two died at sea, while passengers on board his majesty's packets from Rio de Janeiro to Falmouth, on the same day of the same month (15th August) in different years, 1833 and 1837! and only two still survive.
[135] See pages [222], [223], [227], [238], [307], [339], [360], [364] and [366].