When Pitt cast his eyes over the scantily traced map of the Western World, he disdained to note the almost insurmountable difficulties which its broad blanks unobtrusively represented. As his bold hand struck out the several lines of operation, he forgot the hideous wilderness, the stormy ocean, and the dangerous lake, over the tracings of which his pencil passed, and his daring heart doubted not for a moment of success. It is a trite observation, that a combined movement is always precarious, even under the most favorable circumstances. Uncertainty of weather, or different degrees of zeal and activity in the leaders, may disjoint the most elaborate scheme; but, in such a case as this, with all the superadded chances of the sea, the river, and the desert, a wisdom greater than that of the wisest, a power stronger than that of the most powerful, could alone have given us the victory. The French possessed the immense advantage of acting as it were on a smooth high road, while their assailants were entangled in a broken and difficult country. The River St. Lawrence furnished a means of intercommunication that enabled them to throw the mass of their force upon any one of the hostile armies they might select, and thus outnumber each in succession; the bold position of Quebec supplied them with a place of arms, and an advantageous battle-ground when all else should be lost. The able and skillful Montcalm was not likely to fail in turning these favorable circumstances to full account.