neral Riall
set about doing the only thing which he had left unaccomplished; the
destruction of private property. Buffalo and Black Rock, previously
deserted by their inhabitants, were set on fire and entirely consumed.
Clothing, spirits, flour, public stores, and, indeed, everything which
could not be conveniently carried off, fell a prey to the flames.

Thus was the campaign of 1813 terminated.

It might not unnaturally be supposed that during all this fighting,
business would have been nearly at a stand. But so far from such being
the case, the war had contributed in no small degree to bring Canada
and its capabilities into notice. And it could not be otherwise. So
large an expenditure as that required for the maintenance of the
regular soldiery and militia must have made money plentiful, and such
as were engaged in trade, whether in Quebec or Montreal, undoubtedly
profitted by an expenditure almost necessarily profligate. On account
of the militia alone, the province expended L121,366, and the
expenditure of the commissariat department must have been enormous. But
the grand source of wealth was the establishment of a kind of National
Bank, with specie, to redeem its paper, in the vaults of the Bank of
England. The circulation of fifteen hundred thousand pounds worth of
army bills, all redeemable in cash, with interest, could not have
failed to enrich a country in which there were not more than 350,000
inhabitants, the greater number of whom were actually in the pay of
Great Britain, while they had the privilege of attending, unless in
extraordinary cases, to their private pursuits. That Canada prospered
during the war is undeniable. There was a considerable falling off in
the number of vessels cleared at Quebec in 1813, in comparison with the
previous year, and which was in some degree attributable to the risk
attendant upon crossing the Atlantic, while the great frigates of the
United States were permitted to prowl about, but the provincial revenue
had, nevertheless, increased in the course of one year to the amount of
L30,006, while the provincial expenditure alone was nearly L200,000.
Indeed, Montreal, the temporary head-quarters of the commander-in-chief,
and literally alive with troops, who all ate and drank heartily, was
making rapid progress in the way of commercial advancement. Mr. Molson
gave some indication of the general prosperity by placing upon the St.
Lawrence a second steamer. On the 4th of May, 181