deposit the arms, the evils before named could be prevented, as the commanding officers of companies, or the towns, could be made accountable for their safety and preservation from injury. This would probably preserve the arms, but it would wholly change the character of our military establishment, and defeat the object intended by its creation. Our militia should be composed of citizens of the soil, with arms constantly in their possession, or under their immediate control; and it is also desirable that they should be in the habit of their frequent use, in order to enable them to acquire the necessary skill in their management. But if the arms should be stored in an arsenal, and the soldier permitted their use only on days of military instruction, our militia would cease to be the independent yeomanry of a free republic, and become little better than the serfs and hirelings of despotic Europe.

But the soldier should be compensated for the expense of equipping himself, and he should receive yearly from the State a sum sufficient to remunerate him. He would then have his arms constantly in his possession, take proper care to preserve them-would frequently and habitually use them in the various forms of sport, and be at all times prepared to defend his country from invasion or to enforce the laws of the land; receiving from the public a just compensation for the expense incurred in preparing himself to render the necessary protection to

the State.

It appears to me that the soldier should also receive compensation in some form, and to a reasonable extent, for the time he necessarily devotes to the public in obtaining military instruction. I think it would be doing no more than justice to those of whom military duty is re

quired, to allow them some equivalent, either by way of remission of other burdens, or by compensation in a more direct form, on condition that the duty is faithfully performed.

By the return of the Brigade Majors this year, it appears that less than twenty-three thousand men appeared and performed duty at the annual reviews, although all between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five are required to perform this service. Should those only between the ages of twenty-one and thirty be obliged to do duty, the number would probably be from twelve to fifteen thousand.

In this connexion it may be remarked, that in order to render our militia effective, some further measures should be adopted for their instruction. If competent instructors should be furnished for the officers, and the troops required to perform duty, several days in succession annually, our militia would soon arrive to such state of discipline as would render it adequate to the discharge of every duty which our country might ever require.

By a Resolve of the Legislature of March 23, 1839, the sum of two thousand dollars was allowed for the purpose of procuring books of instruction in military tactics, for the use of the officers of the militia; but as no provision therefor was made by any appropriation Act, no expenditure could be made, and consequently this department has been unable to furnish officers with such books the last year.

At the several reviews which I have witnessed the past year, and which were in the Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Divisions, the appearance of the troops was highly creditable to both officers and men; and although the expense incurred by the militia under the present system is deemed by them unequal and unjust, it is believed that

the service has generally been performed, and that such knowledge has been acquired as would be highly valuable should they be called upon to enforce the laws or protect the soil of our State.

At most of the reviews which I have attended, I witnessed personally the inspection of the troops, and it appeared that this duty was faithfully performed by the several Brigade Majors.

The Land Agent, while in the performance of duty required of him by a Resolve of the Legislature of January 24, 1839, directing an arrest of trespassers on the public lands, having been seized and transported beyond the limits of the State, by persons claiming to act under authority of the government of the province of New Brunswick; a letter having been received by you from Sir John Harvey, Lieutenant Governor of that Province, dated February 13, 1839, requesting a recall of the civil force on the Aroostook, and notifying the Executive that military force would be used to support the authority and enforce the jurisdiction of Great Britain over the territory, in case the request should not be complied with by Maine; and the proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor aforesaid, of that date, threatening the State with military invasion unless the civil force sent to protect the public property should be recalled, also having been received, you issued a General Order dated February 16, 1839, directing a detachment of one thousand men to be made from the third Division, with instructions to proceed without delay to the Aroostook country, and give the civil force there such aid as would enable it to carry into effect the object contemplated by the Resolve aforesaid. This orde: was promptly obeyed, and the troops assembled at Bangor and Lincoln on the twenty-first of February; and

as soon as the necessary arrangements were completed, took up their march for the Aroostook, under command of Major General Hodsdon.

A General Order issued February 19, 1889, directing a detachment of ten thousand three hundred and forty three officers, non-commissioned officers and privates, to be made by draft from the several Divisions, who should hold themselves in readiness for an immediate call into the service of the State.

The Legislature by Resolve of February 20, 1839, directed a military force to be stationed on the Aroostook River, west of the east line of the State, and also on the St. John if found practicable, at such points as might be best adapted to prevent depredations on the public lands, and to preserve the timber already cut by trespassers and to prevent its removal out of the State. The sum of eight hundred thousand dollars was appropriated to carry the Resolve aforesaid into effect. In pursuance thereof a General Order issued on the twenty-second day of February, calling into service the draft made from the first Brigade of the second Division in obedience to orders of February 19th, being in number eight hundred and sixty four, including officers. This detachment assembled at Augusta on the twenty-fifth day of February, and as soon as properly organized, proceeded under command of Brigadier General Bachelder, to join the command of General Hodsdon on the Aroostook.

General Hodsdon was directed by instructions dated February 25th, to establish military posts with the force under his command, at several specified points on the Aroostook, and also on the Saint John, if, on a careful and thorough examination, he might deem it practicable. He was also instructed to protect the soil of the State

from all encroachment by armed men, whether in the form of plunderers of the public domain, or the organized military array of any foreign power. And he was charged to maintain the integrity of the territory of the State, up to the line as established by the treaty of 1783, and to permit no military or other force to infringe upon the soil of Maine.

The detachment from the third Division, organized into one company of Cavalry, one company of Artillery, four companies of Light Infantry, four companies of Riflemen and four companies of Infantry, and numbering, including all officers, one thousand and sixty nine, proceeded by way of Houlton, to the Aroostook country, where except the Cavalry and a force left at the Presque Isle of the Saint John, the several companies arrived from the eighth to the sixteenth of March. Two companies were left on the Presque Isle of the Saint John, under command of Lieutenant Colonel Cummings, to guard a defile necessary to be passed near the mouth of the river. This post is twentyfive miles north of Houlton, on the Bridgewater Academy grant, and a little south of Mars' Hill. It is within a few. rods of the east line of the State, and a hill a short distance from the camp was occupied by the sentinels both of our troops and of the troops of New Brunswick. The companies stationed here erected camps for their own accommodation.

A military post was established near the mouth of the Presque Isle of the Aroostook, fifty miles north of Houlton, on letter G, second Range. Three companies of the detachment from the second Division, were soon after ordered to this post, which, with two companies left from the third Division, were placed under command of Major Wood. They at first occupied camps which had been