general laws, and also to raise money from all the Colonies for their common defence." The Ministry, instead of accepting this rational scheme of union, transmitted to Governour Shirley of Massachusetts, a proposition diametrically opposite in its nature and tendency, and cunningly intended to secure to the British Parliament the right of raising money from the Coloniesby taxation. This Ministerial plan was, "that the Governours of all the Colonies, attended by one or two members of their respective councils, should from time to time concert measures for the whole of the Colonies, erect posts, and raise troops, with a power to draw upon the British treasury, in the first instance; but to be ultimately reimbursed by a tax to be laid on the Colonies by an act of Parliament." The council, as well as the Governours, it will be remembered, were for the most part appointed by the Crown, so that here would have been a Congress nominally Provincial, and dependent for their existence and support upon the will of the British Ministry. It hardly required the sagacity of the patriot Franklin, to foresee the consequences to which such a system would lead. He was nevertheless consulted by Governour Shirley, and requested to give his opinion, which he did in writing, and at considerable length. He stated, in substance, that it would give great and just dissatisfaction to the people of the Colonies, to be taxed by a body in which they were not represented-That the Colonies were better judges of the force necessary for their defence, and of their means of raising money for that defence, than a British Parliament could be, at the distance of several thousand miles from the theatre of action-That the natives of the Colonies were more competent to manage their own concerns, than

any Governours who could be sent from England, whose only interest in the country seemed to be the advancement of their own fortunes, which they did not even spend among us-That to compel the Colonies to pay money for their own protection, without their consent, would imply a suspicion of their loyalty, and degrade them to the servile state of a conquered country. That if the right of Parliament to tax the Colonies were once admitted, they would continue to exercise it, for other purposes than Colonial protection; whereas if the Colonies were left to their own discretion, they would not only impose a tax upon themselves when necessary, but throw it off when that necessity no longer existed-That if Parliament assumed this right of taxation, the Provincial Assemblies might be set aside as useless-That the Colonies were, in fact, already indirectly taxed by the Mother Country, inasmuch as they were obliged to pay the heavy duties charged upon British manufactures, some of which manufactures could be supplied among themselves, and others might be purchased at a cheaper market—and, lastly, that the Colonies had, at the expense of their lives and fortunes, extended the dominion and increased the commerce of the Mother Country, and were therefore entitled to a full representation in the body which assumed the right of imposing taxes upon them.

Such were the principal objections urged by Dr. Franklin, against the plan which had been submitted to his consideration. He saw with prophetick eye, that the pretence of taxing the Colonies for their internal defence was a deceptive lure, and that the Parliament of Britain would not willingly lay aside the power, if once surrendered to their hands. The Ministry thus finding their scheme unsuccessful, abandoned it for

the present, and turned their attention once more to French encroachments. Here their opinions coincided with the opinions of their Colonists. It was agreed on all hands, that the French should be driven from their settlements on the Ohio, and it was further determined by the Ministry, that they should also be driven from their peaceable possessions in Canada. Intelligence of the capitulation of the English garrison under Colonel Washington, at the great Meadows, had reached England in the fall of 1754, but not a hint was given by the King of his designs, until the month of March 1755, when sir Thomas Robinson, then Secretary of State, appeared before the Parliament with a message from his Majesty of the following import: that his Majesty having, at the commencement of the session, declared it to be the principal object of his solicitude to preserve the publick tranquillity, and to protect those possessions which constitute a primary source of the publick prosperity, now found it necessary to acquaint the House of Commons, that the present state of affairs made it requisite to augment his forces by sea and land, and to take such other measures as might best tend to preserve the peace of Europe, and to secure the just rights of his crown in America. This message produced all the effect which his Majesty could desire. One million was granted for the accomplishment of his purposes, and Admiral Boscawen was sent with a powerful armament to the banks of Newfoundland, for the avowed purpose of intercepting the French fleet which was then preparing in the ports of Brest and Rochefort, and destined for the gulf of St. Lawrence. About the same time General Braddock was dispatched from Cork, with two regiments of regular troops, and ordered to take the

command of the Provincial troops raised in Virginia, which increased his army to about two thousand men. The French fleet, with the exception of two ships, escaped the vigilance of Admiral Boscawen, and arrived safe in the gulf; but a large number of merchant ships, with eight thousand sailors, fell into the hands of the English in the course of the year, which gave a severe check to the naval operations of France. All this had been done without any open declaration of war; and the French Ambassadour in London, the Duc de Mirepoix, exclaimed against it as inconsistent with the law of nations, threatening at the same time a heavy retaliation on the part of his royal master. But the English government insisted that the French were the first aggressors, and that a formal declaration of war was not necessary to authorise them to repel force by force; as soon therefore as this intelligence arrived at Paris, the Ministers were recalled both from London and Hanover, which last was at that time the residence of George II. and a war commenced which ended with the final overthrow of the French power on the American Continent.

General Braddock had arrived in Virginia some time in May 1755. His character for bravery and military discipline stood deservedly high, but he was in every other respect utterly unqualified for the duty upon which he had been sent. He was obstinate and positive in his disposition, and austere and haughty in his deportment, particularly to those whom he considered his inferiours-and he considered all as his inferiours, among whom he was now placed. He was wholly unacquainted with the country, which was to be the scene of his operations, and so great was his contempt for the Colonial militia, which constituted

the greater part of his army, that he disdained to consult any of their officers, all of whom were willing and competent to give him much useful advice and information, respecting the mode of conducting warfare in American woods and morasses. He accepted the of fered services of Colonel Washington, as an Aid-deCamp, but refused to listen to his advice on any subject relating to preparations for the campaign. Thus did this fearless but obstinate General seem bent upon his own destruction. Disregarding the earnest solicitations of Washington to employ a part of the Provincial troops as an advanced guard, or to send out some reconnoitering party to watch the movements of the Indians, he boldly pushed on at the head of two thousand two hundred men, to within ten miles of Fort Duquesne. Here, about noon on the 9th of July, in a pathless swamp, surrounded by thickets of brakes and briars, he was suddenly attacked in front and flank by a shower of bullets, coming from an invisible enemy, and accompanied by the tremendous and appaling sound of the savage war-whoop. His vanguard, composed of Regulars who had never before heard such a sound, immediately fell back dismayed and confused, and though the Provincials had been accustomed to this Indian mode of assault and therefore felt no terrour, yet the confusion soon became general throughout the army. Even now it would have been in the power of Braddock to have saved himself and his army, if he had condescended to listen to the advice of his American Aid de Camp; but he persisted in trusting to that intrepid valour and discipline, which had so often distinguished him in the battles of Europe. Instead of making some effort to discover and break up the ambuscade, from which he