V. the power of France in America. By the acquisition of Fort CHAP.. William-Henry, the French obtained entire possession of the lakes Champlain and George: and by the destruction of 1758. Oswego, they acquired the dominion of the other lakes which connect the St. Lawrence with the waters of the Mississippi, The first afforded the easiest intercourse between the northern colonies and Canada: the last united Canada to Louisiana. By the continued possession of Fort Du Quesne, they extended their ascendancy over the Indians, and held undisturbed possession of all the country westward of the Allegany mountains. The strength of Britain, unskilfully exerted, was visibly yielding, in this quarter of the world, to the superior vigour and dexterity of her rival, who, with victorious strides was rapidly gaining a position which if it did not infer the entire conquest of the British settlements, at least enabled her to intercept their farther growth, to cramp their commerce, and continually to overawe them, and attack them with advantage. The spirit of the English nation, which had been kindling for some time, was in this emergency aroused to a pitch that could brook no longer the languid and inefficient conduct of the military operations in America. William Pitt, afterwards Earl of Chatham, perhaps the most able and accomplished statesman and senator that Great Britain had yet produced, and who had long combated with his powerful rhetoric and majestic eloquence the policy of directing the chief military efforts of England to the continent of Europe, was now, in opposition to the wishes of the king, but in compliance with the irresistible will of the nation, placed at the head of the British ministry. He had received this appointment in the spring of the preceding year; and again, in the autumn, after a short expulsion from office, was reinstated Change of in it more firmly than before. The vigour and capacity of the British Ministry this extraordinary man, whose faculties were equally fitted to and meårouse the spirit and to wield the strength of a great nation, sures. produced a dawn of hope and joy throughout the whole British empire. His elevation was hailed with enthusiasm as the pledge of retributive triumph to his country: and in effect it speedily occasioned a signal revolution in the fortunes of France and England. Lord Loudoun, whether from his general dilatoriness and inefficiency in the conduct of business, or X. 1758. BOOK from personal or political dislike to the minister, had conducted his correspondence with him in a very negligent manner and Pitt is reported to have assigned as the reason for superseding this commander that he could never ascertain what Lord Loudoun was doing. The same express which brought the tidings of Loudoun's recall, conveyed a circular letter from Pitt to the provincial governors, acquainting them with the resolution of the British cabinet to send a powerful armament to operate by sea and land against the French in America, and inviting them to raise as numerous levies of auxiliary troops as the population of their respective provinces could afford. Arms, ammunition, tents, provisions, and boats, it was declared, would be furnished by the crown; and the provincial governors, meanwhile, were desired to levy, clothe, and pay. their troops, and appoint the officers of their various regiments. They were assured that it was the king's determination, by the most vigorous and expensive efforts, to repair the losses and disappointments of the last inactive and unhappy campaign, and to repel, by the blessing of God upon his arms, the dangers impending over his people and possessions in North America; that for this purpose, the war which had been hitherto defensive on the part of the British, was now to be carried into the heart of the enemy's territory; and that, to encourage the colonists to co-operate in this great and important design, his majesty would recommend to his parliament to grant to the several provinces such compensation for the expenses they might incur, as their active vigour and strenuous efforts should appear justly to merit. At this intelligence, the Americans, and especially the people of New England, were aroused to a generous emulation with the awakened spirit of the parent state: mutual jealousy and distrust was swallowed up for a season in common ardour for the honour of Britain and the safety of America; and with the most cheerful confidence and alacrity, all the states of New England vied in efforts1 to strengthen by their co-operation the promised British armament. In Massachusetts, there were raised 7,000 men ; in Connecticut 5,000; and in New Hampshire 900. The In aid of the public funds appropriated by the assembly of Massachusetts, a voluntary subscription for the encouragement of recruits was opened at Boston, where, in one day, 20,000l. were subscribed. V. 1758. numbers of the Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey CHAP. levies have not been specified. These troops were ready to take the field early in May, - previously to which time, Admiral Boscawen had arrived at Halifax with a considerable May. fleet, and 12,000 British troops, conducted by General Amherst, an officer of distinguished skill and ability, and under whom a subordinate command was exercised by General Wolfe, one of the most heroic and magnanimous spirits of the age.1 Abercrombie, on whom the chief command of the entire forces employed in this quarter of the world, had devolved, was now at the head of the most powerful army that had ever been assembled in America, consisting of 50,000 men, of whom 22,000 were regular troops. He was a person of slender abilities, and utterly devoid of energy and resolution and Pitt too late regretted the error he had committed in entrusting a command of such importance to one so little known to him, and who proved so unfit to sustain it. 2 vania. The increased interest in the affairs of America, which the Affairs of British people now began to exhibit, and the purpose which Pennsylthe nation and the ministry now cherished, of vigorous and extensive warfare in that quarter, were aided by circumstances of which we must seek for the springs in the particular history of Pennsylvania. Captain Denny, whose appointment to the government of this province we have already noticed, possessed none of that taste for disputation which had distinguished his predecessor, Governor Morris. He was exceedingly desirous to enjoy an easy, quiet administration: but, unfortunately, the attainment of this object was incompatible with his adherence to the instructions which had been communicated to him by the proprietaries. As a substitute for popular measures, he had been directed by his constituents to cultivate the friendship, and, if possible, secure the services of popular men, and particularly of Dr. Franklin, the most respected and distinguished inhabitant of Pennsylvania: but Franklin firmly rejected the ensnaring offers which Denny 1 The Americans compared Amherst to Fabius, and Wolfe to the Scipios. "Wolfe, where'er he fought, Put so much of his heart into his act, That his example had a magnet's force." COWPER. 2 Trumbull. Minot. Hutchinson. Smollett. Belknap. Holmes. X. 1758. BOOK addressed to him, and declared that he would accept no favours from the proprietaries, as he was determined to give them no farther support than their measures should justly merit. An administration which commenced in this manner, was not likely to be attended with a satisfactory issue. The old dispute respecting the liability of the proprietary possessions to taxation, was revived with more violence than ever: and a bill having passed the assembly, granting for the service of the king 60,000l., of which 10,000l. was to be placed at the command of Lord Loudoun, was disallowed by the governor, because the estates of the proprietaries were not exempted from the assessment which it imposed. Lord Loudoun endeavoured to mediate between the disputants, whose respective pleas were discussed before him by the governor, for himself and his constituents; and by Franklin, on the part of the assembly. Denny declared that the proprietaries held his bond by which he was engaged under a high penalty to conform to all their instructions: yet he was willing to incur the hazard of opposing their will in this instance, if Lord Loudoun would advise him to pass the bill. This, however, Loudoun declined to do; and preferably chose to recommend that the assembly should yield to the wishes of the proprietaries. As the money was urgently wanted for the defence of the Pennsylvanian frontier against the incursions of the French and their Indian allies, Franklin prevailed with the assembly to enact the bill in the terms required by Denny, and recommended by Lord Loudoun, after voting, however, a preliminary resolution that they meant not to relinquish the pretensions they had asserted; but were driven by force to suspend the exercise of them on the present occasion. For the more effectual vindication of these pretensions, the assembly forthwith composed a petition to the king, in which they represented the injury which accrued both to his majesty's service in general, and to the province in particular, from the conduct of the proprietaries: and Franklin was despatched to England as the agent of the province, in order to present and support this application. On his arrival at London, 1 he found the success of his mission obstructed by various ob 1 July, 1757. 1 V. 1758. stacles, some of which were created by the art and industry CHA P. of the parties who had an interest in prejudicing the public mind against the force of his representations. To this end, the English newspapers were continually supplied with paragraphs, bearing the title of Intelligence from Pennsylvania, but, in reality, fabricated in London, and conveying the most injurious reflections upon the inhabitants and assembly of the province, who were represented as actuated by selfish motives, and a mutinous and refractory spirit, because they persisted in withstanding the claim of the proprietaries to an exemption from that taxation which was necessary to the defence of their own estates. It was pretended that the quakers still retained the command of the assembly, and that from a real or affected regard to their sectarian principles, they obstructed every preparation even for defensive war, and suffered the frontiers of the province to be desolated by Indian rage and cruelty and all the inhabitants of the colony, but the quakers in an especial degree, were charged with the blackest ingratitude to the founder of Pennsylvania and his descendants. If William Penn could have foreseen this, he would, perhaps, have regretted, not indeed, his exertions to colonize Pennsylvania, but that, in making those exertions, he had ever proposed to himself and his family any other reward except the consciousness of beneficence, and the glory of the enterprise. The disadvantage arising from this pre-occupation of the public mind, was increased by the strong interest which still prevailed among the politicians of England in the progress of the war in Germany, which rendered it a task of no ordinary difficulty to remove the impressions already produced by interested individuals, against the equitable claims of the inhabitants of a colonial settlement in a distant part of the world. Franklin's ardour, nevertheless, was animated rather than depressed by the prospect of difficulties which it was in the power of reason and genius to overcome; and, assuming the defence of his country's interest, he pursued it with equal zeal, ability, and success. He inserted replies in the public prints to the representations conveyed by the proprietaries: in which he demonstrated with brief and perspicuous statement and reasoning, united with the liveliest wit, and keen but elegant satire, the unjust and sordid policy of the proprietaries, the |