The plan of the campaign for 1756, arranged by a convention of provincial governors at New York, was similar to that of the preceding year: the reduction of Crown Point, Niagara and Fort Du Quesne. The enrolling of volunteer militia went on; Benjamin Franklin being active for this purpose in Pennsylvania, and he himself now assuming military command as a colonel on the frontier from the Delaware to the Maryland line. The frontiers of Virginia continued to suffer severely, though Washington, with 1,500 volunteers, did his utmost for their protection. It was difficult to obtain a larger volunteer force, on account, said Dinwiddie, writing to the Board of Trade on this subject, “of our not daring to part with any of our white men to a distance, as we must have a watch over our negro-slaves.”

The war had now continued two years without any formal declaration of hostilities between Great Britain and France. In May, however, of this year it was made.

In June, General Abercrombie, who superseded Shirley, arrived with two regiments from England, and proceeded to Albany, where the provincial troops and the remains of Braddock’s army were already assembled—short of provisions, however, and suffering from small-pox. Abercrombie, deeming his forces insufficient for the proposed campaign, determined to wait for the arrival of Lord Loudon, now appointed commander-in-chief. This occasioned a delay until the end of July. In the meantime, the French, under the Marquis of Montcalm, successor to the Baron Dieskau, taking advantage of the tardiness of the English, had made an attack on Fort Oswego, which it had been intended to reinforce with a regiment of regulars under General Webb; but it was then too late; the Forts Oswego and Ontario were taken, and Webb retired precipitately to Albany. Upwards of 1,000 men, 135 pieces of artillery, a great amount of stores, and a fleet of boats and small vessels built the year before for the Niagara expedition, fell into the hands of Montcalm.

To gratify the Six Nations, and induce them to assume a position of neutrality, Montcalm destroyed the forts, after which he returned to Canada. These disasters were as discouraging as the defeat of Braddock had been in the former year. The march to Ticonderoga was abandoned, and Forts Edward and William Henry were ordered to be strengthened. Feebleness and incapacity characterised the campaign. The Indians, incited by the French, renewed their border depredations; and the Quakers incurred no inconsiderable ignominy by persisting to advocate the cause of the Indians, holding conferences with them and forming treaties of peace. But though these measures were against the spirit of the time, they persevered, and succeeded in thus defending the frontiers of Pennsylvania as well as some of the other colonies by force of arms.

On July 9, 1757, Loudon sailed with 6,000 regulars against Louisburg, the important stronghold of the North, as Fort Du Quesne was of the West, and on the 13th reached Halifax, where he was reinforced by eleven sail of the line, under Admiral Holbourn, with 6,000 additional troops. Nothing, however, was done; for on learning that Louisburg was garrisoned by 6,000 men, and that a large French fleet lay in her harbour, the expedition was abandoned, and Loudon returned to New York. In the meantime, Montcalm, combining his forces from Ticonderoga and Crown Point, amounting to 9,000, with 2,000 Indians, ascended Lake George, and laid siege to Fort William Henry, which was at that time commanded by Colonel Munro, with upwards of 2,000 men, while Colonel Webb was stationed at Fort Edward, only fifteen miles distant, with 5,000. For six days the garrison made a brave resistance, until the ammunition being exhausted, and no relief coming from Fort Edward, Munro capitulated; honourable terms being granted, “on account,” said the capitulation, “of their honourable defence.” But the terms were not kept. The Indians attached to Montcalm’s army fell upon the retiring British, plundering their baggage and murdering them in cold blood. Munro and a part of his men retreated for protection to the French camp; great numbers fled to the woods, where they suffered extremely; many were never more heard of.

In the civil history of the colonies there is very little to chronicle during this period. In Pennsylvania a dispute arose respecting the rights of the proprietaries to exempt their own lands from taxes raised for the defence of those lands. Benjamin Franklin visited England in consequence, and the question was decided by the proprietaries yielding on certain conditions. In Georgia, also, arose a dispute in which the Creek Indians took a lively interest, as it grew out of the claims of that Mary Musgrove, the Indian interpreter, who had materially aided Oglethorpe on his arrival in that country. Mary had now married, for her third husband, Thomas Bosomworth, Oglethorpe’s former agent for Indian affairs, but who, having taken orders in England, had returned as successor of Wesley and Whitfield, and claimed the islands on the coast and a tract of land above Savannah, which the Creeks had made over to her, as well as twelve years’ arrears of salary as Indian interpreter. The dispute, after having continued twelve years, was settled at this time to the entire satisfaction of Mary and her nation. The island of St. Catherine was secured to her and her husband, and £2,000 paid in liquidation of her other demands. Georgia was also, about the same time, divided into parishes, and the Church of England established by law.

The unfortunate results of the campaigns of 1756–7 were extremely humiliating to England, and so strong was the feeling against the ministry and their measures, that a change was necessary. A new administration was formed, at the head of which was William Pitt, afterwards Lord Chatham; Lord Loudon was recalled; additional forces were raised in America, and a large naval armament and 12,000 additional troops were promised. After this great expenditure of money and of blood on the part of the English, the French still held all the disputed territory. The English were still in possession of the Bay of Fundy, it is true; but Louisburg, commanding the entrance of the St. Lawrence, Crown Point and Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain, Frontenac and Niagara on Lake Ontario, Presque Island on Lake Erie, and the chain of posts thence to the Ohio, were still in the hands of the French. They had driven the English from Fort Oswego and Lake George, and had compelled the Six Nations to neutrality. A devastating war was raging along the whole north-western frontier; scalping parties advanced to the very centre of Massachusetts; to within a short distance of Philadelphia, and kept Maryland and Virginia in perpetual alarm.^[5]

The campaign of 1758 began in earnest. Pitt addressed a circular to the colonies, demanding at least 20,000 men; the crown undertook to provide arms, ammunition, tents and provisions; the colonies were to raise, clothe and pay the levies, but were to be reimbursed by parliament. This energetic impulse was cheerfully responded to. Massachusetts voted 7,000 men, besides such as were needed for frontier defence. The advances of Massachusetts during the year amounted to about £250,000. Individual Boston merchants paid taxes to the amount of £500. The tax on real estate amounted to 13s. 4d. in the pound. Connecticut voted 5,000 men; New Hampshire and Rhode Island a regiment of 500 men each; New Jersey 1,000; Pennsylvania appropriated £100,000 for bringing 2,700 men into the field; Virginia raised 2,000. To co-operate with these colonial levies, the Royal Americans were recalled from Canada, and large reinforcements were sent from England. Abercrombie, the new commander-in-chief, found 50,000 men at his disposal—a greater number than the whole male population of New France. The total number of Canadians able to bear arms was 20,000; the regular troops amounted to about 5,000; besides which, the constant occupation of war had caused agriculture to be neglected. Canada was at this time almost in a state of famine.^[6] “I shudder,” wrote Montcalm to the French government, in February 1758, “when I think of provisions. The famine is very great; New France needs peace, or sooner or later it must fall; so great is the number of the English; so great our difficulty in obtaining supplies.” The French army, and the whole of Canada, were put on restricted allowance of food.

The campaign, as we have said, began in earnest; there was no trifling, no delay. Three simultaneous expeditions were decided upon; against Louisburg, Ticonderoga, and Fort Du Quesne. The possession of Louisburg was deemed very important, as opening the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and thus admitting the English at once to the capital of Canada. In June, Boscawen appeared before Louisburg with thirty-eight ships of war, convoying an army of 14,000 men, chiefly regulars, under General Amherst, but including a considerable body of New England troops. The siege commenced. It was here that General Wolfe first distinguished himself in America; his amiable disposition and calm, clear judgment early won the esteem and admiration of the colonists. Here, also, served Isaac Barre, raised by Wolfe from a subaltern position to the rank of major of brigade. The siege was conducted with great skill and energy, and on the 27th of July, this celebrated fortress was in the hands of the English, and with it the islands of Cape Breton, Prince Edward’s Island and their dependencies. The garrison became prisoners of war; the inhabitants were shipped off to France. Such was the end of the French power on the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

While the siege of Louisburg was going forward, General Abercrombie, with 16,000 men and a great force of artillery, advanced against Ticonderoga and Crown Point. On the 16th of July, having embarked at Fort William Henry, he advanced down Lake George, and landing near the northern extremity of the lake, the march commenced through a thick wood towards the fort, which Montcalm held with about 4,000 men. Unfortunately, the vanguard—headed by the young and gallant Lord Howe, who, like Wolfe, had already gained the enthusiastic affection of the Americans—ignorant of the ground, lost their way and fell in with a French scouting party, when a skirmish took place, and though the enemy was driven back, Lord Howe fell. The grief of the provincial troops, and, indeed, of the whole northern colonies, was very great for the loss of this brave young man, to whose memory Massachusetts afterwards erected a monument in Westminster Abbey.^[7]

The death of Lord Howe is said to have considerably abated the ardour of the troops; nevertheless, Abercrombie, without waiting for the coming up of his artillery, hastened on the attack of Ticonderoga, having been assured that the works were unfinished, and that it might easily be taken. The result, however, proved the contrary. The breast-work was of great strength, and defended by felled trees, their branches sharpened, and pointing outwards like spears. The utmost intrepidity, however, was shown in the attack; but, with the loss of about 2,000 killed and wounded, Abercrombie was repulsed, and the next day made a disorderly retreat to Fort William Henry.

Colonel Bradstreet, being about to march at the head of the provincials of New York and New England against Fort Frontenac, obtained from Abercrombie, after this defeat, a detachment of 3,000 men, and with these, having marched to Oswego, he crossed Lake Ontario, and on the 25th of August attacked Fort Frontenac, which in two days’ time surrendered. Three armed vessels were taken, and the fort, which contained military stores intended for the Indians, and provisions for the south-western troops, was destroyed. On their return, the troops assisted in erecting Fort Stanwix, midway between Oswego and Albany. Among the officers who served with Bradstreet were Woodhull and Van Schaick, afterwards distinguished in the revolutionary war.

The expedition against Fort Du Quesne was entrusted to General Forbes, who early in July commenced his march with 7,000 men, including the Pennsylvanian and Virginian levies, the royal Americans recalled from South Carolina, and a body of Cherokee Indians. Washington, who headed the Virginian troops, and was then at Cumberland ready to join the main army, advised that the military road cut by Braddock’s army should be made use of; instead of which, Forbes, induced by some Pennsylvanian land-speculators, commenced making a new road from Ray’s Town, where the Pennsylvanian forces were stationed, to the Ohio. Whilst a needless delay was thus caused, Major Grant, who, with 800 men, had been sent forward to reconnoitre, was repulsed with the loss of 300 men, and himself taken prisoner. This misfortune, and the loss of time caused by making the road, which drove them into the cold season, together with considerable desertion and sickness, so dispirited the troops, that a council of officers determined to abandon the enterprise for the present. Just at that moment, however, a number of French prisoners accidentally brought in, revealed the feeble state of the garrison, and the news of the taking of Fort Frontenac reaching them at the same time, it was resolved to push forward immediately; and though they were then fifty miles from Du Quesne, and had, at the commencement of winter, to traverse untracked forests, they succeeded in arriving at the fort on the 25th of November, when it was found to be a pile of ruins, the garrison having set fire to it the day before, and retired down the Ohio.

The possession of this post caused great joy. New works were erected on the site of Du Quesne, the name of which was now changed to Fort Pitt, afterwards Pittsburg, now the Birmingham of America.

The consequence of this success was immediately seen, by the disposition which the Indians showed for peace. The frontiers of Virginia and Maryland were relieved from their incursions; and at a grand council held at Easton, in Pennsylvania, not only deputies of the Six Nations, but from their dependent tribes, the Delawares and others, met Sir William Johnson and the governors of New York and New Jersey, and solemn treaties of peace were entered into. In order to check the north-eastern Indians, who still remained hostile, and to prevent their intercourse with Canada, Fort Pownall was erected; the first permanent English settlement in that district.

The great object of the campaign of 1759 was the so-long-desired conquest of Canada. The intention of the British minister was communicated to the various colonial assemblies under an oath of secrecy; and this, together with the faithful reimbursement of their last year’s expenses, induced such a general activity and zeal, that early in the spring 20,000 colonial troops were ready to take the field.

In consequence of his disaster at Ticonderoga, Abercrombie was superseded, and General Amherst became commander-in-chief. The plan for the campaign was as follows: Wolfe, who after the taking of Louisburg had gone to England, and was now returning with a powerful fleet, was to make a direct attack on Quebec; Amherst was directed to take Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and so proceed northerly; while General Prideaux, who commanded the provincial troops and Indians, was to descend the St. Lawrence after taking Fort Niagara, and join Amherst in an attack on Montreal. Such was the proposed plan. The three divisions were intended to enter Canada by three different routes of conquest, all to merge finally in the conquest of Quebec, the great heart of the French power and dominion in America.

According to arrangement, Amherst arrived before Ticonderoga in July, with 11,000 men, when the garrison of the fort having been weakened by the withdrawal of forces for the defence of Quebec, both this and Crown Point surrendered without difficulty; the want of vessels, however, prevented him for some time either proceeding to join Wolfe at Quebec or attacking Montreal.

General Prideaux proceeded in the expedition against Niagara with his provincials and a body of warriors of the Six Nations, who, in spite of their treaty of neutrality, had been induced to join in this enterprise. Prideaux advanced by way of Schenectady and Oswego, and on the 6th of July effected a landing near Fort Niagara without opposition. The bursting of a gun, however, killed General Prideaux, when the command devolved on Sir William Johnson. Twelve hundred French, and an equal number of Indian auxiliaries, advancing to the relief of the garrison, gave battle to the English, and were routed with great loss, leaving a considerable number prisoners; on which the dispirited garrison capitulated. The surrender of this post cut off all communication between Canada and the south-west.

Sir William Johnson having so far accomplished his object, should, according to pre-arrangement, have descended Lake Ontario, to co-operate with Wolfe on the St. Lawrence; but again the want of shipping, shortness of provisions and the incumbrance of his French prisoners, prevented his doing so.

Thus disappointed in receiving these important reinforcements, Wolfe was compelled to commence the siege of Quebec alone. The presence of Wolfe had already inspired the most unbounded confidence. His army consisted of 8,000 men; his fleet, commanded by Admirals Saunders and Holmes, consisted of twenty-two ships of the line, and the same number of frigates and armed vessels. On board of one ship was Jervis, afterwards Earl St. Vincent; another had for master, James Cooke, the afterwards celebrated navigator. The brigades were commanded by Robert Moncton, afterwards governor of New York, and the conqueror of Martinique. Wolfe selected as his adjutant-general Isaac Barre, his old associate at Louisburg, an Irishman of humble birth, but brave, eloquent, and ambitious.

On the 27th of June, the whole armament disembarked on the island of Orleans, just below the city. We will give a rapid account of the events of this important siege from Mrs. Willard’s excellent history.

“From the island of Orleans, Wolfe reconnoitred the position of his enemy, and saw the full magnitude of the difficulties which surrounded him. The city of Quebec rose before him upon the north side of the St. Lawrence; its upper town and strong fortifications situated on a rock whose bold and steep front continued far westward, parallel with the river, its base near to the shore, thus presenting a wall which appeared inaccessible. From the north-west came down the St. Charles, entering the St. Lawrence just below the town, its banks steep and uneven and cut into deep ravines, while armed vessels were borne upon its waters, and floating batteries obstructed its entrance. A few miles below, the Montmorenci leapt down its cataract into the St. Lawrence; and strongly posted along the sloping bank of that river and between these two tributaries, the French army, commanded by Montcalm, displayed its formidable lines.

“The first measure of Wolfe was to obtain possession of Point Levi, opposite Quebec. Here he erected and opened heavy batteries, which swept from the lower town the buildings along the margin of the river; but the fortifications, resting on the huge table of rock above, remained uninjured. Perceiving this, Wolfe next sought to draw the enemy from his entrenchments, and bring on an engagement. For this purpose he landed his army below the Montmorenci; but the wary Montcalm eluded every artifice to draw him out. Wolfe next crossed that stream with a portion of his army, and attacked him in his camp. The troops which were to commence the assault fell into disorder, having, with impetuous ardour, disobeyed the commands of the general. Perceiving their confusion, he drew them off, with the loss of 400 men, and re-crossed the Montmorenci. Here he was informed that his expected succours were likely to fail him. Amherst had possession of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, but was preparing to attack the forces withdrawn from these places at the Isle aux Noix. Prideaux had lost his life, and Sir William Johnson had succeeded him in the command; but the enemy were in force at Montreal, and from neither division of the British army could the commander at Quebec hope for assistance.”

The bodily fatigues which Wolfe had undergone, and his anxiety and disappointment, threw him into a fever, which for a time disabled him from action; nevertheless he devised desperate means of attack, which, on proposing to his officers, were decided to be impracticable. Finally, it was determined to convey by night four or five thousand men to the level plain above the town, called the Heights of Abraham, and draw Montcalm “from his impregnable situation into open action.”^[8]

“Montcalm,” continues Mrs. Willard, “perceiving that something was about to be attempted, despatched M. de Bourgainville with 1,500 men higher up the St. Lawrence, to watch the movements of the English. Wolfe, pursuant to his plan, broke up his camp at Montmorenci and returned to Orleans. Then embarking with his army, he directed Admiral Holmes, who commanded the fleet in which himself and the army had embarked, to sail up the river several miles higher than the intended point of debarkation. This movement deceived De Bourgainville, and gave Wolfe the advantage of the current and the tide to float his boats silently down to the destined spot.

This was done about one hour before daybreak. Wolfe and the troops with him leapt on shore; the light infantry whom the force of the current was hurrying along clambered up the steep shore, staying themselves by the roots and branches of the trees. French sentinels were on the shore; one of these hailed in French and was answered by an officer in that language. Escaping the dangers of the water’s edge, they proceeded, though with the utmost difficulty, to scale the precipice. The first party which reached the heights secured a small battery which crowned them, and thus the remainder of the army ascended in safety. In the light of morning the British army were discovered by the French, drawn up on this lofty plain in the most advantageous position.

Montcalm, learning with surprise and consternation the advantage gained by the enemy, left his strong position, and displaying his lines for battle, intrepidly led on the attack. Being on the left of the French, he was opposed to Wolfe, who was on the right of the British. In the heat of the engagement both commanders were mortally wounded. This was the third wound which Wolfe had received, and Isaac Barre, who fought near him, received a ball in the head, which ultimately deprived him of sight. “Support me,” said Wolfe to an officer near him; “do not let my brave fellows see me fall!” He was removed to the rear, and water was brought to quench his thirst. Just then a cry was heard, “They run! they run!” “Who runs?” exclaimed Wolfe, faintly raising himself. “The enemy!” was the reply. “Then,” said he, “I die content;” and expired. Not less heroic was the death of Montcalm. He rejoiced when told that his wound was mortal, “For then,” said he, “I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec!”

After the battle, General Townsend conducted the English affairs with great discretion. The French on their part appear to have yielded at once to the suggestion of their fears. The capitulation of Quebec was signed five days after the battle. Favourable terms were granted to the garrison.

General Townsend returning to England, General Murray was left in command, with a garrison of 5,000 men. The French army retired to Montreal, and M. de Levi, who had succeeded Montcalm, being reinforced by Canadians and Indians, returned the following spring, 1760, with 6,000 men to Quebec. General Murray left the fortress, and a second still more bloody battle was fought on the Heights of Abraham. Each army lost about 1,000 men, but the French maintained their ground, and the English took refuge within the fortress. Here they were closely invested, until having received reinforcements, M. de Levi abandoned all hope of regaining possession of Quebec, and returned to Montreal, where Vaudreuil, the governor, assembled all the force of Canada.

Desirous of completing this great conquest, the northern colonies joyfully contributed their aid, and towards the close of the summer, three armies were on their way to Montreal; Amherst at the head of 10,000 men together with 1,000 Indians of the Six Nations, headed by Sir William Johnson; Murray with 4,000 men from Quebec; and Haviland at the head of 3,500 men, by way of Lake Champlain. The force which was thus brought against Montreal was irresistible; but it was not needed; Vaudreuil, the governor, surrendered without a struggle. The British flag floated on the city; and not alone was possession given of Montreal, but of Presque Isle, Detroit, Mackinaw and all the other posts of Western Canada. About 4,000 regular troops were to be sent to France, and to the Canadians were guaranteed their property and liberty of worship.

Great was the joy of New York and the New England states in the conquest of Canada, as their frontiers were now finally delivered from the terrible scourge of Indian warfare. But while they rejoiced from this cause, the Carolinian frontiers were suffering from incursions of the Cherokees, who had been instigated to these measures by the French, who, retiring from Fort Du Quesne, had passed through their country on their way to Louisiana. General Amherst, therefore, despatched Colonel Montgomery against them, who aided by the Carolinian troops, marched into their country, burned their villages, and was on his way to the interior, when they in their turn besieged Fort Loudon, which, after great suffering, the garrison were compelled to surrender, under promise of a safe conduct to the British settlements. This promise, however, was broken; great numbers were killed on the way and others taken prisoners; and again the war raged on the frontier. The next year Colonel Grant marched with increased force into their country; a terrible battle was fought, in which the Cherokees were defeated, their villages burned, and their crops destroyed. Finally they were driven to the mountains, and now subdued and humbled, besought for peace.

The war between England and France, though at an end on the continent of America, was still continued among the West India Islands, France in this case also being the loser. Martinique, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent’s—every island, in fact, which France possessed among the Caribbees—passed into the hands of the English. Besides which, being at the same time at war with Spain, England took possession of Havanna, the key to the whole trade of the Gulf of Mexico.

In November, 1763, a treaty of peace was signed at Paris, which led to further changes, all being favourable to Britain; whilst Martinique, Guadalope and St. Lucia were restored to France, England took possession of St. Vincent’s, Dominica and Tobago islands, which had hitherto been considered neutral. By the same treaty all the vast territory east of the Mississippi, from its source to the Gulf of Mexico, with the exception of the island of New Orleans, was yielded up to the British; and Spain, in return for Havanna, ceded her possession of Florida. Thus, says Hildreth, was vested in the British crown, as far as the consent of rival European claimants could give it, the sovereignty of the whole eastern half of North America, from the Gulf of Mexico to Hudson’s Bay and the Polar Ocean. By the same treaty the navigation of the Mississippi was free to both nations. France at the same time gave to Spain, as a compensation for her losses in the war, all Louisiana west of the Mississippi, which contained at that time about 10,000 inhabitants, to whom this transfer was very unsatisfactory.

Three new British provinces were now erected in America; Quebec and East and West Florida. East Florida included all the country embraced by the present Florida, bounded on the north by the St. Mary’s. West Florida extended from the Apalachicola River to the Mississippi; from the 31st degree of latitude on the north, to the Gulf of Mexico on the south, thus including portions of the present states of Alabama and Mississippi. The boundary of Quebec corresponded with the claims of New York and Massachusetts, being a line from the southern end of Lake Nipissing, striking the St. Lawrence at the 45th degree of latitude, and following that parallel across the foot of Lake Champlain to the sources of the Connecticut, and thence along the highlands which separate the waters flowing into the St. Lawrence from those which fall into the sea.^[9]

All, however, was not yet peace in the northern provinces. The English might possess themselves of French territory, but they could not win the hearts of the Indian, whom the devoted missionaries and the kind and politic French traders had attached to their nation. When, therefore, the English, who treated the Indians with cold contempt, were about to take possession, Pontiac, the brave and intellectual chief of the Ottawas, who cherished the hope of restoring his nation to independence, endeavoured to excite the Red men against their new lords. “If,” reasoned he, addressing his people, “the English have expelled the French, what should hinder, but that the Indian should destroy them before they have established their power, and thus the Red man once more be lord of the forest?” Pontiac, by his eloquence and energy, gained the co-operation of the whole north-western tribes, and the plan of a simultaneous attack on all the British posts on the lakes was formed without any suspicion being excited. The day fixed was the 7th of July, and on that day nine forts—all, indeed, excepting those of Niagara, Detroit and Fort Pitt—were surprised and taken. Nor was the outbreak confined to the forts; the whole frontier of Pennsylvania and Virginia, especially the former, was attacked, and the scattered traders and settlers plundered and cruelly murdered. The back settlers of Pennsylvania—principally Scotch and Irish Presbyterians, men of a character very different to that of the mild Quakers, and who, in the spirit of the older Puritans, regarded the Indians as the Canaanites of the Old Testament—rose up in vengeance, and the leaders of this movement coming principally from a place called Paxton, the body assumed the name of “the Paxton Boys,” and pursued their victims with a bloodthirsty spirit, which aimed at nothing less than extermination. In vain Benjamin Franklin interfered to save such friendly Indians as had fled for refuge to Philadelphia and other towns; the avengers knew no mercy, and for these unhappy remnants of a once powerful race there appeared no place of refuge but the grave. Such of the Christianised Indians as escaped this cold-blooded massacre established themselves on a distant branch of the Susquehanna; though their peace there was but of short duration, being again compelled, within a few years, to emigrate to the country north-west of the Ohio, where they and their missionaries, the Moravians, settled in three villages on the Muskinghum.

The conquest of Canada and the subjection of the eastern Indians giving security to the colonists of Maine, that province began to expand and flourish. The counties of Cumberland and Lincoln were added to the former single county of York, and settlers began to occupy the lower Kennebec, and to extend themselves along the coast towards the Penobscot. Nor was this northern expansion confined alone to Maine; settlers began to occupy both sides of the upper Connecticut, and to advance into new regions beyond the Green Mountains, towards Lake Champlain, a beautiful and fertile country which had first become known to the colonists in the late war. Homes were growing up in Vermont. In the same manner population extended westward beyond the Alleganies, as soon as the Indian disturbances were allayed in that direction. The go-a-head principle was ever active in British America. The population of Georgia was beginning to increase greatly, and in 1763 the first newspaper of that colony was published, called the “Georgia Gazette.” A vital principle was operating also in the new province of East Florida, now that she ranked among the British possessions. In ten years, more was done for the colony than had been done through the whole period of the Spanish occupation. A colony of Greeks settled about this time on the inlet still known as New Smyrna; and a body of settlers from the banks of the Roanoke planted themselves in West Florida, near Baton Rouge.^[10]

Nor was this increase confined to the newer provinces; the older ones progressed in the same degree. Hildreth calls this the golden age of Virginia, Maryland, and South Carolina, which were increasing in population and productions at a rate unknown before or since. In the north, leisure was found for the cultivation of literature, art, and social refinement. The six colonial colleges were crowded with students; a medical college was established in Pennsylvania, the first in the colonies; and West and Copley, both born in the same year—the one in New York, the other in Boston—proved that genius was native to the New World, though the Old afforded richer patronage. Besides all this, the late wars and the growing difficulties with the mother-country had called forth and trained able commanders for the field, and sagacious intellects for the control of the great events which were at hand.