from the ranks, and whose uncommon bodily strength, with a rude energy of character, had enabled him to acquire a greater influence over the Indian tribes than any other British officer. Having reached the southern extremity of Lake George, and learned that the enemy were erecting an additional fort at Ticonderoga, he resolved to push forward, hoping to reduce it before the works were completed. Intelligence, however, was soon received, which required him to stand on the defensive. Baron Dieskau, an able commander, had carried out from France a large reinforcement, and having added to them a considerable body of Indians, was advancing to attack the British settlements. He at first proceeded toward Oswego, but on learning the advance of Johnson, hastened to direct his operations against him. The latter had fortified his camp, but through defective information, sent forward an advanced party of 1,000 men, who at a distance of about three miles unexpectedly met the enemy, and were driven back with great loss. Dieskau then marched forward to assault the main camp, which he seemed to have a fair prospect of carrying; but Johnson received him with the utmost firmness, and opening a brisk fire, caused the Indians and militia to fall back. The French regulars maintained the contest for several hours with great vigor, and the British general was even obliged by a severe wound to leave the command to Lyman, his second. The final result however was, that the assailants were completely repulsed, with the loss of nearly 1,000 men. Dieskau himself was mortally wounded and made prisoner; and his retreating forces, being suddenly assailed by a small detachment from New York, abandoned their baggage and took to flight. It was thought by many, that if Johnson had followed up his victory by an attack on Crown Point, or at least on Ticonderoga, he would have succeeded; but he did not choose to hazard the laurels already gained. It may be mentioned also that in this busy campaign, Shirley, the governor of Massachusetts, led an expedition against Niagara; but the difficulties of the march, and the discouragement spread by the tidings of Braddock's defeat, prevented his engaging in any undertaking. It would seem, indeed, that the British forces were scattered in too many quarters, instead of concentrating themselves in one united effort against some important position or commanding stronghold. The war which had thus for some time been covertly waged between the two rations, was, in 1756, openly declared; and increased exertions were made on ooth sides. In a council of governors held at New York, three expeditions were planned, in which 21,000 men were to be employed. Abercromby and Lord Loudon, however, who successively went out as commander-in-chief, did not possess the requisite energy; and discontents arose among the provincial officers, from being compelled to take rank under the regulars. The French force, meantime, was united under Montcalm, an officer of high spirit; and while the British were deliberating, he hastened against the two forts at Oswego, which, as they protected Lake Ontario, formed their principal bulwark in that quarter. On the 10th of August he began the siege of the first, which was soon evacuated by its defenders, owing to the failure of their ammunition, and he then assailed the other with such vigor, that it surrendered on the 14th, Colonel Mercer, the commander, having been killed in the attack. The garrison, amounting to 1,400, became prisoners of war, while 121 pieces of cannon, with a quantity of stores, sloops, and boats, fell into his hands. In the following year, he marched against Fort William Henry, on Lake George, commenced the siege in the beginning of August, and compelled it, in six days, to surrender. The defenders stipulated to march out with the honors of war, and rejoin their countrymen; but these terms were completely violated by the Indians, who barbarously massacred a great number of them. Montcalm's friends have studiously defended him against any charge, even of neglect, on this dreadful occasion, but blame was attached, at the time, both to him and his officers, and there was accordingly kindled throughout the colonies a deep thirst for vengeance. Hitherto this war had been an almost continued series of disaster and disgrace; and in Europe similar results were seen to follow the feeble measures of the cabinet. But the spirit of the nation, being now aroused, forced into power William Pitt, perhaps the most energetic war minister who has ever swayed the British councils. Adverse to military operations in Germany, he turned his main attention to the North American colonies, and by vigorously announcing his resolution, drew forth from themselves strenuous exertions. Lord Loudon was superseded by Amherst, a more able commander; while the most active part was assigned to Wolfe, a young officer, in whom the discerning eye of Pitt discovered a rising military genius. It being determined to strike the first blow against Louisburg, considered the centre of French power in that quarter, an expedition sailed against it in May, 1757, and by the end of July, chiefly through his exertions, it was compelled to surrender. This success was followed up next year by a more formidable attempt, under the same commander, against Quebec, capital of New France. On the 13th September, 1759, a splendid victory, dearly purchased indeed by the death of that gallant officer, placed the city in the undisputed possession of Britain. After this triumph, France could with difficulty maintain her posts in the interior. In 1758, General Abercromby, with 16,000 regulars and provincials, marched against Crown Point and Ticonderoga. The first skirmish was marked by the fall of Lord Howe, a young officer of high promise, and much beloved in America. The commander, having soon after made a premature assault on the last-mentioned fort, was repulsed with considerable loss, when he raised the siege and precipitately retreated. Colonel Bradstreet, however, at the head of a detachment, captured Fort Frontignac, a post of some consequence on Lake Ontario. Meantime the Virginians, notwithstanding their most earnest wishes, had in vain attempted to renew the expedition against Fort Duquesne; having placed under the command of Washington orce barely sufficient to check the incursions of the French and Indians. In 1758, however, under the auspices of Pitt, General Forbes arrived with a body of troops, which the provincials soon raised to 6,000; but, contrary to the urgent advice of the American, instead of pushing on by a track already formed, he undertook to cut a new one through forests almost impracticable. He accordingly failed to reach the scene of action till November, when the season was too late for active operations, and the provisions were nearly exhausted. A party under Major Grant, having rashly advanced, were defeated with great loss. The situation of the army appeared very serious, when news arrived that the garrison, reduced to 500, and discouraged probably by the fall of Louisburg and the dangers menacing Canada, had set fire to the fort, and retreated in boats down the river. The Indians, who had already abandoned their cause, readily entered into terms with the British, and tranquillity was established along the whole line of the back settlements. By the peace of Paris, France ceded it and all the adjacent countries. Spain was also obliged to yield Florida; and Britain acquired a vast, compact, and flourishing empire, reaching from the arctic zone to the Gulf of Mexico. It would have been satisfactory could we have added a particular view of the progress made during this period bythe colonies, in population, industry, and wealth. Their advance was certainly most rapid; yet the details are scanty and in many cases doubtful. They were favored by a combination of circumstances almost unprecedented. An industrious race, skilled in agriculture, were transported to a country where land to any extent could be easily obtained. The abundance of the necessaries of life thus produced, removed all check to marriage and the rearing of children; while the same circumstances invited a continual iuflux of emigrants from Europe. Hence arose a rapid increase of population, of which the modern world at least had never seen any example; doubling, it was supposed, in twenty-five or even twenty years. The commercial progress of the colonies was equally rapid, and excited a still greater interest. Their exports consisted almost exclusively of the rude productions of land; a circumstance most grateful to the English people, since it naturally led to the desire to take their commodities in exchange. Their progress in agriculture, by absorbing at once their capital and their labor, prevented them from making any attempt to manufacture goods for themselves; while, by increasing their wealth, it induced them to prefer the fabrics of Britain to the rude home-made stuffs with which they had been at first contented. There was, however, a difficulty in finding articles, such as the rich products. of the West Indies, which would obtain a place in the market of Europe. Silk and wine, the early objects of hope and pride, never succeeded; and though, in 1731, there were exported from Virginia three hundred weight of the former, their expectations from this source proved ultimately fallacious. What they vainly sought, however, came upon them from unexpected quarters; and we have seen how tobacco forced itself into the place of a leading export. During the present period, Virginia and Maryland became the chief sources whence all Europe was supplied. In 1744 and the two succeeding years, Britain imported 40,000,000 pounds, whereof 30,000 were re-exported. Rice also was accidentally introduced in the manner already mentioned; and so congenial was the swampy soil of Carolina to its culture, that nearly the whole quantity consumed in Europe was raised in that plantation. The productions of the northern colonies being nearly the same with those of Britain, met with no demand from our merchants; but the surplus of grain found a market in Spain and Portugal; provisions and timber were sent to the West Indies; and thence they obtained the means to pay for foreign manufactures. To New England again, the fisheries and shipbuilding were a continual source of ever-increasing wealth. The following exhibits a view of the progressive increase of imports and exports. from 1700 to 1763: British Exports. Imports. Exports. Imports. Exports. Imports. Exports. Imports. £ £ £ £ £ New England... 32,656 86,322 54,701 208,196 48,455 New York...... 18,547 31,910 8,740 64,356 35,634 Pennsylvania.... 5,220 12,003 10,582 48,592|| 28,191 Virginia, and £ £ £ 343,659 74,815 258,854 267,130 53,988 238,560 217,713 38,228 284,152 .... 642,294 555,391 Maryland.. 235,738 199,683 346,823 150,931 508,939 349,419 Carolina....... 16,973 13,908 151,739 64,785 191,607 133,037 282,366 250,132 1,942 2,125 14,469 44,908 309,134 343,826||572,585 536,860||814,768|1,313,083||1,106,160 1,631,997 Georgia..... In 1769, a merchant, under the title of The American Traveller (4to, London, 1769), published a very detailed statement of the commerce of the colonies, on an average of the preceding three years; and as this does not seem to be generally known, we here present a summary, which may interest some classes of readers : 8 |