spiked the guns of that work, abandoned it, and retreated into the town. It was immediately occupied by the New Englanders, who drilled the spikes out of the vent-holes of the guns, and turned them against the town. Batteries were erected by the colonial troops, and their fire opened upon Louisburg. The volunteers proved admirable soldiers, exciting the surprise of the English naval officers by the readiness and facility with which they discharged the various duties required of them. Numbers of them were mechanics by profession, and their skill was of the greatest service in this emergency.

A New Hampshire colonel, who was a carpenter, constructed sledges with which to drag the artillery across a morass to the positions assigned the

batteries. The

weather was mild and singularly dry, and the men were healthy. "All day long the men, if not on duty, were busy with amusements-firing at marks, fishing, fowling, wrestling, racing or running after balls shot from the enemy's guns."

An Important Capture.

In the meantime the ships of Admiral Warren blockaded the harbor, and not only prevented French vessels from entering the port, but succeeded in decoying into the midst of the English fleet the French frigate "Vigilante," of sixty guns, which was captured after a sharp engagement of several hours. She was loaded with stores for the fortress, and these fell into the hands of the victors.

The French commander, who had shown but little energy during the siege, was now so thoroughly disheartened that on the sevfenteenth of June, just seven weeks after the commencement of the investment, he surrendered the town and fortifications. As the colonial troops entered the place to take pos

strength of the works. "God has gone out of the way of His common providence, in a remarkable and miraculous manner," they said, " to incline the hearts of the French to give up, and deliver this strong city into our hands." The capture of Louisburg by the the undisciplined volunteers of America was greatest success achieved by England during the war. The colonists were justly proud of it. Bells were rung and bonfires lighted in all the colonies, and the people rejoiced greatly at the success of their brethren and friends. England, with characteristic selfishness, claimed the glory exclusively for the squadron of Admiral Warren.

Humiliating Treaty.

France was greatly alarmed at the capture of Louisburg, which seriously threatened her dominion in America, and measures were at once begun for its recovery, and for the destruction of the English colonies. In 1746, a large fleet was despatched to America under the Duke d'Anville, but many of the vessels were lost at sea, and the fleet was greatly weakened by pestilence. In the midst of these misfortunes the Duke d'Anville suddenly died, and his successor lost his mind, and committed suicide. The expedition made no serious demonstration against the English, and resulted in total failure. In 1747, another fleet was sent out from France for the same purpose, but was captured after a severe fight by an English fleet under Admirals Anson and Warren.

In spite of these successes, however, the frontiers of the northern colonies suffered considerably, and the English government. resolved to attempt once more the conquest of Canada. All the colonies were required to furnish men or money to this enterprise, and eight thousand men were enlisted. The British government delayed, however, and

finally abandoned the enterprise. On the eighteenth of October, 1748, the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle closed the war.

The treaty required that all places taken by either party during the war should be restored, and Louisburg was delivered up to the French, to the great disgust of the New England colonies, who saw all the results of their sacrifices thrown away, and their commerce and fisheries once more placed at the mercy of the French. England had never regarded the interests of her colonies as worth considering, however, and it was not to be expected that she should manifest any concern for them now.

Dangerous Neighbors.

It was commonly believed in America, and with good reason, that the king did not desire that New England should enjoy the security necessary to her prosperity. His majesty was beginning to be jealous of his American subjects, who had, as Admiral Warren expressed it, "the highest notion of the rights and liberties of an Englishman," and he was resolved to keep them so weak that they should not forget their dependence upon him. Peter Kalm, a Swedish traveller, who visited New York in 1748, thus records the prevailing sentiment in America at this period: "The English colonies in this part of the world have increased so much in wealth and population that they will vie with European England. But to maintain the commerce and the power of the metropolis they are forbid to establish new manufactures, which might compete with the English; they may dig for gold and silver only on condition of shipping them immediately to England; they have, with the exception of a few fixed places, no liberty to trade to any ports not belonging to the English dominions, and foreigners are not allowed the least commerce with these American colonies. And there are many similar restrictions.

"These oppressions have made the inhabitants of the English colonies less tender to their motherland. This coldness is increased by the many foreigners who are settled among them; for Dutch, Germans and French are here blended with England, and have no special love for old England. Besides, some people are always discontented and love' change; and exceeding freedom and prosperity nurse an untamable spirit. I have been told, not only by native Americans, but by English emigrants, publicly, that within thirty or fifty years the English colonies in North America may constitute a separate state entirely independent of England. But as this whole country is towards the sea unguarded, and on the frontier is kept uneasy by the French, these dangerous neighbors are the reason why the love of these colonies for their metropolis does not utterly decline. The English government has, therefore, reason to regard the French in North America as the chief power that urges their colonies to submission."

During the last year of the war an incident occurred at Boston which might have opened the eyes of the ministry to the growing determination of the Americans to resist any interference with their liberties. Desertions from the English ships-of-war in Boston harbor had become so frequent that Sir Charles Knowles, the commanding officer, sent his boats up to Boston one morning and seized a number of seamen in the vessels at the wharves, and a number of mechanics and laborers engaged in work on shore. The people of Boston indignantly demanded of the governor the release of the impressed men. As his excellency declined to interfere in the matter, the people seized the commanders and officers of the ships who happened to be in the town, and kept them prisoners until they agreed to release the men they had unlawfully seized.

Τ

HE wars between the English and French in America which we have just considered were but a prelude to the great struggle which was to decide which of these powers should control the destinies of the new world. The English, as we have seen, were growing stronger and more numerous along the Atlantic coast, and were directing their new settlements farther into the interior with each succeeding year. The French held Canada and the valley of the Mississippi, but their tenure was that of a military occupation rather than a colonization.

Between the possessions of these hostile nations lay the valley of the Ohio, a beautiful and fertile region, claimed by both, but _occupied as yet by neither. The French had explored the country, and had caused leaden plates engraved with the arms of France to be deposited at its principal points to attest their claim; and had opened friendly relations with the Indians.

The region had been frequently visited by the traders, who brought back reports of its remarkable beauty and fertility and of its excellent climate. The British government regarded this region as a portion of Virginia, and one of the chief desires of the Earl of Halifax, the prime minister of England, was to secure the Ohio valley by planting an English colony in it. A company was organized in Virginia and Maryland for this purpose and for the purpose of trading with the Indians, and was warmly supported by the Earl of Halifax. It was named the Ohio Company, and at length succeeded in obtaining a favorable charter from the king, who. in March, 1749, ordered the governor of Virginia to assign to the Ohio Company five hundred thousand acres of land lying between the Monongahela and Kanawha rivers, and along the Ohio

The company were required to despatch, within seven years at least, one hundred families to the territory granted them, to locate

Being anxious to explore the country west | of the mountains, the company employed Christopher Gist, one of the most experienced Indian traders, and instructed him "to examine the western country as far as the falls of the Ohio, to look for a large tract of good level land to mark the passes in the mountains, to trace the courses of the rivers, to count the falls, to observe the strength and numbers of the Indian nations."

A Land of Beauty.

Gist set out on his perilous mission on the last day of October, 1750, and crossing the mountains reached the Delaware towns on the Alleghany River, from which he passed down to Logstown, a short distance below the head of the Ohio. "You are come to settle the Indians' lands; you shall never go home safe," said the jealous people; but in spite of their threats they suffered him to proceed without molestation. He traversed the country to the Muskingum and the Scioto, and then crossing the Ohio explored the Kentucky to its source, and returned to Wills' Creek in safety. He reported that the region he had traversed merited all the praise that had been bestowed upon it; that it possessed a pleasant and healthy climate, and was a land of great beauty. The soil was fertile and the streams abundant and excellent. The land was covered with a rich growth of the most valuable and beautiful trees, and abounded in small level districts and meadows covered with long grass and white clover, on which the elk, the deer, and the buffalo grazed in herds. Wild turkeys and other game abounded, and the country offered every attraction to settlers who were willing to improve it.

Gist also reported that the agents of the French were actively engaged in seeking to induce the western tribes to make war upon the English and prevent them from obtain

ing a footing west of the mountains. The purposes of the English were well known to the French, who viewed them with alarm, as the successful occupation of the Ohio valley by the English would cut off the communication established by the French between Canada and the Mississippi. This the French were resolved to prevent at any cost. The Indians regarded both of the white nations as intruders in their country. They were willing to trade with both, but were averse to giving up their lands to either. "If the French," said they, "take possession of the north side of the Ohio, and the English of the south, where is the Indian's land?"

A Line of Forts.

The possession of the Ohio valley was thus of the highest importance to the French. Their fortified post of Fort Frontenac gave them the command of Lake Ontario, which they further secured by constructing armed vessels for the navigation of the lake. They retained their hold upon Lake Erie by strengthening Fort Niagara, which La Salle had built at the foot of that lake. They entered into treaties with the Shawnees, the Delawares and other powerful tribes between the lake and the Ohio, and steadily pushed their way eastward towards the mountains. They began their advance into the valley of the Ohio by building a fort at Presque Isle, now the city of Erie, in Pennsylvania, another on French Creek, on the site of the present town of Waterford, and a third on the site of the present town of Franklin, at the confluence of French Creek with the Alleghany.

These rapid advances castward alarmed the English government, which instructed the governor of Virginia to address a remonstrance to the French authorities and to warn them of the consequences which must result from their intrusion into the territory