had not hitherto been distinctly settled, by reason of its neglected condition) began to be hotly agitated by the commissaries of the two crowns. And new disputes, of still more importance, arose, relative to the boundaries, of the British provinces to the southward, on which the French had attempted systematically to encroach. Their plan was to unite, by a chain of forts, Canada and Louisiana, their two extensive colonies, and to circumscribe the English colonies within that tract of country which lies between the Allegany mountains and the sea. This matter will require some elucidation.

Though the British colonists had made few settlements beyond the Apalachian mountains, and those few chiefly for the conveniency of the Indian trade, the inhabitants of Virginia always considered the extent of their country toward the west to be unlimited, as it had been settled before the French had so much as discovered Louisiana. Nor did the people of the two Carolinas ever doubt but they might extend their plantations to the banks of the Missisippi, without encroaching on the property of any European nation. Their only care was to quiet the jealousy of the Indians, who were apt to take alarm at any settlement in the back-country, as an invasion on that portion of their native soil which the ambition of the Europeans had still left them, and which they seemed determined to preserve, with the last drop of their blood, in a state of savage nature, for the purposes of the chace, their favourite amusement, and, beside war, their sole occupation. Toward the north, the boundaries of the British colonies, those of Nova-Scotia excepted, were better understood, as the province of Canada, on which they bordered, had been longer settled than Louisiana; yet on our northern colonies the French had made encroachments and with impunity.

In consequence of those encroachments, and others necessary to complete her ambitious plan, France would have enjoyed, in time of peace, the whole Indian trade, and the English colonies, in time of war, must have

had

had a frontier of fifteen hundred miles to defend against blood-thirsty savages, conducted by French officers, and supported by disciplined troops. It was in effect to attempt the extinction of the British settlements. And yet, without such interior communication between Canada and Louisiana as was projected, the French settlements, on the Missisippi and the St. Lawrence, could never, it was said, attain to any high degree of consequence or security; the navigation of the one river being at all seasons difficult, and that of the other blocked up with ice, during the winter months, so as to preclude exterior support or relief.

This scheme of usurpation, which is supposed to have long occupied the deliberation, of the court of Versailles, was ardently embraced by de la Jonquiere, now commander in chief of the French forces in North-America, and by la Gallissoniere, a man of bold and enterprising spirit, who had been appointed governor of New-France in 1747. By their joint efforts, in addition to those of their predecessors, forts were erected along the great lakes, which communicate with the viver St. Lawrence, and also on the Ohio and the Missisippi. The vast chain was almost completed, from Quebec to New-Orleans, when the court of England, roused by repeated injuries, broke off the conferences relative to the limits of Nova-Scotia.

These conferences had been artfully protracted and perplexed by the commissaries of the court of France. They wanted to confine the province of Nova-Scotia solely to that peninsula, which is formed by the bay of Fundy, the Atlantic Ccean, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence; while the English commissaries made it extend to Pentagoet, to the west, and to the banks of the river St. Lawrence, on the north, and proved by incontrovertible arguments, that these were its real boundaries; boundaries, which the French themselves had marked out, when it was restored to them by treaty, under the name of l'Acadie, and particularly at the peace of Breda'.

9. Mod. Univ. Hist. vol. xv. fol. edit. Smollett's Hist. Eng. vol. xii. During

VOL.-V.

Ff

During those unavailing disputes, the French were carrying on their encroachments in America, with great boldness, in different quarters. The rising settlement of Halifax, which they foresaw was intended as a bridle upon them, particularly excited their jealousy; and the active and vigilant governor of Canada, beside erecting several forts within the disputed limits of Nova-Scotia, had instigated, first the Indians, and afterward the French neutrals, to take up arms against the British government. Hostilities were likewise commenced on the banks of the Ohio, where the French surprised a fortified post of considerable importance, called Log's-town, which the Virginians had established for the convenience of the Indian trade; and after pillaging its ware-houses of skins and European goods to the amount of twenty thousand pounds, under pretence that it was within the government of NewFrance, which comprehended in its jurisdiction both Canada and Louisiana, they murdered all the English inhabitants except two, who fortunately escaped to relate the malancholy tale. About the same time, M. de Dontrecœur, with a thousand men and eighteen pieces of cannon, embarked at Venango, a fort which the French. had raised on the banks of the Ohio, and reduced another British post, established by the Virginians, on the forks of the Monaungahela.

Certain intelligence of these hostilities having reached England, orders were sent to the governors of her colonies to drive the French from their usurpations in Nova-Scotia; from their fortified posts upon the Ohio; and every where to oppose force to force. But fatal experience soon made the British ministry sensible of the great superiority of the military strength of their enemies in North-America; a superiority arising from the original constitution of the colonies of the two rival kingdoms, and other concurring circumstances. The government of New-France, being moved by one spring was capable of more vigorous efforts than the powerful,

but

but separate governments belonging to Great-Britain. The interest of the English colonies were often contradictory: they had frequent disputes with each other, concerning their boundaries; and the inhabitants (little habituated to arms, and divided by religious feuds) were perpetually quarrelling with their governors, and disputing, on the most urgent, as well as the most trivial occasions, the prerogatives of the crown, or the rights of the proprietary, as their governments happened to be constituted; in one colony verging toward monarchy, in another bordering on democracy. This want of concert, which had often rendered our more wealthy and populous colonies inadequate to their own defence against a naturally inferior enemy, had long been lamented by the more enlightened part of the inhabitants, and was well understood by the French. In order to remedy so palpable a political defect, two measures seemed necessary; namely, a confederacy among all the British governments on the continent of North-America, and an alliance with the most considerable Indian nations in their neighbourhood.

As a preliminary step toward such a confederacy, the governor of New-York, accompanied by deputies from the other colonies, gave a meeting to the Iroquois, or as they are commonly called, the Indians of the Six-Nations, at Albany. But only a few of their chiefs attended; and it was evident that even those were much cooled in their affection to the English government. This change was occasioned by the powerful but secret influence of the French agents, who had lately employed every means to corrupt the savages. In order to counteract their intrigues with the Six-Nations, valuable presents were made, in the name of his Britannic majesty, to such of

10. It was on this principle, and the military spirit of the French colonists, that the old and experienced duke de Noailles encouraged, by memorials, the court of Versailles in its ambitious projects in NorthAmerica, though under colour of providing for the security of its own ettlements. Mem. tom. iv.

the

the Indian chiefs as had thought proper to attend; and liberal promises to the whole. They refused, however, "to take up the hatchet," their phrase for going to war. They could only be induced to declare, that they were willing to renew their treaties with the king of England, and hoped he would assist them in driving the French from the places they had usurped in the back country.

Encouraged even by so slight an indication of friendship, and the ardour of the people of the different colonies for war, a resolution was adopted by the general assembly at Albany, to support the British claims in every quarter of North-America. In consequence of this resolution, major Washington, a provincial officer, was dispatched from Virginia, with four hundred men, to watch the motions of the enemy; and to recover, if opportunity should offer, the places they had taken upon the Ohio. Washington encamped on the banks of that river, where he threw up some works for his security, and hoped tobe able at least to defend himself until he should receive a reinforcement, which was speedily expected from New-York.

In the meantime, de Villier, the French commandant on the Monaungahela, having in vain summoned Wash-ington to abandon his post, marched up to his intrenchments, at the head of eight hundred men, and attempted to carry the works by assault. But Washington defended himself with so much intrepidity, as to render all the efforts of the enemy abortive: and he obtained very honourable terms for himself and his detachment. It was agreed that both parties should retire: the English toward Will's creek, and the French toward the river Monaungahela. But scarce were the articles signed, when a fresh body of French and Indians appeared; and although de Villier pretended to adhere to his engagements, he very patiently suffered the Indians to harass the English in their retreat, and even to plunder their baggage".

11. Id. ibid.