Chapter X…

Chapter X

Preparations for War..... Earl Paulet’s Motion against the King’s going to Hanover..... Regency appointed during his Majesty’s Absence..... Boscawen’s Expedition..... Alcide and Lys taken..... French Ambassador recalled..... Their Trade greatly distressed..... Affairs of the English in America..... Col. Monckton takes Beau-Sejour..... General Braddock’s unfortunate Expedition..... He falls into an Ambuscade; is defeated, and killed..... Disagreement between the Governor and Assembly of Pennsylvania..... Expedition against Crown Point and Niagara resolved on..... Gen. Johnson encamps at lake George..... where he is attacked by the French, who are entirely defeated..... Bravery of Captain M’Ginnes..... Gen. Johnson created a Baronet..... Description of Fort Oswego and Lake Ontario..... Neglect of the English in not fortifying it..... Expedition against Niagara..... Gen. Shirley returns to Albany..... End of the Campaign in America......Fruitless Intrigues of the French in Spain and Germany..... Treaty of the King of Great Britain with the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel..... News of the Capture of the Alcide and Lys reaches England..... The King returns from Hanover, and concludes a Treaty with Russia..... Declaration of the French Ministry at the Court of Vienna..... Spirited Declaration of the King of Prussia..... The French make another unsuccessful Attempt upon the Court of Spain..... The Imperial Court refuses Auxiliaries to England..... The French take the Blandford Man of War, but return it..... State of the English and French Navies..... Session opened..... Remarkable Addresses of the Lords and Commons..... His Majesty’s Answer..... Alterations in the Ministry..... Mr. Fox made Secretary of State..... Supplies voted..... Earthquake at Lisbon..... Relief voted by Parliament to the Portuguese..... Troops, &c, voted..... Mutiny Bill, Marine, and Mariners’ Acts continued..... Act for raising a Regiment of Foot in North America..... Maritime Laws of England extended to America..... Quiet of Ireland restored..... Treaty concluded with Prussia..... New Militia Bill passed by the Commons, but rejected by the Lords..... Session closed

PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.

Whilst all Europe was in suspense about the fate of the English and French squadrons, preparations for a vigorous sea war were going forward in England with an unparalleled spirit and success. Still the French court flattered itself that Great Britain, out of tenderness to his majesty’s German dominions, would abstain from hostilities. Mirepoix continued to have frequent conferences with the British ministry, who made no secret that their admirals, particularly Boscawen, had orders to attack the French ships wherever they should meet them; on the other hand, Mons. de Mirepoix declared, that his master would consider the first gun fired at sea in an hostile manner as a declaration of war. This menace, far from intimidating the English, animated them to redouble their preparations for war. The press for seamen was carried on with extraordinary vigour in all parts of this kingdom, as well as in Ireland; and great premiums were given not only by the government, but also, over and above his majesty’s bounty, by almost all the considerable cities and towns in England, to such as should enlist voluntarily for sailors or soldiers. Other branches of the public service went on with equal alacrity; and such was the eagerness of the people to lend their money to the government, that instead of one million, which was to be raised by way of lottery, three millions eight hundred and eighty thousand pounds were subscribed immediately.

EARL PAULET’S MOTION.

The situation of affairs requiring his majesty to go to Germany this summer, great apprehensions arose in the minds of many, lest the French should either intercept him in his journey, or prevent his return. Earl Paulet had made a motion in the house of lords, humbly to represent to his majesty, “That it was an article in the original act of settlement by which the succession of these kingdoms devolved to his electoral house, that the king should not go to his foreign dominions without the consent of parliament; and that this was a principal article in the compact between the crown and the people; that though this article was repealed in the late reign, yet, till of late, it had always been the custom for his majesty to acquaint the parliament with his intended departure to his German dominions, both in regard to the true sense and spirit of the act that placed him on the throne, as well as for the paternal kindness of his royal heart, and the condescension he had been so good to show to his parliament on all occasions; but that his majesty’s declaration of his design to visit his electoral estates had always come on the last day of a session, when it was too late for the great constitutional council of the crown to offer such advice as might otherwise have been expedient and necessary; that his majesty’s leaving his kingdoms in a conjuncture so pregnant with distress, so denunciative of danger, would not only give the greatest advantage to such as might be disposed to stir up disaffection and discontent, and to the constitutional and national enemies of England; but would also fill his loyal subjects with the most affecting concern, and most gloomy fears, as well for their own safety, as for that of their sovereign, whose invaluable life, at all times of the utmost consequence to his people, was then infinitely so, by reason of his great experience, the affection of every one to his royal person, and the minority of the heir apparent.” Such was the purport of this motion; but it was not seconded by any of the other lords.

REGENCY APPOINTED.

The general uneasiness, on account of his majesty’s departure, was greatly increased by an apprehension that there would, during his absence, be no good agreement amongst the regency, which consisted of the following persons: his royal highness William duke of Cumberland; Thomas lord archbishop of Canterbury; Philip earl of Hardwicke, lord high chancellor; John earl of Granville, president of the council; Charles duke of Marlborough, lord privy-seal; John duke of Rutland, steward of the household; Charles duke of Grafton, lord-chamberlain; Archibald duke of Argyle; the duke of Newcastle, first commissioner to the treasury; the duke of Dorset, master of the horse; the earl of Holdernesse, one of the secretaries of state; the earl of Rochford, groom of the stole; the marquis of Hartington, lord lieutenant of Ireland; lord Anson, first commissioner of the admiralty; sir Thomas Eobinson, secretary of state; and Henry Fox, esq., secretary at war. His majesty set out from St. James’ on the twenty-eighth of April early in the morning, and embarked at Harwich in the afternoon, landed the next day at Helvoetsluys, and arrived in Hanover on the second of May.

BOSCAWEN’S EXPEDITION.

Admiral Boscawen, with eleven ships of the line and a frigate, having taken on board two regiments at Plymouth, sailed from thence on the twenty-seventh of April for the banks of Newfoundland, and in a few days after his arrival there, the French fleet from Brest came to the same station, under the command of M. Bois de la Mothe. But the thick fogs which prevail upon these coasts, especially at that time of the year, kept the two armaments from seeing each other; and part of the French squadron escaped up the river St. Lawrence, whilst another part of them went round, and got into the same river through the straits of Belleisle, by a way which was never known to be attempted before by ships of the line. However, whilst the English fleet lay off Cape Race, which is the southernmost point of Newfoundland, and was thought to be the most proper situation for intercepting the enemy, two French ships, the Alcide, of sixty-four guns and four hundred and eighty men, and the Lys, pierced for fifty-four guns, but mounting only twenty-two, having eight companies of land-forces on board, being separated from the rest of their fleet in the fog, fell in with the Dunkirk, captain Howe, and the Defiance, captain Andrews, two sixty gun ships of the English squadron; and after a smart engagement, which lasted some hours, and in which captain (afterwards lord) Howe behaved with the greatest skill and intrepidity, were both taken, with several considerable officers and engineers, and about eight thousand pounds in money. Though the capture of these ships, from which the commencement of the war may in fact be dated, fell greatly short of what was hoped for from this expedition; yet, when the news of it reached England, it was of infinite service to the public credit of every kind, and animated the whole nation, who now saw plainly that the government was determined to keep no further measures with the French, but justly to repel force by force, and put a stop to their sending more men and arms to invade the property of the English in America, as they had hitherto done with impunity. The French, who, for some time, did not even attempt to make reprisals on our shipping, would gladly have chosen to avoid a war at that time, and to have continued extending their encroachments on our settlements, till they had executed their grand plan of securing a communication from the Mississippi to Canada, by a line of forts, many of which they had already erected.

FRENCH AMBASSADOR RECALLED.

Upon the arrival of the news of this action at Paris, the French ambassador, M. de Mirepoix, was recalled from London, and M. de Bussy from Hanover, where he had just arrived, to attend the king of England in a public character. They complained loudly of Boscawen’s attacking the ships, as a breach of national faith; but it was justly retorted on the part of England, that their encroachments in America had rendered reprisals both justifiable and necessary. The resolution of making them was the effect of mature deliberation in the English council. The vast increase of the French marine of late years, which in all probability would soon be employed against Great Britain, occasioned an order for making reprisals general in Europe as well as in America; and that all French ships, whether outward or homeward bound, should be stopped, and brought into British ports. To give the greater weight to these orders, it was resolved to send out those admirals who had distinguished themselves most towards the end of the last war. Accordingly, on the twenty-first of July, sir Edward Hawke sailed on a cruise to the westward, with eighteen ships of the line, a frigate, and a sloop; but, not meeting with the French fleet, these ships returned to England about the latter end of September and the beginning of October; on the fourteenth of which last month another fleet, consisting of twenty-two ships of the line, two frigates, and two sloops, sailed again on a cruise to the westward, under admiral Byng, in hopes of intercepting the French squadron under Duguay, and likewise that commanded by La Mothe, in case of its return from America. But this fleet likewise returned to Spithead on the twenty-second of November, without having been able to effect any thing, though it was allowed by all that the admiral had acted judiciously in the choice of his stations.

While these measures were pursued, for the general security of the British coasts and trade in Europe, several new ships of war were begun, and finished with the utmost expedition, in his majesty’s docks: twelve frigates and sloops, contracted for in private yards, were completed by the month of August; and twenty-four ships and twelve colliers were then taken into the service of the government, to be fitted out as vessels of war, to carry twenty guns and one hundred and twenty men each. In the meantime the French trade was so annoyed by the English cruisers, that before the end of this year three hundred of their merchant ships, many of which, from St. Domingo and Martinique, were extremely rich, and eight thousand of their sailors were brought into English ports. By these captures the British ministry answered many purposes: they deprived the French of a great body of seamen, and withheld from them a very large property, the want of which greatly distressed their people, and ruined many of their traders. Their outward-bound merchant ships were insured at the rate of thirty per cent., whilst the English paid no more than the common insurance. This intolerable burden was felt by all degrees of people amongst them: their ministry was publicly reviled, even by their parliaments; and the French name, from being the terror, began to be the contempt of Europe. Their uneasiness was also not a little heightened by new broils between their king and the parliament of Paris, occasioned by the obstinacy of the clergy of that kingdom, who seemed determined to support the church, in all events, against the secular tribunals, and as much as possible to enforce the observance of the bull Unigenitus, which had long been the occasion of so many disputes among them. However, the parliament continuing firm, and the French king approving of its conduct, the ecclesiastics thought proper to submit for the present, and in their general assembly this year, granted him a free gift of sixteen millions of livres, which he demanded of them--a greater sum than they had ever given before, even in time of war.

AFFAIRS OF THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA.

In the beginning of this year the assembly of Massachusetts Bay in New England, passed an act prohibiting all correspondence with the French at Louisbourg; and early in the spring they raised a body of troops, which was transported to Nova Scotia, to assist lieutenant-governor Laurence in driving the French from the encroachments they had made upon that province. Accordingly, towards the end of May, the governor sent a large detachment of troops, under the command of lieutenant-colonel Monckton, upon this service; and three frigates and a sloop were despatched up the bay of Fundy, under the command of captain Rous, to give their assistance by sea. The troops, upon their arrival at the river Massaguash, found the passage stopped by a large number of regular forces, rebel neutrals, or Acadians, and Indians, four hundred and fifty of whom occupied a block-house, with cannon mounted on their side of the river; and the rest were posted within a strong breast-work of timber, thrown up by way of outwork to the block-house. The English provincials attacked this place with such spirit, that the enemy were obliged to fly, and leave them in possession of the breast-work; then the garrison in the block-house deserted it, and left the passage of the river free. From thence colonel Monckton advanced to the French fort of Beau-Sejour, which he invested, as far at least as the small number of his troops would permit, on the twelfth of June; and after four days bombardment, obliged it to surrender, though the French had twenty-six pieces of cannon mounted, and plenty of ammunition, and the English had not yet placed a single cannon upon their batteries. The garrison was sent to Louisbourg, on condition of not bearing arms in America for the space of six months; and the Acadians, who had joined the French, were pardoned, in consideration of their having been forced into that service. Colonel Monckton, after putting a garrison into this place, and changing its name to that of Cumberland, the next day attacked and reduced the other French fort upon the river Gaspereau, which runs into Bay Verte; where he likewise found a large quantity of provisions and stores of all kinds, that being the chief magazine for supplying the French Indians and Acadians with arms, ammunition, and other necessaries. He then disarmed these last, to the number of fifteen thousand; and in the meantime, captain Rous with his ships sailed to the mouth of the river St. John, to attack the new fort the French had erected there; but they saved him that trouble, by abandoning it upon his appearance, after having burst their cannon, blown up their magazine, and destroyed, as far as they had time, all the works they had lately raised. The English had but twenty men killed, and about the same number wounded, in the whole of this expedition, the success of which secured the tranquillity of Nova Scotia.

BRADDOCK’S UNFORTUNATE EXPEDITION.

While the new Englanders were thus employed in reducing the French in Nova Scotia, preparations were made in Virginia for attacking them upon the Ohio. A fort was built, which was likewise called Fort Cumberland, and a camp formed at Will’s-Creek. On the fourteenth of January of this year, major-general Brad-dock, with colonel Dunbar’s and colonel Halket’s regiments of foot, sailed from Cork, in Ireland, for Virginia, where they all landed safe before the end of February. This general might consequently have entered upon action early in the spring, had he not been unfortunately delayed by the Virginian contractors for the army, who, when he was ready to march, had neither provided a sufficient quantity of provisions for his troops, nor a competent number of carriages for his army. This accident was foreseen by almost every person who knew any thing of our plantations upon the continent of America; for the people of Virginia, who think of no produce but their tobacco, and do not raise corn enough even for their own subsistence, being, by the nature of their country, well provided with the conveniency of water conveyance, have but few wheel carriages, or beasts of burden; whereas Pennsylvania, which abounds in corn, and most other sorts of provisions, has but little water-carriage, especially in its western settlements, where its inhabitants have great numbers of carts, waggons, and horses. Mr. Braddock should therefore certainly, in point of prudence, have landed in Pennsylvania: the contract for supplying his troops should have been made with some of the chief planters there, who could easily have performed their engagements; and if his camp had been formed near Frank’s Town, or somewhere upon the south-west borders of that province, he would have had but eighty miles to march from thence to Fort Du Quesne, instead of an hundred and thirty miles that he had to advance from Will’s-Creek, where he did encamp, through roads neither better nor more practicable than the other would have been. This error, in the very beginning of the expedition, whether owing to an injudicious preference fondly given to the Virginians in the lucrative job of supplying these troops, or to any other cause, delayed the march of the army for some weeks, during which it was in the utmost distress for necessaries of all kinds; and would probably have defeated the expedition entirely for that summer, had not the contractors found means to procure some assistance from the back settlements of Pennsylvania. But even when these supplies did arrive, they consisted of only fifteen waggons, and an hundred draft horses, instead of an hundred and fifty waggons and three hundred horses, which the Virginian contractors had engaged to furnish, and the provisions were so bad that they could not be used. However, some gentlemen in Pennsylvania, being applied to in this exigency, amply made up for these deficiencies, and the troops were by this means supplied with every thing they wanted. Another, and still more fatal error was committed in the choice of the commander for this expedition. Major-general Braddock, who was appointed to it, was undoubtedly a man of courage, and expert in all the punctilios of a review, having been brought up in the English guards; but he was naturally very haughty, positive, and difficult of access; qualities ill suited to the temper of the people amongst whom he was to command. His extreme severity in matters of discipline had rendered him unpopular among the soldiers; and the strict military education in which he had been trained from his youth, and which he prided himself on scrupulously following, made him hold the American militia in great contempt, because they could not go through their exercise with the same dexterity and regularity as a regiment of guards in Hyde Park, little knowing, or indeed being able to form any idea of the difference between the European manner of fighting, and an American expedition through woods, deserts, and morasses. Before he left England, he received, in the hand-writing of colonel Napier, a set of instructions from the duke of Cumberland. By these, the attempt upon Niagara was in a great measure referred to him, and the reduction of Crown Point was to be left chiefly to the provincial forces. But above all, his royal highness, both verbally and in this writing, frequently cautioned him carefully to beware of an ambush or surprise. Instead of regarding this salutary caution, his conceit of his own abilities made him disdain to ask the opinion of any under his command; and the Indians, who would have been his safest guards against this danger in particular, were so disgusted by the haughtiness of his behaviour, that most of them forsook his banners. Under these disadvantages he began his march from Fort Cumberland on the tenth of June, at the head of about two thousand two hundred men, for the meadows, where colonel Washington was defeated the year before. Upon his arrival there, he was informed that the French at Fort du Quesne, which had lately been built on the same river, near its confluence with the Monangahela, expected a reinforcement of five hundred regular troops: therefore, that he might march with a greater despatch, he left colonel Dunbar with eight hundred men, to bring up the provisions, stores, and heavy baggage, as fast as the nature of the service would permit; and with the other twelve hundred, together with ten pieces of cannon, and the necessary ammunition, and provisions, he marched on with so much expedition, that he seldom took any time to reconnoitre the woods or thickets he was to pass through; as if the nearer he approached the enemy, the farther he was removed from danger.

On the eighth of July, he encamped within ten miles of Fort du Quesne. Though colonel Dunbar was then near forty miles behind him, and his officers, particularly sir Peter Halket, earnestly entreated him to proceed with caution, and to employ the friendly Indians who were with him, by way of advanced guard, in case of ambuscades; yet he resumed his march the next day, without so much as endeavouring to obtain any intelligence of the situation or disposition of the enemy, or even sending out any scouts to visit the woods and thickets on both sides of him, as well as in front. With this carelessness he was advancing, when, about noon, he was saluted with a general fire upon his front, and all along his left flank, from an enemy so artfully concealed behind the trees and bushes, that not a man of them could be seen. The vanguard immediately fell back upon the main body, and in an instant the panic and confusion became general; so that most of the troops fled with great precipitation, notwithstanding all that their officers, some of whom behaved very gallantly, could do to stop their career. As to Braddock himself, instead of scouring the thickets and bushes from whence the fire came, with grape shot from the ten pieces of cannon he had with him, or ordering flanking parties of his Indians to advance against the enemy, he obstinately remained upon the spot where he was, and gave orders for the few brave officers and men who staid with him, to form regularly, and advance. Meanwhile his men fell thick about him, and almost all his officers were singled out, one after another, and killed or wounded; for the Indians, who always take aim when they fire, and aim chiefly at the officers, distinguished them by their dress. At last, the general, whose obstinacy seemed to increase with the danger, after having had some horses shot under him, received a musket shot through the right arm and lungs, of which he died in a few hours, having been carried off the field by the bravery of lieutenant-colonel Gage, another of his officers. When he dropped, the confusion of the few that remained turned it into a downright and very disorderly flight across a river which they had just passed, though no enemy appeared, or attempted to attack them. All the artillery, ammunition, and baggage of the army were left to the enemy, and, among the rest, the general’s cabinet, with all his letters and instructions, which the French court afterwards made great use of in their printed memorials or manifestoes. The loss of the English in this unhappy affair amounted to seven hundred men. Their officers, in particular, suffered much more than in the ordinary proportion of batteries in Europe. Sir Peter Halket fell by the very first fire, at the head of his regiment; and the general’s secretary, son to governor Shirley, was killed soon after. Neither the number of men which the enemy had in this engagement, nor the loss which they sustained, could be so much as guessed at; but the French afterwards gave out, that their number did not, in the whole, exceed four hundred men, mostly Indians; and that their loss was quite inconsiderable, as it probably was, because they lay concealed in such a manner that the English knew not whither to point their muskets. The panic of these last continued so long, that they never stopped till they met the rear division; and even then they infected those troops with their terrors; so that the army retreated without stopping, till they reached Fort Cumberland, though the enemy did not so much as attempt to pursue, nor ever appeared in sight, either in the battle, or after the defeat. On the whole, this was perhaps the most extraordinary victory that ever was obtained, and the farthest flight that ever was made.

Had the shattered remains of this army continued at Fort Cumberland, and fortified themselves there, as they might easily have done, during the rest of the summer, they would have been such a check upon the French and their scalping Indians, as would have prevented many of those ravages that were committed in the ensuing winter upon the western borders of Virginia and Pennsylvania; but, instead of taking that prudent step, their commander left only the sick and wounded at that fort, under the protection of two companies of the provincial militia, posted there by way of garrison, and began his march on the second of August, with about sixteen hundred men, for Philadelphia; where those troops could be of no immediate service. From thence they were ordered away to Albany, in New York, by general Shirley, on whom the chief command of the troops in America had devolved by the death of major-general Braddock. Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, were by these means left entirely to the care of themselves, which they might have done effectually, had they been united in their councils; but the usual disputes between their governors and assemblies, defeated every salutary plan that was proposed. Pennsylvania, the most powerful of the three, was rendered quite impotent, either for its own defence or that of its neighbours, by these unhappy contests; though, at last, the assembly of that province, sensible of the danger to which they were exposed, and seeing the absolute necessity of providing a standing military force, and of erecting some forts to defend their western frontier, passed a bill for raising fifty thousand pounds. But even this sum, small as it was, even to a degree of ridicule, considering the richness of the province and the extent of its frontier, could not be obtained; the governor positively refusing to give his assent to the act of the assembly, because they had taxed the proprietaries estates equally with those of the inhabitants, which, he said, he was ordered by his instructions, not to consent to, nor indeed any new tax upon the proprietaries: and the assembly, consisting chiefly of members whose estates lay in the eastern or interior parts of the province, as positively refusing to alter their bill. One would be apt to think, that, in a case of such urgent necessity, the governor might have ventured to give his assent to the bill under a protest, that it should not prejudice the rights of the proprietaries upon any future occasion; but as he did not, the bill was dropped, and the province left defenceless; by which means it afterwards suffered severely, to the destruction of many of the poor inhabitants upon the western frontier, and to the impressing the Indians with a contemptible opinion of the English, and the highest esteem of the French.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

EXPEDITION AGAINST CROWN POINT AND NIAGARA RESOLVED ON.

Our colonies to the north of Pennsylvania were more active, and more successful in their preparations for war. New York, following the example of New England, passed an act to prohibit the sending of provisions to any French port or settlement on the continent of North America, or any of the adjacent islands; and also for raising forty-five thousand pounds, on estates real and personal, for the better defence of their colony, which lay more exposed than any other to a French invasion from Crown Point. However, this sum, great as it might seem to them, was far from being sufficient; nor, indeed, could they have provided properly for their security, without the assistance of our other colonies to the east of them; but with their help, and the additional succour of the small body of regular troops expected under Colonel Dunbar, they boldly resolved upon offensive measures, which when practicable are always the safest; and two expeditions, one against the French fort at Crown Point, and the other against their fort at Niagara, between the lakes Ontario and Erie, were set on foot at the same time. The former of these expeditions was appointed to be executed under the command of general Johnson, a native of Ireland, who had long resided upon the Mohawk river, in the western parts of New York, where he had acquired a considerable estate, and was universally beloved, not only by the inhabitants, but also by the neighbouring Indians, whose language he had learnt, and whose affections he had gained by his humanity towards them. The expedition against Niagara was commanded by general Shirley himself.

The rendezvous of the troops for both these expeditions was appointed to be at Albany, where most of them arrived before the end of June; but the artillery, batteaux, provisions, and other necessaries for the attempt upon Crown Point, could not be prepared till the eighth of August, when general Johnson set out with them from Albany for the Carrying-place from Hudson’s river to Lake George. There the troops had already arrived, under the command of major-general Lyman, and consisted of between five and six thousand men, besides Indians, raised by the governments of Boston, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and New York. Every thing was then prepared as fast as possible for a march; and towards the end of the month, general Johnson advanced about fourteen miles forward with his troops, and encamped in a very strong situation, covered on each side by a thick wooded swamp, by Lake George in his rear, and by a breast-work of trees, cut down for that purpose, in his front. Here he resolved to wait the arrival of his batteaux, and afterwards to proceed to Ticonderoga, at the other end of the lake, from whence it was but about fifteen miles to the fort at the south end of Lake Colaer, or Champlain, called Fort Frederick by the French, and by us Crown Point. Whilst he was thus encamped, some of his Indian scouts, of which he took care to send out numbers along both sides, and to the farther end of Lake George, brought him intelligence that a considerable number of the enemy were then on their march from Ticonderoga, by the way of the south bay, towards the fortified encampment, since called Fort Edward, which general Lyman had built at the Carrying-place; and in which four or five hundred of the New Hampshire and New York men had been left as a garrison. Upon this information general Johnson sent two expresses, one after the other, to colonel Blanchard their commander, with orders to call in all his out-parties, and to keep his whole force within the intrenchments. About twelve o’clock at night, those who had been sent upon the second express returned with an account of their having seen the enemy within four miles of the camp at the Carrying-place, which they scarcely doubted their having by that time attacked. Important as the defence of this place was for the safety of the whole army, and imminent as the danger seemed to be, it does not appear that the general then called any council of war, or resolved upon any thing for its relief; but early the next morning he called a council, wherein it was unadvisedly resolved to detach a thousand men, with a number of Indians, to intercept, or, as the general’s expression was in his letter, to catch the enemy in their retreat, either as victors, or as defeated in their design. This expedient was resolved on, though no one knew the number of the enemy, nor could obtain any information in that respect from the Indian scouts, because the Indians have no words or signs for expressing any large number, which, when it exceeds their reckoning, they signify by pointing to the stars in the firmament, or to the hair of their head; and this they often do to denote a number less than a thousand, as well as to signify ten thousand, or any greater number.

Between eight and nine o’clock in the morning a thousand men, with two hundred Indians, were detached under the command of colonel Williams; but they had not been gone two hours when those in the camp began to hear a close firing, at about three or four miles’ distance, as they judged; as it approached nearer and nearer, they rightly supposed that the detachment was overpowered, and retreating towards the camp; which was soon confirmed by some fugitives, and presently after by whole companies, who fled back in great confusion. In a very short time after, the enemy appeared marching in regular order up to the centre of the camp, where the consternation was so great, that, if they had attacked the breastwork directly, they might probably have thrown all into confusion, and obtained an easy victory; but fortunately for the English, they halted for some time at about an hundred and fifty yards’ distance, and from thence began their attack with platoon firing, too far off to do much hurt, especially against troops who were defended by a strong breastwork. On the contrary, this ineffectual fire served only to raise the spirits of these last, who, having prepared their artillery during the time that the French halted, began to play it so briskly upon the enemy, that the Canadians and Indians in their service fled immediately into the woods on each side of the camp, and there squatted under bushes, or skulked behind trees, from whence they continued firing with very little execution, most of their shot being intercepted by the brakes and thickets; for they never had the courage to advance to the verge of the wood. Baron Dieskau, who commanded the French, being thus left alone with his regular troops at the front of the camp, finding he could not make a close attack upon the centre with his small number of men, moved first to the left, and then to the right, at both which places he endeavoured to force a passage, but was repulsed, being unsupported by the irregulars. Instead of retreating, as he ought in prudence to have done, he still continued his platoon and bush firing till four o’clock in the afternoon, during which time his regular troops suffered greatly by the fire from the camp, and were at last thrown into confusion; which was no sooner perceived by general Johnson’s men, than they, without waiting for orders, leaped over their breastwork, attacked the enemy on all sides, and after killing and taking a considerable number of them, entirely dispersed the rest. The French, whose numbers at the beginning of this engagement amounted to about two thousand men, including two hundred grenadiers, eight hundred Canadians, and the rest Indians of different nations, had between seven and eight hundred men killed, and thirty taken prisoners; among the latter was baron Dieskau himself, whom they found at a little distance from the field of battle, dangerously wounded, and leaning on the stump of a tree for his support. The English lost about two hundred men, and those chiefly of the detachment under Colonel Williams; for they had very few either killed or wounded in the attack upon their camp, and not any of distinction, except colonel Tit-comb killed, and the general himself and major Nichols wounded. Among the slain of the detachment, which would probably have been entirely cut off had not lieutenant-colonel Cole been sent out from the camp with three hundred men, with which he stopped the enemy’s pursuit, and covered the retreat of his friends, were colonel Williams, major Ashly, six captains, and several subalterns, besides private men; and the Indians reckoned that they had lost forty men, besides the brave old Hendrick, the Mohawk sachem, or chief captain.

BRAVERY OF CAPTAIN M’GINNES.

When baron Dieskau set out from Ticonderoga, his design was only to surprise and cut off the intrenched camp, now called Fort Edward, at the Carrying-place, where there were but four or five hundred men. If he had executed this scheme, our army would have been thrown into great difficulties; for it could neither have proceeded farther, nor have subsisted where it was, and he might have found an opportunity to attack it with great advantage in its retreat. But when he was within four or five miles of that fort, his people were informed that there were several cannon there, and none at the camp; upon which they all desired to be led on to this last, which he the more readily consented to, as he himself had been told by an English prisoner, who had left this camp but a few days before, that it was quite defenceless, being without any lines, and destitute of cannon; which, in effect, was true at that time; for the cannon did not arrive, nor was the breast-work erected, till about two days before the engagement. To this misinformation, therefore, must be imputed this step, which would otherwise be inconsistent with the general character and abilities of baron Dieskau. A less justifiable error seems to have been committed by general Johnson, in not detaching a party to pursue the enemy when they were defeated and fled. Perhaps he was prevented from so doing by the ill fate of the detachment he had sent out in the morning under colonel Williams. However that may be, his neglect in this respect had like to have been fatal the next day to a detachment sent from Fort Edward, consisting of an hundred and twenty men of the New Hampshire regiment, under captain M’Ginnes, as a reinforcement to the army at the camp. This party fell in with between three and four hundred men of Dieskau’s troops, near the spot where colonel Williams had been defeated the day before; but M’Ginnes, having timely notice by his scouts of the approach of an enemy, made such a disposition, that he not only repulsed the assailants, but defeated and entirely dispersed them, with the loss only of two men killed, eleven wounded, and five missing. He himself unfortunately died of the wounds he received in this engagement, a few days after he arrived at the camp with his party. It was now judged too late in the year to proceed to the attack of Crown Point, as it would have been necessary, in that case, to build a strong fort in the place where the camp then was, in order to secure a communication with Albany, from whence only the troops could expect to be reinforced, or supplied with fresh stores of ammunition or provisions. They therefore set out upon their return soon after this engagement, having first erected a little stockaded fort, at the hither end of Lake George, in which they left a small garrison, as a future prey for the enemy; a misfortune which might easily have been foreseen, because this whole army being country militia, was to be disbanded, and return to their respective homes, as they actually did soon after their retreat to Albany. This was all the glory, this all the advantage, that the English nation acquired by such an expensive expedition. But so little had the English been accustomed of late to hear of victory, that they rejoiced at this advantage, as if it had been an action of the greatest consequence. The general was highly applauded for his conduct, and liberally rewarded; for he was created a baronet by his majesty, and presented with five thousand pounds by the parliament.

DESCRIPTION OF FORT OSWEGO, &c

The preparations for general Shirley’s expedition against Niagara, were not only deficient, but shamefully slow; though it was well known that even the possibility of his success must, in a great measure, depend upon his setting out early in the year, as will appear to any person who considers the situation of our fort at Oswego, this being the only way by which he could proceed to Niagara. Oswego lies on the south-east side of the lake Ontario, near three hundred miles almost due west from Albany in New York. The way to it from thence, though long and tedious, is the more convenient, as the far greatest part of it admits of water carriage, by what the inhabitants called batteaux, which are a kind of light flat-bottomed boats, widest in the middle, and pointed at each end, of about fifteen hundred weight burden, and managed by two men called batteau-men, with paddles and setting poles, the rivers being in many places too narrow to admit of oars. From Albany to the village of Schenactady, about sixteen miles, is a good waggon road. From thence to the little falls in the Mohawk-river, being sixty-five miles, the passage is by water-carriage up that river, and consequently against the stream, which in many places is somewhat rapid, and in others so shallow, that, when the river is low, the watermen are obliged to get out and draw their batteaux over the rifts. At the little falls is a postage or land-carriage for about a mile, over a ground so marshy that it will not bear any wheel carriage; but a colony of Germans settled there, attend with sledges, on which they draw the loaded batteaux to the next place of embarkation upon the same river. From thence they proceed by water up that river for fifty miles, to the Carrying-place, near the head of it, where there is another postage, the length of which depends upon the dryness or wetness of the season, but is generally above six or eight miles over in the summer months. Here the batteaux are again carried upon sledges, till they come to a narrow river, called Wood’s Creek, down which they are wafted on a gentle stream for about forty miles into the lake Oneyada, which stretches from east to west about thirty miles, and is passed with great ease and safety in calm weather. At the western end of the lake is the river Onondaga, which, after a course of between twenty and thirty miles, unites with the river Cayuga, or Seneca, and their united streams run into the lake Ontario, at the place where Oswego fort is situated. But this river is so rapid as to be sometimes dangerous, besides its being full of rifts and rocks; and about twelve miles on this side of Oswego there is a fall of eleven feet perpendicular, where there is consequently a postage, which however, does not exceed forty yards. From thence the passage is easy quite to Oswego. The lake Ontario, on which this fort stands, is near two hundred and eighty leagues in circumference; its figure is oval, and its depth runs from twenty to twenty-five fathoms. On the north side of it are several little gulfs. There is a communication between this lake and that of the Hurons by the river Tanasuate, from whence it is a land-carriage of six or eight leagues to the river Toronto, which falls into it. The French have two forts of consequence on this lake; Frontenac, which commands the river St. Lawrence, where the lake communicates with it; and Niagara, which commands the communication between the lake Ontario and the lake Erie. But of these forts, and this last lake, which is one of the finest in the world, we shall have occasion to speak hereafter.

Though we had long been in possession of fort Oswego, and though it lay greatly exposed to the French, particularly to those of Canada, upon any rupture between the two nations, we had never taken care to render it tolerably defensible, or even to build a single vessel fit for navigating the lake: nor was this strange neglect ever taken effectual notice of, till the beginning of this year, when, at a meeting which general Braddock had in April with the governors and chief gentlemen of several of our colonies at Alexandria, in Virginia, it was resolved to strengthen both the fort and garrison at Oswego, and to build some large vessels at that place. Accordingly a number of shipwrights and workmen were sent thither in May and June. At the same time captain Bradstreet marched thither with two companies of an hundred men each, to reinforce the hundred that were there before under captain King, to which number the garrison had been increased since our contests with France began to grow serious. For a long time before, not above twenty-five men were left to defend this post, which from its great importance, and the situation of affairs at this juncture, most certainly required a much stronger garrison than was put into it even at this juncture; but economy was the chief thing consulted in the beginning of this war, and to that in a great measure was owing its long duration.

EXPEDITION AGAINST NIAGARA.

From the above description of the passage from Albany to Oswego, it is plain how necessary it was that the troops intended for this expedition should have set out early in the spring. But instead of that, the very first of them, colonel Schuyler’s New Jersey regiment, did not begin their march till after the beginning of July, and just as Shirley’s and Pepperell’s regiments were preparing to follow, the melancholy account of Braddock’s disaster arrived at Albany, where it so damped the spirits of the people, and spread such a terror, that many of the troops deserted, and most of the batteau-men dispersed and ran home, by which means even all the necessary stores could not be carried along with the troops. Notwithstanding this disappointment, Mr. Shirley set out from Albany before the end of July, with as many of the troops and stores as he could procure a conveyance for, hoping to be joined in his route by great numbers of the Indians of the Six Nations, to whom he sent invitations to that effect as he passed by their settlements; but they, instead of complying with his desire, absolutely declared against all hostilities on that side of the country; and insisted that Oswego, being a place of traffic and peace, ought not to be disturbed either by the English or the French, as if they could have persuaded both parties to agree to such a local truce. Upon this refusal, Mr. Shirley proceeded forward, being joined by a very few Indians, and arrived at Oswego on the seventeenth or eighteenth of August; but the rest of the troops and artillery did not arrive till the last day of that month; and even then, their store of provisions was not sufficient to enable them to go against Niagara, though some tolerably good vessels had by this time been built and got ready for that purpose. The general now resolved to take but six hundred men with him for the attack of Niagara, and to leave the rest of his army, consisting of about fourteen hundred more, at Oswego, to defend that place, in case the French should attack it in his absence, which there was reason to apprehend they might, as they then had a considerable force at fort Frontenac, from whence they could easily cross over the lake Ontario to Oswego. However, he was still obliged to wait at Oswego for provisions, of which at length a small supply arrived on the twenty-sixth of September, barely sufficient to support his men during their intended expedition, and to allow twelve days’ short subsistence for those he left behind. But by this time the rainy boisterous season had begun, on which account most of his Indians had already left him and were returned home; and the few that remained with him declared that there was no crossing the lake Ontario in batteaux at that season, or any time before the next summer. In this perplexity he called a council of war, which, after weighing all circumstances, unanimously resolved to defer the attempt upon Niagara till the next year, and to employ the troops, whilst they remained at Oswego, in building barracks, and erecting, or at least beginning to erect, two new forts, one on the east side of the river Onondaga, four hundred and fifty yards distant from the old fort, which it was to command, as well as the entrance of the harbour, and to be called Ontario-fort; and the other four hundred and fifty yards west of the old fort, to be called Oswego new fort.

GENERAL SHIRLEY RETURNS TO ALBANY.

These things being agreed on, general Shirley, with the greatest part of the troops under his command, set out on his return to Albany on the twenty-fourth of October, leaving colonel Mercer, with a garrison of about seven hundred men, at Oswego; though repeated advice had been received, that the French had then at least a thousand men at their fort at Frontenac, upon the same lake; and, what was still worse, the new forts were not yet near completed; but left to be finished by the hard labour of colonel Mercer and his little garrison, with the addition of this melancholy circumstance, that, if besieged by the enemy in the winter, it would not be possible for his friends to come to his assistance. Thus ended this year’s unfortunate campaign, during which the French, with the assistance of their Indian allies, continued their murders, scalping, captivating, and laying waste the western frontiers of Virginia and Pennsylvania, during the whole winter.

The ministers of the two warring powers were very busily employed this year at most of the courts of Europe; but their transactions were kept extremely secret. The French endeavoured to inspire the Spaniards with a jealousy of the strength of the English by sea, especially in America; and the Spanish court seemed inclined to accept of the office of mediator; but Mr. Wall, who was perfectly well acquainted with the state of affairs between England and France, seconded the representations of the British ministry, which demonstrated, that, however willing Great Britain might be to accept of the mediation of Spain, she could not agree to any suspension of arms in America, which France insisted on as a preliminary condition, without hazarding the whole of her interest there; and that the captures which had been made by the English were the necessary consequences of the encroachments and injustice of the French, particularly in that country. Upon this remonstrance, all further talk of the mediation of Spain was dropped, and the ministry of Versailles had recourse to the princes of Germany; amongst whom the elector of Cologn was soon brought over to their party, so as to consent to their forming magazines in his territories in Westphalia. This was a plain indication of their design against Hanover, which they soon after made his Britannic majesty, who was then at Hanover, an offer of sparing, if he would agree to certain conditions of neutrality for that electorate, which he rejected with disdain. Then the count d’Aubeterre, envoy-extraordinary from France at the court of Vienna, proposed a secret negotiation with the ministers of the empress-queen. The secret articles of the treaty of Petersburgh, between the two empresses, had stipulated a kind of partition of the Prussian territories, in case that prince should infringe the treaty of Dresden; but his Britannic majesty, though often invited, had always refused to agree to any such stipulation; and the king of Poland, howsoever he might be inclined to favour the scheme, did not dare to avow it formally, till matters should be more ripe for carrying it into execution. The court of Vienna, whose favourite measure this was, began to listen to d’Aubeterre’s insinuations, and by degrees entered into negotiations with him, which, in the end, were productive of that unnatural confederacy between the empress-queen and the king of France, of which further notice will be taken in the occurrences of the next year, when the treaty between them, into which they afterwards found means secretly to bring the empress of Russia, was concluded at Versailles.

TREATY WITH THE LANDGRAVE OF HESSE-CASSEL.

The king of England taking it for granted that the French would invade Hanover, in consequence of their rupture with Great Britain, which seemed to be near at hand, began to take measures for the defence of that electorate. To this end, during his stay at Hanover, he concluded, on the eighteenth day of June, a treaty with the landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, by which his serene highness engaged to hold in readiness, during four years, for his majesty’s service, a body of eight thousand men, to be employed, if required, upon the continent, or in Britain, or Ireland; but not on board the fleet or beyond the seas; and also, if his Britannic majesty should judge it necessary or advantageous for his service, to furnish and join to this body of eight thousand men, within six months after they should be demanded, four thousand more, of which seven hundred were to be horse or dragoons, and each regiment of infantry to have two field pieces of cannon. [364] [See note 2 Y, at the end of this Vol.] Another treaty was begun with Russia about the same time; but this did not take effect during his majesty’s residence at Hanover: that others were not concluded was the more surprising, as our subsidy-treaty with Saxony had then expired, and that with Bavaria was near expiring, and as the securing of these two princes in our interest was at least as necessary towards forming a sufficient confederacy upon the continent for the defence of Hanover, as it was to secure the landgrave of Hesse-Cassel. If the reason of their not being engaged, and no other seems so probable, was, that they refused to renew their treaties with England upon any terms, all that can be said is, that they were guilty of flagrant ingratitude, as they had both received a subsidy from this kingdom for many years in time of peace, when they neither were nor could be of any service to the interest of Great Britain.

NEWS OF THE CAPTURE OF THE ALCIDE AND LYS REACHES ENGLAND.

On the fifteenth of July, an express arrived from admiral Boscawen, with an account of his having taken the two French ships of war, the Alcide and the Lys. This was certainly contrary to the expectation of the court of France; for had they apprehended any such attack, they would not have ordered Mr. Macnamara to return to Brest with the chief part of their squadron; nor was it perhaps less contrary to the expectation of some of our own ministry; but as matters had been carried so far, it was then too late to retreat; and, therefore, orders were soon after given to all our ships of war to make reprisals upon the French, by taking their ships wherever they should meet them. Sir Edward Hawke sailed from Portsmouth on the twenty-first of July, with eighteen ships of war, to watch the return of the French fleet from America; which, however, escaped him, and arrived at Brest on the third day of September. Commodore Frankland sailed from Spithead for the West Indies on the thirteenth of August, with four ships of war, furnished with orders to commit hostilities, as well as to protect our trade and sugar-islands from any insult that the French might offer; and the duke de Mirepoix, their ambassador at the court of London, set out for Paris on the twenty-second of July, without taking leave.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

THE KING RETURNS FROM HANOVER, AND CONCLUDES A TREATY WITH RUSSIA.

A war being thus in some measure begun, his majesty thought proper, perhaps for that reason, to return to his British dominions sooner than usual; for he left Hanover on the eighth of September, and arrived on the fifteenth at Kensington, where the treaty of alliance between him and the empress of Russia, which he had begun during his absence, was concluded on the thirtieth of the same month. By this treaty her Russian majesty engaged to hold in readiness in Livonia, upon the frontiers of Lithuania, a body of troops consisting of forty thousand infantry, with the necessary artillery, and fifteen thousand cavalry; and also on the coast of the same province, forty or fifty galleys, with the necessary crews; to be ready to act, upon the first order, in his majesty’s service, in case, said the fifth article, which was the most remarkable, that the dominions of his Britannic majesty in Germany should be invaded on account of the interests or disputes which regard his kingdoms; her imperial majesty declaring that she would look upon such an invasion as a case of the alliance of the year one thousand seven hundred and forty-two; and that the said dominions should be therein comprised in this respect; but neither these troops nor galleys were to be put in motion, unless his Britannic majesty, or his allies, should be somewhere attacked; in which case the Russian general should march as soon as possible after requisition, to make a diversion with thirty thousand infantry, and fifteen thousand cavalry; and should embark on board the galleys the other ten thousand infantry to make a descent according to the exigency of the affair. On the other side, his Britannic majesty engaged to pay to her Russian majesty an annual subsidy of an hundred thousand pounds sterling a year, each year to be paid in advance, and to be reckoned from the day of the exchange of the ratifications, to the day that these troops should upon requisition march out of Russia; from which day the annual subsidy to her imperial majesty was to be five hundred thousand pounds sterling, to be paid always four months in advance, until the troops should return into the Russian dominions, and for three months after their return. His Britannic majesty, who was to be at liberty to send once every year into the said province of Livonia a commissary, to see and examine the number and condition of the said troops, further engaged, that, in case her Russian majesty should be disturbed in this diversion, or attacked herself, he would famish immediately the succour stipulated in the treaty of one thousand seven hundred and forty-two, and that in case a war should break out, he should send, into the Baltic a squadron of his ships, of a force suitable to the circumstances. This was the chief substance of the treaty, which, by agreement of both parties, was to subsist for four years from the exchange of the ratifications; but in the seventh article these words were unluckily inserted: “Considering also the proximity of the countries wherein the diversion in question will probably be made, and the facility her troops will probably have of subsisting immediately in an enemy’s country, she takes upon herself alone, during such a diversion, the subsistence and treatment of the said troops by sea and land.” And in the eleventh article it was stipulated, that all the plunder the Russian army should take from the enemy should belong to them. That his Britannic majesty, who now knew enough of the court of Vienna to be sensible that he could expect no assistance from thence, in case his German dominions were invaded, should enter into this convention with the empress of Russia, in order to strengthen his defence upon the continent, was extremely natural; especially as he had lately lived in great friendship with her, and her transactions with the court of France had been so secret, by passing through only that of Vienna, that he had not yet been informed of them; neither had the project of the treaty of Versailles then come to his knowledge, or to that of the king of Prussia, nor had either of these princes yet made any formal advances to the other.

DECLARATION OF THE FRENCH MINISTRY AT THE COURT OF VIENNA.

The first intimation that appeared publicly of the negotiations of France with the empress of Germany, was when the French minister, count d’Aubeterre, declared at Vienna, “That the warlike designs with which the king his master was charged, were sufficiently confuted by his great moderation, of which all Europe had manifold proofs; that his majesty was persuaded this groundless charge had given as much indignation to their imperial majesties as to himself; that he was firmly resolved to preserve to Christendom that tranquillity which it enjoyed through his good faith, in religiously observing the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle; but that if his Britannic majesty’s allies should take part in the war which was kindled in America, by furnishing succours to the English, his majesty would be authorized to consider and treat them as principals in it.” France likewise made the same declaration to other courts.

SPIRITED DECLARATION OF PRUSSIA.

The words and stipulation in the above-recited clause, in the seventh article of the treaty of Great Britain with Russia, were looked on as a menace levelled at the king of Prussia, who, having some time found means to procure a copy of this treaty, and seeing it in that light, boldly declared, by his ministers at all the courts of Europe, that he would oppose, with his utmost force, the entrance of any foreign troops into the empire, under any pretence whatever. This declaration was particularly displeasing to the French, who had already marched large bodies of troops towards the frontiers of the empire, and erected several great magazines in Westphalia, with the permission of the elector of Cologn, for which the English minister at his court was, in August, ordered to withdraw from thence without taking leave. However, as soon as this declaration of the king of Prussia was notified to the court of Versailles, they sent an ambassador-extraordinary, the duke de Nivernois, to Berlin, to try to persuade his majesty to retract his declaration, and enter into a new alliance with them. His Prussian majesty received this ambassador in such a manner as seemed to denote a disposition to agree to every thing he had to propose. This awakened in England a jealousy that his declaration alone was not to be relied on, but that it was necessary to bring him under some solemn engagement; especially as the French had by this time a numerous army near the Lower Rhine, with magazines provided for their march all the way to Hanover; and if the king of Prussia suffered them to pass through his dominions, that electorate must be swallowed up before the Russian auxiliaries could possibly be brought thither, or any army be formed for protecting it.* For this reason a negotiation was set on foot by Great Britain at Berlin, but as it was not concluded before the beginning of the next year, we shall defer entering into the particulars of it till we come to that period.

* Perhaps the elector of Hanover was more afraid of the Prussian monarch than of the most christian king, knowing with what ease and rapidity this enterprising neighbour could, in a few days, subdue the whole electorate.

THE FRENCH MAKE ANOTHER UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT UPON THE COURT OF SPAIN.

Meanwhile the French made another attempt upon the court of Madrid, loudly complaining of the taking their two men of war by Boscawen’s squadron, before any declaration of war was made, representing it as a most unjustifiable proceeding, which threatened a dissolution of all faith amongst nations. This produced a strong memorial from sir Benjamin Keene, our minister at that court, importing, “That it was well known that the French fleet carried troops, ammunition, and every thing necessary for defending the countries which the French had unjustly usurped in America, and of which the English claimed the property; that the rules of self-defence authorize every nation to render fruitless any attempt that may tend to its prejudice; that this right had been made use of only in taking the two French ships of war; and that the distinction of place might be interpreted in favour of the English, seeing the two ships were taken on the coasts of the countries where the contest arose.” In answer to this observation, the French minister represented the vast number of ships which had been taken in the European seas; for in fact the English ports soon began to be filled with them, in consequence of the general orders for making reprisals. But the court of Madrid was so far from being persuaded by any thing he could say, that it gave his Britannic majesty the strongest assurances of its friendship, and of its intention to take no part in the differences between him and France, but such as should be conciliatory, and tending to restore the public tranquillity.

THE IMPERIAL COURT REFUSES AUXILIARIES TO ENGLAND.

On the other hand, his Britannic majesty required, as king of Great Britain, the auxiliaries stipulated to him by treaty from the empress-queen. But these were refused, under pretence, that as the contest between him and France related to America only, it was not a case of the alliance; though at the same time the French made no scruple of owning, that they intended to make a powerful descent on Great Britain early in the spring. When, a little while after, France being employed in making great preparation for a land war in Europe, the king of England required her to defend her own possessions, the barrier in the Low Countries, with the number of men stipulated by the treaty, which countries, acquired by English blood and English treasure, had been given to her on that express condition, she declared that she could not spare troops for that purpose, on account of her dangerous enemy the king of Prussia; and afterwards, when he was secured by his treaty with England, she urged that as a reason for her alliance with France. It must be owned, however, for the sake of historical truth, that this was no bad reason, considering the power, the genius, and the character of that prince, who hovered over her dominions with an army of one hundred and fifty thousand veterans. It must likewise be owned, that she undertook to procure the French king’s consent to a neutrality for Hanover, which would have effectually secured that electorate from the invasion of every other power but Prussia itself; and it is no strained conjecture to suppose, that the dread of this very power was the true source of those connexions in Germany, which entailed such a ruinous continental war upon Great Britain.

THE FRENCH TAKE THE BLANDFORD.

Though the English continued to make reprisals upon the French, not only in the seas of America, but also in those of Europe, by taking every ship they could meet with, and detaining them, their cargoes, and crews; yet the French, whether from a consciousness of their want of power by sea, or that they might have a more plausible plea to represent England as the aggressor, were so far from returning these hostilities, that their fleet, which escaped sir Edward Hawke, having, on the thirteenth of August, taken the Blandford ship of war, with governor Lyttelton on board, going to Carolina, they set the governor at liberty, as soon as the court was informed of the ship’s being brought into Nantes, and shortly after released both the ship and the crew. However, at the same time, their preparations for a land war still went on with great diligence, and their utmost arts and efforts were fruitlessly exerted to persuade the Spaniards and Dutch to join with them against Great Britain.

STATE OF THE ENGLISH AND FRENCH NAVIES.

In England the preparations by sea became greater than ever, several new ships of war were put in commission, and many others taken into the service of the government; the exportation of gunpowder was forbid; the bounties to seamen were continued, and the number of those that either entered voluntarily, or were pressed, increased daily, as did also the captures from the French, among which was the Espérance, of seventy guns, taken as she was going from Rochefort to Brest to be manned. The land-forces of Great Britain were likewise ordered to be augmented; several new regiments were raised, and all half-pay officers, and the out-pensioners belonging to Chelsea-hospital, were directed to send in their names, ages, and time of service, in order that such of them as were yet able to serve might be employed again if wanted. The English navy, so early as in the month of September of this year, consisted of one ship of an hundred and ten guns, five of an hundred guns each, thirteen of ninety, eight of eighty, five of seventy-four, twenty-nine of seventy, four of sixty-six, one of sixty-four, thirty-three of sixty, three of fifty-four, twenty-eight of fifty, four of forty-four, thirty-five of forty, and forty-two of twenty, four sloops of war of eighteen guns each, two of sixteen, eleven of fourteen, thirteen of twelve, and one of ten, besides a great number of bomb-ketches, fire-ships, and tenders; a force sufficient to oppose the united maritime strength of all the powers in Europe; whilst that of the French, even at the end of this year, and including the ships then upon the stocks, amounted to no more than six ships of eighty guns, twenty-one of seventy-four, one of seventy-two, four of seventy, thirty-one of sixty-four, two of sixty, six of fifty, and thirty-two frigates.

SESSION OPENED.

Such was the situation of the two kingdoms, when, on the thirteenth of November, the parliament met, and his majesty opened the session with a speech from the throne, in which he acquainted them--“That the most proper measures had been taken to protect our possessions in America, and to regain such parts thereof as had been encroached upon, or invaded; that to preserve his people from the calamities of war, as well as to prevent a general war from being lighted up in Europe, he had been always ready to accept reasonable and honourable terms of accommodation, but that none such had been proposed by France; that he had also confined his views and operations to hinder France from making new encroachments, or supporting those already made; to exert his people’s right to a satisfaction for hostilities committed in time of profound peace, and to disappoint such designs, as, from various appearances and preparations, there was reason to think had been formed against his kingdoms and dominions; that the king of Spain earnestly wished the preservation of the public tranquillity, and had given assurances of his intention to continue in the same pacific sentiments; that he himself had greatly increased his naval armaments, and augmented his land-forces in such a manner as might be least burdensome; and, finally, that he had concluded a treaty with the empress of Russia, and another with the landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, which should be laid before them.”

REMARKABLE ADDRESSES OF BOTH HOUSES.

In answer to this speech, both houses voted most loyal addresses, but not without a warm opposition, in each, to some of the particular expressions; for it having been proposed in the house of lords to insert in their address the words following, viz.: “That they looked upon themselves as obliged, by the strongest ties of duty, gratitude, and honour, to stand by and support his majesty in all such wise and necessary measures and engagements as his majesty might have taken in vindication of the rights of his crown, or to defeat any attempts which might be made by France in resentment for such measures, and to assist his majesty in disappointing or repelling all such enterprises as might be formed, not only against his kingdoms, but also against any other of his dominions (though not belonging to the crown of Great Britain), in case they should be attacked on account of the part which his majesty had taken for maintaining the essential interests of his kingdoms;” the inserting of these words in their address was opposed by earl Temple, and several other lords; because, by the first part of them, they engaged to approve of the treaties with Russia and Hesse-Cassel, neither of which they had ever seen; nor could it be supposed that either of them could be of any advantage to this nation; and by the second part of these words it seemed to be resolved, to engage this nation in a continental connexion for the defence of Hanover, which it was impossible for England to support, and which would be so far from being of any advantage to it at sea, or in America, that it might at last disable the nation from defending itself in either of those parts of the world. But upon putting the question, the inserting of these words was agreed to by a great majority, and accordingly they stand as part of the address of the house upon that occasion.

HIS MAJESTY’S ANSWER.

To this remarkable address his majesty returned the following as remarkable answer: “My lords, I give you my hearty thanks for this dutiful and affectionate address. I see, with the greatest satisfaction, the zeal you express for my person and government, and for the true interest of your country, which I am determined to adhere to. The assurances which you give me for the defence of my territories abroad, are a strong proof of your affection for me, and regard for my honour. Nothing shall divert me from pursuing those measures which will effectually maintain the possessions and rights of my kingdoms, and procure reasonable and honourable terms of accommodation.”--The address of the house of commons breathed the same spirit of zeal and gratitude, and was full of the warmest assurances of a ready support of his majesty, and of his foreign dominions, if attacked in resentment of his maintaining the rights of his crown and kingdom; and his majesty’s answer to it was to the same effect as that to the house of lords. The same, or nearly the same words, relating to the treaties concluded by his majesty, and to the defence of his foreign dominions, were proposed to be inserted in this address, which was opposed by William Pitt, esq., then paymaster of his majesty’s forces; the right hon. Henry Legge, esq., then chancellor and un-der-treasurer of his majesty’s exchequer, and one of the commissioners of the treasury; and by several other gentlemen in high posts under the government, as well as by many others; but, upon putting the question, it was by a considerable majority agreed to insert the words objected to; and very soon after, Mr. Pitt, Mr. Legge, and most, if not all, of the gentlemen who had appeared in the opposition, were dismissed from their employments. In the meantime, a draft came over from Russia for part of the new subsidy stipulated to that crown; but some of the ministry, who were then at the head of the finances, refused to pay it, at least before the treaty should be approved of by parliament.

ALTERATIONS IN THE MINISTRY.

Sir Thomas Robinson had not been long in possession of the office of secretary of state, before it was generally perceived, that, though an honest well meaning man, and a favourite with the king, his abilities were not equal to the functions of that post. Much less were they so at this juncture, when the nation was on the point of being engaged in a difficult and expensive war, and plunged into foreign measures and connexions, which would require the utmost skill of an able politician to render them palatable to the people. Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox, though they scarce ever agreed in any other particular, had generally united in opposing his measures, and their superior influence in the house of commons, and universally acknowledged abilities, though of very different kinds, had always prevailed; uncommon as it was, to see two persons who held considerable places under the government, one of them being paymaster-general, and the other secretary at war, oppose, upon almost every occasion, a secretary of state who was supposed to know and speak the sentiments of his master. Sir Thomas himself soon grew sensible of his want of sufficient weight in the senate of the nation; and therefore, of his own accord, on the tenth of November, wisely and dutifully resigned the seals of his office to his majesty, who delivered them to Mr. Fox, and appointed sir Thomas master of the wardrobe, with a pension to him during his life, and after his death to his sons. Lord Barrington succeeded Mr. Fox as secretary at war; and soon after sir George Lyttelton was made chancellor of the exchequer, and a lord of the treasury, in the room of Mr. Legge, who had declared himself against the new continental system. However, notwithstanding these changes in the ministry, very warm debates arose in both houses, when the treaties of Russia and Hesse-Cassel came to be considered by them; some of the members were for referring them to a committee; but this motion was over-ruled, in consideration of his majesty’s having engaged in them to guard against a storm that seemed ready to break upon his electoral dominions, merely on account of our quarrel with the French. They were at length approved of by a majority of three hundred and eighteen against one hundred and twenty-six, in the house of commons; and by eighty-four against eleven, in the house of lords.

The house of commons then proceeded to provide for the service of the ensuing year, and for the deficiencies of the provisions for the former. Fifty thousand seamen, including nine thousand one hundred and thirty-eight marines, were voted, on the twenty-fourth of November, for the service of the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-six, together with two millions six hundred thousand pounds for their maintenance; and thirty-four thousand two hundred and sixty-three land soldiers, with nine hundred and thirty thousand six hundred and three pounds, six shillings and ninepence, for their support. An hundred thousand pounds were voted as a subsidy to the empress of Russia; fifty-four thousand one hundred and forty pounds, twelve shillings and sixpence, to the landgrave of Hesse-Cassel; and ten thousand pounds to the elector of Bavaria.

EARTHQUAKE AT LISBON.

During these transactions, the public was overwhelmed with consternation by the tidings of a dreadful earthquake, which, on the first November, shook all Spain and Portugal, and many other places in Europe, and laid the city of Lisbon in ruins. When the news of this great calamity first reached England, it was feared the consequences of it might affect our public credit, considering the vast interest which the English merchants had in the Portuguese trade; but fortunately, it afterwards proved inconsiderable, in comparison of what had been apprehended; the quarter in which the English chiefly lived, and where they had their warehouses, having suffered the least of any part of the city; and most of the English merchants then residing there, together with their families, being at their country houses, to avoid the insults to which they might have been exposed from the Portuguese populace, during the celebration of their auto-da-fe, which was kept that very day. The two first shocks of this dreadful visitation continued near a quarter of an hour, after which the water of the river Tagus rose perpendicularly above twenty feet, and subsided to its natural bed in less than a minute. Great numbers of houses, of which this city then contained about thirty-six thousand, extending in length near six miles, in form of a crescent, on the ascent of a hill upon the north shore of the mouth of the river Tagus, within nine miles from the ocean, were thrown down by the repeated commotions of the earth, together with several magnificent churches, monasteries, and public buildings. But what entirely completed the ruin of this then most opulent capital of the Portuguese dominions, was a devouring conflagration, partly fortuitous or natural, but chiefly occasioned by a set of impious villains, who, unawed by the tremendous scene at that very instant passing before their eyes, with a wickedness scarcely to be credited, set fire even to the falling edifices in different parts of the city, to increase the general confusion, that they might have the better opportunity to rob and plunder their already desolated fellow-citizens. Out of three hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, which Lisbon was then supposed to contain, about ten thousand perished by this calamity; and the survivors, deprived of their habitations, and destitute even of the necessaries of life, were forced to seek for shelter in the open fields.

RELIEF VOTED TO THE PORTUGUESE.

As soon as his majesty received an account of this deplorable event, from his ambassador at the court of Madrid, he sent a message to both houses of parliament, on the twenty-eighth of November, acquainting them therewith, and desiring their concurrence and assistance towards speedily relieving the unhappy sufferers; and the parliament thereupon, to the honour of British humanity, unanimously voted, on the eighth of December, a gift of an hundred thousand pounds for the distressed people of Portugal. A circumstance which enhances the merit of this action is, that though the English themselves were, at that very time, in great want of grain, a considerable part of the sum was sent in corn, flour, rice, and a large quantity of beef from Ireland; supplies which came very seasonably for the poor Portuguese, who were in actual want of the necessaries of life. Their king was so affected by this instance of British generosity, that, to show his gratitude for the timely relief, he ordered Mr. Castres, the British resident at his court, to give the preference, in the distribution of these supplies, to the British subjects who had suffered by the earthquake; accordingly, about a thirtieth part of the provisions, and two thousand pounds in money, were set apart for that purpose; and his Portuguese majesty returned his thanks, in very warm terms, to the British crown and nation.

The report of an intended invasion of these kingdoms by the French increasing daily, on the twenty-second day of January lord Barrington, as secretary at war, laid before the house an estimate for defraying the charge of ten new regiments of foot, over and above the thirty-four thousand two hundred and sixty-three land soldiers before ordered to be raised; and a sum of ninety-one thousand nine hundred and nineteen pounds, ten shillings, was voted for these additional forces; upon another estimate presented a little after by the same lord, and founded upon the same reasons, for raising, for the further defence of the kingdom, eleven troops of light dragoons, forty-nine thousand six hundred and twenty-eight pounds, eleven shillings and threepence, were voted for the ensuing year; together with eighty-one thousand one hundred and seventy-eight pounds, sixteen shillings, for a regiment of foot to be raised in North America; two hundred and ninety-eight thousand five hundred and thirty-four pounds, seventeen shillings and tenpence halfpenny, for the maintenance of our forces already established in our American colonies; and seventy-nine thousand nine hundred and fifteen pounds, six shillings, for six regiments of foot from Ireland, to serve in North America and the East Indies. Besides all these supplies, Mr. Fox, on the twenty-eighth of January, presented to the house a message from the king, desiring them to take into consideration the faithful services of the people of New England, and of some other parts of North America; upon which one hundred and fifteen thousand pounds more were voted, and five thousand pounds as a reward to sir William Johnson in particular. In short, including several other sums, as well as for defraying the expense of the army and navy, as for a subsidy of twenty thousand pounds to the king of Prussia, and one hundred and twenty-one thousand four hundred and forty-seven pounds, two shillings and sixpence, for Hanoverian troops, of which two last articles further notice will be taken hereafter, the whole of the supplies granted by parliament in this session, amounted to seven millions two hundred and twenty-nine thousand one hundred and seventeen pounds, four shillings and sixpence three farthings. For raising this sum, besides the malt tax, and the land tax of four shillings in the pound, the whole produce of the sinking fund, from the fifth of January one thousand seven hundred and fifty-six, till it should amount to one million five hundred and fifty-five thousand nine hundred and fifty-five pounds, eleven shillings and elevenpence halfpenny, was ordered to be applied thereunto; together with a million to be raised by loans or exchequer bills, at three per cent, interest; one million five hundred thousand pounds, to be raised by the sale of redeemable annuities at three and a half per cent., and five hundred thousand pounds to be raised by a lottery, at three per cent. All which sums, with eighty-three thousand four hundred and twelve pounds, two shillings, and five-pence halfpenny, then remaining in the exchequer, amounted to seven millions four hundred and twenty-seven thousand two hundred and sixty-one pounds, five shillings and sevenpence.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

MUTINY BILL, MARINE, AND MARINERS’ ACTS CONTINUED.

The clause inserted in the mutiny bill last year, subjecting all officers and soldiers raised in America, by authority of the respective governors or governments there, to the same rules and articles of war, and the same penalties and punishments, as the British forces were liable to; the act passed at the same time for regulating the marine forces, while on shore, and that for the more speedy and effectual manning of his majesty’s navy, were not only confirmed now, but it was further enacted, with respect to this last, as well as for the more speedy and effectual recruiting of his majesty’s land-forces, that the commissioners appointed by the present act should be empowered to raise and levy, within then-respective jurisdictions, such able-bodied men as did not follow any lawful calling or employment; or had not some other lawful and sufficient support; and might order, wherever and whenever they pleased, a general search to be made for such persons, in order to their being brought before them to be examined; nay, that the parish or town officers might, without any such order, search for and secure such persons, in order to convey them before the said commissioners to be examined; that if any three commissioners should find any person, so brought before them, to be within the above description, and if the recruiting officer attending should judge him to be a man fit for his majesty’s service, they should cause him to be delivered to such officer, who might secure him in any place of safety provided by the justices of peace for that purpose, or even in any public prison; and that every such man was from that time to be deemed a listed soldier, and not to be taken out of his majesty’s service by any process, other than for some criminal matter. Nothing could more plainly show either the zeal of the parliament for a vigorous prosecution of the war, or their confidence in the justice and moderation of our ministry, than their agreeing to this act, which was to continue in force till the end of the next session; and which, in the hands of a wicked and enterprising administration, might have been made such an use of, as would have been inconsistent with that security which is provided by our happy constitution for the liberty of the subject.

ACT FOR RAISING A REGIMENT OF FOOT IN NORTH AMERICA.

The next object of the immediate attention of parliament in this session, was the raising of a new regiment of foot in North America; for which purpose the sum of eighty-one thousand one hundred and seventy-eight pounds, sixteen shillings, to which the estimate thereof amounted, was voted. This regiment, which was to consist of four battalions of a thousand men each, was intended to be raised chiefly out of the Germans and Swiss, who, for many years past, had annually transported themselves in great numbers to the British plantations in America, where waste lands had been assigned them upon the frontiers of the provinces; but, very injudiciously, no care had been taken to intermix them with the English inhabitants of the place. To this circumstance it is owing, that they have continued to correspond and converse only with one another; so that very few of them, even of those who have been born there, have yet learned to speak or understand the English tongue. However, as they were all zealous protestants, and in general strong hardy men, and accustomed to the climate, it was judged that a regiment of good and faithful soldiers might be raised out of them, particularly proper to oppose the French; but to this end it was necessary to appoint some officers, especially subalterns, who understood military discipline, and could speak the German language; and as a sufficient number of such could not be found among the English officers, it was necessary to bring over and grant commissions to several German and Swiss officers and engineers; but this step, by the act of settlement, could not be taken without the authority of parliament; an act was now passed for enabling his majesty to grant commissions to a certain number of foreign protestants, who had served abroad as officers or engineers, to act and rank as officers or engineers in America only. An act was likewise passed in this session, strictly forbidding, under pain of death, any of his majesty’s subjects to serve as officers under the French king, or to enlist as soldiers in his service, without his majesty’s previous license; and also for obliging such of his majesty’s subjects as should, in time to come, accept of commissions in the Scotch brigade in the Dutch service, to take the oaths of allegiance and abjuration, on pain of forfeiting five hundred pounds.

MARITIME LAWS OF ENGLAND EXTENDED TO AMERICA.

As it had been resolved, in the beginning of the preceding summer, to build vessels of force upon the lake Ontario, an act was now passed for extending the maritime laws of England, relating to the government of his majesty’s ships and forces by sea, to such officers, seamen, and others, as should serve on board his majesty’s ships or vessels employed upon the lakes, great waters, or rivers in North America; and also, but not without opposition to this last, for the better recruiting of his majesty’s forces upon the continent of America; to which end, by a new clause now added to a former act, a recruiting officer was empowered to enlist and detain an indented servant, even though his master should reclaim him, upon paying to the master such a sum as two justices of peace within the precinct should adjudge to be a reasonable equivalent for the original purchase money, and the remaining time such servant might have to serve.

QUIET OF IRELAND RESTORED.

The intestine broils of Ireland were happily composed this year, by the prudent management of the marquis of Hartington, lord lieutenant of that kingdom. By his steady and disinterested conduct, his candour and humanity, the Irish were not only brought to a much better temper, even among themselves, than they were before their late outrageous riots and dangerous dissensions happened; but also prevailed upon to acquiesce in the measures of England, without this last being obliged to give up any one point of her superiority. The leading men in the parliament of Ireland were the first that conformed; and though the ferment continued very high for some time after, among the middling and lower ranks of people, it was at length entirely allayed by the wisdom of the lord lieutenant, and the excellent law which he encouraged and passed for the benefit of that nation.* The primate of Ireland, who had been very busy in fomenting many of the late disturbances, was, by his majesty’s command, struck off the list of privy-counsellors; and the greatest part of those patriots, whom faction had turned out of their employments there, were reinstated with honour.

* Among other objects of the attention of the legislature of that country, ten thousand pounds were granted for making the river Nore navigable from the city of Kilkenny to the town of Innestalge; twenty thousand pounds towards carrying on an inland navigation from the city of Dublin to the river Shannon; four thousand pounds for making the river Newry navigable; a thousand pounds a year for two years, for the encouragement of English protestant schools; several sums, to be distributed in premiums, for the encouragement of the cambric, hempen, and flaxen manufactures; and three hundred thousand pounds to his majesty, towards supporting the several branches of the establishment, and for defraying the expenses of the government for two years.

{1756}

TREATY CONCLUDED WITH PRUSSIA.

The parliament of England, which had adjourned on the twenty-third day of December, met again: the house of commons on the thirteenth of January, and the lords on the nineteenth. On the sixteenth of the same month, the treaty between his Britannic majesty and the king of Prussia was signed, importing, that, for the defence of their common country, Germany, and in order to preserve her peace and tranquillity, which it was feared was in danger of being disturbed, on account of the disputes in America, the two kings, for that end only, entered into a convention of neutrality, by which they reciprocally bound themselves not to suffer foreign troops of any nation whatsoever to enter into Germany, or pass through it during the troubles aforesaid, and the consequences that might result from them; but to oppose the same with their utmost might, in order to secure Germany from the calamities of war, maintain her fundamental laws and constitutions, and preserve her peace uninterrupted. Thus, the late treaty with Russia was virtually renounced. Their majesties, moreover, seized this favourable opportunity to adjust the differences that had subsisted between them, in relation to the remainder of the Silesia loan due to the subjects of his Britannic majesty, and the indemnification claimed by the subjects of his Prussian majesty for their losses by sea during the late war; so that the attachment laid on the said debt was agreed to be taken off, as soon as the ratification of this treaty should be exchanged.

NEW MILITIA-BILL.

On the twenty-first of January the house took into consideration the laws then in being relating to the militia of this kingdom; and, finding them insufficient, ordered a new bill to be prepared, and brought in, for the better regulating of the militia forces in the several counties of England. A bill was accordingly prepared to that effect, and presented to the house on the twelfth of March, by the hon. Charles Townshend, esq., who, to his honour, was one of the chief promoters of it. After receiving many amendments in the house of commons, it was on the tenth of May passed, and sent to the lords; but several objections being made to it by some of the peers, and it seemed to them that some further amendments were still necessary, which they thought they could not in that session spare time to consider so maturely as the importance of the subject required, a negative of fifty-nine against twenty-three was put upon the motion for passing the bill; though every one must have been sensible, not only of the propriety, but even of the absolute necessity of such a law, which was ardently desired by the whole nation.

SESSION CLOSED.

On the twenty-seventh of May, his majesty went to the house of peers, and, after having given the royal assent to the bills then depending, thanked his parliament, in a speech from the throne, for their vigorous and effectual support. He acquainted them, that the injuries and hostilities which had been for some time committed by the French against his dominions and subjects, were then followed by the actual invasion of the island of Minorca, though guaranteed to him by all the great powers in Europe, and particularly by the French king; that he had, therefore, found himself obliged, in vindication of the honour of his crown, and of the rights of his people, to declare war in form against France; and that he relied on the Divine Protection, and the vigorous assistance of his faithful subjects, in so just a cause. The parliament was then adjourned to the eighteenth of June; and from thence afterwards to the eighteenth of July, and then it was prorogued.

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Chapter XI

Letter from M. Rouillé to the Secretary of State..... The two Nations recriminate on each other..... The French threaten Great Britain with an Invasion..... Requisition of six thousand Dutch Troops according to Treaty..... Message from the King to the Parliament..... A Body of Hessians and Hanoverians transported into England..... French Preparations at Toulon..... Admiral Byng sails for the Mediterranean..... He arrives at Gibraltar..... engages M. de la Galissonniere off Minorca..... and returns to Gibraltar..... Ferment of the People at Home..... Admiral Byng superseded and sent home Prisoner..... Account of the Siege of St. Philip’s Fort in Minorca..... Precautions taken by General Blakeney..... Siege commenced..... English Squadron appears..... General Attack of the Works..... The Garrison capitulates..... Sir Edward Hawke sails to Minorca..... Rejoicings in France, and Clamours in England..... Gallantry of Fortunatus Wright..... General Blakeney created a Baron..... Measures taken for the Defence of Great Britain..... Proclamation..... Earl of Loudon appointed Commander-in-Chief in America..... His Britannic Majesty’s Declaration of War..... Substance of the French King’s Declaration..... Address of the City of London..... Trial of General Fowke..... Affairs of America..... Colonel Bradstreet defeats a Body of French on the River Onondaga..... Earl of Loudon arrives at New York..... Oswego reduced by the Enemy..... Further Proceedings in America..... Naval Operations in that Country..... Transactions in the East Indies..... Calcutta besieged by the Viceroy of Bengal..... Deplorable Fate of those who perished in the Dungeon there..... Additional Cruelties exercised on Mr. Holwell..... Resolution against Angria..... Port of Geriah taken by Admiral Watson and Mr. Clive..... Their subsequent Proceedings in the River Ganges

LETTER FROM M. ROUILLE.

In the month of January, Mr. Fox, lately appointed secretary of state, received a letter from M. Rouillé, minister and secretary of state for foreign affairs to the king of France, expostulating, in the name of his sovereign, upon the orders and instructions for committing hostilities, which his Britannic majesty had given to general Braddock, and admiral Boscawen, in diametrical opposition to the most solemn assurances so often repeated by word of mouth, as well as in writing. He complained of the insult which had been offered to his master’s flag in attacking and taking two of his ships in the open sea, without any previous declaration of war; as also by committing depredations on the commerce of his most christian majesty’s subjects, in contempt of the law of nations, the faith of treaties, and the usages established among civilised nations. He said, the sentiments and character of his Britannic majesty gave the king his master room to expect, that, at his return to London, he would disavow the conduct of his admiralty; but seeing that, instead of punishing, he rather encouraged those who had been guilty of such depredations, his most christian majesty would be deemed deficient in what he owed to his own glory, the dignity of his crown, and the defence of his people, if he deferred any longer demanding a signal reparation for the outrage done to the French flag, and the damage sustained by his subjects. He therefore demanded immediate and full restitution of all the French ships, which, contrary to law and decorum, had been taken by the English navy, together with all the officers, soldiers, mariners, guns, stores, and merchandise. He declared, that should this restitution be made, he should be willing to engage in a negotiation for what further satisfaction he might claim, and continue desirous to see the differences relating to America determined by a solid and equitable accommodation; but if, contrary to all hopes, these demands should be rejected, he would consider such a denial of justice as the most authentic declaration of war, and as a formed design in the court of London to disturb the peace of Europe. To this peremptory remonstrance the British secretary was directed to answer, that though the king of England would readily consent to an equitable and solid accommodation, he would not comply with the demand of immediate and full restitution as a preliminary condition; for his majesty had taken no steps but such as were rendered just and indispensable by the hostilities which the French began in time of profound peace, and a proper regard for his own honour, the rights and possessions of his crown, and the security of his kingdoms.

Without all doubt the late transactions had afforded specious arguments for both nations to impeach the conduct of each other. The French court, conscious of their encroachments in Nova Scotia, affected to draw a shade over these, as particulars belonging to a disputed territory, and to divert the attention to the banks of the Ohio, where Jamonville and his detachment had been attacked and massacred by the English, without the least provocation. They likewise inveighed against the capture of their ships, before any declaration of war, as flagrant acts of piracy; and some neutral powers of Europe seemed to consider them in the same point of view. It was certainly high time to check the insolence of the French by force of arms, and surely this might have been as effectually and expeditiously exerted under the usual sanction of a formal declaration; the omission of which exposed the administration to the censure of our neighbours, and fixed the imputation of fraud and free-booting on the beginning of the war. The ministry was said to have delayed the ceremony of denouncing war from political considerations, supposing that, should the French be provoked into the first declaration of this kind, the powers of Europe would consider his most christian majesty as the aggressor, and Great Britain would reap all the fruits of the defensive alliances in which she had engaged. But nothing could be more weak and frivolous than such a conjecture. The aggressor is he who first violates the peace; and every ally will interpret the aggression according to his own interest and convenience. The administration maintained the appearance of candour in the midst of their hostilities. The merchant ships, of which a great number had been taken from the French, were not sold and divided among the captors, according to the practice of war; but carefully sequestered, with all their cargoes and effects, in order to be restored to the right owners, in case the disputes between the two nations should not be productive of an open rupture. In this particular, however, it was a pity that a little common sense had not been blended with their honourable intention. Great part of the cargoes consisted of fish, and other perishable commodities, which were left to rot and putrefy, and afterwards thrown overboard, to prevent contagion; so that the owners and captors were equally disappointed, and the value of them lost to both nations.

THE FRENCH THREATEN GREAT BRITAIN WITH AN INVASION.

The court of Versailles, while they presented remonstrances which they knew would prove ineffectual, and exclaimed against the conduct of Great Britain with all the arts of calumny and exaggeration at every court in Christendom, continued nevertheless to make such preparations as denoted a design to prosecute the war with uncommon vigour. They began to repair and fortify Dunkirk; orders were published that all British subjects should quit the dominions of France; many English vessels were seized in the different ports of that kingdom, and their crews sent to prison. At the same time an edict was issued, inviting the French subjects to equip privateers, offering a premium of forty livres for every gun, and as much for every man they should take from the enemy; and promising that, in case a peace should be speedily concluded, the king would purchase the privateers at prime cost. They employed great numbers of artificers and seamen in equipping a formidable squadron of ships at Brest; and assembling a strong body of land-forces, as well as a considerable number of transports, threatened the island of Great Britain with a dangerous invasion.

REQUISITION OF SIX THOUSAND DUTCH TROOPS.

The English people were seized with consternation; the ministry were alarmed and perplexed. Colonel Yorke, the British resident at the Hague, was ordered by his majesty to make a requisition of the six thousand men whom the states-general are obliged by treaty to furnish, when Great Britain shall be threatened with an invasion; and in February he presented a memorial for this purpose. Monsieur d’Affry, the French king’s minister at the Hague, having received intimation of this demand, produced a counter-memorial from his master, charging the English as the aggressors, and giving the states-general plainly to understand, that, should they grant the succours demanded by Great Britain, he would consider their compliance as an act of hostility against himself. The Dutch, though divided among themselves by faction, were unanimously averse to any measure that might involve them in the approaching war. Their commerce was in a great measure decayed, and their finances were too much exhausted to admit of an immediate augmentation of their forces, which for many other reasons they strove to avoid. They foresaw a great increase of trade in their adhering to a punctual neutrality; they were afraid of the French by land, and jealous of the English by sea; and perhaps enjoyed the prospect of seeing these two proud and powerful nations humble and impoverish each other. Certain it is, the states-general protracted their answer to Mr. Yorke’s memorial by such affected delays, that the court of London perceived their intention, and, in order to avoid the mortification of a flat denial, the king ordered his resident to acquaint the princess regent, that he would not insist upon his demand. The states, thus freed from their perplexity, at length delivered an answer to Mr. Yorke, in which they expatiated on the difficulties they were laid under, and thanked his Britannic majesty for having freed them by his declaration from that embarrassment into which they were thrown by his first demand and the counter-memorial of the French minister. The real sentiments of those people, however, more plainly appeared in the previous resolution delivered to the states of Holland by the towns of Amsterdam, Dort, Haerlem, Gouda, Rotterdam, and Enckhuysen, declaring flatly that England was uncontrovertibly the aggressor in Europe, by seizing a considerable number of French vessels; that the threatened invasion of Great Britain did not affect the republic’s guarantee of the protestant succession, inasmuch as it was only intended to obtain reparation for the injury sustained by the subjects of his most christian majesty; finally, that the succours demanded could be of no advantage to the king of England, as it appeared by the declaration of his most christian majesty; that their granting these succours would immediately lay them under the necessity of demanding, in their turn, assistance from Great Britain. From this way of arguing, the English may perceive what they have to expect in cases of emergency from the friendship of their nearest allies, who must always be furnished with the same excuse, whenever they find it convenient or necessary to their own interest. Such a consideration, joined to other concurring motives, ought to induce the British legislature to withdraw its dependence from all foreign connexions, and provide such a constitutional force within itself, as will be fully sufficient to baffle all the efforts of an external enemy. The apprehensions and distraction of the people at this juncture plainly evinced the expediency of such a national force; but different parties were divided in their opinions about the nature of such a provision. Some of the warmest friends of their country proposed a well regulated militia, as an institution that would effectually answer the purpose of defending a wide extended sea-coast from invasion; while, on the other hand, this proposal was ridiculed and refuted as impracticable or useless by all the retainers to the court, and all the officers of the standing army. In the meantime, as the experiment could not be immediately tried, and the present juncture demanded some instant determination, recourse was had to a foreign remedy.

Towards the latter end of March, the king sent a written message to parliament, intimating, that he had received repeated advices from different persons and places, that a design had been formed by the French court to invade Great Britain or Ireland; and the great preparations of forces, ships, artillery, and warlike stores, then notoriously making in the ports of France opposite to the British coasts, together with the language of the French ministers in some foreign courts, left little room to doubt the reality of such a design; that his majesty had augmented his forces both by sea and land, and taken proper measures and precautions for putting his kingdom in a posture of defence; that, in order further to strengthen himself, he had made a requisition of a body of Hessian troops, pursuant to the late treaty, to be forthwith brought over, and for that purpose ordered transports to be prepared; that he doubted not of being enabled and supported by his parliament in taking such measures as might be conducive to an end so essential to the honour of his crown, the preservation of the protestant religion, and the laws and liberties of these kingdoms. This message was no sooner received, than both houses voted, composed, and presented very warm and affectionate addresses, in which his majesty was thanked for the requisition he had made of the Hessian troops; a measure which at any other time would have been stigmatized with all the satire and rhetoric of the opposition.

HESSIANS AND HANOVERIANS TRANSPORTED INTO ENGLAND.

Even this precaution was not thought sufficient to secure the island, and quiet the terrors of the people. In a few days Mr. Fox, the new minister, encouraged by the unanimity which had appeared so conspicuous in the motions for the late addresses, ventured to move again in the house of commons, that another address should be presented to the king, beseeching his majesty, that for the more effectual defence of this island, and for the better security of the religion and liberties of his subjects, against the threatened attack by a foreign enemy, he would be graciously pleased to order twelve battalions of his electoral troops, together with the usual detachment of artillery, to be forthwith brought into this kingdom. There was a considerable party in the house, to whom such a motion was odious and detestable; but considering the critical situation of affairs, they were afraid that a direct opposition might expose them to a more odious suspicion; they therefore moved for the order of the day, and insisted on the question’s being put upon that motion; but it was carried in the negative by a considerable majority, which also agreed to the other proposal. The resolution of the house was communicated to the lords, who unanimously concurred; and their joint address being presented, his majesty assured them he would immediately comply with their request. Accordingly, such expedition was used, that in the course of the next month both Hanoverians and Hessians arrived in England, and encamped in different parts of the kingdom.--As the fears of an invasion subsided in the minds of the people, their antipathy to these foreign auxiliaries emerged. They were beheld with the eyes of jealousy, suspicion, and disdain. They were treated with contempt, reserve, and rigour. The ministry was execrated for having reduced the nation to such a low circumstance of disgrace, as that they should owe their security to German mercenaries. There were not wanting some incendiaries, who circulated hints and insinuations, that the kingdom had been purposely left unprovided; and that the natives of South Britain had been formerly subdued and expelled by a body of Saxon auxiliaries, whom they had hired for their preservation. In a word, the doubts and suspicions of a people naturally blunt and jealous, were inflamed to such a degree of animosity, that nothing would have restrained them from violent acts of outrage, but the most orderly, modest, and inoffensive behaviour by which both the Hanoverians and Hessians were distinguished.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

FRENCH PREPARATIONS AT TOULON.

Under the cloak of an invading armament, which engrossed the attention of the British nation, the French were actually employed in preparations for an expedition, which succeeded according to their wish. In the beginning of the year, advice was received that a French squadron would soon be in a condition to sail from Toulon; this was afterwards confirmed by repeated intelligence, not only from foreign gazettes, but also from English ministers and consuls residing in Spain and Italy. They affirmed that the Toulon squadron consisted of twelve or fifteen ships of the line, with a great number of transports; that they were supplied with provisions for two months only, consequently could not be intended for America; and that strong bodies of troops were on their march from different parts of the French dominions to Dauphiné and Provence in order to be embarked. Notwithstanding these particulars of information, which plainly pointed out Minorca as the object of their expedition; notwithstanding the extensive and important commerce carried on by the subjects of Great Britain in the Mediterranean; no care was taken to send thither a squadron of ships capable to protect the trade, and frustrate the designs of the enemy. That great province was left to a few inconsiderable ships and frigates, which could serve no other purpose than that of carrying intelligence from port to port, and enriching their commanders by making prize of merchant vessels. Nay, the ministry seemed to pay little or no regard to the remonstrances of general Blakeney, deputy governor of Minorca, who, in repeated advices, represented the weakness of the garrison which he commanded in St. Philip’s castle, the chief fortress on the island. Far from strengthening the garrison with a proper reinforcement, they did not even send thither the officers belonging to it, who were in England upon leave of absence, nor give directions for any vessel to transport them, until the French armament was ready to make a descent upon that island. [372] [See note 2 Z, at the end of this Vol]

ADMIRAL BYNG SAILS FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN.

At length, the destination of the enemy’s fleet being universally known, the ministry seemed to rouse from their lethargy, and, like persons suddenly waking, acted with hurry and precipitation. Instead of detaching a squadron that in all respects should be superior to the French fleet in the Mediterranean, and bestowing the command of it upon an officer of approved courage and activity, they allotted no more than ten ships of the line for this service, vesting the command of them in admiral Byng, who had never met with any occasion to signalize his courage, and whose character was not very popular in the navy; but Mr. West, the second in command, was a gentleman universally respected for his probity, ability, and resolution. The ten ships destined for this expedition were but in very indifferent order, poorly manned, and unprovided with either hospital or fire-ship. They sailed from Spithead on the seventh day of April, having on board, as part of their complement, a regiment of soldiers to be landed at Gibraltar, with major-general Stuart, lord Effingham, and colonel Cornwallis, whose regiments were in garrison at Minorca, about forty inferior officers, and near one hundred recruits, as a reinforcement to St. Philip’s fortress.

ADMIRAL BYNG ARRIVES AT GIBRALTAR.

After all the intelligence which had been received, one would imagine the government of England was still ignorant of the enemy’s force and destination; for the instructions delivered to admiral Byng, imported, that on his arrival at Gibraltar, he should inquire whether any French squadron had passed through the straits; and that, being certified in the affirmative, as it was probably designed for North America, he should immediately detach rear-admiral West to Louisbourg, on the island of cape Breton, with such a number of ships, as, when joined with those at Halifax, would constitute a force superior to the armament of the enemy. On the second day of May, admiral Byng arrived at Gibraltar, where he found captain Edgecumbe, with the Princess Louisa ship of war, and a sloop, who informed him that the French armament, commanded by M. de la Galissonniere, consisting of thirteen ships of the line, with a great number of transports, having on board a body of fifteen thousand land-forces, had sailed from Toulon on the tenth day of April, and made a descent on the island of Minorca, from whence he, captain Edgecumbe, had been obliged to retire on their approach. General Fowke, who commanded at Gibraltar, had received two successive orders from the secretary at war, with respect to his sparing a battalion of troops, to be transported by Mr. Byng, as a reinforcement to Minorca; but as the two orders appeared inconsistent or equivocal, a council of war was consulted, and a majority were of opinion that no troops should be sent from thence to Minorca, except a detachment to supply the deficiency in the little squadron of captain Edgecumbe, who had left a good number of his seamen and mariners, under the command of captain Scroop, to assist in the defence of fort St. Philip’s. These articles of intelligence the admiral despatched by an express to the lords of the admiralty, and in his letter made use of some impolitic expressions, which, in all probability, it would have been well for him had he omitted. He said, if he had been so happy as to have arrived at Mahon before the French had landed, he flattered himself he should have been able to prevent their getting a footing on that island. He complained, that there were no magazines in Gibraltar for supplying the squadron with necessaries; that the careening wharfs, pits, and store-houses were entirely decayed, so that he should find the greatest difficulty in cleaning the ships that were foul; and this was the case with some of those he carried out from England, as well as with those which had been for some time cruising in the Mediterranean. He signified his opinion, that, even if it should be found practicable, it would be very impolitic to throw any men into St. Philip’s castle, which could not be saved without a land-force sufficient to raise the seige; therefore, a small reinforcement would only add so many men to the number which must fall into the hands of the enemy. He observed, that such engineers and artillery-men in Gibraltar as had been at Minorca, were of opinion that it would be impossible to throw any number of men into St. Philip’s, if the French had erected batteries on the two shores near the entrance of the harbour, so as to bar all passage up to the sally-port of the fortress; and with this opinion he signified the concurrence of his own sentiments. The first part of this letter was a downright impeachment of the ministry, for having delayed the expedition, for having sent out ships unfit for service, and for having neglected the magazines and wharfs at Gibraltar. In the latter part he seemed to prepare them for the subsequent account of his misconduct and miscarriage. It cannot be supposed that they underwent this accusation without apprehension and resentment; and as they foresaw the loss of Minorca, which would not fail to excite a national clamour, perhaps they now began to take measures for gratifying their resentment, and transferring the blame from themselves to the person who had presumed to hint a disapprobation of their conduct: for this purpose they could not have found a fairer opportunity than Mr. Byng’s subsequent behaviour afforded.

HE ENGAGES M. DE LA GALISSONNIERE OFF MINORCA.

The admiral being strengthened by Mr. Edgecumbe, and reinforced by a detachment from the garrison, set sail from Gibraltar on the eighth day of May, and was joined off Majorca by his majesty’s ship the Phoenix, under the command of captain Hervey, who confirmed the intelligence he had already received, touching the strength and destination of the French squadron. When he approached Minorca, he descried the British colours still flying at the castle of St. Philip’s, and several bomb-batteries playing upon it from different quarters where the French banners were displayed. Thus informed, he detached three ships a-head, with captain Hervey, to reconnoitre the harbour’s mouth, and land, if possible, a letter for general Blakeney, giving him to understand the fleet was come to his assistance. Before this attempt could be made, the French fleet appearing to the south-cast, and the wind blowing strong off shore, he recalled his ships, and formed the line of battle. About six o’clock in the evening, the enemy, to the number of seventeen ships, thirteen of which appeared to be very large, advanced in order; but about seven tacked, with a view to gain the weather-gage. Mr. Byng, in order to preserve that advantage, as well as to make sure of the land-wind in the morning, followed their example, being then about five leagues from Cape Mola. At daylight the enemy could not be descried; but two tartanes appearing close to the rear of the English squadron, they were immediately chased by signal. One escaped, and the other being taken, was found to have on board two French captains, two lieutenants, and about one hundred private soldiers, part of six hundred who had been sent out in tartanes the preceding day, to reinforce the enemy’s squadron. This soon re-appearing, the line of battle was formed on each side, and about two o’clock admiral Byng threw out a signal to bear away two points from the wind and engage. At this time his distance from the enemy was so great, that rear-admiral West, perceiving it impossible to comply with both orders, bore away with his division seven points from the wind, and closing down upon the enemy, attacked them with such impetuosity, that the ships which opposed him were in a little time driven out of the line. Had he been properly sustained by the van, in all probability the British fleet would have obtained a complete victory; but the other division did not bear down, and the enemy’s centre keeping that station, rear-admiral West could not pursue his advantage without running the risk of seeing his communication with the rest of the line entirely cut off. In the beginning of the action, the Intrepid, in Mr. Byng’s division, was so disabled in her rigging that she could not be managed, and drove on the ship that was next in position; a circumstance which obliged several others to throw all aback in order to avoid confusion, and for some time retarded the action. Certain it is, that Mr. Byng, though accommodated with a noble ship of ninety guns, made little or no use of his artillery, but kept aloof, either from an overstrained observance of discipline, or timidity. When his captain exhorted him to bear down upon the enemy, he very coolly replied, that he would avoid the error of admiral Matthews, who, in his engagement with the French and Spanish squadrons off Toulon, during the preceding war, had broke the line by his own precipitation, and exposed himself singly to a fire which he could not sustain. Mr. Byng, on the contrary, was determined against acting, except with the line entire; and, on pretence of rectifying the disorder which had happened among some of the ships, hesitated so long, and kept at such a wary distance, that he never was properly engaged, though he received some few shots in his hull. M. de la Galissionniere seemed equally averse to the continuance of the battle; part of his squadron had been fairly obliged to quit the line; and though he was rather superior to the English in number of men and weight of metal, he did not choose to abide the consequence of a closer fight with an enemy so expert in naval operations: he therefore took advantage of Mr. Byng’s hesitation, and edged away with an easy sail to join his van, which had been discomfited. The English admiral gave chase; but the French ships being clean, he could not come up and close them again, so they retired at their leisure. Then he put his squadron on the other tack, in order to keep the wind of the enemy; and next morning they were altogether out of sight.

While he lay-to with the rest of the fleet, at the distance of ten leagues from Mahon, he detached cruisers to look for some missing ships, which joined him accordingly, and made an inquiry into the condition of the squadron. The number of killed amounted to forty-two, including captain Andrews of the Defiance, and about one hundred and sixty-eight were wounded. Three of the capital ships were so damaged in their masts, that they could not keep the sea with any regard to their safety; a great number of the seamen were ill, and there was no vessel which could be converted into an hospital for the sick and wounded. In this situation he called a council of war, at which the land-officers were present. He represented to them that he was much inferior to the enemy in weight of metal and number of men; that they had the advantage of sending their wounded to Minorca, from whence at the same time they were refreshed and reinforced occasionally; that in his opinion it was impracticable to relieve St. Philip’s fort, and, therefore, they ought to make the best of their way back to Gibraltar, which might require immediate protection. They unanimously concurred with his sentiments, and thither he directed his course accordingly. How he came to be so well acquainted with the impracticability of relieving general Blakeney, it is not easy to determine, as no experiment was made for that purpose. Indeed, the neglect of such a trial seems to have been the least excusable part of his conduct; for it afterwards appeared that the officers and soldiers belonging to the garrison might have been landed at the sally-port, without running any great risk; and a gentleman, then in the fort, actually passed and repassed in a boat, unhurt by any of the enemy’s batteries.

Mr. Byng’s letter to the admiralty, containing a detail of this action, is said to have arrived some days before it was made public; and when it appeared, was curtailed of divers expressions, and whole paragraphs, which either tended to his own justification, or implied a censure on the conduct of his superiors. Whatever use might have been made of this letter while it remained a secret to the public, we shall not pretend to explain; but sure it is, that, on the sixteenth day of June, sir Edward Hawke and admiral Saunders sailed from Spit-head to Gibraltar, to supersede the admirals Byng and West in their commands of the Mediterranean squadron; and Mr. Byng’s letter was not published till the twenty-sixth day of the same month, when it produced all the effect which that gentleman’s bitterest enemies could have desired. The populace took fire like a train of the most hasty combustibles, and broke out into such a clamour of rage and indignation against the devoted admiral, as could not have been exceeded if he had lost the whole navy of England, and left the coasts of the kingdom naked to invasion. This animosity was carefully fomented and maintained by artful emissaries, who mingled with all public assemblies, from the drawing-room in St. James’ to the mob at Charing-cross. They expatiated upon the insolence, the folly, the cowardice, and misconduct of the unhappy admiral. They even presumed to make their sovereign in some measure an instrument of their calumny, by suggesting, that his majesty had prognosticated Byng’s misbehaviour from the contents of his first letter, dated at Gibraltar. They ridiculed and refuted the reasons he had given for returning to that fortress, after his scandalous re-encounter with the French squadron; and, in order to exasperate them to the most implacable resentment, they exaggerated the terrible consequences of losing Minorca, which must now be subdued through his treachery or want of resolution. In a word, he was devoted as the scape-goat of the ministry, to whose supine negligence, ignorance, and misconduct, the loss of that important fortress was undoubtedly owing. Byng’s miscarriage was thrown out like a barrel to the whale, in order to engage the attention of the people, that it might not be attracted by the real cause of the national misfortune. In order to keep up the flame which had been kindled against the admiral, recourse was had to the lowest artifices. Agents were employed to vilify his person in all public places of vulgar resort, and mobs were hired at different parts of the capital to hang and burn him in effigy.

ADMIRAL BYNG SUPERSEDED AND SENT HOME PRISONER.

The two officers who succeeded to the command in the Mediterranean, were accompanied by lord Tyrawley, whom his majesty had appointed to supersede general Fowke in the government of Gibraltar, that gentleman having incurred the displeasure of the ministry, for not having understood an order which was unintelligible. By the same conveyance, a letter from the secretary to the admiralty was transmitted to Mr. Byng, giving him notice that he was recalled. To this intimation he replied in such a manner as denoted a consciousness of having done his duty, and a laudable desire to vindicate his own conduct. His answer contained a further account of the engagement in which he was supposed to have misbehaved, intermixed with some puerile calculations of the enemy’s superiority in weight of metal, which served no other purpose than that of exposing his character still more to ridicule and abuse; and he was again so impolitic as to hazard certain expressions, which added fresh fuel to the resentment of his enemies. Directions were immediately despatched to sir Edward Hawke, that Byng should be sent home in arrest; and an order to the same purpose was lodged at every port in the kingdom; precautions which, however unnecessary to secure the person of a man who longed ardently to justify his character by a public trial, were yet productive of considerable effect in augmenting the popular odium. Admiral Byng immediately embarked in the ship which had carried out his successor, and was accompanied by Mr. West, general Fowke, and several other officers of that garrison, who were also recalled, in consequence of having subscribed to the result of the council of war, which we have mentioned above. When they arrived in England, Mr. West met with such a gracious reception from his majesty as was thought due to his extraordinary merit; but Mr. Byng was committed close prisoner in an apartment of Greenwich hospital.

ACCOUNT OF THE SIEGE OF ST. PHILIP’S FORT IN MINORCA.

In the meantime, the siege of St. Philip’s fort in Minorca was prosecuted with unremitting vigour. The armament of Toulon, consisting of the fleet commanded by M. de la Galissonniere, and the troops under the duke de Richelieu, arrived on the eighteenth day of April at the port of Ciudadella, on that part of the island opposite to Mahon, or St. Philip’s, and immediately began to disembark their forces. Two days before they reached the island, general Blakeney had, by a packet boat, received certain intelligence of their approach, and began to make preparations for the defence of the castle. The fort which he commanded was very extensive, surrounded with numerous redoubts, ravelins, and other outworks; and provided with subterranean galleries, mines, and traverses, Cut out of the solid rock with incredible labour. Upon the whole, this was one of the best fortified places in Europe, well supplied with artillery, ammunition, and provisions; and, without all doubt, might have sustained the most desperate siege, had it been defended by a numerous garrison, conducted by able engineers, under the eye and auspices of an active and skilful commander. All these advantages, however, did not concur on this occasion. The number of troops in Minorca did not exceed four regiments, whereas the nature of the works required at least double the number; and even of these, above forty officers were absent. The chief engineer was rendered lame by the gout, and the general himself oppressed with the infirmities of old age. The natives of the island might have been serviceable as pioneers, or day-labourers, but from their hatred to the protestant religion, they were generally averse to the English government, although they had lived happily and grown wealthy under its influence.

PRECAUTIONS taken by GENERAL BLAKENEY.

The governor ordered his officers to beat up for volunteers in the adjacent town of St. Philip’s; but few or none would enlist under his banners, and it seems he would not venture to compel them into the service. He recalled all his advanced parties; and, in particular, a company posted at Fornelles, where a small redoubt had been raised, and five companies at Ciudadella, a post fortified with two pieces of cannon, which were now withdrawn as soon as the enemy began to disembark their forces. At the same time major Cunningham was detached with a party to break down the bridges, and break up the roads between that place and St. Philip’s; but the task of destroying the roads could not be performed in such a hurry, on account of the hard rock which runs along the surface of the ground through this whole island; nor was there time to demolish the town of St. Philip’s, which stood so near the fort, that the enemy could not fail to take advantage of its neighbourhood. The streets served them for trenches, which otherwise could not have been dug through the solid rock. Here they made a lodgement close to the works; here they found convenient barracks and quarters of refreshment, masks for their batteries, and an effectual cover for their mortars and bombardiers. The general has been blamed for leaving the town standing; but if we consider his uncertainty concerning the destination of the French armament, the odious nature of such a precaution, which could not fail to exasperate the inhabitants, and the impossibility of executing such a scheme after the first appearance of the enemy, he will be found excusable, if not altogether blameless. Some houses and windmills were actually demolished, so as to clear the esplanade and the approaches. All the wine in the cellars of St. Philip’s town was destroyed, and the butts were carried into the castle, where they might serve for gabions and traverses. Five-and-twenty Minorquin bakers were hired, and a large number of cattle brought into the fort, for the benefit of the garrison. The ports were walled up, the posts assigned, the sentinels placed, and all the different guards appointed. Commodore Edgecumbe, who then anchored in the harbour of Mahon close under the walls of the castle, sailed away with his little squadron, consisting of the Chesterfield, Princess Louisa, Portland, and Dolphin, after having left all his marines, a detachment from Gibraltar, the whole crew of the Porcupine sloop, and the greater part of the Dolphin’s, as a reinforcement to the fort, under the immediate direction and command of captain Scroop of the Dolphin, who, with great gallantry, offered himself for this severe duty, and bravely signalized himself during the whole siege. The French admiral might certainly have blocked up this harbour in such a manner, as would have prevented the escape of these ships, and divers other rich merchant vessels, which happened then to be at Mahon; but in all probability, they purposely allowed them to abandon the place, which, on any emergency or assault, their crews and officers would have considerably reinforced. The enemy were perfectly acquainted with the great extent of the works, and the weakness of the garrison, from which circumstance they derived the most sanguine hopes that the place might be suddenly taken, without the trouble of a regular siege. After Mr. Edgecumbe had sailed from Gibraltar, and general Blakeney had ordered a sloop to be sunk in the channel that leads to the harbour, the French squadron made its appearance at this part of the island; but without having attempted anything against the fort, fell to leeward of Cape Mola. Next day they came in sight again, but soon bore away, and never afterwards, during the whole course of the siege, approached so near as to give the garrison the least disturbance.

On the twenty-second day of April, the governor sent a drummer to the French general with a letter, desiring to know his reasons for invading the island. To this an answer was returned by the duke de Richelieu, declaring he was come with intention to reduce the island under the dominion of his most christian majesty, by way of retaliation for the conduct of his master, who had seized and detained the ships belonging to the king of France and his subjects. If we may judge from the first operations of this nobleman, he was but indifferently provided with engineers; for instead of beginning his approaches on the side of St. Philip’s town, close by the outworks, where he might have been screened from the fire of the garrison, his batteries were erected at Cape Mola, on the other side of the harbour, where they were more exposed, their fire much less effectual, and indeed at too great a distance to be of any service. The fire of St. Philip’s was so severe, and the cannon so well served on this quarter, that in a little time the enemy thought proper to change their plan of attack, and advance on the side of St. Philip’s town, which ought to have been the first object of their consideration, especially as they could find little or no earth to fill their gabions, and open their trenches in the usual form. On the twelfth of May, about nine at night, they opened two bomb-batteries, near the place where the windmills had been destroyed; and from that period an incessant fire was kept up on both sides, from mortars and cannon, the French continuing to raise new batteries in every situation from whence they could annoy the besieged.

On the seventeenth day of the month, the garrison were transported with joy at sight of the British squadron, commanded by admiral Byng; and Mr. Boyd, commissary of the stores, ventured to embark in a small boat, with six oars, which passed from St. Stephen’s cove, a creek on the west side of the fortification, through a shower of cannon and musketry from the enemy’s post on the other side, and actually reached the open sea, his design being to join the squadron; but this being at a great distance, stretching away to the southward, and Mr. Boyd perceiving himself chased by two of the enemy’s light vessels, he returned oy the same route to the garrison, without having sustained the least damage; a circumstance which plainly confutes the notion of Mr. Byng, that it was impracticable to open a communication with the garrison of St. Philip’s. Next day the hopes of the besieged, which had prognosticated a naval victory to the British squadron, a speedy relief to themselves, and no less than captivity to the assailants, were considerably damped by the appearance of the French fleet, which quietly returned to their station off the harbour of Mahon. That same evening they were told by a deserter, that the English fleet had been worsted in an engagement by M. de la Galissonniere; and this information was soon confirmed by a general discharge, or feu-de-joie, through the whole French camp, to celebrate the victory they pretended to have obtained. How little soever they had reason to boast of any advantage in the action, the retreat of the English squadron was undoubtedly equivalent to a victory; for had Mr. Byng acquired and maintained the superiority at sea, the French forces which had been disembarked in Minorca, would, in all probability, have been obliged to surrender prisoners of war to his Britannic majesty. The case was now much altered in their favour: their squadron cruised about the island without molestation, and they daily received, by means of their transports, reinforcements of men and ammunition, as well as constant supplies of provisions.

The English garrison, however mortified at finding themselves thus abandoned, resolved to acquit themselves with gallantry in the defence of the place, not without some remaining hope that the English squadron would be reinforced and return to their relief. In the meantime, they sustained and retorted the enemy’s fire with undaunted resolution. They remounted cannon, the carriages of which had been disabled; they removed them occasionally to places from whence it was judged they could do the greatest execution; they repaired breaches, restored merlins, and laboured with surprising alacrity, even when they were surrounded by the numerous batteries of the foe; when their embrasures and even the parapets were demolished, and they stood exposed not only to the cannon and mortars, but also to the musketry which fired upon them without ceasing, from the windows of the houses in the town of St. Philip. By this time they were invested with an army of twenty thousand men, and plied incessantly from sixty-two battering cannon, twenty-one mortars, and four howitzers, besides the small arms; nevertheless, the loss of men within the fortress was very inconsiderable, the garrison being mostly secured in the subterranean works which were impenetrable to shells or shot. By the twenty-seventh day of June they had made a practicable breach in one of the ravelins, and damaged the other outworks to such a degree, that they determined this night to give a general assault. Accordingly, between the hours of ten and eleven, they advanced to the attack from all quarters on the land side. At the same time a strong detachment, in armed boats, attempted to force the harbour, and penetrate into the creek called St. Stephen’s Cove, to storm fort Charles, and second the attack upon fort Marlborough, on the farther side of the creek, the most detached of all the outworks. The enemy advanced with great intrepedity, and their commander, the duke de Richelieu, is said to have led them up the works in person. Such an assault could not but be attended with great slaughter; they were mowed down as they approached, with grape shot and musketry; and several mines were sprung with great effect, so that the glacis was almost covered with the dying and the dead. Nevertheless, they persevered with uncommon resolution; and though repulsed on every other side, at length made a lodgement in the queen’s redoubt, which had been greatly damaged by their cannon. Whether their success in this quarter was owing to the weakness of the place, or to the timidity of the defender, certain it is, the enemy were in possession before it was known to the officers of the garrison; for lieutenant-colonel Jeffries the second in command, who had acquitted himself since the beginning of the siege with equal courage, skill, and activity, in his visitation of this post, was suddenly surrounded and taken by a file of French grenadiers, at a time when he never dreamed they had made a lodgement. Major Cunningham, who accompanied him, met with a severer fate, though he escaped captivity; he was run through the arm with a bayonet, and the piece being discharged at the same time, shattered the bones of his hand in such a manner, that he was maimed for life. In this shocking condition he retired behind a traverse, and was carried home to his quarters. Thus the governor was deprived of his two principal assistants, one being taken, and the other disabled.

The enemy having made themselves masters of Anstruther’s and the queen’s redoubts, from which perhaps they might have been dislodged, had a vigorous effort been made for that purpose before they had leisure to secure themselves; the duke de Richelieu ordered a parley to be beat, in order to obtain permission to bury the dead, and remove the wounded. This request was granted with more humanity than discretion, inasmuch as the enemy took this opportunity to throw a reinforcement of men privately into the places where the lodgements had been made, and these penetrated into the gallery of the mines, which communicated with all the other outworks. During this short cessation, general Blakeney summoned a council of war to deliberate upon the state of the fort and garrison; and the majority declared for a capitulation. The works were in many places rained; the body of the castle was shattered; many guns were dismounted, the embrasures and parapets demolished, the palisadoes broken in pieces, the garrison exhausted with hard duty and incessant watching, and the enemy in possession of the subterranean communications. Besides, the governor had received information from prisoners, that the duke de Richelieu was alarmed by a report that the marshal duke de Belleisle would be sent to supersede him in the command, and for that reason would hazard another desperate assault, which it was the opinion of the majority the garrison could not sustain. These considerations, added to the despair of being relieved, induced him to demand a capitulation. But this measure was not taken with the unanimous consent of the council. Some officers observed, that the garrison was very little diminished, and still in good spirits; that no breach was made in the body of the castle, nor a single cannon erected to batter in breach; that the loss of an outwork was never deemed a sufficient reason for surrendering such a fortress; that the counterscarp was not yet taken, nor, on account of the rocky soil, could be taken, except by assault, which would cost the enemy a greater number than they had lost in their late attempt; that they could not attack the ditch, or batter in breach, before the counterscarp should be taken, and even then they must have recourse to galleries before they could pass the fosse, which was furnished with mines and countermines; finally, they suggested, that in all probability the British squadron would be reinforced, and sail back to their relief; or if it should not return, it was the duty of the governor to defend the place to extremity, without having any regard to the consequences. These remarks being overruled, the chamade was beat, a conference ensued, and very honourable conditions were granted to the garrison, in consideration of the gallant defence they had made. This it must be owned was vigorous while it lasted, as the French general was said to have lost five thousand men in the siege; whereas the loss of the garrison, which at first fell short of three thousand men, did not exceed one hundred. The capitulation imported, that the garrison should march out with all the honours of war, and be conveyed by sea to Gibraltar. The French were put in possession of one gate, as well as fort Charles and Marlborough redoubt; but the English troops remained in the other works till the seventh day of July, when they embarked. In the meantime reciprocal civilities passed between the commanders and officers of both nations.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

SIR E. HAWKE SAILS TO MINORCA.

The articles of capitulation were no sooner executed, than monsieur de la Galissonniere sailed back to Toulon, with all the prizes which had lain at anchor in the harbour of Matron, since the fort of St. Philip was first invested. In all probability, the safety of himself and his whole squadron was owing to this expeditious retreat; for in a few days after the surrender of the fort, sir Edward Hawke’s fleet, augmented by five ships of the line, which had been sent from England when the first tidings arrived of Minorca’s being invaded, now made its appearance off the island; but by this time Galissonniere was retired, and the English admiral had the mortification to see the French colours flying upon St. Philip’s castle. What, perhaps, chagrined this gallant officer still more, he was not provided with frigates, sloops, and small craft, to cruise round the island and intercept the supplies which were daily sent to the enemy. Had he reached Minorca sooner, he might have discomfited the French squadron; but he could not have raised the siege of St. Philip’s, because the duke de Richelieu had received his reinforcements, and such a train of artillery as no fortification could long withstand. Indeed, if the garrison had been considerably reinforced, and the communication with it opened by sea, the defence would have been protracted, and so many vigorous sallies might have been made, that the assailants would have had cause to repent of their enterprise.

When the news of this conquest was brought to Versailles, by the count of Egmont, whom the duke de Richelieu had dispatched for that purpose, the people of France were transported with the most extravagant joy. Nothing was seen but triumphs and processions, nothing heard but anthems, congratulations, and hyperbolical encomiums upon the conqueror of Minorca, who was celebrated in a thousand poems and studied orations; while the conduct of the English was vilified and ridiculed in ballads, farces, and pasquinades. Nothing more argues the degeneracy of a warlike nation than the pride of such mean triumph, for an advantage, which, in more vigorous times, would scarce have been distinguished by the ceremony of a Te Deum Laudamus. Nor is this childish exultation, that disgraces the laurels of victory, confined to the kingdom of France. Truth obliges us to own, that even the subjects of Great Britain are apt to be elevated by success into an illiberal insolence of self-applause, and contemptuous comparison. This must be condemned as a proof of unmanly arrogance, and absurd self-conceit, by all those who coolly reflect that the events of war generally, if not always, depend upon the genius or misconduct of one individual. The loss of Minorca was severely felt in England, as a national disgrace; but, instead of producing dejection and despondence, it excited an universal clamour of rage and resentment, not only against Mr. Byng, who had retreated from the French squadron; but also in reproach of the administration, which was taxed with having neglected the security of Minorca. Nay, some politicians were inflamed into a suspicion, that this important place had been negatively betrayed into the hands of the enemy, that in case the arms of Great Britain should prosper in other parts of the world, the French king might have some sort of equivalent to restore for the conquests which should be abandoned at the peace. This notion, however, seems to have been conceived from prejudice and party, which now began to appear with the most acrimonious aspect, not only throughout the united kingdoms in general, but even in the sovereign’s councils.

GALLANTRY OF FORTUNATUS WRIGHT.

Sir Edward Hawke, being disappointed in his hope of encountering La Galissonniere, and relieving the English garrison of St. Philip’s, at least asserted the empire of Great Britain in the Mediterranean, by annoying the commerce of the enemy, and blocking up the squadron in the harbour of Toulon. Understanding that the Austrian government at Leghorn had detained an English privateer, and imprisoned the captain, on pretence that he had violated the neutrality of the port, he detached two ships of war, to insist, in a peremptory manner, on the release of the ship, effects, crew, and captain; and they thought proper to comply with this demand, even without waiting for orders from the court of Vienna. The person in whose behalf the admiral thus interposed, was one Fortunatus Wright, a native of Liverpool; who, though a stranger to a sea life, had in the last war equipped a privateer, and distinguished himself in such a manner by his uncommon vigilance and valour, that, if he had been indulged with a command suitable to his genius, he would have deserved as honourable a place in the annals of the navy, as that which the French have bostowed upon their boasted Guai Trouin, Du Bart, and Thurot. An uncommon exertion of spirit was the occasion of his being detained at this juncture. While he lay at anchor in the harbour of Leghorn, commander of the St. George privateer of Liverpool, a small ship of twelve guns and eighty men, a large French xebeque, mounted with sixteen cannon, and nearly three times the number of his complement, chose her station in view of the harbour, in order to interrupt the British commerce. The gallant Wright could not endure this insult: notwithstanding the enemy’s superiority in metal and number of men, he weighed anchor, hoisted his sails, engaged him within sight of the shore, and after a very obstinate dispute, in which the captain, lieutenant, and above threescore of the men belonging to the xebeque were killed on the spot, he obliged them to sheer off, and returned to the harbour in triumph. This brave corsair would, no doubt, have signalized himself by many other exploits, had he not, in the sequel, been overtaken in the midst of his career by a dreadful storm, in which the ship foundering, he and all his crew perished.

GENERAL BLAKENEY CREATED A BARON.

Sir Edward Hawke, having scoured the Mediterranean, and insulted the enemy’s ports, returned with the home-ward bound trade to Gibraltar; from whence about the latter end of the year he set sail for England with part of his squadron, leaving the rest in that bay for the protection of our commerce, which, in those parts, soon began to suffer extremely from French privateers that now swarmed in the Mediterranean. General Blakeney had arrived, with the garrison of Minorca, at Portsmouth, in the month of November, and been received with expressions of tumultuous joy: every place through which he passed celebrated his return with bonfires, illuminations, bell-ringing, and acclamations: every mouth was opened in his praise, extolling him for the gallant defence he had made in the castle of St. Philip. In a word, the people’s veneration for Blakeney increased in proportion to their abhorrence of Byng: the first was lifted into an idol of admiration, while the other sunk into an object of reproach; and they were viewed at different ends of a false perspective, through the medium of prejudice and passion; of a perspective artfully contrived, and applied by certain ministers for the purposes of self-interest and deceit. The sovereign is said to have been influenced by the prepossession of the secret. Mr. Blakeney met with a gracious reception from his majesty, who raised him to the rank of an Irish baron in consideration of his faithful services, while some malcontents murmured at this mark of favour, as an unreasonable sacrifice to popular misapprehension.

MEASURES TAKEN FOR THE DEFENCE OF GREAT BRITAIN.

In the beginning of the year, the measures taken by the government in England seem to have been chiefly dictated by the dread of an invasion, from which the ministers did not think themselves secured by the guard-ships and cruisers on different parts of the coast, or the standing army of the kingdom, though reinforced by the two bodies of German auxiliaries. A considerable number of new troops was levied; the success of recruiting was not only promoted by the land-holders throughout the kingdom, who thought their estates were at stake, and for that reason encouraged their dependents to engage in the service; but also in a great measure owing to a dearth of corn, which reduced the lower class of labourers to such distress, that some insurrections were raised, and many enlisted with a view to obtain a livelihood, which otherwise they could not earn. New ships of war were built, and daily put in commission; but it was found impracticable to man them, without having recourse to the odious and illegal practice of impressing sailors, which must always be a reproach to every free people. Notwithstanding large bounties, granted by the government to volunteers, it was found necessary to lay an embargo upon all shipping, and impress all the seamen that could be found, without any regard to former protections; so that all the merchant ships were stripped of their hands, and foreign commerce for some time wholly suspended. Nay, the expedient of compelling men into the service was carried to an unusual degree of oppression; for rewards were publicly offered to those who should discover where any seamen lay concealed; so that those unhappy people were in some respects treated like felons, dragged from their families and connexions to confinement, mutilation, and death, and totally cut off from the enjoyment of that liberty which, perhaps at the expense of their lives, their own arms had helped to preserve, in favour of their ungrateful country.*

* At this juncture, a number of public spirited merchants of the city of London, and others, formed themselves into a very laudable association, under the name of the Marine Society, and contributed considerable sums of money for equipping such orphans, friendless, and forlorn boys, as were willing to engage in the service of the navy. In consequence of this excellent plan, which was executed with equal zeal and discretion, many thousands were rescued from misery, and rendered useful members of that society, of which they must have been the bane and reproach, without this humane interposition.

About eighty ships of the line and three-score frigates were already equipped, and considerable bodies of land-forces assembled, when, on the third day of February, a proclamation was issued, requiring all officers, civil and military, upon the first appearance of any hostile attempt to land upon the coasts of the kingdom, immediately to cause all horses, oxen, or cattle, which might be fit for draught or burden, and not actually employed in the king’s service, or in the defence of the country, and also (so far as might be practicable) all other cattle and provisions, to be driven and removed twenty miles at least from the place where such hostile attempt should be made, and to secure the same, so as that they might not fall into the hands or power of those who should make such attempt: regard being had, however, that the respective owners should suffer as little damage as might be consistent with the public safety.

EARL OF LOUDON APPOINTED COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF IN AMERICA.

As the ministry were determined to make their chief efforts against the enemy in North America, where the first hostilities had been committed, and where the strongest impression could be made, a detachment of two regiments was sent thither under the conduct of general Abercrombie, appointed as successor to general Shirley, whom they recalled, as a person nowise qualified to conduct military operations; nor, indeed, could any success in war be expected from a man who had not been trained to arms, nor ever acted but in a civil capacity. But the command in chief of all the forces in America was conferred upon the earl of Loudon, a nobleman of an amiable character, who had already distinguished himself in the service of his country. Over and above this command, he was now appointed governor of Virginia, and colonel of a royal American regiment, consisting of four battalions, to be raised in that country, and disciplined by officers of experience invited from foreign service. Mr. Abercrombie set sail for America in March; but the earl of Loudon, who directed in chief the plan of operations, and was vested with power and authority-little inferior to those of a viceroy, did not embark till the latter end of May.

HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S DECLARATION OF WAR.

All these previous measures being taken, his majesty, in the course of the same month, thought proper to publish a declaration of war [378] [See note 3 A, at the end of this Vol.] against the French king, importing, that since the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the usurpations and encroachments made upon the British territories, in America, had been notorious; that his Britannic majesty had, in divers serious representations to the court of Versailles, complained of these repeated acts of violence, and demanded satisfaction; but notwithstanding the repeated assurances given by the French king, that every thing should be settled agreeably to the treaties subsisting between the two crowns, and particularly that the evacuation of the four neutral islands in the West Indies should be effected, the execution of these assurances, and of the treaties on which they were founded, had been evaded under the most frivolous pretences; that the unjustifiable practices of the French governors, and officers acting under their authority, were still continued, until they broke out in open acts of hostility, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-four; when, in time of profound peace, without any declaration of war, without any previous notice given, or application made, a body of French troops, commanded by an officer bearing the French king’s commission, attacked in an hostile manner, and took possession of an English fort on the river Ohio, in North America; that great naval armaments were prepared in the ports of France, and a considerable body of French troops embarked for that country; that although the French ambassador was sent back to England with specious professions of a desire to accommodate these differences, it appeared their real design was only to amuse and gain time for the passage of these supplies and reinforcements, which they hoped would secure the superiority of the French forces in America, and enable them to carry their ambitious and oppressive projects into execution; that inconsequence of the just and necessary measures taken by the king of Great Britain for preventing the success of such a dangerous design, the French ambassador was immediately recalled from England, the fortifications of Dunkirk were enlarged, great bodies of troops marched down to the sea-coasts of France, and the British dominions threatened with an invasion; that though the king of England, in order to frustrate these intentions, had given orders for seizing at sea the ships of the French king and his subjects, yet he had hitherto contented himself with detaining those ships which had been taken, and preserving their cargoes entire, without proceeding to confiscation; but it being at last evident from the hostile invasion of Minorca, that the court of Versailles was determined to reject all proposals of accommodation, and carry on the war with the utmost violence, his Britannic majesty could no longer, consistently with the honour of his crown, and the welfare of his subjects, remain within those bounds, which from a desire of peace he had hitherto observed. A denunciation of war followed in the usual form, and was concluded with an assurance, that all the French subjects residing in Great Britain and Ireland, who should demean themselves dutifully to the government, might depend upon its protection, and be safe in their persons and effects.

SUBSTANCE OF THE FRENCH KING’S DECLARATION.

In the beginning of June the French king declared war in his turn against his Britannic majesty, and his declaration was couched in terms of uncommon asperity.

He artfully threw a shade over the beginning of hostilities in North America, referring to a memorial which had been delivered to the several courts of Europe, containing a summary of those facts which related to the present war, and the negotiations by which it had been preceded. He insisted on the attack made by the king of England, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-four, on the French possessions in North America; and afterwards by the English navy on the navigation and commerce of the French subjects, in contempt of the law of nations, and direct violation of treaties. He complained that the French soldiers and sailors underwent the harshest treatment in the British isles, exceeding those bounds which are prescribed to the most rigorous rights of war, by the law of nature, and common humanity. He affirmed, that while the English ministry, under the appearance of sincerity, imposed upon the French ambassador with false protestations, others diametrically opposite to these deceitful assurances of a speedy accommodation were actually carrying into execution in North America; that while the court of London employed every caballing art, and squandered away the subsidies of England, to instigate other powers against France, his most christain majesty did not even ask of these powers the succours which guarantees and defensive treaties authorised him to demand; but recommended to them such measures only as tended to their own peace and security; that while the English navy, by the most odious violences, and sometimes by the vilest artifices, made captures of French vessels navigating in full security under the safeguard of public faith, his most christian majesty released an English frigate taken by a French squadron; and British vessels traded to the ports of France without molestation. That the striking contrast formed by these different methods of proceeding would convince all Europe, that one court was guided by motives of jealousy, ambition, and avarice, and that the conduct of the other was founded on principles of honour, justice, and moderation; that the vague imputations contained in the king of England’s declaration, had in reality no foundation; and the very manner in which they were set forth would prove their futility and falsehood; that the mention made of the works at Dunkirk, and the troop assembled on the coasts of the ocean, implied the most gross attempt to deceive mankind into a belief that these were the points which determined the king of England to issue orders for seizing the French vessels; whereas the works at Dunkirk were not begun till after two French ships of war had been taken by an English squadron; and depredations had been committed six months upon the subjects of France before the first battalions began their march for the sea-side. In a word, the most christian king, laying aside that politeness and decorum on which his people value themselves above all the nations upon the face of the earth, very roundly taxes his brother monarch’s administration with piracy, perfidy, inhumanity, and deceit. A charge conveyed in such reproachful terms, against one of the most respectable crowned heads in Europe, will appear the more extraordinary and injurious, if we consider that the accusers were well acquainted with the falsity of their own imputations, and at the same time conscious of having practised those very arts which they affected so much to decry. For after all, it must be allowed, that nothing could be justly urged against the English government, with respect to France, except the omission of a mere form, which other nations might interpret into an irregularity, but could not construe into perfidious dealing, as the French had previously violated the peace by their insolence and encroachments.

ADDRESS OF THE CITY OF LONDON.

Whatever might have been the opinion of other nations, certain it is, the subjects of Great Britain heartily approved of the hostilities committed and intended against a people whom they have always considered as their natural enemies, and the incendiaries of Europe. They cheerfully contributed to the expense of armaments,* and seemed to approve of their destination, in hopes of being able to wipe off the disgraces they had sustained in the defeat of Braddock, and the loss of Minorca.

* Immediately after the declaration of war, the French ships and cargoes which had been taken were tried, and condemned as legal Prizes, exposed to public sale, and their produce lodged in the bank: but in what manner this money, amounting to a large sum, was distributed or employed, we have not been able to discover.

The last event made a deep impression upon the minds of the community. An address was presented to the king by the lord-mayor, aldermen, and common-council of London, containing strong hints to the disadvantage of the ministry. They expressed their apprehension, that the loss of the important fortress of St. Philip and island of Minorca, possessions of the utmost consequence to the commerce and naval strength of Great Britain, without any attempt by timely and effectual succours to prevent or defeat an attack, after such early notice of the enemy’s intentions, and when his majesty’s navy was so evidently superior to theirs, would be an indelible reproach on the honour of the British nation. They expatiated upon the imminent danger to which the British possessions in America were exposed, by the mismanagement and delays which had attended the defence of those invaluable colonies, the object of the present war, the principal source of the wealth and strength of these kingdoms. They lamented the want of a constitutional and well-regulated militia, the most natural and certain defence against all invaders whatsoever. They signified their hope, that the authors of the late losses and disappointments would be detected, and brought to condign punishment; that his majesty’s known intentions of protecting and defending his subjects in their rights and possessions, might be faithfully and vigorously carried into execution; and the large supplies, so necessarily demanded, and so cheerfully granted, might be religiously applied to the defence of these kingdoms, their colonies, and their commerce, as well as to the annoyance of their inveterate and perfidious enemies, the only sure means of obtaining a lasting and honourable peace. In answer to this address, the king assured them that he would not fail to do justice upon any persons who should have been wanting in their duty to him and their country; to enforce obedience and discipline in his fleets and armies; and to support the authority and respect due to his government. Remonstrances of the same kind were presented by different counties and corporations; and the populace clamoured aloud for inquiry and justice.

TRIAL OF GENERAL FOWKE.

The first victim offered to the enraged multitude was the unfortunate general Fowke, who had been deputy-governor of Gibraltar, and behaved with remarkable conduct and integrity in the exercise of that important office, till that period when he fell under the displeasure of the government. He was now brought to trial before a board of general officers, and accused of having disobeyed the orders he had received from the secretary at war in three successive letters [379] [See note 3 B, at the end of this Vol.], touching the relief of Minorca. Mr. Fowke alleged in his own defence, that the orders were confused and contradictory, and implied a discretionary power; that the whole number of his garrison did not exceed two thousand six hundred men, after he had spared two hundred and seventy-five to the ships commanded by Mr. Edgecumbe; that the ordinary duty of the garrison requiring eight hundred men, the whole number was not sufficient for three reliefs; that, if he had detached a battalion on board the fleet, he should not have had above two reliefs, at a time when he believed the place was in danger of being attacked, for good reasons, which he did not think himself at liberty to mention; that his orders being doubtful, he held a council of war, which was of opinion, that as undoubted intelligence was received of the French army’s being landed at Minorca, to the number of between thirteen and sixteen thousand men, and that a French squadron of sixteen ships was stationed off the harbour, the sending a detachment equal to a battalion from Gibraltar would be an ineffectual supply for the relief of the place, and a weakening of the garrison from which they must be sent. He observed, that supposing the orders to have been positive, and seven hundred men detached to Minorca, the number remaining at Gibraltar would not have exceeded one thousand five hundred and fifty-six: a deduction of seven hundred more, according to the order of May the twelfth, would have left a remainder of eight hundred and fifty-six; that the men daily on duty in the garrison, including artificers and labourers in the king’s works, amounted to eight hundred and thirty-nine; so that if he had complied with the orders as they arrived, he would not have had more than seventeen men over and above the number necessary for the daily work of the garrison; thus the important fortress of Gibraltar must, at this critical conjuncture, have been left almost naked and defenceless to the attempts of the enemy; and had those detachments been actually sent abroad, it afterwards appeared that they could not have been landed on the island of Minorca. The order transmitted to general Fowke to detain all empty vessels, for a further transportation of troops, seems to have been superfluous; for it can hardly be supposed he could have occasion for them, unless to embark the whole garrison, and abandon the place. It seems likewise to have been unnecessary to exhort the general to keep his garrison as alert as possible, during that critical time; inasmuch as it would have been impossible for the men to have enjoyed the least repose or intromission of duty, had the orders been punctually and literally obeyed. What other assistance it might have been in the governor’s power to give for the relief of Minorca, or in what manner he could avoid fatiguing his garrison, while there was an impossibility of relieving the guards, it is not easy to comprehend. Be that as it may, when the trial was finished, and the question put to acquit or suspend for one year, the court was equally divided; and in such cases the casting vote being vested in the president, he threw it into the scale against the prisoner, whom his majesty thought fit to dismiss from his service.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

AFFAIRS OF AMERICA.

The expectation of the public was now eagerly turned towards America, the chief, if not the sole scene of our military operations. On the twenty-fifth day of June, Mr. Abercrombie arrived at Albany, the frontier of New York, and assumed the command of the forces there assembled, consisting of two regiments which had served under Braddock, two battalions raised in America, two regiments now transported from. England, four independent companies which had been many years maintained in New York, the New Jersey regiment, four companies levied in North Carolina, and a body of provincial forces raised by the government of New England. Those to the southward, including Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, had not yet determined on any regular plan of operation, and were moreover hard pressed in defending their western frontier from the French and Indians, who, in skulking parties, made sudden irruptions upon their unguarded settlements, burning, plundering, and massacring with the most savage inhumanity. As for South Carolina, the proportion of negro slaves to the number of white inhabitants was so great in that colony, that the government could not, with any regard to the safety of the province, spare any reinforcement for the general enterprise. The plan of this undertaking had been settled in the preceding year in a council of war, held at New York. There it was resolved to attack the fort of Niagara, situated between the lakes Ontario and Erie, in order to cut off the communication between Canada and Louisiana, and prevent the French from supporting their new fortresses on the Ohio; to reduce Ticonderago and Crown Point, so that the frontier of New York might be delivered from the danger of an invasion, and Great Britain become master of the lake Champlain, over which the forces might be transported in any future attempt; to besiege fort Du Quesne upon the Ohio; and to detach a body of troops by the river Kennebec, to alarm the capital of Canada. This plan was too extensive for the number of troops which had been prepared; the season was too far advanced before the regiments arrived from England, the different colonies were divided in their opinions, and Mr. Abercrombie postponed the execution of any important scheme till the arrival of lord Loudon, who was daily expected. The reasons that delayed the reinforcement, and detained his lordship so long, we do not pretend to explain; though we may be allowed to observe, that many fair opportunities have been lost, by the neglect and procrastination of an English ministry. Certain it is, the unaccountable delay of this armament rendered it useless for a whole year, afforded time and leisure to the enemy to take their precautions against any subsequent attack, and, in the meantime, to proceed unmolested in distressing the British settlements. Even before this period, they had attacked and reduced a small post in the country of the Five Nations, occupied by twenty-five Englishmen, who were cruelly butchered to a man, in the midst of those Indians whom Great Britain had long numbered among her allies.

Soon after this expedition, having received intelligence that a considerable convoy of provisions and stores, for the garrison of Oswego, would in a little time set out from Schenectady, and be conveyed in batteaux up the river Onondaga, they formed an ambuscade among the woods and thickets on the north side of that river; but understanding the convoy had passed before they reached the place, they resolved to wait the return of the detachment. Their design, however, was frustrated by the vigilance and valour of colonel Bradstreet, who expected such an attempt, and had taken his measures accordingly. On the third day of July, while he stemmed the stream of the river, with his batteaux formed into three divisions, they were saluted with the Indian war-hoop, and a general discharge of musketry from the north shore. Bradstreet immediately ordered his men to land on the opposite bank, and with a few of the foremost took possession of a small island, where he was forthwith attacked by a party of the enemy, who had forded the river for that purpose; but these were soon repulsed. Another body having passed a mile higher, he advanced to them at the head of two hundred men, and fell upon them, sword in hand, with such vigour, that many were killed on the spot, and the rest driven into the water with such precipitation that a considerable number of them were drowned. Having received information that a third body of them had passed at a ford still higher, he marched thither without hesitation, and pursued them to the other side, where they were entirely routed and dispersed. In this action, which lasted near three hours, about seventy of the batteau-men were killed or wounded, but the enemy lost double the number killed, and above seventy taken prisoners. In all probability the whole detachment of the French, amounting to seven hundred men, would have been cut off had not a heavy rain interposed, and disabled colonel Bradstreet from following his blow; for that same night he was joined by captain Patten with his grenadiers, in his march from Oneida to Oswego, and next morning reinforced with two hundred men, detached to his assistance from the garrison of Oswego; but by this time the rivulets were so swelled by the rain, that it was found impracticable to pursue the enemy through the woods and thickets. Patten and his grenadiers accompanied the detachment to Oswego, while Bradstreet pursued his voyage to Schenectady, from whence he repaired to Albany, and communicated to general Abercrombie the intelligence he had received from the prisoners, that a large body of the enemy were encamped on the eastern side of the lake Ontario, provided with artillery, and all other implements, to besiege the fort of Oswego.

EARL OF LOUDON ARRIVES AT NEW YORK.

In consequence of this information, major-general Webb was ordered to hold himself in readiness to march with one regiment to the relief of that garrison; but, before they could be provided with necessaries, the earl of Loudon arrived at the head-quarters at Albany, on the twenty-ninth day of July. The army at this time is said to have consisted of regular troops to the number of two thousand six hundred, about seven thousand provincials, supposed to be in readiness to march from fort William-Henry, under the command of general Winslow, over and above a considerable number of batteau-men at Albany and Schenectady. The garrison at Oswego amounted to fourteen hundred soldiers, besides three hundred workmen and sailors, either in the fort, or posted in small parties between the fort and place called Burnet’s Field, to secure a safe passage through the country of the Six Nations, upon whose friendship there was no longer any reliance. By the best accounts received of the enemy’s forces, they had about three thousand men at Crown Point and Ticonderago upon the lake Champlain; but their chief strength was collected upon the banks of the lake Ontario, where their purpose undoubtedly was to reduce the English fort at Oswego. The immediate object, therefore, of lord Loudon’s attention was the relief of this place; but his design was strenuously opposed by the province of New York, and other northern governments, who were much more intent upon the reduction of Crown Point, and the security of their own frontiers, which they apprehended was connected with this conquest. They insisted upon Winslow’s being joined by some regiments of regular troops before he should march against this fortress; and stipulated that a body of reserve should be detained at Albany, for the defence of that frontier, in case Winslow should fail in his enterprise, and be defeated. At length they agreed, that the regiment which Mr. Abercrombie had destined for that purpose should be detached for the relief of Oswego; and on the twelfth day of August major-general Webb began his march with it from Albany; but on his arrival at the Carrying-place, between the Mohawk’s river and Wood’s creek, he received the disagreeable news that Oswego was taken, and the garrison made prisoners of war. Mr. Webb, apprehending himself in danger of being attacked by the besieging army, began immediately to render the creek impassable, even to canoes, by felling trees, and throwing them into the stream; while the enemy, ignorant of his numbers, and apprehensive of a like visitation from him, took the very same method of preventing his approach; in consequence of this apprehension, he was permitted to retire unmolested.

OSWEGO REDUCED BY THE ENEMY.

The loss of the two small forts called Ontario and Oswego, was a considerable national misfortune. They were erected on the south side of the great lake Ontario, standing on the opposite sides of the mouth of the Onondago river, that discharges itself into the lake, and constituted a post of great importance, where vessels had been built to cruise upon the lake, which is a kind of inland sea, and interrupt the commerce as well as the motions and designs of the enemy. The garrison, as we have already observed, consisted of fourteen hundred men, chiefly militia and new-raised recruits, under the command of lieutenant-colonel Mercer, an officer of courage and experience; but the situation of the forts was very ill chosen; the materials mostly timber or logs of wood; the defences wretchedly contrived and unfinished; and, in a word, the place altogether untenable against any regular approach. Such were the forts which the enemy wisely resolved to reduce. Being under no apprehension for Crown Point, they assembled a body of troops, consisting of thirteen hundred regulars, seventeen hundred Canadians, and a considerable number of Indian auxiliaries, under the command of the marquis de Montcalm, a vigilant and enterprising officer, to whom the conduct of the siege was entrusted by the marquis de Vaudreuil, governor and lieutenant-general of New France. The first step taken by Montcalm was to block up Oswego by water with two large armed vessels, and post a strong body of Canadians on the road between Albany and the forts, to cut off all communication of succour and intelligence. In the meantime he embarked his artillery and stores upon the lake, and landed them in the bay of Nixouri, the place of general rendezvous. At another creek, within half a league of Oswego, he erected a battery for the protection of his vessels, and on the twelfth day of August, at midnight, after his dispositions had been made, he opened the trenches before fort Ontario. The garrison having fired away all their shells and ammunition, spiked up the cannon, and deserting the fort, retired next day across the river into Oswego, which was even more exposed than the other, especially when the enemy had taken possession of Ontario, from whence they immediately began to fire without intermission. Colonel Mercer being on the thirteenth killed by a cannon ball, the fort destitute of all cover, the officers divided in opinion, and the garrison in confusion, they next day demanded a capitulation, and surrendered prisoners of war, on condition that they should be exempted from plunder, conducted to Montreal, and treated with humanity. These conditions, however, the marquis did not punctually observe. The British officers and soldiers were insulted by the savage Indians, who robbed them of their clothes and baggage, massacred several men as they stood defenceless on the parade, assassinated lieutenant de la Court as he lay wounded in his tent, under the protection of a French officer, and barbarously scalped all the sick people in the hospital: finally, Montcalm, in direct violation of the articles, as well as in contempt of common humanity, delivered up above twenty men of the garrison to the Indians, in lieu of the same number they had lost during the siege; and in all probability these miserable captives were put to death by those barbarians, with the most excruciating tortures, according to the execrable custom of the country. Those who countenance the perpetration of cruelties, at which human nature shudders with horror, ought to be branded as infamous to all posterity. Such, however, were the trophies that, in the course of the American war, distinguished the operations of a people who pique themselves upon politeness, and the virtues of humanity. The prisoners taken at Oswego, after having been thus barbarously treated, were conveyed in batteaux to Montreal, where they had no reason to complain of their reception; and before the end of the year they were exchanged. The victors immediately demolished the two forts (if they deserve that denomination,) in which they found one hundred and twenty-one pieces of artillery, fourteen mortars, with a great quantity of ammunition, warlike stores, and provisions, besides two sloops, and two hundred batteaux, which likewise fell into their hands. Such an important magazine, deposited in a place altogether indefensible, and without the reach of immediate succour, was a flagrant proof of egregious folly, temerity, and misconduct.

FURTHER PROCEEDINGS IN AMERICA.

The earl of Loudon finding the season too far advanced to admit of any enterprise against the enemy, exerted all his endeavours in making preparations for an early campaign in the spring, securing the frontiers of the English colonies, in forming an uniform plan of action, and promoting a spirit of harmony among the different governments, which had been long divided by jarring interests, and other sources of dissension. Meanwhile, the forts Edward and William-Henry were put in a proper posture of defence, and secured with numerous garrisons; and the forces put into winter quarters at Albany where comfortable barracks were built for that purpose. Fort Granville, on the confines of Pennsylvania, an inconsiderable block-house, was surprised by a party of French and Indians, who made the garrison prisoners, consisting of two-and-twenty soldiers, with a few women and children. These they loaded with flour and provisions, and drove them into captivity; but the fort they reduced to ashes. Many shocking murders were perpetrated upon defenceless people, without distinction of age or sex, in different parts of the frontiers; but these outrages were in some measure balanced by the advantages resulting from a treaty of peace, which the governor of Pennsylvania concluded with the Delaware Indians, a powerful tribe that dwell upon the river Sasquehanna, forming, as it were, a line along the southern skirts of the province. At the same time the governor of Virginia secured the friendship and alliance of the Cherokees and Catawbas, two powerful nations adjoining to that colony, who were able to bring three thousand fighting men into the field. All these circumstances considered, Great Britain had reason to expect that the ensuing campaign would be vigorously prosecuted in America, especially as a fresh reinforcement of troops, with a great supply of warlike stores, were sent to that country in fourteen transports, under convoy of two ships of war, which sailed from Cork in Ireland about the beginning of November.

NAVAL OPERATIONS IN AMERICA.

No action of great importance distinguished the naval transactions of this year on the side of America. In the beginning of June, captain Spry, who commanded a small squadron cruising off Louisbourg, in the island of Cape Breton, took the Arc en Ciel, a French ship of fifty guns, having on board near six hundred men, with a large quantity of stores and provisions for the garrison. He likewise made prize of another French ship, with seventy soldiers, two hundred barrels of powder, two large brass mortars, and other stores of the like destination. On the twenty-seventh day of July, commodore Holmes, being in the same latitude, with two large ships and a couple of sloops, engaged two French ships of the line and four frigates, and obliged them to sheer off after an obstinate dispute. A great number of privateers were equipped in this country, as well as in the West India islands belonging to the crown of Great Britain; and as those seas swarmed with French vessels, their cruises proved very advantageous to the adventurers.

TRANSACTIONS IN THE EAST INDIES.

Scenes of higher import were this year acted by the British arms in the East Indies. The cessation of hostilities between the English and French companies on the peninsula of Indus, though it encouraged Mr. Clive to visit his native country, was not of long duration; for in a few months both sides recommenced their operations, no longer as auxiliaries to the princes of the country, but as principals and rivals both in arms and commerce. Major Laurence, who now enjoyed the chief command of the English force, obtained divers advantages over the enemy; and prosecuted his success with such vigour, as, in all probability, would in a little time have terminated the war according to his own wish, when the progress of his arms was interrupted and suspended by an unfortunate event at Calcutta, the cause of which is not easily explained; for extraordinary pains have been taken to throw a vail over some transactions from whence this calamity was immediately or remotely derived.

CALCUTTA BESIEGED.

The old suba or viceroy of Bengal, Bahar, and Orixa, dying in the month of April, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-six, was succeeded by his adopted son, Sur Raja al Dowlat, a young man of violent passions, without principle, fortitude, or good faith, who began his administration with acts of perfidy and violence. In all probability, his design against the English settlements was suggested by his rapacious disposition, on a belief that they abounded with treasure; as the pretences which he used for commencing hostilities, were altogether inconsistent, false, and frivolous. In the month of May, he caused the English factory at Cassimbuzzar to be invested, and inviting Mr. Watts, the chief of the factory, to a conference, under the sanction of a safe conduct, detained him as prisoner; then, by means of fraud and force intermingled, made himself master of the factory. This exploit being achieved, he made no secret of his design to deprive the English of all their settlements. With this view he marched to Calcutta at the head of a numerous army, and invested the place, which was then in no posture of defence.

FATE OF THOSE WHO PERISHED IN THE DUNGEON AT CALCUTTA.

The governor, intimidated by the number and power of the enemy, abandoned the fort, and with some principal persons residing in the settlement, took refuge on board a ship in the river, carrying along with them their most valuable effects, and the books of the company. Thus the defence of the place devolved to Mr. Holwell, the second in command, who, with the assistance of a few gallant officers, and a very feeble garrison, maintained it with uncommon courage and resolution against several attacks, until he was overpowered by numbers, and the enemy had forced their way into the castle. Then he was obliged to submit; and the suba, or viceroy, promised on the word of a soldier, that no injury should be done to him or his garrison. Nevertheless, they were all driven, to the number of one hundred and forty-six persons of both sexes, into a place called the Black Hole Prison, a cube of about eighteen feet, walled up to the eastward and southward, the only quarters from which they could expect the least refreshing air, and open to the westward by two windows strongly barred with iron, through which there was no perceptible circulation. The humane reader will conceive with horror the miserable situation to which they must have been reduced, when thus stewed up in a close sultry night under such a climate as that of Bengal, especially when he reflects that many of them were wounded, and all of them fatigued with hard duty. Transported with rage to find themselves thus barbarously cooped up in a place where they must be exposed to suffocation, those hapless victims endeavoured to force open the door that they might rush upon the swords of the barbarians by whom they were surrounded; but all their efforts were ineffectual; the door was made to open inwards, and being once shut upon them, the crowd pressed upon it so strongly as to render all their endeavours abortive; then they were overwhelmed with distraction and despair. Mr. Holwell, who had placed himself at one of the windows, accosted a jemmautdaar, or Serjeant of the Indian guard, and having endeavoured to excite his compassion, by drawing a pathetic picture of their sufferings, promised to gratify him with a thousand rupees in the morning, if he could find means to remove one half of them into a separate apartment. The soldier, allured by the promise of such a reward, assured him he would do his endeavour for their relief, and retired for that purpose, but in a few minutes returned and told them that the suba, by whose order alone such a step could be taken, was asleep, and no person durst disturb his repose. By this time a profuse sweat had broke out on every individual, and this was attended with an insatiable thirst, which became the more intolerable as the body was drained of its moisture. In vain those miserable objects stripped themselves of their clothes, squatted down on their hams, and fanned the air with their hats, to produce a refreshing undulation. Many were unable to rise again from this posture, but falling down, were trod to death or suffocated. The dreadful symptom of thirst was now accompanied with a difficulty of respiration, and every individual gasped for breath. Their despair became outrageous: again they attempted to force the door, and provoke the guard to fire upon them by execration and abuse. The cry of “Water! water!” issued from every mouth. Even the jemmautdaar was moved to compassion at their distress. He ordered his soldiers to bring some skins of water, which served only to enrage the appetite, and increase the general agitation. There was no other way of conveying it through the windows but by hats, and this was rendered ineffectual by the eagerness and transports of the wretched prisoners, who at sight of it struggled and raved even into fits of delirium. In consequence of these contests, very little reached those who stood nearest the windows, while the rest, at the farther end of the prison, were totally excluded from all relief, and continued calling upon their friends for assistance, and conjuring them by all the tender ties of pity and affection. To those who were indulged it proved pernicious, for instead of allaying their thirst, it enraged their impatience for more. The confusion became general and horrid; all was clamour and contest; those who were at a distance endeavoured to force their passage to the window, and the weak were pressed down to the ground never to rise again. The inhuman ruffians without derived entertainment from their misery; they supplied the prisoners with more water, and held up lights close to the bars that they might enjoy the inhuman pleasure of seeing them fight for the baneful indulgence. Mr. Holwell seeing all his particular friends lying dead around him, and trampled upon by the living, finding himself wedged up so close as to be deprived of all motion, begged, as the last instance of their regard, that they would remove the pressure, and allow him to retire from the window, that he might die in quiet. Even in those dreadful circumstances, which might be supposed to have levelled all distinction, the poor delirious wretches manifested a respect for his rank and character: they forthwith gave way, and he forced his passage into the centre of the place, which was not crowded so much, because by this time about one-third of the number had perished, and lay on small compass on the floor, while the rest still crowded to both windows. He retired to a platform at the farther end of the room, and lying down upon some of his dead friends, recommended his soul to heaven. Here his thirst grew insupportable; his difficulty in breathing increased, and he was seized with a strong palpitation. These violent symptoms, which he could not bear, urged him to make another effort: he forced his way back to the window, and cried aloud, “Water! for God’s sake!” He had been supposed already dead by his wretched companions, but finding him still alive, they exhibited another extraordinary proof of tenderness and regard to his person: “Give him water,” they cried; nor would any of them attempt to touch it until he had drank. He now breathed more freely, and the palpitation ceased; but finding himself still more thirsty after drinking, he abstained from water, and moistened his mouth from time to time by sucking the perspiration from his shirt sleeves.*

* In his despair of obtaining water, this unhappy gentleman had attempted to drink his own urine, but found it intolerably bitter; whereas the moisture that flowed from the pores of his body, was soft, pleasant, and refreshing.

The miserable prisoners, perceiving that water rather aggravated than relieved their distress, grew clamorous for air, and repeated their insults to the guard, loading the suba and his governor with the most virulent reproach. From railing they had recourse to prayer, beseeching heaven to put an end to their misery. They now began to drop on all hands; but then a steam arose from the living and the dead, as pungent and volatile as spirit of hartshorn; so that all who could not approach the windows were suffocated. Mr. Holwell, being weary of life, retired once more to the platform, and stretched himself by the Rev. Mr. Jer-vis Bellamy, who, together with his son, a lieutenant, lay dead in each other’s embrace. In this situation he was soon deprived of sense, and lay to all appearance dead till day broke, when his body was discovered and removed by his surviving friends to one of the windows, where the fresh air revived him, and he was restored to his sight and senses. The suba, at last, being informed that the greater part of the prisoners were suffocated, inquired if the chief was alive; and being answered in the affirmative, sent an order for their immediate release, when no more than twenty-three survived of an hundred and forty-six who had entered alive.

ADDITIONAL CRUELTIES EXERCISED ON MR. HOLWELL.

Nor was the late deliverance, even of these few, owing to any sentiment of compassion in the viceroy. He had received intimation that there was a considerable treasure secreted in the fort, and that Mr. Holwell knew the place where it was deposited. That gentleman, who, with his surviving companions, had been seized with a putrid fever immediately upon their release, was dragged in that condition before the inhuman suba, who questioned him about the treasure, which existed nowhere but in his own imagination; and would give no credit to his protestations, when he solemnly declared he knew of no such deposit. Mr. Holwell and three of his friends were loaded with fetters, and conveyed three miles to the Indian camp, where they lay all night exposed to a severe rain; next morning they were brought back to town still manacled, under the scorching beams of a sun intensely hot, and must infallibly have expired, had not nature expelled the fever in large painful boils, that covered almost the whole body. In this piteous condition they were embarked in an open boat for Muxadavad, the capital of Bengal, and underwent such cruel treatment and misery in their passage, as would shock the humane reader should he peruse the particulars. At Maxadavad they were led through the city in chains, as a spectacle to the inhabitants, lodged in an open stable, and treated for some days as the worst of criminals. At length the suba’s grandmother interposed her mediation in their behalf, and as that prince was by this time convinced that there was no treasure concealed at Calcutta, he ordered them to be set at liberty. When some of his sycophants opposed this indulgence, representing that Mr. Holwell had still enough left to pay a considerable ransom, he replied, with some marks of compunction and generosity, “If he has anything left, let him keep it: his sufferings have been great: he shall have his liberty.” Mr. Holwell and his friends were no sooner unfettered, than they took water from the Dutch Tank-sail or mint, in the neighbourhood of that city, where they were received with great tenderness and humanity. The reader, we hope, will excuse us for having thus particularized a transaction so interesting and extraordinary in all its circumstances. The suba having destroyed Calcutta and dispersed the inhabitants, extorted large sums from the French and Dutch factories, that he might display a spirit of impartiality against all the Europeans, even in his oppression, returned to his city of Muxadavad in triumph. By the reduction of Calcutta, the English East India company’s affairs were so much embroiled in that part of the world, that perhaps nothing could have retrieved them but the interposition of a national force, and the good fortune of a Clive, whose enterprises were always crowned with success.

As the English East India Company had, for a whole century, been at a considerable expense in maintaining a marine force at Bombay, to protect their ships from the piracies of the Angrias, who had rendered themselves independent princes, and fortified Geriah in that neighbourhood; many unsuccessful attempts had been made to destroy their naval power, and reduce the fortress, under which they always took shelter. In the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-four, the fleet of Tullagree Angria, the reigning prince, attacked three Dutch ships of force, which they either took or destroyed. Elated with this success, he boasted that he should in a little time sweep the seas of the Europeans, and began to build some large ships, to reinforce his grabs and gallivats, which were the vessels on which he had for merely depended. Next year his neighbours, the Malirattas, having signified to the presidency of Bombay, that they were disposed to join in the necessary service of humbling this common enemy, so formidable to the whole Malabar coast, commodore James was detached with some ships of force to attack Angria, in conjunction with those allies. They accordingly joined him with seven grabs and sixty gallivats. They proceeded to the harbour of Severndroog, where Angria’s fleet lay at anchor; but they no sooner received intelligence of his approach, than they slipped their cables and stood out to sea. He chased them with all the canvass he could carry, but their vessels being lighter than his they escaped; and he returned to Severndroog, which is a fortress situated on an island within musket shot of the main land, strongly but irregularly fortified, and mounted with fifty-four pieces of cannon. There were three other small forts on the continent, the largest of which was called Goa. On the second day of April the commodore began to batter and bombard the island, fort, and fort Goa, at the same time. That of Severndroog was set on fire; one of the magazines blew up; a general conflagration ensued; the garrison was overwhelmed with fire and confusion; the English seamen landed un der cover of the fire from the ships, and took the place by storm, with very little loss. The other forts were immediately surrendered, and all of these, by treaty, delivered to the Mahrattas. On the eighth of April the commodore anchored off Bancote, now called fort Victoria, one of the most northern parts of Angria’s dominions, which surrendered without opposition, and still remains in the hands of the English East India company, by the consent of the Mahrattas. The harbour is good, and here is great trade for salt and other commodities sent hither from Bombay.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

FORT GERIAH TAKEN BY ADMIRAL WATSON AND MR. CLIVE.

It was in November following that the squadron under admiral Watson arrived at Bombay, where it was resolved to give Angria the finishing stroke, still in conjunction with the Mahrattas. Meanwhile commodore James was sent to reconnoitre Geriah, the capital of his dominions, and to sound the depth of the harbour, a service which he successfully performed. The admiral being joined by a division of ships, fitted out at the company’s expense, having on board a body of troops commanded by colonel Clive, sailed on the seventeenth day of January, and found in the neighbourhood of Geriah the Mahratta fleet, consisting of four grabs, and forty smaller vessels called gallivats, lying to the northward of the place, in a creek called Rajipore; and a land-army of horse and foot, amounting to seven or eight thousand men, the whole commanded by Rhamagee Punt, who had already taken one small fort, and was actually treating about the surrender of Geriah. Angria himself had quitted the place, but his wife and family remained under the protection of his brother-in-law; who, being summoned to surrender by a message from the admiral, replied, that he would defend the place to the last extremity. In consequence of this refusal, the whole English fleet, in two divisions, sailed on the twelfth day of February into the harbour, and sustained a warm fire from the enemy’s batteries as they passed, as well as from the grabs posted in the harbour for that purpose; this, however, was soon silenced after the ships were brought to their stations, so as to return the salutation. Between the hours of four and five in the afternoon, a shell being thrown into one of Angria’s armed vessels, set her on fire; and the flames communicating to the rest, they were all destroyed: between six and seven the fort was set on fire by another shell; and soon after the firing ceased on both sides. The admiral, suspecting that the governor of the place would surrender it to the Mahrattas, rather than to the English, disembarked all the troops under Mr. Clive, that he might be at hand, in case of emergency, to take possession. In the meantime, the fort was bombarded; the line of battle ships were warped near enough to batter in breach, and then the admiral sent an officer with a flag of truce to the governor, requiring him to surrender. His proposal being again rejected, the English ships renewed their fire next day with redoubled vigour. About one o’clock the magazine of the fort blew up, and at four the garrison hung out a white flag for capitulation. The parley that ensued proving ineffectual, the engagement began again, and continued till fifteen minutes after five; when the white flag was again displayed, and now the governor submitted to the conditions which were imposed. Angria’s flag was immediately hauled down; and two English captains taking possession of the fort with a detachment, forthwith hoisted the British ensign. To these captains, whose names were Buchanan and Forbes, the Mahrattas offered a bribe of fifty thousand rupees, if they would allow them to pass their guards, that they might take possession of the fort for themselves; but this offer was rejected with disdain, and immediately disclosed to colonel Clive, who took effectual measures to frustrate their design. In this place, which was reduced with very inconsiderable loss, the conquerors found above two hundred cannon, six brass mortars, a large quantity of ammunition, with money and effects to the value of one hundred and thirty thousand pounds. The fleet which was destroyed consisted of eight grabs, one ship finished, two upon the stocks, and a good number of gallivats. Among the prisoners, the admiral found Angria’s wife, children, and mother, toward whom he demeaned himself with great humanity.*

* When the admiral entered their apartment, the whole family, shedding floods of tears, fell with their faces to the ground; from which being raised, the mother of Angria told him, in a piteous tone, “the people had no king, she no son, her daughter no husband, their children no father.” The admiral replying, “they must look upon him as their father and their friend,” the youngest boy, about six years of age, seized him by the hand, and sobbing exclaimed, “Then you shall be my father.” Mr. Watson was so affected with this pathetic address, that the tears trickled down his cheeks, while he assured them they might depend upon his protection and friendship.

Three hundred European soldiers, and as-many sepoys, were left to guard the fort; and four of the company’s armed vessels remained in the harbour for the defence of the place, which was extremely well situated for commerce.

The admiral and Mr. Clive sailed back to Madras in triumph, and there another plan was formed for restoring the company’s affairs upon the Ganges, recovering Calcutta, and taking vengeance on the cruel viceroy of Bengal. In October they set sail again for the bottom of the bay; and about the beginning of December arrived at Balasore, in the kingdom of Bengal. Having crossed the Braces, they proceeded up the river Ganges as far as Falta, where they found governor Drake, and the other persons who had escaped on board of the ships when Calcutta was invested. Colonel Clive was disembarked with his forces to attack the fort of Busbudgia by land, while the admiral battered it by sea; but the place being ill provided with cannon, did not hold out above an hour after the firing began. This conquest being achieved at a very easy purchase, two of the great ships anchored between Tanny fort and a battery on the other side of the river, which were abandoned before one shot was discharged against either; thus the passage was laid open to Calcutta, the reduction of which we shall record among the transactions of the ensuing year.

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