cribes to us a conduct very differ. ent from that of every other nation. Our natural strength is a mari, time strength, as trade is our natural employment: these must always go hand in hand; and they mutually support each other. But if turning our back to our real interests, and abandoning our natural element, we enter that inextricable labyrinth of continental politics; if we make ourselves parties in every controversy; if we exhaust our wealth in purchasing the useless and precarious friendship of every petty prince or state; if we waste the blood of our people in all the quarrels that may arise on the continent; so far from going in the right way to reduce France, that we attack her on the strong side, and only destroy ourselves by our ill-judged efforts against the enemy. That we can have nothing to fear from the superiority of France on the continent, whilst we preserve our superiority at sea; that we can always cut the sinews of the enemies' strength, by destroying their traffic; that to fear an invasion from a power weak in its marine, is the idlest of all fears; that in case an invasion were possible, a welltrained national militia, supplying by their zeal the defects of their discipline, would prove our best protection; that a standing army is, in whatever shape, dangerous to freedom; and that a government like ours, connected by its very essence with the liberty of the subject, can never be in want of the supports of despotic power. As little is par. liamentary influence necessary: a government pleasing to the people, as every good government must be, can never be generally opposed; and men need no bribes to persuade them to their duty. These nations, so opposite in their extremes, might be reconciled in a medium, and used to temper each other; for as on one hand, it would be very absurd to take no sort of advantage of our insular situation, but to engage in all the business of the continent without reserve, and to plunge ourselves into real evils out of dread of possible mischiefs; so, on the other hand, to think ourselves wholly unconcerned in the fortunes of our neighbours on the continent, or to think of aiding them in any case, only by the way of diversion with out fleets, would be a way of proceeding still more extravagant than the former. If such notions were reduced to practice, we might soon lose all these advantages deriv. ed from a situation which we abused. The reasonableness of such a tem perament could not be perceived during the ferment of that time, in which these topics were bandied to and fro with infinite heat. The resignation, or rather deprivation of the popular ministry, only increased their popularity and the general discontent: the people could not believe that good measures could be pursued, when those in whom alone they confided were not employed: almost all the corporations of the kingdom presented the deprived ministers with their freedom, and addressed them in the warmest manner, testifying the most entire approbation of their conduct, and the sincerest concern to see them out of employment. This conflict, between an old estą. blished interest and the torrent of popularity, continued for a long time; and the nation was almost ru ined by it. It is not easy, nor perhaps quite proper, to attempt to trace the steps by which so happy a coalition as we have seen take place, was brought about: but it was formed in such such manner as held together with such solidity, and produced such excellent effects, as I believe June 29, the most sanguine could not 1757 have hoped for at that time. Mr. P. was again restored to the of fice of secretary of state, the D. of N. was placed at the head of the treasury, Mr. F. was appointed paymaster of the forces. This arrange. ment, which gave very general satisfaction, was, however, disliked by those whom their vicient attach ment to their party had inspired with a narrow and exclusive spirit. It was the best measure, because it was an healing measure; and it was little less than impossible for any particular party to carry on public business on its single bottom. It was high time that our domestic dissentions should be composed at last. From every quarter of the world in which we had any conAug. 14 cern, we heard of nothing 1756, but losses andcalamities. In America we lost the fort of Oswego. That fort, situated at the mouth of the Onondaga river, commanded a commodious harbour on the lake Ontario. It was built by general Shirley, and designed to cover the country of the Five Nations; to secure the Indian trade; to interrupt the communication between the French northern and southern establish. ments; and to open a way to our arms to attack the forts of Frontenac and Niagara. For these purposes, some frigates had been fitted out for cruizing, and a number of boats prepared for the transportation of troops, but they all fell to the enemy, with the fort, where 100 pieces of cannon were, and a consider. able quantity of provision. 1600 men were made prisoners of war. The place made but a trifling resistance, scarce holding out three days; the attempts to relieve it were too late. The French demolished the fort. . Our losses were not confined to America. The East India company received a blow, which would have shaken an establishment of less strength to its foundation. The news of the war between France and England had not yet reached India, but a new and very formidable enemy was raised up in that quarter. The Nabob of Bengal (the Nabobs are a species of viceroys to the Grand Mogul, grown almost independent in their several provinces) irritated at the protection given to one of his subjects in the English fort of Cal. cutta, and, as it is said, at the refu sal of some duties to which he claim ed a right, levied a great army, and laid siege to that place. The gover. nor, terrified by the numbers of the enemy, abandoned the fort with se veral of the principal persons in the settlement, who saved themselves with their most valuable effects on board the ships. Thus deserted, Mr. Hollwel, the. second in command, bravely held the place to the last extremity, with a few gallant friends, and the remains of a feeble garrison. A very noble defence was insufficient to keep an untenable place, or to affect an ungenerous enemy. The June fort was taken, and the gar- 26. rison being made prisoners, were thrust into a narrow dungeon Hollwel, with a few others, came out alive, to paint a scene of the most cruel distress which perhaps human nature ever suffered. The East In. dia company lost their principal settlement in Bengal, and a fort which secured to them the most valuable part of their trade. In the space of this unfortunate year we were stripped of Minorca and State of the confederacy against the King of Prussia. French pass the Weser. King of Prussia enters Bohemia. Battle of Prague. Prague invested. Count Daun takes the command of the Austrian army. Battle of Colin. WHAT turn the English poli- the empire, and to no other intent, tics were like to take in the year 1757, seemed for some time uncertain. The new ministry did not seem well established; nor was it well known whether they would pursue the plans and preserve the connections of the old. Abroad every thing was prepared for opening the campaign with the utmost eclat., All Europe was in motion. France, in order to demonstrate to the Queen of Hungary the advantageous choice she had made in connecting herself with the house of Bourbon, formed two great armies. The first was composed of near 80,000 men, the flower of the French troops, attended with a vast artillery, and commanded by M. de Etrees, a general of the best established reputation she had in her service. Under him, served M. de Contades, M. Chevert, and the Count de St. Germain; all officers of high character, and all fit to command in chief, if M. de Etrees had not been appointed to that eminence. This formidable army passed the Rhine, and marched by Westphalia, in order to invade the King of Prussia's dominions, in quality of allies to the Empress Queen, and guardians of the liberties of as it was pretended; but in reality with a view to reduce Hanover also. They judged that their operations against the King of Prussia might be executed, and their scheme to drive the King of England into some concessions with regard to America, might be completed by one and the same blow. The second army was commanded by the Prince de Soubise; it consisted of about 25,000 men. This army was destined to strengthen the Imperial army of execution; but before it had passed the Rhine, it made itself master of Cleves, Meurs, and Gueldres, whilst a detachment from de Etrees' army seized upon the town of Embden, and whatever else belonged to Prussia in East Friesland. As soon as the King of Prussia had entered Saxony in the beginning of the preceding summer, process was commenced against him in the Emperor's Aulic council, and before the diet of the empire. It is not difficult to conceive how the affair must have been decided; when those who feared the King of Prussia believed they had a fair opportunity to reduce him, and when those who feared the house of Austria, were by that very fear obliged to sup Support the power they dreaded; accustomed as they were to the influence of a family in which the empire had so long been in a manner hereditary, and overawed by the appearances of a confederacy, the most formidable the world had ever yet seen. Accordingly, the King of Prussia was condemned for contumacy; and the Fiscal had orders to notify to him that he was put under the ban of the empire, and adjudged fallen from all the dignities and possessions which he held under it. The circles of the empire were ordered to furnish their contingents of men and money, to put this sentence in execution; but the contingents were collected slowly, the troops were badly composed, and probably this army had never been able to act, if it had not been for the assistance afforded under the Prince de Soubise. The Austrians, who were principals in this quarrel, were not behind their auxiliaries in the greatness of their preparations: they made the most strenuous efforts, by which they assembled a body of upwards of 100,000 men in Bohemia, and committed the command to Prince Charles of Lorrain, assisted by M. Brown. In the North, all things threatened the King of Prussia: the Czarina, true to her resentments and her engagements, had sent a body of 60,000 men, commanded by M. Apraxin, who were in full march to invade the ducal Prussia, whilst a strong fleet was equipped in the Baltic, to co-operate with that army. Although the King of Sweden was allied in blood and in clinations to his Prussian Majesty, yet the jealousy which the senate entertained of their sovereign; the hope of recovering their ancient possessions in Pomerania by means of the present troubles; and in fine, their old attachment to France, newly cemented by intrigues and subsidies, made their ill inclinations to the cause of Prussia more than suspi cious. Hitherto, indeed, nothing more than the tendency of their councils were fully known. The Duke of Mecklenbourg took the same party, and agreed to join the Swedish army, when it should be assembled, with 6000 men; a proceeding which he has since had reason to repent bitterly. Thus were the forces of five mighty states*, each of which had in their turn been a terror to all Europe, united to reduce the heir of the Marquisses of Brandenbourg; and in such a point of danger and glory had the great and formidable abilities of his Prussian Majesty placed him, with little, in comparison, that could enable him to sustain the violence of so many shocks, except what those abilities supplied. But his astonishing economy, the incomparable order of the finances, the discipline of his armies beyond all praise, a sagacity that foresaw every thing, a vigilance that attended every thing, a constancy that no labour could subdue, a courage that no danger could dismay, an intuitive glance that catches the decisive moment; all these seemed to form a sort of balance to the vast weight against him; turned the wishes of his friends into hopes, and made' them depend upon resources that are not within the power of calculation. The only army that appeared in his favour, was a body of between 30 and 40,000 Hanoverians and Hessians, who, with some reinforce ments of his own troops, formed an army of observation, commanded * Austria, Russia, France, Sweden, the Empire. by by his Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland: this army was posted on the Weser, to watch the motions of M. de Etrees. The vast and unwieldy body of the French, encum bered as the French armies always are by an immense baggage, and an innumerable multitude of mouths without hands, made a very slow progress through the rough and barTen country that lies between the Rhine and the Weser. All the abilities of the French general were employed in finding subsistence for his troops. His Royal Highness, on the other hand, displayed great abilities in throwing all possible impediments in his way. But when these impediments were removed by the superiority of numbers, the Hanoverian army gradually gave way, yielding to that superiority; and the French troops passed the Weser without opposition. In the mean time, his Prussian Majesty being determined, according to his maxim, to lay the cloth as far from home as possible, made his dispositions for carrying the war in to Bohemia as speedily as the season would admit. Three great bodies of his troops entered into that kingdom by three very different ways, but nearly at the same time. M. Schwerin penetrated into it from Silesia, The Prince of Bevern entered with the corps under his command from Lusatia, and defeated, as a preliminary to a more decisive Ap. 21. victory, a body of 28,000 Austrians who opposed him. The King himself prepared to enter Bohemia, at a great distance from the corps commanded by these generals; and as he seemed disposed to march towards Egra, the enemy imagined he intended to execute some design distinct from the object of his other armies. With this idea, they de tached a body of 20,000 men to observe his motions. The King of Prussia, finding that this feint had all its effects, made a sudden and masterly movement to his left, by which he cut off all communication be tween that detachment and the main army of the Austrians. Spirited with this advantage, he push ed onwards with the utmost rapidi ty to Prague, where he joined the corps under the Prince of Bevern and M. Schwerin, who had advanced with inconceivable diligence to meet him. Never were operations executed with more judgment, celerity, and success. The Austrian army was little short of 100,000 men, May 6. and the situation of their camp fortified by every advantage of nature and every contrivance of art, such as On common occasions might justly be considered as impregnable; but the Prussians, being nearly as numerous as the enemy, inspired by a society of danger with their King, and filled with that noble enthusiasm, which, whilst it urges to daring enterprizes, almost ensures their success, passed mo. rasses, climbed precipices, faced batteries, and after a bloody and ob. stinate resistance, totally defeated the Austrians. They took their camp, military chest, cannon; all the trophies of a complete victory. The loss on the side of the vic tor, as well as the vanquished, was very great; but both sides had yet a greater loss in the death of two of the best generals in Europe. M. Schwerin was killed at the age of eighty-two, with the colonel's standard in his hand, at the head of his regiment; M. Brown received a wound, which, from the chagrin he suffered, rather than from its own nature, proved mortal. About 1 |