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The English came as permanent settlers, and their numbers increased rapidly. The French, in the main, came for the fur-trade only, and expected some day to return to their beloved France.

Map of New England and New France

The English colonists soon began to feel that their boundaries were too narrow for them, and turned their gaze toward the great unsettled valleys beyond the Appalachian mountains. They claimed these western lands on the ground that their settlements on the coast gave them a right to the territory clear across the continent. The French, on the other hand, claimed this territory on the ground that their settlements about the mouths of the St. Lawrence and Mississippi gave them the right to all the country drained by these rivers.

To support their claim, the French built a chain of forts connecting the Ohio river with the St. Lawrence, and sent a message to the English colonists, saying that "France would permit no English settlements" on the Ohio. But the English government told the colonists that France "had not the least pretense of right to the territory on the Ohio," and ordered the colonial governors to drive out the French "whenever they are found within the undoubted limits of our provinces."

The result was a struggle between the English and French in America, which in turn contributed to a renewal of the war in Europe. The chief of the French forts was Fort Duquesne at "the Forks of the Ohio," where the city of Pittsburgh now stands. The governor of the colony of Virginia sent a young Virginian, named George Washington, with a small body of troops, to prevent the building of this fort; but they were unsuccessful, and were obliged to return home. The next year (1755), General Braddock was sent over, with British regular soldiers, and tried to capture Fort Duquesne. He marched carelessly through the forest, not heeding Washington's caution to beware of hidden French and Indians; so his troops were surprised and defeated, and he himself was slain.

In Europe, meanwhile, the leading nations were drifting into war. Its chief cause was the desire of Austria to recover the lands which Frederick the Great had taken from her. To do this, she made a secret league with Russia and Saxony, to attack Prussia and to divide the Prussian territories. Frederick the Great learned through his spies of this agreement, and resolved to strike first. This he did, in 1756, by marching his army into Saxony; and thus the war began.

England and France both entered into this European war, as usual, and on opposite sides. England now took the side of Prussia, because Austria would not promise to protect Hanover; and France was won over to the side of Austria, in spite of the fact that France and Austria had been fighting each other for two hundred years. The war in Europe is known as "the Seven Years' War," from the length of time that it lasted. The English colonists in America called it "the French and Indian War." Like the preceding one, this war was fought in Europe, in America, in India, and on the sea. The changes which it produced were among the greatest in history.

During the first two years of the war, England accomplished very little, either in Europe or in America. One of the English statesmen explained this by saying:

"We first engaged in war, and then began to prepare ourselves."

The government at this time was very badly managed. The Prime Minister was a fussy nobleman who owed his power entirely to his wealth and family influence, and not to any ability which he had. Men openly made fun of him, and said that he acted as if he "had lost a half-hour in the morning, and was running after it all the rest of the day."

But there was one man in political life who had the ability, and the determination, and the patriotism, and the eloquence, to carry on the government properly, if he only had the chance. This was William Pitt, who afterward became Earl of Chatham. But Pitt did not belong to the great noble families of England, and it was very rare for any man, at that time, to become Prime Minister unless he belonged to this select governing circle. Moreover, Pitt had angered George II. by opposing his plans for Hanover.

Nevertheless, things went so badly, and the people demanded Pitt so loudly, that the King was at last obliged to yield, and to appoint him to the chief place in the government.

William Pitt, Earl of Chatham

"Sire, give me your confidence," said Pitt, "and I will deserve it."

"Deserve my confidence," replied the King, "and you shall have it."

On both sides the promise was full kept. Pitt had proudly said:

"I know that I can save the country, and that no one else can."

This spirit of self-confidence he succeeded in inspiring in others also. It was said that "no one ever entered Pitt's room who did not come out of it braver man." He put his whole heart into his work, and soon stirred up all departments of the government to great activity. He appointed officers in the navy and army, not for favor or because of their family connections, but solely on account of their energy and ability. Thus, he soon overcame the effects of other men's bad management, and began to win victories.

In America, the turning point of the war came in 1759. The greatest stronghold of the French was at Quebec, on the St. Lawrence river; and against that place Pitt sent an expedition under General Wolfe, whom he chose in preference to older officers because he believed in the young man's ability.

General James Wolfe

The French army, under Montcalm, were in a strong camp below the city; and Wolfe tried in vain, for three months, to drive them from this position. At last he determined to surprise the city, by climbing the narrow paths up the rocky cliffs which led to the Heights of Abraham in its rear. At dead of night, and with the utmost secrecy, this was accomplished. Next morning, Montcalm saw that he must come out and fight, or the city would be taken.

Both Wolfe and Montcalm lost their lives in the battle which followed. As Wolfe lay mortally wounded, on the ground, he heard one of his officers cry out:

"They run! See how they run!"

"Who run?" asked the dying hero, eagerly.

"The enemy, sir," was the reply. "They give way everywhere."

"Now God be praised," said Wolfe; "I will die in peace."

In a few days, Quebec surrendered; and next year all of Canada passed into English hands. Fort Duquesne had been taken, and was re-named "Fort Pitt," in honor of England's great statesman. From Spain, which aided France, English fleets took Havana, in the island of Cuba, and the Philippine Islands, in the Far East.

In India, also, the English fought the French during the great Seven Years' War.

There, the East India Company, founded in Queen Elizabeth's time, had established three great trading posts—at Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta. It had long been forced to struggle against a rival French company, whose agents were enlisting native soldiers, called "Sepoys," and building up a political power in that rich but unwarlike land. In self-defence, the English company was obliged to do likewise. As a result of these rivalries, war followed, beginning in India, as it did in America, before it broke out in Europe.

Fortunately for the English company, it had in its employ a young man named Robert Clive, who had gone to India as one of its clerks, but had exchanged the pen for the sword. Clive first won fame by marching a small body of English Sepoys—through thunder, lightning, and rain—and seizing a fortress, which he held successfully against the attacks of a much larger force, assisted by the French. When food ran short, during the siege, his Sepoys came to him and said:

"Master, give us the water in which the rice is boiled. That is enough to feed us; the Europeans need the grain."