and of the English and Hanoverian forces to the best
of his generals, Ferdinand, Prince of Brunswick, in place of the
incompetent Duke of Cumberland. The victories of Rossbach, Leuthen,
and Minden were the answers that Frederick gave to the English minister
for the confidence he reposed in his ability to cope with the four
great Powers then combined with Saxony to destroy Prussia and bring
England to the feet of France, by invading her territory and marching
into her very capital. Hanover was saved by the memorable victory on
the Weser, and England was spared the humiliation and perils of an
invasion by the destruction of a French fleet by Admiral Hawke in
Quiberon Bay.

While the military genius of Frederick and the {242} inspiring
statesmanship of Pitt were successfully thwarting the ambitious plans
of France and her allies in Europe, the English minister had decided on
a vigorous campaign in America. With that intuitive sagacity which he
possessed above most men for recognising ability in others for the
purpose in view, he chose General Amherst, Admiral Boscawen, and
Brigadier-General Wolfe, not because of their aristocratic or political
influence, but because of their military capacity, the want of which in
Loudoun and Holbourne had brought disaster upon the English arms.
Unhappily he was forced, for the time being, by strong influences
around him to retain General Abercromby at the head of one of the
expeditions in America, but he hoped that the co-operation of Lord Howe
would keep up the courage of the army, and prevent any blunders on the
part of the slow and obtuse soldier in command. The plan of the
campaign which opened in 1758 was to send three expeditions
simultaneously against the three all-important French positions held by
the French in the Ohio valley, on Lake Champlain, and at the entrance
of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. General Forbes, a resolute Scotch
veteran, was to march on Fort Duquesne, General Abercromby was to lay
siege to Crown Point and Ticonderoga, and General Amherst, with Admiral
Boscawen, was to attack the fortress of Louisbourg, which was
acknowledged as the key of the St. Lawrence.

The English fleet anchored in Gabarus Bay, to the southward of
Louisbourg, on the 2nd of June, 1758. It was composed of over fifty
ships, {243} twenty-two of which were "liners," and carried eighteen
hundred guns altogether. The army comprised between eleven and twelve
thousand men, including a small f