helter of the fort.
Of the men, sixty were butchered on the spot and some seven hundred
captured to be held for ransom. The remnant of the English soldiers,
along with the women, were held till the Indian frenzy had spent
itself, then sent to Fort Edward. August 16 a torch was put to the
combustibles of the fort ruins, and as the French boats glided out on
Lake George for the St. Lawrence, explosion after explosion, flame
leaping above flame, proclaimed that of Fort William Henry there would
remain naught but ashes and charred ruins and the skeletons of the
dead. So closed the campaign of 1857 [Transcriber's note: 1757?]. For
three years hand running England had suffered defeat.

The spring of 1758 witnessed a change. The change was the rise to
power of a man who mastered circumstances instead of allowing them to
master him. Such men are the milestones of human progress, whether
heroes, or quiet toilers unknown to the world. The man was Pitt, the
English statesman. Instead of a weak ministry fighting the
machinations of France, it was now Pitt versus Pompadour, the English
patriot against the light woman who ruled the councils of France.

{252} From fighting weakly on the defensive, England sprang into the
position of aggressor all along the line. The French were to be
attacked at all points simultaneously, at Louisburg on the east, at
Ticonderoga or Carillon on Lake Champlain, at Duquesne on the Ohio, at
Frontenac on Lake Ontario, and finally at Quebec itself. London is
recalled as commander in chief. Abercrombie succeeds to the position,
with the brilliant young soldier, Lord Howe, as right-hand man; but
Pitt takes good care that there shall be good chiefs and good
right-hand men at _all_ points. The one mistake is Abercrombie,--"Mrs.
Nabby Crombie" the soldiers called him. He was an indifferent,
negative sort of man; and indifferent, negative sorts of people, by
their dishwater goodness, can sometimes do more harm in critical
positions than the branded criminal. Red tape had forced him on Pitt,
but Pitt trusted to the excellence of the subordinate officers,
especially Lord Howe.

Louisburg first!

No more dillydallying and delay "to plant cabbages!" The thing is to
reach Louisburg before the French have entered the harbor. Men-of-war
are stationed to intercept the French vessels coming from the
Mediterranean, and before winter has passed Admiral Boscawen has sailed
for America with one hundred