The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-02-23
The French and Indian war.

than hat there was not. NJ. W. II.
The French and Indian War.
II Is, perhaps, q sign Of the times that
an Englishman should have written. and
the British publishing house Of Archibald,
Constable 4 Co. should have printed, the
large octave volume OF nearly four hundred
page entitled The Fight With France for
North America. American readers have
supposed that the subject was dealt with
once for all by Francis Parkman. but the
author Of the book before us, Mr.. A. G..
BRADLEY, tells us that Parkman's MARIA
tives arc known to a comparatively small
number OF Engllshmen. Why. then. should
il be assumed that the subject would excite
more general interest in England to-day
than II has during the last quarter Of a
century? The reason given In the pre-
face is that the fight with France for North
America. which is supposed to have Gull
minated on the Plains Of Abraham In 1889,
presents an instructive parallel TO the
struggle for racial supremacy which Is now
going on in South Africa. Evidently.
Mr.. Bradley thinks that the course which
was pursued by the British in Canada. dur
ing the war which ended in 1888. ~justtfies
the South African policy Of the Salisbury
Government. II will be remembered that
England. by the Peace Of Paris, obtained
the unconditional surrender Of the French
possessions in North America east Of the
Mississippi River. but that, having thus
acquired unqualified sovereignty in that
region, she treated the French inhabitants
with generosity then unprecedented. In
deed, the privileges conceded to them by
the Quebec Act OF l774 gave great offence TO
the Protestant natives Of the thirteen
British colonies which were presently TO
assert their independence.
The present volume is strictly confined
to q narration of those episodes of the
Seven Years War which took place on the
mainland Of North America. With the
vicissitudes Of the struggle between Eng
land and France on the Continent OF Europe
or in India, or on the ocean. in the Medi-
terranean Sea and the British Channel,
the author does not concern himself. Even
the operations in the West Indies are passed
over, only two lines being devoted TO the
capture Of Havana, TO which American
colonists greatly contributed. Neither rs
any attention paid to those collisions Of
the French and English on the American
mainland which preceded the outbreak
Of the French and Indian War. The re-
markable capture of Louisbourg by Colonial
troops. for instance, receives only cursory
allusion. Indeed, 1t must he observed that
throughout his narrative the author renders
but scant justice 20 the part played by the
American colonists in the struggle against
the French. The truth is that the New
England colonies and New York were lavish
in their sacrifice OF men and money. The
resentment with which. later. the Stamp
Act was regarded was largely due to the
remembrance Of efforts which had brought
the colonies to the verge Of bankruptcy.
To those English readers who have not
seen, and are unlikely TO see, Mr.. Park
mans volumes, Mr.. Bradley's book offers
a succinct. reasonable INC fairly accurate
account OF the memorable contest which
put an end to the French hopes OF acquiring
an empire In North America. Distinctly
crcditable to the author Is tho brief prelim-
mary sketch Of the social and industrial
conditions Of the thirteen British colonies
on the one hand and Of the French settle
ments on their northern and western frontier
about the beginning OF the sixth decade
OF the eighteen century. He reminds VA
that, as regards population, there was an
immense discrepancy between the COM
batants. On the other hand, the French
In Canada, exclusive OF some ten thousand
Acadians, who were nominally British
subjects, numbered about sixty thousand
souls. On the other hand, the colonial
subjects Of Great Britain In North America
were reckoned by the middle Of the eight
eenth century at nearly a million and a
half.
The French strength In Canada, how
ever. such as II was. was concentrated and
welded by an autocratlo government,
whereas the British provinces were so SELF
absorbed and isolated from one another as
TO be disqualified for effective combination.
In the French and Indian War the three
southern colonies. North Carolina, South
Carolina and Georgia, bore no noticeable
part. How sluggish and inefficient was
the action Of Virginia. the letters of Wash
ington, who commanded on the frontier Of
tina colony, attest. The British Govern
ment and the northern colonies had con-
tinual reason TO complain Of the selfish
course pursued by Pennsylvania. II was,
indeed, as we have said. the New England
colonies and New York that bore the brunt
OF the conflict.
Mr.. Bradley's treatment Of some In
cidents in the French and Indian War de-
serves particular commendation. We refer
TO his account OF Braddock's defeat near
Fort Duquesne, and TO his refusal TO slur
over the British defeat in the second
battle on the plains Of Abraham which oc-
CURED In the year following Wolfe's VIC
tory. OF the unfortunate British COM
mander In the battle near Fort Duquesne our
author truly says; NO name has been more
irresponsibly played upon. and few repu-
t~ations, perhaps, have been more hardly
used, than Braddock's, by most writers
Of history and nearly all writer's OF fiction.
His personality, from its very contrast
to the wild woods in which he died, has
caught the fancy Of innumerable pens and
Justice has been sadly sacrificed TO pictur-
esoue effect. One is almost inclined to
think that the mere fact Of his lame begin
ming with a letter which encourages a null
tiplioation OF strenuous epithets, has been
against him BY all American writer's he
is depicted as the typical redcoat Of the
Hanoverian p~eriod-burly. brutal. blum
asrins, p~s.ghslsps ayi e.Rpgy GylYs