objected to living on land which could never have been
either won or held without the arms they reprobated. But
their principles forbade them to face either the danger
or expense of war. The honour of the other Pennsylvanians
was, however, nobly saved by a contingent of four hundred,
raised as a purely private venture. Altogether, the new
Provincial army amounted to over 8,000 men.

The French in Canada were thoroughly alarmed. Rumour had
magnified the invading fleet and army till, in July, the
Acadians reported the combined forces, British regulars
included, at somewhere between forty and fifty thousand.
But the alarm proved groundless. The regulars were sent
on an abortive expedition against the coast of France,
while the Duke of Newcastle ordered Shirley to discharge
the 'very expensive' Provincials, who were now in Imperial
pay, 'as cheap as possible.' This was then done, to the
intense disgust of the colonies concerned. New York and
Massachusetts, however, were so loth to give up without
striking a single blow that they raised a small force,
on their own account, to take Crown Point and gain control
of Lake Champlain. [Footnote: An account of this expedition
will be found in Chapter ii of 'The War Chief of the Six
Nations' in this Series.]

Before October came the whole of the colonies were
preparing for a quiet winter, except that it was to be
preceded by the little raid on Crown Point, when, quite
suddenly, astounding news arrived from sea. This was that
the French had sent out a regular armada to retake