the capture of Louisbourg in the following man

ner:

"The English had hitherto feen, with great indignation, their attempts baffled and their force "defied by an enemy, whom they confidered them"felves as intitled to conquer by the right of prefcription, and whom many ages of hereditary

fuperiority had taught them to defpife. Their "fleets were more numerous, and their feamen "braver than thofe of France, yet they only floated "ufelefs on the ocean, and the French derided them "from their ports. Misfortunes, as is ufual, pro"duced discontent, the people murmured at the minifters, and the minifters cenfured the com"manders.

"In the fummer of this year, the English began to find their fuccefs answerable to their caufe. "A fleet and an army were fent to America to "diflodge the enemies from the fettlements which "they had fo perfidiously made, and fo infolently

maintained, and to reprefs that power which was "growing more every day by the affociation of the "Indians, with whom thefe degenerate Europeans "intermarried, and whom they fecured to their party by prefents and promises.

"In the beginning of June the fhips of war and "veffels containing the land forces appeared before

Louisbourg, a place fo fecure by nature that art "was almost fuperfluous, and yet fortified by art "as if nature had left it open. The French boafted "that it was impregnable, and spoke with fcorn "of all attempts that could be made against it.

"The

"The garrifon was numerous, the ftores equal to "the longeft fiege, and their engineers and com"manders high in reputation. The inouth of the "harbour was fo narrow, that three fhips within "might eafily defend it against all attacks from "the fea. The French had, with that caution. "which cowards borrow from fear and attribute to policy, eluded our fleets, and fent into that port five great fhips and fix fmaller, of which "they funk four in the mouth of the paffage,

having raised batteries, and pofted troops, at all "the places where they thought it poffible to make "a defcent. The English, however, had more to "dread from the roughness of the fea, than from "the fkill or bravery of the defendants. Some "days paffed before the furges, which rise very high round that ifland, would fuffer them to << land. At laft their impatience could be re"ftrained no longer; they got poffeffion of the "fhore with little lofs by the fea, and with lefs by "the enemy. In a few days the artillery was land"ed, the batteries were raifed, and the French had no other hope than to escape from one poft to an"other. A fhot from the batteries fired the "powder in one of their largest fhips, the flame "spread to the two next, and all three were de"stroyed; the English admiral fent his boats against "the two large fhips yet remaining, took them "without refiftance, and terrified the garrifon to an "immediate capitulation."

Let us now oppofe to this English narrative the relation which will be produced, about the fame time, by the writer of the age of Louis XV.

<< About

"About this time the English admitted to the "conduct of affairs, a man who undertook to fave «from deftruction that ferocious and turbulent "people, who, from the mean infolence of wealthy

traders, and the lawless confidence of fuccessful "robbers, were now funk in defpair and stupified "with horror. He called in the fhips which had been difperfed over the ocean to guard their merchants, and fent a fleet and an army, in which "almoft the whole ftrength of England was comprised, to fecure their poffeffions in America, "which were endangered alike by the French arms. es and the French virtue. We had taken the English "fortreffes by force, and gained the Indian nations.

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by humanity. The English, wherever they come, "are fure to have the natives for their enemies; for "the only motive of their fettlements is avarice, " and the only confequence of their fuccefs is op"preffion. In this war they acted like other bar«barians, and, with a degree of outrageous "cruelty, which the gentleness of our manners "'scarce fuffers us to conceive, offered rewards " by open proclamation to those who should bring "in the fcalps of Indian women and children. A "trader always makes war with the cruelty of a pirate.

They had long looked with envy and with ter"ror upon the influence which the French exerted "over all the northern regions of America by the "poffeffion of Louisbourg, a place naturally strong, " and new fortified with fome flight outworks.

They hoped to furprize the garrifon unprovided; "but that fluggishness which always defeats their

"malice,

"malice, gave us time to fend supplies, and to "ftation fhips for the defence of the harbour. "They came before Louisbourg in June, and were "for fome time in doubt whether they fhould land. "But the commanders, who had lately feen an ad"miral beheaded for not having done what he had

not power to do, durft not leave the place unaf"faulted. An Englishman has no ardour for ho"nour, nor zeal for duty; he neither values glory "nor loves his king; but balances one danger with "another, and will fight rather than be hanged. "They therefore landed, but with great lofs; their "engineers had, in the laft war with the French, "learned fomething of the military fciences, and "made their approaches with fufficient skill; but "all their efforts had been without effect, had not a "ball unfortunately fallen into the powder of one of "our fhips, which communicated the fire to the rest, " and, by opening the paffage of the harbour, "obliged the garrifon to capitulate. Thus was "Louisbourg lost, and our troops marched out with "the admiration of their enemies, who durft hardly "think themselves mafters of the place."

NUMB. 21. SATURDAY, September 2, 1758.

To the IDLER.

DEAR Mr. IDLER,

HERE is a fpecies of mifery or of disease,

Tfor which our language is commonly fuppofed

to be without a name, but which I think is emphatically enough denominated liftleness, and which is commonly termed a want of fomething to do.

Of the unhappiness of this state I do not expect all your readers to have an adequate idea. Many are overburthened with bufinefs, and can imagine no comfort but in reft; many have minds fo placid, as willingly to indulge a voluntary lethargy; or fo narrow, as easily to be filled to their utmost capacity. By these I shall not be understood, and therefore cannot be pitied. Thofe only will fympathize with my complaint, whose imagination is active and refolution weak, whofe defires are ardent, and whose choice is delicate; who cannot fatisfy themselves with standing still, and yet cannot find a motive to direct their course.

I was the second son of a gentleman, whofe eftate was barely fufficient to fupport himself and his heir in the dignity of killing game. He therefore made ufe of the intereft which the alliances of his family afforded him, to procure me a post in the army. I passed some years in the most contemptible of all

human