George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 4, 15th edition.

‘ [231] unfit’ Lyttelton, then chancellor of the exchequer,

chap. IX.} 1756.

though fixed in his opinions, could not mature schemes of finance; and the British statutes,¹ which manifest the settled purpose² of raising a revenue out of the traffic between the American continent and the West India Islands, show that the execution of that purpose was at that session, and twice afterwards, deferred to a quieter period.

Still parliament, in the session of 1756, extended its authority signally over America. There foreign Protestants might be employed as engineers and officers to enlist a regiment of aliens.³ Indented servants might be accepted, and their masters were referred for compensation to the respective assemblies;⁴ and the naval code of England was extended to all persons employed in the king's service on the lakes, great waters, or rivers of North America.⁵ The militia law of Pennsylvania was repealed by the king in council; the commissions of all officers elected under it were cancelled; the companies themselves were broken up and dispersed. And while volunteers were not allowed to organize themselves for defence, the humble intercession of the Quakers with the Delawares, the little covenants resting on confidence and ratified by presents, peaceful stipulations for the burial of the tomahawk and the security of the frontier fireside and the cradle, were censured by Lord Halifax as the most daring violation of the royal prerogative. Each northern province also was forbidden to negotiate with the Indians; and their renations