The royal governor of Virginia, Dinwiddie, urged upon parliament his plan of a general land and poll tax, begging, however, that the plan might come entirely as from them; he urged also the subversion of charter-governments, arguing that all would remain in a distracted condition until his majesty took the proprietary government into his own hands. Another advised that Duke William of Cumberland should be sent out as sovereign of the united provinces of British America, on the plea that in a few years the colonies of America would be independent of Britain. These fears were prophetic of the future, and indeed were but an echo of the popular sentiment. Franklin was thinking, and acting, and scattering abroad words, which were winged seeds of liberty; Washington was already doing great deeds; and John Adams, then the young teacher of a New England free school, was giving words to ideas which thousands besides himself were prepared to turn into deeds. “All creation,” said he, “is liable to change; mighty states are not exempted. Soon after the Reformation, a few people came out here for conscience sake. This apparently trivial incident may transfer the great seat of empire into America. If we can remove these turbulent Gallics, our people, according to the exactest calculation, will in another century become more numerous than England itself. All Europe will not be able to subdue us. The only way to keep us from setting up for ourselves, is to disunite us.” They had learnt already that union was strength. CHAPTER II. PROGRESS OF THE WAR—THE CONQUEST OF CANADA. The plan of the campaign for 1756, arranged by a convention of provincial governors at New York, was similar to that of the preceding year: the reduction of Crown Point, Niagara and Fort Du Quesne. The enrolling of volunteer militia went on; Benjamin Franklin being active for this purpose in Pennsylvania, and he himself now assuming military command as a colonel on the frontier from the Delaware to the Maryland line. The frontiers of Virginia continued to suffer severely, though Washington, with 1,500 volunteers, did his utmost for their protection. It was difficult to obtain a larger volunteer force, on account, said Dinwiddie, writing to the Board of Trade on this subject, “of our not daring to part with any of our white men to a distance, as we must have a watch over our negro-slaves.” The war had now continued two years without any formal declaration of hostilities between Great Britain and France. In May, however, of this year it was made.