which France seemed to prize. As years passed and the enormous value to European Powers of the American continent was more fully discovered, the inevitable conflict awakened fiercer passions and called forth more energetic effort. The English were resolute to frequent the valley of the Ohio for trading purposes; the French were resolute to prevent them. Governors of the English colonies, scorning the authority of France, granted licences to traders; when traders bearing such licences appeared on the banks of the Ohio, they were arrested and their goods were confiscated. The English highly resented these injuries. Attempts were made to reach a pacific adjustment of disputes, and commissioners met for that purpose. But the temper of both nations was adverse to negotiation; the questions which divided them were too momentous. It was the destiny of a continent which the rival powers now debated. Men have not even yet found that the peaceable settlement of such questions is possible. The English colonies had increased rapidly, and now contained a population upwards of a million. From France there had been almost no voluntary emigration, and the valley of the St. Lawrence was peopled to the extent of only sixty-five thousand. The English were strong enough to trample out their rivals. But they were scattered at vast distances, and conflicting opinions hindered them from uniting their strength. [Sidenote: 1754 A.D.] And France, at this time, began to send out copious military stores and reinforcements, as if in preparation for immediate aggression. The two countries were still at peace, but the inevitable conflict was seen to be at hand. The English Governors begged earnestly for the help of regular soldiers, in whose prowess they had unbounded confidence. Two regiments were granted to their prayers, and they themselves provided a strong body of bold but imperfectly disciplined troops. They were too powerful to wait for the coming of the enemy. A campaign was designed whose success would have shaken the foundations of French authority on the continent. One army under General Braddock was to cross the Alleghany Mountains and destroy Fort du Quesne, the centre of French power on the Ohio. Two armies would operate against the French forts on the Great Lakes; yet another force moved against the French settlements in the Bay of Fundy. To crown the whole, a British fleet cruised off the banks of Newfoundland watching the proceedings of a rival force.