If the increase to the debt last recorded was caused by a disgraceful war and a powerless ministry, that which followed was no less remarkable for the brilliancy of its operations and the greatness of its achievements. Since the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the English and French East India Companies had been fighting for supremacy, and the animosity spread to the colonies. A British force was cut off in America, and some French vessels were taken on the West India seas. War seemed necessary, and, when commenced, proved at first sufficiently humiliating. Hanover was attacked by France, and petty German princes were subsidized to defend it. Minorca, commanded by Blakeney, a superannuated general, was taken by Richelieu, a superannuated fop. Braddock was defeated in America; Admiral Byng refused to engage the French fleet; and an outcry arose for his life, which appalled the men who governed the councils of the country. Shops were filled with libels; walls were covered with satires. The English people, rarely yielding to the thirst for blood, demanded that of the unpopular admiral; and the prime minister trembled for his neck. Our navy could scarcely keep the sea, and the army was commanded by men desirous only of seeking emolument and avoiding risk. Enterprise and energy were absent. In the West, our power was paralyzed; in the East it was endangered. From every county in the kingdom, from every town in the empire, vengeance was demanded. The Duke of Newcastle vacated the place of prime minister; a change was effected; and from that period a succession of conquests filled the kingdom with pride, and raised the fame of the country. The accession of Mr. Pitt to the post of prime minister was felt in every department. France, attacked on some, and menaced on all points, suffered disastrous defeats, retired from Germany, and saw her West and East Indian colonies wrested from her. In one action, thirty-six sail of the line, fifty frigates, and forty-five sloops were taken or destroyed, and the sea swept clear of the fleets that had insulted our coasts and our colonies. Triumph after triumph, conquest after conquest, and, it must be added, loan after loan, were witnessed. Goree and Guadaloupe were taken. The Heights of Abraham beheld the fall of Wolfe and of Quebec; Montreal was subdued; and the total cession of Canada followed. The fleet to which the French court had confided its American possessions was destroyed, and captured standards were borne through the streets amidst triumphant shouts, which deadened the roar of the cannon.