For a year after this, the town was occupied by the American Militia; but a garrison which included a company of the Royal Artillery was then sent from England, and remained until 1748, when by the treaty of Aix- la-Chapelle Louisbourg was restored to the French. The sum of 235,749_l._ was paid by England to her American colonies, to meet the expenses of the expedition whose success had now been cancelled by diplomacy, and if to this sum be added the expenses of the Navy, and the cost of garrisoning the place for three years, we shall find that at least 600,000_l._ must have been expended to no purpose. Time went on; treaties were torn up; and Louisbourg was again the object of English attack. It is this second siege which is the one considered in this chapter; for none of the Royal Artillery were present at the first; the Artillery which fought on that occasion being militia, commanded by an officer who fought against England during the subsequent War of Independence. An indirect interest certainly is attached to that siege in the mind of one studying the annals of the Royal Artillery; for had it been unsuccessful, Annapolis with its little garrison would have been exposed to another assault. From private letters in possession of the descendants of a distinguished Artillery officer—Major-General Phillips—the perilous condition of that town during 1745 can be easily realized. Large bodies of French, and of hostile Indians, were in the immediate neighbourhood, making no secret of their intention to attack Annapolis in force, should the English siege of Louisbourg be unsuccessful. With the news of its capture, the danger to Annapolis disappeared. These local wars between the French and English settlers proved an admirable school for instructing the New Englanders in military operations; nor was it foreseen that the experience thus acquired would be turned against the parent country. Distraction in America helped England in her wars with France in Europe; and such distractions were easy to raise among colonists whose mutual hatred was so great. It was never imagined that the tools which England thus used against France were being sharpened in the process for use against herself in the stern days which were coming on. Colonial rebellion seemed impossible; colonial endurance was believed to be eternal; it was hoped that patriotism and sentiment would be stronger than any hardship, and would condone any injustice. But when the day came when colonists asked the question "Why?" for the Imperial actions towards them, the parental tie was cut, and the lesson taught in the school of local warfare—the lesson of their own strength—became apparent to the children.