From the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), to the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War (1756), the peace, nominally existing between England and France, was continually broken, out of Europe, by both parties. In India, under the veil of alliance with opposing Native Princes, war was actively prosecuted, and it was with difficulty that British interests maintained a precarious footing in that country. In North America, the French claimed the whole continent, except the ill defined New England settlements along the coast, and denied the right of the English to trade in the interior. Keeping themselves in the background, they waged a bloody war against the English settlers, by means of the Indians, whom they subsidized, and whose disguise they often adopted. Both in the East and the West, French officials were acting with the support and countenance of the Court of Versailles, and the English officials on the spot were not slow to retaliate when occasion offered. It was evident that a crisis could not long be averted, but it was advantageous to the French to postpone an open rupture as long as possible, while the French navy was being strengthened. On the other hand, it was the interest of England to hasten the rupture, when war was seen to be inevitable, since the objects to be fought for were beyond the seas. The English navy was, at that time, greatly superior in strength to the French navy, while the French military forces were eight or ten times as strong as the English army, which had been greatly reduced since the conclusion of the late war. As time went on, less pains were taken to conceal the warlike measures undertaken on either side. In the beginning of 1755, Braddock’s ill-fated expedition was dispatched to New England, while a counter-expedition for Canada was sent out from Brest and Rochefort, a few weeks later. Neither side was acting in good faith: on both sides, secret instructions for active hostilities were given to the commanders. In June, two French ships, with troops on board, were captured by Boscawen off the coast of Newfoundland. Exactly a month later, Braddock’s force was cut to pieces by the French and Indians. Still the pretence of peace was preserved. In April 1756, a French expedition sailed from Toulon to attack Minorca, which for half a century had been a British possession. Byng’s well-known failure to relieve Minorca ensued, and the place fell on 27th June. Meanwhile the absurdity of maintaining the semblance of peace under such circumstances had become patent to the British cabinet, and in May, war was formally declared. In August, the coalition of France and Austria, soon to be joined by Russia, was declared against Prussia, and Great Britain found herself engaged in hostilities in Germany, India and America at the same time.