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upon Murray with reinforcements proceeded up the river, compelling Lévis "to abandon all the [military] frontiers", and fall back on Montreal. On that island converged also the main force of Amherst from the south-west and Havilland's column from the south. The British flotilla facilitated landings of this overwhelming force to which Governor Vaudreuil and about 2400 regulars at once surrendered, thus ending French rule in Canada (8 September 1760).1

Despite the accession of the more pacific George III (October 1760), Pitt now resumed his former plan of reducing the French West Indies as the readiest means of forcing on a satisfactory peace. Guadeloupe having fallen in 1759, he now ordered the victors of Canada to take ship at New York and attack the "neutral" isles of Dominica and St Lucia, and thereafter Martinique.2 Admiral Sir James Douglas and Lord Rollo easily succeeded in capturing the two first. The reduction of Martinique was postponed owing to the diversion of large forces against Belleisle. The two expeditions were connected; for Pitt had resolved that at the ensuing peace negotiations Martinique or Belleisle (preferably the latter) should serve as a pledge for recovering Minorca. After a stubborn defence Belleisle fell to Captain Keppel's squadron and a landing force in June 1761, an event highly injurious to the commerce and the pride of France.s Still, Choiseul struggled on, breaking off peace negotiations in September 1761 because Pitt demanded St Lucia and the exclusion of the French from the Newfoundland fishery. Choiseul (equally intent on naval interests) now hoped by the (third) Family Compact with Spain to bring in that Power and distract British efforts by a Franco-Spanish attack on our ally, Portugal, while, at the worst, "the losses of Spain might lighten those which France might incur".5 Pitt, suspecting some such design, urged open war with Spain; but George III replaced him by Bute, who, however, carried on the naval part of Pitt's war policy, especially against Martinique. Accordingly, Rear-Admiral Rodney's squadron sailed in October to reinforce that of Sir James Douglas. The combined British forces overpowered the French posts in succession and on 10 February 1762 captured Fort Royal. The fall of St Lucia and Grenada soon followed. These successes resulted from the naval triumphs of 1759, which enabled our squadrons in 1760-61 to seal up the French Biscay ports and prevent succours sailing even from Rochefort or La Rochelle to the West or East Indies.6

By the year 1762 the British Navy could easily cope with those of 1 Capt. Knox's Journal, ed. Doughty, II, 484-6; Kimball, 11, 305-41; Wood, W., The Fight for Canada, chap. x; Wrong, E. M., The Fall of Canada, pp. 165–79, 206-25.

2 Kimball, 11, 384, 408, 425, 454, 458.

F.O., Spain, 163, Bristol to Pitt, 29 June 1761.

4F.O., France, 252, Pitt to Stanley, 26 June, 25 July, 27 Aug., 15 Sept., 1761; Stanley to Pitt, 4, 6, 18, 26 Aug., 4, 19 Sept. 1761; Bussy to Pitt, 10 Aug. 1761. Méms. de Choiseul, p. 387; Renaut, F., Pacte de Famille et l'Amérique, chap. i.

• Grenville Papers, 1, 349.

INCREASE OF BRITISH COMMERCE

535

France and Spain combined; and when the rupture occurred the latter fared ill, the reduction of Havana and Manila in that summer being the heaviest blows yet dealt her in the New World. Even Charles III felt the need of an accommodation, in accord with the Spanish proverb-"War with all the world, but peace with England". A last effort of Choiseul to seize Newfoundland met with only a passing success, the captors of St John's soon being captured by a squadron under Lord Colville (September 1762). The need for peace in France became imperative. It led to the Peace of Paris.

On the contrary England's naval supremacy enabled her commerce to increase rapidly during this war, especially with the North American Colonies. Her exports thither in 1744-48 had risen from £640,000 to £830,000; but in 1754-58 they rose from £1,246,000 to £1,832,000. Those to the West Indies in 1744-48 declined from £796,000 to £734,000; but in 1754-58 rose from £685,000 to £877,000. The increases were equally remarkable in 1759-62, and enabled the Government to spend larger sums on the Navy. Thus, whereas Choiseul in 1759 had hoped to exhaust England, he found France much more exhausted; and when, during the first peace discussions at Paris in June 1761, he stated that after all the longest purse would win the war, our diplomat, Hans Stanley, retorted that, however doubtful the issue in Germany, yet "a maritime war, with expeditions against the French colonies, lays within (sic) 6 or 7 millions per annum, which Great Britain, fed with your trade and her own, together with that of many neutral nations...can for many years support".1 The forecast was just; for Great Britain ended the struggle with undisputed supremacy at sea.

As happened after other victorious wars, keen interest was now taken in the discovery of new lands. Curiosity centred chiefly in the unveiling of the mysterious Terra Australis incognita, and after the Peace of Paris the Admiralty despatched Commodore Byron to the South Sea. On his way he annexed the Falkland Islands, but in the South Sea discovered nothing. More successful was Captain Wallis, R.N., who in 1767 sighted and stayed long at Tahiti, which he named George III Island. Spain meanwhile had fortified Juan Fernandez, the usual place of call after Cape Horn-a sign that she intended to keep her Pacific preserve closed. France however now pressed in, sending her great sailor Bougainville. He touched at the Falklands and Tahiti, then discovered the Samoan, New Hebrides and Solomon groups, thence sailing for Batavia, and finally reaching St Malo in March 1769. News of French activities in the Pacific spurred on the Admiralty to solve the mystery of the legendary Southern Continent; and it resolved to act with the Royal Society which was about to send an expedition to Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus. Selecting Lieutenant James Cook, R.N., and the Whitby-built barque 1 F.O., France, 251, Stanley to Pitt, 12 June 1761.

Endeavour, it issued to him secret instructions (dated 30 July 1768) which have lately been published. After fulfilling his duty at Tahiti, he will "proceed to the southward in order to make discovery of the Continent above mentioned until you arrive in the latitude of 40°", and if he fails to find it, he is to sail westwards between lat. 40° and lat. 35° "until you discover it or fall in with the eastern side of the land discovered by Tasman and now called New Zealand.... You are also with the consent of the natives to take possession of convenient situations in the country in the name of the King of Great Britain; or, if you find the country uninhabited, take possession for His Majesty by setting up proper marks and inscriptions, as first discoverers and possessors". Finally, he will thoroughly explore the coast of New Zealand, will annex other islands "that have not hitherto been discovered by any Europeans", enjoining secrecy on the crew as to his discoveries until permission is given to divulge them.1

These instructions were signed by Hawke, Peircy Brett and C. Spencer. Brett had served as lieutenant under Anson in H.M.S. Centurion in her famous circumnavigation and probably was the directing spirit prompting our Pacific enterprises of 1764-79, which prepared the way for Britain's new colonial Empire in the very years when the Old Empire was slipping away. Thus Anson's voyage was destined to lead on to efforts aiming primarily at the discovery of the great Southern Continent which was believed to balance the Northern Continents. This, not New Zealand or New Holland, was Cook's chief objective. After demonstrating the feasibility of the voyage round Cape Horn and thus completing the work of Drake, he performed his duties at Tahiti and then sailed far to the south without success. Then he sighted, thoroughly explored and finally annexed New Zealand, and later (22 August 1770) the east coast of New Holland, which he was sure the Dutch had not visited.2 Again, in his second voyage (1772-5), the elusive continent foiled even his dogged perseverance. The chief object of the third voyage (1776–9) was to find the equally elusive North-West Passage from the Pacific coast, and after baffling many stout voyagers from Drake and Frobisher onwards, it baffled even Cook. Nevertheless, before his lamented death in Hawaii, he had prepared the way for the Nootka Sound trade, and had secured for his country prior claims to New Zealand and Australia.3

Thus, in peace as in war, Great Britain had now won a decided naval supremacy, which brought with it possibilities of expansion in the west, east and south. Her rise to supremacy had been rapid.

1 Admiralty, 2/1332 (Secret Orders), printed in the Naval Miscellany (N.R.S), m, 343-64. The Journal of Capt. Cook (ed. Wharton, W. J L., 1893), p. 312

3 For details see vol. vn, chap. II.

RESULTS OF BRITISH NAVAL SUPREMACY

537 Scarcely able in 1690, even with powerful help from the Dutch, to fend off a French invasion in force, she had at first to play a waiting game, striking hard in 1692 when occasion offered. Then she bided her time while the French guerre de course gradually demoralised that navy. In this war, as in that of 1702-13, Louis XIV dissipated his resources on land; William and Anne used their armies wisely and sparingly, but steadily built up their navies. Thus, by 1713, England had gained a clear superiority in force and in strategic position, which enabled her to surpass the Dutch in the carrying trade. The merchant service proved an invaluable reserve for the Royal Navy when war came; and this advantage carried her on the whole successfully through the tortuous shifts of the next struggle (1739-48); but not until the genius of Pitt roused her spirit and guided her policy did she gain a marked superiority over her chief rival.

Commerce, the vital sap of the Empire, registered the increasing efficiency of naval protection, as appears from the tonnage of British ships cleared outwards in the following years-in 1688, 190,000; 1697, 144,000; 1701, 273,000; 1738, 476,000; 1755, 451,000; 1763, 561,000; 1777, 736,000.1 Thus, while the Navy was comparatively weak, commerce declined during war: but in that of 1702-13 it increased by one-fifth and in the Seven Years' War by one-fourth, thereafter rising by leaps and bounds. These statistics also illustrate the growth of the Empire. In 1689-97 it was almost nil; in 1702-13 the accessions were Gibraltar, Minorca, Nova Scotia and Hudson Bay. As the naval successes of the third war only balanced the military failures, the result was little better than stalemate. The combined naval and military triumphs of the Seven Years' War brought acquisitions unexampled both for extent and solidity. By unique good fortune, they occurred just before the vast accession to human energies due to the Industrial Revolution. In these facts lies the secret of the rapid growth and astounding vitality of the Old Empire.

1 Cunningham, W., Growth of English Industry, 1, 696.

CHAPTER XIX

THE GROWTH OF INTERNATIONAL LAW. MARITIME RIGHTS AND COLONIAL TITLES 1648-1763

THE Peace of Westphalia, 1648, may be described as the door leading from the Middle Ages to the modern world. It terminated the wars which for thirty years had been ravaging Europe and placed all independent States whether Protestant or Catholic upon a footing of equality. It formed the basis of the treaty law of Europe for the next century, and though there were important changes in the political geography of Europe, there were but few that sprang from the divisions resulting from the acceptance of the doctrines of the Reformation.

The period from 1648 to 1763 is of vital importance in the growth of the British Empire, it is also a period in which international law, especially that relating to maritime affairs, was developing. The struggle for the freedom of the seas continued, and England and other European States still had difficulties with Spain who endeavoured to keep the vast riches of her American possessions for herself, and to prohibit other States from trade with them. The influence of sea power on history and on law is strikingly emphasised during this period, and English policy had important effects on the rules of international maritime intercourse. In sea warfare especially, rules of international law, which were to receive more definite shape in later days, were being formed, and in the process the influence of British policy and British Prize Courts was very powerful. Though some British practices called forth strong neutral protests, the foundations were being laid of those rules regarding enemy property and neutral rights which were developed and applied by great judges during the wars of the Napoleonic era when Great Britain's second colonial Empire was won.

The rivalry of the Dutch, and their growing reluctance to render any respect to the English flag, precipitated the First Dutch War in 1652. Both republics, the English Commonwealth and the StatesGeneral of Holland, were sensitive as to their dignity, but the former was more insistent and effective than Charles I had been in asserting sovereignty over the English seas. Van Tromp, the Dutch Admiral, was left without definite instructions from his Government in relation to the salute to the flag, but he was ordered to prevent Dutch vessels from being visited and searched by English ships in the narrow seas. Having met a Dutch vessel which reported that a Dutch convoy had been recently attacked for not striking their flags and that homeward bound vessels with valuable cargoes had been captured, he turned

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