The English colonists were greatly superior to the French in number;
but they laboured under the disadvantage that the colonies were wholly
independent of each other, with strong mutual jealousies, which
paralysed their action and prevented their embarking upon any concerted
operations. Upon the other hand, Canada was governed by the French as a
military colony. The governor was practically absolute, and every man
capable of bearing arms could, if necessary, be called by him into the
field. He had at his disposal not only the wealth of the colony, but
large assistance from France, and the French agents were, therefore,
able to outbid the agents of the British colonies with the Indians.
For years there had been occasional troubles between the New England
States and the French, the latter employing the Indians in harassing
the border; but, until the middle of the eighteenth century, there had
been nothing like a general trouble. In 1749 the Marquis of
Galissoniere was governor general of Canada. The treaty of Aix la
Chapelle had been signed; but this had done nothing to settle the vexed
question of the boundaries between the English and French colonies.
Meanwhile, the English traders from Pennsylvania and Virginia were
poaching on the domain which France claimed as hers, ruining the French
fur trade, and making friends with the Indian allies of Canada.
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