. To
the energetic fights of the great reign succeeded, by order of
the court, 'affairs of circumspection.' To preserve to the
wasted material a few armed ships, increased opportunity was
given to the enemy. From this unhappy principle we were bound to
a defensive as advantageous to the enemy as it was foreign to
the genius of our people. This circumspection before the enemy,
laid down for us by orders, betrayed in the long run the
national temper; and the abuse of the system led to acts of
indiscipline and defection under fire, of which a single
instance would vainly be sought in the previous century."

A false policy of continental extension swallowed up the resources of
the country, and was doubly injurious because, by leaving defenceless
its colonies and commerce, it exposed the greatest source of wealth to
be cut off, as in fact happened. The small squadrons that got to sea
were destroyed by vastly superior force; the merchant shipping was
swept away, and the colonies, Canada, Martinique, Guadeloupe, India,
fell into England's hands. If it did not take too much space,
interesting extracts might be made, showing the woful misery of
France, the country that had abandoned the sea, and the growing wealth
of England amid all her sacrifices and exertions. A contemporary
writer has thus expressed his view of the policy of France at this
period:--

"France, by engaging so heartily as she has done in the German
war, has drawn away so much of her attention and her revenue
from her navy that it enabled us to give such a blow to her
maritime strength as possibly she may never be able to recover.
Her engagement in the German war has likewise drawn her from the
defence of her colonies, by which means we have conquered some
of the most considerable she possessed. It has withdrawn her
from the protection of her trade, by which it is entirely
destroyed, while that of England has never, in the profoundest
peace, been in so flourishing a condition. So that, by embarking
in this German war, France has suffered herself to be undone, so
far as regards her particular and immediate quarrel with
England."

In the Seven Years' War France lost thirty-seven ships-of-the-line and
fifty-six frigates,--a force three times as numerous as the whole navy
of the United States at any time in the days of sailing-ships. "For
the first time since the Middle