ABSTRACT
William Pitt’s system of administration was simple and regular. At the beginning of each session he took the people into his confidence with the broad statement of his policy in the Kang’s Speech. This was in November or December. The American campaign of 1758 was the first for which Pitt was entirely responsible. He had come into office too late in 1756 to do more than forward to the best of his ability Loudoun’s vague projects for the capture of either Louisburg or Quebec. In the interval he had been collecting numerous suggestions from men who knew the country well. The loss of Minorca, Byng’s hesitations, Braddock and Monro’s defeats, the Black Hole of Calcutta, Closterseven, and the failures at Rochefort and Louisburg in 1757 had almost brought Englishmen to feel that the glories of Elizabeth’s, of Cromwell’s, and of the Great Deliverer’s days had gone never to return.
