ABSTRACT
The question of ending the war which had begun on the Monongahela in 1754 had been prominent in informed circles as early as 1759-1760, when the first serious bout of tentative negotiation had taken place between French and British representatives. The Earl of Morton advised Lord North and Lord Chancellor Hardwicke in 1760 that there was much to be said simply for a frontier of maximum military security which would push back New France to the northern side of the Great Lakes and cut decisively its direct links with Louisiana. Extirpation was his preferred solution, if necessary assisted by conscious attempts to infect his Indian enemies with the smallpox which had broken out in Fort Pitt. Alexander Hamilton had opposed Lord North's regime as late as 1770, with the classic aim of being bought off with office, which he was in 1771, when he became solicitor general.
