Shirley's part in it most clearly appears by following his
footsteps as he struggled to prevent the power which had
its seat there from engulfing New England and the rest of
the English colonies. To his mind the control of Louisburg
was necessary, when possible, as a matter of defense, — to
remove the menace to Nova Scotia and New England, to

'The statement of the General Evening Post of London after the
capture of Louisburg (quoted by Wood, The Logs of the Conquest
of Canada [Toronto, 1909], p. 59) that "The whole plan of the ex-
pedition was laid, or at least concerted, in New England . . ."
shows that it was generally understood at home at the time that plans
presented to the ministry by persons in England could have had but a
very indirect share in producing the expedition.
'Anything short of the taking of Louisburg would be essentially
defensive, and there is no indication that this was seriously con-
templated. Discretion allowing Commodore Warren to attack if con-
ditions were favorable was aside from the announced primary purpose
of his operations, which was the defense of Nova Scotia and other
British interests. Cf. Newcastle to Shirley, Jan. 3, 1745, Sh. Cor.,
vol. i, pp. 155-156-



230 WILLIAM SHIRLEY— A HISTORY

carry the frontier back to where it was before 1713. This
achieved, the war would become one between the English
ribbon of colonies along the seaboard and the old Canada
fringing the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes, with a
tempting opportunity for Britain's might to tip the scales.
