[138] It is said the secret was kept until a member who performed family devotion at his lodgings, betrayed it by praying for the divine blessing on the attempt.
[139] Hutchison.
[140] The day before the armament sailed from Massachusetts, an express boat, which had been dispatched to admiral Warren to solicit assistance, returned with the unwelcome intelligence that he declined furnishing the aid required. This information could not arrest the expedition. Fortunately for its success, the orders from England soon afterwards reached the admiral, who immediately detached a part of his fleet; which he soon followed himself in the Superb, of sixty guns.
[141] Belknap. Hutchison.
[142] Hutchison. Belknap.
[143] Hutchison.
[144] Abbe Raynal.
[145] The following estimate is taken from "The History of the British empire in North America," and is there said to be an authentic account from the militia rolls, poll taxes, bills of mortality, returns from governors, and other authorities.
| The colonies of | Inhabitants. |
| Halifax and Lunenberg in Nova Scotia | 5,000 |
| New Hampshire | 30,000 |
| Massachusetts Bay | 220,000 |
| Rhode Island and Providence | 35,000 |
| Connecticut | 100,000 |
| New York | 100,000 |
| The Jerseys | 60,000 |
| Pennsylvania (then including Delaware) | 250,000 |
| Maryland | 85,000 |
| Virginia | 85,000 |
| North Carolina | 45,000 |
| South Carolina | 30,000 |
| Georgia | 6,000 |
| ---------- | |
| Total 1,051,000 |
The white inhabitants of the French colonies were thus estimated: