stationed, but there were apparently no traces of cultivation in the vicinity of either of those places. A feeble settlement. was found at Detroit, and one at Michilimackinac, surrounded by Indian villages. On the whole, however, it appears that west of Montreal there was nothing at this time which could be called a colony.

14. But let us turn from the valley of the St. Lawrence for a few moments, and bring forward the history of Acadia. have already seen how, in 1605, under the leadership of De Monts, the first permanent settlement was made in Nova Scotia. The settlement was named Port Royal, and the whole country, embracing New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the adjacent islands, was called Acadia. The settlement at Port Royal was invaded, in 1614, by Samuel Argall, under the authority of the colony of Virginia, and reduced, which completed the conquest of Acadia by the British. France made no complaint of Argall's aggression, beyond demanding the restoration of the prisoners, nor did Britain take any immediate measures for retaining her conquests. But, in 1621, Sir William Alexander, afterwards Earl of Stirling, obtained from the king, James I., a grant of Nova Scotia and the adjacent islands, and in 1625 the commission was renewed by Charles I., and extended so as to embrace all Canada and the northern portions of the United States.

15. In 1623 a vessel was despatched with settlers; but they found the whole country in the possession of the French, and were obliged to return to England without founding a settlement. In 1628, while the war with France was in progress, Sir David Kirk, who had been sent out for that purpose, succeeded in reducing Nova Scotia, and not only so, but in the following year, as we have seen, succeeded in the conquest of all Canada; but the whole country was restored to the French by the treaty of 1632. At this time the French court divided Nova Scotia between three individuals, La Tour, Denys, and Rozillai, and appointed the latter commander-in-chief of the colony. He was succeeded by Charnise, between whom and La Tour a quarrel arose, which caused great trouble. At length Charnise died, and the trouble was for a time suppressed by La Tour's marrying the widow of his enemy; but, not long after, a creditor of Charnise appeared, named La Bargne, and with an armed force endeavored to reduce Denys and La Tour. He overcame several important posts, and was marching against St. John when a formidable opposition put a stop to his con

quests. Cromwell had assumed the reins of government, and in 1654 England declared war against France, and despatched an expedition against Nova Scotia, which met with success, bringing the whole country under England. La Tour submitted to the new yoke, and, in connection with Sir Thomas Zemple, obtained a grant of the greater portion of the peninsula. Sir Thomas bought out La Tour soon after, and spent thirty thousand dollars in fortifications, which greatly improved the commerce of the country. But all his fair prospects were swept away by the treaty of Breda, in 1667, by which Nova Scotia was again ceded to France.

16. The French at once took possession of the colony, which as yet contained no very large settlements, the population in 1680 not exceeding nine hundred. The fisheries, the only profitable industry, were conducted by the English. The

forts were few and weak, and two of them were plundered by pirates. In this situation, when the war broke out in 1689, Acadia appeared an easy conquest, and the achievement of this was given to Massachusetts. "In May, 1690, Sir William Phipps, with seven hundred men, appeared before Port Royal, which soon surrendered; but he merely dismantled the fortress, and then left the country a prey to pirates. A French commander arriving in November of the following year, the country was reconquered simply by pulling down the English and hoisting the French flag. Soon after, the Bostonians, aroused by the depredations of the French and Indians on the frontiers, sent out a body of five hundred men, who soon regained the whole country, with the exception of one fort on the river St. John. Acadia now remained in the possession of the English until the treaty of Ryswick, in 1697, when it was again restored to France."

SIR WILLIAM PEPPERELL.

17. The peace of 1697 was soon followed by war. War was declared against France and Spain, and it was again

resolved to reduce Nova Scotia, and again the undertaking was intrusted to Massachusetts. This time the invading party was assured that what was gained by arms would not be sacrificed by treaty. "The first expedition, despatched in 1704, met with little resistance, but did little more than ravage the country. In 1707 a force of one thousand soldiers was sent against Port Royal; but the French commandant conducted the defence of the place with so much ability that the assailants were obliged to retire with considerable loss. In 1710 a much larger force, under the command of Gen. Nicholson, appeared before Port Royal; but the French commandant, having but a feeble garrison, and declining to attempt a resistance, obtained an honorable capitulation. Port Royal was now named Annapolis. From this period Nova Scotia has been permanently annexed to the British crown." Cape Breton, however, remained in the hands of the French.

18. But to return to Canada. Count Frontenac was succeeded by M. de Callières in the winter of 1698. The latter died in 1703, and was succeeded by the Marquis de Vaudreuil. There was now a return of peace, and consequently a return of prosperity. The governor set himself at work to develop the resources of the country, and to encourage education among the people. He also extended the fortifications of Quebec, and put Montreal in a better state of defence. Thus he employed himself till his death, in 1725. After a year, during which time. the government was administered by Baron de Lorguenil, he was succeeded by the Marquis de Beauharnois. "By order of the king, and with a view still further to counteract the efforts of the British traders, De Beauharnois strengthened the forts at Frontenac and Niagara. Governor Burnet, of New York (son of Bishop Burnet of England), resolved, in 1727, to neutralize the design of the marquis by erecting another fort, midway between Frontenac and Niagara, at Oswego. He also had an act passed by the Assembly of New York, subjecting any French trader to heavy loss who would supply the Iroquois with goods. As an act of retaliation the few English residents at Montreal were peremptorily exiled; and, contrary to existing treaties, the new French fort of St. Frederic was erected at Crown Point, on Lake Champlain, and a settlement formed there. With a view to punish the predatory acts of the western Indians, M. de Beauharnois, in 1728, despatched a large force to Chicago, by way of the river Ottawa, Lake Nipissing, and the French river. The expedition was highly successful, and penetrated within a

comparatively short distance of the upper Mississippi. Efforts were also more or less successfully made by French agents to detach the Iroquois from the English. As their territory lay between the English and French colonies, and formed a barrier between them, the Iroquois could act against either. It was, therefore, important for both colonies to secure either their coöperation, or their neutrality.”

19. The French made several inroads along the frontier line of Canada from Boston to Albany, and greatly harassed the English settlements. The heroic defence, by Sergeant Hawks, of one of the English posts against an attack from Crown Point by De Vaudreuil, called forth the admiration of both sides; while the barbarous treatment of the Keith family by the St. Francis Indians, at Hoosac, near Albany, caused a feeling of the deepest resentment. The colonists were roused, and each one vicd with the other in setting on foot an expedition for the conquest of Canada. Troops were promised from England; but, as they never came, the expedition had to be abandoned. At length the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, put an end to these desultory contests, and both countries restored the respective territories which had been taken by them during the war.

CHAPTER VIII.

CANADA AND ACADIA, FROM 1748 TO 1760.

1. THE Marquis de la Jonquière was appointed to succeed Beauharnois as Governor of Canada, but being captured on his way out, the Count de la Galissonnière was appointed in his stead, and administered the affairs for about two years; then the marquis, being released, took the reins. The latter was succeeded by the Marquis du Quesne, in 1752, and the latter again by the Marquis de Vaudreuil, in 1755. These several governments were marked by disturbances with the English colonists, which culminated during the administration of the latter in the final grand struggle in which Canada passed permanently into the hands of the English. Until that struggle came there was nothing very remarkable in the affairs of Canada. In Nova Scotia, in 1744, when war broke out again between France and England, the French

Governor of Cape Breton immediately attempted the conquest of Nova Scotia. He reduced Canso, and laid siege to Annapolis, but was unsuccessful. The English, on the contrary, succeeded in taking Louisburg, the then Gibraltar of America; but when peace was concluded, by the Treaty of Aixla-Chapelle, in 1748, the island of Cape Breton was restored to France. After this treaty Nova Scotia began to be the object of attention of England. The peninsula had hitherto been settled almost exclusively by the French. In order to introduce a greater proportion of English settlers, it was proposed to colonize in Nova Scotia a large number of the soldiers who had been discharged in consequence of the disbanding of the army; and in the latter part of June, 1749, a company of nearly four thousand adventurers of this class was added to the population of the colony. To every soldier were given fifty acres of land, with ten additional acres for every member of his family. Officers had a larger allowance, and every person above a captain received six hundred acres, with proportionate increase for the members of families. These settlers were conveyed free of expense, and furnished with ammunition, and with utensils for clearing their lands and erecting dwellings, and were maintained twelve months at the expense of the government.

2. The emigrants were landed at Chebucto Harbor, under the charge of the Hon. Edward Cornwallis, whom the king had appointed their governor. At this place they at once commenced the building of the town of Halifax, which was named in honor of the nobleman who had the greatest share in founding the colony. The place selected for the new town contained the advantages of one of the finest harbors in America. The colony was considered of so great importance to England that Parliament continued to make annual grants for it, which, in 1755, had amounted to the enormous sum of nearly two millions of dollars; but, although the English settlers were thus firmly established, they soon found themselves unpleasantly situated. The limits of Nova Scotia had never been defined, by the treaties between France and England, with sufficient clearness to prevent disputes about boundaries, and each party was now striving to obtain possession of a territory claimed by the other. The government of France contended that the British dominion, according to the treaty which ceded Nova Scotia, extended only over the present peninsula of the same name; while, according to the English, it extended over