liiu 1 I OlIH I I nil I I IK I ■ ,Kn: |... Mil' ( f Utll. I (l llttt I Kin \ . ittti ;i li Mill I ^ IIIIK I >MI> I rliil. I mil I iiiiii 1 mil li I [inHUUIlVHl.tUlM i»t»MUmii"t' VHIMMIMItie I vv ft.'""" ■ fdnYyiitiiMi/ii. ri>niii' I numiitiHriiOi I iiciilii I JiimnmiUMUi IKIinii I: fJ«f((M' lIHII ll IIIM 1>" Mill 1; IMII ': mil \V."' \^ ,'AV,'. Mill %i- " Hill hiiii I* M riiii ^(i.ii '((lllll MIIIKI MIDI tllUMlHf' M' «""*" II I IMI'KI IIHII MM1I HUM IKKI MUM IIIIM ,', ','. t.' WSffll I n r < .11' ' [jiU(Mli"')lll il nil ' Oil' ^ .on 'V/„., '"•.' b,vv,\', iiiiii tllMK n I > 1 1 1 |i', .imniM nil [li.fHniHHiii • 1 1 1 1 1 1 M 1 1 I 11 1 11 1 \'. w kniiiiMiiiiiii II iMtrf uiVi'i'i'i'iViViVi '• I II iV'Vi JIM MiiiiMi'iviini 1 1 , 'Z- m REPORT THE PRINCIPAL FISIIEPJES THE AMERICAN SEAS PUEPARED FOR THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT OF THE UNITED STATES LORENZO SABINE, OF MASSACHUSETTS; SUnMITTED BY THE HON, THOXfAS CORWIIV, SECRETARY OF THE TREASUIiy, AS A PART OK Ills ANMJAI, RBPOKT ON THE FINANCES, AT THE SECOND SESSION OF THE TlflRTV-SECOND CONGRESS. WASHINGTON: ROBKRT ARMSTRONG, PRINTER. 1S53. o »v. Extract from the report of lion. Thomas Corwiv, Secretary of the Treasury. « "Treasury Department, January 15, 1853. " The subject of the fisheries being one of high hnportance, and having recently attracted great and general attention, I transmit herewith a highly interesting and valuable report pre- pared for tills Department by Lorenzo Sabine, esq., embracing — " 1. A report on the fisheries in the American seas of France, Spalu, and Portugal. "2. A report on the fisheries of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Prince Ed- ward's island, Magdelene islands. Bay of Chalenrs, Labrador, and New Brunswick. " 3. Report on the fisheries of the United States. " 4. Review of the controversy between the United States and Great Britain as to the intent and meaning of the first article of the convention of 1818." 72 .' J REPORT Off THE PRINCIPAL FISHERIES OF THE MERICAxN SEAS: BY LORENZO SABINE. Custom-house, Boston, Collector's Office, December 10, 1852. Sir : I transmit herewith a report on the fisheries, by Lorenzo Sabine, esq., whicli lie has prepared for the department. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, P. GREELY, Jr., Collector. Hon. Thomas Cokwin, Secretary of the Treasury, Washington, D. C. Framingham, December 6, 1S52. Sir : I submit herewith the report which I have prepared, in ac- cordance with 3^our instructions of the 2d of February last. More than twenty years have elapsed since I formed the design of writing a work on the American fisheries, and commenced collecting materials for the purpose. My intention embraced the whale fishery of our flag in distant seas; the fisheries of our own coasts, lakes, and rivers, as well as those which we prosecute within British jurisdiction, under treaty stipulations ; and the fisheries of the Indian tribes within the hmits of the United States. That a part of my plan has now been executed, is owing entirely to the interest and zeal which you have manifested in the undertaking. Our first intervi(!w upon the subject was caused by a communication to you from the Treasury Department, in which the Secretary con- veyed a request that a report of hmited size should be furnished fi-om your own office. During our conversation, you expressed a. desire to look over my collection of documents and state-papers, and they were accordingly deposited with you for examin;ition. On returning them to me, you were ple;ised to give a favorabh^ opinion of their vahie, and to say that you would at once suggest and recommend to Mr. Corwin the expediency of employing m(; to write a paper somewhat more elaborate than he had contemplated. Subscijuently, you announced to me that \\ir Secretary promptly adopted your views, and submitted the whole matter to your discrclion. 6 I undertook the task with all my heart, and with a determination to complete it, if possible, in a manner to meet the expectations of the department and of yourself. It is finished. Whatever the judgment pronounced upon it, T have still to express my grateful acknowledg- ments to Mr. Corwin for the kindness which has allowed the partial gratification of a long-cherished wish, and to you for the original sug- gestion, for your countenance, your sympathy, and your personal super- vision. If I may venture to hope that, as the result of my labors, an import- ant branch of national industry will hereafter be better understood and appreciated by such of our countrymen as have never devoted particu- lar attention to its history, I may venture to repeat that all commenda- tioa rightfully belongs to you. Nor^would. I forget that my thanks are also due to William A. Well- man, esq., your principal deputy collector, who, at our second inter- view, generously relinquished his own favorite plan of writing a report upon our cod and mackerel fisheries, and expressed a decided wish that the duty should be transfeiTcd to me, as well as his readiness to afford me all possible aid. His knowledge and experience have been of material assistance. I am indebted to him for important facts which were to be obtained of no other person, for information which has cor- rected my views and opinions in several particulars, and for statisti- cal matter of great value. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, LORENZO SABINE. Philip Greely, Jr., Esq., Collector of the Customs port of Boston and Charlestown. PART I. FRANCE, SPAIN, PORTUGAL COD-FISHERY OF FRANCE. The French were the first Europenn cod-fishers in the American seas. There is a tradition among the fishermen of Biscay that their countrymen visited Newloundland before the time of Columl^us. It is said, indeed, that the great discoverer was informed of the fact by a pilot who had been engaged in the enterprises. The story, improbable as it is, seems to have been treated with respect by some writers of the sixteenth century, but may be dismissed now as one which rests upon no clear and authentic testimony. But that the Newf()undland fisheries were known to the Biscayans and Normans as early as the year 1504, is quite certain. When Cabot discovered our continent, Europe, including England, was Cath- olic; and during the fasts of the church, the pickled herring of Holland was the principal food. The consumption of fish was immense;* and the Dutch, having enjoyed the monopoly of the supply, had become immensely rich. The knowledge communicated Iw Cabot and the voyagers who followed him, that the waters of America contained, not only an abundance, but many varieties of fish, gave rise to an excite- ment on the subject of fishing hardly less intense than is witnessed at the present lime relative to mining. Persons of the lligh(^^t rank, and not engaged in commercial pursuits, became shareholders in adventures to the new fishing-grounds. And though the Dutch refused to abandon the particular fishery by which they had obtained both wealth and ce- lebrity, vessels wearing the flags of France, England, Spain, and Portugal came annually in search of the cod — as we shall see — for nearly a "century before a single European colony was founded in America north of the ancient limits of the United States. Of the incidents of the French fishing voyage of 1504 I have not * Documents which show the immense consumption of fish are to be met with by thp students (if history everywhere. The following incidents, selected from ii number, will suffi- ciently illustrate the statement in the text: "The bill of fiire of the feast given on the inarri;ip;e of Henry IV to liis Qneen Joan, of Navarrc!, at Winchester, in 140;?, 'is yet in exist or no ve<.'<'tabl(!s ; so that, as ITuiim; says, ' tiiere camiot, be anythiiii; more erroneous than tli<< nia;'nificent ideas formed of the roust licrf of old Kiifrlaml.' Nf)r does it seem that 'my lord and lady' themsflves fared mueh better than their ' retainers,' since for ilieir breakfast they had ' a <|uart id' beer, as rnucli wine, lira pirrr.s of uti/l fish, sif rril hcrr'niirx, four irliitr. ours, mid a dish of sprats.' In !'",iii,diiMd, iu the same ciMilury, 'the (irsr dish br()ui,'hi to table on Ivister day waM ii rid herring riding' away on horseback;' that is, it was tlit; cook's duty to set this fish ' in curn sallad,' and make it look like a man riding on a horse." 8 been able to find any account; but there is mention, four years later, of Thomas Aubert, who came from Dieppe to Newfoundland, and who, previous to his return, explored the river St. Lawrence. We learn, further, that the fishery increased rapidly, and that, in 1517, quite fifty ships of different nations were employed in it. The flag of France was probably the most numerous, since, in 1527, an English captain at Newfoundland wrote to his sovereign, Henry VITI, that in the harbor of St. John alone he found fishing eleven sail of Norman and one Breton. Francis I, at this period, was engrossed by a passionate and unsuccessful rivalry with Charles V of Spain, and could hardly attend to so humble an interest. ''But Chabot, ad- miral of France, acquainted by his office with the fishermen, on whose vessels he levied some small exactions for his private emolu- ment, interested Francis in the design of exploring and colonizing the new world." Jacques Cartier,* of St. Malo, who was considered the best seaman of his day, was accordingly intrusted with the command of an expedition in 1534. The French appear to have had establishments on shore, for the purposes of the fishery, in 1540; but we have no certain information with regard to them. In 1577 they employed no less than one hundred and fifty vessels, and prosecuted the business with great vigor and success. After the accession of Henry IV — the first of the Bour- bons— and under the auspices of his illustrious minister. Sully, the New- foundland cod-fishery was placed under the protection of ihe govern- ment. Previous to 1609, so constant and regular was intercouise with our fishing-grounds that Scavalet, an old fisherman, had made forty voyages. Without statistics in the early part of the seventeenth century, we only know, generally, that there was a material decline in this distant branch of industry, caused, possibl}^ by the civil commotions at home. But in the year 1645, though the number of vessels employed was fifty less than in 1577, the fishermen of France were deemed by English writers to be formidable rivals of their own. Disputes and ^bloodshed had then occurred — precursors of long and distressing wars for the mastery of the fishing-grounds. Meantime the successes, the explorations, and the representations of the hardy adventurers to our waters for an article of food for the fast-days of the church had led to the most important political results. The limits of this report do not permit minute statements ; and I will cfnly remark that, when Cartier — already referred to — made his first voyage, the design of the French monarch was merely to found a single colony in the neighborhood of the fishing-banks, but that the informa- tion of the country communicated to Francis on the navigator's return, confirming as it did the descriptions of the fishermen of Normandy * Jacques Cartier was a native of St. Malo. Francis I sent him on liis first voyage in 15;J4. He made a second voyage in 1535; and, when ready to depart from France, he went to the cathedral, with his whole company, to receive the bishop's benediction. Many of his com- panions were yomig men of distinction. He came to the French pos.sessions in America a third time in 1540, as pilot, and in command of five ships, under Francois de la Eoque, lord of Eoberval, who, commissioned as governor of Canada, was intrusted with the supreme au- thority. Cartier published an account of Canada after his second voyage. 9 and Biitt,!im% inducrd a more extended plan, and the possession, for pennjuient colonization, of the vast region ti-oni which, alter the voyages and discoveric^s ot" l\)ntgTave, of Clianiplain, and others, were formed the colonies of Canada and Nova Sccjtia, and, in due time. Cape Breton. Thus it is historically true that France was directly indebted to her fisheries lor her possessions in America. The right to these possessions was soon disputed. In an age when kings claimed, each for himself, all the lauds and seas that his subjects saw or sailed over, and when charters and grants were framed in perfect ignorance of the domains which they transferred, almost in levity, to favorites, it could not but sometimes happen that the subjects of dilierent crowns received patents of precisely the same tracts of country, and that, on lines where French and English grants met, the boundaries were so vaguely and uncertainly described as to produce long and bitter contentions. Such, indeed, was the case to an extent to disturb the peace of the colonists of America for more than a century. As most of the contro- versies irom this source are connected with our subject, a notice ot them is indispensable. The first difficulties occurred in the country known for a long time as "Acadia," which may be described, generally, as embracing the .whole of the present colonies of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and Maine between the Kennebec and the St. Croix rivers. It is suffi- ciently definite for our purpose to say that this immense territory was claiuied by both crowns, and that the subjects of both — the one resting on the English grant to Sir Wilhain Alexander, and the other on the French patent to De Monts — settled upon it, and fished in its seas, as inclination led them. The treaty of St. Germains, in 1G32, hushed f )r a while the earlier disputes, since Charles I, who had married a French princess, re- signed by that instrument all the plajes in Canada, Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton occupied by persons who owed allegiance to him; yet, as the English people condemned the cession, and as neither lines nor limits w«re defined, new contentions arose, which, as we shall see, were terminated only with the extinction of French power in this hemi- sphere. In fact, historians of atknowledged authority consider the treaty of St. Germains as among the prominent causes of the American Revolution, inasmuch as the disputes to which it gave rise disturbed, finally, the relations between England and her thirteen colonies. Twenty-two years elapsed, and Cromwell, in a time of profound peace with France, took f<)rcible possession of Nova Scotia, claiming that its cession by Charles was fraudulent. He erected it into a colony, and organized a government. It was considered Inghly valuable, and Englishmen of rank aspired to become its proprietary lords fiom the moment of its acquisition. The French court r* inoiistratcd, wiilioin changing the purpose of the protector. But, after the restoration of llie Stuarts, and by tlu^ treaty of Breda, in 1607, this colony passed a second time to France.* Though * Edward Riindolph, the first collector of the customs of Boston, in a Narrative to tlie Lords of Trade and I'lanlatioiis, in H')7i'>, says that, "The Krcnch, upon tin- last treaty of jx-arc con- cluded betwcuu the two crowns of England and rrauco, had Nova Scotia, now called Acadie, 10 St. John, Port Royal, La Heve, Cape Sable, as well as Pentagaet or Penobscot, were specially named in the cession, the general bounda- ries were not mentioned, and the soil and the fishing-grounds were again the scenes of collisions, reprisals, and fierce quarrels. A third treaty — that of London — in 1686, confirmed the two powers in the possession of the American colonies respectively held at the com- mencement of hostilities, but left the extent and limits of all as unset- tled as before. Sagacious men in New England had now seen for years that the ex- pulsion of the French was the only measure that would secure peace in the prosecution of the fisheries, and they endeavored to enlist the sympathy and co-operation of the mother country. The war between France and England which followed the accession of William and Mary was no sooner proclaimed at Boston than the general court of Massachusetts commenced preparations for the conquest of Nova Scotia and Canada. Sir William Phips, who was born and bred among the fishermen of Maine, was intrusted with the command of an expedition against both. He reduced the first, and estabhshed a government; but his enterprise in the St. Lawrence was disastrous. It is of interest to add, that the first paper money emitted in America was issued by Massachusetts to defray the expenses of these military operations. At the peace of Ryswick, in 1697, it was stipulated that mutual res- titution should be made of all conquests during the war ; and, much to the dissatisfaction of the English colonists. Nova Scotia returned once more to the undisputed possession of the French. The strife in Amer- ica had been avowedly for the fisheries, and for territory north and west ; and this treaty, which, with the exception of the eastern half of Newfoundland, secured to France the whole coasts, the islands, and the fishing-grounds from Maine to beyond Labrador and Hudson's Bay, besides Canada and the valley of the Mississippi, was regarded as dishonorable to England and wantonly injurious to colonial industry and peace. The evil consequences of the treaty of Ryswick were soon manifest. A year had not elapsed before the French government promulgated a claim to the sole ownership of the fisheries. In 1698, a frigate bound from France to Nova Scotia furnished the master of a Massachusetts vessel with a translated order from the king, which authorized the seizure of all vessels not of the French flag that should be found fishing on the coast. General publicity of the order followed, and its execution was rigidly enforced. Bonaventure, in the ship-of-war Enviux, boarded and sent home every English colonial vessel that appeared on flelivered up to them, to the great discontent and murmuring of the government of Boston, that his Majestie, without their knowledge or consent, should part with a place so profitable to them, from whence they drew great quantities of beaver and other peltry, besides the fishing for cod. Nevertheless," he adds, "the people of Boston have continued a private trade with the French and Indians inhabiting those parts for beaver skins and other commodities, and have openly kept on their fishing upon the said coasts." He says further, that " Monsieur La Bourn, governor for the French king there, upon pre- tence of some affronts and injuries offered him by the government of Boston, did strictly inhibit the inhabitants any trade with the English, and moreover layd in imposition of four hundred codfish upon every vessel that should fish upon the coasts, and such as refused had their fish and provisions seized on and taken away." By the " Boston government," Randolph means the government of Massachusetts. 11 his crnisinc-oTounfl ; while Villnbon, o^overnor of Nova Scotin, in an olHcial (Irspak'h to the executive of Massnchus(Mts, declared that in- structions from his royal master demanded of him the seizure of every American lisherman that ventured cast of the Kenncbcck river, in Maine. The claim was monstrous. If I understand its extent, the only fisheries which were to be open and free to vessels of the English flag were those westerly ti^om the Kennebock to Cape Cod, and those of the west- ern half of Newfoundland. It seems never to have occurred to a single French statesman that the supply of fish in our seas is inexhaustible, and that, reserving certain and sufficient coasts for the exclusive use of their own people, other coasts might have been secured to their rivals, without injury to any, and with advantage to all. In fact, evidence that such a plan was suggested liy our fathers, or by the ministry "at home," docs not, I think, exist. On both sides the strife was for the monopoly and for the mastery. Richard, Earl Bellamont, arrived in Boston in 1699,* and, having assumed the administration of affairs in Massachusetts, pointedly re- ferred to these pretensions in a speech to the general court, and to the execrable treachery of the Stuart who had parted last with Nova Scotia and "the noble fishery on its coast." But his hndship could afford no redress. In the first J^ear of the reign of Queen Anne, the two nations were again involved in war. Among its causes was the claim of France to a part of Maine and to the whole of the fishing-grounds. The people of "New England, driven from the Acadian seas by the common enemy, needed no solicitation from the mother countr}^ to engage heartily in the contest. On the other hand, employing armed vessels of their own, they were hardly restrained, in their zeal and success, from hanging as common })irates some of the French officers who had been the in- struments of interrupting their pursuits in the fori)idden waters. Nor was this all. They attempted the conquest of Nova Scotia, and equipped a fleet at Boston. The enterprise failed. Promised ships from England three years later, but disappointed, a second expedition failed also. At last, in 1710, Nova Scotia became an English colony. Its reduc- tion was a duty assumed by the ministry, while, in truth, it was accom- plished principally by colonists and colonial resources. Of the force assembled at Boston, six ships and a corps of marines were, indeed, Bent from England; but the remainder, thirty vessels and four regi- ments, WT;re furnished by tli<^ four northern colonies. Strange it was that Anne, the last of her family who occuj)ied the throne, should have permanently annc^xed to the Englisli crown the cc^lony and the " noble fishery " which all of her hne had sported with so freely and so disas- trously. I have ])arely glanced at events which occupy hundreds of pages ot documentary and written history. Whoever has examined ihe trans- actions thus briefly noticed has ceased to wonder that the Stuarts were . * It WHS ii new th'uin to Reo a noblfnian at tlid liciul of tlm fjovcM-iimmit of Massnclmsotts, and h« WHS rrcf'iv(!(l with tht; gn^itcst rosix'ct. "Twenty (■oinpanii's of soldiers ami a vast ooncoursf of peoples iiirt his h)nls!ii|» and tho roimtc'ss, and there was fireworli and gowd driuk all night." IIo diod iu Now York in 1701. lie was an oncmy of tho IStuarls. 12 so odious in New England. I know of nothing more disgraceful to them, either as rulers or as private gentlemen, than their dealings with Sir William Alexander, their own original grantee of Nova Scotia, with the claimants under him, and with their subjects in America, who bled, reign after reign, and throughout their reigns, to rid themselves of the calamities entailed upon them by the treaty of St. Germains, and who, in the adjustment of European questions, were defrauded of the fruits of their exertions and sacrifices by the stipulations in the treaties of Breda of London, and Ryswick. The conquest of one French colony achieved, the ministry, yielding to importunities from America, projected an enterprise for the reduc- tion of Canada also — in which, as usual, the colonists were to bear a large share of the actual burdens. After unnecessary, even inexcusa- ble, delays on the part of those intrusted with the management of the affair in England, a fleet and a land force finally departed from Boston for the St. Lawrence. A more miserable termination to a military ope- ration of moment can hardly be found in history. " The whole de- sign," wrote the celebrated Lord Bolingbroke, "was formed by me ;" and he added, " I have a sort of paternal concern for the success of it." But how could he have thought "success" possible ? The general appointed to command the troops was known among his bottle-companions as ^'■honest Jack Hill,^^ and was pronounced by the Duke of Marlborough to be "good for nothing." The admiral was so ignorant — so inefficient generally — as to imagine that " the ice in the river at Quebec, freezing to the bottom, would bilge his vessels," and that, to avert so fearful a disaster to her Majesty's ships, he "must place them on dry ground, in frames and cradles, till the thaw !" He was spared the calamity of wintering in ice one hundred feet in thickness ! On the passage up the St. Lawrence, eight of his ships were wrecked, and eight hundred and eighty-four men drowned. But for this, said he, " ten or twelve thousand men must have been left to perish of cold and hunger : by the loss of a part. Providence saved all the rest." Of course, an expedition consisting of fifteen ships-of-war and forty transports, of troops fresh from the victoiies of Marlborough, and of colonists trained to the severities of a northern climate, and suflScient for the service, under such chiefs, accomplished nothing but a hasty departure. Peace was concluded in 1713. Down to this period the French fisheries had been more successful, probably, than those conducted by the English or the American colonists. Their own account is, indeed, that, at the opening of the century, their catch of codfish was equal to the supply of all continental or Catholic Europe. By the treaty of Utrecht, in the year just men- tioned, England obtained what she had so long contended lor, as her statesmen imagined — namely, a supremacy in, or monopoly of, the fisheries of our seas. On the coast of Nova Scotia, or Acadia, the French were utterly prohibited from approaching within thirty leagues, beginning at the Isle of Sable, and thence measuring southwesterly ; while the uncondi- tional right of England to the whole of Newfoundland, and to the Bay of Hudson and its borders, was formally acknowledged. 13 Yet, at Newfoundland, the privilege of fishing on a pnrt of the east- ern coast from Cape Bon;ivista to the; northern point, and thence ;dong the western shore as far as Point Richc, was granted to the subjects of Louis. It is to be observed that Enghind reserved tlic exclusive use of the fishing-grounds considered the best, and also the territorial juris- diction ; that the French were not permitted to settle on the soil, or erect any structures other than fishermen's huts and stages ; and that the old and well-understood method of fishing was to be continued with- out change. By one party this adjustment of a vexed question was deemed fa- vorable to England and just to France. But another party insisted that their rival, humbled by the terms of the peace in other respects, should have been recjuired in this to submit to her own'doctrines and to an unconditional exclusion from the American seas. The opponents of the treaty did not view the case fairly. The cession of Acadia was supposed to include the large island of Cape Breton ; and, this ad- mitted, the French were to be confined to a region from which their further, or at least considerable, interference with vessels wearing the English Hag was hardly possible : while, with regard to that very region, it should be recollected that, though England claimed New- foundland by the discovery of Cabot and the possession of Gilbert, no strenuous or long-continued opposition had been made, at any time, to all nations fishing, or even forming settlements, there; and that France was entitled to special consideration, inasmuch as her establishments for conducting the fishery had been held without interruption for more than half a century, and had been recognised at the peace of Ryswick. Besides, she had captured several English posts in addition, and, in fact, was in actual possession of a large part of the island and its val- uable appendages. The party in opposition assailed the ministry in terms of bitter de- nunciation. It was said that they "had been grossly imposed ujon," that they "had directly given to France all she wanted," and that the concessions were "universally and justly condemned." Such are some of the words of reproach tliat appear in an official report. In the po- litical ferocity of the time. Lord Oxford was impeached; and it is among the charges against him that, "in defiance of an express act of Parliament, as well as in contempt of the frequent and earnest repre- sentations of the merchants of Great Britain and of the conmiissioners of trade and plantations," he, Robert, Earl of Oxford, and Earl Morti- mer,* had advised his sovereign that "the subjects of France should have the liberty of fishing and tlrying fish in Newfoundland." * Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, and Earl Mortimer, a distinguished minister of state in the roiKii (if (/ufM'n Anne, was born in KHil. "After thf! peace of Utrecht, the tory statesmen, ha\iiiK nil l<>i)t;er ajjprehensionfi of duiiijer from abroad, began to quarrel amoiif,' ibeniselves and tlie two chiefs, Oxford and IJcdingliroke, especially, became personal and puliticjil foes.' 8oon alter the sucoeHsion of (uiorge 1, Oxford was impeached of high -treason by the Hous(i of Coinmoiis, and was committed to the Tower. The Didte of Murlbonnigh was among hia enemies. Holinghroke tied to the continent. Oxford was tried l)efoii' the House of Peers in 1717, and acipiilted of the f;iimes alleged against him. He was the friend of Pope, S\\i(t, and oilier literary nn-n of the time. Hi; died in 17'J.l. His son Kdward, the second Karl of Oxford, and Karl Mortinwr, was also a great ami liberal patron of literature and learned men, and completed the valuable collection of manuscripts which ho commenced, and which is now LQ the iJrilibh Museum. 14 Plis lordship was committed to the Tower, and tried for high treason; but such has been the advance of civiHzation and oi the doctrine of human brotherhood, that an act which was a flagrant crime in his own age has become one honorable to his memory. The great principle he thus maintained in disgrace, that the seas of British America are not lo be held by British subjects as a monopoly, and to the exclusion ol all other people, has never since been wholly disregarded by any British minister, and we may hope will ever now appear in British diplomacy to mark the progress of hberal principles and of "man's humanity to man." The loss of Nova Scotia caused but a temporary interruption of the French fisheries. Within a year of the ratification of the treaty ot Utrecht, fugitive fishermen of that colony and of Newfoundland settled on Cape Breton and resumed their business. I have remarked that, as the English understood the cession of Acadia, "according to its* ancient boundaries," this island was held to be a part of it. The French contended, on the other hand, that Acadia was a continental possession, and did not embrace, of course, an island sufficient of itseli^ to form a colony. The settlement and fortification of Cape Breton was- therefore undertaken immediately, as a government measure. Never ■■ has there been a better illustration of the facile character of the French people than is afforded by the case before us. Wasting no energies in useless regrets, but adapting themselves to the circumstances of their position, they recovered trom their losses with ease and rapidity. In 1721 their fleet of fishing-vessels was larger than at any former period, and is said to have been quite four hundred. Reference to the map will show that Cape Breton and Nova Scotia are divided by a narrow strait. The meeting of vessels of the two flags was unavoidable. The revival of old grudges, collisions, and quarrels, was certain ; but no serious difficulties appear to have occurred pre- vious to 1734. In 1744, England and France were still again involved in war. Among the earliest hostile deeds were the surprise of the English gar- rison at Canseau, Nova Scotia, and the destruction of the buildings, the fort, and the fishery there, by a force from Cape Breton, and the cap- ture at Newfoundland of a French ship, laden with one hundred and fifty tons of dried codfish, by a privateer belonging to Boston. These, however, are incidents of no moment, and may be disposed of in a word. The French fisheries had continued prosperous. They excited envy and alarm. Accounts which are considered authentic, but which I am compelled to regard as somewhat exaggerated, show that they employed nearly six hundred vessels and upwards of twenty-seven thousand men; and that the annual produce was almost a million and a half quintals offish, of the value of more than four and a half millions of dollars.. More than all else, the fishery at Cape Breton was held to be in viola- lion of the treaty of Utrecht; for, as has been said, that island was in the never-yet-defined country, Acadia. Robert Auchmuty,* an eminent lawyer of Boston, and judge of the *Robert Auchmuty was of Scottish descent, but was educated at Dublin. He came to Bos- ton when young, and was appointed judgo of the court of admiralty in 1703. In 1740, he was a director of the "Laud Bank," or bubble, which involved the father of Samuel Adams and. 15 cnurt of admiralty, when sent to Englind as agent of Massachusetts on the question of the Rhode Island boundary, published a pamphlet entitled "Tlie importance of Caj)e Breton to the Britisli nation, and a plan {()r taking the j)lace," in which he demonstrated that its conquest would put the English in sole possession of the fisheri(>s ot" North Amer- ica; would give the colonies abihty to purchase manuliiclures of" the mother country of the value of ten millions of dollars annually; would employ many thousand families then earning nothing ; increase English mariners and shipping; cut off all communication between France and Canada by the river St. Lawrence, so that, in the fall of Quebec, the French would be driven from the continent; and, finally, open a coitcs- pondence with the remote Indian tribes, and transfer the fur trade to Anglo-Scixon hands. All this was to follow the reduction and possession of a cold, distant, and inhospitable island. Such was the sentiment of the time. In 1745, the conquest of Cape Breton was undertaken. Viewed as a military enterprise, its capture is the most remarkable event in our colonial history. Several colonies south of New England were invited to join the expedition, but none would consent to waste life in a project so mad; and Franklin, forgetting that he was "Boston-born," ridiculed it in one of the wittiest letters he ever wrote. In Massachusetts, and elsewhere at the North, men enlisted as in a crusade. Whitefield made a recruiting house of the sanctuary. To show how the images in the Catholic churches were to be hewn down, axes were brandished and borne about; and, while Puritanism aimed to strike a blow at Catholi- cisu), the concerns of the present life were not forgotten. Fishermen panted for revenge on those who had insulted them and driven them from the fishing-grounds. INIerchants, with Auchmuty's pamphlet in their hands, thought of the increased sale and the enhanced price of New England fish in foreign markets. Military officers who had served in Nova Scotia in the previf)us war were ambitious of further distinction and preferment. Such were the motives. WiUiam Vaughan, who was extensively engaged in the fisheries, and whose home was near Pemaquid, in Maine, claimed that, while listen- ing to the tales of some of his ow^n fishermen, he conceived the design of" the expedition. Governor Shirley,* of Massachusetts, embraced his plans, and submitted them to the general court. By this body they were rejected. Renewed by the governor, and insisted upon l)y the merchants, they were finally adopted by the vote of the speaker, who had acted previously in opposition.! many others in ruin. H« was sent to Eiinlaiid on important serviee, and, while there, pro- jected an expedition to Capo IJreton. After Ids return, he was ai)p(>inted judge of admiralty a Bocond time. He died in J?.')!). His son, Samuel, a jjraduate of Harvard University, was an Kpiscopal minister in New York; and his grand.son. Sir Samuel Auehmufy, a lieutenant general in the IJritish army, and died in IriXi^. The Auelimutys of the revolutioiuiry era ad- hered tit the side of the erown. * William Shirhry, (lovernor of Massaohusetts, was a native of England, and was bred to the law. He came, to IJostoii about the year I7;i;{, and was aj>pointed governor in 1741. In 1755, he was eommander-in-eidef of tht- Hritish forces in Ameriea. He died in Jio.xhury, Mas- sachusetts, in 1771. t Mr. Oliver, a Hoaton member, broke his leg on his way to the house, and was not present. His vote woulil have caused the rejectitiii of the plan a s»(cond time. The memliers dclibor- a:cd under the first oath of secrecy administered to a legislative assembly iii Auiciica. 16 Instantly Boston became the scene of busy preparation. William l^cpperell, of Kittery, in Maine, and the son of a fisherman of the Isles of Shoals, assumed command of the expedition. The merchants of Boston furnished a large part of the armed vessels and transports. The fishermen of Plymouth were the first troops to arrive. Those of Marblehead and Gloucester, and those who had been em- ployed by Pepperell and Vaughan, followed in rapid succession. Lumberers, mechanics, and husbandmen completed the force. Louisbourg was the point of attack; for Cape Breton would fall with its capital without another blow. This city was named in honor of the king. Twenty-five years and thirty millions of livres were re- quired to complete it. Its walls were built of bricks brought from France. More than two hundred pieces of cannon were mounted to defend it. So ereat was its strenoth that it was called the "Dunkirk of America." It had nunneries and palaces, terraces and gardens. That such a city rose upon a lone, desolate isle, in the infancy of American colonization, appears incredible. Explanation is alone found in the fishing enthusiasm of the period. The fleet sailed from Boston in March. Singular to remark, of a military order, Shirley's instructions required an ample supply of cod- L'nes for use on the passage, so that the troops might be fed, as much as possible, on the products of the sea. A more undisciplined and disorderly body of men never disem- barked to attempt the reduction of a walled city. The squadron com- manded by Warren, and ordered by the ministry to co-operate with Pepperell, arrived in time to share in the perils and honors of the siege. The colonial fleet and the ships of the royal navy kept up a close blockade. The colonists on shore, without a regular encampment, lodged in huts built of turf and bushes. With straps across their' shoulders, they dragged cannon in sledges over morasses impassable with wheels. Making jest of military subordination, they fired at marks, they fished and tbwled, wrestled and raced, and chased after balls shot from the French guns. Badly sheltered, and exhausted by toil in mud and water, and by exposure in a cold and foggy chmatej fifteen hundred became sick and unfit for duty. Still the siege was conducted with surpassing energy, with some skill, and courage seldom equalled. Nine thousand cannon-balls and six hundred bombs were discharged bv the assailants. The French commander submitted on the fjrty-ninth day of the investment. The victors entered the " Dun- kirk of the western world" amazed at their own achievement. A single day's delay in the surrender might have resulted in discom- fiture and defeat, and in extensive mortal sickness, since, within a few hours of the capitulation, a storm of rain set in, which, in the ten days it continued, flooded the camp-ground and beat down the huts which the colonists abandoned for quarters within the walls. Pepperell and his companions were the most fortunate of men. Even after the fall of the city, the French flag (which was kept flying as a decoy) lured within their grasp ships with cargoes of merchandise worth more than a million of dollars. The exploit was commended in the highest and loftiest terms. Even thirty years afterwards, Mr. Hart- 17 Iry* said, in the House of Commons, that the colonists " took Louishourg from the French single-handed, without any European assistance — as cnettled an enterprise as any in our history — an everlasting memorial to the zeal, courage, and perseverance of the troops of New Englan(l."t These are the mere outlines of the accounts ot" this extraordinary affair.l Several of our books of history contain full details; but the correspoudence of Shirley, Pepperell, and Warren, which is i)reserved in the Collections of the Historical Society of Massachusetts, as well as tlic letters and narratives of subordinate actors, should be read in con- nexion. A centur}' has elapsed. With the present condition of Cape Breton in view, we almost imagine that we hold in our hands books of fiction ra'ther than the records of the real, when we read, as we do in Smol- let, that the conquest of Louisbourg was " the most important achievement of the tear of 1744 ;" in the Universal History, that " New Evghind gave ]ience to Europe by raising, arming, and transporting four thousand men," whose success ^^ proved an equivaJeiit for all the successes of the French upoji the continent ;''^ and in Lord Chesterfield, that, "in the end it produced peace," and that the noble duke at the head of the ad- miralty declared that, " if France teas master of Portsmouth, he would hang (he men iclio should give Cape Breton iti eichavgey The peace of Aix la Chapelle, in 174S, w^as dishonora1)le to England at home and in her colonies. Of the adjustment of the questions which relate to our subject, I may remark, that she not only restored Cape Breton to France, and submitted to the humiliating condition of send- ing two persons of rank and distinction to reside in that kingdom as hostages until that island and other conquests should be actually sur- rendered, but consented also to omit all mention of the ris^ht of Enijlish sul)]ects to navigate the American seas without being liable to search and molestation, though that pretension on the part of the French was one of the original causes of the war, as well as the basis of the attacks made on Walpole's ministry. The results of the peace to England were an immense debt, the barren glory of supporting the German sovereignty of Maria Theresa, and the aUenation of the affections of * He was one of the British commissioners of peace in 1783. t Hor.'ico Wiilpdlc calls 8ir rctcr Warren "the couijucror of Cape Breton," and says that he was " rielier than Anson, and absurd as Vernon." Walpole also quotes a remark of Marshal Belleisle, wJHi, wln-n he was told of the taking of Cape lireton, said, " he could beiievi- that, because the niinisrry liaw England on board of the ships-of-war, that her merchants were compelled to navigate theii- own vessels with In- dians and negroes. JNIore than four hundred privateers were fitted out during the contest to ravage the French West Indies and distress the commerce of France in all parts of the world ; and it was asserted in the House of Commons, without contradiction, that, of the seamen emploj'ed in the British navj'-, ten thousand were natives of America. For the attack on Louisbourg and Quebec alone, the number furnished by the single colon\^ of Massachusetts was five hundred, besides the fishermen who were impressed. t A single example of the pecuniary burdens of those who personally bore no part in hostile deeds will suffice.^ A Boston gentleman of fortune sent one of his tax-bills to a friend in London for his opinion, and received for answer that "he did not believe there was a man in all England who prdd so much, in pro- * It may be said that Great Critaiii has liardly had a moment's quiet with Canada since the day when Wolfe rose from a sick bed to '•(Yw happy" in planting her flag on the walls of Queliec. We cannot stop to trace the reasdus for this state of things, hut must conthie our remarks to the course of events immediately ibllnwing tlie conquest. After the fall of Quebec and the reduction of the entire country, but before the final cession, there arose an exciting controversy among some of the leading statesmen of the time, whether Canada shoidd be re- tained or restored to France, and the island of CTuadalouj)e be added to the British domhiionsin its sread. There seems to havebeena prevalent fear that, if Canada were kept, the cohmies, rid of all apprehensions from the French, woidd increase at an alarming rate, and finally throw ofl" their dependence on the mother comitry. A tract was published in support of this view, sup- posed to have l)een written either by Edmund or AVilliam Burke, to which Franklin re])lied in his happiest and ablest manner. Fi'aiiklin's answer, in the judgment of Mr. Spai'ks, '-was be- lieved to have had great weiglit in the ministerial councils, and to have been mainly instru- mental in causing Canada to be held at the peace." In the course of the dispute, the cliarge was openly made that the treaty of peace which re- Btored to France the conquests of Bellisle, Goree, Gaudaloupe, St. Lucia, Martiniqiu', and Ha- vami, which guarantied t« her people the nse of the Newfoundland fishery, and vhun re- tained an acquisition of so doubtful value as Cauiida, was the restilt of corrupt bargaining. Lord St. A'incenf (a great naval captain, and hardly inferior to Nelson) whs of the opiinon, even in 17H:?, that Canada ought not (o lie retained by England. Lord Brougham, in his his- tut dlHiculiy, in eitlier keeping or resiuuins; if, will everatter be known.' " This remarkable pi-ediction liius been fullilled, as every one who is (iimiliar with Canadian af- t'lir.s wWl mliiih. t "Tlie Massachusetts forces," in IT')!*, says Iluieliinson, "were of great service. Twenty- five hundred served in garrison at Louisbourg and Nova Scotia, in the room of the regular tro(q)s taken from thence to serve under General \\'fuse, but merely to connect with stipulations relative to Dunkirk; and that the island of St. Peter would be ceded to France upon four indispensable conditions: first, that the island should not be fortified, or troops be stationed upon it, under any pretext whatever; second, that, denying the vessels of other nations all rights even of shelter, France should use the island and its harbor for her own fisher- men alone; third, that the possession of the island should not be deemed to extend in any manner the stipulations of the treaty of Utrecht — that is to sa}', "^ loco Cap Donavista non cvj/aio usque ad extremitatcm (jnadcm insula; septentrtonalcm, ind'iquc at latus acchlmtale recurrcndo vsque ad locum Pointe Ric/ie apjicllad/m''^ — [From the place called Cape Bonavista to the northern extremity of the said island, and thence running westerly to the place denominated Point lliche;] fourth, that an English commissary should be allowed to reside at St. Peter, and the commander of the British ships-ot-war on the New- foundland station have liberty, from time to time, to visit the island, to see that these f()ur conditions be duly observed. With thesr; propositions tlie French ministry were dissatisfied. They desired rights of fishing in the Culf of St. Lawrence, while, with regard to the cession of St. Peter, they remarked that it was so small and so near Placentia, that, as a shelier, it would prove altog(;th(!r illusive, and serve to create disputes between the two nations, rather than facili- tate the fishery of the French subj(!cts; and they referred to the cession of Cape Breton, or of the island of St. John, as at first suggested, but expressed a willingness to accept of Canseau instead of either. Still, if the British ministry, for reasons unknown to them, could not agree t<-> thf; cessicjn of Canseau, then th(;y subnjiltcd that Mi(piek)n, an island, or, as they considered, a part of St, INier, should be inchuhHl in the cession of the last-named island, for the two joined togciher did not exceed three leagues in extent. They said also that thi>y would main- tain no military establishment at either of the places menlioned, except a gu;irn to support j)olice regulations ; and that, as nuich as possible with so weak a force, ihev would pr(;vent all f()r<'igu v(\ot-war carried intelligence to Enghind thattliey had a very fonnidnble naval force at Newfoundland ; that they intended to erect strong ibrtifications on St. Peter's; and that the English commodore on the station was without force sufficient to prevent the consummation of their plans. The party opposed to the ministry ])ronouRccxi a war with France to be inevitnble, unl(\ss the British government were disposed to surrender both Newtbundlimd and Canada. The alarm — which illustrates the spirit of the time, and the sensibility of the English people — proved to be without cause, since the French governor gave assurances that nothing had been or would be done ( ontrarj'- to the letter of the treaty; that he had but a single small cannon mounted, without a platform, designed merely to answer signals to their fishermen in foggy weather ; that no buildings or works had been erected ; and that his guard consisted of only forty-seven men. It appeared, however, that the French navnl force was considerable, oon-sisting of one ship of fift}^ guns, another of twenty-six guns, and others of smaller rates. Rem;u"king tliat the French employed at Newfoundland two hundred and fifty-nine vessels in 17GS, and about the same number five j'^ears later, we come to the war of our own Revolution. To induce France to aid us in the struggle, our envoys were authorized, in 1776, to stipulate that all tlie trade between the United States and the French West Indies should be carried on cither in French or American vessels: and lliey v/ere specially instructed to assure his Most Christian Majesty, that if, by their joint eHbrts, the British should be excluded from any share in tlie cod-fisheries of America by the reduction of the islands of New- (^)undland and Cape Brc^ton, and ships-of-war should be furnished, at tljc expense of the United States, to reduce Nova Scotia, the fisheries should be enjoyed e(|ually l)etween them, to tlie exclu>:''"i of all other nations ; and that one-half of Newfoundland should l^elong to France, and the other half, with Cape Breton and Nova Scotia, to the United States. We may smile at — we can hardlv commend — ourfatlun-s for claiming so large a share as this notabh^ scljcme devised; but the spirit which conceived and was prepared to execute so grand an enterprise, addi- tional to the main purposes of their strife with the mother country, is to be placed in strong contrast with the indiffiin-ence manifested now about preserving our rights in the domains which they thus designed to coruiuer. In 1778, the project was renewed, in tin- instruclions to Franklin, he was directed to urg(5 nj)f)n the French c(»urt the certainty of ruining ihe British fisheries on the Banks of Newfoiuidland, and conseo I'Mitly the British marine, by reducing Haliliix and (Quebec. Acc( iT-p-^-'yi'ig his instructions was a plan f()r capluiing these places, in which the benefits of their aciiuisitiotj to France and the United Stales were dis- tinctly pointed wood necessary for the repair of their scatibjds, hilts, and fishing-vessels. The 13th article of the treaty of Utrecht, and the method of carrying on the fishery which has at ail times been acknowledged, shall be the plan upon which the fisheiy shall be carried on there. It shall noi he deviated from by either party — the French fishermen building only their scall()l(ls, confining themselves lo th(* rej);! r of their fisliing-v(\ssels, and not wintering there; tlw^ sul)j(H-t3 of his I litanu'e Majesty, on their part, not niolesliiig, in any manner, the Fren h lis ermcn during their fishing, nor injuring their scallolds during their absence. The Kingof (Jreat Britain, in ceding the islands 26 of St. Pierre and Miquelon to France, regards them as ceded for the purpose of serving as a real shelter to the French fishermen, and in fiill confidence tluit these possessions will not become an object of jealousy between the two nations, and that the fishery between the said islands and that of Newfoundland shall be limited to the middle of the channel." In the " counter declaration" on the part of France, it is said that — " Tlie King of Great Britain undoubiedly places too much confidence in the uprighTness of his Majesty's intentions not to rely upon his con- stant attention to prevent the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon from becoming an object of jealousy between the two nations. As to the fishery on the coasts of Newrbundland, which has been the object of the new arrangements settled by the two sovereigns upon this matter, it is sufficiently ascertained by the 5th article of the treaty of peace signed this day, and by the declaration likewise delivered this day by his Britannic Majesty's ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary; and his Majesty declares that he is fully satisfied on this head. In re- gard to the fishery between the island of Newtbundland and those of St. Pierre and Miquelon, it is not to be carried on, by either party, but to the middle of the chaimel; and his Majesty will give the most posi- tive orders that the French fishermen shall not go beyond this line. His Majesty is firmly persuaded that the King of Great Britain wiU give like orders to the English fishermen." The fishery at St. Pierre and Miquelon, at the period of the French revolution, was in a prosperous condition; but the confusion and distresses of civil war soon produced a disastrous change, and the fishing-grounds were in a great degree abandoned itjr several years. In 1792, the number of men employed both at Newfoundland and Iceland was less than thirty-four hundred. The hostile relations with England which followed the domestic commotions caused additional misfortunes, until the peace of Amiens, in 1802.* In the year 1800, by a treaty between the United States and France, concluded at Paris, it was stipulated that "neither party will interfere with the fisheries of the other on its coasts, nor disturb the other in the exercise of its rights which it now holds, or may acquire, on the coast of Newfoundland, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, or elsewhere on the American coast northward of the United States. But the whale and seal fisheries shall be free to both in every quarter of the world." Napoleon, at this time, was "premier consul of the French republic." The French cod-fishery at Newfoundland was hardly re-estabhshed at the peace of Amiens, when renewed hostilities with England occa- sioned fresh calamities. Until the downfill of Napoleon, in 1814, this branch of distant industry was pursued without vigor, and with severe losses. * The fishing privileges wliich were contiuued to France were again the subject of complaint at the peace of Amiens. The Eight Hon. "William "Windham, in a speech in rarliament, Novem- ber 4, 1801 , said that, by the terms of the proposed peace, " France gives nothing, and, excepting Trinidad and Ceylou, England gives everythmg;" and in the enumeration of cessions which " tended ouly to coutirm more and more the deep despair in which he was plunged in con- templating the probable consequences of the present treaty," he mentioned, "in North America, St. Pierre and Miquelon, with a right to the fisheries in the fullest extent to which eaey were ever claimed." 27 At the peace, a deputation of English merclmnts and others con- nected with Newfoundland entreated their government to refuse to France continued rights of fishing allowed under the; treaties of 1713, of 17G;], and of 178^3. But the British ininistry, aside from general considerations, regarded the restoration of the Bourhons as an event of momentous consequence to Europe, and confirmed to France all her i()reign possessions exactly as they stood at the commencement of the war. The Newfoundland colf)nists have never ceased to complain of the renewed compelliiou which this policy required them to meet. They contend that, whatcn^er was the opinion in 17S:j, the; fishing-gi-ounds along the shores irom Cape Ray to Cape John, which are enjtjyed by the French to the exclusion of all others, are, in the judgment of every person competent to decide, the very best at Newfoundland; and they further insist, by reason of the advantages possessed by France and the United States, that the English deep-sea, fishery has been aban- doned. These and similar statements are to be found in oflicial papers and in private letters, and are never omitted by the colonists in their convei^ations on the subject of their fisheries. It may not be unkind to reply that the French and x\m(Mican fisher- men are industrious, and that there need be no other explanation of ttieir success. The insertion here of the thirteenth article of the treaty of Paris in 1S14 is not necessary. As already intimated, the French were con- firmed in the rights which they possessed previous to the war. The el Ifay and • 'ajK^ John, should be computed at twenty-live thousand. MMk re is the same authority fijr estimating the animal catch of fish at one mil- lion of quintals. I regard the views of M. D. L. KodiM, of Paris, as far more accu- rate. He states that, ^^ without her colonics,'''' the cod-lishery would ^'■be- come vcarhj cjtinctf that thest^ colonies "o«/^ conaunu: unnuaUij ciishfij ihou.vrntl (/n/ntdls;'' that f()r(!ign nations ^^ scarcely tu/cc a Ji/ih^^ of the catch; and that "it is by sui)milliiig to the exorbitant duties, which at 28 any moment may be changed into prohibition, that the precarious and trilling market in Spain is retained." A very large proportion, then, of the produce of the cod-fishery is consumed in France ; and it is a sufficient refutation of the estimate of the English colonists to say that the qunntity remaining after deducting the exports, as computed by M. Rodet, is not wanted in that kingdom. The number of vessels since the peace of 1815 has not exceeded four hundred, except in the single year of 1829; and, assuming that the statement in discussion is correct, these vessels employed an average of sixty men each, or double the number which, as all persons familiar with the business well know, is necessary on board as fishermen, or on shore as "shoresmen." The same fallacy exists as to the catch; for a million of quintals for four hundred vessels is twenty-five hundred quintals to each, or considerably more than double the mean quantity caught by the vessels of any flag in the world. To allow liberally for the catch of the "boat fishery," and to consider "boat fishermen" as included in the estimate, 1 cannot think that the figures of the English colonial documents are accurate by quite one-half. Tf further evidence of exaggeration be wanted, it may be found in the grave assertions of the same writers that our own vessels fishing in the waters of British America are manned with upwards of thirty-seven thousand men, and catch in a year one and a half millions of quintals of fish ! The statements thus refiited are of consequence, as will be seen in another part of this report. Equally exaggerated are the averments that the French and Ameri- can fisheries, "bolstered up by bounties and prohibitions," have "as completely swept" the English flag from the Grand Bank of New- foundland "as if Lord Castlereagh had conceded the exclusive right" in. 1814, or as if the "combined fleets of France and America had forced it" to retreat to "the in-shore or boat fishery;" and that the "French and Americans, having taken possession of the Grand Bank," have, by so doing, " extended lines of circumvallation and contravalla- tion round the island, preventing the ingress or egress of fish to and from the shore, and, according to the opinions of those best qualified to judge, greatly injuring the in-shore -^fishery — the only fishery left to British subjects, and that only to a portion of the island." Deferring a full answer to these complaints until the subject of colo- nial allegations relative to our own aggressions and violations of our treaty rights are considered in detail, the only answer necessary to be made here is, simply, that the "ingress" and " egress of fish to and from the shore" has 7iot eiitirdy ceased, as yet, since the export of codfish from the English Newfoundland fishery amounts to nearly one million of quintak annually! The lamentations of a people who, though "com- pletely swept" from their own outer fishing-grounds, still show, by their own returns of the customs, that they have sold, between 1841 and 1849, both inclusive, a mean quantity of nine hundred and sixty-seven tkoum,nd quintals (to be exact in the statistics) annually, may well excite a smile. That the charge against the French fishermen of trespassing upon the fishing-grounds reserved to British subjects is true, to a considera- ble degree, may be admitted. Her Majesty's ships-of-war have some- 29 times found tlicin ngyrcssors, not only n.t NewKjiindLind, bnt on tiie coast of Labiador. Troubles iVoni this source occurred in 1842; and in the following year the British sloop-of-war Electra, in endeavoring to drive oft' a vessel fishing on the southwesterly shore of Newt()und- land, unfortunately killed one man and wounded others on board of her. It apj)ears that the Klcctra was on the station l()r the purpose of enforcing the treaty stipulations; that one of her Iwats ga.ve cFiase to the French vessel, and, not being able to come up with her, fired across her bows for the purpose of bringing her to; that, not having accom- plished this object, another sliot was fired over her, which, proving as iuollcctual as the first, was followed, by order of the officer in charge, bv a shot aimed dirix'tly on l)oard, and producing the results mentioned. The aftiiir cre;itcd much excitement at the moment. A french frigate arrived at the capital to demand explanations, and the governor of Newfoundland immediately sent a despatch to the ministry "at home," stating the facts of the case. The oflence, in this instance, consisted merely in taking bait on the shore not within the limits prescribed for vessels of the French flag by the treaties of 1713 and of 17S3. Tlie officer in command of the Electra's boat is said, by the colonists, to have acted in accordance with the rules of the service; but a contrary opinion was expressed by the French.* The "Bultow" system of fishing is clearly in vioLition of treaty stipulations. Prior to the peace of IS 15, there is good reason to believe ihat both French and English fislied from the decks of their vessels, witiiout coming to anchor, and without lines moored with several thou- sand baited hooks attached thereto, as at present. There is much dif^ fi-rence of opinion as to the degree of injury to the shore, or English fishery, on this account; but since the question is one to be settled entire!}- by the "declaration" in 1783 — nan^ely, that "the method of * The French fishermen suffered ranch at the hnnds of the British officers who guarded the CoasfK in IHo'i. A colonial ncvspiiper coiitaiiicd tlic followinij; uccount: "It appears that the Chaiirs, undtT the coniinand of James Tobin, esq., commissioner of fisheries, has been doiiif; service at IJelleisle, where, oiitlie 2'Mh ultimo, there were about one himdred l->eiicli tislieniien, wirli about liiiity batteaiix, who v.ere just eoiunieiiciiiir iheir an- luiiil invasion (jf J'ritish ri<,']its. Mr. Tobiii immediately ran down to H. M. briu !>a]ii)li() to ob- tttiii help, as James Finlay had not then arrived with liis crew. His niessen<;tu" had to travel seven nales over land on the nii,'ht of that day, and by half-past eleven of tho same ni;;ht re- turned with an intimation from Capt. Cochran that he woidd laud the re(piired force by day- liilht on the fidlowin<; day in IMaek Joe Cove, whither Mr. Tobin then proceeded witli tho Charles, and found that the Frenchmen had been already routed by the nieu of the Sa]iplio, and were runnin*,' in theii- batteaux under reefed foresail and mainsail — ilie «ind )>lowiu!,' half a Ljale at the time. The (,'liarles escorted them round tlie island of I'.ellcisle, and then lelt them, without one fish, to make tin; bt!st of ihrir w;iy in a ]>cltiu<,' slonn to l^uirpon.'' Near the (dose of the season, another c(doiiiid lu'^spajter stated that — "The Viiiilance brip-of-war vessel, on the coast td" Newfoundland, has dan)!ij;ed the Frtnwh fisheries veiTimudi. Fifly vessels of tlie fleet in the straits of IJelleisle will return home, having «»ii.dify thousand c|iiintals short of last year's cat(di." 'J'lii-si- proceeding's, it Would seem, were authorized I'V the ministry, under the general plan adopted in Irf.Vi to ])reveut encroiudnnents on the lishin^'-grounds. Adiidral Se_\mour, inn letter to (In- t;ovenior id' Newfoundland, remarks that — "Her M.'ijesty's t'overnmenf tire so desirous iti.it ample meiins should be niveii to clwck tho numerous rneroaeliments which have been represi'iited to hiive taken place iu the last years at Kcllei: season has p.isscd ;i\\ av. Towards tiie close of Sc|)l(iiib(r, fishing is suspt-nch d, and ihe vessels depart ff)r France (tr the West Indies. 'J'Ik' (irand Bank fishery is pursued in vessels of between one and two liiuirlrefl tons l)urden, with Iwo strong chaloupes, or boats, to each. I'Vom sixteen to twenty men compose a crew. TIk; vessels proceed first to k^t. Fieri e, land the shorc-IJshermen and "curcrs," autl thcnco a2 take position on the banks, anclioring in seventy or eight}' fathoms of water. Everything in readiness the chaloupes are launched and sent out at night to pkice the "ground-lines," to which are attached some four or live thousand hooks. When not too boisterous, these lines are examined every day, and the fish attached to the hooks split, salted, and placed in the hold of the vessel. Meanwhile, the fish caught on board by the men not assigned to the boats are treated in the same way. The first fare is usually secured in June, and carried to St. Pierre to be dried. The second fare is cured at the same place ; but the third — if fortunately there be another — is commonly carried to France "green." This fishing is difficult and dangerous. It requires expert and daring men. It is prosecuted hi an open, rough, and often a stormy sea, and frequently involves the loss of boats and their crews. The third fishery, at St. Pierre and Miquelon, is similar, in some re- spects, to that between Cape Ray and Cape John, on the coast of Newfoundland. Boats, instead of vessels, are, however, emplo^^ed in it. The boats of the two islands are between three and four hundred in number, and require two men to each. They go out in the morning and return at night. Thus, as in all shore-fisheries, the fishermen always sleep at their own homes. As this is the only business of the islands nearly all the men, women, and chikh-en are engaged in catching or curing. The season opens in April, and closes usually in October. We have seen the importance attached by France to her immense American domains and with what pertinacity she maintained her pre- tensions to the monopol}'^ of the fishing-grounds. It remains to speak more particularly than has yet been done of the two lone, bare, and rocky islands that remain to her as monuments of the vicissitudes of human condition and of national humiliation. The situation of St. Pierre and Miquelon commands the entrance of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The growth of wood is insufficient even for fael. They produce no food, and the inhabitants are dependent on France and other countries for supplies. The population of St. Pierre in 1847 was 2,030, of which about one-quarter was "floating" or non-resident. The population of Miquelon at the same time was 625. There are several Catholic churches and schools, priests, monks, and nuns. In 1S48, a hospital, sufficiently commodious to receive up- wards of one hundred sick persons, was erected. The dwellings are of wood. The government-house is of the same material, and plain and old-fashioned. The streets are narrow, short, and dirty. The official Eersonages are a governor, a commissary or minister of marine, a har- or-master, and some inferior functionaries. The military, limited by treaty to fifty men, consist of about thirty ge?is d'armes. Upon the sta- tion is a single armed ship, though other armed vessels are occasional visiters. The present light-house was erected in 1845, at a cost of 80,000 francs, and, well built of brick, is a substantial edifice. Such are the two islands — two leagues in extent — which remain to the power that once possessed the whole country bordering on the Mis- sissippi, the limitless regions penetrated by the St. Lawrence — Acadia, from Canseau, in Nova Scotia, to the Kennebeck river, in Maine; the island of Cape Breton; and the hundred other isles of the bays of the northern and eastern possessions. 33 French cod -fishery. 1504. 15-27. 1577. 1578. 1G15. 1721 . 1744- 1745. 1768. 1773. 1774. 1786. 1787- 1816. 18-23. 1824. 1825. 1826. 1827. 1828. 1829. 1830. 1831. 1833. 1834. 1835. 1839. 1841. 1843. 1847. Years. No. of vessels. Tonnage. Number of men. Quintal.s of Value. 12 150 1.50 100 400 564 100 2.59 264 184 348 3:«; 341 387 381 414 377 302 400 400 24, 420 24, 996 30, 954 16,258 36, 999 35, 172 38, 938 44, 868 45, 094 50, 574 45, 036 35, 180 54, 995 27,500 1, 441, 500 9, 722 10, 128 15,137 7, 000 6, 000 8,108 3, 6.55 6,672 6,311 7, 088 8, 238 7, 957 9,428 8,174 6,243 10, 000 10, 000 200, 000 426, 400 128, 590 300, 000 300, 000 11,499 11,900 12, 000 450, 000 $861,723 COD-FISHERY OF SPAIN. Participating in the excitement which prevailed in Europe on the discovery in the American seas of varieties of fish not previously known or used in the fnsts of the Roman church, Spain was an early competi- tor with France ;md England. Vessels of her flag were certainly at Newfoiindhind as soon as the year 1517. Sixty years later, the nuni- hcr of licr vessels employed in the fishery there is estimated at one hundred. The number rapidly diminished. Sylvester Wyat, of Bris- tol, England, who made a voyage to the St. Lawrence and Newfound- land in 1-593, found only eight Spani.i(, ftir Iceland t4i carry on the little lifihery — that is, the cod-lishory — between the si.\iy lifih and sixty-soveat degrees of north latitude. 36 1415, but there is no account ot their fishing at Newfoundland prior to 1 517. Some writers suggest that the French commenced at the same time. But the fact, generally admitted, that ships from England, France, Spain, and Portugal, to the number of fifty, were employed in 1517, is alone sufficient to show that the fishing grounds had been visited 'for several years. Indeed, to consider that the French went to New- foundland for the first time in 1504, and that in thirteen years, and in the infancy of distant and perilous voyages, their adventures had at- tracted the attention of three other nations to the extent just stated, is to allow an increase of flags and of vessels so rapid as to still require explanation, without a knowledge of the fishing enthusiasm of the pe- riod. Besides, some forty or fifty houses for the accommodation of fish- ermen were built at Newfoundland as early as 1522. A letter is preserved in the Memoir of Sebastian Cabot, written by John Rut to Henry the Eighth, and dated at St. John, Newfoundland, August 3, 1527, which seemingly warrants the conclusion that the Eng- lish fishery, at that time, was of little consequence, since he states that he found "eleven saile of Normans, and one Brittaine, and two Portu- gall barkes" in that harbor, but makes mention of no others, and pro- poses to sail along the coast to "meete" the only vessel of his own flag known by him to be in that region. An eflbrt to found a colony was made, however, in 1536, under the auspices and at the expense of Mr. Hore, a wealthy merchant of Lon- don. A company of one hundred and twenty persons was formed, of whom thirty were gentlemen of education and character. They ar- rived at Newfoundland, but accomplished nothing. Many perished of starvation. The survivors fed on the bodies of the dead, and finally reached England. Twelve years later, we find that the fishery was considered of great national importance, and worthy of legislative encouragement. Thus, an act was passed by Parhament imposing severe penalties on persons eating flesh on fish-days. The punishment for the first offence was a fine of ten shillings, ten days' imprisonment, and abstinence from meat during the same time; while for the second, these inflictions were doubled. The sick and aged, to whom flesh was nece^ssary, were ex- empted on obtaining licenses from the ecclesiastical authorities.* Another act, of 1548, and remarkable as the first of England which Art. II. In cases where particular circumstances have occurred diuing the voyage, we re- serve to ourselves the regulation of the premium in such a manner as those circumstances may deem to require. We order and command that the present shall be inserted in the State paper, and that all ministerial departments and authorities, colleges and officers, are charged with the due execu- tion of these presents. Given in Graveuhague, (Hague,) the 6th March, in the year 1318, in the fifth of our reign. William. By the King : A. R. Falk. * A license to eat meat on fish-days is too great a curiosity, m our time, to be omitted. The following is a copy of one, granted in the reign of James the First, of England : " Whereas Mr. Eichard Young, of Okeboume St. George, in the countye of Wiltes, Es- quire, is a Gent, of good age, subject to many sicknesses, diverse infirmities, and in bodye of a very weak constitution, and hath with him in his house his mother, Mris. Ann Young, widowe, a Genf. of great age (above four score) very sicklye, feeble, and subject to diuerse maladies, and having others in his house sicke, and have long bine, to whom fish, by reason of 37 relates to America, had special reference to Newfdundlnnd, and to the abuses that existed there. Its preamble is quiiint. "Forasmuch," it commences, " as within these few yeeres now last past there have bene levied, perceived, and taken by certain officers of the admiraltie, of such marchants and fishermen as have used and practised the adven- tures and journeys into Iceland, NewfoundLmd, Ireland, nnd other places commodious for fishing, and the getting of fish, in and upon the seas and otherwise, by wey of marchants in those partees, divers great exactions, as summcs of money, doles or shares of fish, and such other like things, to the great discouragement and hindrance of the same marchants and fishermen, and to no little dammage of the whole com- monwealth, and thereof also great complaints have bijuc made, and in- formations also yerely to the King's Majesties most honorable councell; for reformation whereof," &c., «&c. From this period, and in conse- quence of the measures adopted, rewards to officers of the government were discontinued, and the Newfoundland fishery became entirely free to every inhabitant of the realm. It is of interest to remark that the foreign trade of England was then limited to the Flemish towns, and to the fishing grounds. To extend commerce by still further encouragement to the branch of industry be- fore us, a curious act of Parliament was passed in 1563, which provided ^^tkat as icell for the mmntcnancc of shi2^pi?ig, the increase of fishtrmcn and marines, and the rcimiring of port-toicns, us for the sj^aring of the fresh victual of the realm, it shall tiot be laivful for any one to cat Jlesh on Wed- nesdaijs and Saturdays,* unless under the forfeiture of ^3 for each offence, excepting in cases of sickness and those of special liccJises to he obtained^ For these licenses peers were required to pay about six dollars, knights and their wives about three dollars, and other persons one dollar and a half; but neither peer nor commoner could cat beef on the two prohib- ited days. As will be remembered, this was a sort of transition period in religion; and, fearing that the act would be considered as popish, it was provided that "whoever shall, by preaching, teaching, writing, or open speech, notify that any eating offish, or forbearing of flesh, men- tioned in this statute, is of any necessity for the serving of the soul of thfire ajjo, nifknesspR anfl diuerso infirniiiies, is iudiicd by the skilful (as I am iuforincd) to be verj- hiirtfiill to tln-ir bodies, and likt'lje to brccdc and ]»riiig diuerse diseases and sicknesses upon rhcni : 'I'hcy then-fore haiie recjiieste me, tiieire minister, the promises considered, to give and tinut them license, this time of Lent, to eate flesli, for the better avoidinpe of siek- neiises and di.s<'ases wliieh, by their alisteyning fni flesh, mi^ht growe ui>i>on them: Know yo, therefore, that I Adam I'dylhe, Mr. of Arts nnd of Okeiionrne aforesaid, Viccar, dueiye eoii- Biderin^ this theire s(» iawfiill re(iuesf, and tendering the heltli and wellfare of the said Mr. Richard Voinif; and Mris. Ann Vonnu, his natiirall iind ajred motii<'r, have t;iven and f,'ranfed, aiid by tliese presents do j,'ive and ijrant lo tiie said Mr. K'iejiard Vouni; and Mris. Ann ^'oiiiii:, and U> (foiire persons more, b-ave, power and license, (so farr as in me lietli, and I)y lawe safely I may without danger, and no further) to dresse or cause to be dressed, for tiiem to cafe, lleJi tills time of Lent nowe, (olbiwin};, prohil)itin<.'e nrur.r (lultssr, and by this tiriint forhiilili/i// tlirm, all miinnrr of sluimhlt mi/Ucs irhatxurrrr. In witness whereof, to this present license I liavo put to my hand nnd seale. L)al-Saxi>ns, obser\es of the ori;,'in of tlie names of the days of the week in the Saxon mythology, tiuit "Lastly cam(! Suftrr, from whom Saturday is named. He was rej>resented as standini; upon a (i^