Considerations on the importance of Canada, and the bay and river of St. Lawrence : and of the American fisheries dependant on the islands of Cape Breton, St. John's, Newfoundland, and the seas adjacent : address'd to the Right Hon. William Pitt

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UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

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CONSIDERATIONS
ON AP SEE
ImporRTANCE of CANADA,
AND THE
Bay and River of St. LAWRENCE;
And of |

The American Fifheries dependant on the
_Iflands of Cape Breton, St.Joun’s, New-
FOUNDLAND, and the Seas adjacent.

ADDRESS’D TO
The Right Hon. WILLIAM PITT, |

L'O.8,D O.N, |
Printed for W. Owen, near Temple-Bar, 175¢.

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Ricut HonovuRABLE

WILLIAM PITT,

SIR,

S the prefent juft and ne-
ceflary War, was com-
' menced for fecuring our
Settlements in North America,
from the Incroachments of an am-
bitious Neighbour; and as under |
. your Aufpices, it has been ftea-
dily conducted with that View;

Lindl

EO es
and Providence has at length
crown’d the Valour of our gallant
Countrymen with Succefs; I do
my felf the Honour to prefent
you with the following Pages, in
which the Worth of their Con- -

queft is endeavour’d to be fhewn.

If the Value of thefe places,
had been at all underitood, they —
would have been more attended
to, in making the feveral ‘Trea-
ties of Ryfwick, Utrecht, and
AAix-la-Chapelle ; and in Confe-
quence of its not being attended
to, we have been plunged into
frefh wars, wich endlefs Expence;
which till they are attended to,
will be always the Cafe; “and
therefore as a good Citizen, I

— thought

Br 6}
thought it my Duty, to do all
_ inmy Power, to enforce fo necef-
fary an Attention.

The Confidence your Country
fo juftly repofes, on your great
Capacity in the Management of
Public Aftairs; your known In-
tegrity, in the Conduct of them;
and your unfhaken Adherence, to
the true Interefts of Great Byz-
tain; give Propriety to this Ad-
— drefs: And leave no Room, to
doubt, that what has been hither-
to wanting in every Treaty of
Peace, will by your Care be fup-
plied in the next; which mutt e-
gually endear you, to every in-
telligent Perfon of this Age; and
fecure your Fame to latelt Po-

lterity,

ae
fterity, who will, in this Refpe, ©
reap continually the Fruits of
your wife and firm Adminiftra-
tion. : RP

I am,
With profound Refpe&, &c.

London, Oftober, 175 1759«

CONSIDERATIONS
On the Importance of

Canapa, and the Bay and River of
St. Lawrence; and of the Amari
caN Fifheries, dependant on the
Iflands of Cape Breton, St.
Joun’s, NewrounpianD, and the
Seas adjacent.

i} HE Naval Power of Prance
i] had its Rife, and ftill receives
its main Support, from our
1 Fifheries in North America.
ae ee Till the French were admitted
PAZAEEENN! into it, they did not dare to
build a Ship of War without our leave: but
fince they have been introduced into it, they
have become fo very formidable, ds to have
contended, fingly, againft the two great ma
ritime Powers of Europe united, \

B | Every

ica.
Every thip of France, in this Trade, is

obliged to carry a certain Number of Landmen
and Boys to train up. About the Year, 1700,
it was computed, and allowed on all Hands, -
that there were, on this Fifhery, S00 Sail of
Fnglifb and French Shi ips; and it is pretty cer-
tain, that our Share of them was not 300: It.
may be even queftioned, whether we did not
fall thort of 250,

The Front have a Nurfery of 50, 000 Sea-
men, founded upon this Trade; from whom
are fprung as many Thoufands more, who
fupply the reft of their Navigation. There are
not above 80, 000 belonging to England. We,
indeed, have a much larger Navy; but when
that is fully employed, the reft of our Navi-
gation mutt be greatly diftrefled; and we are
obliged, in War time, to employ Foreigners
to carry on our Trade; who, being paid high
Wages, carry off Abundance of our Wealth;
and allby ourown Folly. But it is ftill more
furprifing, that we fhould have continued fo
Jong indolent; and have permitted fo dange-
rous a Neighbour to grow wealthy and formi-
dable, without our fo much as endeavouring
to deprive him of thofe immenfe Treafures of
the Seas, which we have an original and un-
doubied Right to enjoy unrival’d

We have no thing left, which we can call
a Fifhery, except that we are now fpeak-

ing

ibe ad,
ing of; tho’ it does not employ 4000 of our
Seamen. Our Right to Canada and Neqw/ound-
land, was the Foundation of Sir Havendan
Walker's Expedition in 1717, the Mifcarriage
of which was fo greatly lamented ; it being
then well underftood, that the fecuring the en-
tire American Fifhery, wou’d be of greater
Confequence to the Briti/b Empire, than the
Mines of the We/? Indies are to the Spaniards.
That from this Fithery only, the French have
raifed that Naval Strength, the reducing of
which has coft us fo much Blood and Trea-
fure ; allarmed, againft us, with Men raifedin
our Nurferies. The difpoffefling the French of
this Fifhery, muft therefore prove the moft
fatal Blow they ever felt; fince, from that
Moment, their Navies muft wither away, like
a Tree cut offatthe Root.
The taking of Canada ; befides employing

near 40 Sail of Ships in the * Pur, and other

| B 2 Trades; .

* For one Indian we trade within Hudfon’s Bay (not
exceeding three or 4000 in Number,) the French probably
trade with one Hundred in Canada, andthe Countries ad-
jacent ; who confequently bring them a proportionable
Quantity of Furs, beyond what the “ud/on’s Bay Indians
furnifh our Settlements with, poffefs’d by the Company.
The Hat Manufa@ture, therefore, in France (as at Lyons
principally, and other places,) amounts to an immenfe
“Value yearly ; with which the French fupply Italy, Spazn,.
Portugal, &c. with the vaft Colonies of New Spain and
the Brazils, poffeffed by thefe two laft Nations ; all which
is well known to our wholefale Hatters here. From Ca-

nada, they likewife carry on a very confiderable contra-
band

Cad

Trades ; fuprlying the Natives of that vaft ex=
tended Country with Woollen and other Brz-
tifb Manufactures ; and depriving the French
of the abundant Store of excellent * Timber
which that Country affords for Ship Building;
would effectually fecure to us the American
Fifheries ; as alfo the Briti/> Empire in the
Continent of America; which can never be
{afe, whil& Canada is in the Hands of France.
As a Confirmation of this, it may not be im-
proper to quote Part of the Romantic Grant
which the French King made. in.1712, ‘to
Monfr. Crozat, of a Country much larger than
all Europe s and to which he has not the leaft
Shadow ‘of f Right, or Title. |

“We, by. thefe Prefents, fign’d by our
‘** Fiand, have appointed, and do appoint she
& faid Sieur Crozat, folely to carry cna Trade

band Trade, in all Sorts of European Commodities, to
Mexico, with which they have a Communication by
| Means of the Lakes and the river Ai ffiffipi ; which yield
them, in return, Gold and great Quantities of Silver ;
the vaft Advantages whereof wou’d be foon found by.his
Majetty’ s Subjects, fhould We be fo happy as to remain
in quiet Pofleffion of this Country; and enjoy the free
Navigation of the Rivers of St. Laurence and Miffiffipi.
They alfo carry ona confiderable Whale Fifhery, 10 two
Bays, on the Labrador Coatt, which is comprehended
within the Charter of the ‘Hudfon’ s Bay Company.

* Being laft War, in the King’s Yard at Plymouth, and
Viewing fome Prize Timber from Quebec (purchas’d for.
his Majeity’s Ufe) the Officers declared, that our King had
no fuch Timber in any of his Yards. And the Scarcity of
good Timber: in England, at this Lime, is but too well
known.

© in

a Se |

** in all the Lands poffefs’d by Us, and bound-
‘© ed by New Mexico, and by the Lands of
*« the Englifh of Carolina ; all the Eftablifh-
“© ments, Ports, Havens, and Rivers; and
** principally the Port and Haven of the Ile
“© Dauphine, heretofore called Maffacre ; the
** River of St. Lewzs, heretofore called M/z/-
** fifipt, from the Edge of the Sea as far as
“* the J/imots ; together with the River of 5t. °
«“ Philp, heretofore called Ovebache ; with all
‘« the Countries, Territories, Lakes within
‘«* Land; and the Rivers which fall directly or
* indirectly into that Part of the River St,
“© Lewss.””

The Extent ef this Country, from North to
South, is 2400 Miles; and from Weft, Weift-
ward about 3500 Miles, filled with nume-
rous Nations of Indians: it contains the whole
North Coaft of the Gulf of Florida or Mexico;
into. which, from this Country, run above
twelve large Rivers, particularly the famous
River Mififips, many of whofe Branches al-
moft join Three of the Five great Lakes that
fall into the River St. yp tehe a which River
lies South Weft, and North Eaft, on the Back of
all our Colonies, on the Continent of America.
On it’s Banks, and on thefe Lakes, the
French have built feveral Fortifications; the
deftru&tive Confequences of which, to our Co-
Jonies, we have feen, and felt, but too feve-
rely. The French, euatia with thefe nu-
‘merous Nations, (whom they convert to theiz

{upei 7.

ee, ee

fuperftitious Religion) intermarry with, and
bring up in an utter Deteftation of the Englifhs
would, in Time, have driven our People, on
the Frontiers, into the Sea; had not a moft
aufpicious Attention, forthe Britifh Poffeffions
in America, very provicentially prevail’d, at
this Juncture, in his Majefty’s Councils.

To that Part of the Continent, called by us
Nova Scotia, and by the French Avaibies be-
longs the Iland of Cape Breton, of a large Ex-
tent, and not two Leagues from the Shore,
Each Side of the Channel; form’d by this If-
land *; abounds with a oveat Number of good
Harbours, ftrongly fortified by Nature ; fome
of which the induftrious French have render-
ed more fo, by Art. There arealfo many Banks
dependant upon this Coaft, abounding with as
great Quantities of Cod, as any Part of New-
‘dasigellcnsh Here, and at the Ifle of Sables,

the French} formerly obliged the Britz/b Sub-

* All the Coaft, of the IMands of Cape Breton and St.
Fobn’s, abounds with Cod Fifh; as does alfo the Bay of -
Fundy, Gafpte Bay at the Mouth of the River St. Law-
rence ; and likewife the Straits of Be/lifle, between New-
foundland and Labrador, at which laft Place the French
have carried on this Fifhery ; ; (even during the prefent
War;) clofe to our Shore, in Barks only, and cured their
Fifth on the Land ; wh tich, two or three fmall Forts built
there, woulde entirely hie prevented, and fecur’d to Us.
We carry on this Fifhery to much )greater difadvan-
tage, by employing large Vellels and going 30 Leagues to
catch our Fifh.

+ Ta 1699 the French colleéted this Tax of ten Shillings
per Head,

jects

ee

jects to pay ten Shillings per Head, for catch
ing their own F'fh; which they colle@ted by
Ships of Force, fent from Quebec for that Pur-
pofe, The New Englanders, and the Inhabi-
tants of the adjacent Colonies, always looked |
upon. thefe Places, as fo far belonging to the
Crown of Gréat-Bri‘ain; that they ufed to
fetch their * Coals from the Ifle of Cape Bre-
ton, even in Time of War, unlefs interrupted
by Privateers.

,

The French, if difpoffefs’d of this Fifhery,
would be obliged to take their Mud Fith, or
Cod falted wet in Bulk, from us; except his

_. moft Chriftian Majefty fhould think proper

to prohibit it, at the risk of flarving his owa
Subjects. The Produce of this Sort of Fifh.
would, in fuch Cafe, pay amply for all ‘our
fuperfluous Imports from France; where there
is yearly confumed, of this Kind of Fifth, to
the amount of fome hundred thoufand Pounds
Sterling.

The great Advantage of this Fithery, and
_ the Danger to be apprehended, fhould the
French continue in Pofleffion of it; toge-

* In 1758, after we had taken Loui/bourg, we fent
thither, from England, 3000 Tons of Coals for the Ufe
of that.Garrifon; although it was very well known here
at that Time (and even inthe laft War) that they might
have been fupplied with Coals, from the Spot, for lefs
than ten Shillings a Ton: a Miftake which, it is not
doubted, will be rectify’d for the future.

ther

[ BQ
ther with their other Ufurpations in North
America, would not have been fo much ex-
patiated upon here; did not a fair Opportunity
now offer, for us to fecure to ourfelves this
vatt Support of our Naval Power, and of our
American Empire.

In 1583, Queen Efizabeth fent the firft Go-
vernor, Sir Humphrey Gilbert to Newfoundland.
In the Reign of King Yames the firft, this
nifhing Trade was in a flourifhing Condition,
and entirely enjoyed by the Exgijh unrival’d.
It continued the fame in the Reign of Charles
the firft; as appears by. Letters Patent, bea-
ring ate the roth of February 1633, 3 the

ninth Year of his Reign, reciting, vz.

‘© That the Region and Country called New-
« foundland, had been acquired to the domi-
«© nions of his Progenitors, which he held; and
«© his People had for many Years reforted to
«© thofe Parts; where, and on the Coaft ad-
*« joining, they employed themfelves in Fifh-
cc Be whereby a great Number of his Peo-
** ple had been fet at Work, and Navigation
‘© and Mariners much increafed, &c.” And
his Majefty then ordained fome Libel for the
better Government of the Fifhing, ae and
Inhabitants, &c.

In 1638, the French obtained Liberty, from

King Charlesthe firft, to fifth there, and in ac-
; knowledg-«

f 9: ]

knowledgment of our Right, were to pay 4
Tribute of five per Cent; and his Majetty fent
a Governor thither to cableces it. Atthat Time,
the French had very few Ships. But they grew
‘Weary in a few Years of paying this Tribute ;
upon which they went to the South Side of
the Ifland, built two Forts, and carried cn this
Fifhery to the: Weftward on Cape Race. In
1070, they tovk in two Bays more, viz. Plz-
centia and Paffura; and thereby augmented
their fifhing to ten times what it was before.

And fo rapid was the Increafe of their Naviga=
tion, by this Fifhery, that they, ina few Years

after, had raifed a Naval Power able to con-
tend, fingly, with the united Fleets of England
and Holland.—But we have now juft Réafon
to hope, from the well known Wifdom of
thofe who at prefent are the Guardians of our
Colonies; that the Confeque neesof the French
enjoying fo great a Share in this Fithery, is as
well underftood at this critica! Juncture, as it
was in the Year 1659; when the Merchants
-jn Order to guard againft fo growing an Evil,
deliver’d the following tree lle oy 8. to the
Government.

“© We had many Ezgl/b Ships, and many
¢ thoufands of Seamen that had their conftant
** Employment for Newfoundland; and being
*€ loaden with Fith, the moft of them {ail ed
© from thence for fegeral Ports of Spain, and
_-** its Territories ; as from so to 60 to Bilsoa,
6% Fick

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and St. Sebaftian’s, 40 to Cadiz and St. Lu=
car, 20 to Malaga and Velez, and from-20
to 30 for Valencia, Alicant, and Cartagena ;
befides others that went to the ‘Groyne, and
other Sea Port Towns in Spain; the moft
of the Remainder went for Mijcoen and Mz
norca, Sicilia, Sardinia, Naples; and foent
in the Dukedom of Mé/an, and in ae
their Galleons, Galleys, &c, Hereby (well

confidered) we had great Advantage; for that,

clearly, there were added to the Stock of the
Nation, at leaft £500,000 per Annum; and:
fo much sot out of the Sea, by the Labour
and Induftry of our People, and the Ship-
ing maintained. And it was alfoa N urfery
for Seamen, breeding more than all other
Trades whatfoever, They carry out not fo
much Beef and Bread as they would have.
eaten in England, the moft of their Food
being Fifh : And if they had not been thus
employed, perchance they might have lived
idle at home; and fo have been unprofi-
table Members of the Commonwealth, and

to have their Subfiitance from other induf-

trious Perfons.

Whilft we affifted the French, they have
ina Manner got this whole Trade. This
Year they had above 250 Ships at New-
“* foundland; and have obtained free Permif-
fions from the King of Spain, to enter into

‘ the Ports of Bilboa, St. Sebaftian’s and Paf-
fague,

ety 4

“ fague, with their Fith and Men; where
“‘ they do not enly furnifh the Men of
“© War that take us, but the Fifth is carried
_* from 3 to 409 Miles up into the, Country
* of Spain. ;

*¢ St. “Fobn de Luz, had not formerly above
** eight Ships, and this Year they have near
“*’ fifty Sail ; a good Part of which were En-
** glifh Prizes, and without doubt zxcovertly
“ the Spaniards have a great Intereft in them;
“* and tt will be a bard Matter now to get this
“* Trade again from the French.”

. The Authors of this Remonftrance, plainly
forefaw the bad Confequences which would
eniue, fhould the french continue this Pifhery.
Neverthelefs King: Charles the fecond, in 1675,
(the 27th Year of his Reign) did not only con-
firm the French therein, but even remitted
them the Tribute of 5 per Cent. They alfo
obtained, from King “fames the fecond, a Con-
firmation of the aforefaid Grants. Ther ob-
taining aConfirmation of thefe Grants, from 3
fucceeding Kings of Exgland, thews, that they
themfelves were well acquainted with the
Weaknefs ef their own Title. Bat in King
William sDeclaration of War againft the Freschs
their Incroachment upon our ‘Trade, and upon
the Fithery of Newfoundland, is particularly fet
forth, as one of the Caufes of the War; andas

C 2 evua

fu J

even contrary to the very Statutes of thefe

Realms, by which itis enacted, Stat. 10, 11.

of King William the third, Cap. 25.

ce

Zi 4

“¢ That whereas, the Trade and F ifhery of
Newfoundland, is a beneficial Trade to this —

Kingdom, not only in employing great

Numbers of Seamen and Ships, and export-
ing and confuming great Quantities of Provi-
fionsand Manufactures ofthis Realm;where-_
by many Tradefmen and Artificers are kept»
at Work ; but alfo in bringing into this Na-
tion, by Returns of the Effects of the faid,
Fithery, from other Countries, great Quan-
tities of Wine, Oil, Plate, Iron, Wool, and
fundry other ufeful Commodities ; to the
Increafe of his Majefty’s Revenue, and the
Encouragement of Trade and Navigation.
Be it enacted, &c. That henceforth, all his
Majefty’s Subjcéts fhall have, ufe, and enjoy
the free Trade and Traffick, and Art of
Merchandifing and Fifhing to and from
Newfoundland; and take Baite and Fifth on.
any of the Rivers, Creeks, or any of the
Iflands adjoining or adjacent thereunto, as

fully and freely, as at any Time heretofore _

hath been ufed or enjoyed by any of the
Subjects of his Majefty’s Predeceflors, with-
out any-Hindrance, &c. of or from any Per-
fon whatfoever. And that no Alien or Stran-
ger whatfoever (not refiding with England)

: {hall at any Time hereafter take any Baite,
£ or ufe any Sort of Trade or Fifhing what-

“ foever

i Certs 3)
* foever in Newfoundland, or in any of the
“< Places or Iflands abovementioned.”’

The great Increafe of the Naval Power, and
Wealth of France, will be obvious to every
one who confiders, that from the Year 1638,
the Date of their Admittance into this Fifhery,
(at which Time they had very few Ships in any
Part of the world) to the Year 16509, (only 21
Years) they increafed their Ships in this Trade,
from about 40 to about 250; and that, from
this Period, to the Reign of King ames the
fecond, (only 25 years more) they had aug-
mented fo vattly their Wealth and Naval
Power, as to make all Europe ftand in Awe
of them: A Proof how very formidable a
Prince may become, by Sea and Land, who
-isleft, during only a few Years, in quiet Pof-
feffion of this Trade: by fuch an annual In-
creafe of Men, Ships, Bullion, &c.

The French by their extraordinary Frugality,
joined to other great Advantages, fuch as the
~ Cheapnefs of Salt of their own making; thelow
Wages of their Mariners; the little Expencein
_victualling their Ships; and their having the
beft and moft convenient Places for fithing ;
have almoft difpofieffed the Engli/b of this
- Trade, as may be inftanced, in many of the
Out-Ports of this Kingdom, viz. Barnftaple,
Biddeford, Dartmouth, &c. whirh do not
employ one fourth Part of the Ships they did
ee The two firft could furnith the

Royal

[ 4 ] |

Royal Navy with 400 Voluntier Sailors;
whereas they now find it difficult even to man
the few Veffels they fit out. But were this
ereat fifhery Trade to center with us, (as we
have itrong Reafonto hape it will) our ‘Weftern
‘Navigation wou’d foon flourith ; our Lands
rife in their Value; and the Manufacturers of
thofe Counties (in ‘particular) be confiderably
enriched, by the vaft Demand for their Mer-
chandize of all Kinds.

_ Toencourage ftill morethis ufurp’d Fifhery,
the French King iffued out the following Edict,

UZ.

‘© An Arret of the King’s Council of ftate,
“© by which Cod Fith caught, and Oil made,
“* by his Subjects, fithing at Je Royale, for-
_* merly called the Ifland of Cape Breton, are
“ exempted from all Cuftoms during ten Years.

“© At Fontainbleau the gth of September 1713.
“« the King havirig been ever attentive to all
«* Methods which might contribute to the In-
‘* creafe of the Commerce of the Kingdom;
“ with Refpect as well to the Fifheries on the
‘© Maritime Coafts of France, as to thofe for
“* Cod-fith green and dried on the Sea of Ca-
‘* nada: And his Majefty being defirous to
** procure greater Advantages, to thofe of his
** Subjects, who fhall undertake the Fithery of
& dried Cod- fife at Ife abe called hie ort
&C the

| fl gs -)

** the Tle of Cape Breton; by a general Ex-
emption of the faid dried Cod-ji/h, and the
Oil made thereof, that fhall be brought into
this Kingdom, from ail Duzzes of Importa-
tion.——Accordingly, his Majefty in Coun-
cil ordains; that for ten Years, beginning
from the firft of Fanuary next, they thall
be exempted accordingly.”

nA A
bal a“

a
aA

a A
a a

i &
wn

Tis therefore evident, that the French have
employed all the Arts in their Power, and ufed
every Endeavour poffible, to extend their Fith-
eries in the Seas of Canada, to which they fo
infolently pretend to have a Right.

The Total, (inthe Calculation of this French
American Fifhery) has varied at different Pe-
riods; but we may venture to fettle it, in
Time of Peace, at goo Ships annually (each of
150 Tons, one with another) which, at 20
Quintals of Fith per Ton, makes 2,700,000
Quintals; and valuing the Quintal at 20 Shil-
lings, the * annual gain to France, by this
Fifhery, will then be £-2,700,000 Sterling,
Thefe goo Ships (as above) carrying each 18
Men, one with another, make 16,200 Seamen
employed only in this Fifhery. So that, thould
this Calculation be thought but tclerably juft,
we need not wonder that the Naval Power of
France fhould have rifen to the Height, in

* Qut of this annual gain, muft be deducted the value
of the Mad and dried Cod-fifh, confumed in France.

whic!

C oe)

which we have {een it, during the laft and the
fent War. Nor would it be matter of Sur-
prize fhould we again fee it, after a few Years
Peace, in a yet more formidable State than
ever, in Cafe that Crown fhould be fo fortu-
nate, as to be left in Poffeflion of the Ifands
of Cape-Breton and St. Fobn's. ~

When we refle&, that this American Fith-
ery is the grand N, arfery for the beft Seamen,
and that the French raife out of it, five times
the Number we do; we may naturaily infer,
that Great-Britain, ‘which claims Obedience
on the Ocean, will, in a few Years, become
fubfervient to france, if timely care be not
taken to prevent it: And that we have
it now in our Power, to preferve fuch Su-
periority, 1s beyond all Difpute.

By the 13th Article of the Treaty of Utrecit,
the French are limited with refpect to their —
Fifhing in Newfoundland; which howeverthey |
are well known to have always deviated ffom,
even to this Day They will now (’tis to
be hop’ abe totally excluded from any
fhare in this American Fithery, by our Right of
Congue/t.——And we fhall thew, immediately,
our inconteftabie Title to ttiete Seas, from
our firfi Difcovery. Ina word, the French
have dealt fo very treacheroutly by us, that
we may juitly lament their being poftets’ d of
a fingle Inch of Land, or Sea Territory, in |

Nor th |

[a7

North America: And we ought to be fo well
acquainted with our own Intereft, as not to
let flip any more, the fair Opportunity which
offers itfelf; now the Sword 1s impending over
their Heads. ; without our wrefting from chem,
and fecuring to ourfelves, thefe Territories and
Seas, whence only they can have it in their
Power to deffroy us, or render us contemptible;
and fuch we fhall unpitied be, when ever the
Naval Power of France fhall become fuperior
to that of Great Britain.

Our having taken, funk, or deftroy’d, du-
ring the prefent War, a full third Part of their
Navy, has certainly leffen’d the Mifchiefs
which our Commerce might otherwife have
fuftain’d from them ; at the fame Time, that
their Trade has been fo much the more ex-
pofed to Capture, by our Men of War and
Privateers.---- Yet, as no Country recovers fo
foon, from it’s Wounds, as France ; and asthe
Flower of her Seamen, (now Prifoners here)
_-muift be reftored to her upon a Peace; fhe
then will need but to replace the Ships the has
loft, either by building them at home, or by
employing Foreigners for that Purpofe, (which
we well know may be done in a very few
Years,) In Order for her to be as formidable a
Naval Power, as fhe was before the commen-
cement of the prefent War. It is even very na-
tural to fuppofe, that the French will exert
their utmott Endeavours, to be ftill more

| D power~

[ 8 a]

powerful ; They having feen, and felt, from
our Example, that Their very Exiftence as a
Trading Nation, depends wholly upon Their
having a mighty Navy. But fhould we be fo
happy as to eftablith our Pofleffions and Con-
quefts in North America ; (neglecting nothing
which may fecure to us the firm and lafting
Alliance and Friendfhip of the Indians) it wilt
then be impoflible for France to cultivate her
Fifheries in thofe Seas ; from which Moment
we may pronounce her no longer a Maritime
Power. She may, indeed, poflefs Ships of
War, but they will rot in her Harbours for
want of Seamen (at leaft good ones) to man
them, and of Trade to proteét! ‘The com-
pleating fo glorious a Plan; which, by the Wif-
_dom and Fortitude of our Councils, is already
brought to fuch great forwardnefs ; cannot fail
of producing ‘He moft Signal Advantages to
this Nation ; by furnifhing the means of
laying a very folid Foundation, for unbur-
thening it of that heavy load of Debt and
Taxes, under which the People: have been
groaning for fo many Years.

To determine our Right to his Majetty’ S
Territories in North America, it may not be
improper to confider, by what Title any Euro-
pean Nation holds any Dominions there. South
America was difcover'd by Columbus, at the
Expence of the King of Spazn, about 250 Years
ago; and he has poffefs’d it ever fince, by
this we of Difcovery only ; whieh has been

admit-

if ton }

admitted, by all Ewropean Nations to this Day,»
as a firm and Bbentic ‘Fille, ; and acknow-
ledged as fuch by the King of England, wheh
he difavow’d (to Spain) the Scotch Expedition
to Darien. | :

North America was difcover'd by S:baftian
Cabot, at the Expence of the Crown of En-
gland, under our Henry the Vilich: whence
our Title, to the Whole cf North America,
is full as firm and authentic, as that of the
Crown of Spain to South America, which has
never been queftioned.

, |
Both the Dutch and Engh/h claim a Right
to’Greenland, as being the Sirf Difeovererss and

from their fetting up Ma-&: in that Country :
Now, fuch Maz ks did Sebaftian Cabot ere, in
various Parts of North America.—{s it not
juft, that thofe Nations, whoare at the Trouble
and Expence of fitting out Lopediticus, for
making Difcoveries, fhould reap the Benefit of
them? Or is it equitable that one Perfon fhould
reap the Fruits of another Man’s E x pence
and Labour? And if it is not, why fhould it be
otherwife between Nations? If Difcov ery gives
no Right, farely nothing can. Hf nothing bucan
inhabiting Pofieflion gives a Right, no Difco-
verercou'd be fure to reapthe Benefit of his Ex-
pence and Labour, fince Ditcos very muft ne-
ceffarily precede inhabitancy,as for inftance, in

the prefent Cafe ; Can any one fuppofe, that a
i}. 2 Ship

[ 2 ]
Ship fent out upon a Difcovery, cou’d have”
Inhabitants, on board, enough to plant Co-
lonies ? Or that Scbaftian Cabot could have
left Settlers behind him, to keep Poffeffion
till his return, with a fufficient Number. of
People to inhabit this wide extended: Country;
where a defenfible Force, (at leaft) was re-
quifite, in order to withftand fo many nume-
rous Nations of Indians? Elfe any Power,
upon Notice of fuch Difcovery, might have
fent a Fleet, with Inhabitants, to take Poffef-
fion; fuch People might have arrived before
ours; and Thefe, by firft inhabiting thofe
Countries, might lawfully have the Fruits
of the Labour and Expence of the Difcoverer.
But furely no Man can be fo wrong-headed
or unjuft, as to favour fuch a Kind of Right;
or pretend that the Expence, to which Henry
the Vilth put himfelf, in thefe Difcoveries,
was merely for the fake of France.

It has been urged, by French Advocates, that
their King has an undoubted Right, not only
to all he lays Clatm to on the Continent: of
North America; but even to Newfoundland and
other ifiands: That nothing gives a Right, but
Poffeficn or Inhabitancy:——That if the Englifh
remove from any one Spot of Ground, or Ifland,
toinhabitany other more convenient,the French
may immediately poffefs the deferted Spot; and
from that Moment, have an original, heredi-.
tary, and undoubted Right to it. But on
the contrary, fhould they offer but to fet

Foot

[ 2: ]
Foot in.a Country, of mary thoufands Miles it
Circumference, where the French had but a
Hutt built of Twiggsand Leaves, and fhou’d in
anew Map, alter the old Name into. any which
- has a Sound of Frenchin it, as Loutfana, Bour
bontana, Orleaniana, &c. tho’ it were our own
- Acquifitiowand Difcovery; yet truly our Right
to it, wou’d not only be un-original and un-
hereditary, but unlawful. ——Such Law may
indeed, be current at Verfazlles ; but it is to be
hoped, will never be thought binding at

Whiteball.

- We need look no further back, -for Exam-
ples of their infolent Ufurpations of this Sort,
thanthofe which gave Rife to the prefent War ;
to which the Pleadings of the French Hirelings
abroad, and even at home, have not a littie
contributed. If Poffeflin gives a Right, they
may inhabit many of the Scotch Ifles, fuch as
the Hebrides, &c. which are unpeopied. They
alfo might poffefs Themfelves of many unin-
habited Parts of Ire/and and its dependant Ifles ;
which being only a Difcovery, the French
wou'd have the fame Right to them, as they
sie to any Part of North America.

His mioft Chriftian Majetty; hogar: fome of
his SubjeGts have unjuftly inhabited the Mouth
of the River St. Lawrence and the Entrance of
the Mififipi ; (which two Rivers run through
all North America) has founded a. pre ended
Right to that whole Country, on each Side their

Banks,

[ 22 J
Banks, except the Edge of the Coaft which the
Englijh inhabit. We, indeed, are much obliged
to him for excepting that, in his romantic
Grant to Monfr. Crozat ; to whom he might.
as juftly have granted the Ifland of Great Bri-
tain, by the Name of De/phiniana, or any o-.
ther Appellation. His Catholic Majefty has as
good a Right to all the Dominions on both
‘Sides of the Mediterancan, from his SubjeGs.
inhabiting each Side of it’s Mouth, The Ham-
burghers, to all the Territories on each Side
of the E/be, from their being feated at the
Entrance of that River. The Turks, to the
Poffeflion of the whole German Empire, be-
caufe they are Mafters of the Mouth of the |
Danube: And the Cham of Tartary might as
juftly make a Grant of the Empire of Rufia,
under the Name of Yartariana, from his

pofleffing the Mouth of the Volga.

The Spaniards, who have ever preferved
their Right to South America unqueftioned,
(even by the French themfelves) have there a
Circumference of Coaft, of above 22,000 Miles.
They do not permit any European Nation to
poflefs or inhabit the leaft Spot of it. Nor does
any other people fo far queftion their Right to
it, as tomake any Attempt of this Sort. There
are Iflands and Countries above 1,000 Miles
diftant from any of the Spanz/b Colonies or.
Habitations, and yet, They do not permit any
Foreigners to pofiefs or inhabit them. The

Scotch

eae,

Scotch Settlement at Darien is a glaring Proof
of this, being more remote from any of their
Inhabitants, than the French, in North Ame-
rica, ate from ours. Shall then the Spa-
’ nifh Title, to fo vaft a Part of America, and to
fuch a mighty Circumference of Coatt, be fa-
cred and inviolate ; and that of Great Britain
only, be queftioned and infulted, which has
not above 1500 Leagues of Coaft, from the
North of Hudjons Bay, to the Southward,
round Cape Florida, tothe Confines of Mexico?
And fhail We, the greateft Naval Powerin the
World, clofe the prefent glorious War, with-
out our being made perfectly fecure, for the
future, againft fuch unjuftifiable and barba-
rous Incroachments as the French have made
upon thofe indifputable Rights, which We,
under the Aufpices of his Majefty, and his
Succeflors ; ought to enjoy unmolefted ?

Pee eee,

Re

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