CHAP. XLII.]

PROGRESS OF THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA.

25

regarded as its true founder. After an existence of only two or three years, the colony was on the point of being abandoned, when the arrival of Lord Delaware with supplies, and the wise measures which he adopted as Governor, saved it from dissolution. Soon afterwards tobacco began to be cultivated, negro slaves were introduced, the colony gradually increased in numbers, and extended its settlements to the banks of the Rappahannock and the Potomac. Yet, in 1624, when the London Company was dissolved, scarce 2,000 persons survived out of 9,000 who had settled in Virginia. Charles I. granted the Colony a more liberal Constitution in 1639, after which it went on rapidly improving. At the beginning of the Civil War it contained 20,000 inhabitants, and by 1688 their numbers exceeded 60,000.

If the colonization of Virginia was a work of labour and difficulty, that of New England at first proceeded still more slowly. For many years the Plymouth Company effected little or nothing. The first permanent settlement was made in 1620 at New Plymouth, in the present State of Massachusets, not, however, under the auspices of the Company, but by some members of the sect of the Brownists, who had proceeded thither of their own accord. A charter was granted in 1627 to a company of adventurers, mostly Puritans, for planting Massachusets Bay, and by these Salem was founded. Emigrants now began to pour in, and in a few years arose the towns of Boston, Charles Town, Dorchester, and others. That spirit of fanaticism and intolerance which had led the Puritans to cross the Atlantic, accompanied them in their new abodes, and, by the disputes which it excited among themselves, was incidentally the means of extending colonization. Thus many of the inhabitants of Salem followed, in 1634, their banished pastor, Williams, and founded Providence and Rhode Island; while the secession of one of two rival ministers at Massachusets Bay led to the settlement of Connecticut (1696). New Hampshire and Maine were next established, but did not obtain a regular Constitution till after the accession of William III. Towards the period of the Civil Wars the tide of emigration to the New England colonies set in so strongly that masters of ships were prohibited from carrying passengers without an express permission. It is computed that by 1640 upwards of 21,000 persons had settled in those districts. In 1643 the four settlements of Massachusets, Plymouth, Connecticut, and Newhaven formed a Confederation, under the name of the United Colonies of New England. Maryland was settled in 1632, mostly by

26

FRENCH COLONIES IN AMERICA.

[CHAP. XLII. Roman Catholics of good family, who proceeded thither under the conduct of Lord Baltimore.

In the latter half of the seventeenth century the English began to spread themselves beyond the boundaries of New England and Virginia. In 1663 Charles II. bestowed the land between the 31st and 36th degrees of north latitude on eight lords, who founded Carolina, afterwards divided (in 1729) into North and South Carolina. The colonization of this district had been previously attempted both by French and English settlers, but without success. Locke drew up a plan of government for Carolina, based on religious toleration, though its political principles were not so liberal. The rulers of the colony became tyrannical; and Granville, who, as the oldest proprietor, had become sole Governor in 1705, endeavoured to make the nonconforming settlers return to the Church of England. All the Governors, except Carteret, who retained his eighth share, were stripped of their prerogatives in 1728, when the government of the province was vested in the Crown. The State of Pennsylvania was settled by Penn, the Quaker, in 1682, the land being assigned to him by Charles II. for a debt. Thus all the religious sects of England had their representatives in the New World. Georgia, the last province founded by the mother country, had its origin in 1732. It consisted of territory separated from South Carolina. It was first settled, under the superintendence of General Oglethorpe, by prisoners for debt, liberated by a bequest, and aided by subscriptions and a Parliamentary grant. In 1735 it was increased by the arrival of some Scotch Highlanders, and of German Protestants from Salzburg and other parts: but it was ill-managed, and never attained the prosperity of the other settlements. The erection of this colony occasioned disputes with the Spaniards, who claimed it as part of Florida. The provinces of New York, New Jersey, and Delaware-which last was subsequently incorporated with Pennsylvania-arose out of the conquest of the Dutch settlement of Nova Belgia, in 1664, confirmed to England by the Treaty of Breda in 1667.

The French also began to turn their attention to colonization early in the seventeenth century, but their attempts were not in general so happy as those of other nations. Henry IV., indeed, laid claim to all the territory of America situated between the 40th and 52nd degrees of north latitude, under the title of New France, embracing Newfoundland, Acadia, Canada, &c., besides a great part of the subsequent English Colonies. The French first

CHAP. XLII.]

THE BUCCANEERS.

27

settled in Acadia, in 1604, and the more important colony of Canada was founded in 1608. Its progress, however, was very slow. In 1626 it had only three wretched settlements, surrounded with palisades, the largest of which counted only fifty inhabitants. One of these was Quebec, the future capital. The continual attacks to which Canada was exposed, both from the English and the Iroquois, prevented it from attaining any importance till about the middle of the century. Montreal was founded in 1641, and in 1658 Quebec became the seat of a bishop. The colony felt the impulse given by Colbert to French enterprise. Troops were sent thither, the Iroquois were gradually subdued, and in 1687 Canada numbered 11,000 inhabitants. It was also under the auspices of Colbert that Louisiana was explored and claimed by the French Crown. Cavelier de la Salle, a native of Rouen, and celebrated navigator, having discovered the Mississippi, descended that river to its mouth in 1682, and claimed for France the tracts which it waters, as well as the rich countries on each side, lying on the Gulf of Mexico. These vast regions obtained the name of Louisiana, in honour of the French King.

The French also made some acquisitions in the West Indian Archipelago. They settled at St. Kitt's in 1625 (though in conjunction with the English) and at Martinique and Guadaloupe, ten years later. These islands, first occupied by private enterprise, were purchased by Colbert for the French Government in 1664, together with several others, as St. Lucie, Grenada, Marie Galante, St. Croix, Tortosa, &c., some of which had belonged to the Maltese. A subsequently much more important settlement than these was the French portion of St. Domingo, originally formed by the Buccaneers; a band of desperate pirates and adventurers, English' as well as French, who, about the year 1630, had established themselves at Tortuga, a small rocky island on the north coast of Hispaniola, for the purpose of preying upon the Spanish trade. Hence they began gradually to make settlements in the western part of Hispaniola, or St. Domingo. After 1664 these freebooters were recognized and supported by the French Government; the right of possession was not contested by Spain, and after the accession of a Bourbon Prince to the throne of that country, half St. Domingo remained in the hands of France. The Dukes of Courland must also be ranked among the Ame

1 One of the most celebrated of these adventurers was Henry Morgan, a WelshAfter several years of perilous and romantic enterprise, Morgan retired to

man.

Jamaica with an enormous fortune, and was knighted by Charles II. See Hist. of the Buccaneers, pt. ii. and iii. Cf. Bryan Edwards, Hist. of St. Domingo.

28

INCREASE OF ENGLISH COMMERCE.

[CHAP. XLII. rican colonizers. Duke James II., who possessed a considerable fleet, which he employed in discoveries and commerce, besides erecting several forts in Africa, encouraged his subjects to settle in the Island of Tobago. The flourishing condition to which they brought it roused the avidity of the Dutch. Two Dutchmen, the brothers Lambsten, by offering to hold Tobago as a fief under Louis XIV., obtained the encouragement of that King. The Duke of Courland claimed the protection of Charles II., to whose father he had been serviceable; and, by a treaty of November 28th, 1664, he abandoned to England the fort of St. Andrew, in Guinea, reserving only some commercial rights to his subjects, and agreed to hold Tobago as a fief under the English Crown.1 The Dutch, however, would not surrender the island, which they called New Walcheren. It was taken in 1678 by Marshal d'Estrées, who, after reducing it to the condition of a desert, abandoned it. After this it was long regarded as neutral.

The colonies of the various European nations remained down to the Peace of Utrecht, in 1713, much in the same relative condition that we have described, though they increased, of course, in wealth and importance. The chief feature of the Spanish colonies was the progress made by the Jesuit missions in Paraguay. The Portuguese, more fortunate in Brazil than the East Indies, enlarged their possessions by founding San Sacramento on the Plata (1681); subsequently, however, the source of bitter disputes with Spain. They were also enriched by the discovery of gold mines near Villa Rica in 1696. The Dutch had added to their possessions in America Surinam, Essequibo, and Berbice.

The Treaty of Utrecht gave a great impulse to the English colonies and trade. The Asiento, or right of supplying the Spanish colonies with slaves, and the privilege of visiting the fair of Vera Cruz, proved very profitable, though rather by the opportunities which they afforded for contraband trade than by the direct advantages which they offered. Almost all the trade of Spanish South America now fell into the hands of the English. The South Sea Company, founded in 1711, began to flourish apace. The questions, however, which arose out of this traffic respecting the right of search occasioned a war with Spain, as we shall have to relate in another chapter. Spain had beheld with bitter, but helpless jealousy, the colonial progress of England. By the donation of Pope Alexander VI., even as modified by the Treaty of Tordesillas," she conceived herself entitled to 1 See Connor, Hist. of Poland, vol. ii. letter x. 2 See Vol. I. p. 322.

CHAP. XLII.]

THE FRENCH IN THE EAST INDIES.

29 all the continent of North America, as well as the West India Islands. It was not till 1670, in the reign of the Spanish King Charles II., during which England and Spain were on a more friendly footing than at any other period, that the English possessions in America had been recognized.1 After the accession of his grandson to the Spanish throne, Louis XIV. conceived the hope of checking the maritime and colonial power of England, which, from an early period of his reign, had been the object of his alarm and envy. The results of the war of the Spanish Succession were, however, as we have seen, favourable to English commerce and colonization. Besides the advantages already mentioned, conceded by Spain in the Peace of Utrecht, England obtained from France Hudson's Bay, Newfoundland (though with the reservation of the right of fishery), Acadia, now called Nova Scotia, and the undivided possession of St. Kitt's. Thus the sole possessions which remained to France in North America were Louisiana, Canada, and the island of Cape Breton. The places ceded to Great Britain were, however, at that time little better than deserts. The alliance between France and England, after the death of Louis XIV., was favourable to the progress of the French colonies. Their West India islands flourished, on the whole, perhaps better than the English, from the greater commercial freedom which they enjoyed, as well as from the custom of the French planters of residing on their properties. In North America the attempt of the French to connect Canada with Louisiana, by means of a line of forts, occasioned a bloody warfare, as we shall have to relate in another chapter.

In the East Indies no material alteration took place either in the French or English settlements till after the fall of the Mogul Empire. The French had taken possession, in 1690, of the Isle of France, and in 1720 of the Isle of Bourbon, both which places had been abandoned by the Dutch. After the death of Aurengzebe in 1707, the Mogul Empire began to decline, and the incursion of Nadir Shah in 1739 gave it a death-blow. The subordinate princes and governors, the Soubahs and Nabobs, now made themselves independent, and consequently became more exposed to the intrigues and attacks of Europeans. The most important of these princes were the Soubah of Deccan (the Nizam), on whom were dependent the Nabob of Arcot, or the Carnatic, the Nabobs of Bengal and Oude, and the Rajah of Benares.

By the Treaty of Madrid, July 18th, ap. Ranke, Pr. Gesch. B. ii. S. 178.