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 Pennsylvaniaarose 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 colonisation 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 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 280 THE BUCCANEERS.. [BOOK V. 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 14 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 recognised 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 American colonisers. 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 excited 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 monarch. 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. 15 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. 14 One of the most celebrated of these adventurers was Henry Morgan, a Welshman. After several years of perilous and romantic enterprise, Morgan retired to 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. 15 See Connor, Hist. of Poland, vol. ii. letter x. 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 Ricca 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 Assiento, 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, 16 she conceived herself entitled to 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 recognised." 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 18 The results of the war of the Spanish Succession were, however, as we have seen, favourable to English commerce and colonisation. 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 16 See Vol. I. p. 320 sq. 17 By the Treaty of Madrid, July 18th, ap. Ranke, Pr. Gesch. B. ii. S. 178. 18 Thus, in 1667, in an Instruction to Gremonville, he had expressed his fears, 'Que les Indes seraient au pillage aux Anglais et aux Hollandais et feraient peut-être autant de roitelets qu'elles ont de vicerois et de gouverneurs." Mignet, Négoc. relatives à la Succession d'Espagne, t. ii. p. 359. 282 THE FRENCH IN THE EAST INDIES. [Book V. Scotia, and the undivided possession of St. Kitt's. Thus the sole possessions that 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 bad 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 the Europeans. The most important of these princes were the Soubah of Deccan (the Nizam), on whom was dependent the Nabob of Arcot, or the Carnatic; the Nabobs of Bengal and Oude, and the Rajah of Benares. It seemed at this period as if the French, under the conduct of Labourdonnaye and Dupleix, would have appropriated India; but the bad understanding between those commanders prevented the success which they might otherwise have achieved. Labourdonnaye captured Madras in 1746, which, however, was restored to the English by the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. The conquests of Dupleix and Bussi were still more extensive and important. They obtained the circars or circles of Condavir, Mustapha-Nagar, Ellora, RadjaMundri, and Tehicacolé, with Masulipatam as a capital, together with large districts near Carical and Pondicherry, &c.; in a word, the French, about the middle of the eighteenth century, held at least a third of India. But the recall of Dupleix, who was succeeded by the unfortunate Lally, and the appearance of Lawrence and Clive, secured the preponderance of the English domination. Masulipatam was taken by the English in 1760, Pondicherry in 1761, when its fortifications were razed; and though Pondicherry was restored by the peace of 1763, it never recovered its former strength and importance. In like manner, the success of the English in the war which broke out in America in 1754, and especially the taking of Quebec by General Wolfe in 1759, compelled the French to abandon all their possessions on the American continent, except Louisiana, at the same peace; as we shall have to relate in a subsequent chapter. No great alteration was experienced during this period by the colonies of other European nations. Though the English had taken Porto Bello and Havannah, they were restored to Spain at the Peace of Paris. Brazil, after the Peace of Utrecht, had increased in prosperity and wealth. The Dutch experienced no sensible diminution of their East India commerce before the Peace of Versailles in 1783. The colonial transactions of other nations are unimportant. The Danes, who had occupied the West India island of St. Thomas since 1671, purchased St. Croix from the French in 1733. In the East Indies they had obtained possession of Tranquebar. The Swedes also established an East India Company in 1731, but merely for trading purposes. We will now turn our view for a moment on the inward and domestic life of the European States after the close of the great struggle for religious freedom. It does not appear that the Reformation was immediately favourable to civil liberty, except in the case of the Dutch Republic. The reasons for this it might not perhaps be difficult to discover. The principles of the Reformation had been introduced into Holland against the will of the Sovereign, and while the Dutch people had become universally Protestant, their ruler was one of the most bigoted Papists in Europe. Hence persecution on the part of the government, resistance on that of the subject, brought the question of civil obedience, as well as of religious submission, to an immediate issue. Liberty of conscience could not be enjoyed unless supported by political freedom; and, after a glorious struggle of eighty years, both were confirmed to the Dutch by the Peace of Westphalia. But in other countries where the principles of the Reformation had been generally adopted, they had been introduced at least with the connivance, if not with the direct support of the government. Such was the case in England and in the Northern States of Europe. The immediate effect of this was to strengthen the power of the monarch, by throwing into his hands a vast amount of ecclesiastical property and patronage. He no longer shared with a foreign potentate the allegiance of his subjects, and diverted into his own exchequer tributes which had formerly flowed to Rome. Hence chiefly it was |