19 



of the period was devoted to war. The contest was at an end. The 

 Gaul resigned the mastery of the New World to the Briton.* 



In view of the past and the future, our fathers were "satisfied." 

 It remains to give a summary of the exertions of the northern colo- 

 nists to achieve the conquest of Canada. So numerous were the sea- 

 men and fishermen of New England on board of the ships-ot-war, that 

 her merchants were compelled to navigate their own vessels with In- 

 dians and negroes. More 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 

 emplo3^ed in the British navy, 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 paid so much, in pro- 



* It may be said that Great Britain has hardly had a nionient's quiet with Canada since the 

 day when Wolfe i-(ise from a sick bed to "die hapi)y" in planting her flag on the walls of 

 Quebec. We cannot stop to trace the reasons for this state of things, but must confine our 

 remarks to the course of events immediately following the conquest. After the full 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 should be re- 

 tained or restored to France, and the island of Guadaloupe be added to the British dominions iu 

 its stead. There seems to have been a prevalent fear that, if Canada were kept, the colonies, rid 

 of all apprehensions from the French, would increase at an alarming rate, and finally throw oif 

 their dependence on the mother country. A tract was published in support of this view, sup- 

 posed to have been written either by Edmund or William Burke, to which Franklin replied in 

 his happiest and ablest manner. Franklin's answer, in the judgment of Mr. Sparks, "was be- 

 lieved to have had great weight in the ministerial councils, and to have been mainly instru- 

 mental in causing Canada to be held at the peace." 



In tlie course of the dispute, the charge was openlj^ made that the treaty of peace which re- 

 stored to France the conquests of Bellisle, Goree, Gaudaloupe, St. Lucia, Martinique, and Ha- 

 vana, which guarantied to her people the use of the Newfoundland fishery, and whicn re- 

 tained an acquisition of so doubtful value as Canada, was the result of corrupt bargaining. 



Lord St. Vincent (a great naval captain, and hardly inferior to Nelson) was of the opinion, 

 even in 1783, that Canada ought not to be retained by England. Lord Brougham, iu his his- 

 torical sketches, relates that, " when Lord Shelburne's peace (1783) wa.s signed, and before 

 the terms were made public, he sent for the admiral, and, showing them, asked his opinion.' 

 ' I like them very well,' said he, ' but there is a great omission.' ' In what ? ' ' In leaving 

 Canada as a British province.' 'How could we possibly give it up?' inquired Lord Shel- 

 burne. * How can you hope to keep it?' replied the veteran warrior : 'with an Englii^h re- 

 public just established in the sight of Canada, and with a population of a handful of English 

 settled among a body of hereditary Frenchmen, it is impossible ; and, rely on it, you only re- 

 tain a running sore, the source of endless disquiet and expense.' ' Would the countiy bear 

 it ? have you forgotten Wolfe and Quebec ? ' asked his lordship. ' No : it is because I re- 

 member both. I served with Wolfe at Quebec. Having lived so long, I have had full time for 

 reflection on tLis matter ; and my clear opinion is, that if this fair occasion for giving up Canada 

 is neglected, nothing but difficulty, iu either keeping or resigning it, will ever after be known.'" 

 This i-emarkable prediction hits been fulfilled, as every one who is familiar with Canadian af- 

 fairs will admit. 



t " The Massachusetts forces," in 17.59, says Hutchin.son, " were of great service. Twenty- 

 five himdred served in garrison at Louisbourg and Nova Scotia, in the room of the regular 

 troops taken from thence to serve under General Wolfe. Several hundred served on board 

 the king's ships as seamen, and the remainder of the sis thousand five hundred men voted iu 

 the spring served under General Amherst. Besides this force, upon application of General 

 Wolfe, three himdred more were raised and sent to Quebec byrthe lieutenant governor, in 

 the absence of the governor at Penobscot." 



