read a commission from the Queen, authorising him to take 

 possession of the island in her name. This was the first act 

 of declared sovereignty ; but it was not followed by any 

 immediate efforts at settlement. No doubt this was in 

 a great degree owing to the death of Sir Humphry Gilbert, 

 which took place soon after the annexation to the crown. 



Subsequent attempts to colonise were fitful and ineffec- 

 tive. While the sovereignty was de jiire in England, the 

 French were busily engaged in planting fishing settlements 

 on the coast. Indeed, at the present period, the fishing 

 ports, smaller harbours, and bays of the island are a melange 

 of corrupted French and Portuguese nomenclature. For 

 many years a bitter struggle existed between French and 

 English for the mastery of the island. This frequently 

 resulted in serious conflicts, in which the former were 

 rarely even temporarily successful. Notwithstanding these 

 disasters, the French managed to retain a hold over a 

 portion of the coast, and to this day, owing to the supine- 

 ness of the home Government, possess certain rights upon 

 "the French shore." In 1762, the French made their last 

 organised attempt to obtain possession of Newfoundland ; 

 and, owing to treachery and the surprise of jdden attack, 

 were for a time successful, but the arrival of British troops 

 resulted in their disastrous defeat, and effectually estab- 

 lished the since unquestioned right of British sovereignty. 

 But, even after the removal of these obstacles to settle- 

 ment, the anti-social policy, which controlled Government 

 and commercial operations for more than half a century of 

 undisturbed British rule, was not less repressive. In short, 

 these two agencies worked together in remarkable com- 

 bination of intolerance. This wretched policy was, about 

 the year 1820, terminated by the establishment of regularly 

 constituted courts of law. Prior to that period, the adminis- 



