IIISTOKH'AL SKETCH. 17 



i.-*lau(l, ami that tlu'v ronld iieitlirr jaoM^Mite the tislR-nes tliere, 

 ;.settle the lands, nor carry on mining or any other imlu.sky. The 

 "Frencli Shore (Question" as it has been callo<l, has been trans- 

 niittetl as a legacy from generation to generation. More than any 

 •other cause this has retarded the progress of the Colony. The 

 French still hold on a- pertinaciously as ever to their claims. 

 This -was the tir-t ol the hnig series of "historic misfortunes," as 

 Lord Salisbury has named them, of which NeAvfoundland has 

 been the victim. In vain has diplomacy wrestled with these 

 .anti(piated treaties time after time. The Old Man of the Sea 

 did not cling more firmly to the shoulders of Sinbad than the 

 Frenchman to tlie shores of p]ngland's ohlest Colony. 



HISTORIC :^IISKOKTrNI<:S-|iXJUST T.AWS. 



Ibit even these uidueky treaties, foinied l)y careless or incom- 

 ]ietent statesmen, which deprived tlie colonists of the use of the 

 best lialf of the island, were not the worst of its "historic 

 misfoi-iniies." For more than a century ami a half, the settle- 

 ment of the island and the cultivation of its soil were systematic- 

 .ally thwarted and sternly ])rohibited 1)y law ; and continuous 

 eHbrts were made to kee]) it as a tishing station to which English 

 lishermen could resort in summer to catch ami ilry tisli, and then 

 return home at the end of the season with tlie products of their 

 toil. 



lIKiK.VTORV riSHEUV. 



This sirangi' ]>olicy, wliitli wa< backcl by English laws, re- 

 .(piires some explanation. From the first the tisheries had been 

 .<;arried on by merchants slnp-ownei's and tiaders from the west 

 of England. Each year they sent out ships and fishing-crews 

 from England. The fish caught was salted and dried ashore. 

 AVheu w inter approached the fishermen toi)k their departure tor 

 England. These English "merchant-adventurers" as they were 

 .enlled, found that it was for (heir interest to discourage the 

 settlement of the country, as they wished to retain its harbours 

 .ami coves for the use of their own lishing captains and servants, 

 .and thus sx-ure a very proHtalile monopoly of the whole tisheries. 



