NEW FOREST NEWFOUNDLAND. 



powers. The crown still persevered in ils arbitrary 

 treasures, and, in the last years of Charles II. and 

 the first of James II. (1684 1687), declared the co- 

 idiiial charters forfeited, and their liberties seized into 

 Uie king s hands. Sir Edmund Andros was appointed 

 governor-general of New England (16815), with in- 

 structions to allow no printing-press. The next year 

 he marched, at the head of a body of troops, to seize 

 the charter of Connecticut : the assembly convened, 

 and the charter was brought out into the room, where 

 they met to confer with Aiidros ; the conference was 

 prolonged till night, when the people rushed into 

 the room, extinguished the lights, and secreted 

 the charter in an oak tree, which is still shown in 

 Hartford (q. v.). The inhabitants, in many places, 

 refused to pay the taxes ; and, some rumour of the 

 landing of the prince of Orange in England (see 

 William III.) having reached America, the people 

 of Boston (April 18, 1689) and neighbourhood ap- 

 peared in arms, seized the governor and the caj>tain 

 of a frigate in the harbour, compelled the castle to 

 surrender, and thus effected a complete revolution. 

 Delegates from the towns soon after assembled, and 

 voted to resume the government according to charter 

 rights. Connecticut and Rhode Island resumed their 

 charters ; but although the people of Massachusetts 

 petitioned for the restoration of theirs, their petition 

 was refused ; and. in 1692, a new one was granted, 

 by which the appointment of the governor was vested 

 in the crown. The colonies had been repeatedly 

 involved in hostilities with the different Indian tribes ; 

 but the most destructive war took place in 1675 1676, 

 when Metacom (Philip), the most formidable enemy 

 they had met with, by his cunning, his boldness and 

 activity, formed an extensive combination of hitherto 

 hostile tribes, with the purpose of extirpating the 

 English. His death in 1676, after several defeats, 

 was a fatal blow to the power of the natives in New 

 England. The wars between England and France, 

 from 1690 to 1713, subjected the colonies to the 

 attacks of the French, then in possession of Canada, 

 and their allies, the Indians, and, for nearly twenty- 

 five years, a large portion of the inhabitants were in 

 the field, or obliged to guard their possessions at 

 home : their resources were diminished ; the fields 

 uncultivated ; their villages burned, and their growth 

 checked. After the restoration of peace, they had to 

 contend with the restrictions imposed on their trade 

 and manufactures, and constant attempts to encroach 

 on their liberties, by the mother country. Yet the 

 cheapness and plenty of land, the industry, activity, 

 frugality, and intelligence of the inhabitants, and the 

 freedom of their constitutions of government, rapidly 

 promoted their increase in wealth and numbers. 

 The population, which, in 1700, was about 120,000, 

 was nearly 400,000 in 1750. The seven years' war, 

 (1756 1763), which terminated in the destruction of 

 the French power in America, and secured to Great 

 Britain all the country east of the Mississippi, was 

 an important era in the history of the colonies. 

 From that time began a new system of colonial 

 policy in England, which led to the American revo- 

 lution. As all of the colonies were equally interested 

 in these events, and became more closely united in 

 their common opposition to the mother country, it is 

 unnecessary to give, here, a detailed account of the 

 measures adopted, and the events which ensued from 

 them, since they would be little more than a repeti- 

 tion of what is given in the article United Slates. 

 (For the history of Vermont, see Vermont, and New 

 York.} The six New England states have, by the 

 census of 1830, a population of 1,954,611. 



NEW FOREST; a large tract in England, in 

 Hampshire, about fifty miles in circuit, which con- 

 tained many populous towns and villages, and thirty- 



six mother churches, till it was laid waste ami 

 turned into a forest by William the Conqueror. 

 King Henry VHIth built some castles in it, and it 

 has now several towns and villages. It is situated 

 in that part of Hampshire which is IxHinded east by 

 Southampton river, and south by the British chan- 

 nel. This is the only forest which belongs to the 

 crown, of which the origin is known. 



NEWFOUNDLAND ; an island in the North 

 Atlantic ocean, separated from the continent of 

 North America by the straits of Belle Isle and the 

 gulf of St Lawrence, first discovered by Sebastian 

 Cabot, in 1497. It is of a triangular form, 380 

 miles in length, and varying in breadth from 50 to 

 300 miles, and, without including the windings of 

 the coast, is 900 miles in circumference ; Ion. 52 

 to 59 40' W. ; lat. 46 45' to 51 46' N. The 

 head-lands, as well as the general line of the sea- 

 coast, are high and bold, and form numerous secure 

 and commodious harbours. Of the interior little is 

 known, since, with one or two exceptions, it has 

 never been traversed except by the aborigines of the 

 country. Several high hills, supposed to be near 

 the centre of the island, may be discerned from the 

 sea ; but the inland country is represented as gener- 

 ally level. It is covered with heath, and a species 

 of dwarf fir and spruce, except on the margin of the 

 rivers and lakes, where various trees grow to a con- 

 siderable height. The island is on all sides indented 

 by spacious bays, which extend far up into the coun- 

 try, and upon the harbours and coves of which are 

 the stations and settlements whence the fisheries are 

 carried on. The most extensive are White, Notre 

 Dame, Bona Vista, Trinity, Conception, St Mary, 

 Placentia, Fortune, and St George's bays. A large 

 section of the sea-coast, comprehending the northern 

 end and western side, has been ceded to the 

 French, who also possess the small islands of St 

 Pierre and Miquelon, which are situated in the 

 entrance of Fortune bay. The climate of Ne%v- 

 foundland is generally represented as excessively 

 severe, but this is by no means true. The winter 

 usually commences about the middle of December, 

 and the weather continues cold until March, but not 

 so severe as in Canada and other portions of the 

 main land several degrees farther south. In the 

 spring, large masses of ice are brought by the cur- 

 rents from the north seas, and frequently block up 

 the bays and harbours ; and in the midst of summer, 

 icebergs, or mountains of ice, may occasionally be 

 seen. The climate is, in consequence, very variable, 

 and vegetation seldom commences before tlie month 

 of May. Such is its rapidity, however, that many 

 kinds of vegetables are produced in perfection ; and, 

 although agriculture has, until of late years, been 

 almost entirely neglected, yet experiments have 

 proved that the soil is capable of cultivation, and 

 that the climate will mature oats, barley, wheat, 

 and almost every thing necessary for the subsistence 

 of the inhabitants. For their principal supplies of 

 corn and other provisions, however, they are, and 

 must, in a great measure, remain dependent upon 

 other countries. This island has always been 

 famous for the cod fisheries which have been carried 

 on upon its shores "and banks. These were first 

 prosecuted by merchants and adventurers from the 

 West of England, who used to resort to Newfound- 

 land in the spring, lay up their ships, pursue the 

 fishery until the season was ended, and then return 

 to their homes upon the approach of winter. The 

 value and importance of these fisheries induced these 

 adventurers to seek for a monopoly; and they ac- 

 cordingly procured several acts of parliament to be 

 passed, by which their interests were exclusively 

 protected. The objects of these acts was, mainly, 



