TJie Fishery Qiicstion 25 



Massachusetts would loose their means of live- 

 lihood, and ten thousand persons must seek 

 employment elsewhere/^ Before the begin- 

 ning of the Revolutionary War, New England 

 had lost the ancient Fisheries — as far as Parlia- 

 mentary action could go. '' No taxation with- 

 out representation " was not merely a conven- 

 ient phrase ; yet duties not for revenue, but 

 tending to circumscribe commerce, were al- 

 most as obnoxious as direct taxes/^ One of 

 the arguments in favor of a successful revolt 

 rested on the strong probability of effective 

 assistance from abroad.^^ Thirteen years had 

 fulfilled the anticipations of the French states- 

 men. Not that they mistrusted the colonies 

 the less, but that they disliked England more. 

 The United States Government, before the 

 declaration, had dispatched an agent to 

 France. French aid began, covertly, before 

 the war and continued after the result was no 

 longer in doubt. Among the inducements 

 offered by the American commissioners to ob- 

 tain recognition was a joint conquest of 

 Canada and Newfoundland, and the division 

 of the Fishery between the French and the 

 United States governments. This was never 

 seriously contemplated by France. Before 



