A. D. ly 12. 27 



' claufe being expired, and forafmuch as the copper manufa(fl;ure of this 

 ' kingdom is brought to fuch perfedion, that there is more made than 



* can be expended here and in the phmtations ; be it therefor enact- 



* ed, &c. provided neverthelefs, that no drawback be allowed on the 

 ' exportation of any copper, but fuch as fhall be imported from the 

 ' Eaft-Indies and the coaft of Barbary only.' 



1713. — We are now come to a remarkable epocha of commercial hif- 

 ftory ; for, on the iich of April, new ftile, in the year 1713, Queen 

 Anne's plenipotentiaries at Utrecht ligned her treaty of peace, and alfo, 

 at the fame time, a treaty of navigation and conmierce, with France ; 

 and ratified the fame in four weeks after. Much has been written and 

 publiflied againft the conditions of this peace, which that queen's new 

 minifters, for their own fafety, were determined to conclude. 



But as commercial matters alone, and fuch points as are nearly con- 

 nected therewith, are our proper province, we fliall content ourfelves 

 with briefly remarking, on what is properly the treaty of peace. 



I) That though the French king yielded to the queen of Great 

 Britain, to be pofitfled by her in full right for ever, the bay and ftraits 

 of Hudfon, and all parts thereof, and within the fame, then polTefled by 

 France, yet leaving the boundaries between Hudfon's Bay and the north 

 parts of Canada, belonging to France, to be determined by commiilaries 

 within a year, was, in effe<ft, the fame thing as giving up the point alto- 

 gether ; it being well known to all Europe, that France never permits 

 her commiflliries to determine fuch matters, unlefs with sjreat advantasre 

 to her. Thofe boundaries therefor have never yet been fettled, though 

 both Britifh and French fubjccfts are, by that article, exprefsly debarred 

 from pafling over the fame, or thereby to go to each other by fea or 

 land. Thofe commifl-iries were likewife to fettle the boundaries between 

 the other Brititb and French colonies on tliat continent ; which likewife 

 was never done. 



Commiflaries were alfo to fettle, according to the rule of juflice, the 

 fatisfaclion to be given to the Englifli Hudfon's Bav companv lor the 

 damage done to their fettlements, fhips, perfons, and goods, by the hof- 

 tile incurfions and depredations of the French, in time of peace. And 

 this too was never efFe61uallv done. 



II) St. Chrlltopher? was tlie more eafily yielded to the queen, as the 

 French had before been expelled from it. 



III) But although all Nova-Scotia and Acidia, with its antient boun- 

 daries, were yielded to Qiieen Anne for ever ; as alfo the city of 

 Port-Royal, now called Annapolis-Royal, and the fubjeds of France were*- 

 thereby excluded from filhing in the feas, bays, &c. on the coafts of 

 Nova-Scotia; yet thofe antient boundaries were never yet juflly afcer- 

 tained by France ; and the ambiguous term, antient boundaries, was, 

 doubilefs, purpofely contrived by France, for her future dcfigns ; and^ 



D 2 



