21 



and In putting clown French pretensions, that our father-; acquired tlie 

 skill and expcrienc-e necessar}' lor the succcs.sful assertion of their own. 



We pass to consider the terms of the treaty of 1763. In reply to 

 the propositions of the court of London, the French ministry, at the 

 oonimenccaient of the negotiations in 17G1, cons(Mited to guaranty lo 

 Enghnid the possession of Canada, provided England would restore 

 the island of Cape Breton, and confirm the righf of French subjects to 

 take and cure fish in ihe Gulf of 8t. Lawrence, as well as on the banks 

 and in the island of Newfoundland. The fortifications of Louisbourg, 

 the court of Versailles, however, suggested should be destroyed, and 

 the harbor laid open for common use. Thcse.terms seem to have beea 

 the ultimatum of France. 



In reply, the British ministry insisted upon the unconditional cession 

 of Canad;i, with all its dependencies, and the cession of Cape Breton and 

 all otlier islands in the Culf of St. Lawrence. They rephed, further, 

 that the important privilege of fishing and curing cod on the coast of 

 Ncwibundland, as provided in the treaty of Utrecht, they had not 

 designed to r(>fuse, but merely to connect with stipulations relative to 

 Dunkirk; and that the island of St. Peter would be ceded to France 

 upon four indispensable conditions: first, that the island should not be 

 fortified, or troops be stationed upon it, under any pretext whatever; 

 second, that, denying the vessels of other nations all rights even of 

 shelter, France should use the island and its harbor for her own fisher- 

 men alone; third, that the possession of the island should not be 

 deemed to extend in any manner the stipulations of the treaty of 

 Utrecht — that is to sa}', "^ loco Cap Donavista non cvj/aio usque ad 

 extremitatcm (jnadcm insula; septentrtonalcm, ind'iquc at latus acchlmtale 

 recurrcndo vsque ad locum Pointe Ric/ie apjicllad/m''^ — [From the place 

 called Cape Bonavista to the northern extremity of the said island, 

 and thence running westerly to the place denominated Point lliche;] 

 fourth, that an English commissary should be allowed to reside at St. 

 Peter, and the commander of the British ships-ot-war on the New- 

 foundland station have liberty, from time to time, to visit the island, to 

 see that these f()ur conditions be duly observed. 



With thesr; propositions tlie French ministry were dissatisfied. They 

 desired rights of fishing in the Culf of St. Lawrence, while, with regard 

 to the cession of St. Peter, they remarked that it was so small and so 

 near Placentia, that, as a shelier, it would prove altog(;th(!r illusive, and 

 serve to create disputes between the two nations, rather than facili- 

 tate the fishery of the French subj(!cts; and they referred to the cession 

 of Cape Breton, or of the island of St. John, as at first suggested, but 

 expressed a willingness to accept of Canseau instead of either. Still, 

 if the British ministry, for reasons unknown to them, could not agree 

 t<-> thf; cessicjn of Canseau, then th(;y subnjiltcd that Mi(piek)n, an island, 

 or, as they considered, a part of St, INier, should be inchuhHl in the 

 cession of the last-named island, for the two joined togciher did not 

 exceed three leagues in extent. They said also that thi>y would main- 

 tain no military establishment at either of the places menlioned, except 

 a gu;ir<l of" fifty nn>n to support j)olice regulations ; and that, as nuich as 

 possible with so weak a force, ihev would pr(;vent all f()r<'igu v(\<sels 

 fiojn sheltering, as required ; while they would linjit their fi.-her}- on the 



