27 



At the peace, a deputation of English merclmnts and others con- 

 nected with Newfoundland entreated their government to refuse to 

 France continued rights of fishing allowed under the; treaties of 1713, 

 of 17G;], and of 178^3. But the British ininistry, aside from general 

 considerations, regarded the restoration of the Bourhons as an event of 

 momentous consequence to Europe, and confirmed to France all her 

 i()reign possessions exactly as they stood at the commencement of the 

 war. The Newfoundland colf)nists have never ceased to complain of 

 the renewed compelliiou which this policy required them to meet. 

 They contend that, whatcn^er was the opinion in 17S:j, the; fishing-gi-ounds 

 along the shores irom Cape Ray to Cape John, which are enjtjyed by 

 the French to the exclusion of all others, are, in the judgment of every 

 person competent to decide, the very best at Newfoundland; and they 

 further insist, by reason of the advantages possessed by France and 

 the United States, that the English deep-sea, fishery has been aban- 

 doned. These and similar statements are to be found in oflicial papers 

 and in private letters, and are never omitted by the colonists in their 

 convei^ations on the subject of their fisheries. 



It may not be unkind to reply that the French and x\m(Mican fisher- 

 men are industrious, and that there need be no other explanation of 

 ttieir success. 



The insertion here of the thirteenth article of the treaty of Paris in 

 1S14 is not necessary. As already intimated, the French were con- 

 firmed in the rights which they possessed previous to the war. The 

 el<ivcnth article of the treaty of Paris in the following year, at the 

 general pacification in Europe, reiterates the confirmation. Reference, 

 therefore, to the articles of the treaty of 17S3, to the "declaration" and 

 "counter declaration" recorded at length in the proper connexion, will 

 afford a perfect knowledge of the present extent, limitations, and local- 

 ities of the fishing-grounds of France in the American seas. 



With peace came prosj)erity. In ISIG, the French tonnage at New- 

 foundland was nearly thirtj'-one thousand; the amount in 1S23, how- 

 ever, appears to have b(X'n reduced nearly onc-lialf It rose suddenly, 

 and in a single year, to about thirty-seven thousand, and, increasing an- 

 nually, except in 1S25, was upwards of fifty thousand in 1829. In 

 the succeeding ten years the increase was only five thousand. 



The number of vessels emj)l()yed in 1841 and two years later was 

 aljout four hundred; and thf; number of seamen in 1847 was estimated 

 ?it twelve thousand. These facts, on which I rely, all()rd proof that the 

 Newfoundland fishery is now prosecuted with energy and success. To 

 f()llow the statements of the English colonists which are to be met with 

 in ofiicial documents, the number of men engaged at St. Pierre and 

 Miquelon, and on various j)arts ol" the coast between Ca[)(> Ifay and 

 • 'ajK^ John, should be computed at twenty-live thousand. MMk re is 

 the same authority fijr estimating the animal catch of fish at one mil- 

 lion of quintals. 



I regard the views of M. D. L. KodiM, of Paris, as far more accu- 

 rate. He states that, ^^ without her colonics,'''' the cod-lishery would ^'■be- 

 come vcarhj cjtinctf that thest^ colonies "o«/^ conaunu: unnuaUij ciishfij 

 ihou.vrntl (/n/ntdls;'' that f()r(!ign nations ^^ scarcely tu/cc a Ji/ih^^ of the 

 catch; and that "it is by sui)milliiig to the exorbitant duties, which at 



