394 FRENCH AND ENGLISH RIVALRY. [1693-97. 



Louisiana, and his brother Bienville founded New 

 Orleans. 1 



These northern conflicts were but episodes. In 

 Hudson's Bay, Newfoundland, and Acadia, the 

 issues of the war were unimportant, compared with 

 the momentous question whether France or Eng- 

 land should be mistress of the west ; that is to say, 

 of the whole interior of the continent. There was 

 a strange contrast in the attitude of the rival 

 colonies towards this supreme prize : the one was 

 inert, and seemingly indifferent ; the other, intensely 

 active. The reason is obvious enough. The En^- 

 lish colonies were separate, jealous of the crown 

 and of each other, and incapable as yet of acting 

 in concert. Living by agriculture and trade, they 

 could prosper within limited areas, and had no pres- 

 ent need of spreading beyond the Alleghanies. 

 Each of them was an aggregate of persons, busied 

 with their own affairs, and giving little heed to 

 matters which did not immediately concern them. 

 Their rulers, whether chosen by themselves or ap- 

 pointed in England, could not compel them to 

 become the instruments of enterprises in which 

 the sacrifice was present, and the advantage re- 

 mote. The neglect in which the English court 

 left them, though wholesome in most respects, 

 made them unfit for aggressive action ; for they 

 had neither troops, commanders, political union, 

 military organization, nor military habits. In 



1 On the capture of Eort Nelson, Iberville au Ministre, 8 Nov., 1697 ; 

 Jeremie, Relation de la Baye de Hudson; La Potherie, I. 85-109. All 

 these writers were present at the attack. 



