20 



portion, for the support of government." I find it stated that the 

 amount assessed, in taxes of every kind, was nearly half of the payer 9 



income, 



In this rapid notice of the events which preceded and led to the ex- 

 tinction of French power, I have not exaggerated the importance at- 

 tached to the fisheries. Few of the far-sighted saw, even m the distant 

 future, as we really see, in New France, and that half-fabulous coun- 

 tiv, Acadia, the building of ships to preserve and increase the maritime 

 strength of England, wheat-lands to rival our own, the great lakes 

 united with the ocean, and upon the St. Lawrence and St. John some ot 

 the principal timber-marts of the world. Nay, among the wisest, the 

 Indian was forever to glide in his canoe on the waters — forever to roam 

 the dark, limitless forest. In a word, the vision of most was bounded 

 by the fur trade on the soil, and by the fish trade on the sea. 



A single remark upon the influence of these events in producing the 

 Revolution, Hmited as is the plan of this report, cannot be omitted. In 

 the "paper stuff"" emitted by Massachusetts to payoiF"Phips's men," 

 we see the germ of the "continental money." In the levying of taxes, 

 in the raising of troops, and the general independence of the colonial 

 assemblies during periods of war, we find explanation of the wonder- 

 ful ease of the transition of these bodies into "provincial congresses." 

 In the many armies embodied and fleets fitted at Boston, we learn why 

 the people, familiar with military men and measures, almost reck- 

 lessly provoked collision with the troops sent by their own fsovereign to 

 overawe and subdue them. 



In truth, the prominent actors in the wars of 1744 and of 1756 were 

 the prominent actors in the struggle of freedom. Thus, with Pepper- 

 eU at the siege of Louisbourg were Thornton, who became a signer of 

 the Declaration of Independence ; Bradford, who commanded a conti- 

 nental regiment; and Gridley, who laid out the works on Bunker's 

 Hill. On the frontiers of Virginia and in the west, in the last-mentioned 

 war was the illustrious Washington. Engaged in one or both of the 

 French wars were Lewis, Wolcott, Williams, and Livingston, who 

 were signers of the Declaration of Independence ; and Prescott, who 

 commanded on the memorable 17th of June. Among those who became 

 generals in the Revolution were Montgomery, who fell at Quebec; 

 Gates, the victor at Saratoga; Mercer, who was slain at Princeton, 

 and who, in the estimation of some, was second only to Washington ; 

 Morgan, the hero of the "Cowpens;" Thomas, who commanded in 

 Canada after the fall of Montgomery; James Clinton, the father of De 

 Witt Clinton; Stark, the victor at Bennington; Spencer, Israel and 

 Rufus Putnam, Nixon, St. Clair, Gibson, Bull, Charles Lee, and 

 Durke. There were also Butler, the second in command at Wyo- 

 ming; and Campbell, a distinguished colonel; and Dyer, chief justice 

 of Connecticut; Craik, director-general of the American hospital, and 

 the "old and intimate friend" of Washington; Jones, the physician of 

 Franklin ; John Morgan, director-general and physician-general of the 

 army; and Hynde, the medical adviser of Wolfe, 'who was with him 

 when he fell, and accompanied Patrick Henry against Lord Dunmoie. 

 It was in Nova Scotia and Canada, and on the Ohio, then — at Port 

 Royal, Canseau, Louisbourg, Quebec, and in the wilds of Virginia — 



