6 



came visible. If the policy of its governors 

 had been exerted to conciHate the surrounding 

 native tribes, and avoid the destructive wars 

 with them, by which it was continually dis- 

 tressed, it is not unreasonable to presume that its 

 advance to a flourishing state would have been 

 as rapid, or, from its local advantages, probably 

 more so than colonies are in general ; but, un- 

 happily, as a conciliatory system was never, or 

 if a,t all but rarely adopted, the numerous in- 

 cursions of the Indians, whose movements were 

 always traced by the devastation they com- 

 mitted, paralized its efforts so much, that in 

 1714 the population could hardly number 

 20,000 souls. Other and very great disad^ 

 vantages were felt from the wars carried on 

 between the mother country and England*, 

 which invariably extended their disastrous in- 

 fluence to the colonies, and were indeed waged 

 by the colonists on both sides with a rancour 

 and animosity unknown between the chief 

 belligerents. Under the pressure of such fre- 

 quent and protracted calamities, any ame- 

 lioration could scarcely be expected, and the 

 affairs of Canada continued to fluctuate be- 



* In 1629 Canada was taken by the English, but was then 

 held in so little estiniation, that three years afterwards they again 

 transferred it to its former owners, deeming their conquest not 

 worth the ex-pense of maintaining. 



