2 triTS - 30222 EPISODES IN OUR EARLY HISTORY. A LECTURE DELIVERED BY D. W. PROWSE, Oil behalf of the St, John's Atheiiteiini, 5th March, 1878. ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND. << MOENIXG CHBONICI.E" PRINT. 1878, I :. 4' ^ 'ii ^T^in ' r--- , ■ ■I . V ^ '.' 1 ■>. INTRODUCTORY NOTPl As nearly all the information contained in this Lecture about the early History' of Xewfoundland has been gathered from sources outside the existing histories of the Colony, I consider it is dn<^ to my rnalors, in thf^ first place, to cite my authorities. For the Icelandic discovery of America my information has been principally derived from Di*. Rinko's "Danish Greenland," (edition of 1877) ; the admirable paper on pre- Columbian discovery, in Chambers' "Papers for the People," Vol. Ill ; Carlyle's "Early Kings of Norway ;"' Montgomery Martin's "British Colonial Library," article Newfoundland; Principal Dawson of Monti-eal, and some information kindly obtained for me by Mr. Rabbits, the Member for Brigus. On the discovery of Newfoundland by Cabot, and its early history, my principal authoi-itics aro the two lives of Seba.i- tian Cabot by Biddle and Nlcholls, Brown's admirable History of Capo Breton, an 1 Kirke's Conquest of Canada- For the account of the French dominion in the Colony, I have gathered my facts principally from Garneau's "History of Canada, Parkman's "Frontenac," and "Pioneers of New France," and again from Brown, and a few facts from Reeves, The Plucentia episodes I have taken from the Placentia Records, now mouldering away in our Record Room. I may add that I have the usual excuse of the pamphleteer, and the parson who prints his sermons, for rushing into print. "Earnest requests from numerous and respected friends, in whose judgment I place reliance," etc. I have endeavoreil, to the best of mv abilitv, to ret before mv fellow-Newfoundlanders the latest lifrhts that I can find o upon some doubtful points in their early history, and I trust that its perusal may deepen in some small degree the interest they take in their native land EPISODES IN OUR EARLY HISTORY. I shall endeavor to interest you this» evening about some obscure episodes in the early history of this most ancient and loyal Colony, It may once have been all that a Poet in the beginning of this century described ii, as : — "The land I siiiff whore fish and oil abound, And savoury flakes tho public street-s surround, Where for six months the driving snows assail, And ice keeps off the packet and tho mail ; In short, a place where nothing thrives Extept potatoes, publicans and wives ; Of these the latter often may be seen. The beauteous mother of at least sixteen ; In brief, a laud wht're pigs eat fish, Judge, oh yo gods ! how savoury is the dish." Very little of this is true about us now. The flakes are gone, ice does not keep off the good ship Newfoundland, and potatoes unfortunately "don't thrive;" but true, or not .true, the land is dear to us, linked as it is with the cherished associations of our lives. Over the dim and early years of American History there hangs an obscurity and a darkness which no keen searching antiquarian eye has yet been able to penetrate. For Europe and for Asia there are written memorials which carry back the history of these continents for several thousands of yeavs before the Christian era ; but up to this time there is no written document which carries the authenticated history of America farther back than the beginning of the tenth century ; and it is only within the latter part of this century that this, the oldest American written history contained in the Icelandic Sagas, has been given to the world. In nearly every history of Newfound- land, and in all old general histories, you will find the pre-Columbian discovery of America by the Icelanders treated as a myth : but it is now ascertained to be a great historical fact, as smo and certain a fact as that Williani the Conqueror, tlio dosccnclant of another Norseman, Rolf the Ganger, or Walker, conquered England in lOdlJ. The written record of tliu Icelandic discovery of America, is contained in a '• S;i2fa," (literally " ?iays") known now to Antiquaries as the Inlaid *S'«(7«, from the Island in Iceland, where the manuscripts were fDuiid in lOoO. The authenticity fo this Saga as an historical docnuuMit of the 1'1\.\\ century is ut doubted. It has been sublividod into the Eric, Rriude or Eric R"d Saga, which relers to the colo'iization of Green- land by Eric; the 'Thorjlnn Karlscfiu'. Time will not permit mo to give you more than tho very briefest SAetch of the hiiitories cotitained iu these two Sagas : they treat mainly of the same events, differ in many minor pcints, but agree in all tho main f cts. Tlio first point that I w'll refer to is the colonizition of Greenland, mentioned iu the Saga by Eric Raude, which took place in 9S(j. Most miimto particulars are given about the liiffci'ent localities and especially about Eric's own h'luse. Dr. Riiike tell us that this hou^e can be identified from remnins still existing. "In a country," he says, " where no tree can grow ; the faintest traces of former liuildings can bo mido out." Kakortok Church he thus describes: The Church c>ntiiiis three separate enti-ances; the inincipil one isovere 1 vvitli a very large regular flat stone, measuring al)'.)ut twelve feet iu length. In the opposite or Enteru wall is a v/indow most skilfully ai-ched, l)ut appiretitly likewise constructed from rough stoues." A'»out one hundred plac^^s nave been found scattered along the coast of Greeuland in which stone buildiirjs or traces of t!ie ii iiave been {bund, "and by a care- ful couiparison." says Rlnke, "of those localities with the ancient nari-ative, it has been possible to lay down with the utmost degree of probability the old geograj)hical names of the Sagas in our present maps. Now both the Sagas which describes the colonization of Greenland go on to tell of the adventures of various Ice- landers, who, sailing from Greenland at the end of the 10th and beginning of the 11th century, discovered Great and Little Helluland, Markland, and Yiuland. Great Hellulaud, which is undoubtedly Labrador, is described as a stony or rocky country with many small hills. Next country they called Markland, a low flat eountrv covered with wood; 5 anri,hi!rn part of the beautifid Rhode Island, cilled the Ed^n of America. There wild j,'rape.s still Hint,' tlieir graceful tondriU from tree to tree, and maize if not wheat grows there sown by Nitiir^'s hand alone. In corroboration alst) of Professor Rain's the )rv th-^ro is an old stone building n(;ar Newport, Rho(Je Island, whicii all the distinguished Northern Anti(jUHri('S [)ronounce to be a baptismal chaj)el ia the early style of the middle a^es ; and tlie remains ol a skeleton in an armour of bronze have also been f)und near the same hjcality. Adam of Bremen, writing in tho lldi century, mentions tho discovery of Vinland and the gi-apes. The last authentic account that vve got of those Greenland Colonists is from a document founic.suiit JJauish .suUlciacuLs iu Gicciilautl, houic of (huse old ISorscmcu with their small iiuweathcrly craft inust sooner or later have Ijceii drivLU by a North-west gale 111/011 the coast ol" Labrador. At this stage ol' my Icctiuc T luiist be allowed to make a quotatiou from one of tliose iutere:5ting but somewhat cosily volumes, annually published by.niy friend Mr, Stuart, known as the Journals of the House of Assembly. At page 5G5, 18^3 vol., I lind those iunnortal words from Mr. Samuel Driscoll : •'ToAD'^ i'nw. Mareh I'nd, ISG.S. ' ," Siiu 'M have been en;^a.j,'j(l in ilic Codtisliery lilty-six years, iu many' form*;: after all the time 1 may be as blrid as the iiovirc. 1 givtJ my synopsis of the lishcry syste i- accord- ing to conscience, erudition and intellect. " Now, this is just mv cii -.' ; I have been hard at v. ork foi some time studying their matter. I. too, may be as blind as the novice, but " according to conscience, erudition and in- tellect," r have endeavoured to set before you the latest lights upon this deeply interesting subject, and I intend to go bye and by to jJrigus to look further into it. Wc now come down to what may be called the modem discovery of America, and the general idea is that Sebastian ( 'abot. on :^7th June, I l'J7, at o o'clock in the morning, in a Bristol ship called the Motllic''\ discovered (_'a}to Donavista. and that he named the land Bacrulao^. because the natives called the shoals of gieat fish vovuid the country by that name. Now, let us examine for a moment in detail, these facts, and first as regards the names Bacidttvi or JJacalao, or Uaccalieu. fn an ohl ma[> drawn by Cabot this country is made an archijielago i;f Islands, and Labrador is classed as the I'erra Laccalaos. Prima \'ista is Nova Scotia, Cape [\ace is given, and JIaccalieu Island, 'j'his ma}» bears date \oo\. Now, we know from authentic history, that iu IW\ Spani.sh ships from the Lasque IVoviucos fi.shed on tlic shores both of Newfoundland und <,'apo Lrcton, and the \criest little street boy that evir stoK; lish and sold it for rum can tell us that l)acala«» is the S[»ani.sh for dried fish — a common and vulgar Si)anish \\ord- -and it is perfectly clear that the Sijauish gave this name to the country and that the account of the voyage must have been written many years after the event. Now, the next (|ucstion is not at all clear — what part of North America was seen on this c\pedi- tion of 1 1'07 .' The latest biographer ot Cabal says it was Oape North ; but whctlicr it was (Jape Nurth ov a part of Nova Scotia, there caa bo no doubt whatever tliat they saw somo part of-tho uiain laud of North xVincrica, aud also Newfoundlaud. As regards tli':: tliitd questiun, whether the honour of the discovery is duo to .John Cabot or Sebastian, I may say that on this subject there has been a great deal of learned disquisition, aud that two very learned, and one uncommonly dull book, have been written on it; one in IbJil' by Biddle, and another bv Nidtolis, J/ibrarian of Lristol, iu 18G1.(. I believe the credit of the dixcovery and the honour is due to old John Cabotto : and these arc my reasons : 1st, John Cabot's name aj)pear.s in tlio original Patent of 140l>. Now it is a very remarkable fact, in this discussion, not only that Columbus visited Iceland iu ItVT, when the Icelandic discoveries in ;Vnierica must have been well known thei'c ; but also that John Cabot's iirsC business with Hcnrv Vll was arranging some difleronccs between Euglaud and Dan- niark about tlic large fishery which Eugland then carried on in Iceland. 1 think we can liave very little doubt that John Cabol wa-; in b^rjlauil alsj, and if so, both those illus- trious Italians lieard the .storiei about Vinland. We have most minute descriptions of the Icelanders' habits iu many respects; they were very like ourselves, crowding down like we do on the Calway wharf to see passengers arrive; general- ly inviting them to partake of the ilowing bowl, and always asking aud giving the news. There are three pieces of 'evidence to [)rove that John Cab )t not only went on this iirst (ixpcdition, but alsu}»launod it. 1st, there is a second char- ter of 14!jy given to him John Cabot alone ; the words aio as clear as aaylight : " To all Men to whom theis lacseuteis shall come gretyng: Know ye that Wo of our Ciace especiaie and dyvers causes us moving, We have given and grauuteii, and by these pri;- seuts g('vc and graunte, to our wtiU bclo\'cd John Kabottj, the Venecian.suliiciente auctjrlto a;ul [)uwei that he by him, his Deputio or Deputies, sullicicnt may take at his pleasure VI Jhiglishc shipes in any I'ortc ur Ti-rtes, or utlier ])laces within this, our Uealnio of Mugland or (.)beisance, so tluit, and if the said shi[)})es be of the burthen of CC tonnes, or under, with their apparail re(|uisite and iiecessarie for the safe conduct of the said slii[jpcs, and them convey and leade to the Loiidc OAul Jieopb says: — John Cabot was the discoverer, and he is a pretty good authority. 1 I»elievo the Cabots purposely kept the facts very close al)0ut their first voyage, and that veiy probably they went by way of icoland, ;is Sebastian undoubtedly .sailed that wa^^ on the second voyage, 1498 'Vhe history of Newfoundland attor John Cabot's discov- ery may be converuently diyided into four |)eriods. 10 The first or obscure period i'lMiii the discovery to about loOO or 1000, when there was very little, if any, settlement and very little knowu about the ( V)lony. The second period from about \i](){) to 1728, when thoii' was settlement but no Government except the fishing Atl- mirr.ls. I'his niay bo called the lishino- Admiral period. The third period from 172S— the lirst appointment of si regular Oovernor fCaptain Osborno'i .lustioos and SurrM- gates to 1701 — the Surrogate period. The Fourth poi-iod, oommenelng with the appointment o!' a qualified lawyer !\'\ < 'hiol" dustice in 1701, and extending down to our own time, may bo called the modern ]ioriod. The Carters' connection with Newfoundland dates from u very early period, foi- T find in the Privy I'urse expenses of Henry VJI. this record : "April 1, 1 40M, a reward of £2 tu James Tarter for going to the now isle" ; thus proving that James Carter must have lieen on the original voyage ol 1407. From the discovery- ol John Cabot to the arrival of Sir liumphro}^ Clilbert in 1 'S."), the inlormation about New- foundland is of the most meagre description. The Englisli at first made very little use of the now land. Some writers have conjectured thi,-; was on account of the fcoland fishery, for iu 1518 there v.'ore oGO ilnglish trader.^, in one port alone iti Iceland — ITafne 1^'iord. The real reason, however, of this oarly neglect by the Fngliih of our fishing-grounds is clearly explained in a letter i-(^contly found in the archives of Si mancas, in Spain, dated Jidy '2'>, 1408, from J^Mlro de Ayaln, the Spanish ambassador, adilressed to Ferdinand and Isabella. The letter speaks about Cabot's expedition. Ayala says he told the King the land was iv. the possossioa of the King of Spain, and had given him reasons with which he did not seem v>'ell jdeasod. Ferdinand writes back to tell Henr^'' to beware of these men who are sent by the K ing of France to distract biim from more ,';orlous business. The letter had the desii'od effect on the par.-'.imonious Iving; he wished tn keep Catharine's dowiy, so he could not fall out with Spain ; conser|uently he sent no moi-o expeditions, and we hear ol" no more voyages to Newfoundland f )r thirty years, (up to 1527,) when Henry the VIIT. sent out two ships at the in stigation of Mr. Thoi-ne, of Bristol. We should have known no particular.s whatever of this adventure but for a curious letter written by (.'iiptain John Rut, a regular old West ("'(^untry skipjior, to Henry, dated St. John's. 3rd August, I 5',*7 • ' Plensi;i"- voing very hard up tliey somehow seduced the crew of a French .shi[) ashoi-e and then got possession ot her and sailed away home. They were so changed with the hunger and misery that, as old Hakluyt says of one of them -Mr. Butts — "Sir William his father, and my Lady his inothei', knew him not to lie their sonne until they found a secret marke. which was a warte upon one of his knees." The poor Frenchmen who lost their ship made complaint before ]ienry VriL, who gave them full recompence out of the £1,8«)0,000 his old father had scraped up. and laughed at the queer doingfj of his subjects. About I'llS the Engli.sh appear to have directed more attention to the Tscwfoundlaud fisheries, for we find an act of Edward Vb, of that year, imposing heavy penalties upon i.iificers ol' tlu' Adinijaltv for exacting sums of money, oit's arrival it appears that in 1582 Sir Thomas Hamphire came here with five ships. Klizabetli had given him autlioilty to secure to every master of a fishing crew, the ])roporty of that fishing room which he made the object ol his choice, so long as he kept it employed for the use of the fisheiy. TFndcr this wise provision, worthy of the great Soveroign who made it, the English fisheries increased rapidly. < Jrailnall;/ the Spanish and Portuguese declined : douVitless tlio gi-eater attractions of South America ami Brazil drew them away. As theirs declined the French tisheries arose. T shall thei'efore entleavour to trace out foi- you, nreossarily in a very brief and cursory manner, the gradual extension of fhf French ]>ower in Newfoundland, and the commencement of those a'>'iiressions and encroach- ments on our fisheries which have formed one of the staple items in riovernors' sppcches ever since we had one ; but first let me say a fl;w words about the early settlements. Between 1585 and IGOO the English appear to have gradu- ally consolidated their power in Newfoundland. Settlements began to bo formed, and the country was ruled in a rude, roujjh manner. There was no renrular Navy; jj^allant sea captains like Drake, and Frobisher, were little better than Pirates; " erring Captains," so old Whitbourne calls the rovers and pirates of those days. The first English settle- ments appear to have extended first from Torbay to Cape Race ; Torbay was then called Thorne Bay after a West coun- try familj'-, the Thornes, who though not in the Public House business are still amongst the leaders of society,and split mer- chants in that interesting locality.') There vrere settlements also at Bonavista, Trinity, and in C()jiee])tioii Bav: the early 13 liettlciucul must have bftcu VLiy {^aadua!, us I lind that in 1G80, just after tho baibarouo uidcr iu Council to remove them, there Avere 1'12 Planters between (Ja[)C Kaco and Cape Bonavista; only 01) were married ; they had 21.') children. 1G95 men servants, 23 women servants, t-ol- head of cattle, 25 horses, 3GI boats, 19lj statues, and llnj\ caught G7,340 <[tls fish. The West country MerchautM had then 798 boat.s, 133 stagey, 4000 men, 90 ships, carrying 1-15 guns, and their catch was 133,010 qtis fish, and 1053 hhds train oil. In 18 years, 1G9S, the Planters had only inerea;..cd from 21 2 to 281, but the children must have increased ra[)idl\', for 1 lind they numbered 102 ; tho I'lantei's' servant--' were, 1891, boats 307, fish caught 101,152 qtls. The Western Merchants at the same time had 424!t men and they shi))pcd 2G5,189 qtls codfish. They had 252 vessels ILshing and cairying lish, of 21,318 ton.«s ; lish caught in ships — 114,770. But how came they first to settle here '. The old records show that, like those wliu came to Bavid in the cave of AduUani, so many came who A\ere discontented or iu debt. Some stayed here lor fearot termagant wives in the West country ; some because tliey were crossed iu love; some because their penuriou'-'. masters would not pay 30s. for their pas.sage home. As a rule, the very early settlers were mostly Acry [loor [)eo[)le, whose lives were hard and i-ough, and whose aspirations were not probably higher than the '.I'willingate iishcrman who told his j\lerchant: "If 1 were as; lieh as Mr. Slade, or as you, Mr, Duder, J'd go and live on little I'^ogey Island, have butter — lassie dough- boys every day for my dinner, and do notin' at all all the days oi my life e.scept, maybe, berryin on times." Their occupation iu the winter was pretty much the same as at the present day — cutting wood, building boats, hauling out room stuff, trapping and hunt- ing for game. I'heir amusement, besides tlie existing ones of drinking (the liquor of those days was good, cheap, and [)lentiful; Madeira and Spaui.sh wines were common drinks ; the jars of those days, howe\'er, like the Newfoundland cows in cold weather, had a great tendency to run dry very ear'y in the Spring) and cards, was dancing, "cruising," as they call visiting to the Northward, and the mummers, a very old English institution, at Christmas, It is a sad thing to reflect that there is a generation growing up about us now who never knew the fools ; who never know the honor a. boy felt in those days when a fool shook hands with him ; or how that boy, who had seen Mick Toole's rig, 1 1 crowed u\ tr utli'ji' bu} .>. 'L'hc I'oulsi, or iiiuiuiiicrs, were k illoU by au Act wurtliy of the gicat purpose it elfccted. Ill 1(»7"» I lind the Ih-st uotice of the commciiccniout of uiii- trade with IroUiiul. A coiuplaiut is made to the Gov- eriiineiit at huinc that suiuc of tlio West Country Merchauts used to vietual their ships in Irekind— doubtless because pork and butter were cheaper; and no douljt they took an odd Irish youngster, as they were afterwards called, for the same good reason. Thus conuueuced the emigration from Ireland to this Colony which has had such a material iuflu- i_^uce upon the character of the (.'olon}'. The statistics that I have given of population were taken by Mr. Urown from the J'luglish Colonial Ilecords, and can be relied on. I believe the whole resident population of the Colony, at the end of the 17th century, did not exceed 3000 ; the emigrants were few, and many of our people went to New Mngland. and this partly accounts for the small iucrease in the poi)ulation. (Jne curious fact is given in these Records, viz : - that the celebrated DutchAdmiral Do Iluyter, in l(»(J5, visited most of our ports, and victualled lii.s fleet from the "West Country ships ; that in 1073 a Dutch squad- ron ol four ships, of forty guns each, entered Feiryland Harbor, where they plundered ruined, lired, and destroyed the place. Toor Lady Kirke and her sous were the princi- pal sufferers her sons were then residing there in the capacity of ordiiiary Planters. M'hc family consisted of Lady Kirke, Ceorge Kirke, her son, with a wife and four children ; David, wife and one child, and Philip, unmarried. They had si-\ty-,-ii,v men ser\'auts, fourteen boats, three .stages, and three oil vats. The second period into as hich ) have divided our Colonial history, the Fishing Admiral period, is a dark, blotted page in our annals. I*oor as the Newfoundland Planters were, they Averc constantly harrassed by pirates in the beginning of the period, and latterly they were ruined and impover- iiihcd by wars. The Fishing Admiral was a barbarous, rude expedient created in the Star Cliambei" by one of England's worst King.s, and in his worst days (I(J33}. The French, however, had precisely the saiiie regulations- their first arrival in Port being ajtpointed " Master of tlic Harbour," with duties and juivileges corresponding to our Fishing Admirals. '.I'hese ancient oliieials do not eome within the scope of my lecture ; they have aheady been most ably handled by J\lr. Reeves. I .shall oid\- mention two points 15 iu their favor. First — That ou their appoiutmeiit they stood a least for all the other Captains in the Harbor ; and second- ly — They observed Sunday in a pious manner by pummel- ling most unmercifully any Frenchman or "vile Portingall" who dared to fish on that .sacred day. A case was brought before the Magistrates some time ago in which it was shown t^'it West Country fists can hit hard still. A father and three stalwart sons stood up before the Justice, showing severe bruises on all their faces, and it was clearly proved that the Defendant alone, and with his fists, had hammered thorn singly and collectively ; not only so, but in swinging hia arras to get clear of his mother, who was trying to hold her amiable son, he had knocked all her teeth down her throat. When called on for his defence his answer was : — "What have I to say. Your Worship ? All 1 says, Your Worship, is, 'that a wovhi unit turn!'' No country has produced greater Englishmen than Devon. As sailors, the Devonshire men, to this day, have no superiors ; but in the administration of justice as Fishing Admirals, the corrup- tion, the pugnacity, and the ignorance of these old Western adventurers have seldom been excelled. The Admirals had one golden rule — they gave no law until they had tried all their own cases and collected in their own debts. An instance of this eminent judicial practice has occurred within our own time: A tine old West Country man, an Outharbor Justice, showing his records to Sir Fi'ancis Brady, the Chief, was horrified to find that His Worship had delivered a number of judgmeijts in favor of his own house. " Not right, my Lord T said the Magistrate. " Well, I must bo a pretty sort of Magistrate if I cant do justice to )ivjsclf.'' After these little digressions let us now turn to the French dominion in Newfoundland. I have spoken before of the number of French vessels that fished on our shores as far back as loO-i; it has even been conjectured that they dis- covered the Island before Cabot. Spaniards, French, Portu- guese, and English, though very jealous of each other, and occasionally fighting ; seem on the whole to have fished together in Newfoundland iu a tolerably amicable manner for at least 150 years. Our Sovereignty in the country was admitted, but very little acted ou. In 16'3-t Charles I (ac- cording to the Abbe Reyual) allowed the French to fish in Newfoundland on payment of five per cent on the fish caught. This was paid, if at all, only for a very short time. Charles was so troubled with affairs at home that he nevci' bothered hiinselt" iilx^ut the Colony. IJuder the Oonucon- w'calth things were not much, better, still the Fi-ench exer- cised nosovei'eij^n ri^^dits in the (-olony : they had Trepassey as their pi-inelpal Port ("or niakiii'^ their tlsh ; but gradually they extended their lishing operations all alouji^our tSouthern coasts. Immediately on the accession of Chnrled II, knowinijf that he would not oppose thoni, Louis XIV scut out 150 ' men, guns, and all munitions oi" war, fur the erection of a ' 1^'ort at Placentia ; ho also built houses there to acconi- -. modate lifty iishirmeu and their families ; and ho so • fur presumed on Charles's w«;aknes.s and corruption as to .sen(i out a Covernor. liouis was not satisfied with the tacit permission of Cmxries to exercise sovereign rii^hts in this Colony. In l()7o he made a secret treaty with Charles, and (liiough his able iMinistei', Colbert, he forced the Eug- lisli King to iu;(pil('sc(! in his claim to a part of the Colony, and to givc! up thr live per cent Royalty. Thus, through • thi! treachery of this wretched Stuart King, France, without liriug a shot, obtained all the Island, with th(? exception of that i)ortion of tlu; East coast, fi-om Cape Race to Cape John, occupied by tlie English. When it is considered that from 102o to 171*) the French held undisputed jjossessiou • of such a large portion of the Colony, it is not to bo won- ' deed at chat all the Southern and Western portion of the Island from Ca[)e Race round to Cape John have Freiich names. The lirst French Governor sent out to Placentia was an adventurer, called Gargut; he had no salary, but he was not left without remuneration, tie sut up a Royal Store, and he obliged all the iishermeu who fre(iuented Placentia to take all their provisions and merchandize from his stores. This was too much of a uKJuopoly even for Frenchmen to bear. They ap[)ealed to the King against Garnrot, and Louis had to recall him ; and the next Governor was M. de la Poypc. Tlio.se erring Captains, the English Buccaneers, did ■ not care for Charles's arrangement with Louis; five times • during De LaPoypo's rule they plundered Placentia, and stripped the inhabitants of all their movables. Old Ganieau, says the French Newfouiullanders were a free a,nd hardy- race, and they chafed uu'ler the domination of La Poyj) ' ; ' nevertheles.s, he held his ii\)vernmont, thouuh with dilticultv, ;• until 1685, when he was recalled, and De Brouillou ap- * pointed; he was a naval oHieer, a harsh, brutal sort of man, but he had one good quality — he could tight. French New- • foundland was then under tin' control of the viceroy in ' 17 Uauaiiu, De Fioutiiiac, the most rcmuiikaltKj nuin tliat ovei* roprcsentocl the crown of Fmncc in tljo Now World. On the accession ol William ami Mary in KiSO war soon liroko out with France. In 1(»1)2 I'oinni'nlorc Williams attacked Piacentia with thrco (iO-gun ships, aiul two smaller vesseL-i. The only delence of tlio place was Fort St. Louis, with oO m(3n, situated on a rock on tlie Eastern side of the narrow entrance, and a Imtteiy hastily constructed by I.)e Biouillon. Yet after six hours' hombardmont, Williams had to retire. Captain Holman, master of an Fn;.^lish pi'ivateer, in lOOi, did ;in equally gallant act in liyhtin^ two largo French ships of H) and oO guns, a,t Fevrylaiiil. .'iiid diiviiig them ofi', with a loss of 80 or 90 )nen. in 1(59.0 there arrived at Piacentia, Pierre Le Moyne 1)- Iberville, born in Montreal of'a distinguished French fami- ly, the most remarkable sailor and soldier New France or Canada has ever produced; he [ilaiined with J)e Brouillon an attack on St. John's. They made a combined assault on the town and then shared the .spoil. The French and Eng- lish accjunts of this attack are very contradictory, i believe the English account is the more correct of the two. De .Brouillon attacked by sea, aiitl [berville by laml, with about loO French soldiers, Indiar s, arid Canadians, (so the French say,) whilst the English account says 1ro be ad- mitted that the settler.s, who were rude fishermen without , ^ cQUimander,.uiwsJi,have made a respectable fight ; howexer. 18 the town was taken by the overpowering force of Do Brouillon'.s fleet and D'lberville's soldiers. The fortifications were then demolished and the town burnt. De Brouillon returned to Planentia, and D'lberville with 12.' soldiers and Canadians, besides a few Abenakis from Nova Scotia, commenced his attack upon the other British settlements. It was mid-winter when ho bejijan his march. For two months he led his hardy band, each ])rovided with a musket, a battle axe, a dagger, knife and a pair of snow shoos, through frost and snow, ifrom settlement to settlement, attacking each in turn and carrying havoc everywhere; nothing could exceed the hardships of the way or the vigor with which they were met and conquered. The C'haplain Baudoin gives an example of it in his diary : " January 18th — The roads are so bad that we can fiud only 12 men strong enough to break the path ; our snow- shoes break on the crust and against the rocks and fallen trees hidden under the snow, which catch and trip us ; but for all that we cannot help laughing to see now one and now another fall headlong. The Siour d'Martigny lell into a river, and left his sword and his gun there to save his life." A panic seized the settlers, many of whom were with- out arms, as well as without leaders. They imagined tlie Canadians to be savages, who scalped and butchered like the Iroquois; their resistance was feeble and inco- herent, and D'lberville carried all before him. Every settlement was pillaged and burnt, o,nd, according to the incredible report of the French writers, 200 were killed and 700 captured, though they admit most of the pri- soners escaped. Carbonear and Bonavista, not accessible in winter, escaped. War continued between France and England fromthis time up to 1713 — (Treat}' of Utrecht.) There was a short respite during the Treaty of Ryswick; the English and French settlements were alternately destroyed; but whilst the English won glorious victories under Marl- borough at Blenheim, Oudenarde, &c., the English in British America were most unfortunate in their Commanders, espe- cially Admiral Gi-aydon and Admiral Hovenden Walker, The latter,with fifteen ships, 900 guns and 4000 men, decided that it was not practicable t« make an attempt on Placentia. Walker says, when he arrived home, loud and invidiouf? clamours were made against him on account of his late expedition to Canada, and frivolous pamphleteers went so 11» tar as ia say "that tho taking ui" l*lac«iitia on liin way to Britain had been as ea'^y tor tho Admiral as a citi/on riding home in Ids chaiso to Hij^li^'ato calling at a cake-house to regale liimself with elder and clicoso-cako." Placentia was made a very strono* j)laeo Ity tho French; two forts were built on each side of tho (Uit. In 171^, at the peace ot Utrecht, the French had to evacuate tho town and fortress of Placentia. Fvor since the French had fortified it, it had resisted all regular attacks, and was considered, next to Quebec, the strongest fortress in America. The officers of the French garrison at Placentia, in their letters, rejoice at their removal to Cape Breton, extol the fertility of their new settlement, and decry Newfoundland. Tho only thing they complained of was, that there was not beach-room enough at Louisbouigh for tho officer's boats to make their fish. Both the English and French soldiers seem to have been employed by their officers catching and curing fish, as I find a complaint mjv^e b}'^ tlie West Country Merchants against Major Lloyd, in St. John's, about using his .soldiers for this purpose. In the course of the summer of 1713 about ISO persons, chiefly French fishermen and their families, arrived in Louisbourgh from Placentia, and a few from St. Pierre ; many of the French wished to remain in Newfoundland, but De Costabella forced all to go but " idlers and vaga- bonds." The. French writers of this period felt keenly the lo.ss of Placentia ; they had been proud of its gallant defence, and the surrender was a great blow to their national pride. The French made Louisbourgh into another Placentia. It waa captured in a very gallant manner in 1745 by New England fishermen, under Pepperell, and a few English ships under Warren. lu 1748 the Treaty of Aix la Chapelle gave Louisbourgh back to France in return for what the colonists called " a petty factory in the East Indies (Madras) belonging to a private company, whose existence had been deemed preju- dicial to the commonwealth." £235,000 was paid to the colonists to reimburse them for their war expenses. In 1755 commenced the glorious seven years' war. Pitt was at the helm — Frontenac and D'Ibberville had passed away. We had, instead of Hovenden Walker and Williams, Wolfe and Howe. Louisbourgh, Quebec, and all New France were taken by the English, and the French left only with 20 St. Pierre and Miquelon. By straugo irony of late both of these two fortresses, (Placentia and Loaisbonrnjh), for whoso possession two nations fought so bitterly, are now mere shapeless ruins. I have no intention ot wearying you with a lengthened disquisition on this intevminable French Shore question. The iiiexoiable logic of events has virtually driven the Frt-nch from our Western shore ; increasing settlements will furtlier drive them from the North-west; the exercise of their fishing rights and our undoubted territorial rights will in course of time be found incompatible. I will only add this contribution to the many documents ou this sub- ject, a short extract from a French pamphlet published in 1702, when the terms of the Treaty of Paris were known : " Bv the second article of the Preliminaries, France cedes to Great Britain, besides Cape Breton, all the othev Islands in the Gulf and River of St, Lawrence vdthout restriction ; and by the third article we are excluded from fishing with- in three leagues of any of their coa^its. The consequences of these cessions are obvious. We have nothing left us but a precariouf^ ^"If/^tf, subject to cavil and insult to the " morue vei^ie" (literally, green fisli,) a commodit}' not marketable in Portugal, Spain or Italy, but only fit for our own home consumption. Ever since the happy Treaty of Utrecht France has enjoyed great advantages in the dry codfishery. A-t the breaking out of this war we had in the Bay of Fun- dy, in Acadie, in Cape Breton, in St. John's, (P. E.. Island) Great Gaspe, and other places in the Gulf, above 10,000 fishermen, who carried on most successfully in shvjal water the peche o-'dentaive — (shore fishery.) Now all this is in the hands of the British; all our settlements are unpeopled. From the single Island of St. John's (P. E. I.) Admiral Boscawen removed 5000 inhabitants. " What, then, is left to France ? Nothing but the North coast from Cape Riche to Cape Bonavista, with liberty to land and erect stages for a shoi't season, so that we must carry and re-carry both our fish and fishermen ; whilst the British, settled ©a the spot, and carrying on the iJ^clie sedentaire, will forestall us and undersell us in every market in the Mediterranean. Miquelon and St. Peters, two barren rocks indeed, are to be ours yet; even for them we have pledged the Royal word, engaging not to erect in them any fortificatioLs, so that even they, with their guard of fifty men for the police, will always lie at tbo mercy of the British." , , „ , 21 The poor Newfoundland lishermen, who had suti'ered so much from the French tor nearly titty years after the Treaty of Utrecht, were left unmolested ; with the exception of the taking of St. John's in 17G2, and its retaking by Colonel Amherst, and the occasional visit of a French privateer, there was uninterrupted tranquility. The colony accord- ingly progressed rapidly ; from 'i.'Z'2^ in 1G98, the popula- titm rose to 13,112 in 17()3. The lisherics increased from 215,922 to o8G,274 qtls. Fisli caught by Planters alone increased from 101,152 to 235,014! qtls. There was also a valuable whale fishery carried on in the Gulf; but there was little, if any, seal fishery, which appears to have been comparatively a modern enterprise. I never see these splendid Dundee sealing steamers with- out thanking Heaven — like Nelson when he saw the Spanish fleet. Dundee can't build men, at any rate who can copy. Apropos of copying, (jumping from p.an to pan of ice), let me tell a story of what the Newfoundlanders can do in that litie : — There Was a Canadian aboard of one of our sealers who was very smart at going on the ice after seals ; there were some boys aboard on half their hand ; and there was great rivalry between the Canadian and the boys, who should get seals fust. One day the master called out there were some seals on the -starboard bow ; over the side went ihe Canadian like lightning, followed by the boys ; there was a channel just caught over, which the Canadian did nut see, aud down he went ; as he rose the boys, seven in numljer, came to the edge, and over that devoted Canadian's h^ad and shoulders did the seven boys successfully copy. Well might a Dundee Captain exclaim " barbarous ! ' when he heard the story. There is another story about a whale that made three half hitches around his tail with a schooner's cable; but as the copyright belongs to an old and most respected friend I won't pirate it, but pass on to the end of my subject THE I'LACENTIA RECORDS. ' ' As 1 have stated before, for nearly tifty }'ears after thu Treaty of Utrecht the poor English Planters in Newfound- land enjoyed the blessings of peace ; but the tight between the West Country adventurers and the Planters was still kept up. The Devonshire men wanted, a few yeacs pre- viously, to drive away all settlers out of the Countr}' ; and an Order in Council was made in 1670 that all plantations in Newfoundland should be discouraged, that the Commander ot the Convoy should have a Couimission to declare to all 22 Plauters to come away voluutarily, or elso the Westeru Charter should be put iu execution, Ibibidding- auy one to inhabit within six miles of the shore from Cape Kace to Cape Bonavista. Fortunately the Commander oi the Couvoy, Sir John Berry, was a sensible and humane man ; he refusd to put the order in operation, and his Report to the Com- mittee of Council for trade was so favorable to the Plauters, and so adverse to the Western AdventuJors, that nt;w rules were made, more favourable to tlie Planters. The Devon- shire men abused Sir John Berry in every mood and tense of objurgation, and then commenced tearing down Planters houses; the fight between the contending parties became hot and heavy, and when a fight was going on an Irishman could not long keep out ot it, so in 1G7G we find a whole- souled Irishman, John Downing, took up the Planters' side, fought it out before the Council, and carried the day. The West Countrymen for the time were worsted, but undis- mayed they returned to the charge with characteristic obstinacy. They admitted that Planters in moderate num- bers might be convenient for the i)reparation and preserva- tion of boats, stages, and other things necessary for the fishery, but they argued with profound sagacity that they should never be allowed, oh any account whatever to ex- ceed one thousand. But notwithstanding Sir John North- cote, (Sir Stafibrd's ancestor), Sir William Courtnay and Sir Thomas Carew, and many other worthy Devonshire Baronets and Squires, the benighted Newfoundlanders persisted in clinging to the Colony, and the little Terra Novian children grew and multiplied in spite of orders iu Council and West Country protests. One idea appears to have haunted the mercantile mind of those days, and that was how to get rid of their servants' claims for the balance of their wages. According to their lights they did their level best; they gave them goods at long prices in the spring, they kept liquor going for them all summer, and then at settling time they finished them oft' with debts, grog scores, and charges for neglect. Nothing marks our pro- gress so much as the fact that a fisherman must now receive his balance in cash, and may drink all the season through at his employer's expense, without incurring any legal lia- bility to pay for his liquor. After the English took possession of Placoutia, in 1713, the first difiiculty that arose was about the disposal ot the French houses and lands. Queen Anne ha with him in the discharge of his ihitv. But no action whatever could be taken against him. Captain Molineanx Shuldam is answerable for the follow- ing dicta : Selling liquor without a license — punishment, banisliment from the Country. " All idle and useless men and women to bo punished ac- cording to law, and then sent out of the Country." A very curious case between parties residing at the Ram Islands, Placentia Bay, came before the Court, which illus- trates the social character of the age. John Gumby, Plain- tiff, sued John Heffernan, Defendant, for carrying away his wife. Defendant pleaded that he bought the wife from hei- Uncle for ^^20 stg. Judgment, damages £20 stg. It ap- pears that these learned Justices were not satisfied with taxation ; they cari'ied their authority still further and made the merchants Avrite out their prices, which were submitted to them, whereupon an agreement was made that these should be the prices for the season. In the records is the copy of an agreement made between Simon Honey burn, on behalf of William Turner, and the underwritten Planters as to prices. Amongst the articles enumerated are the follow- ing:— " Bread and flour at 20s, except when purchased here to be 22s. por cwt,; Pork £3 10s. per barrel; Spanish Salt IGs, per hhd. ; Soap and Candles Sd. per lb. ; Rum 4m. Gd. per gallon ; Boots 2.5s. per pair ; Leather 3s. per lb. ; Powder 2s. per lb, ; Tobacco Od. per lb. ; Molasses 43. per gallon. "■ Honeyburn to allow to each and every the sundry per- sons within named 15 per cent on all slops supplied their men, and after the discharge of their respective debts to re- ceive one third part Bill for the remainder if required. Thi.s agreement to stand as last year, only brandy and rum to be Is. per gallon. Dated Little Placentia, 8th October, 1701." After settling these prices the Court ordered that no fisherman was to deliver his fish until he got his winter supplies. It is not to be wondered at that these remarkable judgments of the Justices were gall and wormwood to the West Countr}- Merchants. Accordingly we find them making great com- plaints to the authorities at home about the officers ot the garrison at Placentia carrying on the fishery and farming : about the Justices being bribed by the Planters ; that the Naval Officers paid too much attention to the Colonial girls ; and, consequently, they wei o too partial to their relatioiiK ; and that thfey strongly suspecttdl thoy were bribed also. As usual the West Country adventurers prevailed at home, for in 17CS I tind Sir Hugh Palliser making this order : " Several representations having been made to mo by sundry adventurers against Her Majesty's Justices at Pla- centia, of many partial and unwarrantable proceedings, to the great discouragement and obstruction of a public and Iree lishery, and seeing there is cause for such complaints," Messrs. Edgcumbe and Haddoclv were accordingly struck off the Commission of the Peace, and Richard Bi-aithwaite, William Bennett, and Jervis Grossard reigned in their stead. T.ie first case that the new Justices tried was Joseph Mc- Namara r.s'. Joseph Conway. The charge was for heaving a hatchet, which violently assaulted and beat the Plaintiff, and laid him up for the summer. The Defendant was not present: he was not even summoned ; but the Court unani- mously decided — First, to take all his wages and to give the amount to McNamara ; secondly, they ordered him to be corporally punisheil ; and lastly, they ordered him to be hanished to Ireland : The Justices had levied a tax prior to 1774 on all room keepers (first it was on boats, but this was declared illegal) and then they put it on persons. Out of this tax in 1771 Lieut.-Colonel Gorham, Surrogate at Pla- centia, ordered a Court House to be built, and a year or twQ after that it was opened in great state, the Surrogate pre- siding in full uniform, the two Justices, the Senior on the right, sometimes styled the Chief Justice, and the Junior on the left; on the Bench also were the Admiral, the Vice- Admiral and the Rear-Admiral. — The notable inhabitants according to rank and religion, and the Constables also, in the same order. I daresay many of you have seen this noble building the Placentia Court Hou=e ; at the present time it would not make a decent cow shed. In its day it was an object of almost superstitious reverence. However, by some means, probably through the influence of Mr. James Walsh, whose daughters were married one to Mr. Saunders, an offi- cer of the garrison, and another to Mr. Sweetman, the Jus- tices it appears had allowed a Roman Catholic Priest to say mass there. Soon, however, came an order which put an end to this proceeding — " Whereas it appears on record that toleration has been granted to a Catholic Priest to say mass in the Public Court House, and to use the Bench, which, being improper, is strictly ordered to be discontinued." i ... -^'■-'^.r.ix^^^^-^'^ 2V From henceforth this sacred altar dedicated to Justice was to be strictly reserved for the Justices' justice, and the readinjj of the Church of England service ; and I feel quite sure, with the sound views that the Justices held of its sanctity, they would not allow the sacred seat to be occu- pied by a Presbyteiian Clergyman, and least of all by a frivolous lecturer. One case that the Placentia Justices tried — Sharpe vn. Whittle — deserves mention. Sharpe's complaint sets out that Whittle's son and his servant broke open his store and took half a barrel pork, Sharpe examined his own man and brought him before Mr. Spurrier's agent. Whittle's family abused Sharpe in a most scurrilous manner, and erected a gallows whereon to hang him ; besides, Whittle said he would, in open Court, prove Sharpe to be a robber of the dead. EVIDENCE FOR SHARPE. William Pelly proved that Joel Smith, Whittle's ser- vant, broke open the door of Sharpe's store and gave part of the pork to a dog. Joseph Sharpe fvwore that he did not see the gallows,' but he was afraid of his life even when he delivered the summons. John Smith swore that he heard Mrs. Whittle say she would make garters out ot Sharpe's skin : Mrs. Whittle also said Sharpe was an old rogue. Joseph. Harding said. Whittle asked him how the rob- ber of the dead was. Whittle on his defence said that his son and his servant had no occasion to take the pork, Sharpe then swore the peace against Whittle, Mrs. Whittle and their eldest son. Phil Dwyer and Jeffrey Flinn went security in £20 stg. for the Whittles. James Whittle was then ordered to ask Sharpe's pardon, or to pay a fine of £5. Whittle, in an em-' phatic manner, said he would see him somewhere first. Samuel Whittle was ordered to receive twelve lashes, Joel Smith eighteen lashes. Samuel Whittle, on account of his youth, was released; but Joel Smith then received his eighteen lashes ; after which edifying spectacle the Court notified the Protestant inhabitants that Divine Service would be held to-morrow, Sunday, at 12 o'clock, in the Court House, ,:..-.^. v ;,„^,i. On the 20th July, 1786, a great event happened in Pla- 18 centia. On tlmt day arrived His Royal Highness Prince William Henry, (aftei wards William IV). He came with a commission as Surrogate to preside in the Placontia Court. To show their devotion to the house of Hanover there was tt great accession of Protestant feeling, and they displayed their respect for His Highness by promulgating an order on that day — " That no more Catholics should ho buried in the grave- yard." One of His Royal Highness's judicial decisions was given on the next Sunday, and is thus noted in the Record — A riot happening on shore at 4 o'clock, and the Magis- trate attending to suppress it, was insulted. The Prince came on shore with a guard of marines, arrested the ring- leader, called a Court, and sentenced the ringleader to re- ceive 100 lashes — he was only able to receive 80. Next day inquired inio the fuels of lite cane ; (and report has it that they had whipped the ivroufj 'imin.) There are many stories floating about the Colony respecting His Sacred Majesty, William I\', during his stay in Newfoundland. One story goes, that Mr. Warren, afterwards a partner in the firm of Stuart & Rennie, (the present Surveyor Gener- al's father), was going along in the evening to his house, and as the flakes covered the streets in those days, he carried a lantern. Suddenly a person took the lantern from him ; he recognized the Prince as the person who took his lantern, and His Royal Highness walked before him until they ar- rived opposite to where his ship lay at anchor. The Prince then wished him good night and returned him the lantern. Another story is about a Lieutenant's wife, who got her husband's Company for him by presenting His Majesty with a Newfoundland wild goose. The last story, however, is the best : An old gentleman who knew the Prince well when he was here, called on him at Kensington Palace. His Ma- jestj'^ was delighted to see him, and gave him a glass of calabogus— spruce beer and rum ; they had a pleasant chat over their glass and a pipe. The Nevvfoundland gentleman thought it would be the right thing to ask after the Queen's health. His Majesty said Queen Adelaide was quite well, and would have had much pleasure in seeing him, but unfor- tunately it wa.fi vxwhing day. I tell the story as 'tis told to me, and if you don't credit it I can only say, in the words of an immortal official of the Assembly, " If you don't believe ine, ask Richard." _ \,,: . ,; .;;r;j. ^^!«v rl;0llei« 0U , n My uoto book is crowded with curious unpublislied facta respecting our Colony, and with genuine Newfoundland stories, but I will forbear inflicting any more episodes oa my readers. It is not creditable to us, as a Colony, that wd have no permanent collection of works bearing on our His- tory ; and that our most interesting Historical monuments and records have neither been collected noi* classified. Bye and bye, however, I trust, when our new Athemuum building is finished, we may be enabled to establish an Histori- cal Society like the one in Nova Scotia ; and if this desultory lecture may coutiibute in any way to further that desirable' result, my object in preparing it will bo fully accomplished.