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THE FIRST ENGLISH CONQUEST OF CANADA, 
 
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 THE 
 
 FIRST ENGLISH 
 
 CONQUEST OF CANADA; 
 
 WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF 
 
 Cbc Earliest .Settlements in |lobu Sxotia antr 
 
 |Tel\)founbhtntr. 
 
 BY 
 
 HENEY KIRKE, M.A., B.C.L., Oxon., 
 
 Al'THOR OF "TmI USTA.N MKVRR I51.t-," i'C. , &C. 
 
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 REMROSE & SONS, 21, PATERNOSTER ROW; AND DERBY. 
 
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 TO 
 
 ADMIRAL 
 SIR HENRY PRESCOTT, G.C.B., 
 
 AT ONE TIME 
 GOVERNOR OF NEWFOUNDLAND, 
 THIS BOOK 
 IS 
 WITH AFFECTION AND RESPECT, 
 DEDICATED, 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 xVt end of Preface, for Bryan read Byam. 
 
 Page 31, lino 20, for Seiqueiir read Seigneur. 
 
 In Map, lat. 48°, 
 
 For Gasper Bay read Gtispe Bay. 
 For Talousac read Tadousac. 
 Insert Cape Tourmente. 
 
I 
 
 P K E F A C E . 
 
 The opening of the Record Office to the public has 
 made us acquainted with such a vast amount of 
 material, never before accessible to readers, which 
 serves to illustrate the History of England, that it 
 may be taken for granted that the whole of that 
 History will have to be re-written by the light of 
 the new facts which are submitted to us. So great 
 are the changes resulting from such a wholesale 
 discovery of documents, that our belief in the main 
 facts of Enghsh History, such as we were taught 
 in our childhood, is in danger of being entirely 
 subverted; and when we leave the beaten track, 
 and attempt, like Macaulay and Froude, to analyse 
 the actions and motives of our leading History 
 makers, we are overwhelmed by the mass of docu- 
 mentary evidence which is now offered to us. 
 
VUl 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 If, thoreforo, we are to profit by tlie Records so 
 lately exhumed from obscurity, tli<i received histories 
 of our natioual story must be overhauled, their 
 doubtful facts and dates rectified, their ambiguities 
 explained, and their numerous laciinm filled up. 
 
 "^ d following little book is an attempt to perform 
 i jse duties to one pnge of English History ; a 
 page somewhat neglected, not dogeared from exces- 
 sive reading, but almost luiknown, not so much 
 from its want of value or its dulness, but rather 
 on account of the many blanks which gape in its 
 narrative, so as to reduce it almost to vacuity. 
 The subject may be considered Colonial rather than 
 English, but at this time (the I7th Century) the 
 Colonies as such could barely be called existing. 
 Patents were issued by different European sovereigns 
 to their subjects, granting unlimited rights over 
 territories unbounded, except by the imagination of 
 the grantors ; for which patents considerable sums 
 were exacted, and careful provision was made to 
 protect the rights of the Crown in case of success; 
 but the government of any country rarely, if ever, 
 supported the adventurers who left their shores, 
 though they often, as we shall see, deprived them 
 of the fruits of their exertions. The whole Colonial 
 
rU'EPACE. 
 
 IX 
 
 Histoiy of this period is a continual strufffrle 
 between the different European nations for the 
 possession of America; and thougli it lias been 
 thought convenient for the purpose of reference to 
 arrange together all the papers relating to the 
 countries which eventually became British Colonies, 
 It is not to be supposed that they were considered 
 to be Colonial when they were written, or were 
 separated from the Foreign correspondence of the 
 period. Mr. Sainsbury is in error when he states 
 in the Preface to his "Calendar of State Papers, 
 Colonial Series, 1574-1600," "The Papers in the 
 State Paper Office are arranged upon principles 
 which are extremely simple. Derived from the 
 offices of the Secretaries of State, they fall almost 
 as of course, into three great branches or divisions, 
 corresponding with the offices whence they are 
 transmitted. Those for the office of the Home 
 Secretary constitute one principal division or series 
 of volumes, technically termed the Domestic, with 
 a subdivision for Ireland; the papers for the office 
 of the Foreign Secretary form a second or Foreign 
 division or series ; whilst those for the Coloninl 
 office are arranged in a third division or series 
 named the Colonial. The present volume is a 
 
rilKFACE. 
 
 Calendar of the last named series of papers only 
 from the year 1574, the date of the earliest paper 
 down to the year KiGO," whereas from 1574 to 
 1660, there were only two Secretaries of State, who 
 transacted the business of the Home and Foreign 
 offices indiscriminately, or made such arrangements 
 as suited their own convenience, A little further 
 on, Mr. Sainsbury confesses that "During this early 
 period a separation of the Colonial from the Domestic 
 or other series, and a classification of the former 
 upon the principles adopted in the correspondence 
 of a later date, has been found to be extremely 
 difficult." At the same time I must record my deep 
 obligations to Mr. Sainsbury's admirable Calendar; 
 without his assistance, the discovery of the necessary 
 papers would have been indeed wearisome, if not 
 impossible. 
 
 The papers in the Record Office relating to Canada, 
 Acadia or Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, are nu- 
 merous and continuous from the year 1621 to 1660, 
 with the exception of the period from 1640 to 1649, 
 during which years we find no papers relating to 
 any of these countries. This was owing to the 
 Civil War in England, which engrossed the atten- 
 tion of all public men, and prevented them from 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XI 
 
 taking any notice of the different settlements in 
 America. I have carefully studied all the papers 
 which seemed likely to throw any light upon the 
 subject of this work, in which labour I have been 
 materially assisted by Byam Martin Prescott, Esq, 
 to whom I offer my sincere thanks. 
 
 H. K. 
 
! i 
 
THE FIRST ENGLISH CONQUEST 0? CANADA, 
 
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 Charles I. succeeded to the tliroiie on the 
 27th of March, 1025, in tlie twenty-fifth year 
 of his age. James had bequeathed to liis 
 successor an exliaustcd treasury, and personal 
 debts amounthig to seven lumdred thousand 
 pounds; and the accession and marriage of 
 the new King entailed upon ]iim great but 
 necessary expenses. However, he met liis 
 new Parliament with clieerfuhiess ; and, ex- 
 posing the state of ]iis finances, threw liimself 
 upon their bounty, and requested a liberal 
 subsidy. He could not be lield responsible 
 for tlie extravagance of his father, and tlie 
 
ir 
 
 IXTIJODrfTORY CirArTKl?. 
 
 iiii 
 
 money required was only to carry out tlio 
 vote of tlic last Parliament. But tlierc were 
 many circumstances to damp liis expectations; 
 in the Upper House many of the Peers 
 looked with an evil eye upon the ascendancy 
 of Buckingham, and were anxious to o])poso 
 the Government in hopes of discomfitin<j^ 
 the favourite. At tlie head of this party was 
 the Earl of Pembroke, a nobleman of liigh 
 position and influence in the House. In the 
 Commons, the Puritans had formed themselves 
 into a body determined to oppose the spread 
 of what they considered Popish tendencies ; 
 the dread of Popery haunted them like an 
 evil dream ; tliey saw it in the g-aieties of 
 the court, in the ceremonies of tlie eluu-ch, 
 and the distinctions of the hierarcliy. Tlie 
 King's marriage was an offence to them ; ho 
 had promised not to marry one Papist, and 
 now he was going to marry another. The 
 union of these two parties, tlie one ojiposed 
 to Buckingham and the other opposed to 
 Popery, gave great strength to the op]-)osition, 
 
INTRODUCTORY CIIAJTER. 3 
 
 and enlisted the sympathies of the people, 
 who conwidorod that tlicy were figlitino- the 
 battle of civil and reli^-ious liberty against 
 the advocates of shivery and superstition. 
 
 The first two years of his reign was spent 
 by Charles in continual struggles with his 
 Tai-liament. They would grant him no 
 money, and when he pressed for a subsidy, 
 they prese.ited a petition of grievances, and 
 said they would grant the money when their 
 petition was answered, ^1lc Earl of Bristol 
 accused Buckinolunn before the House of 
 Lords of various crimes and misdemeanours, 
 and the House of Commons had impeaclied 
 him before the Lords; and so strong was their 
 language against him, that Sir John Eliot 
 compared him, for lust, ambition, and rapacity, 
 to Sejanus, tlie profligate minister of Tiberius 
 Cresar. Charles, determined to shield his 
 favourite, dissolved Parliament in a transport 
 of fury. 
 
 Reduced now to the greatest extremity for 
 want of money, Charles proceeded to the 
 
vi 
 
 • )'i 
 
 INTRODrri'DKY CHAITKU. 
 
 ii 
 
 
 most extreme mcasure.s. Ho determined to 
 raise a forced loan from all nol)leni(»n, gentle- 
 men, and merchants of estate ; and for that 
 pm'pose sent inqiusitors through all tlio 
 counties in Enghuid, to extract a sum of 
 money from each in proportion to the amount 
 which he had paid at the last general 
 subsidy. In addition to these arbitrary 
 measures, the public heard with gric^f that 
 the allies of England, under the King of 
 Denmark, had suffered a great defeat at the 
 hands of Count Tilley, at Luttern; that the 
 whole of Lower Saxony was abandonc^d to 
 Ferdinand, and the cause of Protestantism in 
 Germany was itself at stake. The King's 
 affairs were in such a critical state that the 
 only course which seemed to offer any pros- 
 pect, was to make peace with Spain, and to 
 be reconciled to his Parliament. Instead of 
 which, he proceeded to involve himself in a 
 war with the King of France, whose sister 
 he had married, and whose alliance he had 
 always courted. 
 
INTRODUCTORY CIIA ITER. 
 
 Ah tlio conqucvst of Cjuiada and Acadia by 
 the KiigHsli was tho only result of this insane 
 war, it will bo better, before wo turn to 
 consider that conquest in detail, to give a 
 short account of tho causes which provoked 
 the war, the operations ciirried out in Euroj)c, 
 and the ignoble peace which brought it to a 
 termination. 
 
 When the Duke of Buckingham had visited 
 
 Paris two years previously to conduct Henrietta 
 
 Maria into England, he had dazzled the 
 
 French ca})ital by the si)lendour of his dress 
 
 and retinue. During his residence there he 
 
 had received much attention from the French 
 
 ladies, but he presumed to fix his affections 
 
 upon the young and beautiful Queen Anne 
 
 of Austria, and to address her in terms of 
 
 passionate adoration. Watched and warned 
 
 by the servants of Itichelieu, he was kept 
 
 within the bounds of decorum, but he parted 
 
 with the Queen in tears ; and upon his journey 
 
 home he left the Princess with her attendants 
 
 at Boulogne, hastened back to Paris, obtained 
 
 ii 
 
 i 
 
6 
 
 INTKODUCTOIiy CH AP'J'ER . 
 
 ui 
 
 adniittanc'o to the Queen's becl-cliambor, and, 
 tln'owing liiniself on liis knees before her, 
 avowed his passion. The Queen, alarmed 
 and astounded, ordered liim to leave her ; 
 but the Duke only returned home more 
 infatuated, and nursing his mad passion. To 
 forward his schemes, he obtained from Charles 
 the appointment of Ambassador to Paris, but 
 Richelieu refused to receive him. Louis XIII. 
 had naturally a strong repugnance to him, 
 and no artifice could induce him or his minister 
 to receive the impetuous Duke at Paris. This 
 sli"'ht so enraged Buc^iino-ham that he deter- 
 mined to be revenged, and formed one of 
 the principal reasons why he urged upon 
 Charles the declaration of war against France. 
 Charles was himself very indignant with the 
 French King. At the time of his marriage 
 it had been agreed that Loius should assist 
 the Protestant States in their war with 
 Ferdinand ; but this treaty had never been 
 signed, and now the French King repudiated 
 it altogether. The I^rotestants of France were 
 
INTRODUCTORY CJIArTER. 7 
 
 at this time in rebellion, and Charles hoped 
 that ho might restore his waning poj^ularity 
 in England by some vigorous action on their 
 behalf; so, in this frame of mind, he lent a 
 willing car to the emissary of the discontented 
 party in France, and agreed to send an army 
 to La Rochclle to co-operate with the Duke 
 of Rohan and the French Protestants. Duriuir 
 the war with Spain, letters of marque had 
 been issued to English slnps, and vessels 
 belonging to all nations had been swept into 
 British ports, under the pretence of carr^-ing 
 Spanish goods. Tliis occasioned great irrita- 
 tion amongst the nations aggrieved, and Louis 
 not only intimated his displeasure, but in 
 retaliation laid an embargo upon all English 
 ships in French ports. Long and tedious 
 recriminations on both sides followed, till at 
 length both Kings signed a declaration of 
 war. 
 
 A large armament was collected in the 
 English ports, which was ostensibly to support 
 the Palsgrave and chastise the Algerines ; but 
 
1 
 
 8 
 
 INTRODUCTOKV CHAPTER. 
 
 ?A 
 
 the King of Franco was n(jt deceived, and 
 lie immediately entered into an alliance, offen- 
 sive and defensive with S])ain, against the 
 common enemy. At length Buckingham 
 sailed, having mider his command forty-two 
 ships of war, and thirty-four transports, con- 
 taining seven regiments of nine hundred men 
 each, a squadron of cavalry, and a great 
 numher of French Protestants. A few days 
 brought them to Ilochelle, tlie liead of the 
 insurrection ; but with so much secrecy had 
 the expedition been planned that the Rochellois 
 were ignorant of its designs, and refused to 
 admit Buckingham and liis troops within their 
 walls. It is needless to jDursue tlie history of 
 this disastrous campaign ; Buckingham wanted 
 every qualification for a connnander, except 
 personal courage ; Burrougiis, his only efficient 
 lieutenant, was killed at an early stage of 
 the proceedings ; one disastrous blunder was 
 only succeeded by antjther; and at lengtli 
 the Duke with difficulty withdrew the remains 
 of his discomfited armament, and returned to 
 
INTRODUCTORY CEIAPTER. 
 
 9 
 
 England with tlie loss of more than two 
 tliousancl men and twenty pairs of colours. 
 This expedition excited the greatest dismay 
 in the States, in the Prince Palatine, and the 
 King of Denmark, who all urged upon Charles 
 the suicidal character of his conduct, and 
 offered their good services to bring about a 
 reconciliation between him and the King of 
 France. But it was of no avail. Smarting 
 under his discomfiture, and the niurnmrs of 
 the English people, Buckingham was collect- 
 ing another armament to raise the siege of 
 Kochelle. Ever since his last foilm-r, the 
 Rochellois had not ceased to importune King 
 Charles for help, imploring him not to abandon 
 then, to their fote. On the other hand, 
 Riclielieu was making superhuman efforts to 
 accomi)lisli their destruction. Not only had 
 he collected a vast army, which completely 
 isolated the city on the one hand, but he 
 was building a mole across the mouth of the 
 harbour, to prevent all access from the sea. 
 Tills stupendous work, despite several failures, 
 
10 
 
 INTRODUCTOin' CIIA ITF R. 
 
 i 
 
 n 
 
 Avas now progressing- rapidly, and tlio unfor- 
 tunate people of Rochelle 8aw their hope of 
 succour becoming daily smaller and smaller. 
 Their prayers moved the heart of the English 
 King, and the Earl of Denbigh sailed from 
 Plymouth with a numerous fleet ; which ar- 
 riving at Rochelle, did nothing, Ijut after 
 remaining for seven days off the entrance 
 to the harbour, returned to England. Here 
 the fleet was reinforced and rcA^ictualled, and 
 placed under the command of Buckingham, 
 who was preparing to sail when his career 
 was stopped short by the knife of Felton. 
 The expedition was not stopped by the death 
 of Buckingham ; the command was given 
 to the Earl of Lindsey, who shortly arrived 
 before Rochelle ; but after manoeuvering for 
 five days in front of the liarbour, and making- 
 two ineffectual attempts to enter, he returned 
 to Spithead, and Rochelle immediately after- 
 wards surrendered at discretion. Charles had 
 now begun to re})ent the folly which had 
 huriied him into war with both France and 
 
IXTKODUCTORY CrrArTER. 
 
 11 
 
 Spain. He was so ha.Dpcrcd by his qiiarrol 
 Avitli his Parliament, that he could do nothing 
 against his enemies, and, indeed, was much in^ 
 debted to them for their forbearance. Wliether 
 fi'om generosity or contempt Philip of Spain 
 returned him, without ransom, all the pri- 
 soners taken at Cadiz, and Louis all that were 
 captured in the Island of Rhe. By the 
 mediation of the Venetian Ambassador peace 
 was proposed between England and France ; 
 few difficulties were made, and those were 
 quickly overcome. Louis waived his right 
 to the St. Esprit, a ship of war illegally 
 captured by the English, and Charles surren- 
 dered the French Protestants to the clemency 
 of their Sovereign. All conquests on both 
 Bides were to be restored, by which article 
 Canada and Acadia, which had been captured 
 by the English, were restored to the French 
 Crown. Such were the results of this foolish 
 war, begun by Charles and hi« foyourite to 
 >^ati«fy an angry impulse ; carried on with a 
 weakness and incapacity which has scarcely 
 
i 
 
 12 
 
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 ever been cqiiall(^(l, it was ended by a disgrace- 
 ful and one-sided peace. 
 
 It is pleasant to turn from this spectacle 
 of feeble mismanag-enient, to consider the only 
 event which cast any lustre, during the war, 
 upon the British arms, and which added, for 
 a time, a vast territory to the British empire. 
 The conquest of Canada and Acadia, and the 
 defeat of the Frencli fleet in Nortli America, 
 is the one bright spot in a disiistrous cam- 
 paign ; but all tlie results of that enterprise 
 were thrown away by the English King, 
 who seemed strangely blind to the interests 
 of the nation, and who wished to patch u]) 
 a peace at any price, that he might pro- 
 secute without hindrance his struggle with 
 the Parliament. 
 
 The conquest of Canada must always be 
 regarded as a striking example of the private 
 enterprise of British merchants. It was ac- 
 complished solely by the exertions and at 
 the expense of some London merchants, who 
 formed themselves into a Company of " Mer- 
 
liNTIiOUUCTOIiV C'TTAI'TER. 
 
 13 
 
 chant Aclvcnturors," as tlioy were tlien called, 
 for the purpose of establishing a lucrative 
 trade with Canada, and the countries border- 
 ing upon the St. Lawrence. They fitted out 
 whips, and obtained a patent from the King, 
 giving them authority to found a plantation,' 
 and letters of marque to enable them to seize 
 French and Spanish vessels and goods. The 
 usual way of carrying on a naval war at this 
 time was for the King to issue letters of 
 marque to the captains of ships fitted out by 
 private persons, giving them authority to 
 seize and appropriate the goods and ships of 
 tlie enemy. English ships were often fitted 
 out by adventurers, or men of desperate 
 fortunes, who hoped, by a lucky cruise, to fill 
 their empty purses, and at the same time do 
 good service to their country. In tlie un- 
 settled state of maritime law which existed at 
 this period, all merchant sliips were njore or 
 less armed, and it took little preparation to 
 fit one of them out as a man-of-war. The 
 Royal Navy of England could hardly be said 
 
14 
 
 INTRODUCTORY CII AFTER. 
 
 III t 
 
 to exist at tlie beginning' of the seventeenth 
 century. At tlie time of the Spanish Armada, 
 England could only muster thirteen small 
 ships of war, and the majority of the vessels 
 which went forth so boldly to meet the huge 
 Spanish tln^ee-deckers, were merchant vessels 
 which had been seized by tlic Government, 
 and hastily and imperfectly armed, or which 
 had been fitted out by the patriotism of 
 their owners. In the year 1600 the naA^al 
 forces of England amounted to thirty-six 
 ships of war, all of small burden.^ There 
 
 1 The "Royiil Sovereign," a ship uf the first class, was built in 
 1637, and was considered a pi'odigy for size and strength. It is thus 
 described in the " Angliie Notitia," published in 1671 :- -" The ' Royal 
 "Sovereign,' being a ship of the first rate and rank, built in the year 
 1637, is in length by the keel 127 feet, in breadth by the beam 47 
 feet, in depth 49 feet, her draught of water 21 feet ; of burden in all 
 2,072 tons ; and 1,554 tons besides guns, tackle, &c. This mighty 
 moving castle hath 6 anchors, whereof the bigges-t weighs 6,000 lbs., 
 and the least 4,300 lbs. It hath 14 cables, whereof the greatest is 21 
 inches in compass, and weighs 9,000 lbs., her least cable being 8 inches 
 in compass, weighing nearly 1 , 300 lbs. To the * Royal Sovereign ' 
 belong 18 masts and yards, Avhereof the greatest, called the main 
 mast, is 1 75 feet long, her main yard 97 feet long, and her main top 
 15 feet diameter. She hath 10 different sorts of sails, of several 
 names, whereof her greatest sail, called her main course (together with 
 her bonnet), contains 1,640 yards of canvas, Ipswich double, and the 
 least sail, called the fore top gallant sail, contains 130 yards of canvas. 
 The charge for one complete set of sails for the * Royal Sovereign ' is 
 
I N i'liOl ) UC TOR Y CI r A 1 'T K R . 
 
 15 
 
 was one lurgc ship of one thousaud tons, 
 and carrying thirty guns, the others were 
 vessels of one hundred tons burden, and carry- 
 ing seven or eight guns. The genius of 
 Cromwell and Blake, and the naval wars with 
 the Dutch, quickly brought about a change 
 in our naval power, so that in 1G70 England 
 possessed more than one hundred and sixty 
 men-of-war, carrying nearly five thousand 
 guns. The Avhole naval force of England was 
 foiled and discomfited before Rochelle, but a 
 few merchant shi})s, armed and fitted out by a 
 London comjiany, achieved a great success over 
 the French arms in America, chiefly through 
 the genius and good fortune of Sir David 
 Kirke, the loader of the English scpiadron. 
 
 £404 sterling money. The weight of the sea .store, in point of ground 
 tackle and other cordage, is 60 tonM, 800 and odd Iba. She carries 
 a long boat of 50 feet, a piiiimce of 30 feet, and a skiff of 27 feet 
 long. The weij^ht of her rigging is 33 tons. She hath 3 tire of guns, 
 ivU of brass, whereof there are 44 in her upper tiro, 34 in her second 
 tire, and 22 in her lower tire, in all 100 guns. She carries in all, of 
 officers .and .soldiers and marines, 700 men. Finally, her whole 
 charge for wages, victuals, amiiumition, wear and tear, for every month 
 at sea costs the King £3,500 sterling, as hath been computed by a very 
 skilful person. The cost of building a ship of the first rate, together 
 with guns, tackle, and rigging, doth ordinarily amount to £26,000." 
 
 I 
 I 
 
10 
 
 lUHTH AND PAUENTAOE OF 
 
 rilxVPTER I. 
 
 Birth and Parentage of Gervase Kirko — B(nind Apprentice in 
 T-ondon — State of England nnder (Jueen Elizabeth— l^Utjiish Merchant 
 Adventurers — Expedition of Sir Franciw Drake — Marriage of Gervase 
 Kirke — Birth of David and Lewis Kirke — Formation of the Canada 
 Company — Early Hintory of Canada— Exjjodition of Cartier— Of De 
 la Roche — Voyages of M. de Chanvin and M. de Monts — Expedition 
 of Champlain — Formation of the Company of New France — The 
 French Fleet Sails for Acadia. 
 
 On the 80t]i of December, in tlie year of 
 Grace 156G, Tliur.ston Kirke, of Grecnliill, in 
 tlic j^arish of Norton, in tlie county of Derby, 
 married Frances, daiiglitcr of Jerome^ Blytbe, 
 Esq., of Norton HalL The bridegroom was 
 a cadet of the family of Kirke, of Chapel-en- 
 
 1 Jerome Blythe married Anne, daughter and co-heires3 of Richard 
 Eyre, of Offerton, co. Derby, Esq., and sister and co-heiress of Ralph 
 Eyre, of Oxspring, co. V^ork. 
 
GERVASE KIRKE. 
 
 17 
 
 lo-Frith, an Anglo-Danish race of frcclioldors 
 and inferior gentry in the county of Derby 
 for several hundred years before the date given 
 above. The bride belonged to an old family 
 of gentle blood, resident at Norton for many 
 generations. Though not distinguished above 
 their fellows in arms or politics, the family 
 of Blytho ' could boast of two of its members, 
 brothers, and both bishops, viz., John Blythe, 
 Bishop of Salisbury, and Geoffrey Blythe, 
 Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. Several 
 children were the issue of this marriage, one 
 of whom, Gervase, was born in the year 15G8. 
 The early years of Gervase Ivirke were spent 
 
 1 William Blythe, of Norton, had a grant of arms in the reign of 
 Henry VII. [1485]. The arms are, " J-rmine, three roebueks, trippant 
 gules, attired, or." This William Blythe was father of the two bishops' 
 The monument of William Blythe and liis wife, and another of their 
 eldest son, Richard, are in Norton Church. They were erected by 
 Bishop Geoffrey Blythe, who founded a chantry for the souls of his 
 parents. In 1524 he agreed with the parish to give ten marks for 
 the purpose of keeping up a stock of ten kine, in consideration of a 
 httle croft on the West Side of Norton Green, on which he built the 
 Chantry Chapel. The Vicar was bound to keep up the stock of kine 
 m default of which he was to forfeit the corrody of nine gallons of 
 ale, and nine keysts of broad, which he received weekly from 
 Beauchief Abbey. 
 
 imsi 
 
 i I 
 
18 
 
 NORTON. 
 
 ill 
 
 n 
 
 i 
 
 in his father's house at Norton/ a quiet village 
 in the extreme north of l)erl)y shire, where 
 the great questions wliieh were at that time 
 shaking the heart of England, found but a 
 feeble echo : a pleasant place thougli in its 
 own way, with an ancient clnu'ch, n(jt long 
 before one of the cherislied possessions of the 
 monks of Beauchief, the Abbey itself lying 
 but a little way off, unroofed and oAvl-haunted, 
 but still beautiful. No longer could nuiss be 
 sung in the Abbey do Bello Capite, ^ for the 
 soul of the founder, Thomas de Alfreton, once 
 a murderer of the martyred Tliomas of 
 Canterbury; let us hope that his crime has 
 been expiated by tlie prayers of four hundred 
 years. But, quiet and retired as it was, 
 Norton could not remain ignorant of the j^lots 
 
 1 Norton afterwards became celebrated os the birthplace of the 
 sculptor Chantrey, who was born at Jordanthorpe, a small cottage- 
 in this parish, on the 7th April, 1781. His bones now rest in the 
 churchyard ; and by his will ho loft £5 per annum to ten poor boys 
 of the village of Norton, so long as they will pluck the weeds and 
 nettles from his grave. 
 
 2 Beauchief Abbey was founded by Thomas de Alfreton about 
 the year 1170. Norton Church was granted to the Abbey by its 
 founder. 
 
MAUV, QUEEN OF SCOTS. 
 
 10 
 
 and dark doIngM wlilcli wcro liatclilnf^ in the 
 country, especially in Derbyshire, where the 
 chief ohject of all these dealings ^yas residing- 
 as a guest,^ rnther than a captive. Chatsworth 
 is not far from Norton, and the fascinations 
 which in a little time roused the Avild passions 
 of Babington and his follows, may have ex- 
 cited some feeling in the quiet country village, 
 and led men to think what would be the 
 end of these things. During the Queen of 
 Scots' residence in Derbyshire, Gervase Kirke 
 was not yet of an age to l)e inliuenced by 
 her wrongs ; Jind far other thoughts as to his 
 prospects in life were entertained for liim by 
 his father than tliat he should connive at 
 treason, which could only bring him to a 
 
 1 As a pi'oof of Lord Slircw.slmry'M kind treatment of tlio Qiicca 
 of Scots, see a letter written by Jlrs. Battell, a gentlewoman to the 
 Countess of Shrewsbury, to the Lady Elizabeth PdwU-tt, at Clerken- 
 well, dated March 28rd, 1581, and preserved in the l^ecord Office, iu 
 which she complains of "hor lord's hard dealing towards her in con- 
 seipiencc of the Queen of Scots not being able to aliidu her ; the said 
 Scottish Queen having conceived this dislike to her through Mrs. 
 Battell having said of her, that it was fitter she should be hanged 
 than ever bo Queen of England. If her lord continues his liard 
 speech she cannot abide it no longer, and one of her chief oireuces is 
 that she pities her mistress." 
 
20 
 
 STATE OF ENGLAND. 
 
 : S 
 
 cruel and bloody death. At an early age he 
 was sent to London, and bound apprentice 
 to a merchant in that city. 
 
 Commerce was at this time the rulinjx 
 passion in England. The marriage of Anjou 
 with tlie Queen, the troubles in Scotland, the 
 balance of power in Europe, miglit fill the 
 minds of Elizabeth and her ministers ; the 
 murder of the English, and the release of the 
 Scottish Queen, might be seething in the 
 brains of a few desperate and bigoted men, 
 but the majority of the English nation cared 
 for none of these things. The Prince of 
 Orange, struggling for religious freedom 
 against overwhelming odds, received but cold 
 acknowledgment; but when Philip of Spain 
 threatened to retaliate upon English shipping 
 the losses sustained from Drake in America, 
 half London was clamouring at the doors of 
 the Council board. And we must not revile 
 them for such feelings : to tlie majority of 
 Englishmen the Prince of Orange was a rebel, 
 and the Hollanders were but rivals in maritime 
 
STATE OF ENGLAND. 
 
 21 
 
 commerce; whilst alliance with Sj^ain meant 
 trade with the richest country in the world, 
 and plentiful employment of English ships, 
 which at this time monopolized the greater 
 part of the northern carrying trade. True, 
 tliat English sailors sometimes made acquaint- 
 ance with the inside of Spanish prisons, and 
 felt the tender embraces of the Inquisition; 
 but great gains are not to be had without 
 some risk. 
 
 At the accession of Elizabeth, England had 
 awakened to a new life. Sacerdotalism was ex- 
 tinct, monkery was dead, all example and pre- 
 cejit for idleness had disappeared ; the dissolu- 
 tion of the monasteries had conferred wealth 
 upon the aristocracy; immunity from taxation 
 enriched the state of the burgher and peasant. 
 The country rejoiced to live under a Queen, 
 thrifty and penurious, who lived upon her 
 income, and disliking a Parliament, managed 
 to do without subsidies. Majestic houses arose 
 on the estates of the nobles ; lands were en- 
 closed and villenage disappeared. Merchants 
 
22 
 
 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 
 
 '■ 1 
 
 and manufacturers, the latter attracted from 
 abroad in search of that freedom of thought 
 which their own country denied tliem, grew 
 and prospered under a monarch who was her- 
 self a trader; and who considered, wisely 
 enough, that to get money by trade was better 
 than to spend it in war. But foremost in the 
 causes which helped to forward the develop- 
 ment of English commerce, must be placed 
 the discovery of America. It may seem ab- 
 surd to mention the discovery of America in 
 the latter half of the sixteenth century, but 
 it is nevertheless true that America was not 
 truly discovered by England until that time. 
 It seems almost incredible that, after the dis- 
 covery of North America by John Cabot, in 
 1491, scvent^^-two years elapsed before any 
 attempt was made to utilize that discovery, 
 which opened such a vast territor}' to Englisn 
 enterprise and capital ; but the domestic 
 troubles of Henry YIII.'s reign, and the 
 religious differences under Edward VI. and 
 Mary — reigns peculiarly adverse to the exten- 
 
SPANISH COMMERCE. 
 
 23 
 
 sion of industiy, trade, and navig-ation— had 
 intervened to check all attcmj^ts at surveying' 
 the coasts, or colonizing the territory which 
 Cabot and his sons had discovered. Spain 
 alone at this time was reaping a rich harvest 
 frori America, and yearly vast treasure-ships 
 sailed across the Atlantic to empty into her 
 bosom the spoils of a new continent. English 
 sailors lying in the Tagus or Guadalquiver 
 heard of these rich lands across the sea ; saw 
 the advent of rich argosies, deep in the sea 
 with freight of gold and silver in solid bars, 
 measured at once Spain's wealth and weakness 
 with their lumger and strength, and deter- 
 mined to share in such a goodly trade. In 
 the Thames and the Avon, off Plymouth and 
 Dartmouth, many a bold seaman felt his mouth 
 water over the accounts of Spanish wealth, 
 and was quite ready to exchange iron for gold, 
 cold round shots for shining yellow ingots. 
 Many Englishmen had already visited Spanish 
 America, a few voluntarily, but others as 
 galley slaves, condemned by the Inquisition; 
 
 If • 
 
^m 
 
 24 
 
 TEAVELLERS' TALES. 
 
 and strange tales were told by such of tlicm 
 as returned home, of the wealth and beauty of 
 that distant land, and the fiendish cruelty of 
 the Spaniards ; till between hunger for gold 
 and hatred of the Inquisition every English- 
 man was eager to undertake an expedition to 
 America. The whole country awoke to a 
 new life ; wonderful accounts of the newly 
 discoyered regions were narrated at village 
 crosses; all the gossips of our market towns 
 were agape for new wonders, which we 
 may be sure did not lose by repetition; 
 and strange tales indeed were told about 
 these unknown regions. Travellers reported 
 at large upon the dress and habits of 
 of the people who inhabited them, the women 
 "wearing great plates of gold covering their 
 whole body like armour;" of their god, as 
 a devil who appeared in tlie likeness of a 
 calf; the soil most excellent; animals and 
 birds in great number, some "great beasts as 
 big as two of our oxen;" of their treasures, 
 "pearls in every house, in some houses a 
 
^* 
 
 ENGLISH MERCHANTS. 
 
 25 
 
 peck." Besides these, other travellers de- 
 scribed^ '^ banqueting houses built of crystal, 
 with pillars of massive silver, some of gold;" 
 pieces of clear gold ds big as a man's fist. 
 These and other such tales were received with 
 credulous delight. Here was El Dorado, 
 where a man could fill his pockets with gold ! 
 With such dreams as these the English na- 
 tion gave itself up to trade and discovery. 
 Younger sons of county gentry who had no 
 hope to share in the division of the paternal 
 acres, flocked to London or Bristol, to learn 
 a trade and share in the rich prizes which a 
 mercantile career now offered. Many a rich 
 and noble family was founded at this time 
 by merchants of London; and it does not 
 follow because they were merchants they were 
 not men of gentle blood. If we look through 
 the visitation of London, taken by St. George 
 in 1634, we shall find that more than half 
 the eminent merchants whose pedigrees are 
 there entered, were the grandsons of country 
 gentlemen entitled to wear coat armour. 
 
 1 Colonial Tapers. Vol. I. No. 2. 
 
2G 
 
 SIR FrwVNCIS DRAKE. 
 
 The spirit of commercial enterprise wliich 
 had been awakened mider Mary, seemed to 
 pervade and animate every description of men 
 during- the reign of Elizabeth. For the ex- 
 tension of trade and the discovery of unknown 
 lands associations were formed, companies 
 were incorporated, expeditions were planned; 
 and the prospect of immense profit, which 
 thoiig'li always anticipated was seldom realized, 
 seduced many to sacrifice their whole for- 
 tunes, prevailed even upon the ministers, the 
 nobility, and the Queen herself to risk con- 
 sidcraljle sums in their hazardous undertakings. 
 In 15S'J, Drake made his celebrated voyage, 
 circumnavigated the globe, and returned with 
 a vast treasure to England, part of which the 
 Queen appropriated to her own use, and 
 appeared in public wearing an emerald cross, 
 part of Drake's robberies. In vain the 
 Spanish government demanded redress for 
 this and other spoliations. Elizabeth filled 
 her coftcrs and evaded all demands. Philip's 
 patience was at last worn out, and the Armada 
 
MEKCIIAXT ADVENTURERS. 27 
 
 was the only iDractical answer to Drake's 
 piracies. By the destruction of tlio great 
 fleet the seas were tin-own open to English 
 ships; the war became offensive instead of 
 defensive, and the English flag flaunted at 
 the same time off Cadiz and Carthagena. 
 
 The conclusion of the Spanish war turned 
 public attention in England from South to 
 North America. The former had been ac- 
 quired by Spain and Portugal; why should 
 not the latter become an appanage of the 
 English crown ? Several expeditions had been 
 made to North America in tlie reign of Eliza- 
 beth, but none of these had been productive 
 of any great results : but after the accession 
 of James I., several companies of adventurers 
 were incorporated to trade and colonize in 
 North America. Of these merchant adven- 
 turers Gcrvase Kirko was one of the first and 
 most active. He had served out his appren- 
 ticeship in London, and having been in busi- 
 ness for some time on his own account, was, 
 at the commencement of the 17th century, 
 
28 
 
 BIRTH OF SIR DAVID KIRKE. 
 
 a wealthy and influential citizen. About tlio 
 year 1596, lie had married Elizabeth, daughter 
 of M. Goudon, of Dieppe, in France, by 
 whom ho had five sons and two daughters.^ 
 The Company of Merchant Adventiu-ers 
 of London, joined by Gervase Kirke, fitted 
 out ships, and sent them to take part in the 
 fish and fur trade of America. In these en- 
 terprises David Kirke and his two younger 
 brothers were at an early age associated, and 
 they made several cruises in the Company's 
 ships. In the year 1G27, a Company was 
 formed by Sir William Alexander, Gervase 
 Kirke, and others, to form a settlement in 
 Canada for the purj^oso of trading with the 
 natives. To assist them to this end, they 
 obtained a patent from the King of England, 
 apj)ointing them sole commissioners for making 
 a voyage to the gulf and river of Canada and 
 parts adjacent, with authority to settle a plan- 
 
 1 David Kirke, his eldest son, born in the year 1597; and Lewis 
 Kirke, second son, born in 1599 ; Thomas, third son, born 1603 ; John, 
 fourth son, born 1C06; and James, born 1616; Elizabeth, his eldest 
 daughter, who afterwards married M. Jacques Gretemlaw, a Frenchman 
 of Dieppe; and Mary, youngest daughter, born in 1619. 
 
CANADA COMPANY. 
 
 29 
 
 tatlon, with a prohibition to all others to trade 
 there. Power was -ranted by tliis patent to 
 seize Frencli and Spanish vessels and goods, 
 and to displace tlie French if possible.^ 
 
 33cfore wo can understand the events which 
 took place upon Captain Kirke's arrival in 
 Canada, it will be necessary to consider what 
 position the French held in that country and 
 Nova Scotia at the time of his voyage ; and 
 to do so satisflictorily will entail a brief nar- 
 rative of the different settlements effected in 
 that country from its discovery by Cartier to 
 the year 1027. 
 
 Jacques Cartier was a master mariner, of 
 St. Malo, who was sent on a mission of dis- 
 covery by Chabot, Admiral of France, for 
 the purpose of establishing a colony upon 
 the newly-discovered continent of America. 
 He sailed from St. Malo on the 20th of x\pril, 
 1534, with two vessels, neitlier of which 
 was above twenty tons burden, arrived at 
 Newfoundland, near Cape Bonavista, on the 
 
 1 See Appendix D. Also Colonial Papers. Vol. IV. No. 23. 
 
 ■ : 
 
 j 
 
 ;'|; 
 
 :^ i ■ 
 
 
 i ' )^ '' 
 
 ; ! <™ ■" 
 
 ,'. S 
 
 
 '. 'S 
 
 f' 
 
30 
 
 JACQUES CARTIER. 
 
 lOtli of May, and then traversed tlio coast to 
 the Soutli, landing- at a harbour which he 
 named St. Catherine. Proceedin^^ North AYest, 
 he entered tlie Gulf of St. Lawrence and 
 passed in sight of an island whieh ho called 
 ''Isle des Oiseaux." After cruising about the 
 west coast of Newfoundland, ho crossed into a 
 deep inlet which he called ''Bay de Chaleur," 
 on account of the great heat caused by the sum- 
 mer weather when lie entered it. After ex- 
 ploring tliis bay ho returned to France, and 
 arrived at St. Malo on the 15tli of September. 
 In the following year, owing to his favourable 
 report of the country and climate, Cartier was 
 put in command of three ships of superior 
 size, and well fitted out with necessaries. He 
 embarked on board ''La Grande Ilermione," 
 the largest of the three, and set sail on the 
 19th of May. On the 26th of July, the three 
 ships, wdii(.-h had been separated by a storm, 
 met at an appointed rendezvous in the Gulf 
 of St. Lawrence, and proceeded up the river 
 of the same name. On the Lst of August, 
 
HIS SECOND VOYAGE. 8 J 
 
 Cartier was driven into a liarbour on tlio north 
 coast, Avliicli ho called St. Nicholas. He then 
 wont on till ho came to tho Saghiinny, from 
 which ho continued his course till his sliip, the 
 Ilerniiono, -.ounded on tho shoals in tho Luke 
 of St. Peter. 
 
 With two boats ho oxijlorcd the river to tho 
 ishmd on which Montreal now stunds, which 
 was then inhabited by a Huron tribe who 
 received Cartier with kindness and hospitality. 
 Returning from this island, ho came to a river 
 which still bears his name, whore he wintered, 
 louring the winter his crew suflcred much 
 from scurvy, which the natives taught him to 
 cure by means of a decoction prepared from 
 the bark of a kind of fir. Next summer ho 
 returned to P'rancc, and gave a most favour- 
 able report of the country and its inliabitants.^ 
 In January, 1540, Francois de la rtoche, 
 Seicpieur de Roborvnl, received a patent from 
 Francis I. declaring him Seigneur of Norem- 
 bega (a name by which nearly all North 
 
 1 Macgregor's Hist, of Briti.li America. Vol. II. p. 329. 
 
 I 
 
 'I 
 
32 
 
 DE LA ROCHE. 
 
 America was then designated), Viceroy and 
 Lieutonant-Gcneral of Canada, Terro Neuf, 
 Belle Isle, Labrador, &c., with all power and 
 authority possessed by the Khig in those 
 places. 
 
 It is amusing in this part of European his- 
 tory to see what vast districts the Kings of 
 England, France, and Spain granted to their 
 subjects; territories, the limits of which had 
 never been defined, and of whose existence 
 in many cases doubt might exist ; and yet 
 they were granted in all formality under the 
 royal hand and seal, to be discovered and 
 conquered by the grantees at their own ex- 
 pense. These grants cost nothing to the 
 grantor but the expense of wax and parch- 
 ment, and brought considerable sums in to 
 the royal exchequer. 
 
 Under the authority of this imposing grant, 
 M. de la Roche sailed to America in the sum- 
 mer of 1 540,^ having under his command five 
 
 1 M. de Eoberval was a native of Picardy, and was recalled to 
 France by the King, to use his arms and influence in the war then 
 raging in that province. 
 
FAILURE OF THE EXPEDITION. 
 
 33 
 
 ships, witli Jacques Carticr as Iiis Admiral. 
 Tlio voyago to Anicrica was accomplislicd 
 successfully, and a fort was erected on the 
 mainland. The spot, however, on which it 
 was built proved unfortunate; it was exposed 
 to severe cold and hostile Indians; so Cartier, 
 who had been left in command, findino- the 
 place untenable, and despairing of La Roche's 
 return, deserted the i)lace, and embarked with 
 all his people, intending to return to France. 
 However, ho fell in with M. de la Roche on 
 the banks of Newfoundland, with some ships 
 carrying arms and store.- ; so, returning with 
 him he resumed comman ' of tlio garrison. 
 De la Roche sailed up the St. Lawrence as 
 far as Tadousac, but as to the result of 
 his voyage we have no reliable statement. ^ 
 However, nothing seems to have been done, 
 as some time elapsed before France sent out 
 another expedition. 
 
 1 M. de Roberval and his brother are said to have made another 
 expedition to Canada in 15^5. They were called by Francis I. the one 
 "le gendarme d' Anuibal," and the other "le petit roi de Vixeneux." 
 Both arc said to have perished in this last expedition. 
 
m 
 
 34 
 
 VOYADE OF DE LA ROCTTE. 
 
 In the year 1598, the Marquis de la Roche 
 left France, by order of Henry IV., to colonize 
 Nova Scotia, carrying with him about 200 
 convicts from tlie French prisons. He landed 
 at the Isle de Saljlc, situated about fifty 
 leagues to the S.E. of Cape Breton. This 
 island, which is almost dissert, producing 
 notliing fit for food, either animal or vegetable, 
 was foolishly selected by the Marquis as a 
 fit place for a settlement. Here he left forty 
 persons, and sailed to Nova Scotia ; but after 
 cruising about for some time, and meeting 
 with very unfavourable weather, he was com- 
 pelled to return to France. The unfortunate 
 people who were left on the Isle of Sable, 
 were reduced to the extremity of want : with- 
 out food or clothing, with no wood to form 
 any shelter from the extreme cold, they must 
 most inevitably have perished, had not a 
 French ship been wrecked on the islanr"^ and 
 a few sheep washed on shore ; with the boards 
 of the wr(M'k tlu^y constructed huts to shelter 
 themselves from the cold, but the sheep were 
 
 ♦^ i 
 
SABLE ISLAND. 
 
 35 
 
 
 soon eaten, and they were compelled to live 
 wholly on fish. They clothed themselves in 
 the skins of seals, and in this wretched state 
 spent seven years. Fortmiately, they had not 
 been altogether forgotten, for King Henry IV. 
 ordered Chetodol, who had been M. de la 
 Roche's pilot, to bring them back to France. 
 When Chetodcl arrived at the Island, he 
 found only twelve men alive, with whom he 
 returned to France; and their squalid and 
 miserable appearance in their sealskin clothes 
 and long beards so moved the King's com- 
 passion that he gave them a general pardon 
 for all their offences, and presented each of 
 them with fifty crowns. De la Roche must 
 have been ignorant of the condition of the 
 Isle of Sable, or he never would have attempted 
 to form a settlement there. This dismal place, 
 celebrated only for the number of wrecks 
 which occur on its coasts, is a bare, sandy 
 desert, without tree or shrub of any kind, 
 larger than bil])orry bushes, and producing 
 no food, excei)t cranberries, which grow in 
 
36 
 
 M. DE CHAUVIX. 
 
 abundance. Continual storms sweep over It, 
 and often the whole face of the country is 
 altered in a single nig-lit, by tlie shifting of 
 the sand hills of wliicli it is composed. Earth- 
 quakes arc frequent, aicering the coast line, 
 throwing up reefs, and so making navigation 
 still more dangerous in its vicinity. Efforts 
 at cultivation have hitherto failed, though by 
 unceasing care a cabbage has been known to 
 attain maturity. 
 
 In 1600 and IGOl, M. de Chauvin made 
 two voj^ages to Tadousac, and returned to 
 France laden with furs, wliich he sold at a 
 great profit. When just starting upon another 
 expedition, he suddenly died. But these 
 voyages of M. de Chauvin bore fruit ; the 
 large sum of money realized by him and his 
 brother adventurers, stirred up an extraordi- 
 nary sjjirit of enterprise amongst the French 
 merchants. 
 
 In 1G03, M. de Monts, a French Protestant, 
 and a gentleman of a resolute and enterprising 
 spirit, obtained a patent from Henry IV. for 
 
M. DE MONTS. 
 
 37 
 
 
 *' inhabltini? Acadia, Canada, and other places 
 in New France." He was constituted tho 
 King's Lieiitenant-General ''for to represent 
 our person in tlie countries, territories, coasts, 
 and confines of La Cadia, from the 40 to the 
 46 degree;"^ his patent also granted him 
 the exclusive right to traffic in furs, .^o that 
 a great number of wealtliy men were on that 
 account induced to join in the adventure. 
 De Monts soon fitted out and equipped four 
 ships, laden with all necessaries and goods, 
 and in March, 1604, sailed from Havre, De 
 Monts himself having the chief command, 
 accompanied by Champlain, as pilot, and M. 
 Poti-incourt and M. Champdore, two personal 
 friends, with several other gentlemen of posi- 
 tic)n. De Monts, being a Protestant, had ob- 
 tained permission for the free exercise of his 
 religion witliin his govcrment. On the 15th 
 of May, 1604, he arrived at a lu,rbour 
 on the S.E. of Acadia, known now by tlie 
 name of Liverpool, where finding a French 
 
 1 Colonial Papers. Vol. I. Xo. 10. 
 
 !: 
 
38 
 
 ARRIVES AT ACADIA. 
 
 trader, named Rossignol, trading for furs 
 without a license, he confiscated the vessel 
 and cargo, naming the harbour Port Rossig- 
 nol, as if to compensate tlio -wretched man 
 for the loss of his property. De Monts then 
 sailed westward to Port Mouton (so called 
 from a sheep leaping overboard at tliat spot), 
 where ho landed and formed an encampment, 
 by erecting wigwams after the manner of 
 the Indians. 
 
 The vessels under De Monts having different 
 destinations, the one which carried the prin- 
 cipal supplies for the winter, commanded by 
 M. Morell, and wliich had been ordered to 
 proceed to Canseau, not having been heard 
 of, De Monts thought it better to stop at 
 Cape Mouton, until the missing vessel should 
 arrive. Here they remained a month, fishing, 
 hunting, and making excursions into the 
 country, but the reduced state of their pro- 
 visions, and the continued absence of Morell, 
 filled them with alarm and anxiety. The 
 missing vessel not only contained food for 
 
KXPLORES THE COUNTKV. 
 
 39 
 
 
 the winter, but also axes and tools for build- 
 ing, so tliat it would have been impossible 
 cither to winter there or to return to France, 
 unless it arrived quickly. However, in a few 
 days after the a.onth, De Monts heard of the 
 safe arrival of Morell at Canseau: it appeal's 
 that he had been delayed by confiscating four 
 French ships, that he had found trading for 
 furs without a license. De Monts soon after- 
 wards dispatched this ship to Tadousac, after 
 having discharged its cargo: the two other 
 vessels were ordered to cruise along the shore 
 of Cape Breton and Acadia, to prevent un- 
 authorised trading with the natives. From 
 thence De Monts, in his own ship, coasted the 
 pcnuisula to the soutli-west, doubled Cape 
 Sable, and anchored in the Bay of St. Mary, 
 where he discovered some iron ore, and also 
 a mineral containing a small proportion of 
 silver. He traversed the Bay of Fundy, and 
 by a narrow strait entered a beautiful and 
 simcious basin, surrounded by !,il!s clothed 
 with luxuriant woods, from which streams of 
 
40 
 
 FOUNDS PORT ROYAL. 
 
 II 
 
 a 
 
 limpid water descended into the lake. Potrin- 
 court was so charmed with the beauty and 
 fertility of tliis place, that he requested M. 
 de Monts to make him a grant of it, and 
 soon afterwards returned to France to bring 
 his family, and settle in this lovely place, 
 which he called Port Royal. 
 
 From this place De Monts sailed further 
 into the Bay of Fundy, and discovered a cop- 
 per mine at a place now called Cape D'Or. 
 He also discovered a great river which the 
 natives called Onangondy, but which he named 
 St. John, as it was discovered on the 24tli of 
 Juno, the festival of St. Jolm the Baptist. 
 They sailed up this river as far as they could, 
 and found its banks clothed with trees, grapes 
 growing wild, its waters filled with fish, and 
 the whole scenery varied and beautifid. From 
 this river they coasted south-westerly, until 
 they came to another river, called St. Croix, 
 on a small island at the entrance to which 
 De Monts commenced forming a settlement 
 by clearing trees, erecting a fort, a church, 
 
 |ii 
 
ST. CROIX. 
 
 41 
 
 
 and several l,ou.ses. The plaee was badly 
 chosen, as it aiTorded neither fresh water nor 
 food for the winter, and out of the whole 
 seventy-six who composed Do Monts' colony 
 tinity-sevea died of scurvy brought on by 
 oatmg salt meat and drinking melted saow 
 The savages inhabiting the neighbourino- is- 
 lands and shores assembled at St. Croix 
 visited the French in their encampment, and' 
 wore charmed with their society and manners. 
 Fmding St. Croix unhealthy and otherwise 
 unsmted for a permanent settlement, De Monts 
 determined to abandon it in the spring, and 
 with that intent he explored the west side of 
 the island in tho hope of finding some place 
 to which he could remove. Disappointed in 
 his search, he determined to sail for New- 
 foundland, and then return to France; but 
 whilst he was making preparations for his 
 voyage, Pontgrave arrived with supplies and ' 
 a reinforcement of forty men, and at his sugges- 
 tion the whole party moved to Port Eo7al.' 
 
 1 Now called Annapolia. 
 
"^pa 
 
 42 
 
 SECOND EXPEDITION OF DE MONTS. 
 
 :m !»n 
 
 Here they established tlieniselves ; built a fort 
 and magazine, and liaving housed all their 
 stores found themselves comfortably settled. 
 As autumn advanced De Monts sailed for 
 France, leaving Pontgrave, Champdore, and 
 Champlain in command of the colony. During 
 the winter the settlement was plentifully sup- 
 plied with venison, but there was a great 
 scarcity of bread. 
 
 De Monts and Potrincourt were in the 
 meanwhile preparing in France for another 
 expedition. On the 13th of May, IGOG, they 
 sailed from Honfleur in a vessel of 150 tons, 
 and after a long voyage arrived at Canseau, 
 w^hence they despatched a party of Indians to 
 announce their arrival to the settlers at Port 
 Royal. Pontgrave in the meanwhile had 
 attempted to explore the coast south of Cape 
 Cod, but was driven back and shipwrecked 
 near the entrance to Port Royal. In conse- 
 quence of this disaster he built two small 
 vessels, and putting all he could on board of 
 them, and leaving two volunteers in charge 
 
LESCARBOT. 
 
 43 
 
 
 of tlie stores left beliind, he proceeded to 
 Canseaii, before the arrival of the messengers 
 of De Monts, but returned on meeting with 
 a boat's crew which Do Monts had left at 
 that place. 
 
 But with all De Monts' energy, the settle- 
 ment at Port Royal would have been a failure 
 but for the assistance of a French gentleman, 
 named Lescarbot, who from personal attach- 
 ment had accompanied Potrincourt. Ho 
 showed the urgent necessity of making tliem- 
 selves independent of the Indians by import- 
 ing and breeding European cattle, and by 
 cultivating the soil. De Monts left Acadia 
 for France in August, ICOG. Anxious to 
 re-establish a colony in the South he sent 
 Potrincourt to explore; but this, like his other 
 voyage, proved unsuccessful, and he returned 
 to Port Royal in November. During this 
 Toyage he was attacked by the Indians'^ wlio 
 killed two of his men and wounded several 
 others. His return was celebrated with great 
 festivity; he was received with great for- 
 
f 
 
 44 
 
 STATE OF THE SETTLEMENT. 
 
 mality by his friends, who imitcd in a pro- 
 cci-ision and escorted him to the fort, reciting 
 verses composed by Lescarbot for the occasion. 
 The houses of Potrincourt and Do Monts 
 were hung with hiurel and adorned with 
 approj^riate mottoes.^ 
 
 Tlie winter, which was mild and pleasant, 
 was spent by the settlers in a haj^py manner. 
 Their days were passed in hunting and fishing 
 and short excursions into the country. Potrin- 
 court, Lescarbot, Champlain, and twelve others 
 formed themselves into a club, called Le bon 
 temps, in which each member by turns took 
 upjn himself the duties of caterer and steward 
 for the day. After dinner they amused them- 
 selves with music and recitations. 
 
 After waiting a long time for the return of 
 .De Monts with sui:)plies from France, a vessel 
 at length arrived bringix^g only a few pro- 
 visions and stores, and ':^«^iivoying the morti- 
 fying news that the charter of De Monts 
 had been cancelled, in consequence of tho 
 
 1 Halliburton's Nova Scotia. Vol. I. p. 25. 
 
W. DE POTRINCOURT. 
 
 45 
 
 remonstrances niudo against it by the French 
 merchants, and that ho was therefore under 
 the necessity of abandoning all connection 
 with Acadia. Potrincourt, distressed but not 
 disheartened by this intelligence, determined 
 to proceed to France and procure if possible 
 a grant of the colony, assured that with very 
 little assistance it must now succeed. Ho 
 waited, however, till he could collect together 
 specimens of xhe native produce, furs, skins, 
 and niineraLs together with samples of wheat,' 
 rye, and other grain which the colonists had 
 grown, to lay before the French King. By 
 these means he managed to procure a" grant 
 of Port Poyal, saddled with the condition that 
 he should take two Jesuits with him to con- 
 vert the Indians. Potrincourt, who, though 
 a Roman Catholic, had a great aversion to 
 Jesuits, was disgusted at this arrangement, 
 and plainly told the Jesuits when they arrived 
 at Port Royal that they must not mcddlo 
 with his affairs, but confine themselves to 
 teaching religion. In flict, he made the place 
 
4G 
 
 SETTLEMKNT AT MOUNT DKSKItT. 
 
 80 uncomfortalilo fur tlicin tluit tlie two Jesuits 
 iiuidc frcciuont complaints of him iind his son, 
 Biencourt. Their troubU\s were in)i)ar(Mitly 
 tenninatcd by tlio arrival of a vessel des- 
 patehed, in 1013, by a lady, named Do 
 Guorcheville. This ship, which had on board 
 two priests, carried away the Jesuits from 
 Port Royal, and sailing into the Bay of 
 Fundy tiiey fixed upon the Island of Mount 
 Desert, where they formed a settlement. 
 They were proceeding rapidly with their 
 buildings, when they were surprised by an 
 English ship from Virginia, commanded by 
 Captain ArgoU, who pillaged the place, seized 
 the ships, and compelled them to surrender as 
 prisoners of war, but not before one of the 
 Jesuits had been shot through the head whilst 
 urging the settlers to defend themselves. 
 
 This affair led to the fitting-out of an 
 armament from Virginia under Cai)tain Argoll, 
 to dislodge the French from Acadia. Pilotef^ 
 by the Jesuit Boari, who thirsted for revenge, 
 Argoll appeared before Port Royal, and 
 
CAPTlrRIi op |.ORT ROYAr,. 
 
 47 
 
 dc«t.ov-od tl,o (brt. ]{!„ncourt nttemptod to 
 treat with l,im, b„t fl,o confWcnco ended by 
 some of the French joining the .savages, 
 other, leaving ibr Quebec, and by those who 
 surrendered being .sent to Knghnid. 
 
 This outrageous affair, conmutted in a time 
 of peace between Enghmd and France 
 destroyed the first settlement n.ade in North 
 An.erica, after it had prospered for eight or 
 nine years. But, though Port Koyal had been 
 destroyed, great numbers of French and 
 several Dutch adventurers settled themselves 
 m different parts of Acadia, especially about 
 Canseau, where they carried on a profitable 
 for trade; and, about the time of Captain 
 David Kirke's first expeditic,,, were in a 
 very flourisliing condition. 
 
 In the events which followe.l, Nova Scotia 
 was so intimately connected with Canada, 
 tlmt It will bo as well to trace tlie history of 
 the latter country down to this period, before 
 considering the effect of Kirke's expedition 
 upon the French settlement. That distin- 
 
48 
 
 VOYAGE OF CHAMPLAIN TO CANADA. 
 
 guislied navigator Champiain, who liad ac- 
 comjianied M. do la Rocho in his expedition 
 up the St. Lawrence, and had afterwards 
 joined the adventurers to Acadia, made, in 
 1608, another voyage up the St. Lawrence, 
 and established himself upon a most command- 
 ing promontory, situated on the north bank of 
 the river, and to which lie gave the name of 
 Quebec. Here he left a few settlers, and re- 
 turning next year with Pontgrave to his infant 
 colony, found it in quiet jiossession, clearing 
 and cultivating the ground Avith partial success. 
 Champiain explored the Ottawa and other parts 
 of the country before he returned to France, 
 where ho succeeded in forming, under the 
 patronage of the Prince do Conde, a new asso- 
 ciation at Rouen. He returned to Canada in 
 1612, taking with him four Recollects,^ for the 
 purpose of converting the savages. During 
 the next eight years he was engaged in war 
 
 1 The Recollects, or Recollets, were minor Friars of the Reformed 
 Order of St. Francis. This sect, which begr.n in Spain, was introduced 
 into Itiily A.D. 1525, and into France a.d. 1584, or 1592. They were 
 called Recollets because tliey professed to lead a life more austere 
 and more reserved than ordinary xtligious professors. 
 
COMPANY OF NEW FRANCE. 
 
 49 
 
 wltli the Iroquois, wliicli took all his attention. 
 Ill 1020 1,(^ brought liis fomily to Canada. 
 
 The Due cle Vontadour, in 1022, luivin^v 
 taken Holy Orders, accepted tlie office of 
 Viceroy of New France, solely witli the view 
 of converting the savages, and for this j^urpose 
 he sent Jesuits to Canada. This was a great 
 mortification to the Recollects, so that in- 
 cessant bickerings and quarrels arose between 
 them and the Roman Catliolics, "which came 
 to such a pass as seriously to retard the infant 
 settlement. To put an end to these dis- 
 turbances the Cardinal Richelieu established 
 the Company of New France. Tliis^ Com- 
 pany, consisting of three lumdred associates, 
 engaged to send three hundred tradesmen to 
 New France, and to sui,ply all those who 
 settled in the country with lodging, food, and 
 clothing for three years, after which they 
 would grant to each workman sufficient land 
 to keep him, with seed to cultivate it. The 
 Company also engaged to have six thousand 
 
 1 Alacgregor's British America, "Vol. II., p. 336. 
 
 E 
 
Wf 
 
 50 
 
 THEIR CHARTER. 
 
 French inhabitants settled before 1643, and 
 to establish three priests in each settlement. 
 The prerogatives which the King reserved 
 for himself were, the supremacy in matters of 
 faith ; homage as sovereign of New France ; 
 •with the acknowledgment of a crown of gold, 
 weighing eight marks, on each succession to 
 the throne of France; the nomination of all 
 commanders and officers of forts ; and the 
 aj)pointmcnt of officers of justice, whenever 
 it became necessary to establish courts of law. 
 The Royal Charter then granted to the 
 Company of New France, and their successors 
 for ever, in consideration of their engagements 
 to tlie crown, the fort and settlement of 
 Quebec, all the territory of New France, 
 including Florida, with all the rivers along 
 the course of the great river of Canada, and 
 all other rivers which discharge tlicmselvea 
 therein, or which throughout these vast regions 
 empty themselves into the sea, both on the 
 East and AYest coasts of the Continent, with 
 all the harbours, islands, mines, and rights of 
 fishery. 
 
 • 
 
f 
 
 GREAT EXPECTATIONS. 
 
 51 
 
 The Company was further empowered to 
 grant titles of distinction, which, however, 
 required the confirmation of the Sovereign. 
 The exclusive riglit to traffic in peltries and 
 all other commerce, except the cod and whale 
 fisheries, was granted to them for fifteen 
 years. Two ships of war were given to the 
 Company by the King, on the condition that 
 their value should be refunded if the Company 
 failed to send at least one thousand five 
 hundred French people of both sexes to New 
 France in the first ten years. 
 
 Such were the provisions of this celebrated 
 Charter, which was signed in April, 1627. 
 The most flattering expectations of success 
 were raised; ships filled with stores sailed 
 from France, numbers of eager emigrants 
 crowded their decks ; priests, fired with reli- 
 gious zeal, hastened to offer their services to 
 convert the poor heathen from darkness to the 
 light of Roman Catholicism; everj'thing 
 seemed to favour the colony. But all these 
 great expectations were destined to disappoint- 
 
 ■ } 
 
 kll 
 
 V I 
 
52 
 
 DOOMED TO PERISH. 
 
 ment. A small squadron of ships was being 
 fitted out in England, under the command of 
 Captain David Kirke, which was destined to 
 delay considerably, it might have been for 
 ever, the establishment of a prosperous French 
 colony on the sliores of the St. Lawrence. 
 
53 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Biith and Education of Sir William Alexander— Obtains a Grant of 
 Nova Scotia from James I. -First English Colony in Nova Scotia- 
 War between England and France declared— Renewal of Sir William 
 Alexander's Patent by Charles I. -The Order of Nova Scotian Baronets 
 Founded— Sir William join^ the Canada Company-Second Exi.edition 
 fitted out under the command of David Kirke, which arrives in safety 
 at Newfoundland-Sails up the St. Lawrence to Tadousac-Returna 
 to Gasp{> -Meets the French Squadron, which Captain Kirke Defeats 
 and Captures-Reduction of Port Roj-al and other French Settlements 
 —Excitement in Fr.mce-Kiike Returns to England-Third Expedi- 
 tion to Canada, &c., under Captain Kirke- -Arrives at Gasp5-Sails up 
 the St. Lawrence-Defeat of M. de Caen-Kirke appears before Quebec 
 -Champlain's Distress-Surrender of Quebec-Return of David 
 Kirke to England- Peace .,f Versailles-Surrender of Canada and 
 Acadia Ui the Frer.ch-Petitiou to the King-Honorary Grant of Arms 
 to David Kirke and his Brothers- Knighthood of David Kirke— His 
 Marriage. 
 
 In the year 1621, Sir William Alexander, of 
 Menstrie, who wiis a great ftivourite with 
 James I., applied to him for a giant of 
 Acadia. Sir William was a younger son of 
 
w 
 
 
 54 
 
 SIR WILLIAM ALEXANDER. 
 
 Alexander Alexander, of Menstrie, and was 
 born in tlie year 1580. Having received a 
 liberal education he was selected as travelling 
 comjianion to the Duke of Argyll. On liis 
 return from the continent he lived for some 
 time a retired life in Scotland, and published 
 his "Aurora," a poetical complaint upon his 
 unsuccessful addresses to a lady, who, declin- 
 ing the honour of his hand, had, as he expressed 
 it, "matched her morning to one in the even- 
 ing of his days." Not long after this he 
 married Janet, daughter and heiress of Sir 
 William Erskine, and removed to the court 
 of James VI., when he published a tragedy 
 on the story of Darius, and two poems, one 
 congratulating his ]\Iajesty on his entry into 
 England, the other on the inundation at Dover, 
 where the Kin": used to amuse himself with 
 hawddng. In 1607, his dramas, entitled "The 
 Monarchial Tragedies," were published, con- 
 taining Darius Croesus, the Alexandra?an, and 
 Julius Ca:'sar ; he was also the author of a 
 poem called " Doomesday," and several other 
 
 % 
 
HIS TITLES. 
 
 55 
 
 pieces, and it is said his Majesty used to call 
 him his philosophical poet. In 1613 he was 
 appointed one of the gentlemen ushers to 
 Prince Charles, and master of the requests, 
 and received the honour of kniglithood. In 
 1621, he received the grant of Nova Scotia 
 as mentioned above. Ho had charters of the 
 Lordship of Canada in 1628, of tlie J3arony of 
 Menstriein th-3 same year; Barony of Largis, 
 nth April, 1629; Barony of Tullibody on 30th 
 of July in the same year. Sworn of the Privy 
 Council and Secretary of State, in 1626; 
 Keeper of the Signet, 1627; Commissioner of 
 the Exchequer, 1628; one of the extraordinary 
 Lords of Session, 1631. Created Lord Alex- 
 ander of Tullibody, Viscount Stirling, by 
 patent, 4tli September, 1630, and Earl of 
 Stii-ling, Viscount Canada and Lord Alexander, 
 by patent, 14th of June, 1633. In 1637, he 
 was made Earl of Uoban. Such was the man 
 who applied, in 1621, to James I. for a grant 
 of Nova Scotia, tlien called Acadia; and as 
 but little trouble was wanted at that time to 
 
¥ 
 
 56 
 
 SENDS A COLONY TO NOVA SCOTIA. 
 
 obtain a grant of a whole province in America, 
 he was gratified by a grant of the whole of 
 Acadia, wliicli waKS named in tlie patent^ Nova 
 Scotia. In the year after his grant in 1623, 
 Sir William despatched a number of emigrants 
 to take possession of the comitry, but they 
 got no further than Newfoundland before the 
 cold weather set in, which obliged them to 
 pass the w^inter there. In the following spring 
 they set o\it for Nova Scotia, and coasted 
 along the South shore. Here they discovered 
 that in the interval between the destruction 
 of the colony by Argoll and the grant to Sir 
 AVilliam, the country had been occupied not 
 only by the survivors of the former emigrants, 
 but also by adventurers from all parts, who 
 had increased to formidable numbers. Under 
 these circumstances they thought it i:)rudent 
 to return to England, where, on their arrival, 
 they published an account of the country, in 
 which they boasted of fertile plains, rivers 
 embosomed in trees and stocked with fish, 
 
 1 Colouial Papeia. Vol. IV., No. 23. 
 
 
WAR Wrm FRANCE. 
 
 57 
 
 
 safe harbours, and ii country abounding- with 
 game of all kinds. Though these adventurers 
 published an account of a country which they 
 had never seen— not an uncommon thing at 
 the time in which they lived— they seem, 
 singulai-ly enough, to have given a very fair 
 description of Nova Scotia, which then as 
 now was as amply supplied with all neces- 
 saries as they described it to be. 
 
 War breaking out between England and 
 France at this time, an opportunity was offered 
 for crushing the infant settlements of France 
 in Nova Scotia and Canada. Charles I. 
 warmly patronizing Sir William Alexander, 
 renewed the grant of his father by a patent 
 dated 12th of July, 102 J:. He also founded 
 the order of Knights Baronet of Nova Scotia, 
 who were to contribute their aid to the settle- 
 ment, upon the consideration of each having 
 alloted to him a liberal portion of land. 
 However venerable the order of English 
 Baronets may have become, it cannot bo 
 denied that its creation brought little honour 
 
ffT 
 
 58 
 
 NOVA SCOTIAN BARONETS. 
 
 cither to its founder or to the first possessors 
 of the dignity. Still less can the Baronets of 
 Nova Scotia look back with pleasure to their 
 first creation, however mysterious that event 
 may seem throu<^h lapse of time, and the 
 strange eccentricity that iq^pears to have 
 governed their selection. James I. created 
 any gentleman an Enf;lisli ]3aronct who would 
 maintain thirty foot soldiers in Ireland for 
 three years at eightpence a day each ; but if 
 any gentleman would take a voyage to Nova 
 Scotia, he received a grant of land six miles 
 in length by three in breadth, and was made 
 a Baronet of Nova Scotia into the bargain.^ 
 Strange as it may seem, but few responded 
 to tins invitation, so further inducements were 
 held out. Not only should any gentleman 
 settling in Nova Scotia be made a Baronet, 
 but he and his Iioirs male should enjoy the 
 privilege of wearing and *' carrying about 
 their necks an orange tavmy silk ribbon, 
 whoreon shall hang pendant in an escutcheon 
 
 . 1 Banks' Baronia Anglica Conceutrata. Appendix. 
 
CLAUDE DE ST. ETIENNE. 
 
 59 
 
 arfient, a saltire azure, thereon an escutcheon 
 of tlie arms of S(^othuul, with an imperial 
 crown above tlie escutcheon, and encircled 
 with the motto 'Fax meritis lionesta3 gloria.'" 
 In a second grant to Sir William Alexander, 
 power was given to him to make Baronets; 
 and his first exercise of this power was in 
 making a Baronet of Claude de St. Etienno, 
 a/mo? Claude de la Tour, a French adventurer, 
 equally devoid of religion and honesty, a 
 Huguenot and a Protestant under the British 
 Monarch, a Catlioiic under Louis XIV., at all 
 times an active, entei-prising, treacherous, and 
 unscrupulous man, who made religion a stalk- 
 ing horse to gain the ol^ject of his ambition. 
 As Nova Scotia was ceded to the French 
 in 1632, the Baronets of that country found 
 themselves in possession of an empty title 
 and a tawny orange ribbon. Their order 
 came to an untimely end, but Charles II. 
 having created some Baronets of Scotlaiid, 
 the new and the old Scotia amalgamated, and 
 the titled of either country considered those 
 
00 
 
 riHsT r:xri:inTioN. 
 
 of the othor as bel()ii<ilii^ to the same order. 
 A meeting of the amal^^imiated liaronets was 
 lield in Edinburfi,!) in 1774, when it was 
 determined to assert their riglit to wear the 
 orange tawny ribbon with its accessories. 
 Determinations to this eli'ect were presented 
 to the King tlirough the Earl of Suftolk, but 
 His Majesty took no notice of the deckiration ; 
 and although certain Scotchmen appeared at 
 court on St. Andrew's Day wearing the orange 
 ri1)bon, they seem soon to have abandoned 
 the custom, no doubt finding the colour some- 
 what trying to their complexions. 
 
 Backed up by the court and with visions of 
 wealtli and grandeur floating before his eyes, 
 Sir AVilliam Alexander fitted out a small but 
 well-appointed armament in 1027. His eager- 
 ness in this expedition excited the mirth of 
 Buckingham and the other courtiers. ''James," 
 they said, '' was a King who tried to be a 
 poet, and Alexander a poet who wished to 
 be a King." He was assisted by several 
 eminent merchants of London — chief amongst 
 
TO CANADA. 
 
 61 
 
 
 wliom was Gerviise Kirkc— wlio coiisidcrod 
 the project a p^ood ono, and woro williiio- to 
 eni])nrk a largo .sum of money in the en- 
 terprise. 
 
 In the spring- of 1627/ the smidl fleet, con- 
 sisting of three sliij)s, set sail from England. 
 The whole was under the conunand of Cap- 
 tain David Kirko, who sailed in the largest 
 ship, a vessel of about '500 tons, whilst the 
 other two wore under the command of his 
 brothers, Lewis and Thouuis, respectively. 
 They had obtained letters of manpie from 
 the King, under the broad seal, giving them 
 autliorit}' to capture and destroy any Frencli 
 ships which they might encounter, and utterly 
 to drive away and root out the French settle- 
 ments in Nova Scotia and Canada. 
 
 After a favourable voyage across the Atlan- 
 tic, Kirkc arrived in safety at Newfoundland, 
 where he resolved to wait for a sliort time, 
 until he should receive information about the 
 French. Before leaving England he had 
 
 1 Halliburton's Nova Scotia. Vol. I., p. 43. 
 
mr 
 
 mm 
 
 62 
 
 THE FRENCH COLONISTS SET SAIL. 
 
 heard rumours of a great armament fitting" 
 out in France to establish the New Company 
 in Canada, and he was anxious to ascertain 
 the number and size of the ships which com- 
 posed the squadron daily expected off the 
 coast of Nova Scotia. 
 
 In the meauwhilo, great eagerness had been 
 shown in France to furnish supplies and am- 
 munition to their colony at Quebec. Twenty 
 vessels were laden with stores, food, building 
 implements, guns, and ammunition ; nearly 
 150 pieces of ordnance were stowed away in 
 the different holds to be mounted upon the 
 walls of Quebec and other forts ; the decks 
 were crowded with emigrants, m^do and 
 female ; priests were there, burning with re- 
 ligions zeal ; and everything looked hopeful 
 for their success. The whole fleet was put 
 imder the command of ]\[. de Roquemont, a 
 French Admirnl ; and full of hope and ex- 
 pectation they set sail from France in the 
 month of April, 1C2V. 
 
 Whilst they were on their way across the 
 
 
MEET CAPTAIN KIRKE. 
 
 63 
 
 Atlantic, Captain Kirke, fhed of waiting-, 
 sailed from Newfoundland, and visiting the 
 French settlements in the neighbourhood of 
 Cape Tourmente, destroyed all the houses 
 and forts which had been erected there. He 
 then sailed up the St. Lawrence as far as 
 Tadousac, but hearing at that place that M. 
 de Roquemont had not arrived but was daily 
 expected, he turned back and sailed down the 
 river, hoping to fall in with the squadron. 
 He was not disapi)ointed, for upon doubling 
 Gasp^ point he saw the whole French squadron"^ 
 which had taken refuge in the bay from i 
 violent storm. It was a critical moment for 
 both commanders. On i]ie one hand M. de 
 Roquemont, though far superior in number 
 of ships and men, was well aware that he 
 was in no condition to fight ; his ships were 
 laden heavily with stores, and tliough he had 
 150 cannon on board, they were lying in the 
 different holds and were of no use, whilst the 
 number he had for service were very few and 
 of small calibre. His ships were deep in the 
 
64 
 
 PREPARE TO FIGHT. 
 
 water and ratlicr unmanageable ; liis de(;ks 
 wore crowded with priests and non-combatants 
 besides women and children, who, in case of 
 a fight, would be exposed to terrible danger. 
 On the other hand the enemy had only three 
 ships ; for all he knew they were as much 
 encumbered with stores and emigrants as lie 
 was, and it was a hard case to give up the 
 cause of the colony almost within siglit of 
 their destination without firing a shot or strik- 
 ing a blow for its sake. So he resolved to 
 fight. Captain Kirke on his side, though well 
 aware Iiow unprepared De Roqiiemont was 
 for a combat, hesitated to attack so formidable 
 a force with his own three ships ; but tliough 
 few in number, they were armed to the teeth, 
 equipped not for commerce, but for hard 
 fighting, and the prize was too great to be 
 allowed to slip through their fingers without 
 a struggle. But firj^t, to spare bloodshed, lie 
 sent a polite message to M. de Roquemont 
 informing him of his connnissio)! from the 
 King of England and summoning him to 
 
DEFFAT OF THE FRENCH. 
 
 Co 
 
 surrender. De Roquemont returned a S2)irited 
 refusal ; upon receiving which David Kirke 
 and liis two brothers bore down upon tlio 
 French squadron. David Kirke, saihng under 
 the stern of the French Admiral's ship, de- 
 livered a broadside, then rounding too, throw 
 out grai)pling irons and boarded: the resist- 
 ance was trifling, and in a few . inutes Kirke 
 was master of the ship. His brothers at the 
 same time captured two other diips, and tlie 
 rest, being mostly sloops filled with guns and 
 stores, seeing that their Admiral was captured, 
 surrendered at discretion. His prizes were sj 
 numerous that his very success jdaced Captain 
 Kirke in a difficulty. He counted eighteen 
 sail all filled with stores and implements, and 
 no less than 138 pieces of cannon. So having 
 I'ifled ten of the smaller ships he set them on 
 fire, and filling tlic remainder with the most 
 valuable stores sent them to Newfoundland. 
 He himself, witli his brothers, after reducing 
 Port Royal and other French stations on the 
 north coast of Nova Scotia, returned to Eng- 
 
66 
 
 EXCITEMENT IN PARIS. 
 
 land, having on board M. de Roquemont, 
 M. de la Tour, and other Frenchmen of dis- 
 thiction; and m then' holds the 138 cannon 
 which they had taken from the French.^ 
 When tlic news of this disaster reached M. 
 Champlain at Quebec, he was in despair. 
 Almost without provisions, hemmed in by 
 the Iroquois on every side, the wretched 
 colonists were reduced to the verge of destruc- 
 tion : all their hopes had been centred upon 
 the arrival of the squadron from France, and 
 now they were doomed to disappointment. 
 Great was the fury of the French King and 
 Council when the news of this disaster arrived 
 in Paris ; the merchants who had become 
 associates in the New Company were clamorous 
 for revenge; and in a solemn Council, held by 
 the King, Captain David Kirke and his 
 brothers were declared public enemies, and 
 were condemned to be burnt- in effig}'. On 
 
 1 Colonial Papers ; Vol. V,, No. 34, 3i>, and 36. Domestic Corres- 
 pondence ; Car. I., Doc. 1, 18G3. Appendix A. Macgregor's British 
 America; Vol. II., p. 338. 
 
 2 Col, Tapers : Vol. V., No. 37, 19 ; Vol. VI., 12. 
 
 
ENGLISH AND FRENCH KIVALRY. 
 
 G7 
 
 the same day, amidst the tolling of bolls, 
 three stuffed figures, representing David, 
 Lewis, and Tliomas Kirke, were carried in 
 procession through the streets of Paris, and 
 then burnt to ashes ^a tlie Place de Grove 
 amidst the yells of an exulting populace. 
 
 Such was the commencement of the struggle 
 between England and France for supremacy 
 in North America; a struggle extended over 
 more tlian a hundred years. A lasting peace 
 had been proclaimed between England and 
 Spain ; English pirates were no longer abetted 
 by their govermncnt in attacks upon Spanish 
 commerce ; English adventurers must have 
 perished for sheer want of adventure, had not 
 North America afforded a vast field for their 
 energies in its boundless expanse of sea and 
 land. But their new explorations brouglit 
 them face to face with their old enemies, 
 ready to maintain by force of arms what they 
 had already acquired, and eager to try whether 
 the victors of Cressy and Agincourt were as 
 invincible in the New World as in the Old. 
 
w 
 
 
 68 
 
 ANOTHER EXPEDlTIOir. 
 
 AVe have seen the result of the first struggle. 
 Nova Scotia and Cape Breton were added to 
 the possessions of the English Crown ; Ger- 
 vasc Kirkc and his fellow adventurers were 
 enriched by the spoils taken in the sliij^s, and 
 by the ransom of the prisoners; and both 
 parties were inflamed, the one l)y success, the 
 other by revenge, to make stil) greater efforts 
 for the possession of the North American 
 Colonies. 
 
 AVhilst the Paris populace were shouting 
 and gesticulating, Captain Kirlce was fitting 
 out, at the expense of his father, Gervase, 
 and Sir William Alexander, another fleet of 
 ships, more numerous and better equipped 
 than the last, intending this time to make a 
 clean sweep of the French settlements. En- 
 riched by the spoil tliey had taken from the 
 French and the ransom of their prisoners, ilie 
 Canada merchants were determined to spare 
 no expense to render their new fleet as com- 
 pletely equipped as possible. Some time 
 elapsed in preparations, and it was not till 
 
 ■>^ 
 
DEFEAT OF M. DE CAEN. 
 
 69 
 
 ' 
 
 t^\ 
 
 I 
 
 the middle of March, 1G29, that the fleet was 
 ready for sea. It consisted of the "Abigail," 
 Captain David Kirke, 800 tons; the "William," 
 Captain Lewis Kirke, 200 tons; the "George," 
 Captain Thomas Kirke, 20^ tons, the " Ger- 
 vase," Captain Brewerton, 200 tone ; besides 
 two other ships and three pinnaces all well 
 manned and armed, and furnished with letters 
 of marque under the broad seal of England. 
 AVith these good ships Captain Kirke left 
 Gravescnd on the 25th of March, and after 
 a prosperous voyage arrived at Great Caspii 
 on the 15th of June. Here he divided his 
 force, ordering his brothers to visit the Nova 
 Scotian settlements and afterwards to. meet 
 him. at Tadousac. He himself in the "Abi- 
 gail," accompanied by another ship, sailed up 
 the St. Lawrence to Tadousac, intending to 
 make that place his head-quarters and place 
 of rendezvous in his subsequent operations. 
 Whilst sailing up the St. Lawrence he was 
 attacked by a French ship under the command 
 of Emery de Caen, son of AA'iiliam de Caen, 
 
 m 
 
'0 
 
 BEFORE QUEBEC. 
 
 Lord of La Motte and General of the Frertcli 
 troops in Canada. A running figlit was kept 
 up by the "Abigail" and the French ship for 
 several hours, at the end of which time Do 
 Caen, losing one of his masts, was disabled 
 and obliged to surrender. In this action 
 Captain Kirke lost three men killed, and 
 about twenty severely wounded; the French 
 loss was somewhat greater.^ Having secured 
 his prisoners and burnt tlie enemy's ship, 
 Captain Kirke sailed to Tadousac, and there 
 awaited tlie remainder of his fleet. Tadousac 
 harbour lies at the mouth of the Saghunny, 
 it is well sheltered, sufficiently deep, and 
 affords excellent anchorage, so it was well 
 suited for the English fleet to lie there. He 
 did not wait long; in a few days lie was 
 joined by his brothers, when, leaving the 
 greater ]iart of liis fleet at Tadousac, he him- 
 self, with the "George" and the " Gervase," 
 sailed up the St. Lawrence, and appeared 
 before Quebec on the 9th of July. 
 
 1 Col. Papers ; Vol. VI., No. 15. 
 
DISTRESS OF CIIAMrLAIN. 
 
 y 
 
 Tlic capture of the stores intended for 
 Qiiehec had reduced M. Champlain and his 
 colony to the utnu>st distress. Tlie prosperity 
 of New France was not only retarded, but 
 even the powerful mind of Champlain, so 
 fertile in expedients on occasions of difficulty, 
 was quite paralyzed by unfortunate circum- 
 stances and continual mortifications. The 
 hostility of the savages was not the least of 
 the evils that per23lexed him ; and the Iro- 
 quois soon perceiv^ed the advantages which 
 the continued jealousies and quarrels between 
 the Catholics and Huguenots enabled ilicm to 
 obtain over m"en whom they considered un- 
 warranted occupiers of their country. Ow- 
 ing to their hostility, and the impossibility ot 
 communicating with France, Cliamplain was 
 reduced to the utmost extremitv, bv^ the want 
 of every article of food, clotliing, implements, 
 and ammunition ; so tliat wlien Caj)tain Kirke 
 appeared before Quebec, the place, despite its 
 impregnable position, was so badly victualled 
 as to be unable to endure a sieg^e of manv 
 
7^ 
 
 ins SURRENDF.R. 
 
 days duration. If it had been well victualled 
 and supplied with animunition, Ca})taiii Kirke 
 would have found it impossible, even with a 
 much stronj^er force than that under his com- 
 mand, to subdue it. It was to the immortal 
 credit of Champlain to have selected such a 
 jilace for his settlement. Situated upon tlie 
 summit of an abrupt cliff three Inmdred and 
 fifty feet liig'h, whose base is washed by a 
 deep and rapid river, Quebec is almost un- 
 rivalled for tlie strength and Ijcauty of its 
 position. But little good was this impregna- 
 ble position to its commander, when, after a 
 few days' bombardment, he found his food 
 exhausted, his ammunition running low, his 
 men dying of disease and hunger, and no 
 prospect of relief from any quarter. Under 
 these circumstances, having done nW tliat a 
 brave man could do, M. Champlain sent in 
 his submission and offered to surrender u])on 
 the following terms: 
 
 I, Tliat Captain Kirke should sliow his 
 commission from tlie English King. 
 
 \'"" "^ 
 
TKRMS riiOI'OSKD. 
 
 73 
 
 2. That Captain Kirko may coiiio and cast 
 
 anchor before Quebec for tlio safety of 
 his sliips, but ho sliall not quit any of 
 them to sot foot on shore before he has 
 shewn his autliority. 
 
 3. To be aHowed a ship to take all their 
 
 company to France ; Friars, Jesuits, 
 and two snvagcs, also tlieir weapons, 
 baggage, &c. 
 
 4. To have sufficient victuals in excliange 
 
 for skins?. 
 ,6. Favourable treatment for all. 
 6. To have possosKion of the ship tlirce 
 days after tlieir arrival at Tadousac. 
 The sliip to carry about a liuudred 
 persons, some of those already cap- 
 tured, and some that are in this place. 
 
 Tlicse terms were submitted to Captain 
 Kirke, and witli some little alteration agreed 
 to by him, and tlie following agreement was 
 drawn up : ^ 
 
 l!i 
 
 1 Col. Papers ; Vol. V., Nos. 16, 20, 33, 34. 
 
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74 
 
 ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT. 
 
 !l 
 
 "Articles granted to the Sleurs Champlain 
 and De Pont by Thomas Kirke, and ratified 
 by David Kirke. Thomas has not the King's 
 Commission ; but his brother, David, will show 
 it to them at Tadousac. He has full powers 
 to treat. Cannot give them a vessel, but 
 guarantees a passage for the savages. They 
 will be allowed to go out with their arms, 
 clothes, baggage, and skins ; the soldiers with 
 their clothes and a beaver coat each. Skins 
 will be exchanged for victuals. These articles 
 will be ratified by David Kirke, the General 
 of the Fleet." 
 
 Upon these terms M. Champlain surren- 
 dered Quebec to the English on the 9th of 
 August, 1629. Captain Kirke treated his 
 prisoners with such kindness that many of 
 the poor Frenchmen and half castes chose to 
 stay under his command at Quebec rather 
 than undergo the horrors of an Atlantic pas- 
 sage. To prove to what straits they had been 
 reduced in Quebec, the English only found 
 one tub filled with roots (perhaps potatoes), 
 
 si? 
 
STATE OF QUEBEC. 
 
 To 
 
 mid no other provisions. As to the armament 
 of the Fort at the time of its capture the 
 following deposition of Champlain gives the 
 fullest information. 
 
 ''9th November, 1629. 
 ^ ''Samuel Champlain, of Bromage, in Guienne, 
 in the Kingdom of France, Gentleman, and 
 late Lieutenant-Governor of the Fort of St. 
 Louis, at Quebec, sworne before the Right 
 Worshipful Sir Henry Martin, Knight, Judge 
 of the High Court of Admiralty, as followeth: 
 '' That he and the rest of the French taken 
 at Canada, by Captain Kirke and his com- 
 pany, have been well used and treated by him 
 and his company, and since they were taken 
 by them giving them victuals and using them 
 as himselfe, and they have been noe" ways 
 dealt with to depose an untruth for ought he 
 knoweth. That he was in the fort when 
 Captain Kirke and his company tooke the 
 same, and there were there in that forte and 
 habitation thereof, four brasse pieces each 
 weighing about 150 lbs. weight, one other 
 
 : 
 
 ill 
 
 m 
 
76 
 
 ARMAMENT. 
 
 ■. :|l I 
 
 piece of brasse ordinance weighing eighty lbs. 
 weight, five iron boxes of shott for the five 
 brasse peeces of ordinance, two small iron 
 peeces of ordinance weighing each eight cwt., 
 six murderers with their double boxes or 
 chargers, one small peece of ordinance 
 weighing about eighty lbs., forty-five small 
 iron bullets for the service of the foresaid, five 
 brasse peeces, six iron bullets for the service 
 of the foresaid, twenty-six brasse peeces weigh- 
 ing only three lbs. each, thirty or forty lbs. 
 of gunpowder all belonging to M. de Caen, 
 of Dieppe ; about thirty lbs. of match belong- 
 ing to the French King; thirteen whole and 
 one broken muskett, a harquebush, two large 
 harquebusses five or six foote longe, a peece 
 belonging to the Kinge, five or six thousand 
 leaden bulletts, plate and bars of lead belong- 
 ing, sixty corseletts whereof two are compleat 
 and pistoll proof, two great brasse j^eeces 
 weighing eighty ^bs., one pavilion to lodge 
 about twenty men belonging to the Kinge, a 
 smith's fordge with appurtenances, all neces- 
 
WANT OF FOOD. 
 
 77 
 
 saries for a carpenter, all appurtenances of 
 ironworke for a windmill, a lianclmill to grind 
 come, a brasse bell belonging to the said 
 merchants, and about 2,500 or 3,000 beaver 
 skins in the magazines, and some cases of 
 knives, and the forte belonging to the Kinge, 
 and the habitations and houses then belong- 
 inge to the said merchants were all left stand- 
 ing, and the inhabitants in these houses had 
 some goods of their owne in them, but what 
 they were he cannot expresse. 
 
 " That there were not ane victualls or or- 
 dinarie sustenance for men in the said forte at 
 the time of taking it, the men in the same 
 having lived by the spare of two months 
 before upon nothing but lootes." 
 
 It was no wonder that Charaplain surren- 
 dered. What could be expected from men 
 who had been living for some time like swine 
 upon roots? Cannon and ammunition they 
 seem to have had in abundance, not to mention 
 the murderers, which sound alarming, but it 
 is hard work fighting upon a few roots per 
 diem. 
 
 i 
 
 

 78 
 
 HUMANITY OF DAVID KIRKE. 
 
 Thus at the end of two years from the 
 grant of liis commission by the King, Cap- 
 tain Kirko had destro}^cd all the French 
 settlements in Canada and Nova Scotia, and 
 annexed the whole of those vast territories to 
 the crown of Great Britain. 
 
 To the unfortunate men his prisoners, 
 Kirke behaved Avith the greatest humanity 
 and kindness. Those of them who wished 
 to stay in Canada he took under his protec- 
 tion, fed and clothed them ; for the rest, who 
 wished to return to Europe, he provided a 
 ship of 250 tons — although it had been ex- 
 pressly agreed when Quebec surrendered that 
 he should not provide any ship — and manning 
 this ship with seventy of his own sailors, he 
 conveyed more than a hundred of them to 
 England, providing them with clothes, and 
 feeding them for seven months. So well were 
 General de Caen and Champlain treated that 
 they began to fear they were running up too 
 large a bill, and actually refused some of the 
 rich food that was provided for them.^ The 
 
 1 Col. Papers : Vol. V., Nos, 33, 31. 
 
 h 
 
 ,Xi 
 
STATEMENT OF M. DE CAEN. 
 
 79 
 
 account of their treatment cannot be better 
 shewn than by quoting De Caen's own state- 
 ment before the Judge of the Admiralty Court. 
 
 "The General of the French, taken by 
 Captain Kirke, in Canada, doth acknowledge 
 all good usage in respect of diett and lodging. 
 
 ''His grievances are — 
 
 " 1. That friends and assistants have not 
 free accesse to him. 
 
 "2. That he is upon a diett where he hath 
 much more than he desires, without any 
 agreement what he must pay for it, which 
 makes him afraid that if he should long con- 
 tinue as he doth he should not be able to 
 give satisfaction for it ; whereupon being asked 
 whie he did not take his diett with the 
 Maister of the house, who had divers times 
 invited him, offering him the freedom of his 
 house and garden, he answered that he loved 
 his private. And being further demanded 
 whie he did not expresse liimselfe in that 
 point of his diett, the charge whereof he 
 feared, he answered that he tooke what they 
 
 -its* I 
 
 'ltf-1 
 
80 
 
 HIS GRIEVANCES. 
 
 I1|R' i 
 
 brought lilm. And being againc demanded 
 whether he had not cleane Hnnen as was fitt, 
 or tliat any that woiikl have brought him 
 cleane linnen had been refused to come to 
 him, he answered that he had liis Hnnen 
 washed in the house, but in sujiport of the 
 charge ho desired to have a laundresse of his 
 own, whereupon asking of the Maister of the 
 house whie he did refuse it, he said "that his 
 house had been much troubled with two 
 women that came thither, and having some 
 suspicion of them he refused them entrance. 
 "3. The third grievance is that he is de- 
 tayned for a ransom that neither ought to 
 be demanded nor is he able to pay, for he 
 holds himselfe to be noe lawful prisoner of 
 warre, not having beene taken in warre, but 
 upon a plantation; and he insists much upon 
 this, that all prisoners taken on both sides 
 since the warre between tlie Crownes have 
 been freely delivered, not only those that 
 have been taken by the King's armies and 
 fleets, but such as have been taken upon 
 
 
niS RANSOM, 
 
 81 
 
 letters of marque, whereof he gives instance 
 in some taken in Ncwfomiclland, and insists 
 upon tlio freedom that Captain Kirke g-avo 
 to all tlie rest that ^yerc under his command. 
 And for his ransome ho professes his whole 
 estate in France is not worth about £700 
 sterling, and wisheth for their satisfaction 
 they would send over some man to search 
 the notai-y's books, and the contract of mar- 
 riage with his wife, or any other waie that 
 may discover his estate; and should thoy 
 keep him ten yeares, and ten 3-eares he was 
 altogether unable to pay a ransome, and 
 wished that noo man would judge of his 
 estate by his ellingant clothes." 
 
 The grievances of the French General do 
 not seem to be of a very substantial character. 
 He seems to have been treated like a gentle- 
 man; and although his host may have been 
 rather brutal about the laundress, no doubt 
 he was quite right in keejung up the respecta- 
 bility of his house. The other French pri- 
 soners all bore willing testimonv to the kind 
 
 a 
 
 ' 1 
 
 i : 
 
 !:•; 
 
82 
 
 LEWIS KIRKE. 
 
 treatment they had received. Nicholas Blun- 
 dell, of Dieppe, in his exaniinatioii, assorts — 
 ' ' That he and all the rest of the French 
 taken by Captiiin Kirke, at Canada, have 
 been well used, and intreated by him in the 
 best manner that he could, and as well as 
 himselfe." 
 
 Quebec, and the other forts in Canada and 
 Nova Scotia, had been left under the com- 
 mand of Lewis Kirke,^ David Kirke having 
 returned to Engla.'vd with his prisoners, several 
 thousand beaver skins, and other stores which 
 he had captured. When he arrived in Eng- 
 land, to his great consternation he discovered 
 that his last expedition would prove of little 
 benefit either to himself or his associates. 
 About a month after hiii departure from Eng- 
 land upon his cruize, pe ice had been declared 
 between France and England, and now as soon 
 as the news of the capture of Quebec reached 
 Paris, the French Government immediately 
 
 1 Col. Papers : Vol. VI., No. 23, in which is given a curious letter in 
 French, from Captain Lewis Kirke, to Emery de Caen, written in most 
 complimentary terms. 
 
 m 
 Ht 
 
 k_. 
 
CONDUCT OF CHARLES I. 
 
 83 
 
 demanded the restitution of all forts captured 
 by the English since the 24th of April, 1629, 
 and, worse than all, Charles I. had passed his 
 royal word to give them up.^ It Is impossible 
 to divine the motives which Influenced the 
 King to make such a promise : It may have 
 been that he was as yet totally ignorant of 
 the value of his conquest, and was only 
 anxious to secure the four hundred thousand 
 crowns, part of Henrietta Maria's dowry, 
 which the French King threatened to with- 
 hold unless the American forts were restored. 
 But he could not have Ignored the fact that 
 he was Inflicting a most grievous Injury upon 
 the Canada merchants, who, at a cost of 
 £60,000, had fitted out a fleet, and that their 
 only chance of remuneration was In keeping 
 the settlements which they had conquered. 
 
 1 French Correspondence. Memorial of the French Ambassador to 
 King Charles. Col. Papers : Vol. V., No. 51. See also letters of Sir 
 Isaac Wake, on March 22, April 1, 1632. in French Correspondence, 
 where a great deal of correspondence between the English Ambassador 
 m France and the Home Government, concerning Canada, will be 
 found. 
 
I 
 
 84 
 
 FRENCH DEMANDS. 
 
 It is impossible, too, to doprccato too 
 strongly this determination of the King's to 
 surrender colonies, Avhieli, more than a cen- 
 tury afterwards, England had again to con- 
 quer at an immense exj^ense both of money 
 and bloodshed. However, Charles had given 
 bis word that everything was to bo restored 
 to its original state; and those that know his 
 firmness, may I say obstinacy, of disposition, 
 will have little doubt that he kejit his word. 
 Memorial after memorial was sent in by the 
 French ambassador to King Charles I., for 
 restitution of all places taken by the English 
 in Canada since the treaty of Susa, particu- 
 larly the fortress and settlement of Quebec, 
 possessed by Captain Kirke, and those of 
 Cape Breton and Port Royal, possessed by 
 Sir William Alexander : secondly, for per- 
 mission to seize furs and other merchandize 
 brought in two vessels by the Kirkes from 
 Canada. King Charles hastens to fulfill all 
 their wishes. A commission is issued to Sir 
 Ilumfrey May, Sir John Coke, Sir Julius 
 
 
8KARCII VVAUKANTS I8SUED. 
 
 85 
 
 Crcsar, and Sir ITeiiiy Marton, ''to discover 
 what goods, morel lantdiso and other things 
 have been taken by Captain David Kirko from 
 tlio French, from tlio fort of Quebec, tho 
 College of Jesuits, and a French vessel.^ Not 
 content with this, a warrant is issued to search 
 the warehouse of tho Canada morcliants, and 
 deliver n\\ tlio beaver skins to M. de Cacn.^ 
 In vain Kirke petitions the King, telling him 
 that out of the seven tliousand skins which 
 he brought home only tliirteen hundred were 
 taken from Quebec, the rest were obtained 
 by trading with the Indians; that the French 
 had consumed in victuals much more than 
 the value of thirteen hundred skins, in proof 
 of which he sent in an account of debts be- 
 tween himself and De Caen. But all to no 
 purpose; Kirko and De Cnen were summoned 
 before the Lord Mayor, and Kirko was or- 
 dered to deliver up the key of tlic warehouse 
 where the skins were kept. This he refuses 
 
 1 March 5th, 1630. 
 2 Order of Privy Council, April 9th, 1630. 
 
 1 I 
 
 •ifi-f-Wi 
 
 
if 
 
 1 « 
 
 Ir: fl 
 
 86 
 
 SEIZURE OF BEAVER SKINS. 
 
 to do ; a warrant is then issued to the Lord 
 Mayor 1 and Sheriffs, authorizing them to 
 break down the door, which they do, and 
 seize the skins ; Kirke and his party, with the 
 assistance of one Fitz, a merchant, again 
 break open the dooi and carry off the skins. 
 A warrant is issued for the apprehension of 
 Fitz, who is brought before the Star Cham- 
 ber, for '-great contempt and affront of all 
 authority and justice," and he is sentenced to 
 r()main in the Fleet, and not to be suffered to 
 go abroad. This brings Fitz and his friends 
 to their senses, so the beaver skins are restored 
 and Fitz is set at liberty.^ 
 
 But though the beaver skins were lost. 
 Captain Kirke determined to make one more 
 effort to ^^ave Quebec. After capturing that 
 place, he had been so struck by the settle- 
 ment—its impregnable heights, excellent har- 
 bours, and central position— that he was loth 
 
 1 Jacies Campbell was Lord Mayor this year. Col. Papers • Vol V 
 No. 81. ■ t . . v., 
 
 2 Order of the Privy Council, Juno 16, 1630. Colonial Correspond- 
 ence, 1630. Appendix 2. 
 
KIRKE PETITIONS THE KING. 
 
 87 
 
 to Land it over to the enemy. He knew that, 
 well victualled and supplied with ammunition, 
 the fortress would withstand the attack of an 
 army, so he presented an humble petition to 
 the King, pointing out the strength of the 
 place, its beauty, the cost to himself and his 
 fellow-adventurers in acquiring it, and how 
 he would guarantee to hold it a^;ainst an 
 army of Frenchmen ; to quote his own manly 
 words, " The above fort (Quebec) is so well 
 situated that they are able to withstand 10,000 
 men, and will not care for them ; for in win- 
 ter they cannot stay in the country, soe that 
 whosoever goes to besiege them cannot stay 
 above thi-'ee months, all in which time the 
 musketts^ will soe tormente them that noe 
 man is able to be abroad in centry or trenches 
 daye or night without losinge tlicir sights at 
 least eight dayes. Soe that if it })lease your 
 Majesty to keei^e it, wee doe not care what 
 French or any other can doe, though she have 
 a hundred sayle of ships and 10,000 men as 
 above 
 
 ?j 1 
 
 sayd, 
 
 1 Mosquitoes. 2 Col. Papers ; Vol. VI., No. 38. 
 
i 
 
 ■■^y'BT'gimHaaBaasigm 
 
 
 88 CANADA SURRENDERED TO THE FRENCH. 
 
 But all was of no avail; the King had 
 given his -word, and no argument on the part 
 of David Kirke could shake his determination. 
 However, the losses of the Canada merchants 
 were so great and palpable, tliat Charles could 
 not refuse to compensate them to some extent. 
 Commissioners were appointed on behalf of 
 the Canada Company and M. de Caen and 
 his associates: Sir Isaac AYake, the English 
 ambassador in Paris, and M. Burlamachi were 
 appointed the English agents, and M. de Caen 
 appeared for himself and Company. After 
 considerable correspondence it was agreed 
 that the French Government should pay to 
 Captain Kirke £20,000, and that the forts in 
 Canada should be delivered to De Caen whole 
 and entire, with supplies and ammunition. 
 Kirke w^as thoroughly disgusted ^vith the 
 treaty which Sir Isaac Wake had concluded. 
 He wrote an indignant letter to Wake, de- 
 nouncing tlie whole business, denying that he 
 had followed the instructions which tlie Com- 
 pany liad sent him, complaining of the un- 
 
 I h 
 
COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED. 
 
 89 
 
 reasonable demands of De Caen, the restitution 
 of the ''Helen" and her goods, and having 
 to pay for beaver skins which they had never 
 received. He concludes by saying, ''I con- 
 ceive the carriage of the business to have 
 been very unequal, and it is plain that tlie de- 
 positions of the French are fully approved, and 
 the English wholly rejected." ^ To conclude 
 this business, it may as well be stated that 
 the French Government repudiated their en- 
 gagement, and never paid the Kirkes a penny 
 of the £20,000. 
 
 On the 12th of June, 1632, the King issued 
 a commission to Sir William Alexander, 
 Robert Charlton, and William Berkeley, ap- 
 pointing them Commissioners for Canada, to 
 receive the forts from Cai)tain Lewis Kirke, 
 Governor thereof, and to deliver them up to 
 the French. '^ The King having consented to 
 the restitution of the fort and habitation of 
 Quebec, as taken by force of arms since the 
 
 p. 
 
 
 1 April 21 1G32. Col. Papers : Vol. VI., No. 53. Signed by David 
 Kirke, "for my mother, Elizabeth I\i:-ke." 
 
o^mmmmm 
 
 m 
 
 90 
 
 PROCLAMATION OF CHARLES. 
 
 f ill ill 
 
 peace, and preferring, notwithstanding tlie 
 commission given by liim dm'ing the war, the 
 accomplishment of his own royal word, the 
 Commissioners are commanded — upon the first 
 convenience of sending into those ports, and 
 of means for the people to retm^n — to order 
 all the King's subjects, as well soldiers in 
 garrison as inhabitants and planters, to give 
 up possession to those appointed by the 
 French King, in the same state as at the 
 time of taking. Any person showing liim- 
 self cross or refractory will receive the King's 
 highest displeasure and indignation, and the 
 punishment due to offenders of so high a 
 nature." ^ 
 
 The surrender -svas at length completed 
 with consequences in after years troublous 
 and exj)ensive to England. From this time, 
 to its final conquest in 1759 by General 
 Wolfe, Canada was the seat of incessant hos- 
 tilities between the English and French. It 
 is impossible to say what the course of affairs 
 
 1 Col. Papers: Vol. VL, No. 55, Dated at Greenwich, June 12, 1632. 
 
i 
 
 CONSEQUENCES OF THE SURRENDER. 91 
 
 in America would have been if England had 
 remained in possession of Canada and Nova 
 Scotia ; but that such a fact would have ex- 
 ercised an immense influence for restraint, 
 both upon the New England .olonies and 
 ultimately upon the progress of the French 
 revolution, there can be little doubt. Whether 
 it would have prevented the revolt of the 
 one, and delayed the outbreak of the other 
 is a doubtful question ; but that the surrender 
 to the French by Charles entailed upon this 
 country an immense expenditure of blood 
 and money there can be no doubt. Upon 
 the legal aspect of the question I cannot now 
 enter ; suffice it to say that the right of the 
 French to demand the cession of the forts, 
 was at the time considered an open question, 
 and that only the anxiety of Charles I. to 
 maintain the French alliance and to obtain 
 his wife's dowry could have induced the En<r. 
 lish to entertain the question for a moment. 
 But though the King had destroyed the 
 fruits of Captain Kirke's expedition, he could 
 
92 
 
 GRANT OF ARMS TO DAVID KIRKE. 
 
 til 
 
 m 
 
 not but admire the determination and courage 
 which he and his brothers had displayed in 
 two successive voyages to Nova Scotia and 
 Canada. So in order to mark liis approbation 
 of their conduct, he made them a grant of 
 honorary additions to their coat of arms. By 
 this grant, dated December 1st, 1081, to 
 Captain David Kirke, Lewis Kirke, Governor 
 of Canada, Captain Thomas Kirke, and James 
 Kirke, for valour in A^anquishing the French 
 fleet under the command of M. de Roquemont, 
 Admiral, bringing him prisoner to England, 
 and in the following year taking Canada, 
 and bringing M. Champlain prisoner to Eng- 
 land, the coat armour of M. de Roquemont 
 is granted to Captain David Kirke, and to 
 his brothers, and their issue for ever, to be 
 worn in a canton over their paternal coat of 
 arms.^ Also, when diaries I. paid his visit 
 to Scotland, in 1633, he knighted David 
 
 1 See Domestic Correspondencp, Car. 1. Also Appendix E. Add. 
 MS., British Museum, 5533 ; and Harleian MS., 1082. 
 
 Ill' 
 
IS KNIGHTED. 
 
 93 
 
 Kirke, at Anderwcrk, on the 16tli of July 
 in the same ycar.^ 
 
 Gcrvase Kirke, the rich London merchant, 
 had died on the 17tli day of December, 1629, 
 very soon after his son's return from the con- 
 quest of Canada. In tlie year following his 
 other's death, David Kirke was married to 
 Sarah, daughter of Sir Joseph Andrews, Knt. 
 He obtained a considerable dowry with his 
 wife, which, added to his share of his father's 
 wealth, placed him above any necessity for 
 further exertion and trouble. But he was of 
 too active and energetic a nature; his mind 
 was too full of schemes for travel and planta- 
 tion, to rest quiet in a state of luxurious ease ; 
 his eye was ever turned towards the Far West; 
 that land which had so long fdled men's minds 
 with dreams of wealth, dreams never to be 
 fulfilled. But much of that romantic nonsense 
 which the earliest travellers to America evoked, 
 had now evaporated; adventurers no longer 
 expected to find silver houses, supported on 
 
 1 See Harleian MS., 6062. Lansduwne M3., 807, f. 62. 
 
 Hi 
 
 i 
 
 '•<W 
 
pp= 
 
 94 
 
 RICHES OF NORTH AMERICA. 
 
 I'll 
 
 
 I !• 
 
 f 
 
 golden pillars, or women with their bodies 
 covered with plates of gold ; but they knew 
 there were boundless plains of richest soil, 
 grand rivers rushing to the sea, amidst over- 
 hanging woods of birch and pine ; venison to 
 be had for the shooting, and fish for the 
 catching; lands rich in beaver, whose skins 
 were worth their weight in silver, and seas 
 filled with whales and codfish, aff'ording a 
 rich harvest to the hardy fisherman. 
 
 For a few years. Sir David Kirke was 
 either unwilling or unable to extend his 
 schemes of colonization, but it would appear 
 that they were never abandoned, and that he 
 was only biding his time, and waiting for an 
 opportunity favourable to his wishes. His 
 early travels had made him familiar with all 
 the territory now known as British North 
 America, and his recent exploits in that neigh- 
 bourhood had made him fully alive to its 
 commercial and military importance. New- 
 foundland, especially, was to him a place of 
 great interest ; he knew the riches of its 
 
 \ii 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 95 
 
 fisheries-tliosc sliallow banks swarming witli 
 codfish and licn-ings-its .spacious and land- 
 locked harbours, in any of which the com- 
 bmed navies of the world miglit float in 
 safety, and abundantly supplied with fresh 
 water from streams that poured down from 
 the rocky shore. He knew well enough that 
 the wealth of Newfoundland lay in the sur- 
 rounding seas, and not on the land, although 
 animals existed there in plenty, which could 
 afford a rich harvest to the trapper; so 
 there was no danger of his falling into the 
 same error as Lord Baltimore, who had gone 
 to Newfoundland expecting to find a land 
 flowing with milk and honey, where planting 
 would succeed as well as in the colonies of 
 Virginia and Florida. A courtier and Secre- 
 tary of State, who had spent his days within 
 the precincts of Whitehall, might be easily 
 deceived by false reports, knowing little or 
 nothing of what he had to expect in his new 
 colony, but such a man as Sir David Kirke 
 was not so readily taken in. Tossed about 
 
 ' « 
 
 m 
 
96 
 
 LORD BALTIMORE. 
 
 from liis earliest youth, amidst the icebergs 
 {ind fof^s of the Northern Seas, he was not 
 likely to bo mistaken in his estimate of the 
 climate and capabilities of the countries which 
 they surrounded ; in fac.', I think it may bo 
 asserted, that if there was one man in Eng- 
 land at this period, who knew more than any 
 other about these distant latitudes, he was 
 tlmt man. During his enforced idleness in 
 England, Sir David watched with great in- 
 terest the progress of Lord Baltimore's attempt 
 to found a colony at Fcrryland. He must 
 from the first have been ])ersuaded that the 
 attempt must fail; the wrong man was in tlio 
 wrong place, and nothing but disappointment 
 and distress could follow upon ignorance and 
 gullibility. lie saw poor Lord Baltimore 
 die at his post, worn out by incessant toil 
 in a severe climate, aggravated by the chagrin 
 of repeated failures ; yet he was not frightened 
 from his purpose. For some years he re- 
 mained in England, trying to obtain from the 
 French, part, at least, of the money they had 
 

 DETERMINATION OF SIR DAVID KIRKE. 97 
 
 agreed to pay him ; but, finding all his efforts 
 of no avail, he determined to obtain a grant 
 of part of Newfoundland from the King, and 
 try whether ho could not succeed where so 
 many before him had failed. 
 
 I* 
 

 98 
 
 DISCOVERY OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 i 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 II 
 
 Discovery of Newfoundland— Account of its Colonization by the 
 Northmen — Voyages of Cabot— Of Qaspar de Corte Real, and Hugh 
 Elliot— Expedition of Thorne — Hoare's unfortunate attempt to Colonize 
 Newfoundland — Sir Humphrey Gilbert obtains a patent from Elizabeth 
 — Sails for Newfoundland — Where he an-ives in safety — Sets sail for 
 home — His death — Voyages of Rich. Stnmge, and Rich. Jones —Hostili- 
 ties between the French and English at Newfoimdland — Formation of 
 the Newfoundland Company — Expedition under Guy, of Bristol — Com- 
 plaint of the Newfoundland fishermen against the Company — Pirates — 
 State of the Island. 
 
 Who was the first discoverer of Newfound- 
 land, is a question which has excited a great 
 deal of discussion, and no little difference of 
 opinion amongst the various writers upon this 
 subject. Though Columbus and Cabot may 
 one or other of them claim the discovery of 
 the mainland of America, Mr. Laing^ and 
 
 1 Chronicle of the Kings of Norway : Vol I., p. 1,54. "The dis- 
 covery of America, or Vinland, in the 11th century, by the same race 
 
 In il I 
 
THE SAOA FLATOIENSIS. 
 
 09 
 
 m 
 
 ace 
 
 other writers seem fully persuaded that the 
 island of Nowfoundlaiid was discovered about 
 the year a.d. 1000, by an Icelander. The 
 Saga, which gives an account of this dis- 
 covery, was undoubtedly written about tho 
 year l'J87, being found verbatim in tho 
 Codex Flatoyensis.^ It was also committed 
 to writing in Iceland, a century nearly before 
 Columbus visited that country to obtain tho 
 nautical information on which he proceeded 
 on his voyage of discovery. The account 
 consists of eight chapters, and is inserted in 
 the Saga of Olaf Tryggvesson. The following 
 
 of enduring, enterprising seamen, is not less Hatisfactorily established 
 by documentary evidence than the discovery and colonization of Green- 
 land ; but it rests exclusively upon documentary evidence, which 
 cannot, as in the case of Greenland, be substantiated by anything to 
 be discovered in America." 
 
 1 Tho Flateyar Annal, or Codex Flatoiensis, by far the most im- 
 portant of Icelandic MSS., takes its name from the island Flato, in 
 Bredefiord, in Iceland, where it had been long iireserved, and where 
 Bishop Swendson, of Skalholt, purchased it, about 1650, from th« 
 owner, Jonas Torfeson, for King Frederic III., giving in exchange for 
 it the perpetual exemption frfim land tax of a small estate of the owner. 
 The MS. is a large folio, beautifully written on parchment. The Codex 
 Flatoiensis is not an original work of one author, but a collection of 
 Sagas, transcribed from older MSS., and arranged so far chronologically 
 that the accounts are placed under the reign in which the events they 
 tell of happened. 
 
II 
 
 I- 
 
 mmmmm 
 
 hV 
 
 100 
 
 VOYAGE OF BIORNE. 
 
 is an epitome of the whole : — Eric the Red, 
 was a great man who lived in Greenland; 
 he had three sons, Leif, Thorwald, and Thor- 
 stein, and his daughter was called Freydis. 
 She was married to a man named Thorwald. 
 She was a haiiglity, proud woman, and ho 
 was a mean man, much given to making- 
 money. The people in Greenland were 
 heathen at this time. Biorne, an Icelander, 
 sailed from Iceland, intending to join his 
 father in Greenland, but he lost his way, 
 and was carried he knew not whither. He 
 passed through great fogs, driven by the 
 north wind, and at length, after many days, 
 he made the land. They thought it could 
 not be Greenland, but as they sailed past 
 they saw the land was without mountains, 
 was covered with wood, and had small 
 hills inland. Biorne afterwards passed two 
 other countries, but when his men wished him 
 to land, he said, '' This land is not what we 
 want," and sailed on his way, till at length 
 he reached Greenland in safety. 
 
OF LIEF. 
 
 101 
 
 Lief, son of Eric, having heard of Biorne-'s 
 adventure, determined to visit this land newly 
 found, so he mans a ship, and tries to j^er- 
 suade Eric, his father, lo take command, but 
 tlie old man refuses, so Lief sails without him. 
 He first came to the land which Biorne had 
 last seen, and sailing- up to it, cast anchor, 
 and went on shore. No p-rasM was to be seen, 
 and there were large sno^7y mountains up 
 the country. And Lief said, '^ It shall not be 
 said of us, as it was of Biorne, that we did 
 not come upon the land, for I will give the 
 country a name, and call it Ilelloland," which 
 means a land of naked rocks. They then 
 went to sea again, and found another land, 
 which was covered with wood. Then Lief 
 said, ^' We will give this land a name accord- 
 ing to its kind, and call it Markland." They 
 then went to sea again, and found an island. 
 They liked this country so well that they 
 determined to winter there ; there was plenty 
 of salmon, and plenty of fodder for cattle, 
 as there was no frost in winter. Days and 
 
 feij 
 
,1.' 
 
 5 
 
 I 
 
 102 
 
 OF THORWALD. 
 
 nights were more equal than in Greenland or 
 Iceland. Lief divided his men into two par- 
 ties, one of which used to explore the interior 
 of the country. In their explorations they 
 discovered great quantities of grapes and self- 
 sown wheat in the fields, and a tree that is 
 called Massur. Towards the spring, they 
 sailed away, and Lief called the land Winland, 
 because of the grapes. Lief arrived in safety 
 at Greenland, where he became a person of 
 great consequence, and was called Lief the 
 Lucky. 
 
 This expedition to Winland was much talked 
 of; so Thorwald, Lief's brother, thought that 
 he should like to visit the country. So he 
 set sail in his brother's boat, and arrived in 
 safety at the booths which Lief had erected 
 on the new country ; where he remained 
 quietly during the winter. In the spring, 
 they explored the country to the south, and 
 found it beautiful and well wooded. They 
 also sailed to the north, where they met with 
 bad weather, and were driven on shore. Here 
 
OF THOESTEIN. 
 
 103 
 
 they found three skin boats, and underneath 
 them nine men, eight of whom they killed, 
 but the other escaped. Soon afterwards they 
 were attacked by a great number of the 
 islanders; so they retreated to their ships, 
 and Thorwald said, ^'We shall put up our 
 war-screens along the gunwales, and defend 
 ourselves as well as we can, but not use our 
 weapons much against them." Which they 
 did. The Skroelingers shot at them with 
 arrows for some time, then fled. So, said 
 Thorwald, *^Are any wounded?" and they 
 replied, ^' Nobody." Then, said he, '' I am 
 wounded with an arrow, and it will be my 
 death wound. You must bury me in this 
 place." So they buried him and returned to 
 Greenland. 
 
 Not long afterwards, Thorstein and his 
 wife, Gudrid, sailed to Winland, and there 
 Thorstein died; and his wife returned to 
 Greenland, where she married Thorfinne 
 Karlsefne. After their marriage, Thorfinne 
 and his wife got together a crew of sixty 
 
 I i 
 
■^-«p 
 
 104 
 
 VOYAGE OF THORFINNE. 
 
 m 
 
 men and five women, and set sail for Win- 
 land, intending to settle there; and for that 
 purj)ose they took some cattle with them. 
 They arrived at Lief's booths, and there es- 
 tablished themselves. They soon began a 
 profitable trade with the natives, who ex- 
 changed furs for knives and other wares. The 
 natives took a great fancy to the strangers' 
 weapons and wished to buy some, but this 
 Thoi-finne had strictly forbidden. One of 
 them, however, managed to steal a battle-axe, 
 and, wishing to test its efficiency, he split open 
 the head of one of his countrymen, and killed 
 him on the spot. This so alarmed his com- 
 panions, that they took the weapon from him 
 and threw it into the sea. Thorfinne in a 
 few years returned to Iceland rich and pros- 
 perous. Many other voyages were afterwards 
 made to Winland; and in 1121, one Eric, 
 Bishop of Greenland, determined to go to 
 Winland and convert his countrymen, who 
 had become heathens. 
 
 Sucli is the account of the Saira, but whether 
 
 'C"J 
 
XENO. 
 
 105 
 
 the land discovered was Newfoundland, is 
 more than doubtful. The description of the 
 country is totally dill'erent to what we hear 
 of Newfoundland in later times. A country 
 well wooded, with mountains in the interior, 
 where grapes and corn grew wild, where the 
 winters are very mild, so as to afford abundant 
 fodder all the year round, does not answer 
 at ad to the aspect or climate of Newfound- 
 land. But the whole question is so involved 
 in doubt, that it had better be left to the 
 research of antiquaries. 
 
 Two brothers, of the name of Xeno, are 
 said to have discovered Newfoundland in 
 1380; but the account of their adventures is 
 not sufficiently authenticated to be admitted 
 within the bounds of sober history. 
 
 But to turn from fable to fact, in the year 
 U97, John Cabot,^ with his son, Sebastian, 
 
 1 John Stowe's account is an follows -.-" This year, A.R., 13 Henry 
 VII., one Sebastian Gabato, a Genoese son born in Bristowe, professing 
 himself to be expert in the knowledge of the circuit of the world and 
 islands of the same (as by his charts, and other reasonable demonstra- 
 tions, he showed), caused the King to man and victual a ship at Bristowe 
 to search for an island which he knew to be replenished with rich com- 
 
 !*^ '.). 
 
106 
 
 VOYAGE OF CABOT. 
 
 embarked at Bristol, in the beginning of May, 
 on a voyage of discovery. He took a north- 
 west course, and after considerable difficulties, 
 caused both by the elements and the mutinous 
 spirit of his men, he came in sight of land 
 on the 24th of June, to which he gave the 
 name of Bonavista, a cape still so called on 
 the east coast of Newfoundland. Having 
 landed in the adjoining bay, he saw several 
 natives clothed in skins of animals. He then 
 took possession of the island in the name of 
 the King of England, and called it Baccalaos, 
 which is the native word for cod-fish. On 
 
 ''f 
 
 1 
 
 ,^ 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 u i 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 i 
 
 il 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 1 
 
 ,i 
 
 modities. In the ships, divers merchants of London adventured small 
 stocks ; and in the company of this shiji sailed also out of Bristowe 
 three or four small ships, fraught with slight and gross wares, as coarse 
 cloths, caps, lace points, and such other. Sir Humfrey Gilbert, Knt. , 
 in his book entitled ' On a discoverie of a new passage to Cataia,' 
 writeth thus : — 'Sebastian Gabato, by his personall experience and 
 trjxvel, hath sett forth and described this passage in his charts, which 
 are yett to be seen in the Queen's Majestie's Privie Gallery, at White- 
 hall, who was sent to make that discoverie by Kinge Henrie the 
 Seventh, and entered the same fret, affirming that he sailed very far 
 Westward, with a quarter of the North, on the North side of Terra de 
 Librador, the 11th of June, until he came to the Septentaioiial latitude 
 of 673°, ^nd finding the sea still open, said that he might and could 
 have gone to Cataia if the enmity of the master and mariners had not 
 been." " 
 
 ' 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 , i;- 
 
 
 
 :'! 
 
 Hi 
 
 
 1 't 
 
 H 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 k P 
 
 
CASPAR DE CORTE REAL. 
 
 107 
 
 tlie Feast of St. John the Baptist, he dis- 
 covered another smaller island, which he 
 named St. John's. He then proceeded in a 
 south-westerly direction, and explored the 
 coasts, taking- possession, as he proceeded, for 
 the Crown of England, until finding himself 
 short of provisions he returned to England. 
 John Cabot brought home no treasures of gold 
 and silver, but he gave such an account of 
 the immense quantities of fish on the coasts 
 of Newfoundland, that the English merchants 
 were roused to activity by the desire to reap 
 some benefit from such a rich harvest. 
 
 The other European nations were not long 
 behind England in these latitudes. Gaspar 
 de Corte Real, a Portuguese of noble family, 
 set sail from Lisbon in the year 1501, and 
 after a long voyage, arrived at Newfoundland, 
 in a wide and deep bay, which he called 
 Conception Bay, a name which it still bears. 
 He explored the whole east coast of that 
 island, and then proceeded to the mouth of 
 the great river of Canada, the St. La^vrence. 
 
 
 ■ ' s : 
 
 ■J • ' 
 
m 
 
 108 
 
 OTHER EXPEDITIONS. 
 
 m 
 
 I 
 
 iii 1^ w 
 
 III ' '^i 
 
 - ■ n ^ 
 
 : |i a 
 
 In 
 
 ^ 
 
 After tliis lie discovered a land wliich he called 
 Terre Verto, or Greenland. He returned to 
 Portugal; and in a second voyage to that 
 part of the world, he is supposed to have 
 been murdered by the Esquimaux.^ 
 
 In the year 1502, Hugli Elliot and Thomas 
 Ashenhurst, merchants of Bristol, obtained 
 from Henry VII. letters patent for the estab- 
 lishment of a colony in Newfoundland, but 
 we have no information whether they ever 
 set on foot any voyages thither. 
 
 According to Bergeron, a French historian, 
 the fishermen of Normandy and Brittany 
 visited the great fishing banks near Cape 
 Breton, in the year 150^, to which place 
 they gave its name. Two voyages, one by 
 Jean Denis to Newfoundland in 1506, and 
 another (1508) by Thomas Hubert, are men- 
 tioned by Doctor Forster. 
 
 In the year 1527, Robert Tliorne, a mer- 
 chant of Bristol, first conceived the fatal idea 
 of a north-Avest passage to India, that idea 
 
 1 History of Newfouudlaud, by Anspach, p. 38. 
 
THE NORTH- WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 109 
 
 which has cost tlic lives of so many gallant 
 men, only when discovered to be found use- 
 loss. He presented a memorial to Henry 
 Vni. on this subject, and though involved 
 in other affairs, the King ordered two ships 
 to be manned and filled with all necessaries 
 for a voyage. In these ships Thorne sailed 
 on the 20th of May. On their arrival at 
 Newfoundland, one of the ships was lost on 
 the coast of Labrador. The other ship, called 
 the ''Dominus Vobiscum," sailed along the east 
 coast of Newfoundland, towards Cape Breton 
 and Nova Scotia, frequently lying to and 
 sending parties on shore to exi^lore the country. 
 The adventurers returned home in the be- 
 ginning of October, disappointed in their 
 hopes of discovering a north-west passage. 
 
 France, taken up with her designs upon 
 Naples and Sicily, had up to this time con- 
 tributed nothing in the field of maritime dis- 
 covery. Filled witli high and romantic no- 
 tions of chivalry, the French king and nobles 
 affected to despise every thing connected 
 
-•■^iii 
 
 li- 
 
 no 
 
 EXPEDITION OF IIOARE. 
 
 i 
 
 -. .... 
 
 
 
 Hll J 
 
 2J Jj 
 
 
 If'i 
 
 f 1 
 
 ;'■' 
 
 il ■ 
 
 1 
 
 
 Lp 
 
 j % 
 
 ■!i ■' 
 
 with trade and commerce. However, in the 
 year 1534, Francis I. sent a fleet from St. 
 Malo, under the command of Francis Cartier, 
 which arrived at Ncwfoundkmd on the 10th 
 of May. As Cartier's voyage principally con- 
 cerns Cancxla, I have given an account of it 
 in an earlier part of this work, so I shall 
 not refer to it further in this place. 
 
 In the meanwhile, England was not inat- 
 tentive to her interests in North America. A 
 London merchant, named Iloare, proposed a 
 plan for making a settlement in Newfoundland, 
 and was joined by many young men of posi- 
 tion, who were anxious to share in the risks 
 of the expedition. In Hakluyt's account of 
 this voyage, Mr. Hoare is described as a tall 
 and elegant man, of insinuating manners, 
 clever mind, and abundant means. His asso- 
 ciates were Mr. Tuck, a gentleman of Kent; 
 Tuckfield Thomas Butts, son of Sir William 
 Butts, of Norfolk; Messrs. Hardie, Biron, 
 Carter, Wright, Rastall, Ridley, Weekes, and 
 several others, in all thirty persons, of good 
 
ITS FAILURE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 birth and property, who all embarked with 
 IToaro in his ship, called tlio " Trinity," of 
 140 tons burden. In another ship, the 
 ''Minion," went Messrs. Armigalo Wade, 
 (afterwards Clerk of the Council to Henry 
 VIII. and Edward VI.) ; Oliver Daubeny, a 
 merchant of London ; Joy, afterwards gentle- 
 man of the Chapel Royal ; and several others. 
 On the 30th of April, 1536, they sailed 
 from Gravesend, and remained at sea for two 
 months without sight of land, till they made 
 Cape Breton. Tliey next arrived at Penguin 
 Island, off the south coast of Newfoundland, 
 where they found an immense quantity of 
 sea-birds. These they found were very good 
 eating when skinned and dressed. Black and 
 white bears were also numerous, and formed 
 a welcome addition to their stock of provisions. 
 From this small island they proceeded to 
 Newfoundland, where they saw several of the 
 natives, who, however, fled at their approach. 
 Mr. Hoare and his friends remained there till 
 their provisions became short, and being afraid 
 
 I ' 
 
 I * 
 
 i 
 
 'H 
 
 
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 ' 
 
 ' • 1 
 
 
 ■ ' a 
 
 • }' 
 
 •■: i 
 
 •' 1 
 
 j 
 
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 n 
 
I 
 
 
 II "J 
 
 113 
 
 TERRinLE rRIVATIONfl. 
 
 to go to sea without victuals, tlicy were re- 
 duced to feed upon herbs, roots, and shellfish, 
 and were in the greatest distress; nay, it is 
 even asserted they fed upon the flesh of one 
 of their dead companions.^ 
 
 An opportunity of escape at length presented 
 itself. A French ship laden with provisions 
 entered the liarbour, which Hoarc and his 
 associates made themselves masters of, and 
 having turned out the French, they placed 
 them in their own ship, which they had 
 abandoned, and hastened away in the French 
 ship. It must be told, however, that they 
 left the poor Frenchmen plenty of food. The 
 adventurers arrived at St. Ives, in Cornwall, 
 at the end of October, so much altered in 
 
 1 Hakluyt's words are — " And it fortuned that one of the Company 
 or Crewe of one of the vesaels, driven with hunger to seek abroad for 
 reUef, found in the fielda the savour of broiled flesh, and fell out with 
 one for that he would suffer him and his fellows to starve, enjoying 
 plenty as ho thought. And this matter growing to eruel speeches, ho 
 that had the broiled meat burst out into these words, ' If thou wouldst 
 needs know, the broiled meat that I had was a piece of such a man's 
 buttock.' The report of this brought to the ship, the captain found 
 what became of those that were missing, and was persuaded that some 
 of them were neither devoured by .wild beasts nor yet destroyed by 
 savages." 
 
 
em iiuMniREY gilbert. 
 
 113 
 
 , appearance hy their sufferings, that Sir William 
 Butts and his lady are said to have been un- 
 able for some time to recognize their son. 
 
 Despite these drawbacks, the English trade 
 in Newfoundland increased every year. Sail- 
 ing from the English ports in the spring, their 
 ships returned in the autumn with tlicir whole 
 freight of fish salted and dried on tlie Island. 
 The trade in a few years became of so much 
 importance, that in the year 15 "^ . an Act 
 was passed for the better encourn-^rr ment of 
 the fisheries in Iceland and Newloundland. 
 These fisheries proved to be of such great value 
 that many attempts were made to colonize the 
 Island; but the first attempt which obtained 
 any amount of success was that of Sir Hum- 
 phrey Gilbert, in the year 1583. This dis- 
 tinguished man was descended from an old 
 family in the county of Devon: he was 
 remarkable in a remarkable age for his know- 
 ledge both of the theory and practice of war, 
 cosmography and navigation, in addition to 
 an enterprising spirit, and cool intrepidity. 
 
 I . 
 
 «; 
 
 i ! 
 
 / i 
 
 i J I 
 
W' 
 
 r = 
 
 114 
 
 FIRST VOYAGE. 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 Queen Elizabeth, with whom he was a great 
 favourite, by letters patent, dated 11th of June, 
 1578, invested him with full powers to dis- 
 cover, settle, and regulate any remote countries 
 not in the actual possession of any Christian 
 princes.* 
 
 Sir Humphrey received assurances of sup- 
 port from many distinguished men, who de- 
 clared their intention of accompanying him 
 on his voyage. When the vessels were ready 
 for sea, a panic fell upon many of those who 
 refused to go, but Sir Humphrey still deter- 
 mined to proceed with a few friends who 
 still remained staunch. He sailed immediately 
 in the summer of 1578 for Newfoundland, 
 where he made a short stay, and came back 
 to England, having narrowly escaped, with 
 the loss of one vessel, from a squadron of 
 
 J 
 
 
 1 In Domestic Correspondence, Eliz., Vol. xcv., No. 63, Cal., p. 475, 
 will be found a petition to the Queen, d.ated 22nd March, 1574, to 
 allow of an enterprise for discovery of sundry rich and unknown lands 
 " fatally reserved for England and for the honour of your Majestie," 
 which is endorsed by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir George Peckham, Mr, 
 Carlile, and Sir Ilichnrd Greenvile, and others, "voiagers." 
 
 
SECOND VOYAGE. 
 
 115 
 
 Spanish men-of-war, by which he had been 
 ini^ercepted. 
 
 Sir Humphrey Gilbert, not at all dis- 
 couraged by his disappointment in the first 
 enterprise, sold his estate, which produced a 
 considerable sum, and, liberally assisted by 
 Sir George Peckham, and other friends, fitted 
 out a small fleet of five ships. Tliis fleet 
 sailed from Cawsand Bay, near Plymouth, on 
 the 11th June, 1583, and consisted of the 
 "Delight," 120 tons, of which Sir H. Gilbert 
 took the command, and appointed William 
 Winter his captain; the ''Ealeigh," 200 tons, 
 fitted out and commanded by Sir Walter 
 Raleigh; the '^ Golden Hind, "of 40 tons, Ed ward 
 Hayes, master and captain; the '^ Swallow," 40 
 tons, Maurice Brown, captain; and the 
 "SquiiTel," of 10 tons, William Andrews, cap- 
 tain. On the 13th, Sir Walter Raleigh was 
 obliged to put back, on account of a distemper 
 which had seized upon the captain and crew. 
 On the 30th of July, they first discovered 
 land, but imperfectly, on account of a dense 
 
 M 
 
r^Twissam 
 
 mamammmmmm 
 
 U, 
 
 116 
 
 ARRIVAL AT ST. JOHn's. 
 
 i 
 
 fog. They next arrived at Penguin Island, 
 where they took in a good stock of birds. 
 After this they entered Conception Bay, where 
 they found the '' Swallow," which had been lost 
 in the fog. Then proceeding to the south, 
 they made the Bay of St. John's, where they 
 found the ^'Squirrel," which had been refused 
 admittance into that harbour by vessels of 
 different nations. Sir Humphrey prepared to 
 force an entrance into the harbour, but before 
 doing so he sent word to the j^eople within 
 the harbour that he came in Queen Elizabeth's 
 name, to take formal possession of the place, 
 and that if he met with any resistance, he 
 should punish the offenders, as he had the 
 will and the power to do. Upon receiving 
 this assurance, the people sent him word 
 that their intentions were peaceable, and that 
 they had only waited to learn the object of 
 his expedition ; and that they should be very 
 glad to supply the necessities of his fleet. 
 The ships then entered the harbour, and the 
 next morning Sir Humphrey and his friends 
 
 
 111 
 
TAKES FORMAL POSSESSION. 
 
 117 
 
 
 were conducted on shore by the owners of 
 the English vessels. On the 5th of August 
 he caused a tent to be erected on the shore^ 
 and summoning all the English and foreign 
 merchants to attend, he caused his commis- 
 sion under the great seal of England to be 
 Oldened and read, and translated to those 
 foreigners who did not understand English. 
 He then informed the assembly that, under 
 the Royal authority, he stood possessed of 
 St. John's and all the adjacent land within 
 the circumference of 200 leagues; and that 
 thenceforward the witnesses of this transaction 
 must consider these territories as belono-ino- 
 to the Sovereign of England, and acknowledge 
 that he, the General of Queen Elizabeth, was 
 empowered by Royal license to possess and 
 enjoy them, and likewise to enact laws for 
 the government thereof The customary 
 ceremony of delivering a rod and turf to the 
 new proprietor, was then performed in the 
 presence of the assembly. 
 
 Sir Humphrey then, by virtue of his 
 
 1.1 
 
 i 
 
 I: 
 
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 
 
 Ear- " ' ' " "H '^' 
 
 II 
 
 r 
 
 118 
 
 EXPLORES THE COUN TliY. 
 
 ill 
 
 III 11: 
 
 authority, proceeded to issue certain regula- 
 tions for the religious and civil government 
 of the island, to which all the people pro- 
 mised obedience. The meeting was then dis- 
 solved ; and on the same spot the General 
 erected a wooden pillar, to which he attached 
 the arms of England, engraved on load. He 
 then granted several parcels of land to be 
 held of him, his heirs and assigns, for ever, 
 on the payment of certain rent and services ; 
 and having done this, he issued orders for 
 the collection of a tax upon the vessels in the 
 harbour, to be paid in provisions. 
 
 Whilst some of the English were collecting 
 provisions, and performing other duties. Sir 
 Humphrey sent several exploring parties into 
 diiferent parts of the country. The result of 
 their observations was that there were but 
 few men on the southern part of the island, 
 but in the north they met with some of the 
 natives, who showed no fear, and approached 
 them at once, without hesitation. The climate 
 is reported as being very hot in summer and 
 
 ii iM 
 
DISCOVERY OF SILVER. 
 
 119 
 
 extremely cold in winter. The sea abounded 
 with codfish; they had also observed tui'bot, 
 lobsters, and herrings ; whales were found in 
 great numbers, and in the bays and rivers 
 there were salmon and trout in great abund- 
 ance. The whole country was covered with 
 wood; game was very plentiful, and they 
 could easily procure hides and furs of all 
 kinds. They also stated that the soil was 
 very fertile, and that they had discovered 
 mines of iron, lead, cojoper, and silver. One 
 Daniel, a native of Saxony, and an expert 
 miner, brought a piece of ore to Sir Hum- 
 phrey, which he positively asserted to contain 
 a considerable quantity of silver. The credu- 
 lous General was enchanted with this piece of 
 ore, carried it on board, and enjoined the 
 strictest secrecy, for fear that the French and 
 Portuguese should hear of the i^recious dis- 
 covery.^ 
 
 i ; 
 
 I : 
 
 Hki. 
 
 
 1 Sir Humplirey was so delighted with this discovery, that he boasted 
 to his friends that he could obtain from Queen Elizabeth a loan of 
 £10,000 on the credit of the mine. 
 
 
 !:^i t 
 
 ■ J.:.: 1 
 
 .1 '■ 1 
 
 1 : . \ 
 
 It' 
 
 
 ^f 
 
 - 
 
 i 
 
 ■i|;' 
 
120 
 
 LEAVES NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 11 
 
 I 
 
 A mutiny broke out about this time among-st 
 the English, to prevent the continuation of 
 the voyage. But though the conspiracy was 
 discovered, yet a great number of the sailors 
 deserted, and seizing a ship laden with fish, 
 compelled her crew to go ashore, and imme- 
 diately set sail for England. Of the rest, 
 some fell ill and died, and others were allowed 
 to return to England in the Swallow, under 
 Captain "Winter. 
 
 " The three remaining vessels being com- 
 pletely fitted for the intended voyage, the 
 General hoisted his flag on board the Squirrel, 
 a light and expeditious sailer, and the best 
 constructed for the purpose of entering creeks 
 and small harbours. He gave the command 
 of the Delight to Captain Maurice Brown, 
 and the Golden II hid to Captain Edward 
 Hayes. On the 20th of August, they sailed 
 from the harbour of St. John's, which they 
 found by observation to be in 47 degrees, 
 40 minutes, N. latitude. In the following 
 night they made Cape Race, distant 25 leagues, 
 
 ^i 
 
LOSS OF THE "DELIGHT." 
 
 121 
 
 and from thence nearly 87 leagues toAvards 
 Cape Breton. On the 27th, m the latitude 
 of 45 degrees, Sir Humphrey gave orders to 
 sound, and at the depth of 30 fotlioms, they 
 found white sand; in the succeeding after- 
 noon the wind veered to the S., when, in 
 ojjposition to the advice of AVilliam Cox, 
 master of the Golden Hind, the ships bore 
 in, with the land during the whole night at 
 W.N.AV. The next day it blew a violent 
 storm at S. by E. ; tlie rain descended in 
 torrents, and the fogs were so extremely 
 thick, that no object could be distinguished 
 at a cable's length. Towards daybreak on 
 the 29th, they were alarmed by the appear- 
 ance of surrounding sands and shoals, and at 
 every third or fourth ship's length, observed 
 the water lessening in its depth. A signal 
 was thrown out fur the Delight to stand off 
 to sea, but at that very instant she struck, 
 and soon after her stern and quarters were 
 dashed to pieces. The Squirrel and the 
 Golden Hind, immediately casting about 
 
 I- 
 
 ! ' i 
 
 
 ^ '( 
 
 1 
 
 M'. 
 
 s 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 i 
 
Jl pi 
 
 122 
 
 SUFFERINGS OF THE CREW. 
 
 'k I 
 
 
 E.S.E., and bearing to the S., with great 
 difficulty got clear of the shoal, and 
 regained the open sea. In the Delight 
 perished Captain Maurice Brown, and about 
 100 of his associates, who, with a resolution 
 that bordered upon madness, refused to set 
 what they thought a bad example, by desert- 
 ing the ship, although they must have been 
 convinced that it was impossible to save her. 
 Fourteen of her crew leaped into a small 
 pinnace, and remained a short time alongside 
 their ship, in the hope of being joined by 
 their captain, but in vain. Having, at last 
 prevailed upon Eichard Clarke, the master, 
 and one of his companion!^;, to join them, 
 they cut the ro2:)e and ventured out to sea, 
 furnished only with a single oar, and destitute 
 of fresh water and provisions. As the pin- 
 nace appeared to be much overladen, Edward 
 Headley 2:)roposed the casting of lots, so that 
 four of them might be thrown overboard. 
 Clarke, whom it had been unanimously agreed 
 to except from this measure, availing himself 
 
FOURTEEN SAVED. 
 
 123 
 
 of their affectionate regard for him, succeeded 
 in persuading them to bear their present lot 
 with Christian fortitude. 
 
 The pinnace was driven before the wind 
 during six days and nights, while these men 
 were reduced to feed upon some weeds which 
 they picked up upon the surface of the sea. 
 Sinking under the sufferings of thirst, hunger, 
 intense cold, and constant fatigue, Headley 
 and another man expired on the fifth day ; 
 and on the seventh, the remaining fourteen 
 were fortunately driven towards the coast of 
 Newfoundland, where they obtained a pas- 
 sage in a French vessel, and at last arrived 
 safely in England." ^ 
 
 The melancholy fate of the Dcllglit was 
 most distressing to Sir Humi)]n'ey, not only 
 for the loss of a valuable sliip, and tried and 
 sincere friends, but also for the loss of the 
 Saxon miner and iiis silver ore, upon the 
 evidence of which he had expected to obtain 
 a loan from Queen Elizabeth. The loss of 
 
 1 History of Newfoundland, p. 70. 
 
 I 
 
 ' I 
 
 11 'i '■ 
 
 . 1 
 
 • ' 'i 
 
 !i j 
 
 im 
 

 ' i 
 
 i\ 
 
 m y. 
 
 ill. ■ I 
 
 iii:ii. 
 
 •1 ■• •*•■ 
 ■km 
 
 124 
 
 GILBERT S RETURN. 
 
 the Dellg-lit frightened the remaining sliipa 
 companies, so the General determined to re- 
 turn to England, and resisted all the attempts 
 of the captain of the Golden Hind to dissuade 
 hira from his design. '' 13e content," said 
 he, '^ wo have seen enough ; take no thought 
 of the expenses which we have incurred. If 
 the Alniiglity should permit us to reach Eng- 
 land in safety, I will set you out royally 
 in the course of the next spring ; therefore 
 I pray you, let us no longer strive here, 
 where we fight against the elements.'' 
 
 On the 1st September the vessels changed 
 their course for England, and on the 2nd 
 passed Cape Race. Some days afterwards. 
 Sir Humphrey came on board the Golden 
 Hind, to have a wound in his foot dressed, 
 received by treading on a nail. Captain 
 Hayes entreated him to remain in his ship, 
 as the Squirrel was tossing In the waves, 
 and seemed in danger of being swallowed up 
 every moment. He, however, refused, saying 
 that no inducement should cause him to 
 
 iiiiii) 
 
HIS DEATH. 
 
 125 
 
 i ; 
 
 abandon his brave comrades. Then, to quote 
 from Captain Hayes, ^'Wlien off the Azores, 
 the storms came on worse, with terrible seas, 
 breaking; short and j^yramid wise," and on 
 the 9th of September, the Squirrel having 
 nearly gone down, but recovering herself, 
 "the General, sitting abaft, with a book in 
 his hand, cried out to us in tlie Hind, as 
 oft as wo did approach within hearing, Sve 
 are as near heaven by sea as by land,' 
 reiterating the same speech, well beseeming 
 a soldier resolute in Jesus Christ, as I can 
 testify he was. The same Monday, about 
 twelve of the clock, or not long after, the 
 frigate being ahead of us in the Golden Hind, 
 suddenly her lights were out; and withal 
 our watch cried, the General was cast away, 
 which was true; for in that moment the 
 frigate was devoured and swallowed up by 
 the sea." So perished Sir Humphrey Gilbert, 
 one of the noblest and best of men in an age 
 of great men. The Golden Hind arrived 
 safely at Falmouth on the 22nd September. 
 
 IM 
 
 ' i 
 
 III 
 

 126 
 
 RICnARD STRANGE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 iiii 
 
 ■ 5 
 
 J- 
 
 i t 
 
 
 
 ^""^i • 
 
 It 
 
 
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 1 
 
 iii 
 
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 i 
 
 ||L 
 
 
 : 
 
 Of the fiite of the Swallow nothing wa8 ever 
 hcnrd. 
 
 Richard Strange, of Apshan, was the next 
 to make a voya -o the island. He was 
 the first who went there expressly for the 
 seal fishery, as most of tlie ships confined 
 their attention to codfish and whides. Strange 
 sailed from Falmouth on the 1st June, 1593, 
 with two ships, viz., the ''Marigold," of 70 
 tons, and another ship, liaving on board 
 several butcliers and coopers. They sailed 
 for the Island of "^imea, on the back of New- 
 foundland to th '\ . This island abounded 
 in walrus, a kind of large seal, with two 
 large tasks of ivory, w^hich, together with 
 their skins and oil, were considered valuable 
 articles of commerce. The ships had separated 
 during the voyage ; the smaller one arrived 
 in safoty at the Island of Ramca. On the 
 11th of July, the Marigold made Cape St. 
 Francis at the entrance of Conception Bay ; 
 then having doubled Cape Race, sailed 
 towards th«^ Bay of St. Peter's ; but as they 
 
 
RICHARD JONES. 
 
 127 
 
 were at a loss wliicli way to 8tcer, they lost 
 their way, and fell upon Cape Breton, where 
 they went on shore, and saw several of tho 
 natives. They then went away to the S.W., 
 and at tho distance of GO leagues from tho 
 Cape, they saw immense numbers of seals, 
 and some whales of enormous size. After 
 hovering about the Coast of Nova Scotia for 
 eleven weeks, they returned homo to England 
 by the Azores. 
 
 The year following. Captain Richard Jones 
 sailed from Bristol for the Gulf of St. Law- 
 rence, with a barque of 35 tons. On the 19th 
 May he reached Cape Spear, on the Coast of 
 Newfoundland, and proceeded to the Island 
 of St. Peter, where, laying his vessel upon 
 the lee, the crew, in less than two hours, 
 caught 300 codfish, which served for provi- 
 sions. They returned to Bristol on the 24th 
 September. 
 
 A great number of ships of all the European 
 nations were at this time collected on the 
 banks of NewfouncUand. Little or no autho- 
 
 
 'S « A 
 
\w- 
 
 128 
 
 PIRACY. 
 
 4 
 
 ;J -1^ 
 
 f 1$ 
 
 1 ■■i?' 
 
 rity was exercised over them, and divers acts 
 of piracy were committed with impunity. 
 There is a curious account of a piracy com- 
 mitted by +hree French ships, off Newfound- 
 land, in the year 1596, upon one Richard 
 Clarke. The principal French ship was com- 
 manded by Michael de Sanci, and the next 
 ship by Martin de Sanci. Having been used 
 with kind entertainment and invited to break- 
 fast (September 25), in requital Clarke invited 
 the Frenchmen on board his ship to dinner 
 the next day; the Captain of the Admiral 
 framed an excuse, and sent the same afternoon 
 for Clarke to visit him in his sickness, and 
 upon a sudden the Frenchmen crying Rend 
 vous! Rend vous! Clarke and his men were 
 taken and kept prisoners nine days. After 
 pillaging their ship, it was delivered up to 
 them altogether unfurnished.^ 
 
 Hearing of such acts as these, it was not 
 to be wondered at tliat Charles Leigh and 
 Abraham van Ilerwick, two London mer- 
 
 1 Col. Papers : Vol. I., No. 8. 
 
 , 
 
HOSTILITIEa. 
 
 129 
 
 chants, who sailed to Newfoundland iii the 
 next year, should have gone well armed and 
 prepared to defend their cargo. These ships 
 were the ''Hopewell," of 120 tons, and the 
 '' Chancewell," of 70 tons. Thoy left Graves- 
 end ou the 8th of April, 1597, and on the 
 18th of May reached the fshing banks, and 
 
 I 
 
 on the 20tli they came to Conception Bay. 
 The ''Hopewell," leaving the bay, after hav- 
 ing caught a large quantity of codfish, went 
 to the Isle of Ramea in search of seals. Here 
 she fell in with four foreign ships, with all of 
 which she engaged at once, but, overpowered 
 by numbers, she was obliged to retreat, having 
 lost her pinnace, together with a cable and 
 anchor. Tlie "Chancewell" was unfortunately 
 lost upon Cape Breton; but eight of the 
 mariners, who had put to sea in a small boot, 
 were picked up by the "Hopewell." On the 
 25th of July, the " Hopewell," being in the 
 harbour of St. Mary, attacked a ship belonging 
 to Bellisle, of 200 tons and forty men, nml 
 took her after a long and severe action. Mr. 
 
""W 
 
 ■ill 
 III 
 
 130 
 
 ALDERMAN GUY. 
 
 Leigh 1 laving despatched the "Hojiewell" to 
 the Azores, proceeded in his prize on his re- 
 turn to England, and arrived at Gravesend 
 in the beginning of September, with a valuable 
 cargo of fish and oil. 
 
 At the beginning of the 17th century, the 
 Island of Newfoundland occupied a consider- 
 ab.e share of public attention. In tlie year 
 1609, one, John Gruy,^ an aldennan, of Bristol, 
 published a treatise on the advantages which 
 ^vould result to England from the establish- 
 ment of a colony in that Island ; this treatise 
 produced such an effect that a Company was 
 
 1 In the Bristol MS. Calendar there is the following account of thes«r 
 expeditions : '' Mr. John Whitsou and Mr. Robert Aklwoi'th, and othens, 
 set forth a ship for the discovery of the N.W. passage, under the com- 
 mand of Martin Prynne, being then but twenty-three years of age, who 
 after proved a very good seaman in the East India voyages. He I'a 
 buried in St. Stephen' fi, on the north side of the chancel. In the year 
 1609, Mr. John Guy, merchant, one of the Council of Bristol, intend- 
 ing a plantation in Newfoimdland, procured a licence and charter from 
 the King for the same, having some rich merchants of London, and 
 many of this city did put in llieir money with them. And so I\Ir. Guy 
 and some other young merclirnts went over to make trial whether the 
 land could bear corn. They also carried cattle and swine over with thera 
 to increase the land." And again, we read that "In the year 1611 
 Mr. John Guy, merchant, went to Newfoundland, victiialled for a plan- 
 tation of forty men for the whole year." 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND COMPANY. 
 
 131 
 
 
 immediately formed to carry out the idea, 
 consisting of the Earl of Northampton, Sir 
 Francis Bacon, Sir Lawrence Tanfiold, and 
 others. To this Company, King James I., 
 by letters patent dated May 2, 1610, made a 
 grant of all Newfoundland, from 46 to 52 
 degrees ot N. latitude, together with the seas 
 and islands lying within ten leagues of the 
 coast, reserving to all manner of persons of 
 what nation soever, as well as the English, 
 the right of trade and fishing in the parts 
 aforesaid. Under this patent a colony was 
 sent to the island under the direction of Mr. 
 John Guy, who was appointed Governor of 
 the same. After a voyage of twenty days, 
 Guy arrived and landed near Conception Har- 
 bour, in a cove now called Mosquito. Here 
 huts were immediately constructed, and Guy 
 behaved with such prudence and kindness to 
 the natives that he quickly gained their con- 
 fidence, and was permitted to carry on his 
 measures without hindrance He also estab- 
 lished a means of trading with the Indians to 
 
 1 ^1 
 
 
w '! 
 
 132 
 
 KIRKE S REPORT 
 
 n 
 
 f! 
 
 their mutual satisfaction. In an account of 
 Newfoundland, which Sir David Kirke sent 
 to the English merchants about twenty years 
 later,^ he gives some curious information re- 
 lating to Guy's transactions with the Indians. 
 He says (in answer to an objection that there 
 was no trade with the natives) — '^ First, say 
 you, if there be a trade there must be some- 
 body su23posed with whom to trade, and there 
 be noe natives upon the island. How noe 
 natives upon the island of Newfoundland? 
 Have you left your eyesight in the Fogges 
 againe, and so blinded do you know at whom 
 you strike? How comes it to pass, I pray 
 you, that His Majesty in the beginning of his 
 patent makes it one of the principal reasons, 
 for which he granted it, the hope of the con- 
 version of these heathens to the Christian 
 faith. And that you may be assured there are 
 such creatures upon Newfoundland, if your 
 Wisdoms consult but with our poore fisher- 
 
 1 Col. Pnpern; Vol. X., No. S8. EnrlorBfid by Archbishop Lrvud, 
 "Rec, Feb. 9, 1(540." 
 
 
AS TO THE NATIVES. 
 
 133 
 
 
 men, that use to fish in Trinity Bay and more 
 northerly, they will assure you by their owne 
 continuall and sad experience, that they have 
 found too many badd neighbours of the na- 
 tives almost every fishinge season. And wee 
 ourselves can assure you that there traded 
 soe many of them with the French, even this 
 presint yeare, that if you had been amongst 
 them you had bene confuted to the purpose 
 "with, the hardest bargaine that ever you con- 
 cluded since you were men of business. The 
 accident was thus: in the harbour of Les 
 Ouages, about eighty Indians assaulted a com- 
 panie of French whilst they were pyleinge 
 upp their fishinge, and slewe seven of them ; 
 proceedinge a little further killed nine more 
 in the same manner, and cloathinge sixteen 
 of their company in the apparell of the slajme 
 French, they went on the next daye to the 
 harbour of Petty Masters, and not being sus- 
 pected by the French that were there by 
 reason of their habit, they surprised them at 
 their works and killed twenty-one more Soe 
 
 } f- 
 
 ;:l 
 
 ; 1 I 
 
134 
 
 CAPTAIN WHITTINGTON. 
 
 iij! 
 
 M 
 
 in two dayes, having barbarously maymed 
 thirty-seven, they retimied home, as is their 
 manner, in great triumph, with the heads of 
 the slayne Frenchmen. Thus, it is too ap- 
 parent to see that there are Indians upon 
 Newfoundland, by the mischief that they have 
 done. But that you may be further informed 
 of what good hath and might have been done 
 amongst them, take notice of those which 
 follows : It is very well knowne that in times 
 past many French and Biscaners have traded 
 with the natives of the country for furs and 
 deere skins. For some yeares they continued 
 their traffique every fishing season, and it 
 was sometimes intermitted, as quarrclls arose 
 betwixt them. About 20 years since, Alder- 
 man Guy, of Bristoll, that had continued with 
 his family two yeares in Newfoundland, and 
 amongst his other designs especially aymed 
 at a trade with the Indians, imployed for that 
 purpose one Captain Whittington, into the 
 bottom of Trinity Baye, a place always fre- 
 quented with the natives, and which the Cap- 
 
 
TRADES WITH THE NATIVES. 
 
 135 
 
 
 
 taine havinge discovered a companie ashore^ 
 commanded liis men to land him alone upon 
 a place where there was a fordahle river 
 betwixt him and them. After some signes 
 made betwixt them on either side, one of the 
 Indians waded through the water, and when 
 he came near the Captaine he threwe by his 
 bowe and arrowes in token of peace, and upon 
 that they mett and imbrased, but the Indian, 
 feelinge a short faucion, which the Captaine 
 wore under a close coate, he retyred, express- 
 ing signes of dislike and feare. And Jie 
 Captaine, understanding his meaninge, threwe 
 aside his sword alsoe, as the other before had 
 done his bowe and arrowes. Upon that more 
 Indians on the other side the river were called 
 over, and the Captaine caused his servante 
 aboard the boate to bringe ashore provisions 
 of meate and drinke to entertayne them. 
 They did eate and drinke together for the 
 space of three or four houres, and exchanged 
 furs and deere skins for hatchetts and knives, 
 and appointed a meeting the next year by a 
 
 I I 
 
 
w- 
 
 \n 
 
 136 
 
 UNFORTUNATE MISTAKE. 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 IIIM 
 
 eigne (as is their manner in other parts of 
 America), when the grass should be of such a 
 height, to bring downe all their furrs and 
 skins for traffique with the English, Upon 
 these terms they parted. And it sot fell oui- 
 the next yeare, that at the tyme appointed 
 for their meetinge in the same place, instead 
 of Captaine Whittington or other agents for 
 the Alderman, there came a fisherman to the 
 place to make a voyage, and seeing a com- 
 panie of Indians together, not knowing the 
 cause of their coming, let fly his shott from 
 aboard amongst them. And they imagininge 
 these to be the men in all likelyhood which 
 agreed upon the meetinge the yeare before, 
 retyred presently into the woode, and from 
 that day to this have sought all occasion every 
 fishinge season to do all the mischief they can 
 amongst the fishermen. Yet arc we not out 
 of hope, but if it be our fortune to light uj)on 
 them, they may be brought by a fay re in- 
 treatie to a trade againe, which we assure 
 ourselves may be very profitable to the lorde 
 
 
 I 
 
i >5 
 
 CAPTAIN WHITBOURNE. 
 
 137 
 
 and other adventurers, when it shall be our 
 good happ to make the natives acquainted 
 with our good intentions towards them." * 
 
 For some reason not known Guy returned 
 to England disappointed in his endeavours to 
 found a colony. Four years afterwards, in 
 1614, Captain Whitbourne was sent to New- 
 foundland under a commission from the Ad- 
 miralty, authorizing him to impannel juries, 
 
 1 Great interest has been manifested at different times in the 
 aborigines of Newfoundland. The first accotint of them is to be found 
 in Fabyan's Chronicle : — "In the fourteenth year of Henry VII., there 
 were brought unto him three men, taken in Newfound Island by John 
 Cabot. They were clothed in the skins of beasts, and sjiake such 
 speech that no man could understanrl their., G,."d ii. Uieir demeanour 
 were like brute beasts ; whom the I\ing kept a time after, of the which 
 about two years I saw two apparelled after the manner of Englishmen, 
 in Westminster Palace, which at that time I could not discern from 
 Englishmen till I was learned what they were ; but as for speech, I 
 heard none of them utter a word." Instead of following the hum?>T5j 
 example of Alderman Guy and Sir David Kirke, the dift'erent traders 
 and settlers at Newfoundland seem to have treated the poor Bocothics, 
 as they were called, with great brutality, shooting them down like wild 
 beasts. They were also miich oppressed by their hereditary enemies, 
 the Micmacs, a tribe of Red Indians, who at some time crossed over to 
 the island from the mainland, and who have at this time several 
 flourishing settlements on the cast coast. The Author has been in- 
 formed by Admiral Sir H. Prescott, G.C.B., who was for many years 
 Governor of Newfoundland, that he went there with the firm conviction 
 that Bocothics were still to be found in the island, but after careful in. 
 vestigation and enquiry, he was persuaded that the race was extinct. 
 
f'i 
 
 138 
 
 COMPLAINTS OF THE FISHERMEN 
 
 II 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 III 
 
 ll 
 11 
 
 ii 
 
 1^ 
 
 and to enquire upon oath of divers abuses and 
 disorders committed amongst those who carried 
 on fishery upon the coast. By virtue of this 
 commission, Captain Whitbourne hekl a court 
 of admiralty immediately after his arrival, 
 and received the complaints of one hundred 
 and seventy masters of Engliis;!. ships, shewing 
 to what an extent of prosperity the English 
 trade had gained. 
 
 The Company of the Plantation in New- 
 foundland excited the complaints of the fisher- 
 men, for depriving them of their rights in 
 fishery, laying a tax upon their cargoes, and 
 other exactions. In the year 1618, several 
 petitions w^ere presented to the Privy Council, 
 by the fishermen, complaining that the planters 
 had put sundry of the petitioners from the 
 chiefest places of fishing ; great quantities of 
 their provisions had been appropriated ; 
 they had been prevented taking birds which 
 are used as bait ; fees had been exacted from 
 them; and pirates harboured, to their great 
 prejudice. On 19tli October, 1618, the Earl 
 
 

 AGAINST THE COMPANY. 139 
 
 of Bnth incloses a petition of the merchants 
 of Devon to the Privy Council, concerning 
 some bad mcasm-es offered them in tlieir 
 fishing- in Newfoundland by those of the late 
 plantation there, which he recommends to 
 their favourable consideration, and that the 
 merchants may be secured from further dis- 
 turbance in the enjoyment of their privileges.^ 
 To these complaints the Company replied Ihat 
 they considered that their chargeable main- 
 tenance for the colony entitled the inhabitants 
 to choose their fishing places; know of no 
 wrongs done to the fishermen ; if taking of 
 birds has been denied, it shall be ordered to 
 the contrary; utterly disclaim the exaction 
 of fees ; complain that the very great damages 
 they have received from pirates have almost 
 overthrown the colony ; are desirous to join 
 with the western men in that business, and for 
 keeping good order in tlie country. To this 
 the fishermen replied that ''No privilege had 
 
 1 Col. Papers : Vol. I., No. 39, 40. Domestic Conespondence. 
 James I., Vol. CIII., No. 43, Cal., p. 586. 
 
 
E: 
 
 i'i 
 
 m 
 
 I 
 
 I:- 
 
 140 
 
 PIRATES. 
 
 been given by the charter to planters for fisli- 
 ing before others ; if choice of places is ad- 
 mitted contrary to common usage, the peti- 
 tioners contend that they ought rather to 
 have it ; desire that the liberties reserved to 
 them by charter may be confirmed; disclaim 
 committing any abuses in the country, and 
 request that the offenders may be punished. 
 The fishermen, knowing better how to manage 
 the fishing than the planters can direct, de- 
 clare that they are altogether unwilling to be 
 ordered by the planters, or to join with them 
 as they desire." 
 
 The Company seem to have been much 
 troubled about this time by pirates, who found 
 a rich harvest amongst the numerous fishing 
 vessels on the coasts, which had increased to 
 such numbers, that in 1615 upwards of 250 
 English vessels were employed in this trade ; 
 and in 1621, mm-A fl, m 300 ^i^jpy^ ^ith 10,000 
 
 seamen 
 Newfo 
 
 of goods 
 
 iia 
 
 u> 
 
 L'od .cd a yearly 
 
 mported 
 revenue 
 
 into 
 
 of 
 
 £10,000. Puates were not the only pests of 
 
DOCTOR VAUGITAN. 
 
 141 
 
 the coasts ; some of the disorderly fishermen 
 causing great disturbance, and sometimes 
 actual warfare. To such an extent had this 
 mischief increased, that the Company of 
 Planters petitioned the Crown to make New- 
 foundland a naval station, and send thither 
 a lieutenant, with two or more war ships, to 
 keep order amongst the fishermen and protect 
 them from pirates. At the end of their peti- 
 tion is attached a list of pirates, with the 
 amount of damage which they had inflicted, 
 estimated at £48,000, besides the loss of about 
 180 pieces of ordnance, and 1,080 fishermen, 
 sailors, carpenters, and gunners, taken by force 
 or otherwise conveyed away.* 
 
 In the year 1615, Doctor Vaughan pur- 
 chased from the patentees a tract of land in 
 the southern part of the island, of which he 
 appointed Whitbourne Governor. He estab- 
 lished himself at Ferryland, but does not 
 seem to have remained long upon the Island. 
 
 About this time Newfoundland began to 
 
 1 Col. Papers : Vol. I., No. 54. 
 
 
 v\ 
 
142 
 
 STATE OF THE ISLAND. 
 
 |i# 
 
 bear a more settled appearance. Moreover, 
 fixed war stations were established along the 
 coasts, and roads were cut throngh the dense 
 forests of underwood in the interior to com- 
 municate from one post to another. St. John's 
 was selected as the j^lace of rendezvous where 
 the inhabitants met to ship their skins, or to 
 exchange them for other stores which had 
 arrived from England. In the next chapter 
 we shall enter upon a new phase in the 
 History of the Island. 
 
 ii 
 
143 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Grant of Newf„„„dl.„d to Sir George Calvert-He .ai„ tUth.r-. 
 S Le Zr ^"■■'■'»^-''-'=<l W<, E,.,U,-.„re-Hi, trouble, 
 
 entTrl C™ * «|...t ot M r,,„ ,_h. ,te»t„-Le.i, K.., 
 e iioyai iNavy— Sir David Kirke obtains from the Kintr i Grint 
 
 .ccoimt of the Irf.vml -Letter to Archtohop U„tW-Tr„„bIe, ,vi»h th, 
 R.herMe„-CiviI War i„ E„gl.„<,-Le™ Kirte-KnigJ/w .L 
 tt°K -T" "' ''""""-'"-SirD.via Kirte offer, „ ^H 
 
 h»me„t_S„:n„,„„,„ to Engtad-Appears betor. the Privy Council- 
 Ret. r„= to Ne„,„„„<lta,_„i3 Death and Character-Lc , 'rd 
 
 w::;:;:::;""" "■ ''="*""^»"^-«-« - *. i.^...., i„";err 
 
 On the 3 1 St December, 1622, Sir George 
 Calvert obtained from James I. a grant of 
 the whole island of Newfoundland. He had 
 been Secretary to Sir Robert Cecil, and Clerk 
 '- ^'le Privy Council, and was knighted in 
 • ^° *''^ following year he was made 
 
 to 
 
 
I «'?.. 
 
 144 
 
 LORD BALTIMORE. 
 
 Pt 
 
 Secretary of State to the King, who settled 
 £1,000 a year upon him, besides his salary. 
 In 1624 he became a Roman Catholic, and 
 so was compelled to resign his post. The 
 King, however, persuaded him to stay in the 
 Privy Council, and showed him much favour, 
 granting him large estates in Ireland, and 
 at last raised him to the ^peerage, under the 
 title of Lord Baltimore. After his conversion. 
 Sir George seems to have become unsettled 
 in his mind, and conceiving himself slighted 
 on account of his religion, determined to 
 withdraw to some distant spot, where he 
 might practice his religion without molesta- 
 tion. So he requested and obtained a grant 
 of Newfoundland, or rather of the south, or 
 smaller part of the island, to which district 
 he gave the name of Avalon.^ This island 
 
 1 It was so called by Lord Baltimore, with the idea that this pro- 
 vince was the place in America where Christianity was first introduced, 
 Avalon being the name of an ancient place in Somersetshire on which 
 Glastonbury now stands, and which is said to be the place where 
 Christianity was first preached in Britain. Lord Baltimore's province, 
 which forms the south-east part of Newfoundland, is a peninsular of 
 twenty -six marine leagues in length, and from five to twenty in breadth. 
 
 I 
 
i It 
 
 SENDS OUT A COLONY. 
 
 145 
 
 
 seems to have been one of tlie earliest resorts 
 of persecuted religious bodies in England, 
 for about tins time, or a little earlier, we 
 find several settlements of Puritans on its 
 coasts, who had fled from the rigour of 
 episcopal government. In the year 1623, Sir 
 George Calvert sent out a body of men 
 under Captain Edward Wynne, to prepare 
 the way for his arrival, and with him sent 
 £3,500 sterling, as an earnest of what he 
 intended to do in the colony. Captain Wynne, 
 on his arrival, establislied himself at Ferry- 
 land, possibly in Doctor Vaughan's abandoned 
 quarters, where he built the largest house 
 ever seen on the island; erected granaries and 
 storehouses, and accommodated his people in 
 the best manner possible. The following year 
 he received a reinforcement of colonists, and a 
 considerable supply of stores and implements, 
 and soon afterwards tlie colony was in such 
 
 It is separated frona the main part of the island by two extensive bnv«. 
 the heads of which are .lividod by a narrow isthmus or beach not <>v 
 ceedmg four miles in wi.lth, where it is not unusual to see fi.hermeu 
 pass from one bay to another, drawing their boats over it with ropes 
 
 ill 
 
 Ai 
 
 \m • 
 
I it: 
 
 uc 
 
 AT FERRYLANI). 
 
 I 
 
 a floiirisliing condition, that on the 17th of 
 August lie wrote to Sir George Calvertj *' We 
 have wheat, barley, oats, tind beans, eared 
 and codded ; though the kite sowing of tliem, 
 in May or the beginning of June, might 
 occasion the contrary, yet they ripen so fast, 
 that we have all the appearance of an ai>- 
 proaching plentiful harvest." In the same 
 strain, he speaks of his garden, his pasture 
 land, and arable cleared since his arrival, and 
 of his numerous herds of cattle.^ A small 
 workshop and fort were also erected at Ferry- 
 land by Captain Wynn, and completed by Mr. 
 Rickson; and so delighted was Sir George 
 (now Lord Baltimore) with the account he 
 received, that he removed to his colony with 
 his family, built a handsome and spacious 
 house, and a strong fort at Ferryland. 
 
 Strange as it sounds to our ears, in the 
 
 1 These statements must have been gross exaggerations. At the 
 present time, after 200 years of improvement, the best cultivated grounds 
 ttcarcely bring even oats to perfect maturity. Potatoes and cabbage 
 succeed very well. Currants and gooseberries grow tc:) the greatest 
 perfection ; clierrios are excellent ; and damsons grow in abuudauoe, 
 but seldom riiien. 
 
 
TURKISH PIRATES. 
 
 147 
 
 of 
 
 
 year 1625, the western jwrts of England were 
 blockaded by Turkisli pirates, and great fears 
 were entertained about the safety of the annual 
 fleet of fishing ships on their return from New- 
 foundland, Letters were sent from tlie Mayors 
 of Poole and Plymouth to the Privy Council, 
 assertnig tliat unless prompt measures weio 
 immediately taken, the Newfoundland fleet of 
 250 sail would be captured by the pirates. 
 Already 27 ships and 250 persons had been 
 taken by Turkisli pirates^ in ten days. 
 
 But the poor fishermen were exposed to 
 worse enemies than the pirates. Admiral de 
 I'Arade, with three French men-of-war, ap- 
 peared ofl" Newfoundland, and reduced the 
 poor fishermen to great extremity; but Lord 
 Baltimore, with two ships, manned at his 
 own expense, drove away the French, and 
 took GO of them prisoners. Concerning this 
 business, there are extant two very interestinir 
 letters of Lord Baltimore's, addressed to 
 Charles I. and the Duke of Buckingham, 
 
 1 Domestic Correspondence ; Car. I , Vol. V„ No. 24, Cal., p. 81. 
 
 i 
 
 « . J 
 
us 
 
 LETTERS OK 
 
 whicli give a succinct account of this transac- 
 tion. To the King he writes : — 
 
 "Most gracious and dread Sovereign, — 
 " In this remote wilde jiarte of the worlde, 
 wliere 1 have planted myselfe, and shall en- 
 deavour, by God's assistance, to enlarge your 
 Majcstie's dominions, and in whatsoever else 
 to serve your Majestic loyally e and faith- 
 full ie with all the powers both of my mynde 
 and bodye, I meete with grate difficulties and 
 incumbrances at the beginninge (as enterprises 
 of this nature commonly have), and cannot 
 bee easilie overcome by such weake hands as 
 myne, without your Majestie's speciall pro- 
 tection : for which cause I must still renew 
 my addresses to your Majestic as your most 
 humble subject and vassall for the continuance 
 of your Princely favour to mee and this worke 
 which I have taken in hand. Your Majestie's 
 subjects fish in ge this yeare in the harbours of 
 this land liave been much disquieted by a 
 Frenchman of Warre one Monsieur de la 
 Rade, ot Deepe, who with three ships and 
 
LORD BALTIMORE. 
 
 U9 
 
 400 men, well armed and appoynted, came 
 first into a harbour belonging to mee, called 
 Carpebroile, where hee surprised divers of 
 the fishermen, tooke two of their sliipps in 
 the harbour, and kept the possession of them 
 till I sent two shipps of mine, with some 
 hundred men, beinge all the fource we coulde 
 make upon the suddayne in this place, where 
 I am planted; uppon the approach of which 
 shipps neare to the harbour's mouth of Cape- 
 broile, one of them being 360 tons, with 24 
 pieces of ordnance, the ftrench let slip their 
 cables, and made to sea as fast as thev could 
 leaving behind them both the English shipps, 
 whereof tliey liad fcjrmerly possession, 67 of 
 their own countrymen o shore, whom I have 
 had since Iieere with mo jirisoners. We fol- 
 lowed the chase so long as wee saw any pos- 
 sibility of coming upp with them, but they 
 were much better of saile, and wee were 
 forced to give it over. The said Do la Rade 
 hath since donne more spoils uppon other of 
 your ]\rajestie's subjects in the N. parts of this 
 
rl^: 
 
 STBSKSm 
 
 150 
 
 REl'lilSALS UPON THE FRENCH. 
 
 
 land, as I was given to understand, wliieli 
 caused me to pursue tlieni a second tyme, 
 but they weare driven out of tlic country by 
 a shipp of London, before niyne could gett 
 tliither. Heroup2)()n, being still vexed with 
 these men, and both myselfe, in my poore 
 fisherie heere, and many other of your 
 Majestie's subjects, much injured tliis yeare 
 by them, I directed my ship, in consort witli 
 Captain Fearn's man-of-warre, then in this 
 country, to seek out some of that nation at 
 Trepasse, a harbour to the S. where they used 
 to fish. There they found G sliipps, 5 of 
 Bayonne, and one of St. Jean de Luz, whom 
 they tooke witli their lading, being fish and 
 trayne, and have sent them to England. I 
 doe humblie beseech your Majestie's gracious 
 and benigne interpi'ctation of my proceedings, 
 where the principall end hath been to doc 
 your Majestic service, and to give me leave 
 uppon this occasion to be an humble sutor 
 unto your Majestic, both for niyne owne 
 safetie, and for many thousMids of your sub- 
 jects that use this land, and '.omc hither every 
 
ASKS FOR PROTECTION. 
 
 151 
 
 yearc, for the most parte weakely provided 
 of defences, that by your Majestie's suiireanie 
 authority for the preservation of 3^our people, 
 being" seamen and mariners, and tlieir sliipps, 
 from the spoilc of the encmye (the loss whereof 
 much imports your ]\Iajestie's service), two 
 men-of-warre, at leasre, may be appoynted to 
 guard this coast, and to be hcere betymes in 
 the yeare; the fishermc>n to contribute to the de- 
 fraying of tlie charge, wliich amongst soe 
 many will be but a small matter, and easilie 
 borne. I liave humbly intreated my I.urd 
 Duke to recommend and mediate it unto 
 your Princely wisdome, beseeching your 
 Majestic to pardon this umnannerly length 
 wherewith 1 have presumed to trouble your 
 patience. 
 
 '' God Almighty preserve your Majestio 
 with a long Raygne and much happiness. 
 
 ^'Your Majestie's most lo^-al subject 
 and humble servant, 
 
 '^GEO. BALTIMORE.^ 
 '^Ferryland, 25 August, 1G28." 
 
 1 Col. Papers : Vol. IV., Nu. 50, :>7. 
 
 ;5fi! 
 
 f i 
 
r 
 
 i 
 
 
 153 
 
 l.ETT]<:U TO THE 
 
 111 u letter of the same date, addressed to 
 the Duke of Buekingham, Lurd lialtiuiore 
 writes : — 
 
 " May it please your Graee, 
 
 " I remember that His Majestie once told 
 me that I write as faier a hand to look 
 upon a farre as any man in England, but 
 that when any man came near it tliey were 
 not able to read a word. Wliereupi)on I gott 
 a dispensation both from His Majestie and 
 }'our Grace, to use another man's pen when 
 I write to eytlicr of you, and I humbly 
 thanke you for it, for writing is a great 
 pain to mee nowe. 
 
 '' I owe your Grace an account of my actions 
 and proceedings in this plantation, since midcr 
 your patronage, and by your honourable me- 
 diation to Ills Majestie, I have transplanted 
 myself liither. I came to build, to sett, to 
 sowc, but I am fain to fighting with French- 
 
 men. 
 
 V 
 
 He then goes on to describe his affair with 
 De la Rade, and " La Fleur de la Jennesso 
 
DUKi: OF mj("KINGlL\M. 
 
 153 
 
 lie Norrnuntlio," in words .similar to those in 
 the hist letter. I to concludes b}^ requestin**- 
 the Duke to use his infiueiuie witli the Kinir 
 to induce hhn to send two men-of-war to New- 
 foundland, to protect the fishery:— 
 
 '' If your Grace will bee pleased to inter- 
 cede unto His Majestic in that behalf, and 
 that some i)rincii)all owners of the West 
 country may bo conferred withall to that i)ur- 
 pose, before the next spring, and the contribu- 
 tion imposed lieere by His Majestie's authority, 
 I liave desired this bearer, Mr. Peasley, some- 
 time a servant of our late Sovereigne, who 
 for company I have had heero this summer, 
 to attend your Grace on my behalf, and I 
 Immblye beseech you to vouchsafe mc accesse 
 to your person, as there shall be occasion, 
 with favour, and I shall always rest the same, 
 now and for ever, 
 
 '' Your Grace's most fiiithfull 
 and humble servant, 
 
 ''GEO. BALTIMORE. 
 'Terryland, Aug. 25, 1628." 
 
1-04 
 
 UHLKJIOUS TUOrULKS. 
 
 ! 
 ■ i 
 
 
 
 Lord Jialtinioro's lecjiu'st wu8 gTiiiitcil, and 
 two prize .sliij)s, tlic " Esperaiiio" and "8. 
 riaiide," were sent out to Newfoundland, 
 under the eoTnmaiid of Leonard Calvert, liis 
 Lordsliii)'s son. Poor Lord Baltimore, queru- 
 lous and di.ssatisfied, did not find Newfound- 
 land as pleasant a i)lace as he oxpeeted. lie 
 found that Captain Wynne had grossly exag- 
 gerated a1)out the elinuite, the sunniiers being" 
 too short to ripen corn, and the island bcdng 
 almost entirely dei)endent upon supplies from 
 abroad. Added to this, he found the free 
 exercise of his religion no easier in Ferr^iand 
 than at Whitehall. ''J'he island was filled with 
 Puritans, who looked with abhorrence at his 
 papistical observances; and some bold 2)reacher 
 came and upheld sectarian doctrines under lily 
 very nose at Ferryland. One oi these, by 
 name Erasmus Stourton, burning with re- 
 ligious zeal, thought it his duty to denounce 
 Lord Baltimore's doings upon his return to 
 England. He had no s'^.on-'r landed at Ply- 
 mouth, than he hastened to present himself 
 
KUASMUS STOUKTON. 
 
 155 
 
 before Nicliolan Slicrwill, Mjiyor of I'lyrnoiitli, 
 tiiid TlioiMiis Shcrwill, inorcliiiiit, hotli .Justicos 
 of the peace for tlie l)()r()ii<4h of IMynioutli, 
 and into tlioir liorrified ears lie i)oiired his 
 astouiidin<>' tale of Lord Haltiiuore's misdeeds: 
 how the said Lord arrived in Newfoundhmd 
 on the 2lh'd July, 1G27, and brought with 
 him two seminary priests, one of them calh'd 
 Langvill, and the other called Anthony Smith ; 
 but Langvill returned to England witli tlie 
 said Lord, wlio brouglit out the same year 
 another priest, named Llackett, and with him 
 about 40 papists ; and how the said Ilackett 
 and Smith said mass every Sunday, and used 
 " all the other ceremonies of the Church of 
 Rome, in the ample manner as 'tis used in 
 Spain ; " and how tiie child of one William 
 Poole, a Protestant, was baptised into the 
 Romish Church, by order of Lord Baltimore, 
 and contrary to the wish of its father."^ 
 
 No wonder that the worthy brothers Slier- 
 will, amazed at such enormities, sent Stourton 
 
 1 Col. Papers : Vol. IV., No. 59. 
 
i5e 
 
 WAR WITH FRANCE. 
 
 post haste to tlio Privy Council, with a copy 
 of his deposition in his pocket. 
 
 Enghmd and France being now at war 
 (1628), the fishing ])anks at Newfoundland 
 were infested by French cruisers. Lord Bal- 
 timore, hearing that three French men-of-war 
 had appeared off the banks, sent his shij^, the 
 '' Benediction," together with the " Victory," 
 a ship from London, to drive the French 
 from the island. Not finding tlie men-of-w^ar, 
 the Benediction and Victory sailed to Tre- 
 passe, wliere they found six French fishing 
 ships. The Benediction, entering the ^nirbour. 
 first gave the French six or seven shots, and 
 then poured in a broadside ui)on them, which 
 so terrified thciu, that they abandoned their 
 ships, and made (jff to the shore. In the 
 meanwhile, the Victory had lowered her 
 boats, and rowing to the French ships, 
 boarded them, and took possession. T'he 
 two war ships divided these prizes between 
 them, and in a further cruise, were equally 
 forturare.- 
 
 1 C(.l. Tapers . Vi.l, IV,, No, 03. 
 
 Li. 
 
LORD Baltimore's troubles. 
 
 157 
 
 But despite his successes against tlie French, 
 it is evident that poor Lord Baltimore is 
 heartily sick of Newfoundland. He finds 
 difficulties on every sido ; his croj)s failing, 
 his healtli failing, his men dying, and his 
 religion desjjised and abhorred. He had 
 heard of Stourton's depositions, and liis mind 
 is troul)l(^d. In 1629, August 19, he writes 
 to the King, to thank liim for tlie loan of a 
 ship, which had been sent to him. In this 
 letter he complains of the calumny and malice 
 of those who seek to make him apj^car foul 
 in His Majesty's eyes, and of the slanderous 
 reports raised at Plymouth last winter, by an 
 audacious man, wh.o was banished the colony 
 for his misdeeds. Has met with difficulties 
 in this place no longer to bo resisted, and is 
 forced to shift to some warmer climate of 
 the world, where the winters are shorter and 
 less rigorous. He complains of the severity 
 of the weather from September to May ; both 
 land and sea frozen the greatest part of tlie 
 time. His house has been a hospital all the 
 
r. 
 
 158 
 
 WISHES TO LEAVE THE COLONY. 
 
 winter; of 100 persons, 50 sick at one time, 
 he being one; nine or ten have died. His 
 strength is much decayed, but his inclination 
 carries him nfiturally to proceedings in planta- 
 tions. Ill conclusion, lie desires a grant of a 
 precinct of land in Virginia, where he wishes 
 to lemove wHth 40 persons, with such privi- 
 leges as King James granted to him in 
 Newfoundland.^ In reply to this doleful 
 epistle, the King wrote him^ a letter full of 
 kindness, but at the same time with a dash 
 of irony. Seeing his plantation in Newfound- 
 land has not answered his expectation, that 
 he is in jiursuit of new countries, and weighing 
 that men of his condition and breeding are 
 fitted for other employments than the framing 
 of new plantations, which commonly have 
 rugged and laborious beginnings, the King 
 has thought fit to advise him to desist from 
 further prosecuting his designs, itnd to return 
 to his native country, where ho shall enjoy 
 
 1 Col. Papers : Vol. V., No. 27. 
 2 D«lofl ill. Whitehall, .Vov. 22, 1629. Col. Papers ■ Vol. V., No. 39, 
 
HIS DEATH. 
 
 159 
 
 «y 
 
 sucli respects as his former services and late 
 endeavours justly deserve. 
 
 But Lord Baltimore refused to accept King 
 Charles's advice, and persisted in his request 
 for a grant on the Continent of America. At 
 length tlie King acceded to his request, and 
 made him a grant of the province of Mary- 
 la. \ ; but before the patent cotdd be drawn 
 up, poor Lord Baltimore died. Tlie patent, 
 however, was made out and signed in favour 
 of his son, Cecil, 2nd Lord Baltimore, on 
 the 20th June, 16:32.^ 
 
 About the sa^ae time, the King issued his 
 orders to the Canada Commissioners, to take 
 possession of the forts then under the com- 
 mand of Lewis Kirke, and deliver them up 
 to the French, according to his Royal word 
 and pleasure. Having seen their authority 
 Lewis Kirke delivered up the forts to the 
 Commissioners, and then returned to England 
 to his brother's house, there to consider their 
 mutual losses. 
 
 1 Colonial Entry Rook No. 52, p. 1—19. 
 
100 
 
 LEWIS KIRKE. 
 
 In the year 1G35, Lewis Kirke was ap- 
 pointed to tlie command of the '' Leopard," 
 and his brother Thomas to the command of 
 the " Sampson," two men-of-war attcclied to 
 the Channel Squadron. In the following" year, 
 he was removed to the '' Repulse," and 
 Thomas Kirke to the " Swallow," both ships 
 in the same squadron. On the 20th August, 
 1636, the Repulse was invaded by a dreadful 
 plague. Thirty sick men were landed at 
 Margate, and eight more were left on board 
 too ill to move. The surgeon lay dead " of 
 spotted fever full of spots ;" so the Repulse 
 was put out of commission and discharged. 
 
 Sir David Kirke, having tried every means 
 to obtain redress for the injuries he had re- 
 ceived, and convinced that nothing could be 
 got from the French, not even the money 
 which they had agreed to pay him, began 
 to entertain the idea of taking up the colony 
 at Newfoundland, which Lord Baltimore had 
 deserted. He applied to the King for this 
 purpose, and obtained from him on the l'3th 
 
>iilse 
 
 1. 
 
 aiis 
 re- 
 lic 
 
 gan 
 
 ony 
 
 had 
 
 Ithis 
 
 .3tli 
 
 SETTLERS AT FEERYLAND. 
 
 IGl 
 
 of November, 1087, a grant of the whole 
 island of Newfoundland, witli all the powers 
 of a Count Palatine over the island/ 
 
 Sir David Kirke was not a man to waste 
 his time, so having- collected 100 men to 
 accompany him to Newfoundland, lie fitted 
 out one of his own ships, clie '' Abigail," 
 with everything ni^cessary for a colony, and 
 sailed from England in the spring of 1638. 
 He established himself at Ferryh".nd in the 
 
 I There is considerable difliculty with regard to thi.s Grant to Sir 
 David Kirke. Ou the 13th of Novemljer, 1(337, two patents were 
 drawn up and signed ; the first was a Grant to " Air right trustie and 
 lighte well-beloved cosens and counsellors, Jame.s, Mar'juess of Hamil- 
 ton, Master of our Hor.se; Philip, Earle of Pembroke and Montgomerie, 
 Lord Chamberlayno of our Houriuhold ; and Heurie, Earl of Holland, 
 Oliiefe Justice, Justice in Eyre of all our forests, chaces, and parkes in 
 the southei-u side of our river of Trente ; and to our v»ell-beloved Sir 
 DavM Kiike, Knight, one of the Gentlemen of our Privie Chamber," 
 of -'all that whole continent i.slnnd or region, commonly called or knowue 
 by the name of New foundlande, bordering upon the eontiuente of 
 America, &c., \c." The whole Grant is most absolute of every thing 
 and right in tliat country. The sec(jnd Grant is similar to the first, but 
 is to Sir David Kirke uiili/. It is impussible to account for these a^ipar- 
 ently contradictory Grants except upon the supposit)<in that Sir David, 
 being the only one of the grantees who intended to reside at Newfound 
 land, it was thought desirable to give him plenary powers in case any 
 dispute should arise upon the island. He was also appointed by the 
 other giantees .Sule-Governor and Captain of the vast territory which 
 liey jointly possessed; and as his three co-grantees died hi a few years, 
 Sir Daviil was left in sole possession. 
 
 M 
 
j ! 
 
 163 
 
 NEWFOUNDLAND COMPANY. 
 
 t'.i 
 
 house built by Lord Baltimore, and made 
 every arrangement for a prolonged stay in the 
 island. Before he left England, Sir David 
 had formed a company to carry on the New- 
 foundland trade. The Marquis of Hamilton, 
 the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, and 
 the Earl of Holland, had joined with him to 
 form a company, imd had assisted him with 
 money to carry it out. Ships were sent out 
 to the island, which were put under the 
 managenTcnt of Sir David, and the fish and 
 oil which they collected, were forwarded to 
 London, and sold by the company's manager 
 in London. 
 
 Lord Baltimore's complaints and the dismal 
 accounts whicli he had forwarded to England, 
 had somewhat prejudiced men's minds against 
 settling in tlie island : so one of the first 
 acts of Sir David Kirko was to try and 
 remove the injurious impressions whicli were 
 afloat. For this purpose he wrote a long 
 and highly interesting account of the country, 
 with the prospects of trade in the different 
 
^*!,.;f"#':i!.ii^,^ 
 
 STATE OF THE ISLAND, 
 
 163 
 
 long 
 
 industries then practised, whicJi he divides 
 into eight heads— fishino, buying and making 
 of salt, making potashes, brewing and baking, 
 ironworks, impositions (taxes) upon strangers, 
 and trade. By the last head is meant barter 
 and traffic with the natives; and apropos to 
 this Sir David gives an interesting account of 
 former dealings with the natives, from which 
 I have quoted largely in my account of 
 Alderman Guy's expedition. In the conclu- 
 sion of his narrative he ridicules the idea put 
 forward that noblemen and gentlemen should 
 not engage in trade, and that if they did 
 would be sure to lose their money. He says, 
 "Mala mens, malus animus. He that hath 
 a habit of playing false himself thinks every 
 man els a cheater. But wee knowe not the 
 condition and quality of the Answeares and 
 therefore wee will not be definitive in our cen- 
 sure as they are in their conclusion. It was 
 never heard, say tliey, that any lord or gentle- 
 man gott anything by tradinge. Never heard? 
 Hath noe man ever heard of the noblemen 
 
 '-*»^ 
 
 ^BP 
 
 i \ 
 

 104 
 
 TRADE. 
 
 and gentlemen of Italy? Have they ^:oe 
 hand in mercliandizc ? Nay, arc not +he 
 greatest of their princes some way or other 
 iiigaged in a constant cause of traffi(iue ? But, 
 not to send you soe farr for examples, it is 
 very well knowne tliat divers gentlemen of 
 the west of England have for many yeares 
 past, and doe yet, to their great 2)rofit, con- 
 tinue even this trade of fishinge, the subject 
 of our discourse, which, if you had study ed 
 with a little more care and inquiry, you miglit 
 yet further htive heard or read the oj^inions 
 and instructions upon such a theme, of a num 
 as great as any of his age brought forth, and 
 a great and eminent pecre of England, who 
 adviseth in business of this nature to admitt 
 of none but noblemen and gentlemen, exclud- 
 ing utterly tlie merchant from having any 
 liand in the designe. Our hopes, therefore, 
 arc that their Lordships will take the strange 
 encouragement to proceed in the course be- 
 ganc, from the weakness of the reasons ob- 
 jected against it. And wee assure ourselves 
 
 
 m 
 
LE'JTER TO 
 
 105 
 
 wee sliall render to tlie adventurers mvh 
 accounts as sliall give tliem In'o-h satisfaction, 
 if in tlie manage of tlie business they be 
 pleased to take tlie advice of such as have 
 the best opportunityes to understand it. And 
 are here for this purpose to doe all rig-Jit to 
 them, lionour to His Majesty, and good to 
 the natives of the land and all llis Ilio-lmesges 
 subjects that shall engage themselves in the 
 action." 
 
 After a year's experience of Newfoundland, 
 Sir David wrote home a most promising 
 account of tlio country. He pronounces the 
 climate to be healthy, though rather severe, 
 the- air agreeing with everyone, except Jesuits 
 and schismatics— a sly rap at Lord Baltimore. 
 Sir David had an equal dislike to both 
 (Jatholics and Puritans: he was a good 
 Churchman, and an admirer of Archbishop 
 Laud, with whom he kept up a regular cor- 
 respondence. One of his letters is extant, 
 and as it gives a good account of his position, 
 I shall insert it in full : — 
 
il 
 
 166 
 
 ARCHBISHOP LAUD. 
 
 " Most Reverend Father, 
 
 '' I doe with joyo and a gratcfiill hart, ac- 
 knowledge ' the favour I received from your 
 Grace, in your good wishes for our prosperity 
 in tliis country, after it had pleased His 
 Majesty to grant to us by his Patent. My 
 Lord, I doubt not but God hath blessed us 
 the more for your Grace's blessing upon us, 
 for wee have found the country so good and 
 healthfull, that since our arrival heer, of 
 about 100 persons which wee brought over to 
 this daye, wee have lost but one of sickness, 
 and hee a diseased man, before we departed 
 out of England. Concerning the temperature 
 of the clyme, and the general estate of* y° 
 country, your Grace may be at large informed 
 by these relations which are sent over to the 
 Company, and shall bee presented to your 
 Grace, if your more serious and greate im- 
 ploymerto maye allowe any time of leysure 
 for their perusal. I shall only add this one 
 particular observation, out of what had hap- 
 pened in the country heretofore, and what I 
 
 
EELIGION. 
 
 1G7 
 
 hope shall followe hereafter. That the ayro 
 of Ncwfouiidlaiid agrees perfectly well "with 
 all God's creatures, except Jesuits* and schis- 
 matics. A great mortality amongst the for- 
 mer tribe so affrighted my Lord Baltimore, 
 that hce utterly deserted the country. And 
 of the other sort we have heard so many 
 frensies from our next neighbouring planta- 
 tion, the greatest His ]\rajesty hath in America, 
 that wee hoj^e our strict observance and use 
 of the rites and service of the Church of 
 England, as it is our chiefest safety, by the 
 blessing of God, whose ordinance wee are 
 constantly persuaded it is. So may it dis- 
 courage for ever all seditious spirits to mingle 
 with us, to the disturbance of that happy 
 conformity which wee desire may be estab- 
 lished in this land. To this good end, if it 
 shall please vour Grace to e-ive us directions 
 for the time to come (for we doubt not that 
 the country may be peopled in a short time 
 with a numerous plantation of His Majesty's 
 subjects), wee shall with all respect and 
 
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 168 
 
 FISHERIES. 
 
 faytlifulness receive and practise your Grace's 
 injunctions: and I in my particular, shall rest 
 ever, • 
 
 ^' Your Grace's most obedient, 
 
 '^ DAVID KIRKE.^ 
 
 ''Ferry land, Octobris 2°, 1639,, 
 
 '' To the Most Reverend Father in God, 
 
 Wiillam, by the ' Divine Providence, 
 
 Lord Archbishop of Canterburie, his 
 
 Grace present these." 
 
 Undismayed by the difficulties which had 
 driven away Lord Baltimore, and determined 
 to establish the Colony of Newfoundland upon 
 a sure and lasting footing-. Sir David Kirke 
 laboured with all his might to develop flio 
 fisheries under his control ; feeling, and that 
 truly, that the mainland was too cold and 
 barren ever to succeed as an agricultural 
 colony, and that its whole wealth and im- 
 portance depended uj)on the valuable fisheries 
 which its seas afforded on every side. With 
 
 1 Col. Papers : Vol. X., No. 40. Endorsed by Laud, "Reed., Jan. 
 16i0." 
 
DISCONTENT OF THE FISHERMEN. 
 
 1()9 
 
 this idea, he nscd every effort to increase the 
 fisliing trade, now grown to great importance, 
 by offering every facility to both. British and 
 foreign fishermen to prosecute their trade- 
 both by means of his protection as Governor, 
 and also by erecting sheds on the land where 
 they could dry and salt their fish, and lodffino- 
 homes, whore they could be housed and fed 
 during their sojourn in Newfoundland. But 
 it could not be supposed that the British 
 fishermen would view with favour Kirke's 
 impartiality to all the fishermen who resorted 
 to the banks. Murmurs were heard from them 
 on all sides, which at last formed coherent 
 expression in a petition to the Privy Council, 
 signed by the Bishop of Exeter, William 
 Peterson, and fourteen others, saying that 
 nuancrous complaints had been received from 
 merchants, fishermen, and others, of injuries 
 which tliey had received at the hands of Sir 
 David Kirke and his company. '' Cook rooms 
 and stages have been destroyed, and the 
 principal places for fishermen disposed of to 
 
 P 1 
 
^w 
 
 II 
 
 IV' 
 II 
 
 170 
 
 KIRKE S ANSWER, 
 
 
 
 aliens. Taverns, which had been expressly 
 forbidden by the Privy Council, have been 
 set up by Kirke, whereby the fishermen waste 
 their estates, and grow disorderly. It is re- 
 quested that some timely course may be taken 
 for the prevention of such houses."^ 
 
 This petition was presented in January, 
 1640. In the following March, letters were 
 sent by the Lords of the Privy Council to 
 Sir David Kirke, informing him of the 
 charges made against him. In September, 
 Sir David writes^ to the Privy Council. He 
 protests that all the allegations are false. 
 That the stages and cook-rooms have been 
 pulled down by the fishermen themselves, 
 inasmuch that the masters complained to him 
 of these outrages. Has sent warrants to all 
 planters and fishoxmen, to see the clauses of 
 the 9th of His Majesty's reign duly kept. 
 Hopes by good proofs to clear himself from 
 causeless clamours against him. '' Whoever 
 
 1 Col. Papers : Vol. X., No. 46. 
 2 Dated, " Ferryland, September 12, 1C40." See Appendix F. and 
 Col. Papers : Vol. X., No. 77. 
 
1640-50. 
 
 171 
 
 would interrupt the fishing of Newfoundland, 
 is worthy the name of a traitor." 
 
 After this letter, we hear no more com- 
 plaints against Sir David Kirke ; either the 
 proofs which he offered of his innocence were 
 considered satisfactory, or else the civil war 
 which began in the following year, drove all 
 such trifling matters from the heads of both 
 King and Council. 
 
 During the next ten years— 1640-50— there 
 is a great blank in the State Papers relating 
 to Newfoundland. The King and the Parlia- 
 ment were too much occupied with home 
 affairs to pay any attention to the state of 
 the Colonies, so that these last were left to 
 their own devices, some having espoused the 
 King's cause, and others that of the ParHa- 
 ment. Sir David Kirke, during this period, 
 remained in undisturbed possession of New- 
 foundland, and kept the Royal standard con- 
 tinually hoisted In front of his Jiouse and fort 
 of Ferryland. At the outbreak of the war, 
 his brothers, Lewis and Thomas, joined the 
 
■^WPPT 
 
 172 
 
 T.RWTS KTRKE. 
 
 N!'< 
 
 King" wlien he lioisted his standard at Not- 
 tingham, on the 22nd of August, 1G42, and 
 Lewis Kirke was invested with the command 
 of a troop of horse. Both tlie brothers fought 
 in the bloody and undecisive battle of Edge- 
 hill; and not long afterwards, Thomas Kirke 
 was killed in one of the numerous skirmishes 
 which took place between the Cavaliers and 
 Roundheads. Lewis Kirke accompanied the 
 King into the West of England, took part 
 in the siege of Gloucester, which was raised 
 by the Earl of Essex, and in the battle of 
 Newbury. Here he so distinguished himself, 
 that a few day3 after the battle, he was 
 knighted^ by the King at Oxford, whither 
 the Royal army had retired, on the 23rd 
 of April, 1643. He was afterwards made 
 Governor of Bridgnorth Castle, in the county of 
 Shropshire, a place of considerable strength 
 and importance, which fact we learn from two 
 letters, one written by the King to Sir Lewis 
 Kirke, from Evesham, ordering him to send 
 
 1 See Harleian MS., 6062 ; Landsdowne MS., 807, f. 62. 
 
GOVERNOR OF BRIDGNORTH. 
 
 173 
 
 some victuals for the army, and the other 
 from Sir Lewis Kirke^ to Sir Francis Ottley, 
 upon the same business. From this time we 
 lose sight of Sir Lewis Kirke, uncil the Restora- 
 tion, when he was appointed Captain and 
 Paymaster of the Corps of Gcntlemen-at-Arms. 
 That he continued to fight for the King until 
 his cause was hopeless there can be no doubt, 
 especially as we find his name down in the 
 list of delinquents, compelled to pay from his 
 slender purse £151 for his loyalty to his 
 King.^ 
 
 1 Letter of Sir Lewis Kirke, Governor of Bridgnorth Castle, to Sir 
 Francis Ottley : " Sir,— His Majeatie being advanced to Evesham, hath 
 by His letters from thence of the Vlth instanty, rei^nired me speetlilie 
 to i^rovide and send ten tonne of cheese from these parts to he delivered 
 to the Mayor of Worcester, who shall give the owners satisfaction out 
 of the markett rates. I desire you, therefore, that you send in this 
 night, soe soon after as possible, yn care to Bayliffe Synge's house at 
 Bridgnorth, one tonne of a good sorte of cheese, whether oukl or this 
 yeare's making, and thence that there be an officer appointed to receive 
 the same, and to attend itt to Worcester, and to demand to receive the 
 monies for itt there, which shall, upon his return, bee speedilie paid 
 everie person who shall soe send in. Letting you further know, that as 
 I have sent unto His Majestic an account how I have proceeded in his 
 commands, by sending him a catalogue of the names of the persons and 
 the portions from them required, see I must if there be a fail in any 
 one, and signifie the same to His Majestic, for my ownc excuse. I rest 
 your loveiug friend to serve you, " LEWIS KIRKE." 
 
 2 If we are to believe a petition to King Charles II. by Colouel 
 
 
 
I V 
 
 174 
 
 THE king's cause 
 
 II 
 
 iiifi 
 
 Mi 
 
 I: ^: 
 
 iiip' 
 
 i 
 
 In the meanwhile, Sir David Kirke held 
 Newfoundland for the King, and offered His 
 Majesty an asylum in that place, when Eng- 
 land was no longer safe for him to stay in. 
 With a view to maintaining his position, Sir 
 David procured 400 seamen from England, by 
 offering high pay, and other advantages, to 
 man his ships, which he also armed with 
 heavy guns. These men were brought from 
 England under the pretence of filling vacancies 
 in the fishing ships at Newfoundland; but 
 the affair having got wind, the Council of 
 State issued an ordinance on the 23rd of 
 February, 1649, to the Comptrollers of Customs 
 
 Tempio, in December, 1660, one of tlio Kirkes accompanied King 
 Charles I. upon the scaffold. In this petition (to be found in the Col. 
 Papers : Vol. XIV., No. G4) Colonel Temple says, " One of the last 
 commands that he (the King) whispered to Kirke on the scaffold was to 
 charge this King to have a care of honest Tom Temple." Thougb Col, 
 Temple may have been mistaken about this last injunction of the un- 
 fortunate King, yet the very fact of his asserting that it was said to 
 Kirke, proves that one of that name must have been present on the 
 scaffold at the execution, as the event was quite recent enough, and 
 being of such great importance to leave every fact imprinted on the 
 minds of the spectators. Who this Kirke could be we have no means 
 of knowing ; it must, however, have been one of two persons, either 
 Sir Lewis Kirke, the distinguished cavalier, or else George Kirke, groom 
 of the bedchamber, most probably the latter. 
 
 111 
 
IN NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 175 
 
 Lis 
 
 at Plymouth, Dartmouth, and Barnstaple, re- 
 quiring them not to let any more sailors to 
 go to Newfoundland, as they are informed 
 that 400 seamen have been taken up under 
 pretence of being transported to Newfound- 
 land, to fish for Sir David Kirke, and that 
 by reason of the great wages, and other ad- 
 vantages offered, the navy of the Common- 
 wealth could not be furnished with men. 
 
 The death of the King frustrated Sir David's 
 intentions; but determined to hold out as 
 long as possible, he wrote to Prince Rupert, 
 who about this time was cruising in the 
 English Channel, with a fleet which had re- 
 volted from the Parliament, and begged him 
 to make sail for Newfoundland, w^here he 
 could recruit his fleet, and devise fresh schemes 
 for annoying the enemy.^ Upon the receipt 
 of this message, Prince Rupert set sail for 
 America ; but news of his intention had been 
 conveyed to London, and a fleet, under the 
 
 1 Interregnum Entrj' Book : Vol. XC., p. 263. Ibid : Vol. CXV 
 p. 148. 
 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 » 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
'W^ 
 
 1 
 
 
 170 
 
 SEQl.'KSTRATIONS. 
 
 If 
 
 il 
 
 1. 1 
 
 ■ 
 
 I'M'}'] 
 W 
 I 
 
 command of Sir Goorgo Ayscuc, was sent to 
 prevent his joinin<^ Sir David Kirko at New- 
 foundland; so div^crting his course, ho made 
 all sail for Barbadocs, which enjoyed the 
 re])utation of being the most loyal of the 
 Colonies. 
 
 The battle had been fought out, and now 
 the victors were engaged in dividing the s})oil. 
 Sequestrators were sent into all the counties 
 of England to take inventories of all the 
 property of delinquents, and appropriate the 
 same to the uses of tlie Commonwealth. Of 
 the owners some had fallen in battle, tlie rest 
 had fled to Holland;, France, and the colonies, 
 to escape death or imprisonment. In this 
 universal spoliation it was not to be expected 
 Sir David Kirke would escape : he was 
 known to be a zealous royalist, his brothers 
 had done good service in tlie King's armies, 
 and he had recently been discovered in treaty 
 with the enemy. But still his case was not 
 an ordinary one; he owed no allegiance to 
 the Englisli Parliament ; by his grant he ex- 
 
 
014DERED lIOMi:. 
 
 177 
 
 erclsed palatinate jurisdiction over Newfound- 
 land and its dependencies (the other grantees 
 being by tliis time all dead), and ho himself 
 had not taken up arms against the Parliament. 
 It was, therefore, thought advisable by the 
 Government to rake up the old grievances 
 which had been alleged against him by the 
 Western traders before the outbreak of the 
 war, and to cite him to answer these charges. 
 On the 8tli of April, 1G51, a warrant was 
 issued to Captain Thomas Thoroughgood, 
 commander of the '' Crescent," to sail to New- 
 foundland, and bring Sir David Kirke to 
 England, to answer the charges which have 
 been made against him.^ But to show how 
 little justice Kirke could expect at the hands 
 of the Government, a warrant was issued on 
 the same day to John Trcworgie and Walter 
 Sykes, ordering them to sail i.i the Crescent 
 to Newfoundland, and to sequestrate, for the 
 benefit of the Commonwealth, all ordnance, 
 ammunition, houses, boats, and other articles 
 
 1 Iiitencguum Entry Book : Vol. CXVll. p. 114. 
 
 N 
 
 ^1 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 I? 
 
w^ 
 
 ill 
 
 178 
 
 COMMITTEE APPOINTED. 
 
 I" I I 
 
 l! I" ' 
 
 illli 
 
 ,. 
 
 beloiif^ing- to Sir David Kirke, and to collect the 
 taxes paid by strangerH for the right of lishinjj. 
 
 Sir David arrived in England in September, 
 and immediately presented himself before the 
 Council, anxious that a most thorough inves- 
 tigation of his conduct should be made. 
 
 But now began a series of most vexatious 
 delays. The 4tli of November was appointed 
 by order of the Council to consider the busi- 
 ness relating to Newfoundland, but though 
 Sir David attended with his papers, nothing 
 was done. On the 12tli of January, 1652, 
 an order of the Council was issued ajipointing 
 Mr. Nevile, the Earl of Pembroke, Colonel 
 Morley, Mr. Love, Colonel Purefoy, Mr. Hay, 
 Mr. Holland, Mr. Scott, Mr. Bond, and Sir 
 Arthur Haselrig, or any three of them, a Com- 
 mittee to examine the business concerning Sir 
 David Kirke, to peruse papers relative to his 
 doings in Newfoundland, and to require an 
 account of what is due to the Commonwealth 
 on the profits of shares forfeited to the state, 
 and to report upon the whole matter.^ 
 
 1 Interregnum Entry Book : Vol. XCIV., pp. 192, 272, 280. 
 
DELAY. 
 
 179 
 
 On tho 29tli of the sumo month, Sir David 
 Kirke was smnmoncd before tlio Council, and 
 ordered to enter into a bond not to depart out 
 of the Commonwealth, and to bo in readiness 
 to attend tlie Committee when sent for. He 
 was always ready to meet the Committee, but 
 the Committee did not seem equally anxious 
 to meet him. As if the Committee was not 
 already largo enough. Sir Henry Vane, Mr. 
 Masham, Mr. Challoiier, Colonel Dixwell, Mr. 
 Corbett, Lord Bradshaw, and Mr. Morley 
 were added to it by order of Council, dated 
 April 2nd.^ On the 13th of the same month, 
 Sir David presented a petition to tho Council, 
 praying that his case might be entered into ; 
 but it was not till tho 11th of June that his 
 case was heard. The result of their delibera- 
 tions was to the effect that Sir David Kirke 
 had no authority in Newfoundland under the 
 grant of Charles Stuart; that all forts, houses, 
 stages, and other ajipurtenances relating to 
 the fishing trade, and established on the island 
 
 1 luterregmim Entry Book : Vol. XCIV., p. 533. 
 
 
 

 180 
 
 DECISION 
 
 Mi 
 
 i 
 
 by Kirke and his fellow-adventurers, should be 
 forfeited to the Government as the property 
 of delinquents; that Kirke's own private effects 
 shall be secured to him, and he is to be at 
 liberty to send over his wife and servants to 
 take care of his estate.^ At the same time 
 instructions were sent to Walter ISykes, liobert 
 Street, Captain William Pyle, and Captain 
 Nicholas Redwood, commissioners for manag- 
 ing and ordering the affairs and interest of 
 the Commonwealth in Newfoundland in the 
 year ensuing, "to repair thither immediately, 
 and take possession of the ordnance, ammuni- 
 tion, houses, boats, stages, and other appurten- 
 ances belonging to the fishing trade ; to collect 
 imjiositions until Parliament declare their 
 further pleasure. Take care for the govern- 
 ment and well-ordering of the inhabitants; 
 secure the fishery against Rupert or any others; 
 discover what is due to the Commonwealth 
 upon the adventure of several delinquents, and 
 
 1 Interregnum Entry Book: Vol. CLIX., p. 7. Ibid: Vol. LVIL, 
 pp. 11, 14, 22, 2i. 
 
 
OF THE COUNCIL. 
 
 181 
 
 alleged to be in tlie hands of Sir David Kirke, 
 who is to bo permitted by himself or deputies 
 to manage his estate there, subject to rules 
 and directions from themselves ; to administer 
 the engagement to all the inhabitants; give 
 a full account of their proceedings from time 
 to time; admit Sir David Kirke to cross- 
 examine witnesses ; and enquire into com- 
 plaints." 
 
 At the same time, permission was granted 
 to Sir David to return to Newfoundland, on 
 condition tliat he returned to England with 
 the Commissioners, and in the meanwhile gave 
 securitjr tliat he would answer whatever was 
 objected against him, and to pay such sums 
 as shall appear to he due from him to the 
 Commonwealth. Upon such hard terms a. 
 these, Sir David Kirke returned to his estates 
 at Ferryland, in the summer of 1652. He 
 could not have remained long there, for in 
 the spring of 1G53, we find him again in 
 England, for a petition of his to the Council 
 of State, was filed on the 4th of March 
 
 I 
 
 m 
 
182 
 
 SEQUESTRATION REMOVED. 
 
 ill 
 
 1653 J* and on tlie 30tli of the same month, 
 Sir David and Mr. Sykes, the Commissioner, 
 were ordered to appear before the Council, 
 on the 1st of April ; upon which day Sir 
 David ap^jeared, hut Mr. Sykcs, making de- 
 fault, the latter was peremptorily ordered to 
 attend on the loth instant, on which day the 
 petitions on both sides were considered, and 
 the business referred to the Committee for 
 Foreign Affairs. 
 
 Sir David, in the meanwhile, had not been 
 idle. He had gained the assistance of Colonel 
 Claypole, Cromwell's son-in-law, by making 
 him a present of a large estate in Newfound- 
 land, and promising him a share of the 
 fishery duties. With Claypole's assistance, 
 he obtained the removal of the seques- 
 tration upon his property, and with the 
 exception of the ordnance and forts, the 
 whole was restored to him ; and he was 
 allowed to return to Newfoundland, upon en- 
 
 1 Interregnum Entry Book: Vol. CLXI., pp. 15, 16, 20, 23, 26, 29, 
 82, 33. 
 
RETURNS TO NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 183 
 
 tering into a bond of double the value of his 
 estate, to answer any charges that might be 
 brought against liim.^ 
 
 With such terms, which were the best he 
 could procure, Kirke was bound to be satisfied; 
 so he set sail for Newfoundland, and arrived 
 there in the autumn of 1658. At this time 
 his troubles seemed to be over, and he might 
 with reason look forward to a life of happi- 
 ness and usefulness, in the wild, but interest- 
 ing country, in which he had established 
 himself. Through all the latter period of his 
 life, through cloud and sunshine, he had been 
 sustained by the assistance of a devoted and 
 loving wife. Children had been born to him, 
 and his house at Ferryland was filled with 
 stalwart sons and fair daughters, who would, 
 as he hoped, in after years uphold the honour 
 of his house, and extend its influence in the 
 land where he had been for so many years 
 little short of an independent sovereign. 
 But all these hopes and expectations were 
 
 1 Interregnum Entry Book: Vol. XCVII., pp. 197, 204—7. 
 
 ii 
 
 if 
 
 il: 
 
 ■ I'-t 
 
 ■ tl- 
 
 f i 
 
iiili 
 
 184 
 
 HIS de:atit. 
 
 
 bliglited by his death, which took place in 
 the winter of 1655-6, but the exact date is 
 not known. His end was sudden and uu- 
 cxj^ectcd, as he was only in his 56th year. 
 Naturally he was of a robust constitution ; but 
 trouble and anxiety, and the exposure for many 
 years to the rigour of an extremely cold climate, 
 must have made him prematurely old, and 
 laid the seeds of the disease which eventually 
 carried him off, at a comparatively early age/ 
 No account of Sir David Kirke, by the hand 
 of a contemporary, has come down to us, but 
 if we may judge him by his actions, he was 
 certainly an extraordinary person. He was 
 essentially a practical man ; his theories were 
 never stultified by his actions, and his success 
 in most cases, certainly in those which de- 
 pended upon his own exertions, far exceeded 
 his expectations. But tlu^oughout his life he 
 was most unfortunate in all his undertakings. 
 Never were the achievements of an English 
 
 1 The exact date of his death is uncertain ; but in a petition of 
 Walter Sykes to the Privy Council, on the 29th April, KiftO, Sir David 
 is spoken of as deceased, so he must have died in the winter of 16.55-0. 
 
CHARACTER, 
 
 185 
 
 officer more unrequited. The capture of 
 Canada and Nova Scotia, the destruction of 
 a French fleet of eighteen sail, and the ex- 
 penditure of £40,000, was ill rewarded by 
 an empty title, and an honorary addition to 
 his arms. But instead of being discouraged 
 and disgusted, his ill success in the Canadas 
 only spurred on Sir David to fresh exertions ; 
 he was the only man of his time who fully 
 appreciated the value of the Newfoundland 
 fisheries; and, undeterred by the ill success 
 which attended Lord Baltimore, Dr. Vaughan, 
 and others, who had attempted to colonize 
 Newfoundland, he determined to risk his life 
 and estate in a similar attempt. 
 
 We have seen how he succeeded. For 
 nearly twenty years he resided at Ferryland 
 as Governor, and during the latter period, as 
 sole owner of the whole island. lie pro- 
 tected the fisheries from pirates, and in return 
 gained a considerable revenue, in the shape 
 of a tax paid for the use of stages on the 
 sea shore, erected for the purpose of drying 
 
 « 
 
Ill 
 
 186 
 
 AND MISFORTUNES. 
 
 the fish caught. During the civil war in 
 Er gland, both the King and the Parliament 
 were too much occupied with home affairs, to 
 give any thought to those of Newfoundland ; 
 so Sir David was left in sole possession of 
 the island, responsible to none, though he 
 himself, as a staunch supporter of the King, 
 considered himself under His Majesty's com- 
 mands, until the unfortunate monarch had 
 ceased to live. 
 
 The death of the King was the signal for 
 his own ruin. As a malignant, his estates 
 were confiscated, he himself summoned to 
 England, and put under arrest, though after- 
 wards liberated upon giving enormous bail, 
 and although at last iDcrmitted to return to 
 Newfoundland, it was as a ruined man. 
 
 But though he was prevented carrying out 
 his plans to their fullest extent, the sojourn 
 of Sir David Kirke in Newfoundland was pro- 
 ductive of the greatest benefit to the island, 
 and laid the foundation of its subsequent 
 prosperity. 
 
CLAIMS OF HIS 
 
 187 
 
 He left three sons, who were all witli him 
 in Newfoundland at the time of his death: 
 George, David, and Philip. Upon the 
 Restoration, Sir Lewis Kirke, their uncle, 
 presented a petition to the King on their 
 behalf, reciting his own services in the Civil 
 War, the services of his brotlier, and the 
 grant to Sir David Kirke, l)y King Cliarles I., 
 of the island of Newfoundland, and praying 
 that the ships about to be sent thither, may 
 assist his nephews to recover their inherit- 
 ance, of which they had been dispossessed.^ 
 But, as is well known, Charles TI. found 
 himself much embarrassed at his Restoration' 
 between two conflicting parties. There were 
 the old Cavaliers, who had fought and bled 
 for his father on many a field of battle, and 
 there were his new friends, the Presbyterians, 
 and moderate party, who, disgusted with the 
 tyranny of the party under CromAvell, and the 
 extravagancies of religious madmen, had re- 
 stored him to the throne of his ancestors. It 
 
 1 Col. Papers : Vol. XIV., No. 8. 
 
i 
 
 PI 
 
 188 
 
 FAMILY. 
 
 was a hard position to be placed in, and no 
 wonder many old and tried friends of 
 monarchy had to suffer under the plea of 
 expediency. 
 
 Cecil, Lord Baltimore, put in a claim to 
 Newfoundland, under the grant to his father, 
 by James I. As we have seen, there can be 
 no doubt tlie first Lord Baltimore abandoned 
 Newfoundland ; in his letter to King Charles, 
 he prays to be removed from the island, and 
 to have a grant of land where the climate 
 was less rigorous. This request was granted 
 by Charles, and he made over to Lord Balti- 
 more the territory of Maryland. 
 
 In the full conviction tliat the Baltimorcs 
 had abandoned Newfoundland, Sir David 
 Kirko obtained a grant of that place from 
 the King, and in this grant it is recited 
 that, " George, Lord Baltimore, having left 
 the plantation in no sort provided for, Cecil, 
 his heir, having also deserted it, as have 
 several others who have grants of parcels of 
 land, leaving divers of our poor subjects in 
 
COUNTER CLAIMS. 
 
 189 
 
 the said province, living without government, 
 this grant was made at the humble petition* 
 of the above." 
 
 This was in 1637, and no conn:)laint was 
 made by Lord Baltimore till 1660. It is 
 difficult to see, then, what claims he could 
 substantiate. However, he prevailed with 
 the Council, and the King issued a warrant 
 to Sir Lewis Kirke,* Elizabeth, widow of 
 Sir David Kirke, and his sons, Philip, 
 George, and David, to deliver up possession 
 of all their property in Newfoundland, as it 
 belonged to Lord Baltimore, by the grant 
 of James I. to his father. 
 
 m\ 
 
 1 In the grant to Sir David Kirke it is specially recited, '• But the 
 said Lord Baltimore deserting the sayd plantation in his life tyme, and 
 leavinge the same in noe sorte provided for, accordir.ge to the sayd iin- 
 dertakinge, and yet leavinge divers of our poore suLjects in the sayd 
 province livinge without government, the sayd Lord Baltimore shortlie 
 afterwards died ; and Cecile, his sonne and heire apparent, hath alsoe 
 deserted the sayd province and plantation, and alsoe Sir Frauncis 
 Bacon, Knighte, deceased, afterwards Lord Albons, and late Lord 
 Chaimcellor of England, our citie of London, and divers others to whom 
 eeverall graunts of divers parcolls of Newfoundland aforesayd were 
 alsoe, by aeverall letters patent, formerly graunted, have alsoe deserted 
 the province and plantation." 
 
 2 Col. Papers : Vol. XIV., No. 9 (2). 
 
u 
 
 190 
 
 ATTEMPT TO KECOVER 
 
 ilif 
 
 Deprived of their rip^hts in Newfoundland, 
 Sir Lewis and his brother Jolin attempted to 
 recover the money which the French had 
 agreed to pay to them and their brother David 
 for the forts in Canada and Nova Scotia. On 
 the lOtli of July, 16G0, a jietition was pre- 
 sented by them to the Committee for Foreign 
 Plantations, in which they state that "they were 
 with others settled in Nova Francia, Acadia, 
 and Canada, from 1G28 to 1682, and ex2)ended 
 almost £G 0,000 in improving the plantations 
 and trade in those parts ; but were obliged by 
 the treaty of 1632 to withdraw themselves, 
 their servants, ships, and goods, and pay the 
 French £9000. Notwithstanding, none of the 
 agreements have been performed by the 
 French, although the petitioners have pre- 
 sented their demands for redress, as also for 
 a ship taken in 1033. In 1G55, the late pre- 
 tended Protector regained these forts and 
 places, and retained them upon the petitioners' 
 title, but refused their right because they were 
 malignants; and committed the benefit and 
 
THE FRENCH INDEMNITY. 
 
 191 
 
 trade to Thomas Temi)le, in wliose custody 
 they now are. Pray that the several forts and 
 places now in tlie hands of Temple may be 
 given up to them, or detained till the French 
 satisfy the petitioners, who can make it appear 
 they are damnified above £53,000 storliiifr "i 
 But though several petitions were presented, 
 and everything possible done, no money could 
 be procured. The King was on too good 
 terms with France to demand the jDayment of 
 the £00,000; so the widow and cliildren of 
 Sir David Kirke were left poor and unprovided 
 for, whilst Charles and his ministers reaped a 
 rich harvest, the result of his exertions. 
 
 During Sir David Kirke's government of 
 Newfoundland, he offered every inducement 
 to colonists to settle in the island, so that be- 
 fore the year 1650 more than three hundred 
 and fifty families were located in different 
 parts of the island. After his death a petition 
 was addressed by the inhabitants to the Lords 
 
 1 Col. Papers : Vol. XIV., No. 22, 23, 24, 28. 
 
 'ill 
 
m 
 
 '- 
 
 " 
 
 1()'3 
 
 STATE OF NKVVFOlJNDLANn. 
 
 'II f 
 
 of Trade and PlantatioiiH/ applyin^^ for hoiuo 
 local governor and magistrates who should 
 decide disj)uteri and prevent disorders amongst 
 them ; but their sensible request was opposed 
 by the mercliants and shipowners in London 
 and Bristol who were interested in the New- 
 foundland trade; and, strange to say, their 
 opposition was successful. The colonists again 
 renewed their petition to the King for a 
 governor in 1 074 ; but instead of granting 
 their request, the Lords of Trade and Planta- 
 tions advised His Majesty that all emigration 
 to Newfoundland should be discouraged, and 
 all existing plantations destroyed. His Majesty 
 was induced to approve of this extraordinary 
 
 1 Commission to Edward Ilydo, Lord Chancellor ; Thomas, Earl of 
 Southampton ; Kdward, Earl of Manchester ; Theopliilus, l^arl of Lin- 
 coln ; John, Earl of Clare ; James, Earl of Marlborough ; Jerome, Earl 
 of Portland ; with Viscount Saj'e and Sele, and others. The King 
 judging it necessary that so many remote colonies and governments so 
 many ways considerable to our crown, should be brought under an uni- 
 form inspection and conduct for their future regulation, security, and 
 improvement, they are appointed a standing Council, with authority to 
 any five to take into their consideration the condition of the foreign 
 planta.Llous according to instructions annexed. Power to appoint clerks, 
 messengers, &c., whose salaries are not to exceed .t'^OO per annum. 
 CoL Papers : Vol. XIV., No. 59. 
 
CAPTURED BY THE FRENCH. 
 
 193 
 
 scheme, and under his authority the most 
 wanton cruelties were practised upon the un- 
 fortunate settlors, to compel them to abandon 
 their adopted country. In 1G70, this cruel 
 system was abolished, and His Majesty ordered 
 that the settlers should be undisturbed. For 
 some reason or another the colonization of 
 Newfoundland was considered by the Govern- 
 ment as detrimental to the fisheries, and every- 
 thing was done to prevent emigi-ation to the 
 island. In 1G97, the Board of Trade, after 
 hearing both sides of the question, decided 
 that not more than one thousand planters 
 should be allowed to reside upon the island. 
 During the war with Louis XIV. all our 
 colonies in Newfoundland were captured by 
 the enemy, except Bonavista and Carbonier, 
 but they were all recovered by an English 
 squadron. 
 
 I have now traced the history of Newfound- 
 land from its earliest known period to the 
 close of the 17th century; about which time 
 it became a settled colony of the British em- 
 
 o 
 
 » 
 
 i 
 
ill^'r" 
 
 
 M'i 
 
 i 
 
 ■ I, ; 
 
 194 
 
 A GOVERNOR GRANTED. 
 
 pire. A governor was granted at last to the 
 prayers of the inhabitants, and all the settle- 
 ments on the island were joined together 
 under a wise and salutary organization. 
 
 i 
 
■I 
 
 !^sm 
 
 195 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Nova Scotia after the Treaty of St. Germains-Expedition of 
 Razillai-His death-Succeeded by M. Charnisd-Quarrels between 
 Charnisd and De La Tour-The latter seeka aid from Boston- 
 And from Sir David Kirke— Charuisd attacks Fort St. John- 
 Its defence by Madame La Tour— Death of Charnisd-La Tour's 
 success-Capture of Nova Scotia by Major Sedgwick-Granted to 
 Thos. Temple, and others— Ceded to France in 1667. 
 
 As we saw in a former chapter, Acadia, or as 
 it was called by the English, Nova Scotia, was 
 ceded, together with Canada, to France by 
 the treaty of St. Germains, from which treaty 
 may be dated the commencement of a lono- 
 train of calamities to the colonies and to 
 England; the subsequent provincial disputes; 
 and in some measure the success of the 
 American Revolution. Razillai, with a large 
 force, was sent by the King of France to take 
 
 ft. 
 
 fi 
 
ii [ ' 
 
 196. 
 
 CLAUDE DE LA TOUR. 
 
 K 
 
 
 possession of the country, carrjang with him 
 a commission as commander-in-chief of the 
 colony, and a grant of the river and bay of 
 St. Croix. The remainder of the province was 
 divided between Claude de la Tour, who had 
 obtained a grant from Sir William Alexander, 
 and Mons. Denys. La Tour applied to the 
 French King for a confirmation of his grant, 
 which was allowed with the addition of the 
 islands of Sable and La Have. Razillai died 
 soon after his arrival at Nova Scotia, and M. 
 Charnise was appointed as his successor. This 
 officer quarrelled with La Tour about the 
 division of their land, and so violent did their 
 animosity rage, that Louis the Xlllth wrote 
 to them with his own hand in the hope of 
 settling their differences. But his letter had 
 not the desired effect; both parties renewed 
 their complaints to the King; and Charnisfe, 
 in consequence of the unfavourable account 
 which he was able to give of his adversary, 
 obtained an order to arrest him and send him 
 prisoner to France. Both parties being about 
 
AT BOSTON. 
 
 197 
 
 equal in strength, La Tour defied his adver- 
 sary; and sailing to Boston, begged for aid 
 from the colony of Massachusetts. The 
 Puritans living there, according to their cus- 
 tom consulted their Bibles on the subject; 
 and though some contended that it was lawful 
 for them to succour him as Joshua helped the 
 Gibeonites against the other Canaanites, and 
 Jehosaphat aided Jehoram against Moab, the 
 majority were of opinion that the speech of 
 the prophet to Jehosaphat, in the 2nd Chron., 
 19th chap., and 2nd verse, actually forbade 
 them to hel]) him. 
 
 Dmung La Tour's absence at Boston, his 
 fort of St. John was attacked by Charnls^ 
 with a considerable force. He expected to make 
 it an easy conquest, but it was defended by 
 Madame la Tour with a heroism equal to 
 that displayed a few years later by Charlotte 
 de la Tremouille at Latliom House ; so that 
 Charnis^ was glad to offer terms of honourable 
 capitulation, which were accepted by the lady. 
 No sooner, however, had he become master 
 
 11 
 
r. ' 
 
 81 .'i 
 
 
 W M 
 
 It; 
 I' "' 
 
 mr 
 
 ML 
 
 
 j 
 
 1 
 
 1 il 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 m 
 
 i 
 
 p 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 « 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 198 
 
 ACQUIRES NOVA SCOTIA. 
 
 of the fort, than, with excessive barbarity, he 
 hung all the prisoners, and compelled Madame 
 la Tour to witness the butchery with a halter 
 round her neck. 
 
 She soon afterwards died, and La Tour, 
 in desperation, fled to Newfoundland, to im- 
 plore aid from Sir David Kirke; but failing 
 to get any help from him, he seemed for a 
 time to have abandoned any attempt to re- 
 cover his possessions. During his wanderings, 
 he was suddenly recalled by news of the 
 death of Charnise, which took place in 1651. 
 Hastening back to St. John, this extraordinary 
 man seized upon Madame Charnisfe, married 
 her off hand, and obtained at the same time 
 from Charnisc's sister, a renunciation of her 
 claim to her brother's lands, and settled him- 
 self at last as sole owner of Nova Scotia. 
 But he was not now left in peace ; M. le 
 Borgne, a creditor of Charnise, accused La 
 Tour to King Lewis as a heretic, and obtained 
 a decree in France, authorizing him to enter 
 upon the lands of the deceased debtor. 
 

 M. LE BORGNE. 
 
 199 
 
 Armed with this power, he sailed to Nova 
 Scotia, attacked and burnt La Have, and 
 was making preparations for the seizure of 
 Port Royal, when his career was stopped 
 by the English. Cromwell, who with all his 
 faults, ujoheld the honour of England abroad, 
 had determined to recover Nova Scotia. So 
 he despatched in 1654, an armed force under 
 the command of Major Sedgwick. Having 
 attacked and defeated La Tour, the English 
 attacked Le Borgne at Port Royal, and 
 though he had a strong garrison, a numerous 
 artillery, and plenty of provisions, quickly 
 compelled him to surrender. 
 
 La Tour, nothing daunted by the change 
 of events, immediately availed himself of the 
 English protection, quietly laid claim to his 
 estates, and petitioned the Protector, in con- 
 junction with Thomas Temple and William 
 Crome, for a grant of Nova Scotia. He 
 drew up a statement of his claim under the 
 grant of Sir William Alexander to his father, 
 and was so far successful, that on the 9tli 
 

 1 
 
 200 
 
 SIR THOMAS TEMPLE. 
 
 w 
 
 1: 
 
 
 f 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 August, 1656, he obtained a grant by letters 
 patent, under the great seal, granting to 
 himself, under the title of Sir Charles La 
 Tour, Thomas Temple, and William Crome, 
 the whole country of Nova Scotia.^ 
 
 Mr. Temple, afterwards Sir Thomas Temple, 
 purchased La Tour's share, and immediately 
 established the several colonies which had 
 been begun by the French. He also ex- 
 
 1 Warrant for articles of agreement between Oliver, Lord Protector, 
 and Sir Charlea St. Stephen, Lord de la Tour, Baronet of Scotland ; 
 Thomas Temple, and William Crume, to pass the great seal. Letters 
 patent to be granted on or before the 1 0th of August next for all those 
 lands in Americii called Acadia, and that part of the country called 
 Nova Scotia, the boundaries of which are particularly described, with 
 reservation of lands already granted to any colony in New England. 
 Prohibition of trade with the savages to iUl others without license, and 
 power to seize vessels so employed. Twenty moose skins and twenty 
 beaver skins to be rendered j'early to the Lord Protector or his succes- 
 Bor.s ; also the sum of £1812 due to ottieers and soldiers since 15th of 
 August, 1055, according to the establishment made by Robert Sedgwick, 
 Major-General of the forces there. Governors to be approved by com- 
 mission under the Privy or Great Seal of England ; ordnance, ammuni- 
 tion, and martial stores to be preserved for the service of the state and 
 security of the forts ; commodities arising by trade with the natives to 
 be sent to the United Kingdom to be free from custom or import ; 
 Margaret, the relict of Major Edward Gibbons, to be paid £379 lis., 
 owing heretofore, upon the mortgage of Fort St. John, by De la Tour, 
 who, with Temple and Crome, agreed to give security for the perform- 
 ance of all the agreements in this covenant. Endorsed, J. Lisle. Re- 
 corded, 16th July, 1656. Col. Papers : Vol. XIII, No. 4. 
 
k^iffwmi 
 
 M. LABORNE. 
 
 201 
 
 pended £16,000 in repairing the forts, and 
 soon received a large income from the fur 
 and^ fishery trades. But Temple was not left 
 undisturbed in his money making. He finds 
 the country not quite to his taste. In a 
 pathetic letter to a friend, he thanks him "for 
 the great love and care that could find him 
 out even in the deserts of America, whither 
 his unhappy lot had led him;" and in May, 
 1658, he was attacked by a Monsieur Laborne, 
 who invaded the country, seized the fort of 
 La Have, and all the goods therein belonging 
 to Temple. Upon a summons to surrender 
 the fort, Laborne killed Captain Story and 
 two others, and wounded many more. Ho 
 was captured and brought prisoner to Boston, 
 and being interrogated about his conduct' 
 confessed that his only reason for such ex' 
 traordinary behaviour, was that his father had 
 gone to England to obtain a grant of Nova 
 Scotia from the Protector, and he thought 
 he might be improving the time by occupyhi^^ 
 a few places for his father until his triumph"^ 
 ant return. 
 
 ^S 
 
 I 
 
i m 
 
 ml 
 
 202 
 
 NOVA SCOTIA COMPANY. 
 
 vi.fi 
 
 \l A 
 
 A company had been formed in England 
 to carry on the trade in Nova Scotia, of 
 which Lord Fienes was chairman.^ This 
 company materially assisted Temple in de- 
 veloping the resources of the country. But 
 all their efforts were thrown away, as the 
 English Government, in the same year in 
 which they endeavoured to drive away the 
 inhabitants of Newfoundland, again surren- 
 
 1 Agreement of the Company of Nova Scotia for carrying on a 
 trade there. Captain Middleton to be sent over as agent for the Com- 
 panj', to treat with Colonel Thomas Temple, Lieutenant-Governor, for 
 settling a trade there. To be furnished with merchandise to the value 
 of 41800, which is to be raised by the subscriptions of Lords Fienos 
 and Wolseley, Martin Noell, Thomas Povcy, and others. Each sub- 
 scriber of £100 to have equal management and interest. Captains 
 Watts and Collier to be desired to be husbands to the Company. Col. 
 Papers : Vol. XIIL, No. 43, 
 
 Minute of articles deposed by Captain Breedon, on the part of 
 Colonel Thomas Temple, Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, to 
 Lord Fienes, and others, the Company of Adventurers, for settling a 
 trade in those parts ; the course first designed by the Adventurers not 
 being' thought convenient. The Company to advance a stock of 
 £10,000. Colonel Temple to be allowed £500 jyer .annum, with other 
 privileges, which, with those to be enjoyed by the Company, are de- 
 tailed. It is desired by the Company that a treaty may be forthwith 
 concluded with the French Ambassador, for settlement of all pretences 
 to Nova Scotia, or if that be refused, that the English may have power 
 to invade the French in their possessions in that country. The French 
 remaining at Port Royal by treaty, to sulimit to tlie Government of 
 his Highness, or quit their farms, and be transported elsewhere. Col . 
 Papers: Vol. XIIL, No. 64. 
 
TREATY OF BREDA. 
 
 203 
 
 Col. 
 
 dered Nova Scotia to the FrencJi, by the 
 Treaty of Breda in 1667.^ It is beyond the 
 
 1 Tbe Treaty of Breda was mgned by Charles in great haste, to dose 
 a war .1.ch had proved singularly di.s..trous to England. De Ruytor 
 had destroyed an English fleet, sailed up the Thames, and threatened 
 London with a bombardment. England would have fared ill but for 
 the energetic assistance of Lewis, who marche.1 a large army into 
 Flanders, and frightened the Dutch Government into Lepthfg"^ 
 terms of peace. As the price of his interference, Lewis received Nova 
 Scotia. In this transaction, .la well as in the Treaty of St. Germains. 
 the English Government showed an utter disregard of the interests of 
 the Nova Scotian Settlers. By the first treaty, the French agi-eed to 
 pay Sir David Kirke i-.30,000 for the forts and ammunition in Nova 
 
 brtte' F , 77 '"' """ '"" P'^'^' ^'^'^"^'^ -knowledged as due 
 by the French Ambassador. The following papers will show the treat- 
 ment which the unfortunate settlers received from both French and 
 English authorities :— 
 
 "Minutes concerning the title of Lord Stirling and of Thomas Temple 
 to Nova Scotia. Articles made between Sir Lewis Kirke and the 
 French King, in 1632. but not being performed, the Kirkes became 
 damnified .0-0,000. Lord Stirling (Sir VVilH.m AlLander) Z^^Z 
 bs interest and w.vs to have received from King Charles £10.000 for it 
 It « desired that it may be taken into consideration who h.is the beat 
 title to the country." 
 
 "Petition of Colonel John Blount and Ladies Mary and Jane Alexan- 
 der daughters of the late Earl of Stirling, to the King. WiUiam, late 
 J^arl of Stirhng. having at vast expense planted a colony in No^•a Scotia 
 ost his whole fortune, when at the conclusion of peace it was restored' 
 to the French. For his relief, the late King gi-anted him £10,000 out 
 of the exchequer and profits of Scotland. The Earl died before pay 
 ment was made, and the petitioner Blount, who married Dame Mary 
 Countess of Stirling, has disbursed for her and her children, £2,50o'. 
 Pray for letters patent for satisfaction of the £10.000." 
 
 " Petition of Charles St. Stephen, Lord de la Tour, 'Baronet of xNova 
 Scotia, Thomas Temple, and William Cronne, to the Privy Council 
 Set forth King James grant of 1621, to Lord Stiriing, of all Nova 
 
 a 
 
I! 
 
 204 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 !i 
 
 PI 
 
 scope of this short work to pursue the history 
 of Nova Scotia any further. We have traced 
 the earliest settlements which were made 
 upon the country, through their youthful 
 history, and the only thoughts which we can 
 derive from the contemplation of this, and 
 the sister colonics of Canada and Newfound- 
 land, are full of admiration for the energy 
 and perseverance displayed by English mer- 
 chants and adventurers, and of wonder at 
 the culpable negligence of the home Govern- 
 ment, that was ready at any time to sur- 
 render to the ambition of France, territories 
 which had been won by the blood and money 
 of Englishmen. 
 
 Scotia, with power to create Baronets there, confirmed by King Charles 
 in 1625. Lord Stirling's grant of pai-t of the country to De la Tonr, 
 who, with his father, first settled in the wilderness with the savages, 
 15 years before any grant was passed. Their quiet possession of those 
 lands, until Major Sedgwick, in 1G54, violently forced them out, and 
 plundered them of their goods to the amount of £10,000. Right of 
 Temple and Cronne, by purchase from De la Tour. Are informed that 
 some one, knowing the true state of their right, have endeavoured to 
 obtain a grant of Nova Scotia. Pray for permission t(j prove their 
 title." Col. Papers: Vol. XIV., Nos. 57, GO, (J4. 
 
205 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 
 So MUCH ignorance has been displayed by the 
 various writers who have treated of North 
 America as to the birth and parentage of Sir 
 David Kirke, that I think it better in this 
 place to prove their want of information, and 
 also the truth of my own statements. 
 
 Haliburton, in his ''History of Nova Scotia," 
 vol. I., p. 45, speaks of him as " One, David 
 Kirtch, who assisted Sir William Alexander in 
 the recovery of Nova Scotia. This extra- 
 ordinary person was a native of Dieppe, a 
 French Calvinist, who sought refuge in Eng- 
 land from religious persecution in France, an^d 
 was commonly called Sir David Kirke." 
 Macgregor, in his "History of British 
 America," says (vol. II., p. 21), ^'In 1032, 
 Sir William Alexander, assisted by a French 
 
 P 
 
ifll 
 
 
 Hi 
 
 V' 
 
 
 M 
 
 m 
 
 206 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 Calvinist of the name of Kirckt, who fled to 
 England from Dieppe, in France, on the score 
 of religious persecution, fitted out a few vessels, 
 well armed, for Nova Scotia. This squadron, 
 commanded by Kirckt, who was also made a 
 baronet, under the title of Sir David Kirk." 
 It will be seen at once that these are utter 
 mistakes. Sir David Kirkc was a knight and 
 not a baronet, and that he was of English 
 birth the following documents from the College 
 of Arms and elsewhere, will abundantly testify. 
 Funeral certificate of Mr. Gervase Kirke : — 
 *' Mr. Jervays Kyrko, gentleman and mar- 
 chant of London, the sonne of Thurstan 
 Kyrke, of Greenhill, in the County of Derby, 
 departed this mortall life at his house in 
 Basing Lane, London, the xviith daye of 
 December, 1629, and was interred in the 
 parish church of Alhallows, in Bread Street, 
 the 22nd daye of the moneth following. He 
 married Elizabeth, daughter of John Gowding, 
 of Deepe, in France, where he had lyved the 
 most part of forty years, by whom he had 
 
 M ^ 
 
APPKNDIX A. 
 
 207 
 
 yssuo five sonncs and two daugliters. David 
 Kirkc, eldest Sonne, of the ago of about thirty- 
 two years, captayno and cliiefo eoniniander 
 in a late fleeto of nine sayle for tlie taking 
 of Canada, in the niayno lande of America ; 
 in which expedition lie soe worthely demeaned 
 himselfe, that he tooko the country, surprised 
 the French that had there planted and fortified 
 tliemselves, wone their forte, and tooko their 
 cheife commander prisoner, and brouglit him 
 captyve into England: Lewis Kirke, second 
 Sonne, of the age of about thirty yeares, nowe 
 captayne and governor of the said fort for 
 His Majestie in Canada : Thomas Kirke, third 
 Sonne, of the ago of twenty-six years, captayne 
 and vice-adniirall of the aforesaid fleet: John 
 Kirke, fourth sonne, of tlie age of twenty-three 
 years : and James, youngest sonne, of the age 
 of twenty-one years: Elizabeth, eldest 
 daughter, married to Jaques Greteuelo, a 
 Frenchman, in Deepe, by who she hath one 
 son, David Greteuilo, of the age of one year, 
 and one daughter, Elizabeth, of the age of 
 
y i: 
 
 i 
 
 .1 
 
 V {V^HO 
 
 
 K^l 
 
 
 208 
 
 ArPENDIX A. 
 
 two yeares : Maiy, youngest daughter of said 
 
 defunct, of the age of ten yeares. He made 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Kirke, his sayd wife, sole 
 
 executrix of his last will and testament. 
 
 " This certificate was taken by Sampson 
 
 Lennard, Blewmantle." 
 
 Extracted from the records of the 
 
 College of Arms, London, 
 
 ALBERT W. WOODS, 
 
 Garter. 
 College of Arms^ 
 
 24rth December, 1869. 
 
 Pedigree, extracted from British Museum. — 
 Add. MS., 5533. 
 
 Arnokl Kirke, = 
 
 of White- 
 hough, C'hiipel 
 en-le-Frith. 
 
 Thurstan Kirke, = 
 of Gi'eonhill, 
 Norton, third 
 sou. 
 
 Two other 
 sous. 
 
 Gervase Kirke, = Elizabeth, 
 of London, d. of 
 
 merchant. Gou(hjn, 
 
 of Deepe. 
 
 David Kirke, kniglited Viy 
 H.M. in Scotland, and one 
 of the pensioners, 1633. 
 Mar. Sara, d. of Sir Jor. 
 Andrews, and has a daug., 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 Captain Lewis Kirke, 
 
 second son. 
 Captain Thomas Kii'ke, 
 
 third son. 
 
 I I 
 John Kirke, 
 
 of London, 
 
 merchant. 
 
 Captain 
 
 Jarvis Kirke, 
 
 fifth BOD. 
 
209 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 m 
 
 '' To THE Right Honourable the Lords of 
 H.M. most Honourable Privie Council. 
 
 " Whereas I received an order from your Lpp 
 off the ninth of this instant, Aprill, concerning 
 tlie difference between General de Caen and 
 the IVIcrcliant Adventurers of Canada, about 
 the beaver skinns in question between them. 
 I have sent for the said marcliants, the greatest 
 pte whereoft ap^)eared before me at severall 
 times, and seemed to be wilHng that the said 
 General de Caen should have the said skinns 
 delivered unto him, accordhig to your Lpps' 
 said order, by the said Solomon Smith, Mar- 
 shall of tlie Admiralty ; but amongst the rest 
 of the said marcliants, Captaine Kirke, who, 
 as I am informed hatli tlic custodie of one of 
 the keyes to each warehouse dore wherein 
 
 p 
 
IP 
 
 t^' 
 
 li J 
 
 ;■ t.i 
 
 f I! 
 
 '. «■ 
 
 210 
 
 Arrr.NDix b. 
 
 the sk5miies arc, altlioiigli hce hath been dyvers 
 tonnes warned, never appeared before mee, wlio 
 is citlier out of towne or else refuseth to bo 
 spoken witliall, and as I pceivo the said 
 skynnes will not be delivered unto the said 
 Gencrall de Caen nor his assignees untlll some 
 further order be taken by your Li)ps, that the 
 said Gencrall de Caen at his last being with 
 mee informed mee that his occasions were such 
 that he cold not staie in England untill such 
 time as tlie ditTerence between him and the 
 said marchants was ended, but wold appoynt 
 one as his assiii-nce to follow the said business 
 in his behalf, in which place he hatli appoyntcd 
 one, Jaques Reynard, who appeared before 
 mee and pretendeth his onlie staie in this 
 kingdom is to sec this business ended, which 
 hee alledgcth is an extraordinary hindrance 
 unto him in his affaires. All which I humbly 
 
 leave unto your Lpps consideracon. This 
 T.wenty-eightli of Aprill, 1G30. 
 
 JAMES CAMPBELL, 
 
 Mayor. 
 
211 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 Answeares to five several! Memorialls, pre- 
 sented by the Frercli Ambassador, to the 
 Lords Coinnnttces for forrayne affiures, Feb. 
 1, 1C29. 
 
 1. Concerning the restitution of such places, 
 shipps, and ^oods, as were taken from the 
 French in Canida, particularly tlie Fort of 
 Quebec, his Majestic doth continue his former 
 resolution, declared to the Ambassador by a 
 Memoriall given him in Latin, that the s*^ 
 fort and habitason of Quebec, taken by Cap- 
 tayne Kirke, the 9th of July, shall be re- 
 stored in the same estate as it was taken, 
 without demolishing the fortification or build- 
 ings, or carrying away arms, munitions, 
 merchandizes, or utensils, which were there 
 taken ; and that if any be taken away, they 
 
 li 
 
212 
 
 APPKNUIX C. 
 
 shall be oitlier restored in specie, or in value, 
 according to the proportion, as doth or upon 
 further examination upon oath, shall appearc 
 to have been found in the place. In like 
 manner, such skinnes as were taken and 
 brought away, as prize or booty, out of the 
 s"* fort, sliall be restored, as doth or shall 
 appear, ujjon good account made upon oath, 
 to have been taken and brought away from 
 thence. Tliis His Majestic still resolves to 
 performe accordinge to His former declaracon, 
 and doth not affirm that lie can further be 
 prest in this point, by reason of the late 
 trcatye. 
 
 2. -Touchinge the above, complaynd of 
 against the English Mercliants, for concealing 
 and imbcsilling the skins brought from 
 Canada, order is given by tlie Lords of the 
 Councell, and a Gierke of the Councell, ex- 
 pressley employed, for a particular search to 
 be made, and inventory taken of such skinnes 
 as remayne, and what is defective — to be 
 supplied by the marchants to the end, all be 
 performed according to former promise. 
 
APrEXDlX c. 
 
 213 
 
 3. Concerning such merchandize as Porter 
 do Tasse, and other merchants of Calais, lay 
 clayme unto, as being taken in a ship of 
 Hamburgh, the Lords of the Councell Lave, 
 according as is required, taken the knowledge 
 of their cause into their hands, with all the 
 documents tliat belong thereunto, with pur- 
 ])oso to have restitution made, as it nuiy 
 appear these goodes do properly belong to 
 the French. • 
 
 4 and 5. Touching one ship in particular, 
 of S. Jolian de Lecz, taken by Sir Willi a in 
 Alexander, since brought into Plimouth, and 
 three other shippes, the Amity, the Peter, 
 and the Michael of Calais, taken by others, 
 and carryed into Scotland, His Majesty had 
 taken particular order for their restitution." 
 
2U 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 il 
 
 An Extract of y^ Patent granted to Sir Wil- 
 liam Alexander, concerning Canada. 
 
 In y® Commission granted to Sir William 
 Alexander the younger, and others (whereof 
 the Preface alleageth of y" Discovery made 
 by them of a beneficial] Trade for Divers 
 Commodity s, to be had in y" Gulf and River 
 of Canada, and parts adjacent, and His 
 Majestie's resolution thereupon to incorporate 
 them for y® sole trading in those parts, upon 
 a furtlier discovery to be made by them. 
 
 Tlie said Sir William Alexander, &c., are 
 assigned as Commissioners for the making of 
 a Voyage into the s*^ Gulfe and River, and 
 parts adjacent, for y'' sole Trade, &c., with 
 power to settle a Plantation witlihi all parts 
 of y^ said Gulfo and River, above those parts 
 

 APPENDIX D. 
 
 215 
 
 
 which are over against Kebeck, on the S. 
 side, or above twelve leagues below Tadousach, 
 on the N. side. Proliibiting all others to 
 make any voyage into y^ s*^ Gulfe or River, 
 or any the parts adjacent to any the jDur- 
 poses aforesaid, upon payne of Confiscation 
 of their Goods and Shipping so employed, 
 which y^ Commis"'"'' are authorized to seize 
 unto their own use. 
 
 Power given them to make Prize of all 
 French or Spanish ships and goods at sea 
 or land, &c., and to displant the French. 
 
 Power of Government amongst themselves. 
 
 Covenant of further Letters Patent of In- 
 corporation, or otherwise, for settling the 
 Trade and Plantation. 
 
 Saving of all former Letters Patent. 
 
w 
 
 \ 3t " 
 
 Ih' ■' 
 
 210 
 
 APPENDIX E. 
 
 To all and singuler, as well Nobles and Gen tils 
 as others, to whome these presents shall come 
 to be seene, read, and heard. I, Richard St. 
 George, Knighte, Clarencieux Kinge-at-Armes 
 of y" east, west, and south parts of England 
 to the river of the Trent, sendeth duo com- 
 niendacons in our Lord God Everlastinge, 
 forasmuch as ancientlie from the beginninge 
 the valiant and vertuous actes of worthie per- 
 sons have been commended to y® world by 
 sundry monuments and remembrances of theire 
 chicfest and most good deserts, among which 
 have been the bearcing of signes in shieldes, 
 called Armes, being evident demonstrations 
 and tokens of prowesse and valour, diverslie 
 distributed accordinge to the qualities and 
 deserts of the persons meritinge the same, 
 
APPENDIX E. 
 
 217 
 
 which order as it was prudently devised in the 
 beginninge to stirre and kindle the hearts of 
 men to the imitation of virtue and noblenesse, 
 even soe hath the same been and yet is con- 
 tinuallie observed, to the intent that such as 
 have done commendable service to their Prince 
 or couritrie, either in warre or peace, may 
 receive due honor in their lives, and also de- 
 sire to continue the same successivelie to their 
 posteritie for evermore. Amongst whicli num- 
 ber Captain David Kirke, eldest sonne and 
 hcire of Jervas Kirke, of London, merchant, 
 and late of Deepe, in France, sonne of 
 Thurstan Kirke, of Greenhill, in y' parish of 
 Norton, in y^ county of Derby, tliird sonne of 
 Arnold Kirke, of Whitehougli, als Whitehall, 
 whicli said familie and surname have borne 
 for their coat armour these Amies depicted in 
 the margen, (that is to say) per fesse or and gules 
 a lozenge counterchanged ; but I, the said 
 Clarencieux, being requested by the said 
 Oaptaine Kirke to give him some add icon of 
 honor of his said amies, and a crest corres- 
 
' 
 
 B 1, ■ 
 
 If 
 
 ^ 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 ^' 
 
 !)^H 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 218 
 
 APPENDIX E. 
 
 ponclent to the same. Wliereuppon I, beinge 
 crediblie informed of the honourable and 
 worthie cntcrprizes and implf)ymcnts of the 
 said Cajotain David Kirke and his brothers, 
 both by sea and land, and that of late being 
 Admirall and Chiefe Commander in the same 
 fleete mett and encountered with the French 
 Navie under the conunand of Monsieur do 
 Rockmond, Admirall thereof, whom hee and 
 his brothers vanquished and overcame, and 
 brought the said Monsieur de Rockmond 
 prizoner unto England; and y* next yeare 
 followinge the said Captain David Kirke goe- 
 inge with His Majesties Commission under the 
 Greate Scale with a fleet of nyne saile for the 
 surprizinge and takinge of the countrie of 
 Canada, in the continent and maineland of 
 America, which was there planted with the 
 French, in which exjoedition hee and his bro- 
 thers soe worthilie, and with soe great valour 
 demeaned themselves, that they surprized the 
 French that had there fortify ed themselves, 
 wonne their forte, and took Monsieur Cham- 
 
 :if 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 t 
 
 
 
AITKNDIX E. 
 
 219 
 
 ])luino, their Governor and Cliiefe Commander, 
 l>rIsoner, and brought liini captive into Eng- 
 land. In consideracon wliercof, I, tlie said 
 Kinge of Armes, by power and auth(.ritie 
 under the Greate Seale of England unto my 
 office attributed and annexed, doe hy these 
 presents not only ratifie and confirmc the said 
 auncient coate, but allso give and graunt to 
 the said Captainc David Kirke, Lewis Kirke, 
 now Cai)tidne and Governor of the sayd fort 
 for his Matie in Canada, Thomas Kirke, Cap- 
 tainc and Vice-Adniirall of the said fleete, 
 John and James Kirke, liis brothers, the coat 
 armour of Mon.sieur Kockmond, Admirall of 
 the sayd French Fleete, (that is to say) azure 
 a lion rampant, or, supportinge tliis instrument, 
 ar(/ent, as it is here portraied, to beare in a 
 canton, as an augmentason or addition of 
 honor, but the lyon to be couchant and collered 
 with a chaine, aiyeut, as enthralled and pros- 
 trating himselfe to the mercy of the vanquisher. 
 And for his creast on a helmet and wreath of 
 his colours an arme armed i>roper purj)Ied or, 
 
 n 
 
I'MMUV^m 
 
 v^ 
 
 iitti 
 
 220 
 
 APPENDIX K. 
 
 lioUlcing-c a curtclas argent^ lilltcJ or, muntlod 
 
 (julcs (loublud argent^ as more plainly appearotli 
 
 depicted in the margin, all which saido amies 
 
 and creast with the api)urtcnances, 'ylar- 
 
 encicux King-e of Amies, do by these presents 
 
 allowe, ratifio, and confirm unto the said Cai)- 
 
 taino Kirke and his brothers, and the yssues 
 
 of their bodies lawfullie begotten, with du(j 
 
 differences. And hce and they the same to 
 
 use, beare, and slicwe forth in a shield, cout 
 
 armour, or otherwise, accordiiige to y" auncient 
 
 Lawe of Armes, at his or their libi^' '') and 
 
 • 
 2)leasuro for evermore. In witnesse ^reof, 
 
 I, the said Kinge of Armes, have hereunto 
 
 set my hand and scale of office. Dated at 
 
 London, this First day of December, in the 
 
 seventh yearo of our Soveraignc Lord Kingo 
 
 Charles, and in the yeare of our Lord Goci, 
 
 1G3L 
 
 RICHARD St. GEORGE, 
 
 CLAJiENCiEUX King of AivMks. 
 
 i| 
 
 ' 
 
2-2 1 
 
 APPENDIX F. 
 
 My most lionourod Lords, 
 
 Your gracious letters of tlie 4th of March 
 last, I have received, and by tliem do per- 
 ceive that many complaynts by tlio West 
 Country owners and fishermen, have been 
 made agai ist me to His Majestie and your 
 honours. most humbly acknowledge my- 
 
 selfe bounde lo His Most Gracious Ma"« and 
 your Lordships, for the good opinion you 
 have of me, and for the reference of them to 
 a further hearinge, either to my condemna- 
 tion or satisfaction, my innocence being 
 proved. As soon as I received your Lord- 
 ships' letters, I sent warrants to all Planters 
 and Fishermen, to see all clauses in the Uth 
 of His Majestie's Reigne kept and observed. 
 
222 
 
 APPEXDrX l'\ 
 
 
 H. 
 
 as also on my part I have done since my 
 comniin lieitlier, and will still keepe and ob- 
 serve them, together with every particular 
 (U)ntayned in His Maj'''' gracious patent, 
 granted to the Right ITon^''' L* James Mar- 
 quess Hambleton, Philipc, I^arle of Pemb. 
 and Mont., Henry, Earl of Holland, and 
 myselfe. 
 
 I beseech your L'^' to believe, as I protest 
 before God, all that they have alledged 
 ag* mo is most false ; and if, when I am face 
 to face before them and your I./'"p'' any man 
 breathinge can testify one of these com- 
 playnts to be true, I will lay downe my 
 heade at your feete, and ever after will be 
 counted unworthy of the service of my gra- 
 cious Prince and my Lords. 1 nm to give 
 your D'' letters to me for the maintaining of 
 His Ma"^' law^es in the Otli of His Raigne. 
 Many of the fishermen themselves, upon what 
 grounds I know not, have this yearc drivine 
 their stages and cooke-roomes in so much, 
 that y' most sevill and wisest men amongst 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 UL 
 
 I 
 
^1^ 
 
 APPENDIX F. 
 
 223 
 
 them did tlieinsclvos coniplniiio to me of tliese 
 outrages^ all wliich i)assiigcs, and man}-- more 
 whereof, I juivo good proofes, I hojie, to 
 make His Mii"« and your L"^ acquainted with, 
 and cleare myselfe of all those eausless 
 clamours agamst me; ffor X confesse, he that 
 would interrupt the ffisliinge of Newfound- 
 land, which is one of the most considerable 
 Business ffor the Kingdoms of His Ma""' and 
 benefit of His subjects and navigation, is 
 worthy the name of a traitour, the least 
 thought and imagination whereof I do abhorre. 
 8oe hoping that His Most Excellent Ma"^ and 
 your LoP' will still have tliat good opinion of 
 me, as I perceive by your gracious letters 
 you have, I shall desire to live no longer 
 then I performe in all duty and sincerity 
 his Ma"^' service, and eve^ rest 
 
 Your Lo^' most humble servant, 
 to His uttmost power, 
 
 DAVID KIRKE. 
 fferelaufl, 
 
 12th of September, IG^O. 
 
if;: 
 
 f 
 
 ' < s 
 
 I ■ 
 
 224 
 
 Endorsed, 
 
 APPENDIX F. 
 
 To the Riglit Hon^''^' the L'^" of 
 His Ma"^'^ most Hon^'« Privee 
 Counsell put these. 
 
 Septembis, 1640. Sir DaVid 
 Kirke. Newfoundland fisher- 
 men. 12 Sep., 1640. 
 
225 
 
 APPENDIX G. 
 
 To the King's most excellent Majesty. 
 
 The humble petition of S' Lewys Kirke, 
 John Kirke, and Francis Berkeley, Esquires, 
 sheweth — 
 
 That whereas your Majesty's Petitioners 
 have an interest in the Countries of Nova 
 Scotia and Canada, in America, upon the 
 accompt of threescore thousand pounds ster- 
 ling, dew to your petitioners, upon Articles 
 of Agreement between the French and them, 
 at the surrender of the Fort of Quebec, in 
 the year 1632, according to your Majesty's 
 Father's command of blessed memory. 
 
 Your Petitioners humbly pray that the said 
 Countries may not be put into the hands of 
 any other, till your petitioners' grievances are 
 heard, and the annexed reasons be considered 
 
 Q 
 
i 1' I < 
 
 22G 
 
 APPENDIX O. 
 
 ;i"i 
 
 of by your Majesty, and those of your 
 Majesty's Privy Counscll shall be appointed 
 to consider thereof, and the rather because 
 noe results have been made by those of the 
 committee of foraig-ue plantations, to whom 
 your concernments were referred. 
 
 Endorsement. 
 Whitehall, December 11, 16G0. 
 
 His Majesty is graciously pleased to referr 
 this Peticon to the Right Honorable the Earl 
 of Lindsey, Lord Great Cliamberlain ; the 
 Lord Viscount Valentia, Sir Frederick Corn- 
 wallis. Treasurer of His Maties Household; 
 Sir Charles Berkeley, Comptroller ; Sir George 
 Carter, Vice-Chamberlain ; Sir Edward Nicho- 
 las and Sir William Morris, Principal Secre- 
 taries of State; and Sir Anthony Ashley 
 Cooper, or any four of them, to call Mr. 
 Thomas Elliot and the Peticoners before them, 
 and having heard and examined the business, 
 to make report thereof to His Majestic. 
 
 WILLIAM MORIER. 
 
 The petition of Francis Kirke, John Kirke, 
 
APPENDIX G. 
 
 227 
 
 and Francis Berkeley : Having an interest in 
 Nova Scotia and Canada uj^on y® accompt of 
 60,000 lbs. sterling, due to them upon Articles 
 of Agreement between y® French and them, 
 pray y* those country's may not be put into 
 the hands of any other untill y^ Petitioners' 
 grievances are heard by His Matie, or such 
 of the Council wliom His Matie shall appoint 
 to hear the said and the reasons annexed. 
 
 Endorsed. 
 Mr. Elliot and Sir Lewis Kirke to be hoard 
 by counsel. 
 
 BKMIIOSE AND B0N8, PllINTKRS, LONDON AND DEKBY, 
 
,^|,VHMiiW I 
 
 rr !1 
 
 
 :Wi 
 
 ■1 
 ij 
 
 51 
 
LIST OF BOOKS 
 
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 21, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON; AND DERBY. 
 
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 Practical Instructions in this pleasing art. 
 
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 Price lOs. 6d, 
 
 ^\n g^rrangct) as c^aii) (!;i)itioii 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 
 
 il:: ., 
 
 TriE Arranj^femont of this Edition of the Book of Common Prayer removes 
 all didicuUy in followinri; tho Services, not one word of whicli or of the 
 Rubrics is altered or otnitted, Imt tho whole are printed in tho order in 
 which they are road; t/<e Scrcia's cm ihvs he followed with ease hi/ those un- 
 acfjuainted with them, and the use of tho Eook is rendered more agreeable 
 to those already conversant with it. 
 
 Tho Book is paged tln-oughout, and such is tho arrangement, that the 
 necessity of continually turning backward and forward is obviated. At the 
 end of each day's Psalms and wherever any pages require to bo passed 
 over, a reference is given by which tlie reader may at once pass on to the 
 part next to be used. 
 
 Tho Morning and Evening Services are totally distinct, with their 
 Psalms, Collects, kc. Tho Psalms for Propor Days appear in full in their 
 proper order. 
 
 The Litany, Commxmion QfTico, Creeds, General Prayers find Thanks- 
 givings, are placed where they are u.sed. Tho Collects where rei)eated, as 
 in Lent, arc printed again. 
 
 Figures are used instead of numerals, and Tables of Contents, with 
 other directions render tho use of the Book of Common Prayor perfectly 
 simple. 
 
 Edition A. — Small Pica, 19mo. In Cloth, French Calf, Morocco, and 
 
 other hiiidiiirjs. 
 
 Edition B. — limo. In French Calf, Morocco, and other bindings. 
 
 Edition C. — 2imo. Roan, French Calf, Morocco, and other bindings. 
 
 21, Paternoster Roio, London; and Derby. 
 
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