See LIBRARIES, MODERN: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
----------NEW ZEALAND: Start--------
NEW ZEALAND:
The aborigines.
"The traditions of these people [the Maoris] lead to the
conclusion that they first came to New Zealand about 600 years
ago, from some of the islands between Samoa and Tahiti; but
some ethnologists put the migration as far back as 3,000
years. Their language is a dialect of the Polynesian, most
resembling that of Rarotonga, but their physical characters
vary greatly. Some are fair, with straight hair, and with the
best type of Polynesian features; others are dusky brown, with
curly or almost frizzly hair, and with the' long and broad
arched nose of the Papuan; while others have the coarse thick
features of the lower Melanesian races. Now these variations
of type cannot be explained unless we suppose the Maoris to
have found in the islands an indigenous Melanesian people, of
whom they exterminated the men, but took the better-looking of
the women for wives; and as their traditions decidedly state
that they did find such a race when they first arrived at New
Zealand, there seems no reason whatever for rejecting these
traditions, which accord with actual physical facts, just as
the tradition of a migration from 'Hawaiki,' a Polynesian
island, accords with linguistic facts."
_Hellwald-Wallace,
Australasia
(Stanford's Compendium, new issue, 1893),
chapter 14, section 9 (volume 1)._
ALSO IN:
_E. Shortland,
Traditions and Superstitions of the New Zealanders._
_J. S. Polack,
Manners and Customs of the New Zealanders._
_Lady Martin,
Our Maoris._
_W. D. Hay,
Brighter Britain,
volume 2, chapters 3-5._
See, also, MALAYAN RACE.
NEW ZEALAND: A. D. 1642-1856.
Discovery.
Colonization.
Early dealings with Natives.
Constitutional organization.
"The honour of the actual discovery of New Zealand must be
accorded to the Dutch Navigator, Tasman, who visited it in
1642, discovering Van Dieman's Land during the same voyage.
As, however, he does not appear to have landed, the knowledge
of the country derived by Europeans from his account of it
must have been of very limited extent. … It was our own
countryman, Captain Cook, to whom we are so largely indebted
for what we now know of the geography of the Pacific, who made
us acquainted with the nature of the country and the character
of its inhabitants. The aborigines were evidently of a much
higher type than those of the Australian continent. They are a
branch of the Polynesian race, and according to their own
traditions came about 600 years ago from 'Hawaiki,' which
ethnologists interpret to mean either Hawaii (the Sandwich
Islands), or Savaii in the Samoa group. They are divided into
some twenty clans, analogous to those of the Scottish
Highlands. Cook's first visit was paid in 1769, but he touched
at the islands on several occasions during his subsequent
voyages, and succeeded in making, before his final departure,
a more or less complete exploration of its coasts. The
aborigines were divided into numerous tribes, which were
engaged in almost constant wars one with another. … As has
been the case in so many distant lands, the first true
pioneers of civilization were the missionaries.
{2351}
In 1814, thirty-seven years after Captain Cook's last visit to
New Zealand, a few representatives of the English Church
Missionary Society landed in the North Island, less with the
intention of colonising than with the hope of converting the
natives to Christianity. The first practical steps in the
direction of settlement were taken by the New Zealand Land
Company, composed of a very strong and influential body of
gentlemen headed by Lord Durham, and having much the same
ideas as those which actuated the South Australian
Colonisation Society. The proposal to found a new Colony was
at first bitterly opposed by the Government of the day, but in
consequence of the energetic action of the Company, who sent
out agents with large funds to purchase land of the natives,
the Government ultimately gave way, and despatched as Consul
Captain Hobson, who arrived in January 1840. One of his first
steps on assuming office was to call a meeting of the natives
and explain to them the object of his mission, with the view
of entering into a treaty for placing the sovereignty of their
island in Her Majesty the Queen. He was not at first
successful, the natives fearing that if they acceded to the
proposal, their land would be taken from them; but being
reassured on this point, the majority of the chiefs ultimately
signed the treaty in February of the same year. By the terms
of this treaty, called the Treaty of Waitangi, the chiefs, in
return for their acknowledgment of the supremacy of the Queen
of England, were guaranteed for themselves and their people
the exclusive possession of their lands so long as they wished
to retain them, and they, on their side, accorded to the Crown
the exclusive right of pre-emption over such lands as might,
from time to time, come into the market. It will thus be seen
that the acquisition of land in New Zealand by European
settlers was effected in a manner entirely different from that
which obtained in other colonies; for, although the right of
pre-emption by the Crown was subsequently waived, no land
could be obtained from natives unless they were perfectly
willing to part with it. It is true that lands have in some
instances been confiscated as a punishment for native
insurrections, but, with this exception, all lands have passed
from natives to Europeans by the ordinary processes of bargain
and sale. Captain Hobson's next action was to place himself in
communication with the New Zealand Company's agents, and
ascertain what they were doing in the way of colonisation. He
found that besides acquiring various blocks of land in the
North and South Islands, they had formed a permanent
settlement at Wellington, at which they were organising a
system of government incompatible with the Queen's authority,
which he therefore promptly suppressed. … In June of 1840
the settlement was made a colony by Charter under the Great
Seal, Captain Hobson naturally becoming the first Governor.
This eminent public servant died at his post in September
1842, being succeeded by Captain R. Fitzroy, who, however, did
not reach the Colony till a year afterwards. In the interval
occurred that lamentable incident, the massacre of white
settlers by the natives at Wairu, in the South Island. Shortly
after this the Company made strenuous efforts to obtain a
share in the Executive Government, but this was twice
disallowed by the Home authorities. Captain Fitzroy's term of
office was in all respects a stormy one, the native chiefs
rising in rebellion, open and covert, against the terms of the
Waitangi treaty. With only 150 soldiers, and destitute of any
military facilities, this governor deemed it prudent to come
to a compromise with the rebels, fearing the effect upon the
minds of the natives generally of the certain defeat which he
must sustain in active warfare. Receiving, however,
reinforcements from Sidney, Captain Fitzroy took the field,
sustaining in his first expedition a decided defeat. Two other
expeditions followed this, and at length the success of the
British arms was assured, Captain Fitzroy suffering from the
irony of fate, since, having been neglected in his peril, he
was recalled in the moment of victory. Captain (afterwards Sir
George) Grey succeeded to the Governorship in November 1845;
having the good fortune to be surrounded by ministers of
exceptional ability, and arriving in the Colony at a fortunate
turn in its affairs, he takes his place among the successful
Governors of New Zealand. Colonel Gore Browne—after an
interregnum of nearly two years—succeeded to power, and
during his viceroyalty in 1853, responsible government, which,
however, did not provide for ministerial responsibility, was
inaugurated. … The Home Government shortly afterwards (May
1856) … established responsible government in its fullest
form, but unfortunately without any special provisions for the
representation of the native races. … Up to 1847 New Zealand
remained a Crown Colony, the Government being administered by
a Governor appointed by the Crown, an Executive Council, and a
Legislative Council. Under this system, the Governor had very
large powers, since the only control over him was that
exercised by the Home Government. The Executive Council
consisted of the Governor and three official members, while
the Legislative Council was made up of the Executive Council
and three non-official members nominated by the Governor. At
that time Auckland was the seat of Government, which has since
been moved to Wellington. In 1852, before the expiration of
the period over which the provisional charter granted in 1847
was to extend, the Imperial Parliament granted a new
constitution to New Zealand (15 & 16 Vic. cap. 72), and in the
following year it came into force and is still [1886]
operative. The Legislature, under this Constitution, consists
of a Governor, a Legislative Council, composed of life members
nominated by the Crown, and a House of Representatives elected
by the people, under a franchise which practically amounts to
household suffrage."
_Her Majesty's Colonies
(Colonial and Ind. Exhibition, 1886),
pages 245-248._
ALSO IN:
_G. W. Rusden,
History of New Zealand,
volume 1._
_G. Tregarthen,
Story of Australasia._
NEW ZEALAND: A. D. 1853-1883.
Land questions with the Natives.
The King movement.
The Maori War.
"In the course of years, as it was evident to the natives that
the Europeans were the coming power in the land, suspicion and
distrust were excited, and at last the tocsin sounded. … It
was considered that a head was needed to initiate a form of
Government among the tribes to resist the encroachments daily
made by the Europeans, and which seemed to threaten the
national extinction of the native race. The first to endeavour
to bring about a new order of things was a native chief named
Matene Te Whiwi, of Otaki.
{2352}
In 1853 he marched to Taupo and Rotorua, accompanied by a
number of followers, to obtain the consent of the different
tribes to the election of a king over the central parts of the
island, which were still exclusively Maori territory, and to
organize a form of government to protect the interests of the
native race. Matene … met with little success. … The
agitation, however, did not stop, the fire once kindled
rapidly spread, ardent followers of the new idea sprang up,
and their numbers soon increased, until finally, in 1854, a
tribal gathering was convened at Manawapou. … After many
points had been discussed, a resolution was come to among the
assembled tribes that no more land should be sold to
Europeans. A solemn league was entered into by an present for
the preservation of the native territory, and a tomahawk was
passed round as a pledge that all would agree to put the
individual to death who should break it. In 1854 another bold
stand was made, and Te Heuheu, who exercised a powerful sway
over the tribes of the interior, summoned a native council at
Taupo, when the King movement began in earnest. It was there
decided that the sacred mountain of Tongariro should be the
centre of a district in which no land was to be sold to the
government, and that the districts of Hauraki, Waikato,
Kawhia, Mokau, Taranaki, Whanganui, Rangitikei, and Titiokura,
should form the outlying portions of the boundary; that no
roads should be made by the Europeans within the area, and
that a king should be elected to reign over the Maoris. In
1857 Kingite meetings were held, … at which it was agreed
that Potatau Te Wherowhero, the most powerful chief of
Waikato, should be elected king, under the title of Potatau
the First, and finally, in June, 1858, his flag was formally
hoisted at Ngaruawahia. Potatau, who was far advanced in life
when raised to this high office, soon departed from the scene,
and was succeeded by his son Matutaera Te Wherowhero, under
the title of Potatau the Second. The events of the New Zealand
war need not here be recited, but it may be easily imagined
that during the continuance of the fighting the extensive area
of country ruled over by the Maori monarch was kept clear of
Europeans. But in 1863 and 1864 General Cameron, at the head
of about 20,000 troops, composed of Imperial and Colonial
forces, invaded the Waikato district, and drove the natives
southward and westward, till his advanced corps were at
Alexandra and Cambridge. Then followed the Waikato
confiscation of Maori lands and the military settlements. The
King territory was further broken into by the confiscations at
Taranaki and the East Coast. … Since the termination of the
lamentable war between the two races, the King natives have,
on all occasions, jealously preserved their hostile spirit to
Europeans. … The New Zealand war concluded, or rather died
out, in 1865, when the confiscated line was drawn, the
military settlements formed, and the King natives isolated
themselves from the Europeans. For ten years it may be said
that no attempt was mane to negotiate with them. They were not
in a humour to be dealt with. About 1874 and 1875, however, it
became evident that something would have to be done. The
colony had greatly advanced in population, and a system of
public works had been inaugurated, which made it intolerable
that large centres of population should be cut off from each
other by vast spaces of country which Europeans were not
allowed even to traverse." Then began a series of
negotiations, which, up to 1883, had borne no fruit.
_J. H. Kerry-Nicholls,
The King Country, introduction._
ALSO IN:
_G. W. Rusden,
History of New Zealand._
_Colonel Sir J. E. Alexander,
Incidents of the Maori War._
NEW ZEALAND: A. D. 1887-1893.
Maori representation.
Women Suffrage.
An act passed in 1887 created four districts in each of which
the Maoris elect a member of the House of Representatives.
Every adult Maori has a vote in this election. By an act
passed in 1893 the elective franchise was extended to women.
----------NEW ZEALAND: End----------
NEWAB-WUZEER,
OR NAWAB-VIZIER, of Oude.
See OUDE; also NABOB.
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY:
The founding of the city by migration
from New Haven (1666-1667).
See NEW JERSEY: A. D. 1664-1667.
NEWBERN, North Carolina: Capture by the national forces.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862
(JANUARY-APRIL: NORTH CAROLINA).
NEWBURGH, Washington's headquarters at.
"At the close of 1780, the army was cantoned at three points:
at Morristown and at Pompton, in New Jersey, and at
Phillipstown, in the Hudson Highlands. Washington established
his head-quarters at New Windsor in December, 1780, where he
remained until June, 1781, when the French, who had quartered
during the winter at Newport and Lebanon, formed a junction
with the Americans on the Hudson. In April, 1782, he
established his head-quarters at Newburgh, two miles above the
village of New Windsor, where he continued most of the time
until November, 1783, when the Continental army was
disbanded."
_B. J. Lossing,
Field-book of the Revolution,
volume 1, page 671._
NEWBURGH ADDRESSES, The.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1782-1783.
NEWBURN, Battles of.
See ENGLAND: A. D. 1640.
NEWBURY, First Battles of.
See ENGLAND: A. D. 1643 (AUGUST-SEPTEMBER).
NEWBURY, Second Battle.
See ENGLAND: A. D. 1644 (AUGUST-SEPTEMBER).
NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, Origin of.
See PONS ÆLII.
NEWCOMEN, and the invention of the steam engine.
See STEAM ENGINE: THE BEGINNINGS.
----------NEWFOUNDLAND: Start--------
NEWFOUNDLAND:
Aboriginal inhabitants.
See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: BEOTHUKAN FAMILY.
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1000.
Supposed identity with the Helluland of Norse Sagas.
See AMERICA: 10-11TH CENTURIES.
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1498.
Discovery by Sebastian Cabot.
See AMERICA: A. D. 1498.
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1500.
Visited by Cortereal, the Portuguese explorer.
See AMERICA: A. D. 1500.
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1501-1578.
The Portuguese, Norman, Breton and Basque fisheries.
"It is a very curious circumstance, that the country in which
the Cabots started their idea for a navigation to the
north-west, and in which they at first proclaimed their
discovery of the rich fishing-banks near their
New-found-Isles, did not at once profit by it so much as their
neighbors, the French and the Portuguese. …
{2353}
During the first half of the 16th century we hear little of
English fishing and commercial expeditions to the great banks;
although they had a branch of commerce and fishery with
Iceland. … 'It was not until the year 1548 that the English
government passed the first act for the encouragement of the
fisheries on the banks of Newfoundland, after which they
became active competitors in this profitable occupation.'" In
Portugal, Cortereal's discovery had revealed "the wealth to be
derived from the fish, particularly cod-fish, which abounded
on that coast. The fishermen of Portugal and of the Western
Islands, when this news was spread among them, made
preparations for profiting by it, and soon extended their
fishing excursions to the other side of the ocean. According
to the statement of a Portuguese author, very soon after the
discoveries by the Cortereals, a Portuguese Fishing Company
was formed in the harbors of Vianna, Aveiro and Terceira, for
the purpose of colonizing Newfoundland and making
establishments upon it. Nay, already, in 1506, three years
after the return of the last searching expedition for the
Cortereals, Emanuel gave order, 'that the fishermen of
Portugal, at their return from Newfoundland, should pay a
tenth part of their profits at his custom-houses.' It is
certain, therefore, that the Portuguese fishermen must,
previous to that time, have been engaged in a profitable
business. And this is confirmed by the circumstance that they
originated the name of 'tierra de Bacalhas' [or Bacalhao] (the
Stockfish-country) and gave currency to it; though the word,
like the cod-fishery itself, appears to be of Germanic origin.
…. The nations who followed them in the fishing business
imitated their example, and adopted the name 'country of the
Bacalhas' (or, in the Spanish form, Baccallaos), though
sometimes interchanging it with names of their own invention,
as the 'Newfoundland: 'Terre neuve,' etc. … They [the
Portuguese] continued their expeditions to Newfoundland and
its neighborhood for a long time. They were often seen there
by later English and other visitors during the course of the
16th century; for instance, according to Herrera, in 1519;
again by the English in 1527; and again by Sir Humphrey
Gilbert in 1583. … The Portuguese engaged in this fishery as
early as 1501, according to good authorities, and perhaps
under the charter of Henry VII. In 1578, they had 50 ships
employed in that trade, and England as many more, and France
150. … The inhabitants of the little harbors of Normandy and
Brittany, the great peninsulas of France, … were also among
the first who profited by the discoveries of the Cabots and
Cortereals, and who followed in the wake of the Portuguese
fishermen toward the north-west cod-fish country. … The
first voyages of the Bretons of St. Malo and the Normans of
Dieppe to Newfoundland, are said to have occurred as early as
1504. … They probably visited places of which the Portuguese
had not taken possession; and we therefore find them at the
south of Newfoundland, and especially at the island of Cape
Breton, to which they gave the name, still retained,—the
oldest French name on the American north-east coast. … The
Spaniards, and more particularly the mariners and fishermen of
Biscay, have pretended, like those of Brittany and Normandy,
that they and their ancestors, from time immemorial, had
sailed to Newfoundland; and, even before Columbus, had
established their fisheries there. But the Spanish historian
Navarette, in more modern times, does not sustain this
pretension of his countrymen. … We may come to the
conclusion that, if the fisheries of the Spanish Basques on
the Banks of Newfoundland and in the vicinity, did not begin
with the voyage of Gomez [in 1525], they received from it a
new impulse. … From this time, for more than a century, they
[the Basques] appeared in these waters every year with a large
fleet, and took their place upon the banks as equals by the
side of the Bretons, Normans, and Basques of France, until the
middle of the 17th century, when rival nations dispossessed
them of their privileges."
_J. G. Kohl,
History of the Discovery of Maine
(Maine Historical Society Collections, series 2, volume 1),
chapters 6 and 8, with foot-note._
ALSO IN:
_R. Brown,
History of Cape Breton,
chapters 1-2._
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1534.
Visited by Jacques Cartier.
See AMERICA: A. D. 1534-1535.
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1583.
Formal possession taken for England by Sir Humphrey Gilbert.
See AMERICA: A. D. 1583.
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1610-1655.
Early English attempts at colonization.
The grants to Lord Baltimore and Sir David Kirke.
"For 27 years after the failure of the Gilbert expedition no
fresh attempt was made to establish a colony in the island.
During this interval fishermen of various nationalities
continued to frequent its shores. … The French were actively
engaged in the prosecution of the fisheries in the neighboring
seas. Their success in this direction strengthened their
desire to gain possession of Newfoundland. Hence it is that in
the history of the country France has always been an important
factor. Having from time to time held possession of various
points of the land, England's persistent rival in these
latitudes has given names to many towns, villages, creeks, and
harbors. To this day Newfoundland has not completely shaken
off French influence. … In 1610 another attempt was made to
plant a colony of Englishmen in Newfoundland. John Guy, a
merchant, and afterwards mayor of Bristol, published in 1609 a
pamphlet on the advantages which would result to England from
the establishment of a colony in the island. This publication
made such a deep impression on the public mind that a company
was formed to carry out the enterprise it suggested. The most
illustrious name on the roll was that of Lord Bacon. … The
importance of Newfoundland as a site for an English colony did
not escape the wide-ranging eye of Bacon. He pronounced its
fisheries 'more valuable than all the mines of Peru,' a
judgment which time has amply verified. … To this company
James I., by letters patent dated April, 1610, made a grant of
all the part of Newfoundland which lies between Cape Bonavista
in the north and Cape St. Mary. Mr. Guy was appointed
governor, and with a number of colonists he landed at Mosquito
Harbor, on the north side of Conception Bay, where he
proceeded to erect huts. … We have no authentic account of
the progress of this settlement, begun under such favourable
auspices, but it proved unsuccessful from some unexplained
cause. Guy and a number of the settlers returned to England,
the rest remaining to settle elsewhere in the New World.
{2354}
Five years afterwards, in 1615, Captain Richard Whitbourne,
mariner, of Exmouth, Devonshire, received a commission from
the Admiralty of England to proceed to Newfoundland for the
purpose of establishing order among the fishing population and
remedying certain abuses which had grown up. … It was shown
that there were upwards of 250 English vessels, having a
tonnage of 1,500 tons, engaged in the fisheries along the
coast. Fixed habitations extended at intervals along the shore
from St. John's to Cape Race. … Having done what he could
during the active part of his life to promote its interests,
on his return to England, in his advanced years, he
[Whitbourne] wrote an account of the country, entitled 'A
Discourse and Discovery of Newfoundland.' … His book made a
great impression at the time. … So highly did King James
think of the volume that he ordered a copy to be sent to every
parish in the kingdom. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York
issued a letter recommending it, with the view of encouraging
emigration to Newfoundland. … A year after the departure of
Whitbourne, in 1623, by far the most skilfully-organized
effort to carry out the settlement of Newfoundland was made,
under the guidance of Sir George Calvert, afterwards Lord
Baltimore. … When Secretary of State he obtained a patent
conveying to him the lordship of the whole southern peninsula
of Newfoundland, together with all the islands lying within
ten leagues of the eastern shores, as well as the right of
fishing in the surrounding waters, all English subjects
having, as before, free liberty of fishing. Being a Roman
Catholic, Lord Baltimore had in view to provide an asylum for
his co-religionists who were sufferers from the intolerant
spirit of the times. The immense tract thus granted to him
extended from Trinity Bay to Placentia, and was named by him
Avalon, from the ancient name of Glastonbury, where, it is
believed, Christianity was first preached in Britain. … Lord
Baltimore called his Newfoundland province Avalon and his
first settlement Verulam. The latter name, in course of time,
became corrupted into Ferulam, and then into the modern
Ferryland. At this spot, on the eastern coast of Newfoundland,
about 40 miles north of Cape Race, Lord Baltimore planted his
colony, and built a noble mansion, in which he resided with
his family during many years." But after expending some
£30,000 upon the establishment of his colony, Lord Baltimore
abandoned it, on account of the poor quality of the soil and
its exposure to the attacks of the French. Not long afterwards
he obtained his Maryland grant [see MARYLAND: A. D. 1632] and
resumed the enterprise under more favorable conditions. "Soon
after the departure of Lord Baltimore, Viscount Falkland,
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, hoping to permanently increase the
scanty population of Newfoundland, sent out a number of
emigrants from that country. At a later date, these were so
largely reinforced by settlers from Ireland that the Celtic
part of the population at this day is not far short of
equality in numbers with the Saxon portion. In 1638, Sir David
Kirke, one of Britain's bravest sea-captains, arrived in
Newfoundland and took up his abode at Ferryland, where Lord
Baltimore had lived. Sir David was armed with the powers of a
Count Palatine over the island, having obtained from Charles
I. a grant of the whole." This was by way of reward for his
exploit in taking Quebec
See CANADA: A. D. 1628-1635.
Kirke "governed wisely and used every effort to promote the
colonization of the country. His settlement prospered greatly.
The Civil War, however, broke out in England, and, Kirke being
a staunch loyalist, all his possessions in Newfoundland were
confiscated by the victorious Commonwealth. By the aid of
Claypole, Cromwell's son-in-law, Kirke eventually got the
sequestration removed, and, returning to Ferryland, died there
in 1655, at the age of 56. At this time Newfoundland contained
a population of 350 families, or nearly 2,000 inhabitants,
distributed in 15 small settlements along the eastern coast."
_J. Hatton and M. Harvey,
Newfoundland,
chapter 2._
ALSO IN:
_H. Kirke,
The First English Conquest of Canada,
chapters 3-4._
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1660-1688.
The French gain their footing.
"With the possession of Cape Breton, Acadia, and the vast
regions stretching from the gulf of the River St. Lawrence,
and the mighty lakes, Newfoundland obtained a new value in the
estimation of the government of France, as it formed one side
of the narrow entrance to its transatlantic dependencies:
consequently the pursuit of the fishery by its seamen was
encouraged, and every opportunity was improved to gain a
footing in the country itself. This encroaching tendency could
not, however, be manifested without a protest on the part of
the somewhat sluggish English, both by private individuals and
by the government. Charles I. … imposed a tribute of five
per cent. on the produce taken by foreigners in this fishery,
to which exaction the French, as well as others, were forced
to submit. During the distracted time of the Commonwealth, it
does not appear that the struggling government at home found
leisure to attend to these distant affairs, though the tribute
continued to be levied. The Restoration brought to England a
sovereign who owed much to the monarch of France, to whom he
was therefore attached by the ties of gratitude, and by the
desire to find a counterpoise to the refractory disposition of
which he was in continual apprehension among his own subjects.
It was not until 1675 that Louis XIV. prevailed on Charles to
give up the duty of five per cent., and by that time the
French had obtained a solid footing on the southern coast of
Newfoundland, so that, with Cape Breton in their possession,
they commanded both sides of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Over a
territory of some 200 miles in extent, belonging to the
British sovereignty, they had built up imperceptibly an almost
undisputed dominion. At Placentia, situated in the bay of that
name, a strong fort was erected, sustained by other forts
standing at intervals along the shore, and at the same place a
royal government was established. How real was the authority
assumed, and how completely was the English sovereignty
ignored, needs no better proof than is furnished in an
ordinance issued by Louis in the year 1681, concerning the
marine of France. In this state paper, Newfoundland is
reckoned as situate in those seas which are free and common to
all French subjects, provided that they take a license from
the admiral for every voyage. …
{2355}
Thus that period which is regarded as among the most
humiliating in the annals of our nation,—when the king was a
pensioner of France, and his ministers received bribes from
the same quarter, witnessed the partial sliding under this
alien power of the most ancient of the colonial possessions of
the Crown. Not less than half of the inhabited coast of
Newfoundland was thus taken under that despotic rule, which,
while swaying the councils of England to the furtherance of
its ambitious designs, was labouring for the subjugation of
the European continent. The revolution of 1688 broke the spell
of this encroaching autocracy."
_C. Pedley,
History of Newfoundland,
chapter 2._
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1694-1697.
French success in the war with England.
The Treaty of Ryswick and its unsatisfactory terms.
"On the accession of William III. to the throne of England
hostilities broke out between the rival nations. In William's
declaration of war against the French, Newfoundland holds a
prominent place among the alleged causes which led to the
rupture of pacific relations. The grievance was tersely set
forth in the royal manifesto: 'It was not long since the
French took license from the Governor of Newfoundland to fish
upon that coast, and paid a tribute for such licenses as an
acknowledgement of the sole right of the Crown of England to
that island; but of late the encroachments of the French, and
His Majesty's subjects trading and fishing there, had been
more like the invasions of an enemy than becoming friends, who
enjoyed the advantages of that trade only by permission.'
Newfoundland now became the scene of military skirmishes,
naval battles, and sieges by land and water." In 1692 the
English made an unsuccessful attack on Placentia. In 1694, a
French fleet, under the Chevalier Nesmond, intended for an
attack upon Boston and New York, stopped at Newfoundland on
the way and made a descent on the harbor and town of St.
John's. Nesmond "was repulsed, and instead of going on to
Boston he returned to France. A more determined effort at
conquest was made later in the same year. The new expedition
was under the command of Iberville and Brouillan, the former
being at the head of a Canadian force. The garrison of St.
John's was weak in numbers, and, in want of military stores,
could only make a feeble resistance; capitulating on easy
terms, the troops were shipped to England. The fort and town
were burned to the ground, and the victors next proceeded to
destroy all the other adjacent English settlements; Carbonear
and Bonavista alone proved too strong for them. The English
Government at once commenced dispositions for dislodging the
invaders; but before anything was attempted the treaty of
Ryswick was signed, in 1697. This treaty proved most
unfortunate for Newfoundland. It revived in the island the
same state of division between France and England which had
existed at the beginning of the war. The enemy retired from
St. John's and the other settlements which they had forcibly
occupied. Their claims upon Placentia and all the other
positions on the south-west coast were, however, confirmed.
The British inhabitants of Newfoundland were, therefore, once
more left open to French attacks, should hostilities be again
renewed between the rival powers."
_J. Hatton and M. Harvey,
Newfoundland,
part 1, chapter 2._
ALSO IN:
_F. Parkman,
Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV.,
chapter 18._
_W. Kingsford,
History of Canada,
book 4, chapter 7 (volume 2)._
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1705.
English settlements destroyed by the French.
See NEW ENGLAND: A. D. 1702-1710.
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1713.
Relinquished to Great Britain by the Treaty of Utrecht.
French fishing rights reserved.
In the 12th and 13th articles of the Treaty signed at Utrecht,
April 11, 1713, which terminated the War of the Spanish
Succession (commonly known in American history as Queen Anne's
War) it was stipulated that "All Nova Scotia or Acadié, with
its ancient boundaries, as also the city of Port Royal, now
called Annapolis Royal, … the island of Newfoundland, with
the adjacent islands, … the town and fortress of Placentia,
and whatever other places in the island are in possession of
the French, shall from this time forward belong of right
wholly to Great Britain. … That the subjects of France
should be allowed to catch fish and dry them on that part of
the island of Newfoundland which stretches from Cape Bonavista
to the northern point of the island, and from thence down the
western side as far as Point Riché; but that no fortifications
or any buildings should be erected there, besides Stages made
of Boards, and Huts necessary and usual for drying fish. …
But the island of Cape Breton, as also all others, both in the
mouth of the river of St. Lawrence and in the gulf of the same
name, shall hereafter belong of Right to the King of France,
who shall have liberty to fortify any place or places there."
_R. Brown,
History of the Island of Cape Breton,
letter 9._
ALSO IN:
_J. Hatton and M. Harvey,
Newfoundland,
part 1, chapters 3-4;
and part 3, chapter 7._
See, also, UTRECHT: A. D. 1712-1714.
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1744.
Attack on Placentia by the French.
See NEW ENGLAND: A. D. 1744.
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1748.
The islands of St. Pierre and Michelon ceded to France.
See NEW ENGLAND: A. D: 1745-1748.
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1763.
Ceded to England by the Treaty of Paris,
with rights of fishing reserved to France.
See SEVEN YEARS WAR: THE TREATIES;
also FISHERIES, NORTH AMERICAN: A. D. 1763.
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1778.
French fishery rights on the banks recognized
in the Franco-American Treaty.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1778 (FEBRUARY).
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1783.
American fishing rights conceded in the
Treaty of Peace with the United States.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1783 (SEPTEMBER).
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1818.
Fisheries Treaty between Great Britain and the United States.
See FISHERIES, NORTH AMERICAN: A. D. 1814-1818.
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1854-1866.
Reciprocity Treaty with the United States.
See TARIFF LEGISLATION
(UNITED STATES AND CANADA): A. D. 1854-1866.
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1871.
The Treaty of Washington.
See ALABAMA CLAIMS: A. D. 1871.
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1877.
The Halifax Fishery award.
Termination of the Fishery Articles of the Treaty of Washington.
Renewed fishery disputes.
See FISHERIES, NORTH AMERICAN: A. D. 1877-1888.
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