1712-1720.
Queen Anne Espouses the Cause of the Company -- Prior's View of
its Wants -- Treaty of Utrecht -- Joy of the Adventurers --
Petition for Act of Cession -- Not Pressed by the British
Government -- Governor Knight Authorized to take Possession of
Port Nelson -- "Smug Ancient Gentlemen" -- Commissioners to
Ascertain Rights -- Their Meeting in Paris -- Matters move
slowly -- Bladen and Pulteney return to England.
At last the Company had triumphed. Its rights had been admitted; the
Queen and her ministers were convinced of the justice of its
claims.[47] Peace, long and anxiously awaited, began to dawn over the
troubled horizon. Lewis and his courtiers had long sickened of the
war: and at the Flemish town of Utrecht negotiations were on foot for
a cessation of hostilities and the adjustment of differences between
the crowns of England and France.
The view which Matthew Prior, the English plenipotentiary, took of the
Company's rights was not one, however, inspired by that body. He
wanted the trade of the country, rather than the sovereignty.
"I take leave to add to your lordship," he observes at the end of a
communication addressed to the Secretary of State, "that these
limitations are not otherwise advantageous or prejudicial to Great
Britain than as we are both better or worse with the native Indians;
and that the whole is a matter rather of industry than of dominion."
These negotiations finally resulted in a treaty signed on the 31st of
March (O.S.), 1713, by which the whole of Hudson's Bay was ceded to
Great Britain without any distinct definition of boundaries, for the
determining of which commissioners were to be appointed.
[Sidenote: Effect of the Treaty on the Company.]
On the news of the conclusion of the Treaty, the Adventurers were
filled with joy. The Committee was in session when a messenger came
hot haste from Whitehall to bear the glad tidings. A General Court was
convoked for several days later. Plans were concerted for securing the
very most that the circumstances would allow. It was necessary to
secure the Act of Cession which it was supposed would be issued by
Lewis, ceding to Great Britain the places on Hudson's Bay, the Company
being regarded merely in the light of sub-ordinary subjects. Many of
the members wished to press at once for pecuniary compensation, but
the wiser heads agreed that this would best be a matter for subsequent
negotiation. Many thought indeed that perhaps there need be no haste
in the matter, as the interest on the original estimate of damages,
already nearly double the principal, was growing daily at an enormous
rate.
"As to the Company's losses," says a memorandum of this year, "it will
appear by a true and exact estimate that the French took from the
Company in full peace between 1682 and 1688 seven ships, with their
cargoes, and six forts and caches in which were carried away great
stores of goods laid up for trading with the Indians. The whole
amounts to £38,332 15s., and £62,210 18s. 9d. interest, computed to
1713."
[Sidenote: Company's claim for compensation.]
Under date of 30th July, 1714, occurs the following: "The Committee
having received a letter from the Lords Commissioners of Trade, and
they desiring their attendance on Tuesday next, and to bring in
writing the demands of the Co. for damages rec'd from the French in
times of peace pursuant to the 10th & 11th Articles of the Treaty of
Utrecht. Upon which the Secretary is ordered to Copy out the Abstract
of the whole damage sustained, amounting to with Interest the sum of
£100,543-13-9; as likewise the particulars in these small volumes in
order to present the same to the Commission of Trade on Wednesday
next."
It does not seem to have been doubted but that the Queen, if
petitioned, would grant the Company's request in time to send an
expedition to the Bay that very year.[48]
But while vessels were being acquired, fitted out and loaded with
cargoes, the Company was wise enough not to run the risk of falling
into a trap. Nothing was to be done without the fullest royal
authority.
It is worthy of remark as illustrating how much the Company trusted
the Canadian authorities, Bolingbroke (May 29, 1713) reminded the Duke
of Shrewsbury (then at Paris) that in Pontchartrain's letter to the
Marquis de Vaudreuil, Governor of Canada, the latter was directed to
yield the forts and settlements belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company:
"But this order the Merchants thought would hardly fulfil their
requirements. They were despatching two ships to the Bay. It would
therefore be better if his grace obtained direct order to M. Jérémie
in duplicate."
[Sidenote: No Act of Cession.]
But the Act of Cession eagerly awaited by the Company was not
forthcoming. The Queen's advisers were wiser than anybody else. Lord
Dartmouth's letter[49] of the 27th May, 1713, enclosing the petition
of the Hudson's Bay Company, shows what was the design in not
accepting an Act of Cession from the French King. Her Majesty insisted
only upon an order from the French Court for delivering possession;
"by which means the title of the Company was acknowledged, and they
will come into the immediate enjoyment of their property without
further trouble."
The summer of 1713 came on apace, and it was soon too late to think of
occupying Port Nelson that year. But all was made ready for the next.
On the 5th of June, 1714, many of the Adventurers hied themselves to
Gravesend, to wish Governor Knight and his deputy, Henry Kelsey,
godspeed. "The Committee," we read in the minutes, "delivered to
Captain Knight, Her Majesty's Royal Commission, to take possession
(for the Company) of York Fort, and all other places within the Bay
and Straits of Hudson. Also another Commission from Her Majesty
constituting him Governor under the Company, and Mr. H. Kelsey, Deputy
Governor of the Bay and Straits of Hudson, aforesaid."
Knight took with him, likewise, "the French King's order under his
hand and seal, to Mons. Jérémie, Commander at York Fort, to deliver
the same to whom Her Majesty should appoint, pursuant to the Treaty of
Utrick."
Knight's eyes, now dimmed with age, were gladdened by the sight of
Port Nelson, on the 25th of July. Jérémie was already advised by the
French ship, and no time was lost in evacuation. A bargain was made
for such buildings and effects as the French had no further use for,
which had been beforehand arranged. "From his particular regard for
the Queen of Great Britain, the King will leave to her the artillery
and ammunition in the forts and places in Hudson's Bay and Straits,
notwithstanding the urgent reasons His Majesty has to withdraw them,
and to appropriate them elsewhere." The cannon were accordingly left.
[Sidenote: Regulation of boundary.]
By Article X of the Treaty of Utrecht it was proposed, in order to
avoid all further conflict and misunderstanding, that commissioners
should be appointed to regulate the boundaries of Hudson's Bay and the
extent of the trade thereof, which should be enjoyed by each.[50] But
no great haste was apparent on the part of France to secure this end.
For several years nothing was done in the matter, save and except the
persistent exchange of letters between the two ambassadors. There is a
letter of Bolingbroke's which evinces the feeling current in
diplomatic circles at the time.
"There is nothing more persistent in the world," he says, "than these
claims of the Hudson's Bay Company. We are desirous greatly to see all
these smug ancient gentlemen satisfied; but notwithstanding we are
unable to budge an inch. The truth of the business seems to me to be
that the French are always hoping that their ultimate concessions will
be less and the English that these concessions will be vastly more. As
for ourselves we have no desire to play with frost; and I for one
shall be relieved to see this question thawed out without further
delay."
Lewis had consented, at the time of the Peace, to afterwards name two
commissioners who should give possession to such of the English, as
proved that they were actual proprietors, or the heirs of proprietors
of those who had in a former time possessed property in the Bay. This
seemed to provide for the Company's rights in a manner most
satisfactory.
[Sidenote: Appointment of a Commission.]
Nevertheless matters dragged on, and it was not until 1719 that a
practical movement was made. On the 3rd of September of that year,
Daniel Pulteney and Martin Bladen, Lords of Trade, were appointed
Commissioners in response to the appointment by Lewis of the Mareschal
Comte d'Estrees and the Abbé Dubois, Minister and Secretary of State.
Pulteney was an Indian merchant, and Bladen had been an officer in the
army.
The Lords of Trade having made the suggestion, the Company now wished
their Governor, Sir Bibye Lake, to go over to Paris the "more
earnestly to solicit and prosecute the claims of the Honourable
Adventurers."
"It is by this Committee desired most humbly of the Governor to accept
and undertake this journey and to manage the Company's affairs there,
as he shall judge most conducive to their interest and advantage.
Which, being signified to the Governor, he did, to the great
satisfaction of the Committee readily undertake and accept the same.
It was ordered that the Governor have liberty to take with him such
person or persons to France as he shall think fit."
Lake accordingly joined Bladen and Pulteney, and was permitted to take
a silent part in the conference.
It was intended that this Commission, meeting in Paris, should have
power to settle generally the boundaries between the English and
French possessions in America. But this was soon seen to be
impracticable. The settlement of these matters was too vast and
complicated for the Commission to deal with; and the Lords of Trade
instructed Bladen, on his setting out, to deal only with the Hudson's
Bay territories. It is significant that private instructions of a
similar nature were at the same time conveyed to the French
Commissioners by the Court.
The Commissioners finally met. Perhaps it would be a pity if Bladen's
own quaint account of what followed were allowed to perish:--
On Saturday last, my Lord Stair and I met Marechal d'Estrees
and Abbé Dubois. Our time was spent in preparatory discourses
concerning the intent of the 10th article of the Treaty of
Utrecht, relating to the boundaries of Hudson's Bay; and at our
next meeting, which will be to-morrow at my Lord Stair's House,
we design to give in the claim of the Hudson's Bay Company, in
writing, with some few additions pretty material for their
service, in case the Abbé Dubois his health will allow him to
be there, which I fear it will not, for he is confined at
present to his bed.
[Sidenote: Martin Bladen's description of the Commission.]
But I confess, I cannot help thinking it will be to a very
little purpose to puzzle ourselves about setting boundaries, by
treaty, in the North of America, if the French have so concise
a way of fixing theirs in the south, without asking our
concurrence; it is to be hoped they will have the modesty to
recede from this new acquisition, but in the meantime I cannot
help saying this gives me no very good relish either of their
friendship or discretion.
I cannot leave this subject without observing how much it
imports us to be upon our guard in our American Colonies. It
were to be wished that the several Governments of His Majesty's
plantations would pay the respect they owe to their
instructions, and if those of Barbados for some time past had
observed theirs, relating to Santa Lucia, the settlement of a
hundred French families there could never have been put upon us
at this day as a proof of their right to that island.
There is, further, much talk of a "multiplicity of books and papers
necessary to be read," and of "arduous labours" in going over maps,
charts and memoirs, which, however numerous, "are not to be depended
on."[51]
While this initial work was going on, one of the adventurers was
entreating his fellows at a Company meeting in London, to take note of
a scheme which the French had been insidiously attempting for the
previous four years to utterly destroy not only the Company's trade,
but all the English colonies as well. He proceeded to read a private
letter from a relation in the colony of Pennsylvania in which it was
shewn that the Mississippi Company required close watching.
"Its leaders are egged on by the Jesuits, and will stop at no bloody
measures to draw down trade from the Indians. Their projects must
inevitably succeed if we are not watchful."
This was put forward as one potent reason why the French were
complaisant about yielding us the Bay itself. It was but the shell
they would surrender, whilst preserving to themselves the kernel.
This letter from the Pennsylvanian had its effect upon the
easily-alarmed adventurers, for they lost no time in communicating
their apprehensions to the Lords of Trade.
The matter was sent forward to Bladen and Pulteney. "It were heartily
to be wished," the Company observed, "that in imitation of our
industrious neighbours the French, some means can be determined upon
to extend the trade in furs southwards."
In response, Bladen imparted a brilliant idea. He suggested that St.
Augustine might be "reduced at a small cost," and advantage taken
thereby of the war then in progress with Spain.
Matters went on in Paris as badly as could be. The English
commissioners lost all patience. Nothing was in the air but John Law
and his Mississippi scheme. The three distinguished Englishmen,
Bladen, Pulteney and Lake, were dined and feted: but were at length
disgusted with the whole business.[52] The "smug ancient gentlemen,"
as Bolingbroke had irreverently dubbed the Honourable Adventurers,
were not to be satisfied in regard to the delimitation of boundaries
and at this time. But perhaps even they had less interest in Hudson's
Bay at heart than new interests which had dramatically arisen much
nearer home.
Governor Lake was sent for suddenly from London, and Bladen and
Pulteney were not long in following him.
FOOTNOTES:
[47] THE LORDS OF TRADE TO THE EARL OF DARTMOUTH.
_To the Right Honourable the Earl of Dartmouth._
MY LORD,--In obedience to Her Majesty's commands, signified to
us, we have considered the enclosed petition from the Hudson's
Bay Company to Her Majesty, and are humbly of opinion that the
said Company have a good right and just title to the whole Bay
and Streights of Hudson.
Since the receipt of which petition, the said Company have
delivered us a memorial, relating to the settlement of
boundaries between them and the French of Canada, a copy
whereof is enclosed, and upon which we take leave to offer,
that as it will be for the advantage of the said Company that
their boundaries be settled, it will also be necessary that the
boundaries between Her Majesty's colonies on the continent of
America and the said French of Canada be likewise agreed and
settled; wherefore we humbly offer these matters may be
recommended to Her Majesty's Plenipotentiaries at Utrecht.
We are,
My Lord,
Your Lordship's most obedient, and most humble servants,
WINCHELSEA,
PH. MEADOWS,
CHAS. TURNER,
GEO. BAILLIE,
ARTH. MOORE,
FRA. GWYN.
Whitehall, February 19th, 1711-12.
[48] THE COMPANY'S PETITION TO QUEEN ANNE FOR ACT OF CESSION.
_To the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty_:--
The humble petition of the Governor and Company of Adventurers
of England trading into Hudson's Bay, sheweth:
That your petitioners, being informed that the Act of Cession
is come over, whereby (among other matters thereby concerted)
the French King obliges himself to restore to your Majesty (or
to whom your Majesty shall appoint to take possession thereof)
the Bay and Streights of Hudson, as also all forts and edifices
whatsoever, entire and demolished, together with guns, shot,
powder and other warlike provisions (as mentioned in the 10th
article of the present treaty of peace), within six months
after the ratification thereof, or sooner, if possible it may
be done.
Your petitioners do most humbly pray your Majesty will be
graciously pleased to direct the said Act of Cession may be
transmitted to your petitioners, as also your Majesty's
commission to Captain James Knight and Mr. Henry Kelsey,
gentleman, to authorize them, or either of them, to take
possession of the premises above mentioned, and to constitute
Captain James Knight to be Governor of the fortress called Fort
Nelson, and all other forts and edifices, lands, seas, rivers
and places aforesaid; and the better to enable your petitioners
to recover the same, they humbly pray your Majesty to give
orders that they may have a small man-of-war to depart with
their ships, by the 12th of June next ensuing, which ship may
in all probability return in the month of October.
And your petitioners, as in duty bound, shall ever pray.
By order of the Company.
per WM. POTTER, SECRETARY.
[49] "MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN,--The Queen has commanded me to transmit
to you the enclosed petition of the Hudson's Bay Company, that you may
consider of it and report your opinion what orders may properly be
given upon the several particulars mentioned. In the meantime I am to
acquaint you that the places and countries therein named, belonging of
right to British subjects, Her Majesty did not think fit to receive
any Act of Cession from the French King, and has therefore insisted
only upon an order from that Court for delivering possession to such
persons as should be authorized by Her Majesty to take it; by this
means the title of the Company is acknowledged, and they will come
into the immediate enjoyment of their property without further
trouble."
[50] In 1714 the Hudson's Bay Company sent a memorandum to the Lords
Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, accompanied by a map in which
they claimed that the eastern boundary should be a line running from
Grimington's Island through Lake Miscosinke or Mistassinnie, and from
the said lake by a line run south-westward into 49 degrees north
latitude, as by the red line may more particularly appear, and that
that latitude be the limit; that the French do not come to the north
of it, nor the English to the south of it.
[51] MR. BLADEN TO MR. DELEFAYE.
PARIS, November 11th, 1719, N.S.
On Wednesday last, my Lord Stair and I delivered to the Marechal
d'Estrees the demand of the Hudson's Bay Company, with respect to
their limits, and by comparing the enclosed, which is a copy of that
demand, with the instruction upon his head, you will perceive the same
has been fully complied with.
So soon as I shall have the French Commissary's answer to our demand,
I shall likewise take care to transmit you a copy of it, to be laid
before their Excellencys the Lord Justices.
[52] PARIS, May the 4th, N.S., 1720.
MR. PULTENEY TO MR. SECRETARY CRAGGS.
My Lord Stair has spoke to the Regent, who said immediately that the
conferences shall be renewed whenever we please; His Excellency then
desired His Royal Highness would appoint a day, which he promised to
do. This is what the Regent has promised my Lord Stair once every
week, for four or five months past, without any effect, and his
Excellency does not expect any more from the promise now, though
possibly a conference may be appointed for form sake. I have been here
near six months, and have seen only one conference, which was
appointed by my Lord Stanhope's desire. I think there had been two
conferences before I came; at the first of them the commissions were
read, and at the second my Lord Stair and Mr. Bladen gave in a
memorial about the limits of the Hudson's Bay Company, to which no
answer has been made. I must own that I never could expect much
success from this commission, since the French interests and ours are
so directly opposite, and our respective pretensions interfere so much
with each on the several points we were to treat about; but that the
French have not been willing to entertain us now and then with a
conference, and try how far we might be disposed to comply with a
conference, and try how far we might be disposed with any of the views
they had in desiring the commission, cannot, I should think be
accounted for, but by supposing they knew we came prepared to reject
all their demands, and to make very considerable ones for
ourselves.... I shall expect your further direction as to my stay or
return; I cannot help owning I heartily wish for the latter, but I
shall always submit to what His Majesty likes best, and shall only
desire in this case that I may have a supply from the treasury, since
I have not had the good fortune to be concerned in either of the
Misiseppis.