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of uniting Canada and Louisiana, which, at a subsequent period, was fully accomplished, and which eventuated in the loss of Canada and its neighbouring provinces.

The events which immediately preceded the conquest of Canada, by the united forces of Great Britain and her colonies, will be fully narrated in a subsequent chapter, in connection with the history of those British colonies which eventually formed the republic of the United States.

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HE British possessions in America, exclusive of Canada, may be divided into two portions. One embraces the maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and the islands in their vicinity. These are all of political and financial importance, commensurate with their size and natural advantages. The second portion includes the vast region lying north of Canada, a part of the continent little known, inhabited by numerous tribes of Indians, and hitherto valuable only for its furs. It is divided by Hudson's Bay into Labrador and New Britain.

These shores were the first towards which voyages of discovery

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in North America were directed. The Cabots, Cortereal, and Verazzano, pursued their course, exclusively, either along them or the neighbouring part of the United States. The unsuccessful attempts of Mr. Hore and Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in 1536 and 1578, will be noticed in a subsequent chapter.

Their want of success damped for a while the spirit of enterprise among the English. Other nations, however, had long looked toward the northern and middle shores of America with greedy eyes. The French, under Verazzano, as we have already seen, had sailed along the coast, now forming the boundary of the United States, from Florida to New England; and the Spanish were only prevented from following the same track, by their inordinate grasping after wealth, which invariably precluded any permanent friendly intercourse with the natives. France resumed her efforts before the close of the sixteenth century. In 1603, a gentleman, named De Monts, obtained from Henry IV. privilege to settle and govern the country near Newfoundland, with the monopoly of the fur trade. He sailed with four vessels, and on the 16th of May, 1604, reached Nova Scotia. Here he confiscated the vessel and effects of a French captain, whom he found engaged in trade. After entering the Bay of Fundy and making a fruitless attempt to penetrate through it into the St. Law

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rence, he fixed on an island near the mouth of the St. Croix, as a place of settlement. The crew cultivated a piece of ground, and erected a fort with neat apartments and a chapel. But winter set in with a severity for which they were unprepared. Their fuel was soon exhausted. They were compelled to drink snow-water, and subsist entirely on salted provisions, which at length brought on the scurvy in its most aggravated form. Their sufferings during the winter were appalling.

At the end of this season, De Monts sailed southward in search of a milder climate. He reached Cape Cod, but the numerous tribes of hostile Indians in this neighbourhood were too strong for his small party. He returned to St. Croix, and, having obtained a seasonable reinforcement, removed to a spot on the Bay of Fundy, which, when formerly passed, had appeared very desirable. This he named Port Royal. The whole country, including New Brunswick, was styled Acadia. De Monts then repaired to France for further supplies; but his people having raised grain and vegetables and procured abundance of venison, passed two winters very agreeably. But these flattering prospects were blasted by an act of government, depriving De Monts of all his privileges. Soon after, Captain Argall, being on a voyage in that region, invaded the pro

vince without the least provocation, attacked a small settlement named La Have, and carried the inhabitants to Virginia. He attempted to excuse this act by alleging that they were pirates; but when the authorities of Jamestown would have hung them, he confessed the real nature of his act. So far from discountenancing this piece of injustice, the British adopted it as a ground to claim the whole of Acadia.

HESE efforts of England's great rival roused the spirit of the British. In 1621, Sir William Alexander received a grant of the territory from the St. Croix to the St. Lawrence, together with the usual extravagant and ridiculous powers. He sent out an expedition in 1622. In consequence of various delays, the navigators could not, in the first year, pass beyond Newfoundland, where they were obliged to winter. In the following spring, they coasted along the ceded country, but found all its principal points, including Port Royal, re-occupied by French settlers. They, therefore, returned to England and spread the most flattering reports of the value and beauty of Acadia. This result so far pleased the proprietor, that, when war broke out with France, he sent out a squadron (1627) under his eldest son, by which the French settlements were speedily reduced. The subsequent conquest of Canada, in 1629, gave Great Britain full possession of this part of the continent. It was restored to France by the treaty of St. Germains, 1632.

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The court of Paris having regained possession of the territory, divided it (1634) among three individuals. A young man, named La Tour, received the middle districts; one Denys the northern and Razillai the southern. The latter was succeeded by Daubré de Charnisé, between whom and La Tour there arose an inveterate feud. The contest was waged with relentless animosity. La Tour received some assistance from Boston, but more from his wife, who, being attacked during her husband's absence, beat off the assailants with great loss. She was afterwards surprised by Charnisé, the fort taken, and the garrison hanged. Madame de la Tour was herself so ill-treated, that she died with vexation.

Soon after this perfidious transaction, Charnisé died, and La Tour returned to France. Here he sought to heal the feud by marrying the widow of his rival; but when affairs appeared in an amicable wain, Le Borgne, an assumed creditor of Charnisé, appeared, claim

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