Company Seriously Damaged by Loss of Port Nelson—Send an Account of their Claims to Lords of Trade—Definite Boundary Propositions of Trade—Lewis anxious to Create Boundaries—Company look to Outbreak of War—War of Spanish Succession breaks out—Period of Adversity for the Company—Employment of Orkneymen—Attack on Fort Albany—Desperate Condition of the French at York Fort—Petition to Anne.
The Treaty of Ryswick[40]had aimed a severe blow at the prosperity of the Company,[41]in depriving them of that important quarter of the Bay known as Port Nelson.
Although now on the threshold of a long period of adversity, the Merchants-Adventurers, losing neither hope nor courage, continued to raise their voice for restitution and justice. Petition after petition found its way to King, Commons, and the Lords of Trade and Plantations.
The Company's claims.
In May, 1700, the Company were requested by the Lord of Trade and Plantations to send an account of the encroachments of the French on Her Majesty's Dominion in America within the limits of the Company's charter; to which the Company replied, setting forth their right and title, and praying restitution.
It has been stated, and urged as a ground against the later pretensions of the Hudson's Bay Company, that at this time they were willing to contract their limits. While willing to do this for the purpose of effecting a settlement, it was only on condition of their not being able to obtain "the whole Straits and Bay which of right belongs to them."
"This," remarked a counsel for the Company in a later day, "is like a man who has a suit of ejectment, who, in order to avoid the expense and trouble of a law suit, says, 'I will be willing to allow you certain bounds, but if you do not accept that I will insist on getting all my rights and all that I am entitled to.'"
The Company's propositions soon began to take a definite form.
The Company's Claims after the Treaty of Ryswick.[To the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations.]The limits which the Hudson's Bay Company conceive to be necessary as boundaries between the French and them in case of an exchange of places, and that the Company cannot obtain the whole Streights and Bay, which of right belongs to them, viz.:—1. That the French be limited not to trade by wood-runners, or otherwise, nor build any House, Factory, or Fort, beyond the bounds of 53 degrees, or Albany River, vulgarly called Chechewan, to the northward, on the west or main coast.2. That the French be likewise limited not to trade by wood-runners, or otherwise, nor build any House, Factory, or Fort, beyond Rupert's River, to the northward, on the east or main coast.3. On the contrary, the English shall be obliged not to trade by wood-runners, or otherwise, nor build any House, Factory, or Fort, beyond the aforesaid latitude of 53 degrees, or Albany River, vulgarly called Chechewan, south-east towards Canada, on any land which belongs to the Hudson's Bay Company.4. As also the English be likewise obliged not to trade by wood-runners, or otherwise, nor build any House, Factory, or Fort, beyond Rupert's River, to the south-east, towards Canada, on any land which belongs to the Hudson's Bay Company.5. As likewise, that neither the French or English shall at any time hereafter extend their bounds contrary to the aforesaid limitations, nor instigate the natives to make war, or join with either, in any acts of hostility to the disturbance or detriment of the trade of either nation, which the French may very reasonably comply with, for that they by such limitations will have all the country south-eastward betwixt Albany Fort and Canada to themselves, which is not only the best and most fertile part, but also a much larger tract of land than can be supposed to be to the northward, and the Company deprived of that which was always their undoubted right.And unless the Company can be secured according to these propositions, they think it will be impossible for them to continue long at York Fort (should they exchange with the French), nor will the trade answer their charge; and therefore if your lordships cannot obtain these so reasonable propositions from the French, but that they insist to have the limits settled between [Albany and] York and Albany Fort, as in the latitude of 55 degrees or thereabouts, the Company can by no means agree thereto, for they by such an agreement will be the instruments of their own ruin, never to be retrieved.By order of the General Court,Wm. Potter,Secretary.Confirmed by the General Court ofthe said Company, 10th July, 1700.
The Company's Claims after the Treaty of Ryswick.
[To the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations.]
The limits which the Hudson's Bay Company conceive to be necessary as boundaries between the French and them in case of an exchange of places, and that the Company cannot obtain the whole Streights and Bay, which of right belongs to them, viz.:—
1. That the French be limited not to trade by wood-runners, or otherwise, nor build any House, Factory, or Fort, beyond the bounds of 53 degrees, or Albany River, vulgarly called Chechewan, to the northward, on the west or main coast.
2. That the French be likewise limited not to trade by wood-runners, or otherwise, nor build any House, Factory, or Fort, beyond Rupert's River, to the northward, on the east or main coast.
3. On the contrary, the English shall be obliged not to trade by wood-runners, or otherwise, nor build any House, Factory, or Fort, beyond the aforesaid latitude of 53 degrees, or Albany River, vulgarly called Chechewan, south-east towards Canada, on any land which belongs to the Hudson's Bay Company.
4. As also the English be likewise obliged not to trade by wood-runners, or otherwise, nor build any House, Factory, or Fort, beyond Rupert's River, to the south-east, towards Canada, on any land which belongs to the Hudson's Bay Company.
5. As likewise, that neither the French or English shall at any time hereafter extend their bounds contrary to the aforesaid limitations, nor instigate the natives to make war, or join with either, in any acts of hostility to the disturbance or detriment of the trade of either nation, which the French may very reasonably comply with, for that they by such limitations will have all the country south-eastward betwixt Albany Fort and Canada to themselves, which is not only the best and most fertile part, but also a much larger tract of land than can be supposed to be to the northward, and the Company deprived of that which was always their undoubted right.
And unless the Company can be secured according to these propositions, they think it will be impossible for them to continue long at York Fort (should they exchange with the French), nor will the trade answer their charge; and therefore if your lordships cannot obtain these so reasonable propositions from the French, but that they insist to have the limits settled between [Albany and] York and Albany Fort, as in the latitude of 55 degrees or thereabouts, the Company can by no means agree thereto, for they by such an agreement will be the instruments of their own ruin, never to be retrieved.
By order of the General Court,
Wm. Potter,Secretary.
Confirmed by the General Court ofthe said Company, 10th July, 1700.
The adventurers were, they said, not indisposed to listen to reason. They proposed limits to be observed by the two nations in their trade and possessions in the Bay. But should the French be so foolish as to refuse their offer, then they would not be bound by that or any former concession, but would then, as they had always theretofore done, "insist upon the prior and undoubted right to the whole of the Bay and straits."
Lewis proposes boundaries.
The Court of Versailles was now most anxious to delimit the boundaries of the respective possessions of the two countries in the Bay. To this end, proposals were exchanged between the two crown governments. One alternative proposed by the French Ambassador was that the Weemish River, which was exactly half way between Fort Bourbon and Fort Albany, should mark the respective limits of the French on the east, while the limits of New France on the side of Acadia should be restricted to the River St. George.
This proposition having been referred to them, the Board of Trade and Plantations discouraged the scheme. The Hudson's Bay Adventurers it said, challenged an undoubted right to the whole Bay, antecedent to any pretence of the French. It was, therefore, requisite that they should be consulted before any concession of territories could be made to the Most Christian King or his subjects.
The Company pinned their hopes to an outbreak of hostilities,[42]which would enable them to attempt to regainwhat they had lost. A protracted peace was hardly looked for by the nation. In answer to Governor Knight's continual complaints, to which were added those of the dispossessed Geyer, the Company begged its servants to bide their time; and to exert themselves to the utmost to increase the trade at Albany, and Moose, and Rupert's River.
"England," says the historian Green, "was still clinging desperately to the hope of peace, when Lewis, by a sudden act, forced it into war. He had acknowledged William as King in the Peace of Ryswick, and pledged himself to oppose all the attacks on his throne. He now entered the bed-chamber at St. Germain, where James was breathing his last, and promised to acknowledge his son at his death as King of England, Scotland and Ireland."
Outbreak of the war between England and France.
Such a promise was tantamount to a declaration of war, and in a moment England sprang to arms. None were so eager for the approaching strife as the Honourable Merchants-Adventurers. They expressed their opinion that, while their interests had undoubtedly suffered at the peace of 1697, they were far from attributing it to any want of care on the part of his Majesty. Their rights and claims, they said, were then "overweighed by matters of higher consequence depending in that juncture for the glory and honour of the King."
Yet a dozen more years were to elapse before they were to come into their own again; and during that critical period much was to happen to affect their whole internal economy. The value of the shares fell; the original Adventurers were all since deceased, and many of their heirs had disposed of their interests. A new set of shareholders appeared on the scene; not simultaneously, but one by one, until almost the entire personnel of the Company had yielded place to a new, by no means of the same weight or calibre.[43]
Mention has already been made of the manner in which the Company devoted its thought and energy to its weeklymeetings. Not even in the gravest crises to which the East India Company was subjected, was there a statute more inconvenient or severe, than the following: "Resolved and ordered by the Committee, to prevent the Company's business from being delayed or neglected, that for the future if any member do not appear by one hour after the time mentioned in the summons and the glass run out, or shall depart without leave of the Committee, such member shall have no part in the moneys to be divided by the Committee, and that the time aforesaid be determined by the going of the clock in the Court-room, which the Secretary is to set as he can to the Exchange clock; and that no leave shall be given until one hour after the glass is run out."
But out of their adversity sprung a proposition which, although not put into effect upon a large scale until many years afterwards, yet well deserves to be recorded here. To stem the tide of desertions from the Company's service, caused by the war, and the low rate of wages, it was in 1710 first suggested that youthful Scotchmen be employed.[44]
Employment of Scotchmen in the service.
The scarcity of servants seems to have continued. In the following year greater bribes were resorted to. "Captain Mounslow was now ordered to provide fifteen or sixteen young able men to go to H. B. This expedition for five years, which he may promise to have wages, viz.: £8 the 1st year; £10 the 2nd; £12 the 3rd and £14 for the two last years, and to be advanced £3 each before they depart from Gravesend." The result of this was that in June, 1711, the first batch of these servants came aboard the Company's ship at Stromness. But they were not destined to sail away to the Bay in their full numbers. Overhauled by one of Her Majesty's ships, eleven of the young men were impressed into the service. For many years after this incident it was not found easy to engage servants in the Orkneys.
"The younger men now stole again to the French camp and massacred all the others in their sleep."(See page185.)
"The younger men now stole again to the French camp and massacred all the others in their sleep."(See page185.)
Captain Barlow was governor at Albany Fort in 1704 when the French came overland from Canada to besiege it. The Canadians and their Indian guides lurked in the neighbourhood of Albany for several days before they made the attack, and killed many of the cattle that were grazing in the marshes. A faithful Home Indian (as those Crees in the vicinity were always termed), who was on a hunting excursion, discovered those strangers, and correctly supposing them to be enemies, immediately returned to the fort and informed the governor of the circumstance. Barlow, while giving little credit to the report, yet took immediately every measure for the fort's defence. Orders were given to the master of a sloop hard by to hasten to the fort should he hear a gun fired.
In the middle of the night the French came before the fort, marched up to the gate and demanded entrance. Barlow, who was on watch, told them that the governor was asleep, but he would go for the keys at once. The French, according to the governor, on hearing this, and expecting no resistance, flocked up to the gate as close as they could stand. Barlow took advantage of this opportunity, and instead of opening the gate opened two port-holes, and discharged the contents of two six-pounders into the gathering. This quantity of grape-shot slaughtered great numbers of the French, and amongst them their commander, who was an Irishman.
A precipitate retreat followed such an unexpected reception; and the master of the sloop hearing the firing proceeded with the greatest haste to the spot. But some of the enemy, who lay in ambush on the river's bank, intercepted and killed him, with his entire crew.
Seeing no chance of surprising the fort, the French retired reluctantly, and did not renew the attack; although some of them were heard shooting in the neighbourhood for ten days after their repulse. One man in particular was noticed to walk up and down the platform leading from the gate of the fort to the launch for a whole day. At sundown Fullerton, the governor, thinking his conduct extraordinary, ventured out and spoke to the man in French. He offered him lodgings within the fort if he chose to accept them; but tosuch and similar proposals the man made no reply, shaking his head. Fullerton then informed him that unless he would surrender himself as his prisoner he would have no alternative but to shoot him. In response to this the man advanced nearer the fort. The governor kept his word, and the unhappy Frenchman fell, pierced by a bullet. No explanation of his eccentric behaviour was ever forthcoming, but it may be that the hardships he expected to encounter on his return to Canada had unbalanced his mind, and made him prefer death to these while scorning surrender.
Desperate condition of the French at Fort York.
It was some solace to know that their French rivals were in trouble, and that York Factory had hardly proved as great a source of profit to the French Company as had been anticipated. The achievements of Iberville and his brothers had done little, as has been shown, to permanently better its fortunes. To such an extent had these declined, that the capture, in 1704, of the principal ship of the French Company by an English frigate, forced these traders to invoke the assistance of the Mother Country in providing them with facilities for the relief of the forts and the transportation of the furs to France. In the following year, the garrison at Fort Bourbon nearly perished for lack of provisions. The assistance was given; but two years later it was, because they could no longer spare either ships or men. Although both were urgently needed for defence against the New Englanders. Owing to the enormous increase of unlicensed bushrangers, the continued hostilities and the unsettled state of the country, no small proportion of the entire population chose rather to adventure the perils of illicit trade in the wilderness, than to serve the king in the wars at home.[45]Unaccustomed for so long a period to till the soil, their submission was not easily secured, no matter how dire the penalties.
Finding their continual petitions to the Lords of Trade ineffectual, the Company now drew up a more stronglyworded one and presented it to Queen Anne herself. The memorial differed from any other, inasmuch as the Company now lay stress for the first time on some other feature of their commerce than furs.
"The said country doth abound with several other commodities (of which your petitioners have not been able to begin a trade, by reason of the interruptions they have met with from the French) as of whale-bone, whale-oil (of which last your subjects now purchase from Holland and Germany to the value of £26,000 per annum, which may be had in your own dominions), besides many other valuable commodities, which in time may be discovered."
If the French, it was argued, came to be entirely possessed of Hudson's Bay, they would undoubtedly give up whale fishing in those parts, which will greatly tend to the increase of their navigation and to their breed of seamen.
When your Majesty, in your high wisdom, shall think fit to give peace to those enemies whom your victorious arms have so reduced and humbled, and when your Majesty shall judge it for your people's good to enter into a treaty of peace with the French King, your petitioners pray that the said Prince be obliged by such treaty, to renounce all right and pretensions to the Bay and Streights of Hudson, to quit and surrender all posts and settlements erected by the French, or which are now in their possession, as likewise not to sail any ships or vessels within the limits of the Company's charter, and to make restitution of the £108,514, 19s. 8d., of which they robbed and despoiled your petitioners in times of perfect amity between the two Kingdoms.
When your Majesty, in your high wisdom, shall think fit to give peace to those enemies whom your victorious arms have so reduced and humbled, and when your Majesty shall judge it for your people's good to enter into a treaty of peace with the French King, your petitioners pray that the said Prince be obliged by such treaty, to renounce all right and pretensions to the Bay and Streights of Hudson, to quit and surrender all posts and settlements erected by the French, or which are now in their possession, as likewise not to sail any ships or vessels within the limits of the Company's charter, and to make restitution of the £108,514, 19s. 8d., of which they robbed and despoiled your petitioners in times of perfect amity between the two Kingdoms.
This petition seems actually to have come into the hands of the Queen and to have engaged her sympathy, for which the Honourable Adventurers had to thank John Robinson, the Lord Bishop of London. This dignitary,persona gratain the highest degree to the sovereign, was also a close personal friend of the Lake family, whose fortunes[46]were long bound up with the Hudson's Bay Company. The Company was asked to state what terms it desired to make. In great joy they acceded to the request.
To the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of Trades and Plantations.The Memorandum of the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay:That for avoiding all disputes and differences that may, in time to come, arise between the said Company and the French, settled in Canada, they humbly represent and conceive it necessary—That no wood-runners, either French or Indians, or any other person whatsoever, be permitted to travel, or seek for trade, beyond the limits hereinafter mentioned.That the said limits began from the island called Grimington's Island, or Cape Perdrix, in the latitude of 58½° north, which they desire may be the boundary between the English and the French, on the coast of Labrador, towards Rupert's Land, on the east main, and Novia Britannia on the French side, and that no French ship, bark, boat or vessel whatsoever, shall pass to the northward of Cape Perdrix or Grimington's Island, towards or into the Streights or Bay of Hudson, on any pretence whatever.Demand of the Company.That a line be supposed to pass to the south-westward of the said Island of Grimington or Cape Perdrix to the great Lake Miscosinke,aliasMistoveny, dividing the same into two parts (as in the map now delivered), and that the French, nor any others employed by them, shall come to the north or north-westward of the said lake, or supposed line, by land or water, or through any rivers, lakes or countries, to trade, or erect any forts or settlements whatsoever; and the English, on the contrary, not to pass the said supposed line either to the southward or eastward.That the French be likewise obliged to quit, surrender and deliver up to the English, upon demand, York Fort (by them called Bourbon), undemolished; together with all forts, factories, settlements and buildings whatsoever, taken from the English, or since erected or built by the French, with all the artillery and ammunition, in the condition they are now in; together with all other places they are possessed of within the limits aforesaid, or within the Bay and Streights of Hudson.These limits being first settled and adjusted, the Company are willing to refer their losses and damages formerly sustained by the French in time of peace, to the consideration of commissioners to be appointed for that purpose.By order of the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England, trading into Hudson's Bay.Hudson's Bay House, 7th of February, 1711-12.
To the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of Trades and Plantations.
The Memorandum of the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay:
That for avoiding all disputes and differences that may, in time to come, arise between the said Company and the French, settled in Canada, they humbly represent and conceive it necessary—
That no wood-runners, either French or Indians, or any other person whatsoever, be permitted to travel, or seek for trade, beyond the limits hereinafter mentioned.
That the said limits began from the island called Grimington's Island, or Cape Perdrix, in the latitude of 58½° north, which they desire may be the boundary between the English and the French, on the coast of Labrador, towards Rupert's Land, on the east main, and Novia Britannia on the French side, and that no French ship, bark, boat or vessel whatsoever, shall pass to the northward of Cape Perdrix or Grimington's Island, towards or into the Streights or Bay of Hudson, on any pretence whatever.
Demand of the Company.
That a line be supposed to pass to the south-westward of the said Island of Grimington or Cape Perdrix to the great Lake Miscosinke,aliasMistoveny, dividing the same into two parts (as in the map now delivered), and that the French, nor any others employed by them, shall come to the north or north-westward of the said lake, or supposed line, by land or water, or through any rivers, lakes or countries, to trade, or erect any forts or settlements whatsoever; and the English, on the contrary, not to pass the said supposed line either to the southward or eastward.
That the French be likewise obliged to quit, surrender and deliver up to the English, upon demand, York Fort (by them called Bourbon), undemolished; together with all forts, factories, settlements and buildings whatsoever, taken from the English, or since erected or built by the French, with all the artillery and ammunition, in the condition they are now in; together with all other places they are possessed of within the limits aforesaid, or within the Bay and Streights of Hudson.
These limits being first settled and adjusted, the Company are willing to refer their losses and damages formerly sustained by the French in time of peace, to the consideration of commissioners to be appointed for that purpose.
By order of the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England, trading into Hudson's Bay.
Hudson's Bay House, 7th of February, 1711-12.
A List of Forts from 1668 to 1714.1. Rupert, called by the French St. Jacques. Founded 1668 by Gillam. Taken by the French under Troyes and Iberville, July, 1686. Retaken by the English, 1693.2. Fort Monsippi, Monsonis, St. Lewis and Moose Fort, taken by Troyes and Iberville 20th June, 1686. Retaken 1693.3. Fort Chechouan, St. Anne or Albany, taken by de Troyes and Iberville in 1686. Retaken 1693.4. New Severn or Nieu Savanne, taken by Iberville, 1690.5. Fort Bourbon, Nelson or York. Founded 1670. Taken by the French, 1682, acting for English, 1684. Retaken by Iberville 12th October, 1894. Retaken by the English 1696, and by the French, 1697. Retaken by the English, 1714.6. Fort Churchill, 1688.7. East Main.
A List of Forts from 1668 to 1714.
1. Rupert, called by the French St. Jacques. Founded 1668 by Gillam. Taken by the French under Troyes and Iberville, July, 1686. Retaken by the English, 1693.
2. Fort Monsippi, Monsonis, St. Lewis and Moose Fort, taken by Troyes and Iberville 20th June, 1686. Retaken 1693.
3. Fort Chechouan, St. Anne or Albany, taken by de Troyes and Iberville in 1686. Retaken 1693.
4. New Severn or Nieu Savanne, taken by Iberville, 1690.
5. Fort Bourbon, Nelson or York. Founded 1670. Taken by the French, 1682, acting for English, 1684. Retaken by Iberville 12th October, 1894. Retaken by the English 1696, and by the French, 1697. Retaken by the English, 1714.
6. Fort Churchill, 1688.
7. East Main.
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 hiscourtiers 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.
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 theFrench 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."
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."
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 theFrench 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.
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 enjoyedby 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 hadirreverently 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.
The South Sea Bubble—Nation Catches the Fever of Speculation—Strong Temptation for the Company—Pricking of the Bubble—Narrow Escape of the Adventurers—Knight and his Expedition—Anxiety as to their Fate—Certainty of their Loss—Burnet's Scheme to Cripple the French—It Forces them Westward into Rupert's Land.
The cause of the Governor's recall lay in the existence of a crisis which promised a happy issue. It arose through the venality of some of the Company's directors, who were victims of the South Sea fever.
South Sea Company.
The South Sea Company, whose extraordinary success gave rise to a thousand joint stock enterprises equally unsound and fatuous, owed its origin to Harley, Earl of Oxford, in 1711, who in return for the acceptance of a government debt of £10,000,000 granted to a number of merchants a monopoly of the trade to the South Seas.
At that time the most extravagant ideas prevailed concerning the riches of South America. "If," it was said, "the Hudson's Bay Company can make vast moneys out of the frozen North, what can be done with lands flowing with milk and honey?" The South Sea Adventurers carefully fostered all the current notions, spreading likewise the belief that Spain was ready to admit them to a share of its South American commerce.
In 1717 this Company advanced to the English Government five more millions sterling, at an interest of six per cent. Their shares rose daily. Even the outbreak of war with Spain, which destroyed all hope in the minds of sensible persons of any share in the Spanish traffic, did not lessen the Company's popularity. In Paris, John Law's Mississippi Bubble burst, ruining thousands, but, far from being alarmed at this catastrophe, it was universally believed that Law'sscheme was sound, but had been wrecked through unwise methods. In May, 1720, the South Sea Company proposed to take upon themselves the entire national debt of upwards of £30,000,000 upon a guarantee of five per cent. per annum for seven and one-half years, at the end of which period the debt might be redeemed if the Government chose, or the interest reduced to four per cent. The nation was dazzled; Parliament accepted the offer; and the Company's stock rose steadily to 330 on April 7, falling to 290 on the following day.
A fever of speculation.
This day in April witnessed a change in methods on the part of the South Sea directors. Until then the scheme had been honestly promoted; but the prospect of enormous wealth was too near to be permitted to escape. It became thenceforward, until the crash, the prime object of the directors, at no matter what cost or scruple, to maintain the fictitious value of the shares. By May 28, £100 shares were quoted at 550; three days later they had reached 890. The whole nation caught the fever; the steadiest merchants turned gamblers. Hardly a day passed without a new swindling concern being started as a joint stock company.
Meanwhile several of the Hudson's Bay Merchants-Adventurers looked on with envious eyes. The desire was great to embark in so tempting a scheme, and the opportunity to cast inflated shares on the market almost too great to withstand.
But for many weeks the temptation was resisted. At last, at a meeting early in August, the chief director came before a general court of the Adventurers with a scheme by which each partner could either retire with a moderate fortune or remain an active participant, and reap the benefit of an infusion of public capital.
The scheme was simplicity itself, to modern notions; but that it was not so regarded by some of the Adventurers themselves may be gathered from the following passage from a letter of Mrs. Mary Butterfield, one of the owners of the Company's stock.
"I cannot tell you how it is to be done, for that passes my wit; but in short, the value of our interests is to be trebledwithout our paying a farthing; and then to be trebled again if the business is to the publick taste, and we are told it cannot fail to be."
Plan to reorganize the Company.
It was late in August before the scheme was detailed. It was explained that the Company's assets in quick and dead stock and lands were £94,500. With this as a basis, it was proposed to enlarge the stock to the sum of £378,000, dividing this into 3,780 shares of £100 each. Before this could be carried out, however, the existing stock, being but £31,500, or 315 shares, was to be made and reckoned 945 shares of £100 value each. By such means a result of £94,500 actual capital would appear. A majority of partners favoured the scheme, and the proposal was carried amidst the greatest enthusiasm. Its purpose was to unload the stock at an inflated figure, far even in excess of that actually named by its promoters. Had it succeeded and the flotation been carried out, it would have doubtless administered a death-blow to the Company as then organized, and would probably have involved the revocation of its charter in view of what was soon to occur. But the plan met with a sudden arrest by an event which then happened, and which in beggaring multitudes altered the whole disposition of the public with regard to joint stock enterprises.
A general impression had gained ground that the South Sea Company's stock had attained high-water mark, and so many holders rushed to realize that the price fell, on June 3rd, to 640. The directors were not yet ready for theircoup. Agents were despatched by them to buy up and support the market, and the result was that by nightfall of that day the quoted price was £750. By means of this and similarly unscrupulous devices, the shares were sent, early in August, to 1,000. This was the long-awaited opportunity. Many of the directors sold out; a general anxiety began to prevail and the shares began to drop. In view of this change in affairs, the Hudson's Bay Company's meeting for September 3rd was deferred. On the 12th, South Sea shares were selling at 400, and the decline continued. The countrywas thrown into the greatest excitement, and by the time December had arrived, Parliament had been hastily summoned to consider the calamity.
With what happened subsequently, to the authors and participators in this celebrated joint stock swindle, it is not my present purpose to deal, except to say that the Hudson's Bay Company was saved in the nick of time from sharing the fate of its neighbour and rival. A meeting on the 23rd of December was held, at which it was resolved that the "said subscription be vacated; and that the Company's seal be taken off from the said instrument."
Nevertheless one permanent result remained. The capital had been trebled, and it was now further resolved that each subscriber should have £30 of stock "for each £10 by him paid in." This trebled, the total capital stood, at the beginning of 1721, at £94,500.
The Company had had a narrow escape. To what extent its shares would have been inflated may be conjectured; but it is certain that it could not have avoided being swept into the vortex and sharing the same fate which overtook so many of its commercial contemporaries. Its enemies were on the watch, and they would have proved relentless. The revocation of its charter would have accomplished its final downfall. Already the Company was being assailed because it had not complied with one of the provisions named in that instrument: that of making search for a north-west passage.
It was not, however, to quiet these reproaches, so persistently levelled at it, that a year before the bursting of the South Sea Bubble an expedition was actually set on foot to accomplish the long-deferred exploration.
Knight, the Company's aged Governor at York Factory, had long listened to the tales of the Indians concerning the copper mines to the north; and resolved, on his return to England, to bring the matter before the Company. This he did, but it was by no means an easy matter to induce the Adventurers to consent to the expense of further exploration. Nevertheless Knight's insistence prevailed, more especiallyas, besides the profitable results to be obtained through such a voyage, he was careful to point out that the Company were expected by their charter to undertake such an expedition.
Expedition to explore the north-west passage.
In 1719 the Company, therefore, fitted out two ships for the purpose of discovery north of Churchill. One of these, called theAlbany, a frigate, was commanded by George Barlow, whom we have already seen as Deputy-Governor at Albany in 1704, when the French failed to capture that post. The other, named theDiscovery, a sloop, under David Vaughan. But the command of the expedition itself was entrusted to Knight, who was a man of great experience in the Company's service, who had been for many years Governor of different Factories in the Bay, and who had made the first settlement at Churchill River.
Nevertheless, in spite of the experience Knight possessed of the Company's business, and its methods of trade with the Indians, there was nothing to lead any one to suppose him especially adapted for the present enterprise, having nothing to direct him but the slender and imperfect accounts which he, in common with many other of the Company's servants had received from the Indians, who, as we have seen, were at that time little known and less understood.
But these disadvantages, added to his advanced years, he being then nearly eighty, by no means deterred his bold spirit. Indeed, so confident was he of success and of the material advantages which would accrue from his impending discoveries, that he caused to be made, and carried with him, several large iron-bound chests, wherein to bestow the gold dust and other treasures which he "fondly flattered himself were to be found in those parts."
The first paragraph of the Company's instructions to Knight on this occasion was as follows:—