PREFACE.

THE value of a history of the rise and progress of Newfoundland depends upon the qualifications which its authors possess for the treatment of the subject, the trustworthy character of the data upon which their treatise is founded, and the literary experience which they bring to bear upon the exposition of the materials they have collected.

As these are the first points that seem to challenge criticism, a few words of explanation, as to the character, purpose, and raison d'être of the present volume, will save time and may prevent misunderstandings.

Apart from the many varied sources of knowledge which have been examined in connection with the following pages, I would lay particular stress upon the capabilities of my collaborator. A scholar and a traveller, he has probably seen more of Newfoundland than any man who has contributed to the literature of its history. A resident in the Island for a quarter of a century, he has coasted round it, explored much of it, visited its ports and cities, studied its natural history, mixed in its social, religious, and political movements, and generally mastered the subject "Newfoundland" in all its bearings. A recognised local authority on all matters pertaining to the history of the country and its future possibilities, the Rev. M. Harvey is known to the learned societies of London and also to the general world of letters.*

It will, therefore, be hardly necessary for me to say that, in the literary partnership involved in this history of

Mr. Harvey's contributions to natural history, especially in connection with the gigantic cephalopods, or cuttle fish, which he was the first to discover and describe, excited much interest in the scientific world a few years ago. He is the author of a popular volume of lectures on literary subjects. He has written the article "Labrador" in the new edition of the "Encyclopædia Britannica," and has in preparation for the same work a descriptive essay on Newfoundland.

Newfoundland, the Rev. M. Harvey contributes the largest share of authoritative work. For myself, I have brought into the collaboration a careful revision of facts and opinions, some special investigations of historical data, and such editorial skill, as is necessary, for the transformation of unsystematised MS. into the form and shape of a comprehensive and methodical record. I have to thank the courteous officials of the British Museum for their assistance in facilitating my examination of MSS., maps, and other documents that make up the curious chronicles of the discovery and early government of the oldest British colony. London is the centre of stored knowledge. In the production of this volume it has been found important to have one of its authors engaged within hail of the British Museum; while the other laboured amidst the scenes to be described, a living witness of many of the facts hereinafter narrated. On his side, by the courtesy of Sir William Whiteway, the Premier of Newfoundland, Mr. Harvey has had full access to the archives of the local government; on mine I have had London as a Library of Reference.

It encouraged me greatly, in regard to the necessity and profit of our joint labours, when the first results of my inquiries about Newfoundland proved to be of a very limited character. I found the Island almost a terra incognita to the majority of the persons whom I should have supposed to be best acquainted with it. The latest history was issued in 1863,* and this, though an excellent work in itself, neither dealt with the fisheries, the agriculture, nor the mineral resources of the country; nor did it attempt to cover the unoccupied ground of topography, physical geography, and other features of the Island, necessary to a comprehensive treatment of the subject.

I do not offer these remarks as any reflection upon an admirable work, but only to emphasise the fact that its scope was limited, and that, even as an historical record, the chronicle ended with 1860; while to the last decade belongs the most important advance which Newfoundland has

The "History of Newfoundland," by the Rev. Charles Pedley. London: Longmans, 1863.

made during its long and singular existence as a dependency of the British Crown.

The story of Newfoundland is one of the most remarkable episodes in the history of the British Empire. It presents us at our worst and at our best. Strange instances of official tyranny blur the chronicles of the Island's rise and progress. On a smaller field Freedom has had almost as hard a battle in Newfoundland as that which was necessary to establish her supremacy at home. Not that the islanders fought and bled for the privileges they now enjoy. They did not win their liberties with pike and gun. The pomp and circumstance of war flung no halo of glory about their political achievements. Toiling and suffering, they bore their many ills with a patient loyalty to the Home Government that deserved the quick reward which it did not receive. To-day, however, no English ministry can look back upon the maladministration of the country, without a desire to redeem a past of cruelty and neglect, by a present conciliatory watchfulness over Newfoundland's future interests. The special grievances of the people, the unique position of the colony, the attempt to make it a mere fishing station and training ground for the Navy, the curious anomalies of the local and imperial laws under which the people laboured; all these subjects are considered and illustrated in the following pages.

In the active efforts that were made, for more than a century, to suppress the colonisation of Newfoundland, coercive laws were supplemented by libels on its climate and soil. The English merchants, who used it as a fishing station, published it abroad as a land given over to sterility and fog. Officials of the Home Government encouraged these reports. When, in spite of them, infatuated emigrants found their way thither, they were forbidden either to build on the land, or to obtain any proprietary rights in the soil. Every summer the Fishing Admirals took possession of the Island, with incontestable power to use or to destroy any huts, stages, or buildings, which the inhabitants might have erected near the coast. In the autumn the fishing fleets sailed away. On arriving in the English ports the captains

were punished if they did not bring home again as many men as they had taken out.

During the pleasant days of summer the Fishing Admirals and their crews made the country a howling wilderness. Winter found it a solitude and a desolation. Yet, strange to say, there were people who clung to its inhospitable shores. Such Law and Justice as existed there at all, went away every autumn, with the migratory merchants and admirals. The Freedom of Licence reigned one half the year, the Tyranny of Irresponsibility the other. Justice was held in greater respect, when Law was absent, than when ignorant and interested skippers administered it on the quarterdecks of their commercial ships.

Men flying from troubles at home, unfortunate traders, exiles for conscience sake, adventurers to whom settled government means chains and shackles; these and such like found shelter in Newfoundland. By degrees, as the laws relaxed in regard to settlement, and the tyranny of the Fishing Admirals waned, the population grew from a few hundred families to a few thousands. With the broadening of the opportunities of labour and enterprise, it increased, from eighty thousand in 1814, to something approaching, at the present time, two hundred thousand. Little better than a mere fishing village up to the end of the last century, Newfoundland is to-day a thriving community. The time is not far distant when it may rival, in wealth and status, the most important of England's colonial possessions.

Discovered three hundred years ago, Newfoundland has only, in these latter days, been explored. The result of scientific investigation proves that it is endowed with all the possibilities of mineral and agricultural wealth. The geological survey, conducted over a period of seventeen years, dissipates the libels of those conspirators of the past who wished to keep the Island as a mere curing stage for cod. Rich in useful minerals, Newfoundland has fertile belts second to none in the New World. Seventy years ago it was unlawful to build a house on the Island without Government permission. It is within quite a recent date that settling there and cultivating the soil have been