When at a later period the Canadas were ceded to us by
France, those parts of the opposite frontier which we
have just described became also tributary to the English
crown, and were, by the peculiar difficulties that existed
to communication with the more central and populous
districts, rendered especially favourable to the exercise
of hostile intrigue by the numerous active French emissaries
every where dispersed among the Indian tribes. During
the first few years of the conquest, the inhabitants of
Canada, who were all either European French, or immediate
descendants of that nation, were, as might naturally be
expected, more than restive under their new governors,
and many of the most impatient spirits of the country
sought every opportunity of sowing the seeds of distrust
and jealousy in the hearts of the natives. By these people
it was artfully suggested to the Indians, that their new
oppressors were of the race of those who had driven them
from the sea, and were progressively advancing on their
territories until scarce a hunting ground or a village
would be left to them. They described them, moreover, as
being the hereditary enemies of their great father, the
King of France, with whose governors they had buried the
hatchet for ever, and smoked the calumet of perpetual
peace.
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