The French as Colonists [pp. 225-231]

T H E
THE
OVERLAND MONTH LY.
DEVOTED TO
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY.
VOL. V. (SECOND SERIES.)-MARCH, I885.-NO. 27.
THE FRENCH AS COLONISTS.
AN impression prevails, and has found fre quent expression, that the French are not
a colonizing people. The fact that France
lost control of the settlements which she had
& founded in India and America has contrib uted to this opinion. The slight degree of
prosperity which has attended her efforts in
the penal and military colonies now under
her control has tended to confirm it. The
movements of the English in Egypt and of
the French in China are watched with inter est. It has been said that England will
never withdraw her protection from Egypt,
while many believe, on the other hand, that
France will never be able to found a success ful settlement on the shores of China. Even
if military events should result according
to the desires of the French, their evident
intention to expand their Cochin China
possessions, and to maintain a foothold in
Tonquin, and the willingness which they
show to measure strength with China, indi cate that the present government is of anoth er mind; and both in this country and in
Europe the capacity of the French as col onists has become a subject for discussion.
An examination into the cause of the failure
of French colonization in America, should
help us to understand this question, and may
lead us to modify our opinions on the subject. What was destined to fail under the
management of that great autocrat, Louis
xiv., may succeed, when inspired by the different motives and conducted with the different methods of a republic. The causes
which led to failure in the eighteenth century may not exist today.
It is not easy for an American to comprehend, without some reflection, the different circumstances under which the French
and English colonies were founded in this
country. His mind naturally reverts to
the desultory attempt of his forefathers at
founding settlements here. He recalls the
history of the various grants and charters
of the English colonies, differing in essential characteristics, confused and conflicting in bounds and purposes: some conveying specific power and particular domain
to favorites, others granted with intent to
provide a house for religious bodies; some
having in contemplation the management of
the colony by a corporation in England; others given directly to those who proposed to
occupy the territory conveyed in the grant;
no two alike in form or substance; all based
upon the idea of self-support during infancy;
and some not even containing a reservation
VOL. V.-I5. (Copyright, I884, by SAMUEL CARSON & Co. All Rights Reserved.)