rces of the Mississippi, examined its various tributary streams,
and floated down its mighty waters to its mouth. The missionaries
claimed the territories on the Gulf of Mexico for the king of France,
and in 1684, Louisiana was colonized by Frenchmen. The indefatigable
La Salle, after having explored the Mississippi, from the Falls of St.
Anthony to the sea, was assassinated by one of his envious followers,
but not until he had earned the immortal fame of being the father of
western colonization.

Thus were the North American settlements effected. In 1688, England
possessed those colonies which border on the Atlantic Ocean, from
Maine to Georgia. The French possessed Nova Scotia, Canada, Louisiana,
and claimed the countries bordering on the Mississippi and its
branches, from the Gulf of Mexico to Lake Superior, and also the
territories around the great lakes.

A mutual jealousy, as was to be expected, sprung up between France and
England respecting their colonial possessions. Both kingdoms aimed at
the sovereignty of North America. The French were entitled, perhaps,
by right of discovery, to the greater extent of territory; but their
colonies were very unequal to those of the English in respect to
numbers, and still more so in moral elevation and intellectual
culture.

But Louis XIV., then in the height of his power, meditated the
complete subjection of the English settlements. The French allied
themselves with the Indians, and savage wars were the result. The
Mohawks and other tribes, encouraged by the French, committed fearful
massacres at Deerfield and Haverhill, and the English settlers were
kept in a state of constant alarm and fear. By the treaty of Utrecht,
in 1713, the colonists obtained peace and considerable accession of
territory. In 1720, John Law proposed his celebrated financial scheme
to the prince regent of France, and the Mississippi Company was
chartered, and Louisiana colonized. Much profit was expected to be
derived from this company. It will be seen, in another chapter, how
miserably it failed. It was based on wrong foundations, and the
project of deriving wealth from the colonies came to nought; nor did
it result in a rapid colonization.

[Sidenote: Prosperity of the English Colonies.]

Meanwhile the English colonies advanced in wealth, numbers, and
political importance, and attracted the notice of the English
government. Sir Robert Walpole, in 1711, was solicited to tax the
colonies; but he