Such were the contests of France and Spain as to the territory on the north coast of the Gulf of Mexico ; between France and Great Britain from their nearly contemporaneous settlements, till the treaty of Paris in 1763, when France ceded and guaranteed to Great Britain, Nova Scotia or Acadia, Canada and their dependencies. The cessions and reti-ocessions of the European powers in America were all made while the greater portion of the territories so ceded and retroceded were in the

possession of the Indians. This was also the case when the right of ultimate dominion was asserted by actual settlement. The charter to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, renewed in that to Sir Walter Ealeigh ; the charters of James I. successively vacated, surrendered, annulled, or renewed, to the North and South Virginia Companies, until that to the Duke of Lenox and others in 1620 ; were all granted while the country was in the occupation of the Indians.

" Under the last mentioned patent, viz. to the Plymouth Company, New England has, in a great measure, been settled. They conveyed to Henry Rosewell and others in 1627, the territory of Massachusetts, who, in 1628, obtained a charter of incorporation. Having granted a great part of New England, the Company made partition of the residue in 1635, and surrendered their charter to the Crown. A Patent was granted to Ferdinando Gorges for Maine, which was allotted to him in the division of property. New Hampshire was granted to John Mason. Before the surrender by the Dutch of their colony, now New York, in 1664, the King of England had granted to the Duke of York, the country of New England, and as far as the Delaware Bay. The Duke subsequently transferred New Jersey to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret.