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 tlers. The commonwealth also sent five thousand well-drilled, well-armed, and well-equipped soldiers to assist New England and New York. Along the St. Lawrence, the French were much stronger than in the west, and the Atlantic colonies were not nearly so strong as Aristopia; therefore the war lingered in the east for several years, until, finally, the French were entirely overcome. Peace between England and France was declared, and all Canada and the region east of the Mississippi, except a small part of Louisiana, were ceded to England.

During all this war, Aristopia maintained its trade with New Orleans, keeping a sort of tacit truce with the French of Louisiana, while actively fighting those of Canada. The trade of Aristopia was valuable to Louisiana; the governor of that province had fully informed himself of the overwhelming strength of Aristopia, and was glad of the opportunity of avoiding a hopeless contest with the great northern commonwealth.

At the beginning of this war occurred the tragedy of the exile of the Acadians, a colony of about seven thousand French in the western part of the peninsula lying east of the Bay of Fundy. The English having conquered this