Taking a general view of the middle colonies, we find that the fur-traffic, the fertile soil, a mixed system of agriculture, and an enterprising commercial spirit, were the chief sources of their material prosperity. There was prevalent a broader spirit of religious toleration; there was, perhaps, on the whole, a more democratic spirit among all classes of the people, than in New England or the South; except in the case of the Dutch patroons, aristocracy did not flourish among them; the state of popular education was pitiable; the population was more mixed than anywhere else in America. The continental nationalities gave a more cheerful tone to society than existed in New England and the South; the several communities varied greatly in speech, customs, and thought, according to their origin, although we find, as the eighteenth century opens, that the English Puritans from New England were coming more and more to exercise a considerable influence in political, social, and religious affairs. CHAPTER XI. OTHER ENGLISH NORTH AMERICAN COLONIES (1605-1750). 98. References. Bibliographies.--Larned, _Literature of American History_, 430-438, 458-462; Winsor, VIII. 65-80, 175-177, 188-190, 270-291. Historical Maps.--Nos. 2, 3, and 4, this volume (_Epoch Maps_, Nos. 2, 3, 4); Winsor, MacCoun, and school histories already cited. General Accounts.--H. Fox-Bourne, _Story of our Colonies_, chs. i.-xi.; Egerton, _British Colonial Policy_; Morris, _History of Colonization_; E. Payne, _European Colonies_; Cotton and Payne, _Colonies and Dependencies_. Special Histories.--West Indies: Lucas, _Historical Geography_, II., secs. i., ii.; C. Eden, _West Indies_; J. Froude, _English in West Indies_ (answered by J. Thomas, _Froudacity_); A. Kennedy, _Story of West Indies_; J. Rodway, _West Indies and Spanish Main_; J. Lefroy, _Discovery and Early Settlement of Bermudas_; J. Esquemeling, _Buccaneers of America_ (and similar books by Archenholtz, Burney, and Pyle); J. Masefield, _On the Spanish Main_.--Newfoundland: D. Prowse, _Newfoundland_; also histories of the island by Hatton and Harvey, Smith, and Pedley; S. Dawson, _Canada and Newfoundland_; W. Greswell, _Geography of Canada and Newfoundland_.--Nova Scotia: J. Bourinot, _Builders of Nova Scotia_; T. Haliburton, _Nova Scotia_; B. Murdoch, _Nova Scotia_; E. Richard, _Acadia_.--Canada: see § 107.--Hudson's Bay Company: G. Bryce, _Remarkable History of Hudson's Bay Company_; L. Burpee, _Search for the Western Sea_; A. Laut, _Conquest of Great Northwest_; B. Willson, _Great Company_. Consult also publications of Royal Society of Canada, and provincial historical and antiquarian societies.