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32X

d^-^iai^^ ^ ^C^« ^ ''-''^ ^

EDOUARD RICHARD

ACADIA

MISSING LINKS OF A LOST CHAPTER

IN AMERICAiN HISTORY

AN' \r\DI.\\

bx-mkmi;i:k ,11.- ■nil. n.^Lik ui- lo.mmo.vs or cavad/*

Vol. I.

NKW VORK

MONTFiKAl.

JOHN l^UVKKl, a SOX

Z63819

Enlcreil nccoiding to Act of Parliament, in tlic yoai one lliousand ciglit
hundrol and ninety livj. by I-jmhaki. Kn iiakh, in tlie oflice of
the Minister <if At^riciillure rnd Stnii>tit>. at Uiiawa.

T ' %

I I I

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

The work T am now niulertaking has never Ijeen done
bef'oiv. Tliis sweeping assertion may iustonish the
leafier: hnt there is this very good reason tor making
il : the arehives of the most im[)ortant part of this
history have l)een either carried off, or destroyed, or
simply lost. Which of these alternatives is the most
likeh' will appear later t»n.

An American writer, Philij) H. Smith, treating of
the same subject, gave his book this title : '• Acadia — •
A Lost Cliapter in American History." Though he lia<l
not the documents neede<l for a comj)lete reconstnit lion,
yet, with his sound judgment and great imparti;iiity, by
making good ise of what he had in hand, he luis man-
aged to hit upon a line of development tliat affords
a glimpse of wliat was liiddeu in thj missing docu-
ments.

That lost chapter I believe I have reconstructed in its
essential parts. The reader will judge if the title I
have chosen suits the work I lay before him. Have I,
then, found the missing portion of the archives ? Yes
and no. A considemble part of them will, probably,
never be found ; but good liujk has put in ray way frag-
ments of them, which are amply sufficient to throw
light, if not upon the secret details of this history, a*

INTHODUrxOUY KKMAItKS.

; I '
Mi

leiwt upon its main outlines, (lose and continue*!
thought has done the rest.

It is eiusy to untlei"stand what lively interest these
events excite in a great grandson of the transported
Acadians. That which for others was only a matter of
curiosity heeanie for mean intense attraction, urging ma
to undertake lesearclies an<l meditations that seem to
jiave disheartened those who have hitherto ap[)roaehed
the (question. The very mystery that enshroufls it luw
ilrawn to it many writers : hut lahor that is continually
running against all sorts of diftieulties soon hcciuues
wearisome, and so it hius haiijiened that all these writers
have ended either hy leaving a hlank here or hy copying
the shadowy sketch found in authors who had opened the
way.

All the importauiuj of this history of Acadia, from
the English concpiest in 1710 initil 1T<»8, was centered
in the events that brought ahout the transportation,
in the transportation itself and in its conseipienccs ;
that, is to say, in the period that extends from 1743
to 1763, or even to 17GG. Before that, tluue is noth-
ing but unimportant facts. No one will tarry to de-
scribe a river peacefully flowing through a valley
where the landscape on all sides is monotonous in its
sameness ; but, once this tiresome monotony is past, if
we reach mighty and fantastic cliffs, overhanging rocks,
foaming surges dashing from chasm to chasm, we
stop, we are thrilled with wonder at the wild wreck
wrought by the ceaseless buffeting of the waters. This
is the aspect of the story I am about to tell. It is
the only part of Acadian history that presents a real
and varied interest, it ought therefore to have l>een
related in detail ; and yet, all we have of it so far \a

iNTi;ni»i < roi;v kkmaijks.

a MMi^li skt'tcli tliiit h'iivt's out tlu! palpitiiting pity of
it all.

Mow «'iini.'.s it tliiit tlui (locinmMits of so important a
period liavi; (lisJij)[K?sirtMr/ Was tliis tin* ii'sult (»! ac-
citlciit or (li'sign? Many writci-s have asj<c<l this
<]iH'stioii l)oforo. 'riios«j who liav«^ answered il have all
done so in tlic saiim way. Otlicrs liavcf ignored it.
j;lviii<^ tlie rcadi'r no liint of tins stiani:,'!! disappt'iiiaucf.
( J ranting that tlu'so hitter did not share the suspicions
of tlie former, it seems evident that they ought at least
to have condjated tliose susj>ieions, or at all events to
have mentioned the disai)pearivnee of the doeiuuents, were
it only to let the reader know why they were sohrief in
their treatment of so imjjortant an ei)oeh. Did tin y
think that obvious inferences uni)alatal)Ie to them were
easy to (h'aw? Perhaps.

However this may be, fttw writers have l)estowed on
this '* Lost Chapter" as nnuh as one-sixth of thes[)a(i'
I am giving to it. Nf)W, unless I be des[»airingly
prolix, this fact suilic^es to show that I must have under-
gone serious labor ami havt* found much informatiou
that is new. On this score I may assun; the reader
that he will not be disappointed. What opinion soever
he may form of my work, lie will not Ijc able to denv
that lie has been interested by a mass of unetlited doi u-
meuts, by novel views, and by inferences from which it
is hard to escape. Most of my readei-s, I am sure. ■\\ ill
readily admit that this book is (juite a revelation, that it
solves a problem over which the world has l)een puz-
zling for more than a century.

Kv(M"y one knows how dee[) are the impressions pi "•-
duced ou a child by the tales he has heard at the lire-
side, esi)ecially when their very character is full of dra-

T"^

INTKODl't'TOUV KKMAItKS.

1^1

iiMiii' interest ; iind, il' tlit.'se events are jieisoiml to the
Jiiitli(ti's of oiii' U'lMj^f, then they take on portenttms pro-
poi'tions and iH'eoine ineradieahly riveted in <>ni- minds.
So it has h»'iMi I'oi' nie with tho events tliat pieeeded,
iieeompiinied iind foUowed the (h'poitation. Sitting nu
my Jnolher's knee, I have heard them repeated a hun(h-ed
times, and the teaix they often drew Irom me wouhl
alone snllie(! to jierpetnate lh(! lememhraiici! <»!' them.
The whoU' of my chihlliuod was spent in the midst, of
an Acadian settK;ment. 'I'hen were still alive tin; sons
of those who liad het'n deported, facts were still fresh in
their memories, and each family could reeonstrnct tht!
series of its misfortunes from thetinu'it IcftfJraml l*re,
lioauhassin or Port lloyal till its linal si-ttlemeut in
Canada.*

Since that time the yi'iicration that was <lyinj,' out
has made? way for a new one. I have myself loni,' left
my childhood's home, ami those memories, persistent
lhout>li they he, have lost the precision tliat was needed
to <;ive them the weight of carefully eollei'ted traditions.
Uesides, as my lecollections hear only on the purely
material facts of the deportation and of the misfortunes
that followed in its train, they would affoid but slendei'
inttjrest to my readers. This only will I say, that the
Invariahle answer of all whom I questioned ivs to the
cause of this de[)ortation was : the refusal to take the
oath of allesriiuice unless it were stipulated that they
should not bear arms against the French.

" But," I used often to reply, " that cannot be ; your
fathers must have Ixumi guilty of some act of hostility,

* I still have by mo an aged hik-Ii-— Itaphael Richard — who n-iiR'nilHirfl
very distinctly ha vinp heard his grandfather relate tho incidents of the do-
portatiOD, of which be had l>een himself a Tictim at the age of elovea.

1 to the
oils pnw
r minds.
ivcimKhI,
Itin^ on
liuiidrcd
■ would
>r llieni.
iiidst ot"
\\\v soils
IVcsli ill
nict tilt'
iiid I'll',
lucnt ill

:\\['^ out
loiit^ left
crsistent
■i needed
aditions.

! piiiely
fortunes
slender
lat the
to the
ake the
it they

; your
ostility,

•iiii'mlHirfl
tuf thodo-
olovoa.

iNTUoiUMToKV i:i:mai;ks. 5

in one way or anoilk-r, wliicii foired the ( Joveinnient
to ai t with rij,'or : the jmnishinent was too severe, and
yet the choice nf means alone seems hlameworthy."
Ami there came hack always the |)i*eeise and formal
answer — that never, at anytime, ilid the j)eo|ile dwellinfjf
in the j»ei:insnla on Mni^lish territory, take n|i or i-veii
threaten to take \\[> aims.

In spite uf their alViriiiatinns I had always tlioiitilit
that they were niislakcii ; and. stranj^i' as it may seem,
my only wish had Ijeen to convince myself tliat they
\\ fit- wrony:. Thus at least would the hitteniess e\ i»kc<l
liv these memories have heeii lessened hy tiit; certainty
that the cause of all this w(»e was to some extent a
righteous one. 1 would then have likened, or. at any
rate, tried to liken these sad events to so many ntliei-
talamities that have, in l)y^n)iie aj^^es. hefalleii all ntlicr
nations indiscriminately. Whatever may Im; the (luclty
(if a chiistisemeiit, it is some consolation to know with
» crtainty that it was partly deserved : forgiveness and
ohlivion l)eeome jxjssihle, nay, ]»erha|iN a duty.

No such (MHisolation has issued from my conscientious
researches. I am convinced, heyond all donht. that
tradition faithfully rej»roiluced historic truth : hut
— eagerly do I proclaim it. incredihle though it may
seem — the Home (fovernnient had nothing to do with
either tlie resolving np(tn or the i-arrying out of this act
of harharity that has left upon tlu^ civili/ed world an
impression of ineradicahle and unassuageahle i)ain.

'I'here are events ami nu'ii that lill a large ]ilace in
the eyes of their contemporaries. I'hey hid fair to be
long held in rememhrance and [)erliaps to he immortal-
ized in history: yet. hardl}' have they disajipeared, when
every trace of tliem is forgotten. Others again there

» ;

lNTI!nIHr(Vr(MtV ItKMAItKS.

Hit', apitiii'tMitly less iiii|H)rti(iit, less iioticcMl ut the time,
wliiili never seem tf» l«>se the iiitoivst tliiit clings to tliein.
Kiiiiilly, there are other events and men that may be
Nii<l to |,M(UV in ma<rnitu<h^ with the veiy jjrowth of the
(hstiinre that separates us t'roni them. To this hutt
<iitei;ory lH*h)n^. in ancient liistory, th«' sie^e of Troy,
the hatthi of ihermopyhe ; nuMi like Homer, I'luto,
Socrates: and, in modtMii history, the sipnin^ of tlie
Mag'na Charta, the massacre of St. Hartholemew,
Columhus, Shakespeare, Washinjjlon. So will it be, I
venture to think, with the deportation of the Aeadians.
This uni({ue fact of the dispersion of a people will prow
SIS time prows. 'J'he very effort made to blot out all
trace of it, by supjuessinp Iwth the documents and th
names that .should enprave it on the memory, vill
contribute more than anythinp eb»e to make tli«
recfdlection of it lastinp. Where the historian cannta
jHMietiate the ])oet enteis. 'I'hese mutilated or lost
chapters of history then beeome a field from which
the ]K)et pleans the polden prain that has escaped
destrut'tion, and pives to prateful humanity tlM«se
touchinp poems for which he is repaid by immoi'tality.
And. indeed, what liehl can offer him a richer harvevSt
than this one? A happy and prosperotis people rudely
snatched from its home, dispei-sed on every shore ; families
rent usiuider, so that scattered memltei-s .seek each other
durinp many long years ; the melanclioly monotony of
lives consecmte*! to sorrow and suffering, — all this is so
charged with " the slings and arrows of outrageous
fortune " as to produce in him who poiulers it all, after
more than a century, an indetinable feeling of sadness.
The victims of this dismal drama still tug at your lieart
strings like the wailings of some hero of ancient trag-

INTItoiMTTnlJY Itl'.MAItKS.

im|\. riif (M)iisi'C|iU'ii(t's dl" iliis ilispiTsioii (iiiiiiot Imj
ini'iisiiii-d : tlii'V liiivc icucIkmI nut into ('V(M'y family and
to lacli iik'IiiIm-i' 1)1' cvfiv I'aniily: each licurt litis felt lliu
tnitlMf. rarh iicivc llir criU'l tuillj^c.

if I lia\< not Imtii al>lc to liixl in i1ii'S(> cveiits that
coint'oii wliii li ill*- ('t>rlilu<l«' of ii merited cliastisi'inciit
mi-^'lit have alVoiihil me. I must admit that theiini>-]iurtiei-
|i,iiion of (lie Moiiie (iovei'iiiiieiil has heeii a j^Tt'at lelief
fioiii the NJiiisiei' thoughts that haunted niv inain. No;
thi- l-Ji^'li>h < ioveiiinienl neverordei v I this de|)oi-tatii)n,
iioi cMT 'Hd anyihinji; lliat niiL>hl im|'. it; (|iiite thu
eoiitiaiy. This work will yive in(Usputal»h) )iio(»i' that,
at the \ery moment when (Jov .or La wn?n . falsely
!akin«;llis Ahijesly's name. \\ as exeen ^nj,' the |>r()jeet
lu' liail ioni; enlerlaiaed, oiih'ix wrr'-. auihosst'd to him
eondenniinjL:'. in eneij^«'lie teiins, the mitiifated jirojoct h«
iiad snlanitted to the lamls of Tiad*' It is a stmngo
thinj; — w hieh shov.s Jiow sui>erf'ii'ially history is sonu'-
tinies wiitten — that not one of the dixMimunts ostublish-
itij,' so impoitatit a faet lias Imh'Ii cited hy any English
hisioiian. Koi- some, tlm motive of theii* silenee will
npjieai- in the eoui'se of this narrative. For others, it
was a <|nestion of following tlu; Ix'ateii jiatli latlier than
laeing the lalMir o( cutting thiough a jungle.

It, is not my intention to indicate »'ven hriefly, in
these preliminary remarks, the important data on which
this l»o(»k rests. Thai would «ause unnecessai-y delay.
Siit'tiee it to assnri' those who take a deep intei'est in
mailers of hisiory. that they will iind in ihis volume
ainph' salisfiiction for theii' curiosity, and, prohahly, the
snhition of the riddle that has long tea.sed them. J*er-
haps they will he still hetter [)leased to follow gradually,
withoul further explanations, the connected series of

lNTIM)l»r(TOI!Y ItKMAItKS.

i ' i

facts brought to liglit l)y mjiiiy hitherto luipublished
documents to he found lieiv.

I iini fully iiwiixe of the prejudices that may uiise in
the minds of my leadeis, prejudices whose Jianie very
likely is legion ; hut I am also aware that they avIU
disappear one by one, till the last of them, I hope, a\ ill
evaporate long before the reading of my last clia[)ter.
Far from wondering at these prejudices, I should l>e
liable to them myself, were I in the reader's i)lace ; I
coiild ndt, at first blush, shake off the impression that
he who relates events with which his ajieestors have
been so painfully connected, cannot view them with
that calm im[)artialit3' which is a requisite of liistorv. I
unhesitatinglj' confess that these events liave luodnced
on me the keiMiest of impressions, that my heart has
bled at the recital of the woe that crushed my forefathers.
Still, desi)ite all this, I hope to convince the reader that I
have not been biassed. No doubt education has a mighty
influence in giving, from childhood, a fixedness t<^ the
opinions of one's whole life. For most men early educa-
tion is everything, they are its slaves from the cradle to
tlie grave ; it has eiiuipped them with spectacles, green
or blue, through which they look at and^jronoume with-
out appeal on the most varied colors. Hut, there are
others who, thanks to a more elastic temperament, are able
to make a clean sweep of whatever is cumbrous in their
past, to begin to examine anew whatever is not certain,
and thus to break througb the narrow liorizon that shut
them in. Ft)r better or for worse, this is, in a very
marked degree, my own disposition.

This work was first intended for my French com-
patriots: but, on second thoughts, I decided to present
it also to my Knglish-s[)eaking fellow-countrymen.

INTKODUCTOKY KEMAIIKS.

lublished

aii.se in

line very

liey will

ope, uill

clia[)ter.

Iioiild l>e

[)laee ; I

sioii tliiit

ors have

em witii

story. I

produced

leart lias

•efatluMs.

lertlial \

11 mighty

!ss to the

ly educa-

evadle to

es, green

ue with-

here are

, aie al)le

in their

: certain,

hat shut

1 a very

ch com-
) present
len.

Albeit historians are not wont to dilate on their own
pei-sonality, I will, nevertheless, make boid to say that, as
far ivs I may jndge, my chief characteristic Is kindliness.
Wherever 1 could, without too greatly jeopardizing the
truth, I have been delighted to lean to the :idc of indul-
gence. When I might have called in question the sin-
cerity of several historians, I refrained from doing so ;
nay, I have sometimes been so indulgent as to suppose,
against my plain convictions, honorable intentions, on
the principle i,hat it was better to sin b}' excess of silence
and mercy rather than by too great severity. But, when
brought face to face with systematic attempts, unmistak-
able and continually renewed, to falsify histor}', I have
thought that silence l)ecame a fault, and that the finger
of scorn must be laid on these dishonest practices, and
on those who perpetrated them with malice prepense.

The exception I have just hinted at bears on the
ccmipiler of tlie volume of Archives of Nova Scotia and
on Mr. Parkman. Regretfully do I say this ; but the
evidence leaves no possibility of doubt.

As I advance nothing without proof, the public will
be in a position to judge whether or not my motives are
solidly grounded. I know that I am laying myself open
to reprisals; but I believe that I can successfully face
them, and that I can defend my position still more
strongly than I have done here. However, despite my
efforts to master the question, I may have made some
mistakes; some secondary or even important facts may
liave escaped my knowledge ; this would not be suri)ris-
ing, since I am engaged in reconstructing, in a lost
cliapter, the fragments that have not been destroyed.
If there are mistakes, I will willingly acknowledge
them ; but it is one thing to be ignorant of unpublished

» '

INTUODUCTOltV It KM AUKS.

facts, tand quite another to duitoit or suppress what one
cannot but know.

However, my conclusions agree in the main with
those of most historians. During more than a liundred
yeai*s all that was written on the subject was pretty
much from tlie same standpoint. Fii-st, comes Kaynal,
who wrote al)out 1780, shortly after tlie deportation.
His work might possess some value, if lie had lived
in the country, or if, at least, he had visited it and col-
lected information on the si)ot. Being a contemporary
of the events — he was l)orn in 171-3 — he might have
written a work of much weight. Unfoitunately lie did
not avail himself of his opportunities. So, without ques-
tioning his sincerity, I attach so little value to his say-
ings and his opinions that I do not quote him even
once. His views have no importance except as a reflec-
tion of the ideas and sentiments that then were current
in France. Besides, Kaynal does not strike me as a
serious writer ; at best, he is a superfine story-teller in
the pompous and turgid style of the epoch. The flat-
tering picture he draws of Acadian manners is, I admit,
too ideal not to have been somewhat emliellished by his
imagination. And yet we have numerous proofs that,
in Halifax itself, a goodly portion of the citizens did not
think him very unreal. Haliburton, who Avrote forty
yeais later, quotes Raynals appreciations, and points
out that he was not so far from the truth as people might
imagine.

After Raynal comes Haliburton himself (Thomas
Chandler Haliburton). Here we have no longer a for-
eigner, nor a superfine story-teller, but a son of the soil,
whose grandfather, a Loyalist, had immignited to the
country after the American war of Independence ; a

INTIIODl'l TOl:V I;K.MAIMv!S.

uv.xu. inorcover, wlio rose to the Supieine Court lU*ncli
(if liis j)i(»viiK;t', a reuiarkable autlior, wlio enjoyed the
ies|i('(i of his fenow-eoiintryinen, anil was honored hy
]ii>i Sovereign. His position, his eharacter, his judicial
iiiiinl, liis great and varied talents mark him out jus the
lujhlest representative of the eminent men this highly
favoied province lias produced.

His Ifistorv of Nova Scotia does not tjive us the full
measure of his literary ability : l)ut it does of his noble
( humcter. of his reetitiule, and of the efforts he made to
;u(juire a n^astery of his subject, so as to guide the public
along the path liis conscience showed him. He founded
ilie history of his ])rovince, for which he received a vote
of thanks from the J-.egislature. To this da}^ Jiis work
is continually consulted as an authority, and is a founda-
tion for most of those who treat of local liistory. This
liook was i>ublished in 1820. As it wjis in preparation
lor many years previo s to that date, and as he was then
■A middle-age<l man, Ik may 1k! said to have been a con-
tempomry of some of the men who figured at the time
of the deportation. 'JMins, besides his researches in his-
torical documents, he could take advantage of much
oral information on matteis that wei'e still fresh in men's
memories. The sequel will show that his conclusions
do not differ materially from mine.

Thirty years later (1M")1>), Kameau published "La
France aux Colonies '' and, in 1880, ''line Colonic F^odale
tn Amerique." In 18(15 appeared ihv " History of Nova
Scotia " by Beamish Murdoch. The volume of " Nova
Scotia Archives," l>egun in 1857, was completed lnl8r»0.
Campbell's " History of Nova Scotia '* came out in lH7o,
which year also gave us Moreau's " Histoire de l* \ca<lie."
Hannay's '"History of Acadia" is dated 1870: Philip

: I

! i

I
i i

i '
1 ! , t

rM 1

i I

^^/

INTi:ni)rCTOKY KEMAHKS.

H. Sinitli's " Aciidiii — A Lost Chapter in Anieriuaii His-
tory," 1884 ; ( 'iisg rain's " P^lerinage au Pays d'Evan^t'-
line," 1888; and Parkinan's "Montcalm and WoltV;*
which contains a good deal about Acadia, 1884.

With the exception of Ilannay and Parkniaii. and
perhaps of Murdoch, wlio, however, liardly expres-scs
any o[)inion on the events lie describes, all the oUhm-
writers named above hold nearly the same view as Uali-
burton.

Of late years history has been enriched by an exceed-
ingly precious collection of documents, which throw a
Hood of light on the very darkest i)art of the period. It
is leally unfortunate that men like Murdoch and Ilaiuiay,
who seem to liave been sincere, bad not access to this
collection. As to I'aikman, I have the positive proof
that he knew of it but chose to ignore it.

This voluminous collection is due to the Uev. Andrew
Brown, Presbyterian minister, who died at Edinburgh,
when he was Professor of Rbetoiic in the university.
Wliile living at Halifax, from 1787 to 175*"), lie collected
materials with the intention of writini>' a historv of

O 4

Jsova Scotia. This history, incomplete and in ni;inu-
script, was found with all the original and other docu-
ments that accompanied it, in a grocer's slio[). and
bought, Nov. 13th, 18r)2, by Mr. Grosart, wlio sold it to
the British ]\Iuseum in London. Some years ago it was
copied, in whole or in part, by the Historical Society of
Iltalifax, in whose archives it is now. T am particularly
indebted to this collection, from which numerous extracts
have l)een published in " T^e Canada Franqais,"' it I am
in a position to recompose, almost entirely, this lost
chapter. The imjiortance of this MS. is obvious. An
historian was needed who should be a closer contemporary

INTCDIU'CTOItY ItKMAItKS.

1.",

ot' lln' ()l)Sfure periotl tliiin Ilalil)Uit(>ii. Tliis want is
now supplied, aiul all the more effectually l)ecause
Hiowm's [)osition and cliai'aetei' would satisfy the most
fastidious critic.

The volume of iVrchives, published in 1800 by order
of the Legislatuie. was edited by Thomas H. Akiiis,
Commissioner of the Public Aichives of the Province.
I do not hesitate to aflirm that the documents have been
selected with the greatest partiality, and with the [»ur-
pose, i)Oorly disguised in the very preface, of gcstting'
together sucli papers as might justify the deportation of
the Acadians. This accusation I liav(^ not delibei'ately
striven to support by hunting U[» exam[>les, and y(;t the
pioofs of it have incidentally accumulated insmdi j»ro-
fusifni as to open the eyes of those who are not wilfully
])lind. It is easy to see that this compilei' aimed at start-
ing a reaction against the opinions and sentiments that
liad been current for more than a cent uiy. I lis intention,
evidently, was to make this volume an arsenal for all
who wanted weapons, for he was fully aware that few
writei-s would give themselves the trouble to go behind
Ills compilation.

A mere summary of documents will not do duty for
the history of this period. He who should accomplish
no more than this would have written nothing that even
remotely resembled history ; first, because of the scarcity
of materials, and then because, up to 1758, we are face
to face with the omnipotent authority of the governor
an<l of a soldier at that. Inured to military discipline,
tliese governoi-s knew only how to command and imperi-
ously to enforce passive obedience. Will any one pre-
tend that, under such conditions, history can be written
solely with the orders of this potentate, and his letters

r
I

I i

i'li

iNTUoDicTouv i:kmai;ks.

to tlie Sccretiiiv ol" State, wliosu ri'inesciitiitives in iliis
case were llie Louis ul' Trade ? Siidi a itietciisioii
\VL'!L* aUsurd. Clearly, these letters exhibit one side
oidy of the question, the governor's; they are sure to
contain nothing that is unfavorable to him, nothin;^' that
etmUl militate against him and in favor of those who,
most of the time, silently obeyed his unjust orders, or
wliose recriminations are not recorded, liadtliey plueked
up enough courage to contradict hiin or to utter a inui-
mur. And yet these are the only <loeuments we possess
for this period; nay, even these one-sided statements
li.ive, in great part, disa[)peared. 'Vha only thing a man
can do who undertakes to give the public a somewhat
faithful picture of the reality is — for the satisfaction of
liis readers as well as his own — to make the best use of
these wretched renmants, to piece them togethei', to try
to penetrate their hidden meaning, the motives by
wliich this des[>()t may have been actuated: in a word,
to get hold of some evidence from which an opinion may
Le formed of his character and his acts. If, in the teeth
f»f these dirticulties, tlie historian succeeds in explaining
the governor's acts by means of tlie hitter's own docu-
ments, in which he has said only what he chose to say ;
if, moreover, the historian detects the motives wliicli he
had every reason to hide with every facility for hiding
tliem, so as to convict him of this or that evil design
against those who have left nothing in their own defence ;
such a result is indeed surprising.

Yet that is what I have done, and more i)articularly
for Lawrence and his accomplices. All, or almost all
previous writers seemed to have perceived that the con-
duct of the Acadians, even as re[)resented by Lawrence
himself, had not justified their deportJition. For a hun-

INTItonrCTnllY UKMAUKS.

tlreil years tli«M»! has been seareely a dissentient voice an
this point. Sueli l)einj^ the ease, if it is true tluit the
English Government never ordeied the deportation, Law-
rence must h.ave had some motive for acting as lie did.
This motive I had some inkling of directly I began to
study thy question. Soon I undei-stood clearly what it.
was. That was not the difficulty. The great, the im-
mense diffi(^ulty, lay altogether in proving the motive,
when all helpful documents had disappeare*!. Jt has
beejj said, with more wit than truth, that, if 3'ou want to
ferret out a crime, you must *' tind the woman in the case.*'
Though this may sometimes hold for a crime in the singu-
lar, it caiuiot be true of a crime in the plural, as this one is.
Here I should say: " Find what profit the criminal got."
This profit I have fovuid and the proof thereof, clear
enough to satisfy any court of justice, though it were
absurd to require the evideiu^e of law courts for events
that took place almost 140 years ago.

It is liompai'atively easy to write the history of a
country enjoying representative institutions, or of a long-
settled nation like France or England. The State pajjci-s
are confirmed ov contradicted by so many other docu-
ments tliat there is not much need of commentary in quot-
ing authorities. But, in this case, nothing like history can
be written without meditating, weighing probabilities,
and drawing legitimate inferences. I should have
found it much easier to be a mere compiler ; but then, I
might as well have done like so many othera and copied
right and left, or, better still, have written nothing at
all. Othei-s, possibly, may have examined more docu-
ments ; but perhaps no one has brought to bear on the
question so much of the deep consideration needed for
grasping the dominant purpose of the interested parties,

' t

I. i

H. 1

' ' ' i ii!

niii

11, Hi

1NTKI)IH( r<>i:V I.'KMARK.S.

the intontions and feelings lurking between tlio lines of
ofliiiiil or other doeuments.

Addressing myself to the subject with all the impar-
tiality at my lommand, I thought I should lind at least
a ]»artial justilicalion of the dei)ortation. and that thus I
should free my soul from a burden that weighed heavily
upon it. This justilication I did not discover ; I reached
a contrary conclusion ; but I have at all events the von-
solation of knowing that the guilt does not bear directly
upon a nation, but upon individuals whom history lias
not yet properl}' branded. This book will, in my jiidg-
ment, effectually clear England's Home Government's
honor of the deepest historic stain ever attached to it.
Let the stigma be obliterated which England has hitherto
boi'ue ; burn it into the foreheads of Lawrence, Belcher,
Wilniot, Morris, and their accomplices.

If it is true, on the one hand, that the polic}- of Eng-
land has always been one of self-interest, rather than of
sentiment, it may be held that, as far as the Ilonu'
Government is concerned, its policy has been in general
lionorable and compares favorably with that of any
other nation. England owes its high standing to the
wisdom and large-mindedness of its statesmen. Minis-
tries rose and fell ; but the main lines of its policy were
unchanged. Im[»ervious alike to sudden enthusiasm, to
gradual apathy, and to unexpected revei'sals, Enghiml
pursued its ends with unvarying resolution and change-
less tenacity of i»uri»ose. Obstacles seemed only to
whet its ambition, and to strengthen its determination.

The policy <»f France, on the other hand, may be
described in nearly opposite terms. Colonies were
founded w^ith enthusiasm, only to be left to themselves
a few years later. This is precisely what took place 'm

lNTI!()I)rCT(H:V UEMAUKS.

Acadiiv. About a huiulrt'd fumilies were settled there,
and llu'ii Itift without adt'(iuato assislance to carr}' ou
heroif! .suugi^des acfainst a much more jioworf'ul ciiciny.
\yhen tliis liaiidful ol" colonists became a happy and pros-
perous cnihryo nation, when it was seen what stnio
England si-t by kccpin;^- its hold i»ii ihcni, France begau
again to covet what slic had neglected or forsaken.

Instead oi" founding colonies by multi[)lying the cohv
iiists. she thought she could found them with fortresses.
One singhi Jnillion out of Ihi' thirty millions spent on
tho rock of Louisburg would ba,vc j)eopled Acadia in a
way to insure its permanent {iossession by France.
Whilst Canada, with its sixty thousand souls, was clu^ck-
matiiig New l^ngland's twidxe hundred thousand,
France, the i)rey of courtiers, was making merry. Vol-
taire, leader of the high court of witlings, declared that
Canada was only " a few acres of snow : "' and Canada
was lost.

These colonies had duties towards France, and the}'
fullilled them nobly. Can slie in her turn say as much''
Hits the father of a family no duties beyond the beget-
ting of children ? Does he not owe them also education
and protection ?

A fter more than a century of forgetf ulness, that same
France has recollected that tliat child, conceived in a
burst of love and carelessly cast off, is now grown up
and keeps a fond remembrance of his mother. She has
likewise perceived that those acres of snow are an
empire, the possession of which enriches her rival. Vain
regrets ! England has long since appropriated all the
desirable lands of our planet. Its tongue, its institu-
tions, its capital accumulated through the colonies
themselves, now encircle the entire globe. In these are

fill

, >l

:Vh

INTUODUCTOllY ItKMAUKS.

its might and its wealth. While France was making
merry, England svius attending to business ; which was
Kurely worth Voltaire's witty saying, which people
liiughed at one day, Jind would have forgotten the next,
had not France been mourning over it '!ver since.

J^oor France! In order ever to retain a firm hold of
your sceptre, you had invented the Salic law. You
would not be governed by queens, and yf)u have been
nded by harlots. You were rich and honored ; those
wonuni squandered your (;oiiis iind your honoi'. What
liiivoe hits wrought in you the; wit of your madcaps?
You are now striving to retain the privilege ol' drying
your lish on a corner of this continent that once be-
longed to you. or at least might have been entirely
youis : it wonld still be yours, with all the wealth
hidden unch'i' its acres of snow, if you had hud less of
the Mil that eVii))oratcs and more of the wit tliat bcais
fruit.

^'ou arc; u'l'llinu' wisiT : \ on tardilv ackno\vlcd'>c ijic
folly of youi' wit : you perceive that Kngland has
becouK! strong and wealthy just because; of a wiser
ai)preciation of what you despised. But it is too late !
A few acres of sand in the Sahara, where yoiu' people
cannot live, a few thousand negroes in Senegal,
Dulujuiey or Congo, will never make up for the loss to
you i)f those French hearts that would have throbbed in
the vast and healthy plains of this marvellous conti-
nent.

O France ! Forgive to a son of those unfortunate
Acadians the recalling of these cruel memories ....
our sufferings have been so bitter.

Forsaken, forgotten, the Canadians have always kept
their love for France. They i-hanged their allegiance.

iNTi:«»i>r(T«»i!V i:i:mai:ks.

making

ch WOH

people
le next,

hold of
,'. You
ve been
I; those
What
ladcaps ?

f drying
once be-

entirely

' wealth

id less of

i:it lu'iivs

t'di^r tilt-

liilid iu\s

;i wiser

tod lute !

ur people

Senegal,

le loss to

robbed in

)us conti-

ifortunate

les

ways kept

ille'^iauee,

but only to bectniie ei'e long the niaslei"S of their own
desiiiiv. llieir late, exi-ept inasimieh as tliey were for-
irulieii l»y I'ranee, was not otherwise u cruel one. Not
s<i wiiii till' Aeachans. Can tliey fnr^'et the woes
wiDii^liL by that abandonnienl /

However, though wo cannot forget the; incalcnlabh>
wiongs InHicted (»n us, we now can, with a jnster ap-
preciation of facts. f(»rgive the l^nglish (loveinnieiit the
share it may have liad in them. IJnt we cannot ae(piit
the tnl(^ cul{)rits; we cannot absolve those wlio, without
any causi'. without orthu's oi- against tlu; or(h'rs of tin;
Home Government, impelled solely by soidid motives,
di'spoiled us and cast us on foreign shores. No ; such
injustices, such wrcuigs cainiot he forgotten. So long
as our children shall Ikj able to retract; their origin, they
will recall and l)eni(»an the sutTerings of their fathers.
It is not in our power to blot out from our hearts thest;
poignant recolh'ctions. We may still cherish and bless
the lliig that th)ats al)ove our ia^ads : we may excuse
and con<loni' whatever share Kngland may liavi' had in
these events; but we cry enough I to those who throw ''
dirt at us in order to whitewash a dozen misereanls
whom all the wati'rs of Niagara could not cleanse, l.ct
honest men ioin in restoring tlu; historic! truth which
cci'tain histoiians of most rei-ent date have done tlieir
best to i)ervert. l)ritish fellow-countrymen! show us
that British fair play is not an em[)ty word. Brand the
I'ulpiits with the stigma tliey deserve. Then, will
Acadians forgive, bless, nay, perliaps forget .... pro-
vided that be possible after so many misfoitunes.

A veiy natural curiosity impelled me to study this
perioil (if history : dee]) convictions led me on to wi'ite.
I icgict this curiosity ; it has flung upon iny life a

i't

fii 1

fh .i^

INTIMHHCTOItV UK.MAKKM.

uloiiil <ii' siidiicMs which iKilhiiig ciiii icinove. I hiivit
«l(M)iin'<l myst'lf to cliiiih iigiiiii imct'iisingly this ("iilviiiy
ol" siifl'('iiii|n. huniiliiitioii iiixl i<,Mi(»miiiy, to whi(;h my
foicliilhcrs wvAv condfiiiiu'd. 'Sly iiiiiid has lastened
itsi'ir ii|ii)ii this iiioiind'ul v[nv us Pygiiiidioii, of ancient
i'ahh. livcU'd his soul upon the statue ht; hail made ;
with this ossentiid dilVcrcncv' that hc^ h'll in h)Ve with
thr work ol his hands, wlieieas I am haunted by a cease-
less ami merciless nightmare. I have wished to see ;
I liavi! seen : I iceoiled with hoiroi', l»ut the «lie was
east, i.ihe the lover who could not icsist his loniriie"
to hehold once nunc the dead face of Iht who had
chaiined away his heart, I drew back hoii'ilied : and yv\
1 must needs bear the jianj^s my rashness has provoked.
A thoughtful writer Thueydides — has said, "Happy
the people whose annals are vacant." This saying has a
para<loxieal sound to lis who behold on all sides nations,
whether mighty or fei^blc, whether lowly or haughty,
glorying in their past, viewing it over and over again
with complacency, as if to renew in themselves the joy
they taste in contemplating the feattnes of their ances-
tors magnilied by the enchanting distance and by the
illusions of h)ve. Hut can this be the case for Acadians?
To recall the contentment and the virtues of their
fathers, the joys of the century tiiat preceded their depor-
tation, is to recall the deportation itself and the century
that followed. Tlieir evil fortune is inseparable from
their good fortune ; to look at the one is to look at the
other : to magnify the one is to magnify the other. Their
history is a Janus with two faces, of which the more
recent, tiie fresher to their memory, the hideous one, is
ever staring at them. Crladly would they turn him lound
to view his other face, on which their eyes would rest

INTKOnrCTOKV KKAtAKKS.

I llllVc!

I Ciilviuy
'liiuli my

liistened
f ancient
1(1 made ;
love with
V a ceasf-
(l to see ;
: die was
s lon^in^'
wlio had

; and yet
[)i()V()ked.
I, "Happy
yintjlias a
!S nations,

lianglity,
iver again
es tlie joy
leir ances-
nd by the
Acadians ?
i of their
leir depor-
lie century
L-able fiom
look at the
er. Their
1 the more
oils one, is

him round
would rest

witli delight. Hut, whenever they conjun! up the past,
tiie sad, the hideous face will always eclipse the sweet
and agreeable one : the nearer will absorb tln' larlher.
Woo will ever be a mightier reality than weal ; the
former is the positive element, the latttr is merely, so to
speak, a negative (luanlity. For .\eadians the paradox,
" llap|»y the people whose annals are vacant," will bear
repeating.

L AM m^^m^^ fff^

mmmm

^^^ni

\\\ ill

ACADIA:

MISXING LINKS or A LOST CUAl'TKl! IX AMERICAN HISTORY,

CIIAI'TKU T.

*fc

Discovciv of Acadia (ICOl).— Foundation of Port Roynl (160.")).—
Brief Suinniarv of the Colony's Histoiy under the French
Regiint' until its Cession to England in ITIO.

With the cliHcoverv of a new continent a new era had
beyuii for the civilized world. Coktnibiis had been that
providential man who, braving prejudices, breaking-
through ol)staelcs, liad dowered the Old World with
these unknown lands.

The liorizon opened out by this discovery to the eyes
of wondering F.urope was too innnense, too dazzling in
its novelty to be clearly pictured in tlie mind, (neat
must have been the sensation produced ; but it were
dillioult to realize how far tlie consequences that shouhl
flow therefrom were understood. It is possible that tlie
enthusiasm of tlie moment gave a, glimpse of the [»ro-
digiory development we are wiln-'ssing to day. Tliat
enthusiasm, wliieh suiMenly bursts fortli from a great
di-^covt'iy. is often tlie best guide to the grasjung of the
ivniote coiistMiueiiees it implies. All at once, under its
inrtut'iiee, the ntind is illumined like the horizon aflame
with the lightning flash tliat cleaves the clouds (.f a
sununer's night. In that brief moment, swifter than

nH»B!

mmmm

■i

VAIN i:ri"()i;Ts at ('()L(>mzation,

thouiU'lit, the eve lias lollowcc] iluj liiu' of li^lit Icariiig
lliroiii^ii spacr: it lias M-fii clouds licaitcil ii[), strange
foinis, I'oiitouis vividly outlined; yd. tlic mind has
I'clainediscaicely tinytliinnot' this niai;nilict'nt panoiMuia,
I'or the view was too sudden and too laijid to enj^iaNe
on tlie retina the nniltitudiuous details. The baek-
Hioiiiid alone oi" this dazzling- scene Avas visihle ioi- a
moment; all the foreground was overlooked. Su( h,
likely, was the ease with ("olumbus's discovery. The
enthusiasm of the moment afforded a g;limpse of the far-
off scene which the new Continent was to lay before
Europe. It was a scene of treasures lieaped up, of
numberless ships plouohing the main to bring* to Kurojie
the wealth of this unknown world, of new gatherings of
men, of cities springing up in the wilderness. Kings
foresaw em[)ii"es to found, men of wealth and station
domains to acipiiie, tiie poor man a plot of land to
live on.

That was, perhai)s, the baekgroiuid of the picluri';
but the eye bail caught nothing of the vague space l)e-
tween. That space must soon ix; crossed by whoever
longed to I'cacli wliat was promised by the iridescent
vision of the tiansient scene. 'I'hen Avere to arise
dilTHculties unnund)ered and ever-recurring, luiforeseen
obstacles which would cast doubts on the reality of that
vision. Nevertheless, the eye had not deceived, enthu-
siasm had not warped the judgment. Oidy, four cen-
tuiies will barely sulTice to reach the brilliant future of
wliicli tliat scene had afforded a glimitse.

We maivel to-day tliat more than a century was
needed to take final possession of the beautiful con-
tinent wo inhabit. To understand this fact, we must
take inU) account the nuu'.berless diiliculties cnuoun-

VAIN KFFOllTS AT COLONIZATION.

L iL'iin ug
, stran<i;e
nind li;is
iiii(»iiiin;i,
) L'iiyi;i\L'
he buck-
il)lo lor ii
I. Such,
'vy. TliL'
if llie I'iir-
l;iy l)ul'(tre
3(1 up, of
to Eurojic
lierings ot"
s. Kings
1(1 statiou
if land to

picUuc;
spaL'f lu.'-

wlioevt-r
lidescent

to arise

uiforc'si'cu

ity of lliat

d, fiiUiu-

four ci-'ii-

future of

ituiy was
itiful cou-
, wo must

^.S t'UL'OUU-

teivd by the fust exph)iers. Not less then sixteeu legular
expeditions were organized by England, Franee and
l^orlugal in the eourse of a ceutuiy, eitlier to discover a
northwest passage to China, or to explore the North
American continent itself, or for purposes of inuuediate
settlement. Not one of these attempts had any prac-
tical result. Some of them, rather more fortunate than
the others, first gave rise to great hopes ; but they weio
invariably followed by some other ex[)editions so disas-
trous as to remove, for several years, fj-om the nation
that had suffered, all idea of founding a colony. TIich,
again, a little later, some other nation had its turn.
( )ne, two, and sometimes even three expeditions followed
in quick succession, to end in a new disaster, ami the
game was given up. Disgust took the place of enthu-
siiism ; but as often also, enthusiasm, sharpened \)y
gi'eed, ambition or jealousy, was rekindled only to issue
in disheartening results. Each nation hoped to do better
than its rival, each expedition hoped to avoid the faults
of its predecessors ; and the sum total of them all was
uniform failure. Tempting, indeed, must have been the
jiri/.e, since men were not utterly repelled by the danger
and sterility of so many efforts.

Of these numerous expeditions four were lost in the
depths of the ocean, some others were scattered by
storms and partly destroyed, and almost all were deci-
mated by disease and destitution, so that any fresh
attempt was discouraged for a time.

The expedition which came nearest to lasting success
was undertaken in 1541 by Roberval, whom Francis I.
had appointed Viceroy of New France, with Jac(iues
Cartieras Captain General of the fleet. The enter{)riso
wjis on a larger scale than any of those which had [.ic-

Mil!! lUi

III hlli

VAIN KI"I'<H!TS AT r()IA)N'lZATrON.

ceded it : lait it failed iH'Cinisf tlio ships did not start
togetliev iind l)e(*ause ol' misuiMlerstaiiiliiii[;s. Hoberval
was ti) })eiisli w itb liis eiiliic fK-et in a I'lt'sli allenipt ;
and tims success was delayed for sixty-tJnee years more.

It would l)e a niistake, however. Id imagine that,
besides tliese official ex[)edilions. America was not at
ali.oi' was not often visited. As caily as ir)04 its coasts
weie fi'e([uent(!d by Basque, Breton and Xornian lisher-
men very regularly. "Sometimes."' say> Tla(?kluyt,
"there were not less than a hundred boats fishinff
there." Lescarbot mentions a man called Savalet who
had made forty-two voyages to the coasts of the Gulf (d'
St. Lawrence.

These annual and reqular vovaqes. icijcated ihirinof a
whole century, had made the jiublic of the maritime
towns both in France and iMiLiland runiiliai' with this
part of America. Frant'e was the first lo resume, in
the beginning of the seventeenth century, the projects
of colonization I'ormtHl and so (jften abandoiuid in the
preceding centiiiy. 'J'liis time, if the succi'ss was not yet
equal to the hopes entertained, the founding of a colony
was to be detinitive ; and the exam])le was soon to be
followed bv KiiLi'land and other nations.

De Monts, a nobleman of Heni'y H'.'s court, organized
this ex])edition. He set out from Havre de Cirace
]\Lirch 7, 1<'»04. at'companied by de Pontgrave. the Baron
de l^outrincourt. de Champlain, d'Orville. ("hampdore,
and oihers. Their destination was the peninsula of
Nov;i Scotia, then called la thulic or VArmlic. and the

place detinitively chosen for the colony was Port Roj'al,
of wliieh, with the adjacent teriitor}', de Moots made a
grant to his friend Poutrincoui'l. In the course of the
following summer a few d\\elling-houses, a store, and a

|!'i|'

K»)l'NI»ATI()\ OK I'oltT UOYAL.

not start
Kobevval
attempt ;
•civ.s nioiv.
iue that,
IS not at
its coasts
lan tisher-
[lackluj't,
ts fishing
valet who
le Gulf of

1 ihuing a
• niiiritinie
[• with this
rcsuuK', in
u' projects
lied in the
Alls not yet
f a colony
soon to be

. organized
de Grace
, the Baron
'hampdore,
ninsula of
lie, and the
ort Royal,
)nts made a
)nrse of the
store, and a

ptdisailc enclosing ilie Avhole, were i)ut n[). Thus was
Port l{(iyiil founded on the very site now occupied by
ihc liiv nl' Annapolis. This was the iirst permanent
sett IciiH-nt by Kuruj is in these noithern climes.

A- 1 liave undertaken that e[»och only wbicli l^egins
in 1710, when Port IJoyal was taken and Acadia was
<lelinitively ceded to Kiiglaiid by the tieaty of Utrecht.
I liave no intention of dwelling at any length on the
events that marked tlie stormy l)egiiniings of Acadia's
liistory. I will merely sum up in a few [)ages a whole
' eiitniv of facts, so as to make it easier to underetand
what followed the cession of the country to England.
Not that the earlier liistoiy is uninteresting, — far from it ;
it were impossiljle to lind on this continent any other
s[)ot so interesting, at that veiT time, as Acadia was.
'i'he most thrilling <lramas of America in the seventeenth
( eiitury were played in the waters of the Bay of Fuudy
( l»aie Fran^'aise).

Kxposed as was this feeble eolony, separated from
Canada by vast distances and impeneti'able forests, left
to its own rcsouices, without inunigration, without
assistance proponionate to the dangers of its situation,
ii was the theatre of j)crliaps greater vicissitudes of war
than have fallen to the lot of any other country in tin;
woild. AN'hile. on the one hand, it was. or micfht have
been, highly usefid to France: on the other, it was a
ronstaiit menace to the conunerce and tran(|uillity of
liie Knglish colonies. It is there that expeditions of
atlventurcrs were ()rt>ani/.ed aoainst the Xew Kimland
colonies : there, too, attacks were made tipon the French.
If it was a fine field for organizing, it was e([uallv open
to attaik. Whether the two nations were at war or in
peace, it was often war anyhow in these parts. A

^Wi

J! ''ill

FfUNDATION OF POUT IIOVAL.

giieviiiiee or a mere pretext was enou<,'li to (leterniine
disastrous liostililies. Boston and Aeadia sonii'tinies
watied war on each otlier on their own aci-onnt. in siiitc
of temporary peace and amity between the two crowns :
and. what is more, on certain occasions, Acadia was the
scene of prolonged hostilities between Frenchmen wiio
claimed the riglit to govern the countiy.

Nothing, to my mind, is more captivating than the
story of this province fi'om 1(304 to 1710. It is to
America what Oreece once was to Europe, and the Hay
of Fundy evokes almost as many memoiies asthe .Fgean
Sea. The scenes there enacted have been so various and
so dramatic, the actors thereof give one such an impres-
sion of lieroism and of half-savage grandeur, that one
can hardl}'' refi'ain from tieating them as legendai'v. as
if they belonged to an epoch that is lost in the mists of
anticpiit}'. Biencourt, d'Aulnay, the two de la Tours,
Saint-Castin, Denys, Subercase, Morpain, are so many
Itifendarv heroes whose names are still re-echoed bv
forest and rock from New Hampshire to the imnost
recesses of the Bay of Fundy.

To the many difficulties which l*outrincourt and his
son Biencoiu't experienced in solidly founding iheii-
colony of Port Royal, there wivs added another of a far
more serious kind. During the whole of the sixteenth
century, inexperience, stress of weather and disease had
been the piincipal causes of the failure of colonization
ill the New World ; now came the turn of human
l)assions, andjition. jealousy, cupidity. This continent
was not vast enough to satisfy llie covetousness of matiy
nations. To Samuel Aigall. whose iccord in Viiginia
wa,s so bad, belongs the hoii(»i' of having I)eguii the
conflict for this immense territory, if, indeed, the acts of

FKENCH IJECrlMi:.

(leterniine

S()im4inu"i

111. ill sjiiti'

vo d'ONVii-^ :

;, r;

liiv was tlu'

slinit'ii who

r thilll llu'

. It is to

11(1 the H;iy

the /Kcreiiii

■ «.

various and

1 an inipves-
uv. tliat oni-

ioentlai y. as

■^■*i

the mists of

le hi Tours,

'^1

re so nvaiiy

re-eelioed hy

the inmost

:oiirt anil his

iiuling their

)ther of a far

he sixteenth

'^^^K

1 disease had

eoh)nization

I of human

lis continent

ness of many

\ in Virginia

i>' liegun the
itl, the acts of

))iiiicv whicli he coniniittcd can he ranked as warfare.
His lirst attempt was the deslruelion of thi' cohmy of
Siiiiil-Sanveiii' in Moniil Desert Ishiiid, on tlie coa>l of
Maine : the pretext of this outrane was Cahol's vovaue,
one hnn(h('d and sixteen years hefore. and priority of
discovery on tliat account. Eniliohleiied by tliis easy
\ ictorv, lie Made another attempt and this time destroyed
I'oit Royal.

T'y this one fell stroke was ainiihilaied all I'oiitiin-
roiiii's outlay of time and money : and France niust
]ia\"e been strantifelv careless of her colon \. to sav notliincr
of lier honor, since she made no move to demand repa-
ration for the outrage committed hy Argall. And,
indeed, for twenty years afterwards, Acadia is hardly
mentioned at all. so little, in fact, that, in 1»)21, it was
cecled hy the King of England to Sir William Alexander,
Earl of Stirling. And yet the colonists whom Pouti'iii-
coiirt liad hrought with him were still in the country;
some of them contrived to till the soil of the ui)i)er
reaches of the river, a few miles from the old fort;
others had sought employment from IJiencourt and de
la 'J'oTir.

Seeing their hopes ruined by the destruction of Port
Koyal, Hiencourt and his companions, taking advantage
of the friendsliip of tlie Indians, had become wood-
rangers (^coin't'i(r>< tie hoix), liuntens. trappers. This
state of things continued till the treaty of St. Germain-
en-Laye in l<i32, bj' which Acadia was restored to
France. Of the Scotch colony founded by Sir William
at Port Royal, tliere remained only three or four fami-
lies which were soon merged in the French population :
for instance, the Colsons, the Pai.sleys, and the Mcllanson
family, which became very numerous and important

i-r

III

,1 ' «

nf- |-"TM

"I: '<

:ii,lii

uUUi

!; ■ I;,,!:

l\ II

i ' it

t :

' 1

FIM:N(MI lIKiilMK.

in tlio Aciuliaii f<»l(»iiy under tin- Fiviich form nf
]\lcl;iii(joii.

After this I'etroces.siou, France once inoic tnrnccl her
iitlention to AciuHii. A C'Oin[)iiiiy wiis forniecl ]ia\ in^;' at
its head Isaac (h; Ivazilly, his kinsman cFAulnay ih-
Charnisay, and Nicolas Denys de hi Honde. As tluir
ohject was tratk' I'ather than colonization, they scUKmI
with their innnit^rants at T^a Ile\e, \\hich was con-
si(U3red more suitable for tral'lic than Port Royal. A>
Governor, Razilly bestowed Ujion Denys in lief all tlie
(fulf coast from tlie iJay (h's Chaleuis to Canso, and
upon La Tour the old post of Cape Sahle and the river
St. John. Tn this hitter place, at a spot called .It-nisL'k.
La 'I'our l)uilt a fort to which he gave his own name.
Thaidvs to liis long ex[)erience and his ac-tivity, thanks
also to the .sense of secMU'ity then pervading the countrw
lie uiade this a most important trachng- post.

D(3 Razilly (hed in Ido*) without having heen able
to accomplish all the great projects he had in view.
l)'A\dnay and de la Tour \\ere both named Lieutenant-
(Governors ; but the limits oF their respective tenilories
and jurisdiction wei'e so l)adly detined as to lead to
hostilities that huig [)aralyzed the development of the
colony. AVhatever may have been d" Aulnay's faults, ii
seems ceilaiu that he projected a great agricultural
establishment and the progress of the colon}'. AVith
this object lie abandoned La lleve to settle at I'ort
Ro^al, which was much better suited for a colonial set-
tlement. After gathering" about him the ])eopl.j thai
liad first settled at La Ileve, he went to France, w hence
he returned with a score of colonists. It was he also
who inauguiated that system of dikes which \\ as after-
wards to become so widespread. I'nfortunately, the

i-i;i:n( K uk«mmk.

foim

inu'il luT

;';'i

iii\ iiiLj' al

iiliiiiy <lf

As llicil'

y SL'Ulrd

was coii-

)yul. As

c-F all tin-

aiiso, anil

tilt- livei-

■ I

I ,K'iiiM-k,

/-V

\.\\\ iiaiUL'.

■'.'«;■"

V, thanks

Q (Oiintiv,

-..*!'

)ecu ahle

A^Sk

In view.

L-utiMiant-

territories

() h'a<l to

ut of the

s fail Us, it

riealtural

y. With

i" at Port

lonial sct-

-^B

ojde that

c, whence

IS lie also

\\as after-

atelv. the

incessant quarrels provoked hy his jm^iiacious humor
made his efforts \vell-ui_t>h fruitless.

When France made no piotest against the destruetion
of Port Royal, when she rt-frainetl tVom pnttinga stop lo
tlie armed contentions of La I'oui' and d'Aulnay. of
La Tour and Le lioryne, of he Hornne aiul Denys. all
H'dilinir foi- tlie possession of the countrv. she sIiowimI
so little eaie for her lioiior that Cromwell, in spite of
the peaceful relations hetween the two kingdoms, con-
ceived the idea of scizint-- Acadia. As war was then
waging hetween l-jigland and Holland, he gave instruc-
tions for the capture of Nmv Holland, and. the fleet
heing in thest; waters, for the suhsecjuenl capture of
Acadia. Peace Avas signed hcfore New Holland could
he taken ; hut Acadia, unal)le to offer serious resistance,
was seized (l<)o4).

In 1ltl>7. it was again I'eturned to l-'iance hy the
treaty of Iireda, and in ItiTU M. de (Jrandfontaine came
to assume ollicial possession.

As uiay he supposed, these dissensions, these repeated
attacks, the indifference of France, all ihis [mt together
scarcely favored the estahlishment of a. colony on a llrm
l)asis ; and so the census of the following year, under
M. dt! Tirandfontaine, tells a sad tale. After so many
saei'ifiees of time and money, tin; po[)ulation showed
oidy al)out 400 souls, more than three-fourths of whom
were at Poi't Royal. There uuist have heen, in various
places, a nomadic population proportionately pretty
numerous, Avhieh does not entei' into this census : hui
it was made up chiefly of a few half-hreed families set-
tled on the coast, especially at r-,a Heve, and of those
families which, having intermairied Avith the Indians,
had adopted their mode of life. This census, as well

'?r2

FliENL'H liECIME.

! .1

iif

H !!ili

'h 1

ili

! . ■ i

.1 ; ■

1 '

1
1

i .

iis iln' loUow iiig ones, is conliiiod to the population of
purely l-'iriu'li orig-in ; and it is cliietly tVoiii this little
group nl' 47 fiuiiilies that tlie Acadiaiis spring. Hero
are the names : Bditri/t'ois, Gmnlit, Jxi-sxi/, ife Fm'et.
H^liert, B(i/)/ii, f>ai<ilr, BhnicIntrJ, Aic-olti, Diipow, Ter-
ri'du, Sa»oii\ Corporiiu, Maiiin, Pellirln, 3Ti>r/'n, Thnui,
Gduferof, Trn/in)i, Cj/r, Thllxmilciin, J^cflfpify, Boiny,
J-iondn'oii, (r iill/xiiif, (j r(nii/cr, LkikJi'//, Doucet, Gir-
onnnl, Jln'riif, Bri'ini, Lc Bhni<\ Pt>!rt('t\ Conii'int,
PItre, Bi'Uirctiti, Ci)r}iii('i\ Jiiijifxnif, DiiijaH^ R'u'liaril,
MelaiH!0)i, RoJtlrlian, LaitoKc, d' J'Jiifirj/ioiif, ih Id Tour,
Bertram^ <^<' Belli xlc. These are the main heads ot
branches, and several of these families were already
divided into two or more branehes, as was the ease for
those whose ir.imes are subjoined : Boiclrof, Ginninnl,
Giiitth't, Jlelicrt, Boitr;/, JIarf/H, Trrvutu, Blanchanf,
AhcoIh, Brmi, 0(nn)n('(niu\ <h' l(t Tour. Each family
averaged six; ehildren, and the descendants of each of
them now run up into the thousands.

The census of 1()(S0 exhibits a population of about 800
souls, of whom 401 were at Port Royal, 164 at Muies,
78 at Beaubassin, 90 in other places mentioned, and the
remainder scattered liere and there on the coast; thus
the population had about doubled in 15 years. In 1071
00 persons. F> of whom were women, had arrived ; but, as
the census of lOSiJ registeis only 36 new names, some
of these i)ersons may have either gone to Canada or
taken service in the garrison and gone back to France
afterwards. These are the new names : Le Prinac,
Braxsaril, Dowiron, Lcrron. Lorf, Arsenanf, Berfjeron,
Belief ontaint', TounoH/cau, Burillot, Godin dif Ohatilloti,
Benolf, Pri'jean^ Basfarache, Fardel, Henri/, Gareau,
Laperriere^ Michel, Gourdeau, La Bauve, La Pierre dit

FUKNCH KKdLME.

Alation of
this little
)('•. Hero
% Foref,
p,'?u', Ti'i'-
/•/», Bnni,
iH, Bojiyii,
meet, Oil'-
, Comi'ini,
, Eiahai-'L
U la To)ir,
L heads <>l
•ve already
lie case for

G-lrounr'l,
Bhinchai-'i,
ach family

of each of

f about 800
4 at Miiu's,
led, and tho
coast; thus
i. IiilHTl
ved ; but, as
lames, sonic
Canada or
to France
Le Pritme,
, Bergeron,
it Chatilhm,
ry, Gar can,
a Pierre dit

Lfirot'he, Pinet, Riref, Mirande, La Barre, Aiihin-Mi;/-
nau/t, Coi'Ini. Coffard, Mercier, LavaUSe, Laija»H^, Blou,
Dexorcis, Martfh Biibrenil. The three last named, I
think, must have gone to Canada, and Cochu, Cottani
and Fardel to France ; at any rate their names do not
a}>j)ear in any subsequent census. From lt)H6 to 1710,
hCi new colonists, at most, came, and these were, to a
l^icat extent, soldiers disbanded from the small garrison
which tlic Government maintained at Port Iloyal. *

Fioni 1»')71 the agricultural population confined itself
moic and more to its land ; every immigrant, every dis-
banded soldier became a farmer. When, after a few
years" growth, families found themselves pinched for
loom at Port Koyal, they sought settlements else-
where for their children. Thus it is that, one after the
otlier, Beaubassin (Amherst), les Mines (liorton,
W<jlfeville, Windsor, etc.), Cobequid (Truro), Chipody,
I'eticodiac, Memramcook sprang up. Frequently, whole
families migrated to these uc», ouLiiements, which had
the double advantage of being freer from the vexations
of a government that was often too troublesome, and
safer from the oft-repeated attacks of the English.

I'^rom the treaty of Breda till 1710, a space of 40
years, Port Royal was besieged no less than five times,

* Tlic last gouoral list of names, dated 1714, shows 77 new names: L>«
Biisiiui', Moysc. Ollivior, Parisieu, Dubois, Bernard, Thibeau, Rossette, Le
Breton, Lyoimais, Ijtifont, Allard, Le Marquis, Emmanuel, Dupuis, Di>nis,
Baruabe, Beaumont, Le Maistre, Allaiu, Cadet, Lessoile, Raymond, Donat,
Maillard, Vilatte, Surette, Savary, Dumont, Lavergne, Lalande, Simon, Bab-
ineau. Paris, Cosse, Saint-Scdne, I'Esperance, Mancoau, Pothier, Dambouc
I^alibert^, Laurier, Yvon, Samson, Blondiu, Bideau, Gentil, Gousille, Lan^'-
lois.Vigneau dit Maurice, Champagne, Cltimenceau, La Montagne, Moutou,
Jasmin, Voyer, Toussaint, Boutin, Roy, Chauvort, Boucher, iJarois, Do
Saulniers, Boisseau, Herpiu, Gudrin, Longu6p6e, Hache, Lambert, Cbius-
son, Malsonnat, Carrg, De Vaux, Ondy, Nuirat, Veco, Leger.
3

!!!!)

FltEN(?H IiE(!IMF:.

whereas, barring ii raid on ncanlKissin uimI Mines hy
('lunch in 169(5, the settlei's in these latter phices were
faiily sheltered from the |)erilH that he^set Port lioyal.

All tilt! names that fi<(ure at Heauhussin and Mines
((Jranil I*re, Kivieie anx ('anards, I'ioiuuit, etc.) are
the same as at I'ort Royal. So it was. somewhat later,
at ('(>lK!(|nid. I'»!ticodiac, ('hij)ody and MemranK.ook to
tlic north ol" the Bay ol' i-'iindy.

As the census was taken many times during? the
l*'n'nch jteriod, it is easy t»» I'ollow up tlie develo|iment
of these different groups, and to <>et a pretty fair idea of
the iMunher of new colonists that came to swell the
orii^inal stock. Thesis were, for by fai' the most part,
unmarried men who were oI)liy'ed by force of circum-
stances to marry the daut^liteis of the oldest settlers, of
the 47 heads of fanulics that had settled in the country
hefori! 1<'>71. Thus we see that there were only live
women amonj^- the tJO inunigrants tliat airived at Port
Hoval in l<i71. \Vhenc(! wc comdudc that, •'»(> or 40
years later, the entire pojmlation was linked tofjether in
Ixjiuls of kinship that nuist have [)owerfidly eontril)Uted
to remove dissensions and to produce that social condi-
tion with which we are familiar.

Some modern writers have treated the picture of
Acadian mannei's as a creation of the fervid fancy. It
has been held t)i!:t t' e imagination was author of nnich
of it, that this ideal society was incompatible with what
we know of inu'ian nature. T am willing to grant,
indeed, I have no doubt, that the conventional picture
has been end)ellished b)- fancy; yet I hold that a close
study of the ciicumstances of this people makes one
understand better how a state of things clearly proven
to have existed was possible. The defects common to

KKKNTM KKdIMK

Mines by
iU'cs wore

lioyal.
11(1 Mines

etc.) me
vlmt liiter,
uiK^ook to

nviii;^ tlie
vcldpnient
I'iiir \dv'i of
swell tl\e
most \nivt,
of ciifiiin-
settlers, of
he country
} only live
;ed at Port
it, :50 .)i 40
tooetlier in
mtiiltuted
'ial L'oiuli-

)icture o£

fancy. It
lor of nmeli

with wliiit
to grant,
inal picture
thiit a close

makes one
arly proven

common to

all Frenclimen, |taiticulaily tliosc; which spring from
their loo grcuit soeiahility, such as jcahuisy, l)ackhiling,
idle gossip, existed there as everywhere else, hut lt»ned
down hy the exceptional status of the p»M)[)h'. Ntir was
their condition always en viahh;; it certainly was notso in
the early <lays of the colony, when these families were
strangers to each other, and prohahly also during the
greater part of the Kreiieh oecu[)atioii.

The destruction of Port lioyal hy Argall, France's
neglect, the frcfiueiit raids i>i Anglo-Anunieans hud
forced ii, certain number of the first colonists to l)ec(»iiie
adventunu's. forest rangers (cmii'viirx id' f>i>ii<), lishermeii
in tilt! tiaiii of IJieiicourt, Denys, liaTour. This roving
cleineiil could not he expected to show as high nuMality
as the lirst followers of Poutriiicourt, or as tlui society
that was aflerwaid fornu'd when all these separate
units coalesced. IJiit Ikuc, as in all other land>, givtMi
the tinu! to form new lial)its of order and economy,
giv(;n a sedentary life in tlm midst of asoheraud hard-
working peo[)le, giviMi a eonii'oitaljle com[)etence drawn
from a most fertile soil, a gradual purification of morals
was sure to result. At the same time, an adventurous
life had stetjled manv men for tin; ceaseless struu'LTles
they had to face l)efore tlie final conquest of the country.
On th(! other hiind, tlit; abandonment in which Kraiico
had so iono- left them, the habit of livinir bevond the
s])here of action and tin; regulations of a government
jealons of its authority, bred in the Aeadiansa spirit of
in(h![)eiidence that would ill consort with the restrictions
put upon them in after years by the French governors.
In fact, when, after the tr<»aty of lireda. Fin nee took
firm hold of the administration in Acadia, there arose
much grumbling and murmuring against a government

FIJKNCH ItKOr.ME.

iil' 1 1; !

i:!::! i

,(, I

tliiit took pleasure in tlirowiui^ around tlie people the
complicated net-work ot; Old World formalism. Of
this we lind j)i'oofs in the correspondence of the gov-
ernors: M. de Hrouillan, in one of liis letters, calls the
Acadians half-re})ublicans. Howevei-, these difficulties
were very rare among; them, and were as nothing com-
pared to the troubles that arose among the aharers of
authority.

Necessity had taught the people to govern them-
selves, to liold meetings, to consult together, to settle
their differences amicably or according to simple rules
(juite suflicient for their local needs. They had thus
ai;quired a habit of liberty and a taste therefor. They
knew by experience that they could dis[)ense with an
authority that was only irksome, that did not im])r()ve
their condition, that ciisuicd Ihcm no additionalsc(nnity
in their relations Avith one another. Hence it was that,
under English ride, they got lid, as nuicb as possible,
of oflicial regulatio^is and ruled themselves.

C^ertain it is thai, in their special situation, ])etter
results could be hoped for from this method, from the
hiixiierfaire, than from the vexatious interference of an
uncontrolled authority. INLatters of public interest were
decided at public meetings; men worked all together at
Avorks of public utility, as when thej' com[)leted a vast
system of dikes, which were built in so short a time as
to point to unusiuil harmony and good-will among the
woikers. 'J'heir reward came in an abundance of all that
could meet their needs and their simple tastes, beyond
which they had no ambition and weie therefore easily satis-
fied. Nor had they any anxiety about the future of their
children : the custom had been early establislied that the
community was to provide them with all things neces-

FnE^'c^: uecji.mi:.

?oi)le the
im. Of
the gov-
calls the
ilHiculties
iug com-
,haiers of

in thom-
;, to settle
iple rules
luid thus
or. They
e with ivu
it ini prove
lalstMiurity
t was that,
s possil)le,

ion, l)etter
U from the
reiice of aii
terest were
together at
etecl a vast
t a time as
among the
e of all that
es, beyond
easily satis-
ure of their
led that the
iiiQ-s necea-

sary for a homestead, and a few years sulheed to make
them as well off as their parents. The good understand-
ing must, surely, have been remarkable, since, even
umler Englisli rule, there is not on record a single case
in which the peoph; disagreed in their ilecisions upon
matters of general interest; whatever tlie decision
might be, it was always, as far as can be gathered,
unanimous.

When all these exceptional circumstHiices are under-
stood and taken into account, the familiar picture
of their simplicity of life, morality, abuiidance, har-
mony, and social happiness has nothing, it seems,
tliat should provoke wondei-; the same cii'cumstances
would, I believe, have brouglit about elsewhere some-
what similar results. For a cen'.uiy they were strangers
to France and Canada; the}' had formed habits and
built up traditions that made them a separate j)co[)le.
They were Acadians. And, if tlie increase byinnnigra-
tioii was almost nil, ([uite otherwise was it with the
multiplication of families, siuct?, eighty years later, this
small nation counted 18,000 souls.*

From 1()*.*0 to 1710 was one uninterrupted series of
hostilities lu'tween New F.'ijland on the one hand
and Canada and Ac -ia ,n the other, the object being
either to ca[)tnr»; vssels tisliiug in Fi'ench waters, or to
destroy some iV ' r ji tl e badly delined frontier betvfcn
Ai'adia and Maine, In 1<!!tO Port Royal was taken and
sacked by Admlrai Piiips : M. de Meiuieval. (> • -.or
of Ai'adia, was carried ofT a prisoner to Hoston, toocther
with his garrison ; but Phips, too much engrossed with

* Till' I'i'iisus <<( 171 1 Kiv<'

1737 ••

" 1747 "

•2.100
7.")0H
12,.J0U or tliereu bouts.

i 1

i;!ii.

FIJKNCH KKdrMK.

the expedition lie was j)rei)ariiig agiiiiist Quebec, iieg-
leeted to establish hiinseli" solidly in I'oit Koyal, which
was, ac(!oi'dingly, soon reoccupied by the Fiench.

Tiiis period, from 1<)90 to ITlO, Wi»;, piobably the
dark<'st in the ainials of these colonies, and the most dis-
astrous for liiitish colonization. For twenty years, witli-
out truce or respite, on sea as well as on land, there was,
in these parts of America, nothing but devastation,
pillage, ambushes and surprises. Sometimes a fort was
attacked by France's Indian allies, and, if it was taken,
the inmates were massacred; most frecpiently, some dc
fenceless settlement was raided by night, and, if any wei.^
made })risoneis, they were held for exchange or ransom.
By seductive advantages ofl"ci'(>d to lillibusters and al-
luring bounties on Indian scalps, the greed of gain was so
keenly excited that organizations sjjrangu]) in the border-
ing settlements of New Fngland for the sole purpose of
marauding, lilundei'ing and butchery. It was a life of
danger, often ending in terril)le reprisals ; still, bold men
were never wanting to re[»la('C those who disappeared.
In such eonditions. civilized man often surpasses in
cruelty the most ciuel savages ; theie were acts of base
treachery and harbaiity tliat have never been exceeded
iu)r [)erhaps equalled by any savage tribe in America.
Very great, no doubt, nuist l^ave l)een the provocation for
the Knglish colonists : all the Indians in these parts were
allied to the French, so that retaliation, if any, had to
come from tlie cokmists themselves. A violent im-
pulse born of anger, grief, pecujiiaiy loss and insecui'ity,
may have*shaped itself, with many, into the misconceived
idea that adoi)tingthe cruel methods of those barbarians
Avould inspire such terror, such fear of annihilation,
that they would relent from their bloody raids. At

KU KNCH l!K<iI.MK.

jec, iieg-
il, which

•h.

)ably tlie
most (lis-
urs, witU-
liere wiis,
vasUition,
a fort was
vas taken,
, some (1<
f auvwei V
or ransom.
LM's and al-
;ain was so
the border-
purpose of
as a life of
1, bold men
isappeared.
ir passes iu
xets of base
n exceeded
II America,
vocation for

parts were
my, had to
violent iui-

insecurity,
lisconceived
e barbarians
.nnihilation,

raids. At

the same time it was hard not to make those answerable
\\!.o urged tliem to their bloody raids; nevertheless,
liiouijfh these barbarous allies were acknowledged to l>e
necessary in the struggle between the two nations, both
(pf whiini made use of them when they c(mld. yet nothing
(oiil.i justify the use of their eruel methods and tlie
iiifringeineDt of all the laws of honor.

Tliis slate of affairs could not last long. Acadia was
i(i(i weak to be thus left as a perpetual menace to the
iiuilc and tlie seem-ity of the New England settlements.
Drivfii to extremities bv the disasters intlieted on their
coinmeree. the Anglo-Ainerieans resolved upon the
greatest efforts to emerge from a situation that was
(lailv bc.'eoming intolerable. 'J'he final issue was not
ilonbt fid. The disparity in the numbers was enormous ;
I'laiice was too eareless or too busy else^\ iieic to succor
licrcdlonv : yet, tlie eontliet was longer and more des-
jierate. successes and reverses more eveidy balanced llian
jiiiglit liave been ( xpeeted. No less than four ex[)edi-
tii:>ns ^^ere re(|uiic(l 1 h; fore? 1 'oil Royal was taken, and
iliere the iiitie])i(l Siiberease. powerfully seconded by
Oi-' IVuoii (h; Saiiit-C'aslin and \)y other Captains at the
'<■ , ' Mf Inuitm troops. Avrought prodigies of valor. The
Hi'Si if lliese expeditions was undertaken by Church, tlie
famous "hMju.iw-killer ; "' l)ut, moved by the desire of
j 1; 'idci' aiid of easy exj)loits, he made no serious attack
on l';iit lioyal, and was satislied with invading Mines
and lieaubassin, where he cai-ried off all the cattU; lie
\ could seize, after opening the dikes, burning houses and
doing all the damage he could.

A second expedition under Colonel March wa« much
more seiious. Rhode Island and New Hampshire liad
luiited with Massachusetts for this decisive onslaugiit ;

l!^

!il(

i I

'II I

FKKNCH REGIME.

but, after a seige of eleven days, jMaicli, repulsed at
every point, had to re-enibark, and, instead of leturning
to Boston, where he dre.aded censure, he took iclnyc at
Casco. Thent-e ho wrote of his failure lo (Joveiiior
Dudley, attributing it to his ollieers and soldiers, who,
lie siiid, had refused to second him. Inunense was the
I'hagrin of J^oston ; so little was this result iintieiitated
that nreparations had actually been made for a pom[»ous
celeb ,tion of the taking «;f Port Royal.

Hii., h i)ut not discouraced. Gov. rnor Dndlev. who
could iKd ' ign himself to disband the troo|)s he had
organized with sneh line hopes, sent orders to Maich to
keep on board the ships his soldiers, willing oi- unwill-
inc, and to letnrn innnediatelv to Port Hoval with the
leinforcenient now >(!ttint»" sail. At the same time
J)udley appointed tln-ee conunissioners to snpeiinleiid
the operations of the siege. March, unabh' to overcome
the sadness and dejection to which be was a prey, de-
clined the honor of conunanding tliis new expedition.
Waiinvright, second in connnand, had to tak(^ ehaige of
it ; bnt, after another siege and a long one, he also ic-
embark(Hl without effecting anything. This was in
August, 1707.

Tims far, at least, Port lloyal had been revictualled
and assisted by France, though inadeciuately. Suber-
case had l)een able to satisfy the Indians by some gifts
and still more by promises. His kindliness to all had
sutliced to inspii'c the courage and ardor that were abso-
luteh' necessary in the situation of infeiioiity in which
lie Avas left. All the (^aptains of Iiulians, d'Aniours
dTvthanffonrs, Saint Aubin, Bellefontaine, de Saillan,
Denys de la Honde, de Saint C'astin. de la Tour: the
French corsairs, Francis Guyon, Pierre Maisonnat, de

Sri;i!KXT)Kll <U' I'OIIT r.OYAL.

(ulsed at
[•eturniiig
icruLjc at
(lovt'iiior
icvs. wlio,
i was tlu>
itic'i|>atcd
, poniiious

(Hey. who
])S lie had
March to
or iiinvill-
I with the
uue time
iijeriiitcTul
I ;)vi'r('(tuie
I [)rey, de-
\l)('ditioii.
\ cliarfife of
10 also re-
is wasi ill

■victualled

y. Suher-

■^onie <'it"ts

to all had

were ahso-

iii which

d'Ainours

le Saillau,

Four ; the

soimat, de

'i^

-m

Morpaiii, liiid gathered under liim and had helped him
tt'ilh a will. With these and the inhabiUuits he had
enou<i;h men to niano'uvre outside, to harass the enemy
withoJit weakenii!<^ his garrison, which numlxjred only
about 1<'>0 soldiers, three fourths of whom were un-
disciplined younj men picked up on the (piays of
Paris.

Having heard that a fresh attack was preparing, still
more formidable than the preceding ones, Subercase re-
peatedly urged the Home Government to send reinforce-
ments ; but nothing could rouse the apathy of France's
rulers. Kor three long years the colony, destitute of
everything, subsisted almost entirely on the booty of
the corsairs. As a crowning misfortune, in 1710 the
harvest failed, and the corsairs, so numerous the preced-
ing year, were driven from Acadia by an e[)idemic: so,
when in 8ei)tembei' a large fleet with o,400 landing
fori'cs a[)peared before l*ort Koyal, there was but one
voice in the garrison and colony in favor of inunediato
suiiender.

Though fully aware of his wtjakness and feeling that
he could iu)t come out once more victoiious from a cou-
/lict in which all the odds were against him, Subercase
jcsolved to tempt fortune, and, without hearkening to
the i)roposals of General Nicholson, commander of the
fleet, heprepiaed to withstand the enemy. The Knglish,
on their part, taught circumspection by the un(!X[iL'cted
and repeated defeats of past years, set to work with
extreme prudence. Several times they were i-epnlscd or
had to desist from their investing 0{)erations ; but Sul'cr-
cas*^ no longer had a body of troops to sally foith from
tilt; fortifications and worry thi; besiegers. The fleet
liad arrived before Port Royal September 24tli, and it

srulJKNDEK OF TOHT IJOYAL.

■ i' ■ -slJS

r> I.

fjf'
1,^

!i!

was not till October 12lli that the ciipitulation was
si,t?iie(lon quite honorable terms, so lionorable indeed, that
Nicliolson expressed liis regret at having accepted them,
when ho beheld the destitution of the garrison. Pro-
visions -were so scarce that Nicholson had to jn-ovide the
Krent'li soldiers with lations before they embarked for
France.

Port Ivoval had become, and this tinn; for £jood and
all, an Knglisli town ; the destiny of the whole of
Acadia was soon to be the same. In the course of a
\^ ceiJ ay Port Hoyal had gone throug-h moi'e vicissitudes
than any other American tu\vn, more even, than any
«»ther f:om its foundation to our own day. It had been
taxvii.s • 'Ktid, destroyed, abandoned, retaken ; and mean-
while France, seemingly unaware of its importance, un-
taught l)y the h'ssons of experience, unmoved by its
hazardous position or by the unjust and cruel fate of its
faithful subjects, ii(>vcr thought of ensuring- its per-
manent ])Ossession by making such eff(nls as were called
for bv the risks and advantages of this stiouiihold.

Such criminal neglect miyht seem astoundinu', were it
not repeated elsewhere, and everywhere. This bit of
exposed teriitoiy had only 2,000 inhabitants when the
provinces of Xew ICngland alone had loO.OOO. Was it
because the sovereigns that governed France, the gov-
ernors that represented them in Canada or iVcadia, did
not realize the importance of the colonies they owned?
Was it because, as has been said. Frenchmen are not
coltiniztMs? No : this is not the true answer. We have
j)leniv of documents proving tliat the governors of these
provinces generally realized, with great perspicacity,
the value of these cohinies and the way to make them
prospeious, powerful and useful to the Home (Tovern-

***ll^

i;i.iNi)i:i;s dK fi:anck.

tion was
leed, that
ted tliem,
)n. Pro-
ovide the
arked for

irood and
whole of
mrse of a
icissitiuU'S
than any
: had heen
and niean-
itance, un-
ved by its
fate of its
lo- its per-
vere called
:h()h1.

ng, were it
'his hit (»f

Avhen the
0. Was it
:e, the gov-
Aeadia, did
ley owned ?
leu are not
We have

ors of these
terspicacity,

make them
>me (rovern-

mciit. We have also some proof, though rarer, that
tlu' sovereigns or their ministers saw things in the
same light. We have likewise proofs that the spirit of
enterj)ris»'. hohlness and adivitv were not at all lacking
in the French colonist. We know that, in spite of the
way in wliich Ik; w;is fnisakcn hy France, his activity
liatl t'amiiiari/.ed liini with the wiiole interior of the
('untim;nt. at a time when the English had not 3'et lost
sighi of the Atlantic coast. IJiit the I'olonists needed
hacking, nt least hy numbers; they needed a helping
liiuid iVoni the motlier countr\ . In an absolute govern-
incnl, which claims all powers and all initiative, which
rules and regulates everything, (nen tlie peo[)ling of its
(■((Ionics UHist be initiated l^y authority. 'J'he expression
of a wish or instructions from the throne would have
lifcn enough to create an unflagging movement of
cinigiaiion that would have compared favorably with
tht; emigration from the llritish Isles. Tlie entire blame
lies. 1 helievc;. with the throne : uotsomuch because it did
not unch'istand the imi>ortance of colonizing this country,
iis because of forgetfulness and uegh'(.'t begotten of that
tlioughtlessness and ineonstancy that marked all its
ac1.'5.

'• Wlieii I compare the result of European Avars in the
last lifty years," wrote M. d'Avaugour in l(!(3o, "and
t he iirogress that may be made i n ten years here, not only
does my duty oblige me. but it urges me to s[)eak out

boldly France can, in ten yeai's and with less

outlay, secure more real power in America than all its
ICuropean wars could win for it."'

" Who ciin undertake,'" said Vauban, " anything
greater and more useful than a colony? Is it not by
this means, rather than bv any other, that one can ol>-

'"^il

i*^«"'

"'"■•* m

.J !'■

Si, 'i ■■'

BLUNDERS OK I'ltANCE.

tain, with all possible justice, aggrandizeiUL'ia and in-
crease ? "

And Louis XIV. himself, who for a {'mu-, secnu'd to
take a serious interest in his colonies, entirely eon-
curred in this view, wlien he so wisely wrolt; in 1t!7t)
to M. de Chanipigny, •' riitendanl" of Cinada: •• I'>e
thoroughly convinced of tliis nuixini, that it is hettei to
occupy less territory an<l to j)eoi»le it entirely, than to
spread out indelinitely and to have weak eoloniesat the
mercy of the slightest accident."

That was, perhaps, for the great monarch, only a j^ass-
ing thought between two pleasures. Sueeesslully ti>
cany out these line projects. Fianet,' was in neeil nt' ealin
and peace: but, ever carried away by the piitle. ambi-
tion or eaj)ricc of her sovereigns, she always laeked the
restfulness that alone wouhl liave enabled her to give
to these desions the sustained attention tlie\- deinandiil.
She must dazzle, she nuist have gloiy, and. assui('(lly. not
in those lowly liandets lost in the forests of Anierieaeould
Louis XI\'. attain this enih And yet there, nioic than
in auo'ht else, was the futui'e of France. 'I'liie, it was
slow, pUxlding work, the Iruils of wliich "were far dis-
tant ; but in letnrn what a, rich harvest, what solid
glory, what lasting greatness was thus cheaply to be
earned by hranct'I

There is no more striking proof of her carclessncs.s
than the way in whii-h she deseited Acadia. In the
course of an entiie centuiy this provinci' ret-eived barely
two hundred colonists, whereas its dangt-rous situation
and its importance would have called for fift}' times as
many. This was less immigration in a century than
the smallest English colony received in one year. Tn
the single summer of 1()20 the colony of Virginia wel-

''^■**.

I iiinl iii-

ecnu'il to
rely fon-
c ill 1''T'>
la: -!'<'
. l)t.'tk'i to
-. lliilli tr,
lies 111 tiie

nly a pas.s-
■ss fully to
'd ol" calm
ide, anil)i-
acki'd tlie
vv to ;4ivo
ileiuainled.
ii'edly. not
erieaeoiild
more than
lie, it was
re I'ar dis-
ivliat solid
jily to be

irelessness
;i. Ill tlie
vtMl barely
s situation
y times as
utury than
e year. Tu
ro'iuia wel-

/•At

'■'m

hia'NIm:i:s of im;.\n<'k.

coiiu'l 12«)1 colonists, and it already had «!00, In l»)i'.')
tlieie came another thousand, and iis early as l<)4t) it
had a ])o).ulation ol -JO.OOO souls. IJelore 1040, 2UH
shi]is crowd, •(! with immii,'rants ]ja<l east anehor in the
{lOit ol' Ihtston. On the other liand, it is clear that,
unassiste<l and unenrouraijed. immicrratiou must have
lieen a negative (juantity in a country so lielplessly
exi>osed as was Acadia. That it possessed natural
advantaj,'es was not enough : over and above this there
was needed, at thi' outset, vigorous encouragement to a
IhxIv of colonists immigrating all together in suflieient
numbers to ensure their being able to protect them-
selves, and thus make up by their nuiltitudti for the
insecurity of their posit ii»n. This province, which
would thus have been a source of stivngth to France,
r'-aTiy became, on the contrary, a cause of weakness, an
ever menacing danger. Yeiv different, indeed, was
the reality fi()m tlu; wise maxims which Louis XIV.
retiimmended to his Intendant in Canada.

J»ut Avhat is more inconceivable still, is that, at the
very time when Acadia was lighting heroic battles
decisive of its fate, Louis XI \'., easily seduced by great
projects, was seized with a new infatuation for T^ouisiana
and the inland regions leading up to the Great Lakes
and to Canada : a great and noble project in truth,
which his habitual inconstancy was to reduce to a
costly chimera, furnishing fuel for jealousy and hasten-
ing the ruin of his colonial emijire.

If France can iind in the study of her liistory, as she
undoubtedly can, matter for self-glorification, it is
smely not in her colonial policy. The wonder is, not
that her colonies ended in misfortune, but that they
held out so long against such fearful odds. Courage,

II
: iiililiWi

.i '

1. ii

'!«

^. f!

! W

BLUNDKltS OF I'UANCK.

energy and well-directed efforts were not lacking in tlie
colonists themselves; this is proved to evidence by their
struggles, both in the direction of self-develojunent
and extension of French power, antl in the way of resist-
ance for so long a time and with such marked sikicss
against an «jneniy that outnumbered them sixteen to one.
llei'e is cause for nausi'lit but t'lori Meal ion and astonish-
ment. 'i'he shame of failure falls entij'cly n|)on tiiat
luiskilful administration, that witty incapacity, that
proud impotence which stamped the [)oli(^y of !•" ranee.

The national charact(!)', in its good (pialities as well as
in its defects, had already become well-nigh iixed, and
Louis XIV^. was its most brilliant ex[)ressi()n. (Jen-
erally speaking, the chai-acter of a nation is the result of
iijiparently insignilicaut circumstances, scarcely noticed
when first they aj^iiear. Latei- on. however, and some-
times much later, they make themselves felt. l'\»ra long
time, and especially during all the middle ages, the most
Sidient points of divergence in the respective character-
istics of the iiations of Western Europe were, after all,
only shades of difference. England differed little from
France, France from Spain ; all three had acc^uired the
germs of liberty, and it was the expansion or contrac
tion of that liberty which was to have a dominant intiu-
ence in fixing the special character of each nation, and
in stamping each with its essential differentiation.
These distinctive qualities were also to influence the
future destiny of each nation. '

At that remote period France and England were like
two streandets la/.ily meandering on the same table-land,
coming near to each other, then winding further a{)art,
then winding in again ; their general trend seems the
same ; are they going to unite ? Perhaps ; but, at any

r.l.lNDKItS op I.MIAN(.'E.

io in the
! 1)V tlieir
L'loi/uient
of ivsist-

ll SlU'l'l'SS
lislnllisll-

i|)(»ii that
•ily. tliat
>f Knmce.
as woll as
lixt'd, uiul
111. (Joii-
e result ot"
ly noticed
and sonie-

Vovd \o\\'^
s. tlie most

elraractev-
;, after till,

little from
quired the
or e-ontiac;.
iuaut intiu-

ation, and
erentiation.

ueuce the

d were like
table-laiul,

rther apart,
seems the

but, at any

rate, when they have <«jo\vn by the tribute of many
rtflluents into mighty rivers, they will surely emi)t.v into
the same oeean. Yet faets belie this foreeast : u very
slight rise in tiie land will be enough to ehange their
course and make vhem How in (H)i)osite direetions : one to
the east, theotiier to the west; tliis one toward one oeeaii,
tliat one toward another. One was to keep on maje.sti-
lally and peaeefuliy flowing through rich meadows: tht;
other was to leap wildly through narrow gorges, then
sjiread out into a lake, then again narrow into a torrent,
crossinu' now eiiohanting seenerv, now desolate burning
deserts. A little bit of a hill had been the insurmount-
able wall that had decided their respective fates and tlit;
flow of their waters. The expansion of tiie liberties of
England, the eontraetion of tlios(( of FraiiiH! was that
little hill that sent them in opposite direi-tions through
experiences so dissimilar. Had it not been for a seem-
ing trifle, the course followed by the one might have
been followed by the other with reversed results.

VVHiile the Knglish nobility shut themselves up in
their demesnes, thus preseiving a certain inde[)endence
in respect of the sovereign, and some interest in consort-
ing with the people for the conservation and increase of
their common liberties, in France all the nobles rushed
to court, drawn thither by royal favor and tlie fascina-
tion of pleasure. However insigniticant this slender
historic detail may .seem, it prepared France for the
abandonment of the germs of liberty it then possess "n ;
this was the little hill that altered its course and its
destiny.

'i'hese men, who had become courtiers in quest of
honors and favors, athirst for ])leasure, held their peace
before the encrorchments of the king. Deprived of its

>S£i

•i,.ti4

ltd'

,1 ■*-

lit

Wlj

GUOWTII <>1" l.IUKItTV

dt'l'iMulers, the jieoph^ could not witlistiind the clijipiufj
of their liard-wou jU'ivik'ge.s. Tlius it was tiiiil, our
litter another, tho concjuests of lihcrty, hoth for nol)h>.s
and roninioni'rs, tlisapi)eare<l. Wlien Loni.s XIV.
deci^Uid to he his own prime minister; when, waite(|
nixiii. after the (h'ath of ('ardinal Ma/.arin, hy tlie fiuie-
tionaries of state, and asked to wliom tliey nuist in
future Jip])!}' on (juestions of [)uhlie business, he replied,
imicli to tiieir astonishment, "To myself," tluin was
liht^'ty undone. There iiMuained only the; precarious
splendor of the thrctne and the d(nd)tful prestige of the
past, until the day should come when the state woidd
be the l*omi)adour or any other favorite courtesan,
until, sinking still lower, Louis XV. should be shameless
enough to say, '• After me the (Uduge." Nor was this
deluge long delayed ; a deluge of blood, the pielude of
freiiuent fruitless efforts and violent leactions, of scenes
of anger and bailed, glory and humiliation.

England alone escaped the wreck of her liberties. If
she was saved from disaster, it was probably not because
she had acquired, in that seventeenth century, more
wisdom and maturity than other nations, but because of
her insular position, because of some insignilicant de-
tails resulting rather from an api)arently fortuitous com-
bination of circumstances than from her own foresight.
"England." says Macaulay, '' escaped from absolutism,
but she escaped very narrowly." It is well for mankind
thai this exception arose. Those liberties, preserved
and increased, constitute England's greatness; her ex-
am])le has set her up as a beacon light to guide the
nations in the proper channel.

Viewing the results, men have ascended to the cause
thereof and traced out the methods that produced them.

(JUONVTII nr |,||ii:i;TY.

4'.»

■I

■ w
■fM

Tlicv liiive imitiilctl Kiij4hiii(l ; tlu-y liiive uUo iniitiiled
llii- iiati(tii that .sinaiiy' fioiii Kiiif,MiUi<i, huilt up Ijy Imm
(HI this c-oiiliiiL'iil mil iil' siiitiiblc i:lcim'iits, »•(tlulili(»ll.^,
lusli's iiiid tt'ii(U;ii(it's, ill ;i lu'W liuid lived I'ldiii Hid
Wdi'ld ties. Iii.sti'iid oi' (iiic iiiodtd now thiMC aii' two.
With iu,niird tn l'jiL;iiiiid, the cMiliil ion w ii.s thi; work of
setMiiiiii; (haiii'c, ill iiii.swi'i- to {\n- nceossltii's ol' llic
nioiiii'iit. ill ordrr to tsciiiic iKmi ihr niiiioii.s ('ii[»i'ir(' oj
a duspot, to siitisfv thiiL di'siic of lihcMty which wc all
ft'cj luuic or less : hut hy little and littli; tin? liiists were
lifird. till- consi'iiucmjcs, if not of the fiituii', at least of
the past and the present, were Ijetter and butter undei-
htood. li soon heeanie evident that the <(rowth of lilM5i ty
must 1h! aeeonipairu'd hy the growth of iMlui-ation, that
the OIK! was tlu; reason of tlie other, and that the two,
^v•orking together, were the fountain-head of all the
material [)rogress whieh our century enjoys.

To study the effects of liberty one must not stop at
abstract theory, but must go on to exainiae methods and
facts. Excellent as liberty is in itself, it may i)e the
source of many evils. The study of actual methods
teaches that solid results are ol)tained only by agitation,
i t'., by a continual, thoughtful, calm effort leaning on
public opinion which it first creates, advancing method-
ically step by step, by legitimate means on what we
might call an easy upward gradient. One reform, one
new franchise, becomes a solid and permanent acquisi-
tion, as well as a step to other reforms. It is a process
of building up and consolidating rather than of de-
struction.

This method, more even than the liberty it won, is
what gives to British institutions that progressive sta-
bility which all the world admires. The most impoitant

GROWTK OF LIBK15TY.

effect of this method is the moulding of the nation's
chamcter. It is this " hio.(.dening from precedent to
precedent " that has imparted to the English character
that cahnness, moderation, firmness and dignity which
insure its superiority in great undertakings and in its
diiTt'rences witli other nations. It is thi.s, too, that has
made respect for law and authority almost an instinct
with Englishmen. What lias been ac(piired by dint of
patient effort is loved and revered ; nor are such con-
quests any longer open to attack. Tviilers themselves
will respect what is only one step more, one slight sac-
rifice to the will of the nation freely expressed by it*
legitimate representatives.

However tardy was sometimes the advent of long-
looked-for reforms, no one ever dreamt of imposing
them by force against the will of the majority, when
experience showed that constitutional agitation and ar-
gument gave the best chance of success and the most
solid guarantees, provided one were on the side of riijlit
and justice. Under these circumstances it was to be
expected that the debates of contending parties would
necessarily be stamped with calmness and dignity, which
were, besides, conducive to success.

One of the lesiilts of this well-ordered march from
liberty to liberty, from reform to reform, was that parties
Avere generally separated only by shades of different e;
essential harmony was rarely marred. When a scarcely
perceptible line of demarcation parts us from an adversary,
it is possible to come to an understanding with him.
The separation was, so to speak, a movable fence that
might be shoved back and fortl). Instead of living in two
distinct camps, quite estranged from one another, tlictd
was a certain amount of intercourse, proposals and con-

(JIJOWTH OF LIBERTY.

line ;
•celf

lliim.
that
two

con-

cessions were in order. Self-possession, moderation,
})eaeeful and courteous discussion were obviously called
for in order to husband or to increase one's strength.
The distance between one pfirty and the otlier was some-
times so slight that a little cautious diplomacy was often
enough to secure either consent or n. niajoiily.

Because she was deprived of these liberties and thrown
violently backward, France rushed into revolution. iVot
l)eing allowed legitimate freedom of evolution, she went
into revolution, and overthrew law and oidor. I'crliaps
it was her only M'ay out of the chaos and luin that
threatened her. When Louis \IV. confiscated tlie
liberties of France and thus tlu't^w her back, he little
dreamt that he was preparing the ruin of his dynasty
and the death of his second successor, lie liad himself
cliarged the mine that was to blow u[) his throne. Me
was called great because he knew liow to dazzle; but,
if greatness l)e measured by the solidity of one's struct-
ures and the clear view of consequences, he \va.s very
small and very fatal to his country.

This confiscation of the liberties of France is i-esponsible
for tlie momentous events of which she has since been
the scene, and these events in their turn have intensified
both her own native (h.'fects and those which she shariMl
with other nations govei'ned as she was. Had she slowlv
developed along the lim^s of freedom, she would, by tlu?
very foice of circumstances, have not only ke|)t her own
good qualities, but also acquii'ed most of those which
have accnuid to Fnghmd. For want of this wisdom,
she lias I'ushed into a seri(>s of revolutions of which the
end is probably not yet. Fieedom foiced upon people
by bloodshed cannot be true freedom ; it will always bo
odious to many and thereftn-e of luicertain temu-e. If

C.UOWTH OF LIBKItTV.

imposed l)y revolution, the same means will be employed
to destroy it : lienee eontempt of law and of one's
adversaries, raneor. injustices, conspiracies ; hence a
special tendency of the national character that stiffens
into a llxcd habit of mind. IJetwccn the man that
desires a rc])ublic and the man ihat desires a retui'n to
the old (U'der of things yawns a gulf that is very hard to
bridge. Tliey have no points of contact; even socially,
they are str.'uigers, and if tliey have any know! ,e of
cacli oilier, it will be mostly founded on slander. "J'lieir
natuial wea[)ons will be violence and insult.

Thus the slight divergences of three or four centuries
ago have l)ccome strong contrasts through the choice of
different methods. Tliis we I'eali/.e to-day: but our
forefathers did not. It was not in view of an ideal
(beam or atH'oi'ding to a preconceived plan that liluM'ty
gradually was introduced into England. Men acted
merely according to tlu! exigencies of the moment in
Older to sujtply fresli wants. Yet ex{)erience has set
great store by these liberties thus acquired. Peo{)le
were gradually educated up to an intelligent compre-
hension of what is called tlie theory of social evolution,
a theory which, in France, lias recently been styled opjior-
tunism. Thus it is that w'e are ever advancing toward
new horizons that should be studied and, if possible,
foreseen : thus it is that events are ever occurring the
tendency and ultimate significance of which we cannot
so much as conjecture.

Whilst England, by lier steady progress in the widen-
ing field of liberty, grew greater and greater, France,
tending towards absolutism, was, amidst bursts of daz-
zling glory, gradually losing as much as her rival gained.
The time came when the latter sought not only to re-

GROWTH OF LIHKUTY.

cover what she liad lost, wliat it liad cost England three
huiitlied years to maintain and develop, but also to lake
a forward leap of several <;enturies. Then a useful
ex})erience prove<l that the social edifice has no stability
unless it be built up slowly, stone upon stone, with
plunil)-line aiul cement carefully applied to each.
When, however, the edifice has been raised without
these precautions, and consei^uently threatens to fall, it
ma}' lie necessary to pull it down.

All the teachings of the piist lead to the l)elief that
England followed the true, the lietter course. But, in
such matters, error is always possible, because, to the
inunediate and visible i-esults, nuist be added others
that are invisil)le and distant, and sometimes very dif-
ferent from those which seem startlingly clear. Wc are
witnesses, on the one baud, f)f the first oonse(|uenccs of
evolution ; on the i>tlier. of revolution ; or ratiicr of
slow evolution and rapid evolution. P^or this century,
at least, the advantage is clearly on the side of slow
evolution. Hut who t.-an foretell with cei'tainty the
remote consecjuences in future ages? It is the secret of
Pi'ovidence. In all so(M'al questions this i)i'in(;ii)le holds :
immediate or proximate results may be very different
from remote conse<[uences. The human mind is, after
all, despairingly limited. It often happens that what
is {(ractical wisdom in the long run comes from re])Uted
fools. Statues are erected \n hoi:or of those who hnve
foreseen inunediate or proximate effects. Those who
have had intuitions of more distant results are some-
times locked up.

It may be for the interest of mankind at large that
nations work out their destinies in various ways. Hu-
man jn'ogress is a congeries of ac(juired experiences.

'ill!'

I pi

GIIOWTH OF LIBERTY.

The doings of one people are noted by another, matured,
weighed, accepted or lejected entirely or partially ; the
residuum of good becomes the property of the civilized
world.

One thing seems (piitc certain: England has won the
first game. Her methods of success have been studied ;
they have been and still are useful to all nations. Shall
she lose the next innings ? It is the secret of the future,
the secret which statesmen are striving to discover.
All nations may have special hopes and consoling fore-
(!asts; bul.al any rate, it is undeniable that England, by
opening u[) the [)ath, has got a start tliat she ma}- very
well be j)roud of. Some may question if her advance
lias not been too slow, if the habits thns formed may
not 1)0 some day a source of danger. For her that slow-
ness was a necessity ; she was feeding her way from the
kjiown to the uidcnown. Now that the territory is
UKtstly ma[)pe(l out, it is easy foi- other nations to take a
sliorl out and su])prcss some of the old, painful, round-
about trami)ing. But England's traditional wisdom
gives us every reason to trust she will always be willing
to move on in time to avoid any dangers that may
thi'eaten her.

Highly as 1 value the good points which liberty and
the struijole therefoi- have broujjht out in the institu-
tions and character of England, 1 am far from admiring
everything English or blaming everything French.
The scope of this work does not admit of insisting on
the defects of the picture. Else 1 might point to a
series of shameful acts very often far worse than the worst
deeds of France. Taking all in all, not only was Eng-
land's seventeenth century no better than the same period
in France : but, in many respects, it was worse than the

(JUONVTH OF LIUKUTV.

eighteenth iu France. Nevertheless, in the midst of her
(IcHpesi hiuuiiiiitioiis England was collectin<>- materials*
lor future <(reatness. If deeds of shanie were, in a
sens*,', an outcome of the struggle for liberty, it was the
siublxtrnness and encroachments of the crown that pro-
voked them; they were the olfsj)ring of al)S()lutism and
ot ihose who sacriticed to it the interests of the nation,
ni>r eaii they he fathered on the valiant defenders of
lilKiity. Courage and (hsinterestedness werii needed to
ixpose oii(;"s self to the loyal displeasure, to persecu-
tions, to iiiin, to decapitation. No wonder most of the
lii<rh functionaries sacrificed, when the sacrifice was an
essential eondilion, lionoi', principles and liumanity in
order to presei've o" obtain royal favors. Thosi' men,
mIio seem to us bereft of all lionorable feeling, mio-lit
liuve ])een, under othei' circumstances, the oi'iiament of
their lace: in fact their only fault, perhaps, was lating
ambition al)ove virtue.

In this world of ours tlieie is no sucli thino; as un-
mixed good. The purest joys are the reward of suffer-
ing. Tliis is true of liberty, and still more tine of tlie
struggle to obtain and preserve it. This struggle was
necessary, and the defections, treachery and crime were
unavoidable. Would li])erty have given to England
such favorable results, had it be(Mi accpiiied witbont
resistance? Would it be as iiighlv value<l '/ Would it
have taken on that stability which has hitherto secured
it from all vicissitudes? i^iobabiy not.

So long as England was in the painful period of
incubatioji, s(^ long as the natiojis of Europe could see
only the evils accompanying tlK>se conflicts for liberty,
it was i)eihaps impossible for them to grasp the good
result that was to follow. The veiy bitterness of the

GKOWTH OF LIBEIJTY.

contest for freedom nmst necessarily have produced
special crimes from wliicli tlie undisputed absolutism of
the French monarchy was exempt. The fruits of lil)erty
could not he lasted and a})preciated until the conflict
liad cooled down hy the final triumph of Parliamentary
suprema«!y. No wonder, then, that Louis XIV., or even
the French nobilitj', seeing contemporary facts, judged
that the al)solute inle of the sovereign was the only
means of ensuring unity of action, stability, order, har-
mony and the elements of greatness. What they wit-
nessed in their own day nuist have convinced them that
they were right. Very likely they saw, in those intes-
tine struggles, only the attempt of a few to gratify their
j)assions or fiu-ther their own interests at the expense of
the nation's weal. Could they then descry the far-ofP
(effects of this liberty on the national character, effects
that weie oidy as yet dimly outlined in a maze of strik-
ing disadvantages? So long as France was in the
hands of a sovereign like Louis XIV., who dazzled her
by his greatness, she could delude herself with the
fancy that things would remain ever thus. It needed
the follies of the Regency and of Louis XV. ; it needed
ruin and humiliation to rouse her from her torpor, to
make her realize that she was at the mercy of the in-
frequent virtues and very frequent vices of her kings.
Fnince has had many severe lessons. Will she profit
by them ? We must hope so. Will she get Iwck what
she has lost? This again we may hope for: one or two
centuries are of small account in the life of a nation.
We may hope that she will at length reach a state of
equilibrium, and, having secured that, will advance with
constiint and measured steps. She will always be, we
hope, great in her genius, in her activity of mind, in

(iUOWTH OF LlBEltTY

noble and geneious ideas, in seieiico. in llie love of tlie
Iteauliftil. liut, what she will never if^iiiii is the hiijh
place she h.us lost, the part she onee played in tlu- civil-
izing and peopling of the globe. If France has declined
somewhat, oi rather if .she lias not advanced as niiicli :is
was to be expected ; if she be destined to declinest ill moic,
she can trat^e this decline to her want of ex[)ansion. to her
lack of colonies. When France and England were con-
tending for the possession of North America, the latter
had only thirteen millions of inhabitants, whereas the
former had twenty-seven millions. Look at the sitnaiion
to-day. The United Kingdom has thirty-seven millions,
Fi-ance only thirty-eight millions, while in North
America alone there aie almost seventy jnillions ol' men
that speak the language and are im])regnated \\\{\i liie
ideas and special characteristics of !>ritain. How shall
it be in one, two or three centuries, Avhen l"jigland will
have develo})ed mighty empires in the vast colonies
under her sway ? Tt matters little that these colonies
should become independent of the mother country;
even Avhen her daughters leave her. their intlueme and
prestige is none the less traceable to their fruitful
parent.

Yet, not to the unfruitfulness of the French lace is
this contrast to be attributed. Any doubt on this ques-
tion would be set aside by the prodigious ex[)ansioii of
the Canadians and ^Vcadians, an expansion the only
equal of which perhaps is that of the Boers.

When European governments, in the last two cen-
turies, strove to found colonies, they did not, as fir as
we can judge, reckon with this increase and spread
of population. They were naturally inclined to iliiidc
their colonizing movements would weaken the mtulier

(JltOWTFf OF LlBKIiTY.

country. Tliey simply yielded to the pressure of com-
nierciiil inteiesl. Hut exi)erience has since proved that
the increase of population wa*» largely due to increiised
spate and to the ell)ow-room thus afforded. Here, again,
is one ol' those far-off nonsequences, invisible to one
generation and yet visible to another, to which I alluded
a moment ago.

It is highly probable that British statesmen did not
f(»resee, any better than those of France, the future of
their colonics. Neither did they create and develop
these colonies according to a set plan and on fixed prin-
ciples, foreseeing, arranging and maturing everything.
The contraiy of all this would be nearer the truth. In
this rcs])('ct the English government was not more
active, nor more provident than the French. True,
British immigration was considerable from the outset ;
but it was mostly all due to private initiative. As for
the Puritans and the Quakers, it was an asylum from
intolerance. They wanted and hoped to govern them-
selves, or at least to be free; from hindrances to freedom
of conscience. France never held out similar hopes to
the Huguenots. All other immigrants were either
traders or colonists pure and simple.

While the pernicious influence of the French court
wivs weakening the nobility, in England the gentry and
the ricli mcrchauts were eager for distant enterprises.
Ill this latter country it was enough to let that private
initiative have its way which in France was excluded
and paralyzed by the habit of waiting in all things for
the ordei-s and regulations of royalty. Had the Hugue-
nots been allowed the same freedom of action as the
Puritans, they would have been only too glad to set up
for themselves outside of France in her colonies ; so

tiWnWTII (M MIIKKTV

51)

wonl'l tilt' leliq-ions oi<U'r.s : but, for tlu; latter as woU
as lur tln! loiiiH'i-, il was t'earod tlial tlu'V iiiiglit ac((uirt!
ton iniicli iii(lL'i)t'ii(lL'iict' ami powrr. TliiLS, iHitwceii
inaction oil tli(! oiu! liaial and ol)stailt's on tlieotlior, tlio
(■(.lunit,'s were let! to stninj^lc on in tlicii' iiujioti'iit way.
I am not aware that the Knqlish (loveniiiient made
iiioK' rtToits at the onlsel for thi; jjeoplinjj^ of her eoh;-
iiies than Franee did. The ohstaeh'S the hitter ojiposi'd
to the Iliinueiiots the former also opposed to the Piiri-
I ins : hut — -here eonie^s in an inij)orlant (HfTereiiee, on
w hirli peiliaps depended th(; fatt; of tht; Hni^'lisli eoh)nies
— En>fhind yielded to eiitreaties, and less than a eeutury
later tliat flourishinjLr eolony of the Puritans numbered
7o,00(> souls, lour times the entire ))opuliitioi» of New
Franee. So true is it that the fate of i-mpires frequently
nuns on aj)pare)itly uisiflfuificaut events.

Xoi- did Fntjland <,»'overii her eolonies mueh better
than France did hers. Like Fianee, England granted
jidiiulous charters which lianded over and eonfiseated
vast domains, ill-delined charteis which aniuiUed each
other or which were aiuiulled according to caprice.
Nor. ayfain, were the liritish inniiip-rants any better than
the French. Quite the contrary: when France under-
took to send colonists, slie was t(t(» fastidious, while
I^ngland was perhaps not sulliciently painstaking in her
choice.

Htn"e the Puritans are ncjt included: they were not
xciit tothe colonies: haviuyf left Knjifland, thev had taken
refuge in Holland, and they succeeded in effecting a co-
lonial settlement in America only by dint of begging for
permission to do so. 'j'heir motives were of the most
exalte<l kind. Most piaiseworthy wei'e the morals of
those families seeking an asvlum wliere tliev might live

(iiMAVTii OF i.ini:i;TY.

' iiiii
liil

according to tlicii' conviclions. 'I'liey sonolil iieiilun'
riches nor pleasure, nor the satisfactions of vanit}' and
anihition ; yet tliey found, tojrotlier with the asylum
they liad desired, all (liat frugality, orderliness, economy
and intelligence could [)rocuie. It was this undesired
emigration that turned out best for the strength of
England.

Not so with the colony of Virginia. At first picked
families were sent thither ; but soon recruits came from
all quarters, and immigration, lajrsing into a commercial
vejiture, gradually deteriorated till it became altogether
bad. High bounties made the recruiting of clorks and
servants for the great colonizing companies a matter of
money grabbing. Boys of 14 and 1 o and even sickly
youths, says Rameau,* were kidnapped from sea-[)ort.s ;
agents embarked all the vagaboncts and jail-birds tiiat
felt the need of going far away from })laces where they
were too well known. A still moie revolting s[)ectacle
on the shores of the New Worhl was the sale of con-
tracts which were often wholly fictiticms. In truth this
was the organizing of a white slave trade with slavery
for a term of years ; from that to the negi'o slav(^ tra<le
Avith indefinite slavery was only a step, and that step
was soon taken.

" As early as 1619,'' says Hildreth. ''1,200 immigrants
came to Virginia; among them Avere 100 vagabonds or
old offenders, who were sold like the rest, and also 20
negroes, who were brought thither and sold by a certain
Dutch captain ; these were the first."

The Britisli (Jovennnent, taking the hint thus given,
saw its Avay to getting rid of all its prisoners : tians-
^ortation, in fact, saved the expenses of their mainte-
* Quoting Cadior and Bancroft.

<ii;<»\VTir ni- MMKItTV

»;i

iiiuicf ill lioiiic, wliilf tliu siilij of their services actually
Idoiinlil ill iiioik'v . Tlii'se living coii.sigiimunts hccanie
ti(<|iu,'iit : iM»)" was the iran.spoitatiuii contined to crini
iiials ; it ^\ as s(»<)ii cxteiidetl t(» political prisoners, and
tlius tlie civil dissensions ol' Kngland became a fruit lid
source of Knglisli cndgr.ition to Virginia, and afterwiiid
>naduallv to tlic oilier colonii's, even to New Enijland.

'• This traClic in men of Uritish i-ace became so coiii-
inon * thiit not only the Scotch who had been made
jirisoners at the battle of Dunbar, were sldpped to
America to be there made slaves, but also the royalists
tliat fell into the powei- of the I'ailiamentary party at
the battle of Worcester, as well as the leaders of the
revolt of Penruddoi' Avere embaiked for the colonies.
In Ireland the transj)ortations of Irish Catholics weic
numerous and frequent, and accompanied with such
cruel treatment as to be scarcely better than the atroci-
ties of the African slave trade. In lOSo nearlv a
thousand prisoners, compiomised in the rebellion of
Monmouth, were condemned to deportation, and forth-
with many of the men that were influential at Court
wrangled over this prey as over a most proiitable mer-
cliandise."

Thus the British Government had but a small share
in the peopling of the colonies, and this share is per-
haps not ver}^ creditable. However, for one reason or
another, the blunders of England were not so grave as
those of France, with this further difference that the
very blunders of England became ultimately profitable.
Perha})s it was better to be less exacting in the choice
of emigrants and to fill up the colonies than to remain
inactive and especially to hinder emigration. Thq«e

* Uatneati i^uuUug Curlier uud BtiucroCt.

(12

liiinMrii or i,iiu;i;tv,

'i*.«

i '■

ciiiniiiiils must livo soinculu'ii!, iiiid it may liiivc iH-fii
|>it'lci'iil)l(' t»» suffer tlicm to settle in a mnv coinitiy.
wlit'ie, liiidiiij^' moi'u iiiimeroiis iiiid varied advaiitaufes,
they mi«,'lit becomu moral and [jrosperoiis subjects. The
oii^'iiijil i)()pulati()n was UKual and niunorous tMiough to
absoi'l) without toomiieh haini to itself those outcasts of
society. Nevertheless, if the facets themselves aic ex-
cusable, tlie method of o[)eratioii was not so: iiothinir
can excuse the; liiitish rjoveinment for havino-. imi oolv
toleiated, but oi'iginated that hateful whit(! sliivc tnide
which was soon to issue in the regular negro slave trade
and to taint in their very fountain-head the really ex-
cellent (qualities of an infant nation.

France made another mistake in not coloni/iny, as
she might have done, tlie Atlantic coast fiom X'irginia
northward, or at least a considerable! [)ortion of that
toast, so as to secure a greater variety of climate. Trade
WHS, of course, the motive power at the time the colonies
weie founded. France mad(? the iirst choice, and, as re-
gards the fur trade and the fisheries, that choice nnist
have been considered, at least for the first half century,
the best. Similarly, it was the gold craze that tirst led
multitudes to California in 1849 ; yet, in the long- run,
the soil and the climate were found to be greater sources
of pi'osperity than the richest mines. This climatic;
blundei' may have contributed more than anything else
to keep F^ ranee in astateof great numerical inferiority in
Amei'ica. People did not care to emigrate to A' dm
because it was too unich exposed to attn^k .*• to
Canada beciause the climate was too sevei not suf-

ficiently varied. Probably it was to repair i > mistake
that Louis XIV. liad conceived the project of coloni ingf
the Illinois country and the Upper ]\Iississsipi ; but it

CKOWTII oi' MUKKTY.

!*>>
I)>l

was then too latt;. Voltaiic yiivi! «'X[»res8i<)M to this idtsi,
when, with his witty flippancy, lie saitl tliat, after all,
France was {j'iving up " only a finv acres of snow."

It has become the fashion tosay thatthe Frenchiniin is
no colonizer. No douht he has now )io<>reat reputation
in that lin«5 ; hut the leason is that France has nolonticr
a single colony favorably situated as aliome for the white
lace. TIk^ I'^rcm-hnian is no Ioniser a coloni/cr, because,
ainid the tuinioil of revolutions and counlcr-ivvolutions,
iiiuid constant strugj^his with his FiU()])ean neinhbois, he
neV4!r has had Icisuic to take a serious interest in his
colonics, lint 1 cannot admit that the Frenchman, in the
sev(!ntcenth or eighteenth century, was not (piitc! as
good at coloni/.ing as the Knglishman, tht! Spaniard or
the Dutchman. The only things that handicapiK'd the
Frenclnnan were his patcunalism in govcrnnu-nt and the
disadvantages of his position in lMir<ti)c. As to Freuc li-
nu;n themselves, what they achieved hi're on American
soil sccnis utterly lo contradict the assertion that they
did not know how to coloni/e.

Having explained their numerical inferioiity b}- causes
that do not imply an absence of the coloinzing spirit. I fiinl
that those who settled in Canada gave proofs of physical
iijttitudc, of energy, (jf skill, of courage, which, in many
respects, seem supeiior to anything of the sort the
llritish ('(jlonists could show. Flse, how could the
r'rench have hekl their own during a century an<l a half
against an enemy that outnumbered them sixteen to
one? What wonderful achievements would have been
theirs, had they been, I will not say sixteen times a,s
numerous as the English, but fairly matched in point of
numbers ? Were they not singularly gifted, those men
who penetrated into the interior of the continent and

(iitoNvrii o; i,ii',i:i;i'\ .

I^P

ill -'•

foiiiidt'd sctllciiKMils iiiid »iiil[»(»sls in count i'ic;.s that wtsre
as'vd nnUnown to the Ani(Mi(^iiii (colonist? 'I'lic sclllc-
nu'iils of I''i'ontcnii(', Detroit, (iiecn liuy, VinccMiiujs, and
oilier colonics in Illinois dati; hack as far as KIHO. S()
f^Mcat. was llu' activity and holdncssof the inhahitants of
Detroit that, they ofl'cued to throw thi(!e thousand col-
onists into the adjoinint^' tcM'i'itoiy, so as to connnand tlie
whole interior of the contiiuMit, provided tlui French
rJovernmcMit would (ill up the void by encouraging a
strong emigration to Canada.

Forsaken hy the inothei' country, without direc^tion or
assistance, tht^ cohtnisis faced thedilVuiulties of their posi-
tion with ii. courage and an intellisj-cnce that were sehloiu
:it fault. I>3 thesu|)eiiority of their methods aiul hy their
wis(» forecasts they ae([uir(!d a grciat asiHMidaney over tlu;
minds o( the Indians, It is remarkable that the French
iievei' had to tight the Indians of the countries they
occupied, nay, that they made them their faitliful .allies
even in the most critical junctures. Iwerybody knows
tliat it fared (juite otherwise with the IJritisli colonies.
Whether through acts of injustice, or haughty and arbi-
trary measures, or for some othei' cause, they did not
know how tt» make friends of the IndiauA : luMico terii-
ble deeds of vengeatiee provoking the liritish settlers to
exierniinate the savage in self-defence against dangers
th;it they had not the wisdom to avert.

*• In line,"" says ]{ameau, "the point in which the
inlelligence of the I'^reneh i-olonists shone forth with
especial brilliancy was theiikeen appreciation of topog-
raphy and '^f their local enviionment, of which they
unfailingly made an exet'llent use. This it was that
enabled them to maintain the defensiw and to succeed
ii! attack. Their (juitkn^'ss and suieness in seizing tlie

<JIU)WTH ni' liim:ktv

iiiiiiii point, their skill in planning-, tlieir promptness in
(lt'(i(lin<;-, tlieir enerj^^y in iictiiiji,' \v(;re no whit inferior
to their lohnstness o[ constitution, suppleness of hody,
sohriety and austei'ity of hiibit."

When linally lliey sueeumbed, it was only because
\]\ry seemed exliansted by theii' victoiiijs after haviii!^
for a long time and i(;[)(!atedly gained advantages that
made the ultimate result <loubtful. When Port Royal
fell, it had twice; resisted an army tliat was more
numerous than the entire [)oj)ulation of Acadia. And,
wluMi Canada in its turn was forced to yield, to the iii-
vad(;r, it had only five or six thousand soldiers left to
withstiiiid the sixty thousand of the enemy, (^anada
had then but sixty thousand souls, whereas the British
provini;es had more than a million.

I have not the slightest wish to depreciate tlie Eng-
glish colonists, nor to extol unduly the French, nor even
to institute comparisons ; l)oth had their good (jualities
and their defects, rather diflicult to estimate satisfac-
torily ; but, to any one who will put away from him
the glamour of success and view the question on its
merits, it will appear evident that, minor differences
apait, the Frenchman was, at that time, as good a
I'olonizer as any other European. The failure of French
colonization is traceable entirely to the faults I have
iiointed out, all of which are to be imputed to the Honu;

.Government and to an untoward combination of events.
5

t>«

rOKT JK3YAL AKTEll ITS SUllllENDEli.

CHAPTER II.

Surrender of Port Royal, Oct. 18th, 1710 — Articles of the capitula-
tion — (Jession of Port Royal with the territory " within cannon-
shot " — Vetch named governor of the place — Five inhabitants of
Port Royal made prisoners — The garrison decimated by sickness
— Saint Castin comes with 43 Abenakis to direct operations
against tlie fort — Battle of • ' Bloody Creek " — Port Royal
besieged — The Acadians of the ceded territory withdraw — Tlie
garrison is reinforced and the projected siege is abandoned.

The surrender of Port Ro^-al to Nicholson by de
Subercase was signed Oct. 1-Uli, 1710. lie liud resisted
most heroically for nineteen days, and merited no less
honor by his surrender than he had done in the two
preceding sieges by repelling the enemy. The struggle
was liopeless and surrounded with circumstances which
would induce even the bravest to withhold makincf anv
effort. Alone with a few chosen officers, he withstood
the general call for an immediate surrender. It was
difficult to impose his will and to revive men's courage
when there was no hope of success; when to want, to
privation, to the superior strength of the eneni}', to the
uselessness of his repeated efforts, was added a still
graver circumstance, complete abandonmentby the Home
fiovernment. There was room for no feeling but dis-
(!ouragement, when Suberctase displayed such energy
and skill that he restored tlieir drooping spirits. His
constancy won for liim the admiration of his enemies

rOKT JIOYAL AFTEll ITS SUIMtKNDKI!.

together with most honorable conditions of surrender,
wliich were carried out by the Englisli General with
great fidelity.

The articles of the capitulation refeired only to Port
Itoyal and the dependent territor}-^ within cannon-shot
thereof. To be brief I omit the articles of the capitula-
tion which relat.3 to the garrison, and restrict my atten-
tion to what concerned the inhabitants of the ceded
territory, for there is no (question at all of the rest of
Acadia.

AirncLK V. "That the inhabitants within cannon-
shot of Port Royal shall remain upon their estates, with
their corn, cattle and furniture, during two years, in
case tluiy are not desirous to go befoic, they taking the
oath of allegiance and fidelity ^o Her Sacred Majesty
of Great Britain."

In a memorandum accompanying the articles of the
capitulation, (rcn. Nicholson declares that "within can-
non-shot " ought to be understood to he " three Hiiglish
miles around this fort." The number of persons com-
prised within this space according to a list presented to
the General was 481.

To have a correct view of the situation we should not
lose sight of the fact that this capitulation was limited
oidy to Port Royal and the country comprised within
a radius of three miles from the fort. Thi; inhabitants
of this district had two years at most allowed them to
pass over to the Fren(;h territoiy witli all their mov-
able goods; l)ut, pending their decision t]iereu])on, they
were to take the oath of allegiance and fealty: which
they did. We find nowhere the terms of this oath, but
we suppose it must have been very carefullv woidcd,
in oi'dcr to make sure that, in tlie meantime, they \\<niM

POi!T KOVAL AFTKi; ITS sri;i:KN"DKi:.

%li

i J

i*l|B

:. iiilii

do nothing' agiiinst the peace and tlie interest of tlie
English goveriinient, until their final decision to remain
or de[)art within two years. The circunistanees thein-
selves preclude any other interpretation. We should
not forget tliat wliatever was outside this three-mile
radius remained meanwliile French territory ; it is well
also to i(Mnark that the war between the two nations
continued for nearly three years until the treaty of
Utrecht. A clear view of these facts is necessary for the
hetter undi'rstanding of what follows, and for avoiding
the (confusion into which so many historians have here-
tofore fallen.

After the departui'e of the French garrison, Nii-hol-
son reimharked with his troo[)s on the "JHth of October,
leaving- in the fort, as liicutenant-governor, Colonel
Vetch, with al'out4r)0 soldiers. From IJoston Nicholson
set out for London, wluire he succeeded in oro'ani/,int<' an
expedition for the conquest of Canada l)y land and sea ;
lie himself had the eonunand of the troops wlio were
to operate on Montreal through Lake Champlain; but,
owing to the unskilfulness of Admiral Walker, the
fleet suffered grievous disaster opposite the lie aux
Qiiufs, and so the expedition Avas abandoned.

During this time, desertions, but, still more, sickness,
reduced so greatly the Annapolis (Port Royal) garrison
that, according to au eye-witness, there remained only
a hundred able-bodied soldiers at tlie end of the follow-
ing June.

With the enemy in such a plight, it became easy
enough, for the Acadians who were outside the limits
comprised in the capitulation, to engage in hostilities and
even to seize upon the fort. Here was au excellent and
easy opportunity for retaliation. This they signified to

POirr PtOVAL AFTEi; ITS sntllENDKIl.

the
im'ui
lein-
DuUl
•mile
well
tioiis
ty of
^v tlie
iding

here-

'icliol-
•tober,
olonel
holsou
:ing an
lul sea ;
,C) were
II ; l)ut,
:ev, the
Ic aux

c-kness,
.•arrisou
hI only
follow-

iie easy
e limits
Lties and
Lent and
nitied to

de St. Castin who had previously been mimed Lieuteiiaut
of the King of Fiiinee in this district. The movement
WHS sufhciently apparent to make the governor of the
garrison anxious, and often detachments of his troops
ventured abroad in order to wateli the mancjeuvres of
tlie people both within and without the bounding circle.
In one of these excursions two deserters of the garrison,
one being a certain Abraham Gaudet of Heaubassin,
and tlnce half-breeds, strangers to the place, captuicd
the conunissaiy of the garrison whom, however, they
released, for a small ransom. The governor, thinking
that there liad been connivance between tlicse men and
some iidiabitants of Annapolis, arrested \Vm. Bourgeois,
I'etcr Lebhvnc and John Comeau of Annapolis as well
as (icrmain Boursreois of Beaubassin and Francis
Brassaid of Chipody, who were passing through Anna-
polis. We have no account of what may have been the
result of their trial. *

Saint Castin, whose warlike luunor was never at
rest so long as there were blows to be given or received,
was easily pi-evailed U[)on to come and take part in the
struggle which the Acadians up tlie river were [irepar-
ing lo have with the English. With forty-two Abenakis
of tlic Penobscot river he succeeded in crossing the Bay
of Fundy and by his stealthy mai'cli es(;aped even the
suspicion of the garrison. In one of their usual sallies,

* Kiililiurtoa j^ivrs (|iiit(> a diffcrtMjt version from tluit of Munloi'li,
Aci'<.inlint; in the foriiuT theno arrests were iuteuded to koep tbesnj men us
hostages, and by means of threats to jireveut those who were not inchided
in the capitulation from committing any hostih^ act. " Tliis liostile disjiosi-
tiou of the French settlers," says he, " induced the ofTlcer commanding at
Port Royal to apprehend the priest and live of the most res|iectiil)lo
inhabitants of th(» district as hostages for the good behaviour of their
countrj'men, who were informed that, upon similar attempt, these prisoners
should suffer military execution."

'"•Il**-

., li

rOKT ROYAL AFTKI! ITS SUIMIENDER.

eighty men of the garrison untler the comnuuid of Captain
Pigeon advanced as far as twelve miles from the fort,
intending to surprise some Indian warriors who, by their
threats, were preventing the inhabitants of Annapolis
from furnisliing the wood necessary to the fortifications.
Saint Castin, who was watching the movements of this
troop, surprised them in a place ever since called Bloody
Creek. Thirty soldiers and officers were killed and
the rest made prisoners.

The position of the garrison was becoming critical, if
it be true, which, however, leaves rot>m for doubt, that,
before this encounter, there remained only a hundred
soldiers able to bear arms. This event was unfortunate
as are all those tliat result from war ; but it cannot be
judged otherwise than as legitimate warfare, since the
action took plaee twelve miles from Annapolis and nine
miles outside the territory ceded by the capitulation.
The successful combatants were French subjects on
Flench territory : it was in time of war and moreover
an act of self-defence against their assailants. Some
writers, forgetting the terms of the capitulation, speak
of this affair as if at that time the whole of Acadia had
been ceded, and as if these men had been guilty of
treachery. This is clearly a mistake.

Duj'ing this time Abb<i (niulin, parish priest of Mines,
tried to organize an expedition against Annapolis. He
succeeded in getting together two hundred men, whom
he intrusted to Saint Castin. Annapolis was invested
for the purpose of attacking the fort, when the ammuni-
tion aiul camions, which they expected from New-
foundland, should arrive ; but, as this help did not
come, and as, on other hand, the garrison received a
reinforcement, they gave up their project and dispcrscf^

POUT ROYAL AlTElt ITS SUUIIKNIJKK.

Before investing Annapolis, writes Murdoch, "All the
iiihal)itants withdrew out of eiinnon-shot from the fort,
and they also transported their cattle up the river.
Those of the banlieue (witliin cannon-shot) intimated
to the governor that lie had violated the articles of the
capitulatiori to their prejudice, and that they were
thereby freed from the oaths they had taken not to bear
arms ; after which they joined their compatriots in
blockading the Fort."

I have much jespect for this author, whom T look
upon as a sure guide in all questions of fact : j'ct I must
say I have nowhere found the confirmation of the last
part of tliis citation. Was it simply an inference from
the declaration that precedes it ? I think so. Though
not a strictly logical inference, it might be justifiable.
\\\ what did the governor violate tlie articles of the
capitulation ? I do not know, and strong reasons would
be required to justify such conduct. The time was
likewise badly chosen to take advantage of any viola-
tion whatever, and the circumstances give rise to a seri-
ous suspicion about the fairness of these reasons.

Nevertheless, for want of precise information on the
nature and gravity of these reasons, we can perhaps
supply more or less what is Avanting liy a document
Avhich has an intimate connection with the question, and
which makes us see, as far as we can judge by the ac-
count of one side onlv. what was the fate reserved for
the Acadians by Governor \"etch. Some months before
this incident the inhabitants residing within the limits
of tlie territory comprised in the capitulation sent to
the Governor of Canada, M. de Vaudreuil, by M. de
Clignancourt, the following letter:

" As Your goodness extends over all those wlio, being subjeols of

PORT ROYAL AFTER ITS SURRENDER.

His Majesty, liave rcoourse to yoji to relieve tlieiii in their misery, we
pray you will vouchsafe us your assistance to withdrnn} i/iirsrh-p.t
from thin conntri/. . . . M. de Ciignaucourt will tell you heltci- than
we can do by a letter, tliv harsh inannev in ivhirli Gonrnur Vrlrh
treats us, keepiuf/ iis like nitii'ites, and wishing to persuade us that
we are under great obligation lo him for not treating us much \vor>e,
being able, he says, to do so with justice, and without having room
to complain of it. We have given to M. de Ciignaucourt copies of tlirre
ordinances which M. Vetch has issued. We pray you, sir, lo liave
regard to our misery, and to honor us with your letter for our conso-
lation, expecting that you may furnish the necessary assistance /or
our rctiriny from this unhappy country.''^

TI:EATY OF CTUECHT.

CHAPTER III.

Treaty of Utrecht— Ossion of Aciuli.i— Clauses of the treaty and
letter of Queen Anni' — Lieuteuant-Oovernor Vetch opposes the
departure of the Acadiaus — Arrival of CJovernor Nicholson — MM.
de la Ronde and l^insens at Port Royal to remove obstacU-s to
their <le|)arture — Referred to the Queen — Subterfuges — Cliar-
acter of Nicholson and of Vetch — Compilation of the archives
of Nova Scotia — Artitices of the Comjjiler. his partiality, etc.,
etc.

Thk wiir between Franco and EmuIiukI was iii lust
terminated, and, April 18, 1718, at Utreclit. was sitiiu'd
the treaty of peace which delinitively ceded Acadia to
England. Nothing in tliis treaty detined the extent
and limits of the conntry which France ceded, bnt these
were to be determined, later on, b^' a connnission to be
appointed by the two Crowns. J*endino- this decision,
France, by. the terms of the treaty, ceded: "All of
Nova Scotia or Acadia comprised in its ancient limits,
as also the city of Port lioyal." It was, as may be
seen, difficnlt to make such a badly woidcd declaration
the basis of a mutual undcrstandino-. What Acadia
was, what Xova Scotia had beiMi or then was, had never
l)een defined with precision : but the question, alicady
so knotty, was still nioiv stupidly complicated by this
additional clause, "as also the city of Port Royal." as^
if Acadia or Nova Scotia composed only one i»art of
the peninsula to which the ti'eaiy, by extension, added
on Port Royal. This could not be the intention of the

i4 TIIKATV OK ITTKIX'HT.

piiilies, since Port Royal was essentially a part of
Ac ivdiii, since it had l)een its cradle and the seat of
goveiinncnt lor a whole century. It was a gross error,
80 gross that it could not be invoked or maintained as
far as Poit Uoval was concerned ; but the insertion of
this additional clause still left in the mind the vague
idea that Acadia or Nova Scotia could at most be under-
stood only of the peninsula. These diflu^ilties were to
be resolved fifty years later by force of arms.

Article XIV. of tlu! treaty of Utrecht, which defined
the situation of tlu! Acadians is couched in these terms :

*«!I'«*1|

" It i>< expressly provided that in all the said places and eolonies to
be yielded and restored by the Most Christian King in pnrsnance of
Ibis treaty, the stibjeelsof the said King luay hiicc libertii to reiiiopa
Ihiiiixt'lccs wilkin n i/i'dr to iinii olliir jilarc, as they shall think fit,
with till l/icir iiKDuthIr I'Jf'crls. Hilt those who are willing to remain
here, and to besubjeels to the kingdom of (Jreat Hritain, are to enjoy
the tree exercise of their religion according to the usage of the
t'hiiri'h of Rome as far as the laws of Great Britain <lo allow the
same.""

The better to define this situation, but still more to
please the king of France, in return for some of the
hitter's acts of kindness to his Protestant subjects,
Queen Anne agreed to lelieve the Acadians from the
rigor of the terms of the treaty. The new terms are
contained in her letter to Governor Nicholson, dated
June -in, 17ir, :

" To our trusty and well-beloved Francis Nicholson, Governor of
our Province of Nova Scotia or Acadia, etc., etc.

•' Whereas our good brother, the Most Christian King, hath, at our
desire, released from imprisonment on board his galleys, such of his
sultjetts as were detained there on account of their professing the
Protestant religion ; We, being willing to show by some mark of our
favor towards his subjects, how kind we take his compliance there-

If"

TliKATV OF rTIIKCHT.

ill. liJiM- tlu'i'i'fni')' lli()ii<{lil (il )i*M'*-b,v to ^iK»>'.v oiir ulll ami plt-asiiro
III ynii. tlijit you pcrinit .siicli of llit'in a« have any lands or li'iifiin'iits
ill iii<> plact's unil«M' our (iuvcrnnuMit in Acaiila and Ni-wt'oiindianii,
til, a liavi.' Ix't-n or uif lo he yielded to us hy virtue of tlie late treaty
of peace, and ai'e willinj,' to eontiniieour suhjects, In rrlnin uml rnjni/
II,' ir siiiil Iniiils iiikI h'liiiiiriilfi irltlionl iiiii/ iiiDlfshilinii, as fully and
iiiMJy as other oui' suhjects do or may jiomsoss their lands or estates,
iir III sell Ihf miniv, IJ'lhii/ sliitll fitUlcv rhitnxr In rciiinrt' ctsiii'ficrc.
And for so doing, this shall he yoiu- warrant.

" Ily Her Majesty's roniinand,

" Daktmoi rii."

.^^■m

The situiition of the Acadiaiis wiis tlms established hy
,\il. XI \'. of the treaty and Ijy this h'tter. In its essen-
lial points this situation was very elear. They had,
li('si(h's the free exercise of tlieir religion, the ehoic^e
fither to remain in the country, ketiping the ownership
(it all they possessed, or to lemw the comifri/, ltritii/fti</
(i/r<ii/ icifh tlii'iti all their movable ffooch and aho the prO'
crrds of the sale of their inuiioimhle propertij. This
letter did not specify any time for their departure.
This omission, if it were one, miglit throw some doubt
on this ])oiiit. The treaty, which was three months
previous, fixed the delay to a year. Was it then to be
understood that the time fixed by this tieaty continued
to be what the treaty had mtide it, or did it become un-
limited? The remark tliat the compiler of thearcliives
of Nova Scotia adds at the foot of the document might
inakti lis believe that he adopts the second interj)reta-
tion. Such, however, could not be. his intejition, for,
when we liave better miderstood the motives whieli
always animated this compiler, we shall understand
better that lie could not accept an interpretation which
would have been so favorable to the Acadians. I am
inclined to believe iuid I deem it mv dutv to sav so, that,

'$'■•':

liT

liii

llfr

TKKATV OK irilKCllT.

strictly spt'ilkill^^ llic ih-lay lixcd I)y llu' tiviity whs not
inodiiied l)y tlu; lettei- of (^iitHii Aiiiiu.

This distinction is at'tiT all of little in)[)oitanco,
beeansc, from lliat linic foilli llu' Acadians had dccidecl
to leave the province, and (!ven then they weit' actively
|ii'e;)iring to do so. 'I'his de[)artuve wonld have hetii
aeeo. jplished in the autnnin of 171)»,*had it not heen f( .
the oi.st'.U'les ojujoscd thereto by (JoNcrnoi \'ctch. and
repeated nnder different forms by Nicholson, Caiddlieiu.
Doueette. Phillips, Armstrong-, and later still IiyCnrn-
wallis. During seventeen years (171-}-17.)<)) all the
events of Acadia are connected with the aitiliies used
to pi'event this de[)artvire and rivet the Acadians to the
soil by an oath of alle«»iance. To suppress these facts
is to render the history of this perioil unintelligible and
altogether false. Kor some reason or othei', whi'ilicr it
l)e for not having had access to the docnnu'iits which
we possess or for other less avowable reasons, these facts
have not come to liglit or even been touched either by
historians or by the compiler of the andiives of Nova
Scotia.

As to this gentleman, I have declared in my [)reface,
without hesitation and without reticence, that the
volume which he t;ompiled has Ijcen ])ut together
with great partiality and with the intention of [)rej-
udicing the public against the Acadians. This grave
accusation I have uttered delil)erat(.'ly after mature re-
Hection and without laying aside for a single moment
the benevolence and charity that animattis me; but to
judge it well, it will be necessary to peruse this work,
since ray reasons are based Ujion the facts and developed
from them as they present themselves in the course of
the narrative. To explain the circumstances of this

t'oMl'lLAI'InN ol" TIIK AliC'lllVKH.

jiiihlicalioii !•■( nic siiv iit tlic oiiisct tlml tlic Lt\t»'isliuivt'
A-ist'iul)ly i)i Novii Scotiii on April W. 1H.")7, on molidii
»tt' lloiionibU! .)ost'[)li IIdwc. iidojtUMl the I'ollowiiig les-
rilitlioii :

••'I'lial Mis Kxi'i'llt'iicy t'lc (titviTiior lie I'fsiii'ct fully rofiut'slfd to
i'iiii»i' lilt! aiicii.'iil records and din'iiini'iils iiliisliiitivc of ilic liinlory
;uid prouri'sH of society ill IIiIn I'roviiiee. to lie examined, preserved
and iiiraiiued. eiilier for reference or piililiealioii, as the LogiHlatiirt!
may lioreaftei delerniine."

What ))i('('('(los, iis also what follows, is ("xtfactcd tVotii
tlir voiy i»i('i'n(i' of ihc vt)liime of the Aichivt's, t'ompiled
hy Thoiiias W. Akiiis in virtue of this resolution and of
those whic'h'followed.

•• In the followiiiu; year llie Lieiil.-* iovernor was auiliurized i)y the
Assembly to procnre from lln Stufr I'djiir Ojfirr, in Kniildtnl,
oojiicH of any dispati-lies or dociinieiits that may he found inrcsstir;/
to '■DiiqiUtc our , III 1,1.

" [n l!S.'>!), hy another vote of ihe House, he was empowered to
proeiu'e from Ihe (Jovernmenl of (,"ana<hi, r«y//e,s ni' kkcIi jioiti fs in
Ihe Archives of Quelwr as ndated to the early Iiistory of Acadia."

The compiler afterwards adds his personal rellections
in the following- manner :

'■ The (\\piUsion of tlie Acadians from Xova Scotia is an important
event in the history of IJritisli America, and has lately derived pecu-
liar interest from the frequent reference made to it by modern
writers. Although much has been written on the subject, yet, tinlil
Itili'hj, it has undergone little actual investigation, and, in conse-
ijui'uee, the ncri'Hxit ij for their reinoral has not been clearly perceireil
(iinl the iiiutivfs mhirh led to itx enforcement have been often niis-
unde.rslooil. I hove, th"refi>re, carefiilli/ selected all dornments in
possession of the (iovernmentof this Province, that could in any way
throw lifiht on the. history and conduct of Hie Acadians.''^

In this preface two distinct parts are to be kept in
view, (1) that which relates to the end the Legislature
had in view, namely : to unite in one volume the most

Uut

-.>v:

\/^]

.n.Ai

(5*1

CO.MIMLATION OF T»:;: AUCIIIVKS.

H ^?' «

imj)(>i'tiiiit (loiHinients that might -■•erve for the q^eueral
liistory of the Province, and to procure in London and
Quebec tliose which shouhl hi; judged useful to lill up
the delicieucies of the Arcliives of Nova Scotia : and
( -) tiiat which rehites to the compiler's own v-iivate ends.
Even without reading between the lines, ii is easy to
see that the eud of Mr. Akins was not exactly the:.ame
as that of the Legislature.

The special purpose he had in view was to comprise
in this volume all the documents tiiat could throw sf)me
light on the causes that furnished motives for the cxpul-
sioji of the Acadians. In substance he says, vp to the prrs-
eiittiuw t lieae motiveis have nor hev: 'LtHlcrHtooJ. Precisely
so ; during a century historians had been astray, and
he, j\lr. Akins, was going to set all future historians once
more on the right path; he was going to grouf) together
all that might l)e injurious to the Acadians. and to
make his volume a convenient and easy arsenal wliere
writers might come to seek weapons against thosr poor
Acadians, to whom all this would be a mystery, and
who would suffer in silence whatever insults these
writers would be pleased to heap upon them.

In matters of history, any jilausible opinion, whether
it be or not the I'csult of the aberrations of the mind or
of the heart, is to be respected, and Mr. Akins could
very well entertain the opinions wllich he expresses in
his preface; but I am surely justiiied in finding him
i)resum}ituous when he ventures to condemn the writers
of a whole century, including those Avho were contem-
poraries of these events : and in branding as unbecoming
and injudicious his inserting in a })reface his own o})in-
ions on events which were nariated in the com[)ilation
he was charged to make. This compilation had to be

O.MlSSKfNS OK I'MK ("OM |>I l.Kl;.

impartial, oi* it would deviate from the end wliicli the
Ijt'gislature liadiii view ; and, if the iitiiess of things did
not move Mr. Akiiis, his shrewdness should have niadi;
liim liold liis tongue lest his work should seem biassed.
And to vhow how gi-eat indeed was his want of tact. I
may say that his preface itsidf made me believe that lie
nnist h(i ^)artial and prejudiced, aud, starting therefinm.
1 studied him closely, comj)ai'ed, meditated, and linally
airived at this clear and plain co'K'lusirn, that his jiar-
tiality was outdone only b}- Ins bad faith.

Foi- the moment, let it be sufficient to say that this
volume is in 7'eality not, as the Legislatuie wished it to
1)0. acollection of the most im[)ortant documents relating
to the general histoiy of th(^ piovince, but a collection
of all that could appear to justify the deportation of ilic
Acadians ; that it omits all or nearly all the exjilana-
tions that might be favorable to tlumi, and systematically
t-xcludes all that was unfavorable to the goveiiiors.
.\inl, let not the I'eader imagine that I hiivc purposely
hunted up the omissions I charge him with in ordci to
introduce them into this work ; the very importance of
those vvdiich I point out l)y the way, shows that f have not
stopped at the trifles which abound, but that, on thecon-
traiy, T have kept silence on many grave facts in order
not to encur.ibe- my work.

The firs': doc nments, introdu(?ed into the volume of the
archives, iv. e dated November, 1714. It seems to me
clear that the intentio)i of the legislature must have been
to compi'ise therein all the documents since the taking

of Port Royal in 1710, or at least since April. 171:'). tli
date of the treat3M)f peace. The documents bctwt

this date and NovemlxM', 1714. wci-e particularly ini]i(ii-i-
ant, in order to determine in a [>iecise manner what had

i*'«

l<«S:

mil

'I'i

OMISSIONS OF TMK COM I'l I,Klt,

bcL'U (lone both by the governors uiid by ihc Ai-adiaiis
in respect of those chiiises of the treuty tliat referred to
llie <le]iiulure. The Acadiaus had the space of a year
to witlidraw witli their effects, their cattle and the out-
come of the sale of tlieir immovable goods: we know
by the sequel that very few of them left their country
at that time ; but did they wish to leave ? were they pre-
vented from doing so ? that is what we might expect to
see in the volume of the archives. To find light on this
oljscure point. I had to search elsewhere, and, as will l)e
seen, the result of my researches is of great importance
and diametrically opposed to the pretensions of the
Compiler.

By leaving out all the documents betweeii 1710 and the
end of 1714 he has led into error nearly all the writers
that have written the histoiy of Nova Scotia. They
begin where the Compiler begins; they finish where he
finishes ; they omit wliat he has omitted, they skip wdiat
he has ski})ped. I suppose all this is done in very goo<l
faith, and if I mention this, it is rather to show that the
Compiler has attained his end, that he will continue to
do so just so long as his motives are not understood, so
long as it is not known that there is beyond his volume
a vast unexplored held, whicii explains what he did not
wish to disclose, which makes us take the proper meas-
tn-e of the man and his work. In the part which claims
our attention at present, unless we search elsewhere
foi' the means to hll up this serious void, he obliges us
to enter on the scene in the second act of the drama :
which may leave many things unexplained and inexpli-
cuble.*

*'lo ho brief aud to uvoidall cimtusion, I will licroufttT u^'i' tln' tt'rni • Tin*
Coiiipilor ' to designate Thomas 1'.. Akins, (•omi>iler of tLe areliivcsof Nova
rS-^otia.

'1,1 # •

i; (fills'' ■

'I'llH ACADIANS liKPAi; rrUK OIM'OSKI).

At tlu! takiii<>' of Port l{oyal. Colonel Veteli, hs I havf
saiil, had been ii[)poiiit(Hl lieuteiiaiit-govenior of the
j»laco. 'i'he t'ollov^ iiig year he went to rejoin Ni«.-hol.soti
in his projei-reu expedition aj^ainsi Montreal, leaving in
})is phice, as adniinibtxaioi. Sir (^harles Hobby ; when
this undeitaking was abandoned, he returned to his post,
where he rfiissunied his otTiee and exercised it till
the suninifi of 1714. Octolter 20. 1712, Nieholson had
l)een a[»])()inted governor, but, during his absence. Vetch
tultilii'd liis functions with the title of lieutenant-scover-
i)(ir of the ganison, in whicih olliee lie was replaced in
1714 by Major (^aidfield and later by Captain Don-
tette, while Nicholson remained titular governor until
1717.

1 liiive said that since the signing of the treaty the
Acadiaiis had almost decided to leave the country, but
that they were prevented l)y all imaginable means and
artiiices. In fact in August, or perhaps even In July
171-^. they sent delegates to Louisburg to come to an
understanding with the Frencli governor on the con-
ditions to be held out to them if they were transported
over to the French territory. These delegates sent in
their report, and the answer of the Acadian people dated
Septeml)er 23, 1713, implies a refusal. They do not wish
tn accept an establishment at lie Royale (Cape Breton )
without effectual assistance, since the soil there is of
aniid'erioi' (juality, woody, and without natural m(;adow-
land to pasture their cattle. If, however, they are
tibliged to take the oath, they will depart anyhow: —

''^^I^

" Resides," says their rpport. " we do not know yet in what man-
ner the English will use uh. If they hurthen us in respect to oar
religion, or cut up our settlement to divide the lands with people of
our nation we will abandon them absolutely."
t>

THK ACADIANS DErAltTUHE OPPOSED.

■ 4 'VI! "ail,

The govtM'iior ol" Louisbui'jr, M, de Costabellc, was
sorely vexed al this re[)ly. and still more so at a letter
from Father (Jaiiliii, whom he had hoped to enlist as an
ally in his dealings witii the Aeadians. The latter had
riij)lied "that lie eould not lend himself tohis mano'uvies,
as he did not see any snflicient guarantees for the assist-
ance; which he, M. de Costabelle, j)romised. ;ind that
it did not hecome him iw i niploy missionaries in an
at'fiiir, the pnrposi' of wiiicli appeared to he to Avarp liis
jndgment in order to deceive; others; that, if he could
not oiYei" any better guurantees for his good intentions,
he preferred to see the A(;adians remain on their lands
with the English, njio are doing all in tlieii- ]»owei- to
j)revent them from ile[)arting. "' *

The more tlu; Freneh goverinncnt desired, as will l>u
explained further on, that the Aeadians should take
advantage of the treaty to go over into Freneh territoiy,
the more were the authorities of Po't. IJoya' opjtosed
thereto. Negotiations weie I'csumed between I lie Aea-
dians and the governor of Lonisburg: lands were otVeivtl
on Prinee Edward Island (^llle Saint-Jean), and divers
advantages whieh were eonsidered aeeeptable by the
Aeadians. The}' Avished to leave ; Colonel Veteh
opposed this under the pretext that he was only lien-
tenant-governor, and that they had to wd'ii for the arrival
of Governor Nicholson. He arrived (»nly the following
summer, when the year stipulated by the treaty liad
just expired. The following letters, both from Major
I'Hermite who replaced de Costabelle at Louisltnrg,
refer to these event. The lirst is dated July 11, 1714,
and is addressed to Nicholson himself : —

* CnntdbeUp an Minhfre, Nov. \l\ii—Mimhicli , vol. i. p. 338.

TUK ACADIANS DKl'AUTr It K Ul'TOSKD.

" llaviiifi; Iparnt, sir. from stniTnl inlialiilniits of Port IJoyal, of
Mint's 1111(1 IJt'auliassiii, tliat lio wlio coniiiiaiKis in your absciu'o at
Port Uoyal (Col. Votrii). //(/.s inrhiililrn IIh'hi, f<> Irarc. ciid rri.n n-
I'ustil fliv iKiiii'tKsiiiu to (liom- who a.sh'cd liim t'or II, wliioli I'veiit
inaivt's luosf. of llu' Ai'adiaus now «'stal)lislit,'(l on the lands of Ihr King
(if Kiifjlaiiil uiiiihlf to withdraw Iliis ytnir

'■ 'I'liat. is wliat has (It'tcrniini'd ni'-. (ifcoy<lhiu
iitioiil th(> reasons why flici/ (irr ihtuinnj. \ hope, sir. ynu will
render all diu^iusliee, and that you will have no other view llian to
obey tlie behcxtx <^' the Qneoi.''''

The other h-tler is from the same to the Minister ami ilated An.Ltust,
li'.i, 1714 : '■ He who eommands Port l.'oyal has forhidden the Arndi-
aiis to leave the eountry before the ariival of ^Ir. N'ieliolson. so tliat.
all tliose who hav(> ooni(> here had esenped. 'I'hey represented tci me
liiat it was necessary to send an otlieer there in order to uphold their
riiihis. the Kiiijlish haviiij; forbidden the niissionnries to meitdle with
theaffairs ofthe Acadians."' — (Archivi's dela ^rarineet dcs Colunies.)

This is L'l(*;u' eiioiio'li. Tlie yeai' liad just, cxjuicd, iiiid
the proliibilions of (lovciiior \'ctcli wcri' of stii'licieiitlv
ilisliuit date to have yiveii thi; (iovcitior of Loiiishtiru-
time to be informed of them, to commiiiiifiUt! iliis iii-
forinatioii to the Kiiii;' of Fiitiice : itiid the latlci' liad liad
time to obtain an ordef ivi^wx tlic '^ticcii of Kiinhiiid, to
tiansmit all dociimt^iits to th(i (invcriior of !.oiiisI)mo;,
to a[»[)oiiit M. dc la Koiuh' and to write lo Ni'-liolson
under date of July 11. 1714.

And what \vi;re these or(h'is of (^ticcii Amic to Nirh-
olson ? l^vidcntlv. lo let llic Acadians dt-part, cilice
they were within the limits of tlic year when t'le com-
j)laints w'erc! made, and siiu-e Maj<»r rili'iinitc sum-
iiioncd Nicholson to execute the beliests of tlic Qikm'Ii.
\V(! shall see how he icspccted ihciii, or i-.itlier wliat
lueasiircs lit; took to elude them.

Messr.s. de la Roude and I*inseiis, bearei.sof the orders

All.

<:i-^

»J:h

'mi

■0^ 'M f ?}• i-

ill

Nil

III

IIIK ACADIANS DKI'A i;Tf!:K (>I'IM)SKI».

(il (^iiccii Aiiiit'. mrivcd at I'oit lloyal about .luly 20,
at tlic saiiif lime as Nicholson himself. lie ''"av*! tlieiu
a supeil) i('ce])tioii. look eofTnizaiiee of the* orders vvhieli
tlicy liorr. and ])roinisod to let the .\t'a(hans depai't
within till' lapse of another year, should they decide
io do so. I Fe i»('rniitted them to hohlassend)lies in order
to make sure of the intentions t)f the Aeailians. All
itMlerated the determination to abandon the country.*
Xicholson seemed to aijree to everythint;' ; l)ut, under
the jiretcxt of icfening the matter to the Queen, lie lin-
i>hed by refusino- everything. It reqnire(l a more than
»)rdinary dose of bad faith Io lefuse to obey the formal
orders of his sovei-eign : that is, however, what luidid,
;iiid we lia\c the pi'oof of it in the following official doc-
unu'Ut, which is an account of the negotiations of
.Messrs. de la Kondc and I'insens with Nicholson :

" In 1714 Messrs. dc l;i IJoiulo and Pinscns, captains, were stMit to
Ai .idi.i to <)l)taiii fioni .Mr. Vicliolsoii freedom for the .\cadians to
witli'lraw witli their catthr an<l grain lo He lioyale."

"Mr. Xicholson iH'rniittt^d these otficers to assemble the inhabit-
ants in order to know their intentions. They all declared that they
wanted to retiii'ii to their lawful sovereign.

• Mr, Nicholson was asked to allow these inhabitants, conformably
to Art. XIV. of the treaty of peace, the space of a year to remain
on their land unmolested ;

" That they might be allowed, during this time, to transport their
grain and cattle, to construct ships for the transportation of their
gooils, and to receive from France the rigging and complete outfit for
those which would be built at Port Koyal or elsewhere.

'■ T/if'sc ftra orfich'N loeri' stnif hack for the decisifDi of the Queen.

* The Governor of Aciuliu. Mascaroncwritinp; to Shirley, Governor of Ma.H-
-.ivhusett.s, April 0, 1748, said: •' M. Nicbolsou caiiK^ over as (rovornor,
and proposed to the .\('a(lians the terms agreed on for them at the treaty,
which were to Iceeji tlieir jjosscssious, etc., etc., or to dlspt>se of them, if
they chose to \vithdraw within the space of a twelvemouth. They, to
a man, chose the L^st. "

TMK ACADIANS DKI'A Itir K K ( tlM'OSKO.

S.'i

" Th<'.v iiskoil also tliiit llicy iniylii ln' iillowwl to sell ilicir pioporly
or to leave therefor letters of attorney.

" 'J'his article was answered : • Remitted to the t^iieen." more-
over referred to htir letfei' which is to i)e a sure j;uaraiitee ther-efor.

" Mr. Xicholsoii promised, l)esides. a promjjt dispatch of all these
articles, hnt since that time there has heen no reply aboni this mut-
ter.""— (Conseil de Marine, March 2Slh, ITHi.)

This ofHfiiil dociuiu'iit is coiiHi'ined by sevtU'iil otiiuis ;
l)iit 1 will oivc only tlie foUowiiio'. bccaii.se it contains
oilier iin[)oilanl facts. It is addrL'Sscd by the coiii-
niaiider of Loiiisl)iii<>- to the niinistev, and dated .\nytist
20,1714, that is. iintnediately after the return of Messrs.
(le la Uoiide and IMiisens :

".June |:;ih I had Mr. de la Itonde leave for I'orl Itoyai. I send
yonr llij^hness the copy of the letter ihat I wrote to Mr. NichoUoii
and (>f the instructions tliiit I ^avc lo .Mi', ile hi Honde. / .(,„//./<«/
Ill lilin tin' (irdirs of Ihr Qiinit In J^Jii</lix/i tiud Fniicl/.

" Vour Iliijhnv''^ A lells me that yon arc procinintt I'or- tiicni ilir riu'-
puii that I had re(iucste 1 ; hnt it will <'omi' late : liefore they receive
il, the S(>asun will lie already advanced. 77/c Ai-inlixiix liml ii-riltrn
lo lidsldii I') liin'i' sDiiir : Mr. S'liJiiilsiiii J iii'liiiili' il. ninl i ri'n si i\i il lln-
xhijix (iii'l hiiiila IIkiI I/iii/ IiihI liilill.

" They a|ip( ared decided nnl In hnri' l/n !r fdiinlri/ ln'i'orr IkiiIhii Vr-
vciviil Mr. .\'ir/i(il.s<iii' .•< ilffisiiiii. Il is l<n(twn in' will do all in his
powt'r to r.'tain thcni : flic!/ htn-r n-ru iilmnlii hriri' In hi II mniiril
irilh the rii'lii <il' lriir!,i;i I'nrl Itminl.''

Nicholson, who had jiisl arrived, had probably not
had time to reidi/.e the dicadfiil ronsetiiicnces lesuitiiiu'
to the eonntry from I he dcjiai'ltire of the .Acadiaiis.
That is wliy, at liist, wlieii lie look coLiiii/ancc ol' tin-
orders of the Queen, hi; promised to obey them and nid
to oppose the departure of the Acadians; bnt. when he
was informed by his offieers of the disastrous coiive-
quenees of this departure, lie betbouo-ht himself, iu
order to gain time, to refer the (piestiouto the Queen, to

■\fn^^

^:'^^

I B:' '

^'i'

1)1111

ill: I

.s»i

TIIK ACADIANS DKI'A I; If i; K ( »l'l'( >SKI>.

iviiiv to her what shu uideieil him In dn. td rcmil to luu-
(h'cisiun the chjiir and fonnal fhiii.scs of ;i tit-aty. 'i'ho
subtei'luge was a yro.s.s one, hut he hiid iiu others at
eoiiunand just then.

riit"oitunatt'ly for tlie .Vcadians tht; (jiiceu diedalew
(lays after August 1st, 1714 ; else it is i)rohahle that, in
s[)it<i of the eonse(iuenees, she would have made it a
point of honor to have lier deeisions i'es[)eete(h Numer-
ous I'omniunieatious were suceessively achh'essed to the
J^ords of Trade t(j re])reseiit to them in sombie colors
the many iueouveniences lesulting from tlu' departiwe
of the Aeadians, if it were not prevented : and that is
Avh}' the questions referred to the Queen by Nieholson
were never settled in either sense ; that is why for a
long lime the Aeadians were kept under the impression
that the questions sul)mitted were still l)eing eonsidered
by the authoi'ities, when, in reality, these latter were
perfeetly determined t() put all possible obstaides in the
way of their departure. In their child-like belief that
justice gave rights, that treaties were sacred, that honor
was tht.* basis and support <»f governmeii >, the Ai'adians
waited long for this reply, Avhich they wi'ie always told
was undei' consideration : but they waited in vain. They
felt so certain that justice would be shown them, and
tliat their departure could be effected in the course of
the following sunnner (171 ')), that nuuiy did not even
sow their lands in the spring.

M. de Costabelle, in a letter to the minister, dated
Sept. 9th, 1715, informs him. " that the Ainulians of
Mines had not sown their lands that year, that they had
grain to live upon for two years, and had kept them-
selves ready to abandon the eouidry." *
•"Father Dominic on bis return iireseutwl liiiii (M. d« Costabelle) a

iii' i- I

lflll«i'rlHii
,ill|ililll>M|i
|fa|i||IMIJi|i

ililiiii;:

TIIK Ar.VDlANS l)KI'Ai:Tli;K OlTOSKD. «»

It is clearly iippaiviit by tin; (locunuMits which I have
iui>(lncc(l. all of ail oHicial luiturc, and hy sonic others
iil.so which I have seen, that, in the aiiliinin oi" 1T1:>,
only a few moiilhs after the sigtiin*,^ of the treaty of
peace, ilu- Aciiilians announced to hieiitenant-Ciovenior
\Ctih their iiilenti(tii to leave the country ; that from
i!:;it nioiiieiit they jirepariMl for their departure, hut
v,.'ie jircveiilcd h)- N'elch under the pretext that they
hud to await the arrival of (lovernor Nicholson; that
the hitter, without I'eoaid f(U" the conditions of the treaty
uiid th<! fornial orders of the Queen transmitted to him
li\- M. de la Konde, and without any other motive but
til ^fiiin time and <leprive the Acadians of the ri<fhts
i^Miinted to them by the treaty, refeiTed their recjuest to
the Queen ; that, siibsecpieuth-, after having refused to
transport the .Veadians in English vessels, he also re-
fused to French vessels entry into the ports of Acadia;
that their determination to leave the country was such
that they built vessels themselves : that, wishinrr topi'o-
cure at Louisburg rigging to e(}uip them, the}- wei-e re-

meiiKiif, frmu which it ajiin'iirs that tho Ai'adiaiis wi'it- ftctiTiniiieil to
(iIhiikOiii nil in orihr to letire the connti'ij ; tliitt imixt of t/ii'iii did not irlsh
III so(r tlifir IiiiiiIk ill /(')/)('s of retiring in Hie Sjiring. That several had
liuilt ships for th(^ transport of their families and their elTt'cts." ( Couseil
d" lii Marine, 2H mars, 1710».

" T/o' KiKjIish lire doing nil tlieij eon to reliiin tin- Ai'oilion.t. not onli/ li;/
avoiding iisele.ss iiniileiliiilnlne!<.-), lint uho hi/ ri'fnsing them the things neeen-
Kiirg fur their /Kissiige, nnd Inj niith'ing t/iein nnilerstand tlnil theg irill not
jiennit them to ilis/iose of their innnocdiile goml.i nor of their entile, that
imthiuif lint II feir firorifiion.i ininld be left to theni.'' (Letti'r of Intelidant
Ite^'on'. Qin>)iee, Sept. 25. 1715. >

•In ids I, .tier of Nov. (Jtli. 1713, lie (M. de Oostaliellei .says tliut lie
S[Kike to .^fr. Capon, scut liy tiic> t,'overn')r of I'ort IJoyal. of the hard and
unjust way in wliieh .Mr. Nicdiolson liad treated tho Aeadiaus, altoj^ether
ennlraryto theorders of (^ueen .\niie and to the word ho had ).;ivon to
M'"-srs. de la lionde anil I'insens.

• .Mr. <'ajion a«rc>ed that Niehol.son's eonduet had not tieen approved l.y
any oftii'cr of his nation, but that Veteh. tin; lioutenant-jjnvernor, eoidd
ehiiiitje nothing without new orders from the kinRof En^lantl ; ami thus all
further movements for the free departure of the Aeadians are suspended
uutil mure amplo deeision bo giveu thereon l>y the two crowus."

! '*•

TIIK ACADIAN;

DKI'Ai; ITI.K nl'l'OSKI).

II. I'

fiiHed jM'nnissioii ; lliiit. ImviiiLj' iipiilicil lo iSostdii loi'
\]io siiiiH! <»l>j»'cl, tlicy iin'iiin iiu't willi ii rt'liisiil. ;ii:il
inoi'covci' tlit'ir vessels were siM/cd.

Nothing;' of wliat pi'cccdcs is round in the Miliinii' I'f
tli«' iircliivt's ; it is ])ns>il)l(' the ( 'iniipilcr wa-. ii
<|iiaiiit(Ml with sonic ol' lliese fa(!(s, juhI that, in f^\)'\\>' ol
thoif iiiipoi'tancr. he nniy thus fS('a])0 ceiisuic. 1 1 ,-
mission, as ini|iosf(l npon liini 1)y the h-gishitiiiT. w i-.
icsli'ictcil to the dnty of (olhu^tiiig nialt;iiais in llalii'.ix
and Lon(hin and those of tlie Arr/iirrs dr ht Mnriih'
thai wcie liktdy to lu- found in (^uehcc. Hut. ainony-
tilt' dociiniciits I lia\t' cited ai'c : ( 1 ) a Icttciof ( 'ostahclle
to Nicholson. ( :i ) the oi'dcis of (^itcen Anne, of whicli
.Mr. dc la Kondi-wiis hearer, trunsiuitlcd to N'ieholson. ( :"') »
tho accomd of their inoeeedin<»'s. all of whit'h must have

jccn in \\n) archives ol

11;

ilihix : and, nevertheh'ss, in

s[)ite of their exlreiue iinportaiicc!. they are not in tiie
volume of the archives. However, the iiiunl)er of ini-
l)ortant doeumeiits omitted, all havino' tht; same general
drift, is so considerahle that \ am perlia[)s wron;^ in
dircctinjif attention to such a coTnparative tritle as tiio
non-ai^pearanee of three documents. He was not. how-
ever, ignorant of this question of the obstacles put \o
the dei)artiire of the Acadians : for, as it will he >ce!i,
there are many othei' documents iA the same kind \\ ith
whii'ii he was a,(;([uainted. The (|Ucstion seems to Imve

ma^

de 1

um s(jmew

hat

uneasy

for

volume,

wiien the (.'Vents lie was then considerinir

on page
Ih

•o ol

lus

referred lo the transi)ortation of ITo."), In; has tiie fol-

low

inu' note, relvinir on a (

decl;

iratioii of (rovernor

Us-

Ciireue

(lovcriior XidiolsoM ciniic in A)iiiii])«)lis in ITN. iiiul tlu-n pvo-

pVi^ed lo llic Acadians Ilic icrins ai^rctMl on t'or llicm. whicli wcro.

li>

1:1; ^i *■'"■■;

THK ACADIANs DKI'AI{T1-HK on'OSKli.

S!)

kfrp llH'ir liiiids oil their bwonilnK siibji'ds di' ilir Uritisli Crown, or
to (lisjjosc of Iht'ir proiji'ity and witlulniw from lln- ntiiiitry. if iluy
rliost>, within oii<> year. I'hcy all chost* the latltT. iind pi't'|mi)il to
leave the coiiiitiy; /)///, Ihv rfMHiln itritiHisnl fhini /nnii Cuiir Hi-'lmi

tar l/ll' pitl'lJilsr iif llirlr rinmrdl Hill III hill si'tll, lln jl ii'i rr ritnifi Hiil

Id miiiiui."

In tlu! loit'ooiiig vt;iy little is tjxiujt, l)iil I In- Com-
piler offers us a new prnof of iin (mtrii,o(! wlijch tln!
(Uicinneiits alrciuly cited point out. 'I'lms llir Aim-
(lian8, aceordiiio- to the ('onii)il('r, if we underslaiid liini
ii«>;htly, woidd not liiivc lt;id tlii^ privilege tlnil the
treaty idearly gave them; iianifly: to traiis[K)it (heir
goods, tlnMr cattle, et(!., etc. ; hut only to dis[)osi' of
them bet'oie their dejiarture. Now, as they were the
only inhiibitants of the countiy. the rt'(hicing of their
right to tj'ansport their cattle and effects to a nieie per-
mission to dispose of them would have heen illMsoi\- and
a new imjiosturo. Hut, says he, they wnv not alilr to
dt'part, because the vessels pi-omised fi'om tjie islainl of
Cape Breton did not come.

There is not a word anywhere to sustain the Com-
piler's assertion. Can it be* supposed that the French,
who had so nuich interest in this tiansmigration, wouhl
have neglected to send them vessels for that objecC/
Sucli a supi)Osition is absurd, lint, then, why were the
Acadians prevented from setting out in their own .-^iiips
and procuring theii' ecjuijjmentat Lonisbnrg and even at.
Boston? Clearly, this building of boats to (jiiit the
country was but theontctimeofaprohibition toleave it in
French or English shi})s.

The absurdity of the Compiler's pretension would be

alone sufficientto jnstify us in lejecting it with contempt.

This strange pretension having never been given nut in

1714 or 1715 or even afterwards, one cannot expect to

.|^A

.W. W^.

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-S)

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Photographic

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Corporation

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580

(716) 872-4503

\\^

*>
*

^
> ^

:/j

TIIK ACAIMANS DKI'A i; Tf UK n|'|'oSKI».

fijid it contriulicled or tlisputfd : Iiowevur. we luivo it
incideiituUy contradicted in a very oxplieit manner in
two documents ; here is one of tliem :

" I'lif iili.iiplnlf rc/iimit whif/i the KnuUn/i (jontrtiorx /inre alwuf/a
mudi', til iirniiit mil fhr Khif/'s rfxufls to riiiiti' tit .iciiiliii in nrih'f
to triiUKiiiH't Ihnxt viliii ilvxiri'il to ilc/mrt, or to Inul riiii/in;/ /<o' the
Hhi]>K ir.'.li'h thv ArniUiiiiH hail fniilt ami whicli llu'v wtTt- ul)li<;*>«l to
inA] to tin- Rii<;lisli ; the prohiltition iniimsnt on t/icni oftrnnxportittii
xrilli thill oiiji (ii'f Htiirkor firoiunlons of i/rnhi : tlii' urii'f of iibandoii-
iiii; till! ln'icdiliiry estati's of llieir falliprs, llicir own work iiii<l llioir
ohildn'ii's. witlioiit any iriinlmiscinoni or <'oinpt'iisalion : all lliost>
infrini;(Mnonts art' llif iirinripal reasons of the inaction in wliioli tliey
have r«Mnaint'tl." — (t'onscil dt; la Marine, year 17l!>. vol. iv. folio JHl),

Tilt' (itlicr document is from Mr. <lc 11 1'ou 11 Uin, gov-
ernor of Lonishiirg, and is not less explicit.* (Archives
de la Marine, vol. MI., fol. ISO).

Moicover, as we have seen dsewheie, Nicholson
had lefeiied the (jiiestion of the de[)aitnr(! of the Aca-
dians tt» the Queen, and this nevei-to-l»e-settled referein-e
is most likely tiie [ne'.ext afterwaids used hy the
(fovernors to [)revent tlie Acadians from depailinL!; in
any kind of shi[>s, Kiiirlish or Kn-nch, <\v of their own
make. This is stren<'thened hy the fact timt. (»n the 7th
of Novemher ''oUowing said references (1714). Mr. «lt!
l*ontehartr;tin. Minister of Maiine, sent the French Min-
ister at London a copy of the i'c])ort of Messrs. de la
Kuiidi* ami l*insens, with instructions to hasten the so-
lution of the (pu'stious referrtnl hy Nicholson. The only
action ever taken upon it was the suhmitting of the
«piestion to the Lords of Trade by the Secretary of State,
liord Townshend.

* " The Acadians, says Haliburton, alleRed that they had been detained
toiitniry to their desire, that they had Ix'i'U refused leave to de|)art iu
EiiKlisb-built vessels, and that, upon niakiuK apniieation to einlxirk on
Inmrd of French ships, they were informed that suen vessels eould not, eou-
sisteutly with the navigation laws, W allowed to enter u colonial hurtK>r."

NM'lloLSdN AMI VKTCll.

Till' ( nmjtili-r lias not ;i wunl ahuiil tlii> ivlt'icsu'c lo tlic
(^U'.«'ii. Iiiit it iif tan icasoiiahly pictciKl llial il was not
jK»sil)lc t'ltf lii]ii to know most of tlu' (locmnciits I have
filed, lit'causc tlicy wcrt' not tomid in tlio uicliives of
Halifax. London or (^)Mt'lK'f. tliis cannot Im- the case for
tliost! wliicli I am lii'ii' al»ont to otYi'ito tlic leader: —

(■(H.ONKI. \ IK II 1(1 I in; lid.VKM <H TliAIH:

Mv I.olM)-

•■ Mar. itlli. IT!:..
I I'iMilil not lull Jiiili,')' it my iliily out ot'ii trt'W <■<

III-

(■•■rii fur ill)' |iiililii-k ;;oi>il : in |iiit \'niir l.ttriNliips in iiiiml of tlio cir-
<iiiii"'laii<'f. of I 111- I'oiiiiiry. tlic Acailians licin;; in a iiiaiiiicr (ihli;;fil

a\i' till' t'oiintrv hii llii- l.rinli

,1 Ih

'it If I'f rri I'll

I h

Mch-

iiIkiiii irli'ili iinn nitif llii ri : as will bi' iiiailf apjicar lo Your Lonl-
sliij)': liy Ilii' alliflavils of sonic pfi'soiis lately ronii' from lliciicc * : lo
whiili F liiinil»l> i>ray Voiir i,orilsliiiis to In- iflVicd : what I am now
lo iiitiinalt' to 'I'oMr LoitNhiiis i». tlial as llic season of lln' year now

a ivanccs, nnli k.s sniiirsiifiili/ nrih rs iii'r HI III III I'l'i ri III llir .li'inlhllis'
ri iliorill ii'illi lliiir I'lllllf mul i-flrrls lo ('(l/n llrillniiii unit ji'ill

ii'liiil'if striji iiii'l liiiliif .S'lii'ii Sriillii, ,s(i /,' fill iillnnii' iiiiiki' Cd/w
llritliiini It iiDiiiilnim mul ii'ill slnrkiil Ciiliiii!/, n'linli iiiinii/ i/i'iirs ntiil
(If III I X/triisi- ralilil itnl Imri iluin' illri rlli/ frniii Friiiirv as I already
oliscrvt'il in Aj'iiriiK r iminr."

It lias been socti tliat. iieeordin^' to tlie Compiler,
Nieliolson. at tlie end of .Inl\'. 1714. liad tiiven a year to
tiie .\eadians to ii-iiie. Tlie almve letter is dated
Mai«'li Otli. 171 .'), eiylit niontlis after this promise. If

ismli were Die «ase, w

:liat I)

■eame of tlie promise, wlien
Vetcli tliiis lH';.^oed for jiidiiipt orders to ])i'ev( lit tlieir

dt'partiire

fii'ii/i/ oi'i/iiK tn jiri-i'itit thill' I'l'iiiori.

t 111

And Wleli only repealed wliat lie had already saifl in a
li'tter of Noveniher liltli |treeedin<;.

The followiiiL!' letters throw more li'dil on tlit; sittia-

'Yri.-li liaii Uic'ti lii'.'M in T.oiiiloti -iini-i. tin- pr.-civliiii^ S«'|it('mlH'r or

(X'tv^'U r.

MCHoj.snN .\NI> \i:i< M.

lion. Wv. repioiliicf tlinii. like tin- foicyiiinj^ Icltcr, in

Ihfir oriy;inal spelling :

roi.oxKi. Vi:i« II ro IJoviiD or Tkaiik.

•I^OXDOX, Sviit. "ill, 171".
" M. Nicliolstjii's <lisc(>iir:i<;('iii<;, mi- iuHhm' (liscliar,y;in!; all I'lul"'
tlii'i'c III (lie Aciiiliaiis, and cansiii;; kt^pp tlic ^atcs of l1i<> Fort >1iiiii
aizaiiisl lh<-in iii^lil aiitl ilay. tliat lii<*y may havt^ no iiiaiiiKT of i-oin-
iiKM-cc w'llli tli<> (iarrisiiii. ami liaviii!{ liy I'i'oflaiiialioii ilUi-l)ai'i;i>o ilisrinnaufil
I hem from siayinji '/'"' ""'.V '""' '»'"'" nhtniilnnfc nf xmull i-is.sils to
riirijf lilt iiitfiilcCH and vft'i.cfx to Cape Brittomi, whirh ua>i wli.it tln>
FitMii-h orticers so much sollicitf'd."

V(ft('l« carefully iil)s(ains from n)entionino' tlie iciisMU
that ]>n!V(Mite(l tli«j Aeadiaiis tVoin leaving in tlienuni>T-
ons ships that they liad hnilt, hnt (»ne \Vf»nhl e;isily
giiess it. if one did not know it already ihiongh nuiny
other eiiannels.

(.'()i-ONi:i. Vf:t< II n> lJ<i.\i!i> or 'ri!Ai»i:.

■' i^oMiox, FiliriKiri/ I'Ist. JTM".

'• As to till! Acatlians.hy what I can learn, there is not many of ilicm
it'iuovcd uolAvilhstandinj,' the dlsconni!;t'mi'nls they itiell witliHl ^i-me
time ai;i». ami will, no douht. j^ladly leinaiu upon their pjanlation —
some of whli'h are cotisidcialtle — i)iovidin,u ihey may he piolecii-l hy
the I'rown. and, as no country is of \alne wilhoiil iidiahilaiii-. so,
llir niii'inil (if thrill iinil llifii' fiilllv In (Jnfii' lirHfimn inmlil III- II
i/riiit tiililUiiiti In Hull iii'ii' ciiliiiii/, MO it ii'iiiitil Iflinlh/ I'lilin \t>i'il
Si-iiliii unless stipplyed hy a Itritisli Colony, which could not he ilom>
in several years. .\t( llml tin- ArmHnns iritli tliiirsturktiil'iiilih rr-
iinthiiuii tlirri is viri/ iin'ili fur tin' iiilriiiitniie nl' tlir l^nm'ii."
I>ii;i T.-<;ovi:i:\ni! (' Ai i.rii;i.i) TO Cui.. Vi.ic ii.

I am I

" Ann M'ot.i- Ittiv AM-. I'd .Xm-.. 171".
lilt ti)<> sciiccalile of ( 'olonel Nickolsou's unpresiMlelltetl

malice, ami, h:nl his desii^ns taken their desired ett'eci. I am ]ier-
swaded there had not heen att tins time an inhahitanl of any kind in
the country, nor, indeed, a garrison: when I recolli'ct his dei jara-
tion to the .Vcailians and afterwards to the soldiers, wherein lie told

iilLi,

NI(^Ht)LS(»N AM» VKT« M. 08

tlif lattor tlitit the ficiicli wi-ir nil nhilli. and woulil pcrluinly cut
ihfir liiroiits if llicy went iiilo lluir Imuisi-.. tflliii!; uf iin tli;it we miiHt
havi- ia> muniH'r of iDrnjspoiKlaiicf willi tiu-iii. ami onlfn-d tin' nalcs
of III)' ^iiirisoii to l>t> sliiit, tiio' atl llic saiiic liiiit- lie vviifs seiiciiihli^
that we nxilil not siilisjsi t|i<> i-iisiK'lii.u winter. Itnt by tiicir inain>,
ilniiht't'inii no oIIh-i- idospt'cis left to u> . . . If tin- wlioh? st'incuf hit
aihninislralion Imm'<' was |ilainly laiti iluunc. ill would In* very di til
• nil to find one instance of all his i>ioeeedini;>. w lien-liy the j;arrisoii
or I'olonuy could receive ilie least lieiielil.""

Adams rot aimain Sikki.i,.

:.Mtli ./</

ItUillU

\1V-

.... "We were in iKipcs heie upon (Jeneral Nieholson's arrival, lie
would settle the place on a j^cxtd fooiinL.'. hul on the contrary, put us
ill tlie jireatesl confusion. piilTd down the fVorts. I)rove away the
.\cadians. and carried away all the Kn^dish he eou'd. that the place is
now desolate. In short, if his coininission hail heen to destroy the
"iMintry. he could no! havu dischaig'd his trust to heller purpose than
he did. hi' employed all his liine here in pursuing his iniplacahln
malice against (;overiior \'elch. when in iiiith he did the English in-
ttn-st in this country inori' ilamagi' in the two months he was lier«
than Oovr Vetch cou'd have done in all hislif4'. if he hati been a.s bad
as he would fain make tin- world believe \\o was, he used to cmse and
damin (iov. Vetch and all his friemls. There is not one soul in the
plai'c, french or english — save •! — but hate and abhor his natiie."

We liave likewise, willi the saiiie import, a letter of
( ajttaiu Aiiustfotig wlio became later on Lieiiteiiant-
(iuveniof of the Pfovince.

Ill our first ehapter we reinodticed a letter of the
Aeadiaiis t<» Mr. de Vatidieuil, in whirli they eoin[)laine(l
of l)eiii<,' treated as negroes by (Jovernor Veteh. If
sueh were the ease, and it is dillienlt to doidtt it. »>ne
must not he astonished at the efforts they made to leave
the eountiy, nor at the siihterfnges invented to deter
them from doing so.

There Wiis. evidently, great animosity between Nich-
olson aiifl W'tch, and, what is almost as evident, it had
its so\irce in covetousness. It seems that Vetch, who

-.l^^

i>4

NiniOLSoN AM> VKTCH.

1:1-

was tlien in London, sonylit to sii|ii»liini Nicholson, by
iiUcj^ini^ llic tcsiinionii's of tlic |ii inri|i;il ollict is of
Anniipolis. tfsiinioMi''> wliirli Ik- Iransniittt-d lo t!i(>
Lords ol" 'I'riulc. Al llic smimc tiim-. In- sonL;lil to j.iovt'
to tlirni thiit lif niidfistood Ix-itci' tliiiii NiclioKoii tlit>
interests of ilit> conntiy. iinil tluit lu* wiistlic tniin la-i'dt'd
in tin* ciicnnisliinct's. It wonld Ik- cnrious to know the
counli'i-iiccusations of Nicholson ; for he conld not toler-
ate snch an attack withont a icjoindci- most injniioiis to

Vct<l

I s I'cpnlation, and

soli<l

reasons were not wantnii;

to liiin. I'or N'ctch nnderwent a trial in 1T<«; iM'I'orr the
legislatnre ol' .Massachusetts, with therestdt that he was
oondennicd to pay tliOO "/>>,• Imi'luii xnpjil ieil l/ir Fi'iii>-h

.Ind'^inLT the

ICI

tl,

tniinniinfiDii mn

stiti'rs lit H'lii

([Uairel l»y itsresults, we have reason to think that holh
siH'cundnMl in one connnon delV-at. heeanse I'orltoth the
ciueei'of honors seems to have terminated there : \"cti h
obtained nothing, and NiehoUoti h)sl his position two
yeai-s later. As it ol'teii happens on those occasions, both
siieeeeded in [)rovintj that they were eciually unworthv.
We are luMter ac([nainled witli lla; aoensations laid
aj^ainst Nicholson, and. even should allowance be made
lor exaLTtJ'eration. this allowance eamiot be considerable,
siiu'o the accusations ri'st on tjie testimony of three [)er-
sonsAvlio wen; regularly appointed lieutenant-governors
of Nova Scotia, namely: X'etch, Canlliehb Armstrong,
and on the testimony of Adams, who, in 17^0. was f
some time administrator of the provinci

myp

Without tiiis

(piarrel, without this rivalry we shouhl know nothing of
the character and conduct of Nicholson and Vetcli ; were
we to trust the f'omi)iler, we should think ourselves in
the ])resence of irreproachable men to whose memory
posterity should raise statues.

r'li,!/ 1

m I

MCllMl.SoN \NI» VI:T( II.

Wlial i> li» !»•' ilionnlit «•!" llic ('niin)ili'r wIki li.is
uiiiiltfd tlu'si' (locmiH'iits'.'' Wfic tlu'V uiiimpditiiiil
111 loo iiiconveiiicnlly iin[Mtrtiiia '.' Was lie, tw could lie
Itc i<'iu)raMt of tlicin '! Coilainlv iH)t, since tlicv are all iii
thu Colonial IJccoids in London (Nova Scotia section ),
uh.'iv tin* ('oinj)ilcr Wiis cliarj^i'd to procure copies ot'
ill the documents tliat interested tlie province. Tliev ar(!
to 1h; t'onnd in volumes I. and II.. alon;;si«lt! ot" t Iiose vcrv
ilociuneiits wliicli lie [tiocured and wliicli we lind in his
iiun compilation. What could be mon- interestiiii;' t"i'
history than (hieiiment.s such as these, which. a[)art t'lnm
ihcii' importance arising from the [tuhlicity of the facts
tiicv contain, otl'er us a rare opportunity of jndijinn- the

iiaractci-. tlie temperament and tlie motives oi the pci-

)f th

-ons w

ho li;^fl

rure in tliem s(t consi)icu«»usiv

Mr. Akiu-

is not only a compiler, lie is

at tl

It! same tune a I»io''ia-

i)licr.

Ilel

las inseilcM III his vo

Innie

nniiieroiis notes, in

\\hi(-h he gives us his ap^ireciation of the i)ersonages who

played any part in tlu'st; events : hut. invariai)ly, when
iliric is (|iiestion of a govi'inor or any man that had
iclations with the Acadians, he is suave and culo<>ist ic
witli regard to ihei.i. Vet liere was an excellent op[ini--
tuiiity to give his judgment on Nicholson, in wliich the
viitii'.'s he might have would he judiciously coupled
with his faults, so as to show forth the most salient,
traits of liis character. This stndv was easv, thanks to

the well-grounded opinions or iour lieuteniiiit-goveriMUs :
l»erformed with intelligence and im[)artiality. it wouhl
have powerfully assisted the reader to pass an eiiliglit-
t'lied judgment ou the wliole eoiiisc of events.

The letters <juoted ahovt^ are ini[)orta;it from another
and not less striking point of view. They explain the
deep interest the governors had in jireveiiting the eiiii-

A*:;

?::' -

NICIlol.snN AM> Nlircil.

»«.■•■ ' I

j,'i.iti»»ii (.;■ tlic Ata<liiiiis. A> N'ch li .>iiv>. tlii> tlcpart iirci
WdiiM niin tin- ctiiiiitiy : iiiid, tlioiiL,^! fiiL;)it iu<iiilli> IkhI
iiol 3t'l tlaiiscd siiifc Nii'liolsou had (It'cidt'd in jtrL'Sfiic*!
(if Messrs. do la l{i)ii(K'aJid IMiisimis to ivfLT lliis (jiu-stioii
of tlic d«'{iartur«r to tin* (^lU'cii, lii* docs not liesitatt! tn
ask tlio Lords of Trade foi- pciniission to iirt'vent tlicir
ile|iarturc' : " I'lih-xx xnnic xj>i'f</t/ m-ilfrx tin' xrtif In pr,-
rcnt the Ai'iiilhiiix ri'inonil ivlth thi'lr ciitth' ami ej}\'clx /o
Co/If /i/'ffiiii, (in it ii'ill irhoUif Htr!i> (itnl ruin Noiui Srotia,
t H'ill at oiiif inalii- Cajh- lin'ton a popular and iref/-

Ki> I

ftiK-heil rnjoiii/." And, as lie says elsewlieiu, " T^iri/
hatl haiJt ahi(nihiiii-f of small vrnxelH to rarri/ thfrnxehux
and cff'ci-tH to t'ape Untnti." lie is careful not to say
that he had prevented them from leaving in those same
vessels; hut the eonelusion is self-evident. It is eiusy to
see that fraud and force had nnieh more weight in his
mind than justice and right, [n a nvan who u few yeai-s
before had, through greed of gain, '• xiipplivi the French
with anununition aiiiJ ntoren of trar,'' and had l)een con-
demned for this act, this is not surprising. Besides, it

was no

t otl

lerwise wi

thli

IS successors.

Another not less grave reason against the de[)aiture
of the Acadians is, that the Indians of Acadia and of

all tliat forms to-day Maine and the maritime i)rovin(
were, from time immenmrial, sworn enemies of the
Knglish. This departure w».nld have left Nova Scotia
without an iidiahitant, and in the impossihility of peo-

dailv

jihng it with colonists, who would have been
exposed to 1m? uiivssacred by these Indians. Possession of

le countrv won

Id h

lave hecome u

seless ; and, if the

Knglish had persisted in keeping a fort and garrison
there, this hitter would have Im-cu provisioned (tniy at.
great ex[>ense. Suih n\:i> the [lerplexing situation of

ilf' ill

NUIIOLSON ASM VKTCII,

the ^ovoinors itii<l <»l' tlu* Hoint' (lOvtMimicnt. All the
foiiuimiiioatioiis rxchiingi'd In'twiieii those two make us
clearly see that tin- situation was thus uudei-stood, and
all the obstacles aicuinulated to hinder tlu; <le])aiture of
the Aiadians have never had any other motives than
the various interi'sts which have \hhiu brought to light
ill the j»recediiig doeunu'nts. Anent this last niotiv*' —
jear •>!' the Indians — I will (!ite on»! letter from Kieu-
tcnant-(iovernor Caulliehl to the Lords of Trade, not
because it stands alone, but onaccoujit of itslx;ing more
explicit than othei-s:

'• 1 luivc always obsorved, since my coming iicre. the forwardness
of tlie Arailiaiis to serve us when occasion otTered." [This is aston-
isliiiij;. after their liarsli treatment and tlie trickery resorted to l)y
Nicholson and Vetch]. " And if sonit; Knglish inhabitants were sent
ovfi, especially imlnstrions laborers, tar and pitch nialters, carpenters
and sinitlis, it wonld be of great advantage to this colony ; hut in
fi(Mf //(■ Acndinits (/itlt un, wv Hfntll never he ahle to maintain or pro-
txtvur Emjliiih fnmih/'s/roni !/e insnltx of i/e Indiant*, ye toornt
enrmirs, inch ye AniilidnH hy their stuyiny ii'ill In a (/reat measure
«r<i/*'/ off' for their ovni sakes. Yonr Lordships will see by ye stock of
catteil they have at this time tliat in two or three years, with due
encouragement, we may be furnished with everything within our-
selves." •

And elsewhere, in the correspondence of the governors : " As the
accession of such a ninnber of Acadians to Cape Bretton, will make
it ai once a very populous Colony ; so it is to be considered, one
liiindred of the Acadians, who were born upon that continent, and
an' perfectly known in the woods ; can march upon snow-shoes, and
understand the use of bircli canoes, are of more value and .service
than tive times their number of raw men newly come from Europe.
So their skill in the fishery, as well as the cultivating of the soil, must
make at once of Tape Bretton the most powerful Colony the French
}iave in America, and of the greatest danger and damage to all the
British Colonies as well as the universal trade of Great Britain."

•Statetl by Votch to b<» about 5,000 black cuttle, besides a great number
cf Hb)H^p and hogs.
7

NICHOLSON ANI» VKT<!H.

With what we know of huiuaii nature, with the
teachings of history in general, and ptartieularly of this
history, no one, Uiking into account tlie grave interests
that the departure of the Acadians compromised, will
(lonht the olwtacles of every kind o[)po8ed to this
tit'paiture. ICv«'n without proofs the presumptions
would l)e of great w«'ight : hut, when the fact is sus-
iaine«l, without contradiction, at least without explicit
contradiction, hy a mass of ollicial documents, itlx'conies
a certainty of the first oider, which remains fixed in
history as a question withdrawn from debate, in spite of
the compiler, in spite of those who, like Parkman. have
accepted witho\it further iuvestigatiou his biassed and
ill-matured assertious.

THE OATH UEgUlUED.

CHAPTER IV.

Lieutenant-Oovprnor CaulHeld— H«' Meiidn Petpr Caf)oon and
ThoniiiM Huttoii to Imve the AcatliaiiH takt* tiu> oath of alU>-
fiance — AiiHut-rH of th»> Ac^uiians — Oini>4sioiiH of th«' ('<iiii|iil«'i- —
Lw'Utonaiit-Ciovt'rnor John lJouct'th'--N»'W injunction to takf
the oath — Th«'y «'onsent to remain in tlie country on certain
conditions with regard to tlie oath — Other omissions.

With this chapter we enter at hist into the volume of
the Archives.

It will be admitted that the two chajiters immediately
preceding are not wanting in signilicanctj. The stMjuel
will show that the evtjnts of these live veal's have in
themselves alone more real impojtance than those of tht;
tifteen succeeding y<''«'^'>'' In fact, sul)se(|uent events
are so conne('ted with those; we have just sketched, that,
without them, they become unintelligible or assume a
different signilicance.

While waiting till the course of our narrative; has
made the learne<l methods of the Coiupiler familiar, I
will leave the reader to his own reflections ujton the
jK)ssil)le motives of these strange omissions. And, if
now and then indignation suggests expressions that
may seem severe, I beg pardon foi- the moment, until
this j)ai(lon I now solicit shall become (M)m[»lete and sludl
be spontaneously offeied by whosoever bears with nic ii>
tlie end.

The Compiler makes us begin at the second act of the
drama. As the curtain rises, we jKMceive Li»'utenant-
(iovernor (.'aulfield, successoi- to Vetch, Ilobbv, and

}fi ^ ''

\\i

KM)

THK n.VTII IMJ^nUKD.

Nit IidIsmii. ilic I'niiiili oil tlu' lisl, ill tlic year 171.'),
nidtriiiir Messrs. W;[rv ('iijmkhi iiiiil Tlioniiis Hnttoii,
itriiffi'. of till' ^'iinisoii, to ln'tiik*' tluMiiscIvcs to Mint's,
to I5(iiiilnissiii, I I I't'iioljsiot, to ItivtT St. .lohn and to
otlicr j)liU'»'s :

'• DlriM-tlii),' Hint Mis MomI SftPii'd Majesty. fJcoriif, Kiiii; of (Jroat
liriiaiii, /V/zf/rc ami Irclaiiil, he |ii'iiclainii-<l in all partM ol his (iovfrn-
iiiiMil. Voii an- liki'wisc to IcikIit tin- oaths of iiUcvtiaiicf to yt-
A< inliaiis ill yi- form pn'Mcrihi'il."

On iIk; loth of tlic foiiowini^ May, (.'aiillii'ltl ac-
<iuaiiits tlu; Lonls of Trade with tlm result ol' tlio mis-
sion ot' I'etcr Capooii und 'IMioiiias Itutton.

" //((•' liirliinnl tirr thr IniiinilrHiins of M. M. Illlf toil ami Capooil,
liy uliicli yoii will find that y<> inliahltaiits, liccini; most of (Ikmii
Fii'iicli, icfiist'd tin' oath, /nirhiu, us I •'<// hil'oriiifil, yfi'iiHul In i/iiif
fill riillinniif intircly und to s«'Mlt' niidt'r ye froncli KoviTiiinent, and I
liiiinhlic desire to he infoi'iiD'd how I shall hchave to thrill .... The
A( adians who always iiiaintained this •'arrison with corn, nrr moxt
)>/ thrill t/iiiftiiix' fhr rolloiiiu/, specially at Mines.

" How istliis?" must tlu; intoUiijtMitivatlciof tlie com-
jiiler's extract.s say, lie ulio knows notliiiig of what hap-
jit'iit'd lH;t ween 1710 and 171"): "It is now five years
since tlie takinj; of Poit Royal and two yeai-s since tlie
treat\- of peace, and tho.se Atadians are wtill in the
coiintiy, they refuse to take the oath of allegiance and
«*ven to go away? Wliy. the governoi-s must have Ikjcii
very good and very paternal not to have constrained them
by force to either alternative? '*

That i.s indeed what the reader must have said to
liim.self in good faith, since liistorians, who have writ-
ten since the compilation of this volume, liave said sub-
stantially the same thing. The Comjiiler knew well
that he was constructing thereby an ar.senal where men

TiiK HATH i:i;c.ii ii:i:i>.

lOl

would coiiu' for iinns witliotit taking the troiildc to inok
any faitlicr. Ilu knuw well that most ol' tliosu who
write histoiy, even wlien they liiivf iipfitndc Un- it,
wliioh soni(;tiniustlicy liiive not, Inivc seldom the patirncc
to meditiiti*. comitaic, oitscivc and iicnctiati'. Ilo knew
Well that many of them t'ollow one another in a low to
lull into t lie same nil. Thcie were, however, very sini|ile
(jiiestioiis to Im' aske(| lien', siieh as these : " W hat had
hapiteiied since 1710? Why does the C'omjiiler lieyiii
hiH volume with the year 171'»? Wliy '^'0 not the |iro-
posed formula for the oath, the lejiiies oj 'e Aeadians
and th«' repoit of ('a|)oon and Uiilton in the volume of
the Areiiives? Why does CauUielt' , 'fin lo des'i md
to liavt! ordered the depart lire ot Hie Aeat'ian.-., thoU!4;li
Ki ;. sul)se(|Uent letter he says that their do| ilure wmild
Ik- the ruin of the country? Why doe/» the ( onipiler
almost always omit the r"plies of the Aeuilians? Tlu!
documents from them arc^ rare eiioiii'li to havt; made it
a lK>unden duty for him eagerly to '^raiit them a place
ill his volume as well in justice to them as in oidcr to
permit us to pass an eiiliLjhteiuid jiid^nieiil on the
events that depend thert^on. lie was not unaware of
these replies, since the vt-rv letter of CauHield to the
Lords of Trade, which we have just »|Uote(l, refers to it :
** Herein eiirfosiif nn' tin' friiiiniirfiniiK nf' Missrs. Hiiffnn
iitiil Cdjxxiii."'

I am j^oiiiLf to sup|tly in part the omissions of the
Compiler. In the Colonial Itecords, N. S., \'ol I., ww
lind, just alongside the documents produced in the
archives, the formula of the oath proposed hy Caultield
and tlie replies of the Aeadians.

"I. A. IJ., siiu't'it'ly proniis*- and swi'iir that I will Ix- faillit'ul aiut
luaintAin a true alloglance witli Ilis Majesty, King George."'

''•«if>*(«:

■'■.'
*.*■'

M •' y

102

THK OATH i!K(;rn:Kn.

:.;-t-

Koply f f the Aciuliaiis of Minos to Messrs. Capoon
and Hutton :

I'-'s'

" To iinswor what yoii Iikvo (1oih> lu tlw honor |)iihli(>ly to announow
to us last Wi'tliu'S(hiy, and tor replying to wliich we begged you givft
IIS till last Stintlay, in wiiicii time we liave not beenahitt to aceouipli.sh
what we iiai! pioniised, seeing that severiil learn nothing from writings
but only rim rorr, and, not even knowing exactly of what there was
(|nesiion, retiuiied home without giving any .answer.

'■ We have, the honor to signify to you, that no one can be more
thankful than we are for the kindness that King CJeorge, whom \\v.
reeogiiize as the lawful sovereii;n of (Ireat Urifain, so graeiously shows
tis. under whose rule it will be for us a real joy to remain, as he is
such a gootl prince, if \\r had nut. .s//trc lout, i^idiuiicr, iikhIc I'lKjid/c-
Tiiriils In rdnni iiuih r the riili' of llif I\iiiij of Fniiic(\ iKiriiKj vcvn
<l'iri)i imr siiiiidtiircs tu tlif nfflrrr sriit ill /lis vdtiiv (M. de la IJonde),
iiiiil rnri/ In u'hi'-li irr riiiiiiiil iicl, iiiilil. Tficii' tii'o Miijcsl Irs of Fniiii'c
iiiiil Kiiijliiiiil lidrv ili.siinsi il if ns othci'iri.ii'. However, w(^ bind our-
selves with idcasuic and gratefulness, while W(> remain here in
Acadia, to do or undertake nothing against His IJritannic Majesty,
King (icorge. of whose itroclaination to the crown wc arc witnesses,
wliicli was made by yon, sirs, in presence of the inhabitants of the
said i)laccs, at Mines, this lUth of March 171."), wc, the undersigned,
aciiuitaud being authorized by all tht> inhabitants to act according
to (he power of attorney which tlicy liav(> given us.

(Sitrnctl) .lacipics I,e lilauc, Antoine Lc Hlanc. Cliarlcs Habin,
Jassemin, I'hilippi^ Mclaucou. Claudia fjandry, I'icrre Tcrriol, Uene
liC lilauc, Pierre Itichard, .Iavi|ucs FiC IMauc, Franvois Ilimbaut,
(icrmain Terriau, Jean Lc lllaiic, Martin Ancoin, etc., etc."

We luive also the iej)ly of Ihe Aeadiaiis of Beaiibassiii ;
its })iif]>ort is exactly the .same; it is siti^iied by Mi(!liel
Poiiief, Martin liii'hiiid, Michel Hourg, Chailes Hour-
tifeois, Fraiu^ois Doiieet, Jean Cyr, Alexis Cormier, as
arhitiMs tor the whole population.

Those t)f Port Royal seem to have acted otherwise.
Instead of refusing the oath presented to them, they
j)roposed another formula as follows : —

" 1 sincerely promise and swear that 1 will be faithful and main-
tain a true allegiance to His Majesty, King George, as long as I shall

THK OATH KK(^rii:i:i>.

103

b<' in Acadia or Xova Scotia: and [I st,i|)idat«'] tliat [ shall ho ptM-
iiiiili'd to withdraw wlHTcsonvwr I sliall think fit with all my inov-
alilc goods and ofFocts, when 1 shall think tit, witliout any one b«;iii;;
aiile to hintler me."

It is sigiiod by tliirty-six names, twenty of wliicli are
narked with flosses, and jii)|)cais to liave been a('ee[)ted
by ("aullield.

Witlionl being veiy i'xplieit, these <loeunients hint at
many things. One sees clearly that Freneh delegates
had some months prcfvioiis conferred with (rovernor
Nicholson; that the (jnestion of the departnre of tlie
Acadiaiis had been referred to the (^ueen, and that the
oath offered them conld not be taken into eonsideiation
l)efoi'e this decision. The pnblishingof these docnnients
would have been a key to guide the reader in researches
which would have revealed what we liavt' set forth elst;-
where, and what the volume of the aichivcs concealed
from view.

Tluis, these documents contirm anew on certain points
those which 1 hav(! pioduccd. and overthrow tin; vague
insinuation of ('aullield, when he says: "having, <is I
am hifornu'il^ refused to <iuit this colony entirely and to
settle under the French government.*" He seems to
wish to insinuate thereby that he gave orders to the
Acadians to take the oath or to leave, and t litis he mis-
represents their situation to the Lords of Trade. His in-
structions to Capooii and Huttoti show nothing of the
kind ; the replies of the inhabitants i)rove the contrary:
and a sid)se(|ttent letter to the Lords of 'j'lade shows
that he consi(lere(l the departure of the .Vcadians as a
(•alamity. It is therelore ridiculous to suppose that he
gav(! suc^h orders and receivecl such replies. Moreover,
we have seen I)y several documents that the greater

' •»

104

THK OATH i;i:(,»rii!Ki).

number of the Aiadiiiiis, in this year 171'), did not even
sow tlieir lands, so truly did they expect to leave in tiie
course <>r tlie sinniner. AjuI, if lie liad jriven such
ordei's, he woukl be so nuieh the more culpable, since he
knew that, a few months before, this ([ucstion of tjie
d(;{>artnre had Im'cu referred by Xicholson to the decision
(»f the Queen, and that tiie reply had not yet been given.

The only means of reconciling his insinuation with
possibh; facts would be to attribute such a reply, I mean
the refusal to depait, to some inhabitants of Penobscot
or of the St. John Uivcr, where the Messrs. Tapoon and
Hutton likewise betook themselves to have the oath
taken. These were upon a territory that Franct;
claimed; whence their declaration that they wo\U(l not
leave the country. This is tiie only possible interpreta-
tion that I see, otherwise his assertion, " that )iiosf nt't/wtn
arc (jHittiii;/ t/it' (;oUo7in I/'' would be contradictory and
absurd.

In May of the following year Caulfield writes to the
Lords of Trade : " I received a letter from y Acadians
of Mines of their resolution to continue in this govein-
ment, and are making all pre[)a rat ions for im[)rovcnients
as formerly, and they seem impatient to heai' what is
determined on their behalf.'"*

This letter miiiht seem contradictorv ; but as t!ie last
part shows us that the Acadians were impatient to know
the decision respecting the questions submitted to the
Queen by Nicholson, it must bo inferred that they were
always determined to depart as soon as tliis ri'[>ly would
be known and the means afforded them for di'[iartiiig ;
else, why would they have been impatient for a re[ily
which was to decide their departure, if their intention

* This It.'ttiT is (iiuitti'ii ill tlii' vipliinit; nf Uio Aivhivos.

A KESEUVE TO THE OATH WANTED.

105

was to remain in any case ? Tlie first part, then, means
that tliey agreed to prolong their sojonrn till after tlie
liarvest (they liad not sown the preceding year).

In the ensuing October (171(3), writing to tlie I.ords
of Trade, he informs them tliat he li.as proposed the oath
to the Aeadians and sends them their replies.* We infer
therefrom that they reiterated their determination to
leave the country, for he adds : " at the same time I am
persuaded it will be with reluctancy they leave the eoun-
trv."

Caulfield was replaced as Lieutenant-Governor by
John Doucette (1717). Addressing lirst the inliabit-
ants of Annapolis, the latter severeh- enjoined them to
take the oath according to the formula which he com-
municated to them. Tired of waiting in vain for a
response to the questions sulnniitcd to the Queen by
Nicholson, despairing of ever obtaining the facilities
necessary to their transmigration, they answered that
they all desired to come to a connnon decision, and lor
that purpose it was advisal)le to have all the iidiabitanis
of the other localities as.>~ nblcd at the same time :

" For the present we can only answer, that we shall be ivaily to
carry into effect the demand proposed to us, as soon as llis Maji^ty
shall have done ns the favor of provldnii^ some means of shelterlnii us
from the Indians, who are always ready to do all kinds of misriiii'f,
proofs ofwhiehliave been afforded on many occasions since the piMie.

" That iniless we are proteeti'd from them, we cannot take tlie oiuli
demanded without exposing ourselves to have our throats cut in our
bouses at any time, which they have already threatened to do.

" in case other means cannot be found, we are ready to take an
oath that we will take up arms neither against His Britannic Maji'sty
nor against France, nor against any of their subjects or allic-.'"

Up to that time the Aeadians had reftised to accept
any oath that tied them to the country ; they Avishcd to
* Documents omitted iu the volume of the Archives.

l-rt^*

106

A ItKSKUVK TO THK OATH WANTED.

u-,.:

iWll

I'luJHI

depiirt and liatl been wuitiiig to be enabled to do so.
From that moment they no longer refused tliis oath,
proviiled a chiuse were inserted exempting them from
bearing arms against the French or Indians, their allies.

The situation presents no difficidties. Either they
nuist be aHowed to leave with their goods and cattle, as
signiticfl by the treaty and the letter of the Queen, and
obstacles must Ixj removed and tlie assistance requisite
for their transmigration granted them, or the conditions
they imposed on their sojourn in the country must be
accepted. It might have been disagreeable to have con-
ditions imj)osed by poor peasants ; but either this must
be endured or the inconveniences which their departure
entailed, at least if justice should regulate the relations
bclween the high and the low, between the weak and
the strong. Tlieir conditions were certainly not friv-
olous. The onlv enemv that EiiLfland had to combat in
these places was France. Without the acceptance of
this condition they could be obliged to take up arms
against their compatriots and still worse against their
brethren, their relations who icsided on the north side
of the Bay of Fuudy at liiver 8t. Joiin, ("Iii[)ody, Peti-
codiac, ]\Iemramcook and even at Heaubassin on a
territory which, it is true, was disputeil, but which might
eventually be adjudged to France by the commission
ii [(point I'd to decide thereon.

Xotliiiig was more reasonable tiian the exemption
whiiii tlicy claimed, especially when they were de^jrivcd
of ilu! rioht of ooiiinr iiway ; and those who treat their
claim as frivolous have evidently never sounded their in-
most hearts to see what would be their sentiments in a
similar situation. Later on we shall iind that the Ameri-
can colonists, who t'-<tabii-<li('<] tlu'iiisclvc-^ in IT'lOon the

A IJKSKItVK T<» THK OATH WANTKl).

107

laiiils of tliu Aciulians, avlto i-xcmpli'il fnmi Iwariiig
anus iifjiiiiisi tlu'ir hrelliieii of Nrw KiihIuikI at tliu time
»it" till' war of iiidepeniUMic'e : Imt in thai rase it was
»li'einecl(iuite natural toj^rant tlieni thisexcniittion. Not
\\itIioiit lu'art-rentlint>- grief had the Ai-adians resolved
to leave theii' country, their property, these abodes of
their ehildhood bedewed l)Vthe sweat of several ijenera-
tions. (^h ! assuredly, they woidd have preferred by far
t(i leinain ; but in those days of prejudice, intolerance anil
al)solutisni, they feared the caprice of their governors,
they feare(l that, sooner or later, oltstacles would be
laised to the free exercise of their religion. Will it
bi' said that their fears were not rt'asunable, seeing that
for three years they had been retained by force in violati(»n
of a treaty, at a time when Kngland had not yet cjuerged
from the most intolerant period of her history '/ 'I'hey
might perluijjs run these risks, but. at least, they did not
•A ish to have to combat their fellow-i'ountrymen anil
tht'ir brethren : they wislie<l to put themselves in a
].ii>ition to be able at any time to tpiil the country, if
ilic I'onditions im[)osed by them should Ije violated.
i'|p(tn siil'ticient reflection we shall tind that the senti-
imnts that actuated them arose from the noblest of
iiioiives. This persistency in icfusing during ioi'ty years
.my oath that exposed tli;'m tn be obliged to combat
ilicir comjjatriots, does an honor to ihcni of which their
dt'srcndants may I'iglilly be proud. Parkman could
ciUflessly assert that llicy WiMe "weak of pur[)Ose :"
but wluMi thert! was (pu-stion of eontravening the ele-
mentary dictalt's of human nature, or of conscience,
then this lirmness energetically fat-cd consiMjuences from
wir.ch men of our civilized time and probably Parkniau
himself would shrink.

Jtfk!i

!#^^i

108

A lIKSKItVK TO TIIK OATII WANTKI>.

P''"!!;!!];;!

'r Ilii

't-i

It was siilh-asit'r lor Ijp^Iiiiid to^n'iaiil tlicii' tleniaiids,
iis WHS <l(>in? ill 1T.")(), than for tin; Acadiaii.s not to make
tiii'iii. Ill tlii'ir simplicity, tlu'y tlioiinlit pi'iiiaps that in
these proposals tlu-yhad found a very aeeeptahle middle
term, which, whil(! allayiiij^ their iipj)reli(Misi()ns, would
permit tliem to prestjrve their property and their father-
land. It was a proposal that could bo considered, dis-
cussed and nietl)y another proposal. Could not the local
authorities effect a compromise? could tliey not make al-
lowance for sucii justifiable repuf,niance, for tlu! obstacles
opliosed to the execnition of a ritjht so evident as was
that of their departure ? couhl they not, I ask, limit this
exemption of bearin<( arms to a deliiiite leiiytli of time '.'
liiit no; no coneession I "We are the authority, and
we do not treat with private individuals. Vou shall not
de2)art, and you must take tlie oath without reseive, you
irast depend on our good pleasure."

Moreover, if tlu-}' felt no such natural re[)U!:;iiance to
fig'bting the Indians as they felt to liifhtiiig their own
countrymen, their own safety led them to shun all
Iiostility to the savage. We bave seen that Vetcli and
C'aullield were of oi)inion that there would be no security
for Englisli colonists to settle in the country on account,
ofthehostility of the Indians. Would it have been othci-
Avise witb the .\cadians, if tbey had been forced to take
up arms against the Indians ? There were certainly be-
tween tliem friendly ties wliicli dated far back ; but what
would these ties have availed under these new ciicum-
Htaiices ? Does not our friend or ally of to-day become
our enemy to-morrow, if be lights against us? And
in tbat event, what greater security could they have
enjo3-ed tlian tlie English colonists? In view of their
security the objection to bear arms against the Indians

iiiiii

'?i' '1

A i:kski:vk m Tin; oath wantkm.

lo'.j

\Viis iniU'li unnv scridus than tlio <tbjt'(li»iii to lifiiv tluu;
iiirainst tlio Ficiicli. What did they really «I«'iiiaiid,
wJR'ii answeiint^ tin* suimiKtiis \o take tlie oath '/ Ndth-
iii",' more than this icasoiiahh! agrt'oinoiit : "Find
soiiit! moans to piotect us aj^ainst the Indians, and we
ask no exenij)tion witli ivi^ard to them, in spite of the
threats wliicli they use against us every day. In (h-
fault of tins means, we will agree to remain in the coun-
try and take the oath of allegiance, provided we he ex-
empt from any obligation to bear arms against the
FitMich and the Indians."

Ceitain historians speak of the efforts made by Frencli
authorities to pn^vail on the Acadians to emigrate, as
if. by doing so, they liad been guilty of reprehensible
intrigues, unworthy of a great nation. It may be ae-
c'ttuntecl ingenious to get quit of one accusation by an-
other; there are always some peojile who let themselves
lie duped by any subterfuge, liowever gross it be. That
the French made efforts to engage tlie Acadians to take
advantage of the clauses of the treaty, is a fact not to
be doubted. That was their right and their interest, as
it was their duty ; the Acadians having decided to urge
the English authorities to grant all the facilities re-
(juisite for their departuie, France was a party to the
treaty, and, in virtue of this, she had the o])ligation to
protect her former std)jects against any violation of those
clauses which were profitable to them : and, if France
is to be blamed, it is for not liaving urged the matter
with sufficient energy, when the Acadians so earnestly
claimed her supi)ort, and when her own interests were
all in favor of it. It has been pretended that France,
under the i(h'a that Acadia might return to her, giad-
ually fought shy of the departure of the Acadians.

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A UKSKKVK TO THK ((ATI I WANTKO.

That was quite possible; allliough lu;r iiKlifferciife to
this (leiiaitnre coiihl only Ihj partial, since, l)esi(les tlie
uncertainty of sucli an issue us the return to Kiench
dominion, and the fact that tlie departure of the Acadians
would l)e the ruin of Nova Scotia, there still remained
a not less urgent interest for France to people her colony
of Cape Bieton and Prince Edward Island and to gain
strength for future conflicts.

Hut, we have not heie to consider the interests of
Fiance and England otherwise than as they explain facts.
For the moment, I am examining only the (question of
right, and 1 assert that, for l)oih France and England,
tl»e lawfulness of their efforts to decide the Acadians to
depart or not to depart, was limited to persuasive in-
fluence, and that, while France, perhaps on account of
circumstances, employed oidy this expedient, the Englisli
authorities used every unlawful means that ruse and force
could suggest. Such is the difference, and it is really
enormous. And yet, we might view all this with a certain
indulgence, if only the English had taken into account
their own unlawful conduct in their subsequent proceed-
ings with regard to the Acadians.

As a <|uestion of fact, the idea of departure Mas or
appears to liave been spontaneous on the part of the
Acadians. Port Royal had been in the hands of the
English for only thi-ee months, when they averred, in
an address to the Governor of Canada, that Governor
Vetch wsis treating them as negro slaves, and that they
desired to move into French territory. Immediately
after the treaty of Utrecht, it was still, as far as we can
judge, by a spontaneous movement, that they sent
delegates to Louisburg to treat this same question.

After having given the above response of the Aca-

A KKSKKVK To TIIK OATH WANTKU.

Ill

(lians to the .suiiunons ot' (Jovenioi' Doucette, the ('on\-
]iiler plunges us again into darkness by letting us re-
main ignorant of what ensued.

We ran here clearly j)er(*eive an omission of live
U'tters, three of which are from the (lovernor himself
and two replies, one from Ahb^j Pain, curd des Mines,
the other from Mr. de Brouillan, governor of Cape Ure-
tiiii.* By the former's reply wo may judge what was
tlie drift of the hitter's answer.

Minks, I'O Miircli, \1\<.
•' I haw rcrcivod tlio Icttor, with which yoii honon-d iiir, umltT
(lato of Di'O. ."), 1717. I liav<^ the honor to signify to yon, sir, t!i;it
tlieso Acadians nnist he snJlioiontiy a('(|uaint('«l with tlu'ir dntics mid
obligations iriUtintf ncitliiiij m;/ li'lii/ur wliiif i/dii ih'sirr un- h> ili, mlth
ri'ijitfil t<i Ukiii. . . . Allow nie to dfclare to yon, so that yon may
have nothini; to say ai^ainst my behavior in this inattor, that 1 am
rt'solvt'd to jiivc no advice for or against tho nieasiirc: thus yon will
recognize their natural intentions," etc., etc.

Fki.ix Pain .

From this re})ly it api)ears evident that the (Jovernor
solicited liie concurrence of this priest to intluence the
Acadians in the direction of an unconditional oath, in
justice we must say that he declares himself satisfied
with this reply, and with the priest's intention not to
meddle witli temporal affairs. We have likewise the
reply of the governor of Cape lireton, and it contirnis
all that I have previously said respecting the obstacles
opposed to the departure of the Acadians.

liOuisburg, 21 July, I"is.

" Concerning your complaints that the inhabitants of Acadia hud
not departed as agreed upon, and that this delay has cansetl l(»s to
His IJritannic Majesty, you must have known, sir, the impossibility
in which Mr. Nicholson and other rulers of Acadia have put them of
executing wliat hail heen agreed upon; some not wishinsj; to let llnin
carry away their effects, and the others not wishing us to send them

* Colouiul Ik'cords, N. y., Vol. II.

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WWTAKO

112

A !!i:sKltVK T(» Tin: OATH WANTKD.

tin- ripniiii; !•• i'<|<iil> lJi«' littlo ships tlioy hail Imilt, and which in I'oii-
8p<|U»'iic(' they wt'ic ohliiicd to sfll almost for notliing to Kn^iish iiicr-
rhaiits. I will not fail to liiforni tlif Kinu my master of all yon iv-
uiark to mo thercou, du thai Uu luuy givu thuorUcni that he will jiiclgo
proper."

!!t

IP lff**r'<l<4

pw;ii5( .

OOVKIlNOK I'KlLll'PSd OHDEUB.

113

CHAPTER V.

Administration of Philipps (17"-iO-1722)— TaltinK the required oath
of iillt'Kianc e or departure within four months witliout carry-
ing away uiiythiiig — Decision to depart — Disap|K>intment of
i'hihpps — New oniirtsions of the Coininler — Tlie Acadian-,
undertake to open a road in order to effectu. te tlieir departure
— l*iiilipi)s orders the suspension of tiio w.:rk8 — Prolongation
of tile delay — I'ajoleries t<» keep back the Acadians — Import-
ant letter t)f the Secretary of State Cragga — Parkman,

In 1720 General Philipps, who in reality had already
been tor almost three years Governor of Nova Scotiu,
came to Annapolis to take charge of his province, lie
was invested with more ample jurisdiction than his
predecessors, and his high position in the army added
weight and importance to his authority. At first he
dealt very haughtily with the Acadians. Hardly had
lie arrived when he issued a pioclaraation ordering them
to take the oath without reserve or to leave the country
within four months, without being able either to dis-
pose of their goods or to transport them. " It is ex-
pressly prohibited to those who will choose to leave the
country to sell, dispose or bring with them any of their
effects." These conditions were excessively hard. Is
that tlie reason why the Compiler omits this important
document, this proclamation?

Thus the temporizing plan invented by Vetch, and
continued by Nicholson and his successors, attained the
desired result. The only fault of the Acadians was

tW^f

114

<;oVKl!Nni{ I'lllLiri'SS OKDKKS.

llieii liiiviii^ let theiiisi^lvcs Ih.* (Iu[R'(I and their having
so meekly awaited a reply, whieh the rulers took good
ciin; not to give tliein.

IMjilipps's intention wiis evident. lie well knew that,
without means of transport, the Acadians could not de-
part, especially on such short notice. He Ixjlieved that
ilicy were so attached to their property that his pr(»lu-
iiition to carry awsiy anything with them would force
tlicm to accept his t«'rnis of the oath without reserve,
and even all the conditions that he would l>e pit ii>ed to
rxact. lie was, however, deceived. Nevertheless, such
severe orders spread consternation all around : llie ayita-
li<»n was most violent; a [»ronipl decision was inipciative.
They replied in substance as follows:* "We cannot
take the oath which you demand of us, and tJie (luestinii
is still more diilicult with regard to the Indians than
to the French, because the former daily threaten w,s
with revenge if (Uir reservation (h) not extend to them.
Since ytm cannot grant us this reservation, there only
remains to us the alternative of retiring from the coun-
try even on the hard conditions you impose, life Jjeing
dearer to us than all our goods. As the sowing season
has just elapsed, and tliere remains haidly any more
grain to nourish our families, the only favor we beg of
you is to prolong the delay a little, so as to give us time
to gather in our grain and permission to carry it away
with us, and also to make use of the vehicles that wc
(iwn or of those we might make or otherwise piocurc,
lio])ing that Your Excellency will permit us to seiul to
Cape IJrcton Island to ask help for our departuie."

I have in hand, relating to these facts, six documents
or letters, all most important and absolutely indi.v

♦ Col. liecoids, X. S., vtjl. 3.

:'< ■. :

<!ovei:n()i; imiilii'I'ss oi!I)ki:s.

115

j»ensable for the clt'iir uiuKMstiUMlin^f u|" ilu'si- rvi'uU.
They consist of u reply of Futlier .Instiniiiii to IMiilipps,
JlOth April, 1720; t\\H> nienioriuls of tlic Acadnins of
Aniiiipolis iiiiil Mines to IMiilipps, Im)IIi presented May
L'ttth, 1720, a letter of the (Jovernor (»!" liouislmr^ to
IMiilipps, June Hth, 1720 ; a hater «)f the Acadians to
the Ctovernor of Louishur^' and the hitter's rejil\ . None
nf these documents are found in the volume nf tin;
Archives, and yet the lirst four are foun<l in the ('dloiiial
Records in I^ondon, just alongside those which llic (nm-
jiilcr produces; his voh.ine contains all the lettcr> of
Phili; MS to the jtersons mentioned ahove, hut nut a
siiigk one of the icjilies. Oh I I am wrong : there is
one, not here mentioned, and it is tlu; one that is the
worst drawn U[>, the least explieit. Is that the leason
why it is there '/ Is that also the reason why we liiid in
his volume a letter of the Acadians to the Ciovcinoi of
houishure;, when theie was another far supcrioi' to it as
a statement of the situation. The Compiler renders his
case more complicated by the insertion of this docuuient,
for this lett<'r of the Acadians to the (iovernoi'of Louis-
hurg, it will he understoo<l. could not reasonahly he
found in the archives either of Halifax or of London ; it
could lie hailoidy in the archives of the Marine in Paris.
Did he go there to ferret it out ? If so, then, he studied
those archives, and why in the world did lu- go (>tit of
his way. while he was passing over so many important
tlociunents in London, which should have been hroULiht
to Halifax? Howevci', not to run the risk of being un-
just to him. I will not liold him lesjionsible for any olhei'
omissions than those iclative to the archives of these
two last j)laces.

In spite of my desire to till up the void that the Com-

■k

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Ili3

OllSTACLES TO I)KI'Ai;Tri;K.

k'' ' .

■I fill

t:;::

\n\vv liiis left, ill spite of tiie impoitanco ol' llu; documents
oiniLk'd, I sluiU present only short extruets. The letter
iuldiessed h}' the Aeiidians to the Governor of Louisburg
contains anion*,' other thing's the following-:

"Von iirc, sir. aware of the (liMieultics opposed to otir dcparturo
wlion wi" pi'tilioiit'd for it, and the impossibility in which we were, to
acconiplisii wiiat was demanded of us. And yet. now they wish to
constrain iis to talie tins oath, or to abandon the country, and it is
iiii]i'>s<ible to do either. . . We are resolved not to take this oath im-
posed upon u-<. lint we <'annot <|uit the country without suitaljle
facilities, such ;is were i)romised to us by the Court of France and re-
fused i»y the Court of Kn-iliiud. Our situation is painful and per-
jilexiuij;. and we best'ecdi you to assist us."

In his reply to lMiilip[)s, Mr. de Brouillun, governor
of Louishnrg, .says:

".Vllow me to state, that the inaction of tlu; Acadians neither can
nor should be imputed to them, both on account of their want of
the ;issislan<'e essentially retpusite for their transniij;ration, and on
account of the obstacles which the (Governors, general or local, who
pieceded you, hiive put in their way.

•• I cannot, moreover, refrain from representing to you that the
claiises of your proclamation that refer to the term antl the circum-
stances of their dej)arture soeni to me but little in keeping with ordinary
kindnrss, especially after a treaty and an ajjreement of nuitnal good
faith between Queen Anne and King Louis XIV., a treaty that ha.s
been executed in its entirety by France and partially by England.

" Vou are aware, sir, that by this agreement the lot of the inhabit-
ants of .\eadia was to be the same as that of the inhabitants of Plais-
anc«f. It were impossible to aild to the kindness and sincerity with
which this evacuation of IMaisance was accomplished, and I have the
honor to represent to you. that nothing could be harsher than tlm
extremity or rather the impossibility to which these poor people
would be rediu'ed, should you not consent to be less severe for the
time and the maimer in which you e.\act their departure."

To prove the obstacles opposed to the departure of
the Acadians, T have quotetl, so far, more than twenty

OJiSTACLK.S TO DlOI'AllTUItK.

117

documents, all of which aro omitted in the volume of
the Archives. What is there in this volume against
these clear and precise afTirniatioiis? Nothing. No-
where do we find that these allirniations have been
contradicted in reply to thost; who made them. Neither
Nicholson nor l)()U(;ette replied to the athrmations of
Costahelle and de Brouillan. The only passage that looks
like a formal contradiction of these allirmations is found
in a letter of Philip[)S to the Lords of Trade, in which
he says :

" At llie time of llic; surrondcr of the coiiiitry, it was slipiiliiti'il in
lifliiilf of llic Aoadiiiiis, to have thoir (•lu)i('c, cither to iciriaii! in tiic
I'lnvincf, if llicy would transfer llicir allegiance, or, in ease of tin- al-
ternative, to (//.s/H(.se of their estate (//*'/ i [f'trts to the hoi, advanlii.i;e ;
to (ieterniine which, one year's time was allowed them; i)nl. at the
ex]iiration fheicof, finding their new masters in no condition lo
olilige them to the ohservance, of one or the other, they havo
remained."

l*liilip[)s himself knew nothing (d" the obstacles we have
i;uMitioned ; he conld, doubtless, be iidormeil by N'cLch,
("aullield, I)oucett(!, iiixl oilier ol'licers of thc! garrison;
biU. it is clear that they were not eaucr to accuse
themselves of their own trickery. We mtiy judge of the
credit we should give to the <leclaration of lMiili[)ps l)y
the trouble he takes todisligure tlu! tietity he had under
his eyes. Clearly, the treaty gave the Acadians the right
to carry awiiy their nuivid)le eft'ccts, their cattle, etc
i'hilipps converted this clause into a light to sell or
dispose of them, aiul nothing more. If he erred so
grossly as to the terms of a treaty, what tire we to think
of his seconddiand assertions ])icked up from persons
interested in deceiving him ? This proliibition to carrv
iniythiug away with them was not only inhuman, it was

'■^^4

P"'' ' it
'.#^1

118

ACADIANS MAKE A ROAD.

lit "

also a fraud. lie well knew that, since they were the
only inhabitants of the country, they would have no one
to whom they might sell their goods in case they de-
jwrted, and that is why he chose this means of attaining
his cn<l, amd preventing their departure. He w.is soon
to be coiivineed that the people about him had deceived
him respecting the reasons that had prevented their
departure, and that lie deceived himself, if he fancied
his barbarous orders were going to produce the result
he expected.

As the Acadians no longer lioped to work upon the
(Toveriior's determination, as they no longer hoped either
for timely help or for a prolongation of the appointed
delay, they set to work to devise ways and means to
effect their (le[)artnre. Unable to withdraw in ships,
they had no other alternative than the land route ; but,
for that, the}' would be obliged to open new roads where
there were none.

Tlie lieaubassiii [)eople could easily withdraw by Bay
Verle, but the case was otherwise with those of Mines,
and especially of Auiia[)olis. Hetween these two places
there was a space of from twenty to tiiirty miles which
had never yet been opened to veliicles.

To tliis point the Acadians of Mines first directed
their efforts, and thus came to the assistance of their
Aiuiapolis brethren. .\11 the able-bodied population
s<!t lesolutely to work, and the road-making was rapidly
advancing. In presence of this determination to leave
the country, which was shown in so inimistakable a
way, Philipps was alarmed ; but what could be done ?
Could he reasonably oi)pose these works, indispensable
as they were to the transmigration? Certainly not,
since it was the only means left them to depart and to

♦'*"*■■'■;' II''

I'HILIPl'S 1-OUIiIDS n(»Al)-MAKIN«i.

119

coiiJ'oiiu to tlie alternative of his proclamation !

Au«l, nevertheless, they must not Ihj allowed to depart!
His conduct would be incredible, had I not before me
the official documents that establish indisputably the
means which Philipps used to balk the Acadians once
more, as had previously done Vetch, Nicholson and
Caultielil. 'J'here was only one means; it was to forbid
tiic coniiuuation of these works ; he did so.

" At a Couiioil helil, itc, At.
" l'r>'st>iit :

" His Jlonor Li*'iit.-<iovt'nior Annslrong, «frc., &c., &c.

" TliH IlonoraWlc IjitMit.-Clovernor aoi|uainte(l tho Board, that Ifis
Kxi't'll' /ley. (ii'in'ial Pliilipps, having advice that the Acadians of this
river arc cuttius a road from here to Mines, which gives him suspicion
that thi'y design l)y it citlicr to inolcst this place, or todrivc otf tlicii-
cattle and carry their ctTccfs from hence by that way, in order to
settle in a l)ody. either there or at Beanbassin, and stand in defiance
of the Government, Advised and agreed :

" That His Excellency he desired to send his special orders to the
Acadians of this river and Mines not to cut any such road without
having His Excellency's leave in writing."

We have also the proclamation drawn u[) conformably
to tlie above ordcr-iu-council. In this pioclaii itioii he
adds: "Ami T do further forldil anij pi'rm)ii< to (jKt't their
/(((hitatimis cJoin/ext/iief// and /rlth'iuf inij leaiu-."

Naturally, as ini<iht be expected, the order was drawn
U[i as if he suj)[)osed other dcsions tlian tluit of (putting
the countiy, but ontjs jicreeidions wouhl have to Ije very
(hill indiied not to understand the true scusi' of what
was meant by this order, " not to cut a road nor ([uit
ihcir habitations without leave."

IMiilipps and his coiuicil were well aware that their
ol)j('ctcould not have been to molest anybody, but merely
to leave the country. When writin;^ to the Lords of

^Wr

V20

VEXATlors I'ltOHlHITlONS

Trade, he does not teel consliainod to disguise liis pur-
pose under false pretexts ; lienee, in rendering an ac-
count of these events, lie does not make a mystery of their
intention, which, he says, was, or must have heeii, to
leave the country hy way of Hay Verte: " Being joined
in alxjdy, they can intirch, 'iff ((t their Ii'Ihiuw fni tin' ivnij
of the Ban Verte \\\i\\ tiieir effects, and destroy what tliey
leave behind, without danger of being moleste<l by tlie
giirrison." So, as is clearly shown, in this opening of a
road, Philipps did not see anything but the means and
the design of leaving the country. Mis fear was not
that his garrison might be molested by them, but, on
the contrary, that his garrison might not be able to
molest them and prevent their marching off. The case
is widely different.

It reminds us somewhat of the fable of the crocodile
and the child: — "Why do you shed tears at the l;ua-
entations of thiscliild? Have you of late become so
tender-hearted?" was remarked to him. — ''I wee[), "
retorted the crocodile, " because I could not reach him
and swallow him up."

It was the settled fate of the Acadians tlmt ihcy
should not leave the country except by deportation.
Once more were they detained against their will. \\\
alternative had been offered them, but eventually tlicy
liad none. At first, they had thought they could leave
in English vessels; these were refused. Tliey had
asked that French ships might be allowed to enter the
ports of Acadia: this was o[)[)Osed. Having constructed
small vessels, they wished to [)rocure the necessary
equii)mentat Louisburg : this was forbidden ; at liostou,
forbidden again. This tinu; the order to take away
nothing extended even to vehicles, and, as that did not

VEXATIOUS PROHIBITIONS.

121

suffice to deter them, the route by land was likewise
forbidden. There still remained the air route ; but the
manageable balloons of the twentieth century, nay,
even the primitive le-balloons had not yet been in-
vented. The letter Queen Anne extended their right
to the selling of their innnovable propert}', but, with
obstacle on obstacle, restriction on restriction, ruse on
ruse, the result was this much simplilied statement : " If
you go away, you shall not take even your effects with
you." And to strike the lowest note of the scale : '"Go
away, if you like, but you shall not take away even your
bodies ; your bones will have to remain here. When
the time for your dei)arture shall come, we ourselves
will see to your transportation, and we will scatter you
upon all the shores of the new world."' Considered in
all its naked reality, such was the situation.

Only peaceable persons, as they weie. could have sul>
mitted to so many unjust impositions. They could put on
foot six times more fighting men than were numbered in
the garrison of Annapolis. The decision of the Aca-
dians had rendered Philipps's situation very perplexing.
In the same letter to the Lords of Trade he writes :

5sf-i:*:

'Wv

v'T^M

" For the s((h-p of tidinliir/ tiiin\ And keeping all things quiet till I
have the honor of your further conimands in what manner to act, I
have thought it most for Ills Majesty's service to send home the
Acadian deputies loilhsiuoofh tconl-s and promiaeH vf inlaryeitiCiif nf
time."

He ends his letter as follows :

•'m-

" They say they will oblige themselves to be good subjects in i\('ry
respect, excepting that of taking up arms against the French and
Indians. . . . And I would humbly propose that if an oath were
formed for them to take, wliereby they should oblige themselves to
take up arms against the Indians, if required, etc., etc., how tar this
may be thought to bind them."

iS!M

'-m-':

122

PHII.IIM'SS HUMILIATION.

*;'

lii

-<l«*)|IVi|

It is easy to see, while following this correspondence
of Philipps with the Secretary of State and the Lords of
Trade, that lie was profoundly humiliated by his want
of success. 1 le had flattered himself that his high posi-
tion in t!'o army, the renown of his name, would over-
throw all the obstacles that a little simple and ignorant
populali(jn might oppose to him. Arriving with the
air of a conqueror, he had issued a pompous and severe
proclamation which admitted of no reply ; then he had
encountered difficulties which he could have smoothed
away, but which he had only increased by his demeanor.
He would have liked to retrace his steps and to resort
to conciliation, but he had sown mistrust and was rea])-
ing alarm. He had thought that these Acadiuns were
so attaciied to their goods that the short delay granted
them to leave the country and the prohilntion to take
away their effects would infallibly determine them to
accept the proposed oath. As totluit, he had fallen into
the same error as Nicholson, and, like him, he found
himself obliged to prevent at any price the departure of
the Acadians, with this diffeience, that Nicholson could
use subterfuges, while he had not even this resource.
His own order, which forbade the inhalntants to open a
road leading out of the country, while his proclamation
to evacuate it was still fresh, nuist have jarred his sense
of consistency. And. what a humiliation here for a man
that deserved, I believe, on other occasions, the reputa-
tion of being able, affable and conciliating.

The more meek and amiable he became towards the
Acadians, the greater was his bitterness and the more
malevolent his insinuations with regard to them in his
corresi)oiidence. He liad suffered failure. To justify
or attenuate it, he did wliat has ahvavs been done, what

•t*

I >!»»►. I

MLS lUTTKIINKSS.

128

is still (lone: he laid the blame on othei-s. In order to
do so, he liad to lepresent the Aeiidiaiis as headstrong,
ungovernable, directed by '* bigoted [)riestH;"" this he
did to the Ijest of his ability.

" Th«^y will never, saitl he. in .substance, make i^oocl siihjeets. They
eaiinot l)e Wl uo now at least : their departure, if they weiU to swell
tilt' colony of ('ape Breton, wouhl render oiu- neishbors loo power-
ful : we need them to ere(!t our fortitications and to provision oiu'
forts, till tilt Enx'ltiili iirr jiotrcr/nl t:itiiH<ili(>/ thriii.silrcs to ija on,
iiiid thi'U must not vil/nlrdir hcj'in-c a conKidcrKhlr nnnihi-r nj
Jiritish si.hjectft he Hettled in tlnir xti'inl. On the other hand,//'
llifi/ t'-Ulnlran; In sintcof us, a great many tine possessions will be-
<i)nie vacant. 1 believe it will not be difficult to draw as many people
almost from New England as would su[)ply their room, if it were not
robbing a neighboring colony vlthonl ijuhi'mu nnn-li hi/ thr r.r-
fl((tniji' ; therefore, hope there are schemes forming al Home, to set-
tle the country with British subjects in the spring, hi/on' irhhli limr
fhi se inhohitniltsilo not think' itl' nmrinii, hurin;/ the luii'lit nf oildi'ir-
mint of time I <jr<uile<l, luitil 1 shall receive youi' further conunands.
Whut (.s to be apprehended in the resettling these farms isitisturtxmre
j'rnin the hi'Udvs. who do not like of the Acadians going off, and will
not want prompting to mischief."

In his vexation Philijips had shown only the dark
side, and had painted it so vividly as to affect the
l.oids of Trade, who wrote under dale of December
•JOth. 17-20:

" As to tlie .Vcadiansof Xova ScoIIm. who pppcar m»

u-ureriiifi in their inclinations, we areapi)r('hensi\c they will nexcr be-
come good subjects to His Majesty. . . . W'c Ill-Ill/ iijiinioii the;/ <>ii<l/it
tu hr I'lnwved us soon as tln/ori-i s I'-hirli ire /mrt' iiruimstil lit lir sint
III 1/(111 shall Ui'rirf in i/mir I'riirinrf, Inil lis i/iiit lire mil til iillriiij>t
thiir riiiinrnt irithiiiit His Miijisti/'s piisitire nnlrr foi' that pur]>i)se,
y(Hi will do well in the meanwhile, tn rimtiniii' the siime iirmlnit iiii'>

rniit

iniis I'll

mluct tniriu-ils till

to endeavor tu mul

iiilrrilri' Hum rim-

virnin;/ the exercise n/ tin ii' reliiiinii which will douldless !»' allowed
them if it shniihl hi' tlnnii/ht iirninr tu Irl them sttii/ ir/iirr lliei/ urr." '

*Pai'knuui luul this ilncument het'ore liiii

III iii>toriiiii I't' lip'.

^Iiiiiilinq be slmuld have cmu'itIv seized a letter that tliicw >■

IjKII

hj^ht on liistury ; it was a real tit-liit

^^''^

■\n f^--

but it was not i([ tile light kiml.

124

CKAG(;.S TO I'HILIIM'S.

fi'"'

•% 1 .;«.

"•^iMiil

On reading this oiiu fuels iis though a leaden cloak
were falling on his shoulders, and as though there was
not enough air to breathe freely. The sinister project
of the deportation has just been hatched. A cold shiver
runs down one's s])ine. One fancies he hears tin-
first blasts of the trunijjet that Wias to order the endjaik
ation.

I api)end, by way of elucidation, aversion of the same
letter in familiar style:

in; ;.

^|:ila

"My 1)k.vi{ Piiii.HM's:

"I s<'t' you do not get the bottor of the Acatlians as you expoetcil
before yoiw depailuie. It is singular ail the same that these iieopii-
should liave prefeired to lose their goods rather than be exposed lo
light against their brethren. This sentimentality is stiii)id. Tln-e
jjeople are evidently too nnieh attaehed to th(»ii' fellow-couiitrynnii
and to their rtligion ever to niaki' true Englishmen. It mu>t be
avowed your jtosition was deueedly eritieal ; it was very diliieiilt to
jirevent them from dei>arting. after having left the bargain lo tlu-ir
elioiee. However, you did well toaet thus, it was yoiuonly resoiirei-.
The treaty l>e hangfd I Don't bother about justice and other baubles
any more than Xieholsou and Veteh did ; those things will not ;id-
van('<' our interests. Their departure will, doubtless, iiu'rease tlie
power of France : it must not be .xo : they must eventually l)e tr;uis-
l)orted to some place, where, mingling with oiu' sul).jectx, they v.ill
soon lose their language, their religion and the lemendjrance of the
past, to become true Englishmen. For the moment, we are too weak
to undertake this deportation : but we purijose etfecting it in the
spring time, when we shall have sent to you the re(]uired troops. Do
nothing of your own accoi'd before we liave given you orders. Mean-
while, my dear friend, lay aside your high and nnghty air.-, -.linw
yourself affable and kind towards them. Encourage them with any
hopes you choose, say what you like ; provided you obtain the desired
enil. which is none other than to prevent their departure, you will

merit our gratitude.

" Your.s,

'TliAOOS.

" Secretary of State.

" N. B.— Make tbeiu believe that we shall leave them the free exer-

Flits r HINT OF DKl'OllTATION.

12-)

cist' of their relisiion ; we shall son Inter on what we shall do oti this

score, if it be decidetl to leave them in tlie eoiintry. In this ease it in

probable we shall allow theiu th(> free exercise of tlieir religion.

" p. s. — There is a great storm brewing against Aislabie, Stanhope

and myself relatively to the Sonth Sea Co. . . . I am all of a tremble

at it. . . . Must I. . . .

"Chaihjs.*

The reader will find the document I have just para-
phrased hardly agrees with the declaration of my intro-
ductory remarks, exonerating the home government from
all complicity in this iniquitous deportation. It was, in-
tleed, a Secretary of State who liad resolved to execute
it, but a man of the stamp of Craggs is rarely met witli
in history. There was certainly no question here of a
government project, but of the scheme of a single indi-
vidual, who had begun his career by a fraud that
brought him to the Tower, and ended it by another
which ought to have sent him back thither. Tluis, the
deportation was conceived b}- a barber who became
Secretary of State, and it was executed thirty-five years
later by a house-painter who became I*rovincial Gov-
einor. It was conceived by a pluiulerer and executed
for the sake of plunder. One man died as he was plan-
ning it, the other as he was realizing it. The one had
l)een shut up in the Tower, and avoided a return tliither
l.)y an opportune death ; the other escaped the same fate
in the same manner. Under such exceptional circum-
stances I think it would be unjust to throw the

* C'raRj?s had befjun life as a barber. He then became a footman, and,
later ou, an army clothier. His dealings as such Ijeiug iuvesti^ated, he n-
fiised to produce his books and was sent to the Tower. Twenty-two years
later he was Secretary of State, with Aislabie as leader of the House of
Commons. When the Smilh Sfd Ptulthlf expiorted, Aislabie was oxpt'lN'd
from the House for his shameful conduct in connection with tho famous
Hnhhie. C'ra^irs "'sciijied tlie same fate by a timely death. Groen, in his
history, say.-< that he died of terror at the punishment he expected to
meet.

m^%

126

Ai'AKiANs i'kackaum:.

::iii

tk ll'l

Ul'i;

responsibility of tliis ddi'iinient on the lionie fjoverninent
in virtue of the ministeiiiil responsibility. It wiis none
the less an unfortunate deed; for Lawrence, who knew
of it, took pattern from it; he saw or thouglit he saw
therein liis jnstilication.

The good-natured souls who have pitied the deporta-
tion and sad fate of the Acadians, says Kameau, have no
need, by way of explaining the fact, to credit them with
imaginary crimes. After this document, it ma}' be said
that the proscription was not a deed improvised in
anger: it was jiremeditated as early as 1720. Lawrence,
upon whom this crime is chaiged, v.a.i accjuainted witli
this document.

It cannot be said that the Acadians had been rebel-
lious, nor even that they had had recourse to violence,
since their submission embraced evtni obedience to the
Older to depart without taking awaj- anything, and to the
still moi'e unjust order that put a stop to their depart-
ure, and this, when they were powerful eiu)ugh to snap
their fingers at authority. Examples of such peaceable
dispositions are very rare in history. Their extreme
peaceableness was their misfortune. Had they not been
so meek, they would have had to be let go.

This document, llameau says again, would suffice, in
default of others, to show what nervous apprehension
the Hoard of Trade in Europe and the Governor of
Annapolis in America felt lest the Acadians escape from
their control. They wish at all costs to avoid this
misfortune; so, in spite of the bitter anger which
Philipps's disappointment caused him, see how lie
lavishes kind words upon them, with what insinuating
sweetness, while praising the tenderness of King Creorge,
he slips in those perfidious assurances of liberty, of

PHILirrs \VMKK1»L1N(;.

121

jteaeefulness, of reli<;ioll^^ tret'doni, in order to j)rotriict
tlieir present eondition and make them aiieept a pio-
vi.sional toleranee tliat should not he hinding lor the
future, vnitil the favorabh* lioursliould strike wlieu they
might be deported without lisk.

Philipps perfeetly uiuhirslood his instructions ; lie,
who had made his foitune amid the intrigues of the coui t,
was now altogether on liis own ground : he put away
his great sabi'e and the high-flown phrases of his lirst
appearance on the scene, and continued the [)oliey
he had just inaugurated: wheedle the Acadians s(»as to
make them remain on their lands, exact allegiance if
the occasion j)resents itself, if not, then lavish line
words without promising anything detinite ; keep a
way open for retreat, so as to pi'ove no promises had ever
been made, but oidy attempts at agreement. Thus
was obtained from the Acadians the desiied amount of
usefulness, Ijy freely granting them toh;ranoe without
ever affording them any certainty.

IMiilipps made this situation last two years more with-
out allowing their departure, but also without accepting or
refusing the restricted oath which the Acadians claimed ;
he still kept them on their lands by protrai'ting their un-
certainty, lie thus reached the year 17-l2, when he le-
turned to Europe, leaving in his j>lace Captain Doucette
as lieutenant-governor.

In his work entitled " Wolfe and Montcalm " Park -
man, falling in with the Compiler, alHrmed that the
Acadians had remained in the country of their own frc(i
will. Since writing whsit precedes I have noticed in his
new work, " A Half Century of Conflict," that he has
modified his first opinions on this subject. It was indeed
difficult not to yield to evidence that was supported by

ArC'i;

* V '

"Hr^

XM^

].''

Ii^'"»

'l,ii;i'

■ fH'i-f

I ■

^::m

1'2H

I'AKKMAN i:kti:A(Ts.

such ii coiisidrriildc mass of (Incimu'iits as tliiit cnlli-ctcd
l)y ('iisgniiii ill iUc •• Ciiiiadii l''raii<;ais." IlowlM-it, it is
witli plt'asiiiv I j,'ivt! Parkiiiaii ( rt'(lit tor tliis iiiiplird
cuiK-L'Ssion. I ciinuot reasonably expect him to do as
imich with respect to all hi.s other erroi-s, for then it
would bo necessary to destroy almost all tliat he has
written on the liistory of Acadia.

" Govonior Xioholsmi,'' says lie, '■ like his prcMecossor, was ri'solvfil
to keep the AcadiaiiH in thoProviiiPo ifliocoiiltl. Tliis persona^f, ablr,
i'ii('i';;t'li<', lifadsiroiij^, ptTvcrsc, iiiiscnipiilous, coiKJuf'tt'd hiiusclf even
towarils tliL' Knglisli olliccrs ami soldit'is in a luaaiuT tlial setiius mi-
aPcoiintal)l(' and that kindlod lliolr utmost iiidii,'nati()ii. Towards liic
Acadiaiis Ids Ijcliavior was still worse. . .Tho Acadiaiis built small vos-
scls ami till' French authorities at Lonishurs sent them the iiect'ssai "
riyj^in;?. Nirlmlxun ordvrtd it hack, forbade the sale of their landi
ami liouses (Uid a'aiihl not evr)i ht fhi'in sill flu h- piTsounl effect ■•< ;
cotdly setting .at nanjiht both the treaty of rtiecht and the letter of
the Queen. Caultiehl and Doiieette, his deputies, both in one degree or
another, followeil his example in preventing, so far as they could, the
emigration of the Acadians."

All that this citation contains is, in a general way,
true ; but, as a question of fact, it is not strictly
accurate ; thus, Nicholson did not order the Acadians to
send back the rigging to liouisburg, but forbade them
to procure any, nor did he forbid them to sell their
effects, but only to take them away with them. Though
these variations would be unimportant in an ordinary
chronicler without sncli }»rf. tensions as Parkman has to
historic accuracy and fi irness, still, it would have been
better to be absolutely precise, when it was so easy for
him to be so.

After having made this concession, apparently so
frank and candid, let us see how he sets to work to
nullify it :

^Si

Nl'l.r-IIMKS MIS UKTIIACTATION.

1:20

" If lln'v liail wislit'tl tt> fiiiiLtriitt', till' l*;n;;lisli Oovcriior liiul im
|K>wer to otnp iIk'Iii. . . 'I'lu-y woic iirmt'il iiiul (nroiitiiiiiiilicitvl flii>
Kii>:li>l> K<"Ti!)oii, 'I'o siiy tliut tln'v wi-^lit'il to l«'!iv«* Aciitlia, hiil W)>r<>
l>rt'veiili'(l from soih'ii;,' l>y ii |n'lty >,'iirriNoii at the otlu-r cml of tlm
I'roviiicf, vo fi't>l)l(' i',;i: it could Iiiinlly liolil Aiiimpolis itself, is an
unjust n-pi-oacli iipnn a pi'ople wlio, llioiiuiiijiiioraiit iiiitl »r*'(iA- nf
p»(r/('(.vr. wcir not want iiijj iti pliysjcal couraiii'. 'I'ln* truth is, tluil
j'riiiii l/iia liiiii to llii'ir ft)r('fil cxpalrialion, all Hit* Aciuliaiis, t.ccipl
thiiKC »/ AniKijiolis, wfiv fi»M' to iin or stay iil will."

It is pcrtVctly true, its Parkiiiiin says, that the Aca-

<liiiiis. t\fff[)t t/io-v of AnHnpnllx, had the imiiiciical

.'^tiviigth to eiifoice theif (U'partHK; tfom the coiiiitiy;

i'or, as is most jnobabU'. were they wanting in [)hysi('al

courage, iiiid they nndonhtedly ]iad th(! right to aet

iliiis: but we must not judge tlieir aetions aceording to

otn' own ith'ius. Parkman, as all this history (dearly

proves, should have understood that these people, these

if,'norant peasants, as he never tails to call them, had, far

f>therwise than we, the love of peace, respect for and

submission to authority. Instetid of overthrowing by

force the iniquitous obstacles opposed to their departure,

they applied to the French authorities to put an end to

them. In their naive ignorance the stipulations of a

treaty seemed sacred, and, thought they, eventually

justi(?e would prevail ; they did not suspect, so well as

we should, the perverseness of their rulers. It is this

spirit of submission that later on enabled Lawrence to

<lei)ort them. Would Parkman have it imputed to theuj

as a crime? And, because they might have effected

their departure in spite of the authorities, does this fact

relieve the authorities from all blame for their unjust

proceedings ? Did that iniquitous detention oblige the

Acadians to take the oath exacted of them? Is Mr.

Parkman's indulgence and commiseration invariably for
9

lao

KKASONS AiiAlNST DKI'AIJTING.

I >-

f n

III i' V "'

the oppressor as against the op])ressed ? To depart
without having tlie recpiisite faeilities for deportation
meant to leave behind iheni their effects and tlieir cattle,
all which was very painful, especially when the right to
take them away was guaranteed by a treaty.

'I'here are still other ver}' imi)ortant considerations to
which Mr. Parkman, from the snugnessof his easy chair,
did not even take the trouble to advert. Thus, if it be
:rue that the Acadians of IJeaubassin and Mines had
sulllicient strength to effectuate their de[>arture. and
ihey would. I believe, have succeeded therein, it was
not so for those of Annap(»lis, as he adnnts. liy with-
diawing.the former would leave these Litter behind llieur,
they would leave a large iuuid)er of their compatriots,
their relations and brethren at the mercy of a power that
held out no ho[)cs of equitable treatment. Not being
able to depart in Knglish, French or even Acadian ves-
sels, it was expressly to permit those of Anna[)olis to
effect a union with themselves that the Acadian» of
Mines had set to work to oi»en a roiul between the two
places, in which attempt they were frustrated by an
order from Philipps. To withdraw thus and leave their
relations behind would mean a lifelong separation, un-
less they should chance to meet as adversaries upon the
held of battle, in case a war should break out between
France and Encjland. Parkman makes no account oi
this se[)aration, or more probably he did not even think
of it : these ignorant people, who were guided in their
actions by the humane feelings inherent in our nature,
l)ore most heavily thiy separation with all its dread. "ill
consequtnices : tliey had W(Mghed and [)ondered it: they
liad felt the delicacy of their situation ; they had seen

'Ff.K"'

REASONS A<;A1NST DKI'AUTINC.

farther and more correctly than Paiknian with all his
learning.

Pursuing the same idea Parkman iuhh. .

" The year had loiif; ago expin'd, and most of tliom were still in
Aoadia, unwilling to leavo it, yet, refusing to own King (George."

Thus does Parkman endeavor to nullity all the merit
of liis formei' a(hnission. Me had admitted that Vetch,
Nicholson, C'auKield and Doucette, in one way <»r an-
other, did all in their [)ower to render the departure of
the Acadians impossible, and yet these Acadians, in spite
of all these etTorts, "were unwilling to go." It is very
hard to I'cconcile these two conflicting statements, hut
we nnist h(! prei)ared lo see Parkman I'ontradict himself
on one and tlie saine i^nge ; * the puhlie was so eagerly
bolted his first ten volumes that he ceased to be on his
guard in the eleventh. After he had said in a general
Avay that the Acadians " wei'e unwilling to leave," I lind,
thirteen lines further on, the following, r<;lative to the
proclamation of Philipj)s :

" Tlioy profosU'd to M. df IJioiiillan that tlntj iniiilil iiIkiiiiIuii nil
Ttit/nr than rcnouin'e thoir rcli:.'ioi'. and llicii' Kin^; "' '/" sdmr (inn-
III' 1/ f)fi'iiiirri1 fur II i/i'iuriil iiiiitirnl imi hi/ inn/ nf tlir istlnmis nail
liai/ Vrrtr. when it would liavf Ix'cn impossihlo to sto]) them."

The contradict^ ,.. j:? i^i^vant enough, but it would be
still moie so, if l" rkuian, by a trick that is familiar to
him, had not. .. it were, cut his sentence in two. -o as
not to let us kiK ',v wlial. this time, had prevented the
departure of the Acadians. We have only i.t uud. in
order to comnleti the tintinished sentence, the foUowinjx
words: " but they w<M'e slopj)ed in their prei)aiations by

* A IMf Cmtin-j nf Coiittl't. \,. 108.

132

GAHHLING

an ovcUm- of Govei'iior Pliilipps, i'oiljiddiiig their cutting
ii I'oiul between Annapolis and Mines and i'orbidding-
their leaving their habitations." This addition is not
long, and these few Avords su^jplj- the reader with in-
formation of great importance. liy cutting his sentence
in two, Parkman stoj)ped, so to speak, on the brink of a
precipice, for I am merely yielding to evidence in saying,
that the avowal, which the com[)letion of his sentence
entiiiled, would have been extremely painful to him.
Should the reader doul)t it, I can assuie him that his
hesitation will be dispelled long before reaching the
end of this Avork.

And, when Mr. Parkman added: " Vft, rffusuii/ to
oini Kiiii/ Georin',''^ had he absolutely persisted in in-
troducing these incorrect terms into his account, he
might have explained in a few words that the Acadians,
when they saw how their departure was made impos-
sible, luianimously offered to (xovernor Doucette to take
the oath of allegiance with a clause exempting them
from bearing arms against the French and the Indians
their allies; or simply against the French, if means were
affoi'ded to protect them against the Indians ; and that,
fiom that time up to their deportation, they never refused
such an oath. Many of Mr. Parkman's readers might
liave found this detail veiy instructive and very im-
portant in order to judge of the spirit that animated the
Acadians. Leaving the public under a contrary impres-
sion, through omission and misconstruction, was allow-
ing unjust prejudices against them to circulate ; which
is equivalent to falsifying history.

DErAKTUKE OF rUlLlPPS.

133

CHAPTER VI.

Departure of Philipps (17:32) — Dourette reassumes his functions
as lieutenant-governor, which lie exercises till 1725 — Total
absence in the volume of the Archives of documents foi- tliis
}M'riod — Armstrong succeetls him — His character — Taking
of the oatli at Annaoolis — Captain Bennett and Philipps
make the tour of the ])rovince for the same purpose — Tlieir
failure' — Armstrong confides the same mission to Officer
Worth — Incomplete success — His report.

%^^

.*^a

Philipps returned to Kiigl;iii(l altogetlier disgusted
with everything : with the ungrateful task that had
fallen to his lot, with the state of the fortilicalions,
with the weakness of the garrison, with the indiftereiiee
of the authorities in regaid to his projeets, with his own
inability to enforee obedienee. I le felt himself huntl)led
by his failnie. Moreover, this life in an out of the way
<7arrison, far from comfort and civilization, coincided so
''■"Ue will; his tastes of a great loid and courtier that,
i faidless of the general o[)ening of hostilities with tlie
Ijidians, he end)arke(l for Kngland in the course of the
■ununer of 1722. He neveitheless remained titular
governor of the province with all the emoluments of
his ollice till the foundation of Halifax in 174*.t, at
which time he had nearly attained the age of ninet}-
years.

John Doueette, who liad been lieutenant-governoi*
some time before the arrival of Philip})s, lesumed his
functions, whieh he exercised till 1725. Oddly enough,

fWA

:ii.i '^t jir

1:34

GAr IN THE AltrHIVKS.

tile volume of the archives does not eontaiu a single
document of the period extending from 1722 to 1725.
Given the partiality of the Compiler and his efforts to
combine in this volume all that could he prejudicial to
the Acudians and justify their deportation, here is tlie
explanation that seems to me most probable. Philipps,
for feai' of seeing the Acadians escape, had shown him-
self meek and amiable toward them, and up to his
departuj the burning question of the oath had been
kept piar- • in. the shade. The pro])or thing to do
was to letsv j-vl years glide by, to await the favorable
moment, and, umil then, to treat the Acadians with the
greatest regard. This policy was all the more com-
mendable because the Indians of Maine Avere in open
war and those of Nova Scotia threatened to follow their
example, and in fai-t were already committing depreda-
tions. Under such circumstances Philipps could not
have failed to recommend strongly to Doucette mainte-
nance will) regard to the Acadians of that same prudence
and forlunirance which he himself had inausjfurated.
The inter]>()siti()n of the governor in the affairs of the
Acadians became almost null, and that is why his corre-
spondence contained nothing or almost nothing relative
to them, and especially nothing that could be turned
against them. Put, some will say, this volume was to
have been a compilation to serve for the general history
of the province. That is veiy true : but the Compiler
thought otherwise. For him, as 1 have said, and the
thing is evident, this volume was the combination of all
the documents that could throw some light on the
reasons that might have called for the de[)ortation ;
and, wiiatever did not tend to confirm this proof, or
whatever tended to overthrow it, was extraneous matter.

GAP IN THE AHCHIVES.

135

'-"*.-■

So true is this tijat, up to the foundation of Halifax,
this volume contains nothing Imt what relates to the
Acadians and to tlieir priests ; and, wlien a letter men-
tions something that does not relate to them, or some-
tliing that throws discredit on the governor or some
oilier important otlicial, this pari is systematically sup-
pressed, and this is done even when the omitted part
explains or exhibits in a different light the inserted
part. In this period, from 1722 to 1725, the Acadians,
(MMiformably to the orders of Fhilipps, had been left to
themselves, and the C'om})iler, Hnding nothing in
Diiueette's correspondence to support his proofs, found
nothing worth re[)roduciiig. Yet it is certain that
Doihettc nnist have had regular correspondence with
tlie iJoard of Tj'ade and with Fhilipps. If we suppose
the small number of four dispatches a ytiAv to the Lords
of Tiiule, as many to Fhilipps and the replies thereto,
we should have forty-eight documents, of which some,
though they contained nothing for or against the
Acadians, miglit at least be useful for the general
liisKjiy of the piovinee. Such had been the intention
of the legislature. 1 have sejn some of these docu-
ments, which in fact contained nothing of importance
to the Acadians.

In striking contrast with Fhilip[)s, Armstrong, who
succeeded Doucette in 1725. was a man of violent
tempei'. of a rough and disorderly ciust of mind, alto-
gether luitit for the fuiietions of a governor, even under
the most favorable eireumstanees, and still less suited
to the task of smoutiiing out dillieulties such as then
faced him. The most salient feature of his character
was, however, the capriciousness of his humor. Some-
times affable and obligiuf-, he was most often so harsh

ii'S\

186

AUMSTUONc; S AXTECKDKNT.S.

^illllil

.i.i' !

mM,

and brutal sis to provoke officers jiikI soldiei"s to insult
him i)ublicl3\

Tlie new governor was that same Captain Armstif»it<^
concerning whom, ten years before, Ijieutenant-Govcnior
CaulHeld addressed complaints to the Lords of Trade in
the following terms :

" 1 must own 'tis 7i'illi If ,i;reute.st reluctancy immiujimthU: that J
am obliged U) aciiuaint Your Lordships of ?/e /■;•«/» ewt tiitshi-hiirioiiy
of ra])tain Annstroui; of tiiis jiariison /(nofov/.s sprcnil uilnil'i/inils
licff. and by my next sliall transmit to Vour Lordships tlie several rom-
plaints ill behalf of yo said inhabitants."

In-. I '.od with absolute power over all the Province,
lie could liardly be expected to do aught else than vex
and worry it. And, in point of fact, lie was continually
at log^or-li ids with everybody : with the priests, with
his officers, with his soldiers, with his council, witheacii
member of his council, even more than with the Acadi-
ans. The volume of the archives, as might be guessed,
indicates only his (piarrels with the priests and the A( ;i-
dians, according to the above-mentioned policy of ex-
cluding wliatever might discredit Armstrong and woakon
the effect of his sayings and doings in regard to ilicin.
Fortunately, the hostilities of the Indians liad eii(k-(l
before his arrival at Annapolis ; else he would perluqis
liave plunged the Province into a nuist deplorable situa-
tion. At first, he seemed to wish to make Canso the
seat of liis government and assembled there a quorum nf
liis councillors ; but, the following year, he established
himself at Annapolis.

Tlis nomination to the post of lieutenant-governor had
alarmed the Acadians. From the moment of his arrival
at Canso, he spoke of nothing less than crossing Nova
Scotia in battle ari-ay and thus cutting the (xordian

m !'i

^i*^*^

ai;msti:ong s antecedents.

1 '>'^

knot, if only the necessary troops were furnished him.
Writing to the Seeretivr}' of State, he said:

" T have written fo tlio (JoveniniPiU, of Xew Engliind to '^oikI iiie
sixty Indians of tliat country, with twelve whale-boats, which, joined
with so many of our troops and forty men from Commodore St. Lo,
1 intend to take a tour throiish the rrovince to humbletlic villainous
french inhabitants. . . 1 hope we shall do our duty and },'ivpa ^ood
account of ourselves."'

All this had no other foundation than the taking of the
oath, and he relied on terroi- to exact it. However, lie
did nothing of the sort; but the Acadians long since
knew what they might expect from him. In the course
of the following summer they prepared for a general
emigration, fully resolved, should circumstances .,(> per-
mit, not to take any account of the prohibitions that
might be opposed thereto. Some families withdrew
that very year to settle in Prince Edward Island, where
the French goveriuneiit were preparing to receive them.
In July of that same year Armstrong wrote :

" They are resolved to quit the Province rather than take the oath,
and as I aminformed, have transported several of their cattle and other
effects."

Yielding to his irrepres.sil)le temper, he had hoped
violently to break down all opposition by spreading ter-
lor around him, and the only result he was obtaining
was the hatred and contem[»t of his officers and the de-
parture of the Acadians. The threatened exodus must
be stopped, or he would incur a severe reprimand and
ruin his dearest hopes.

Was lie going to let France strengthen her colony
with so many iisefid subje(,'ts? Was he going to let his
Province be deprived of the oidy inhabitants that he

Aig

138

Ai:MSTi:«)N<; skntimkntaf..

';tJ'« -v I'

: ii

I ;

lil'Nnff

had to govern .' What wouhl [»e(>i»lu say of him ?
What wouhl hi'come of the goveinmeiit with which he
was eliarged, what wouhl Ix'couie of his own [josition ?
All this tilled him with fear; his manner and tactics were
suddenly t'lianged; he inveigled the Acadians to well-
|)rei)ai('d meetings, where he stroke feelingly of the great
advantages they would secure hy accepting the oath
and cordially becoming the loyal subjects of King
(Jeorge. Then, as soon as he thought that the favor-
able moment had come, he proposed to them the taking
of the oath :

" lie liopt'd tlu-y had coino with a full rt'soiiitioii to tiikc tlu' oath
oi tiiU'lity ]ik«' ijiooil suhji-cts, iiuliircd witli .siiict'ic honest jiriiiciplt's
of .siihmissioii ainl loyalty lo so ijood and jjfi'acioiis a Kini;, who. upon
their so doiny, due and faithful observation of their saered oaths,
hiid promised them, not only the free exereise of tiieir religion, hut,
e\en the enjoyment of their estates and other inumniitics of his ow n
fice l)orn subjects of (J reat Ihilain ; and that for his part, while he
had the honor to eonunand. Ids (>nd«'avors should always be to main-
tain lo tlieni wliat His Majesty liad so graeiously vouehsafeil to
grant.

"Whereupon, at the re(|uest of sonu' of the iidiabitants, a french
translation of tlie oath recpiired to !)<• taken was read unto them.

" Upon wliieh, some of them desirinij that a elaiise wlierehy tiiey
may not hi' oltli<;ed to carry arms mii;ht he inserted,

'■ I told them thai Ihey had no reason to fear any sueh Ihiui; as
that, // fii'inn confriirii to the Jairs nf (tvcnt Urilaiti, llidt proriilr for, that all Ilis Maj-
esty requireil of them was fa In- J'dithfiiJ xnhji'rls.

ini.

and

B;i;^;^■

'• P.ut they, upon the motion made as aforesaid, still refusii
desirinsj; the same clause to he inserted, the (iovenior, with the
advice of the Council, siraiited the same lt> he written iiixni the )nnr-
f/in n/ Ihr J'renrli tniiixltitidn, in orilcr to (jet tlicnt nrer tnj ilajrees.
Whereupon, they look ami subscribed the same tutthinfrpvcti ami
eniillsf,. . . And havin-j; drank His Majesty's, the royal family, and
several other loyal healths. / ///</ tlicm ;io(><l nii/lil."'

Such is the report drawn up by Armstrong himself.

IIKiM COMKDV.

189

When a man of his position has tho rrtVontiMy tlius to
jtaiade his knavery in a public tlotuinent of this kind,
we naturally infer that his honor is not worth much.
This document is cui-ious, it throws a slronji' litrht on
the kind of diplomacy tliat was iLse<l toward the Aca-
dians. Itameau, from whom I «lraw, has analyzt'd it
MJlh much skill. 'I'he dramatic oi't-uj) of the whole
iitfair, says this historiiin, the feigned <>;ood-nature and
honeyed speeches of the man, tlie "Howing howl " that
wins consent, and the cordial " i(Ood-idght " that sends
everybody to l)ed "midlow *" : all this shows the consum-
mate craft of an artful dodgei'. A master-stroke is that
marginal note which he makes believe to accept in order
•• (o </ii fhi-ni over hij ijcji recti,'' and which he carelessly
inserts in only one of the reports read by no one and
never seen again. An admirable fabrication is that
subterfuge about militar}' service.

What I siiys Armstrong, 3'oa fear to be enrolled by
force? Know that, as you are Catholics, you would
not even have the right to enlist of your own free will.
His Majesty reserve's this honor for his Protestant sub-
jects only. Assui'edly this is one of the daintiest hoaxes
ever invented in the lealm of knavery. It belongs to
high comedy, not to history. A pity it is tliat Molieii'
)iever lieard of this adventure I " What ! "" would Scapin
have exclaimed, "Aie you afraid 1 will take your
purse? Why, my dear fellow, I wouldn't have it, ev<Mi
though you beggi'd me to take it."'

Scai'cely hadlii^ linishrd with the taking of the oath by
the inhabitants of l*ort Koyal, wdien he arrested Fathci
(Jaulin. their parish priest, '' that old nuschievous incen-
diary (Jaulin " as he calls him, on the plea that he had
meddled with affairs that did not concern his ministry.

i^-:

' 1.

'/*,'i

< : I

'^ I III !

140

AHltKST OF Aimi-: (iATMN.

# ii I i I

The offeiK^o, if it sliould be really coiisideied one, and if
the aeensatioii were well grounded, was ceitaiidy trivial:
at any rate thi.s ari-est might be ini|tolitic under the cir-
eunistanees. There still remained for him lo cause the
oath to be taken by the inhabitants of Grand I'le,
I'igiguit, Cobe(iuid. IJeaubassin, ete., that is by moic
than three-fourths of tbe entire population ; butsuch was
the irrepressible violence of his character that lie couhl
not control himself. His efforts to induce tlu; peojile of
these places to take the oath wcie ineff(!ct,ual. ('apt.
Bennett and Ensign I'hilipps, whom he had sent for this
purpose, returned without having ac<'omplished any-
thing. However, lu; does not attribnte tbe (;ause of it
to the arrest of Father (iaulin, if we judye bv his Ictlcr
of April :}<), 1727. to the Secretary of State.

The pid)lie will be surjjrised to learn that he imputes
liis defeat to the instigations of some merchants of
Boston and to Major Cosby, iifterward lieutenant-gover-
nor of Auna[)olis :

" SiiK'O my liisl I liiivc tlic^ mortification to tell Your (Jracc thai,
then; aiTivcd Iutc from Kostoii one M. (iambcll, a licuttMiaiit in lin-
army, avIio. I am told, rami' from lOnglaud witli .MiiJoiC'ostjy to l>o>toii,
wlicrc tli(! Majoi' still continues, ilio" I have ordcfcd him to his [tost
at Canso, and in dotiancc and disobedience to my oideis. stays In
New England lo know the result of the said (Jandx'H's false com-
plaints ajjainst me. After his arrival here frt)m England, heassoiiated
himself with some Buxlun (iiilUiiiinarchicnl t nnhru, who, to;;ether
with some ev:i intended french inhahilants. . . . incited them to
sign such oomiilaints as he had formed against me, telling them, that
I had no power nor authority to administer lliem such oaths, and also
that Major f'oshy woidd he with them this sjiring with full power to

govern the Province \n(l all this occasioned l)y tin- incitements

and ill conduct of the aforesaid Gambell. and three or foui' \ew Jmiij-
laiul iradi'rs,"

Mr. Parkman. it seems to me, ought not to have

,■( 'I

MOSTON a<;ainst ai;msti;(>n<;.

141

v.a

II >st

ill
iiii-
\M

1 In

i;\t
r to

(Mils

(le|iiive<l liis leadtMs of this dociimtiiit. iiiul of tlie other
still more imporlaiitoiie that precedes it. Thoy would
1h' iiilerosttid to know the tiiu^ iii\viirdn«'ss of the wrangle
to which Arnistronf,^ alludes. He must have had a
s])«'eial gift f(<r making enemies, sinee we have here
leagued againsi him a major of his own regiment, a
lieutenant from some oth(,'r regiment, and three or foui'
nierehants who liad come from Hoston to dissuade the
Aeadians from taking the oath that he proposed to them.
\V«; can understand his havin^r enemii;s in Acadia, hut
liis having- enemies as far as Boston is beyond us. That
there should he Frenehmen or piiests to dissuade tin?
Aeadians from taking the oath is oidy natural ; but that
Knglish oOieers and English mei'chants should do so is
most astounding. And if his yoke was hateful even as
far as Boston, what must it have been at Annapolis and
in Acadia?

Undejected by the failure of Bennett and Plnlipps,
Aimstrong- despatched to the Aeadians of the district of
Mines and Beaubassin a young offieer of the garrison
named Robert Wroth. He gave him some veiy detailed
instructions on the way he was to proceed. First, he
was to pioelaim tiu; accession to the throne of Flis
.Majesty (reorge II, and to celebrate the event by pulv
lic festivities, aftei- which he would make them sign the
proclamation of this event, and then, in the niek of time,
he was dexterously to slip in the oath of allegiance :

'' Vouare to behave st'eitiinyUf I'uth nn iilr of indiffcri'nn', aii.i yyi
are to represent to them hov^ Dirinc Proi'Ulenvc by wuijx uriforesepn
. . . .You are not to depart from my instruetions unless where circuni'
istaticcx loiil jihicr 111(11/ xo r)'<ii(ir(."

lave

In realitv Wroth had great latitude a.s to the oath

i - ''i

142

i;nm:KT nvumth.

lie Wiis to at'ccjtt. TIh' iii.striiclioiis ol' Ainisliony In
Wiotli. tin- i('|)(Ht ol' tlu' latter, tlio text of tin- oatli aiid
«i| tilt; couviMitions coiicIikUmI iM'twci'ii liiin ami tlic
Acadians iiic loiiiid in tlir Colonial liecords. Wlir
OIK' reads tlwse «lot'unients, it is easy to understand why
they were suppressed at Halifax, and still <'asiei- to
leuli/.e the fraud and duj>lieity with whieh Arnistr(»ny
presided at the taking of the oath.

"<'o|)y oC till' iiiilli of ffiilty which I left to thr iiihiihiliiiit^ of
ISrauhiissiii iiiKl ils(h>i><>uih'iici*-M:

"I (hisinccrt'ly rroiiiisc and swfiir that 1 will he faillifiil and Juar
'I'nu' Allciiiaiici' lo Mis Majesty Kiiij; (Jt'orj;*' the .Second. >io hidp nir
(iod.

" Orijiinal of llic arlicics tlial I ;,'ranl<'(l to tlio inhaljilant> i>f JMaii-

hassin

I. Itohcrt Wroth, <'lc.. rtc, inoMiisc and tji'ant in tlic iianif of the

kiiiii ftc, <'tt

lo tiu' inliahliants of licaiiltassin. etc., ftc

ailicU's ht'i'i' h<dow that Mioy liavc iciiiit'.'itt'd of iiif, iiaiiiidy:

•■ I, Tliat they shall he cxt'inpt from taking up arms af^ainst imy-
oiii'. so lun^ as Ihi'v shall Ix' under th(> rule of tin- kin;; of Kni;laiid.

■'!'. That they shall he frci- to withdraw whithiTsocvcr they will
think lit. and that they shall h<> <lisi-hari;t'd from this signed ai^n-c-
iiiciit. as soon as they shall he outside the domination of the Kin;,' of
Knylaiid.

■■ ;!. That they shall have full and entire lii>erty to practise their re-
ligion and to have (."atholie, Apostolic and Koman Priests.

" HOIJKKT Wkoth."

This oath did not differ perceptil)ly from tliat aecepted
by Arnistrono- from the inhabitants of Aimapolis, since
he liiniself had agreed to their exemption from military
seryiee and the otiier articles had been provided for by
the treaty of Utrecht.

The rei)ort of Wroth to the governor is very long
and detailed. It is very interesting retiding : step by
step, says Haniean, we can trace his method, \yluoh does

*'-4^^' ti''

^j .';,! ' ij

AN AMI. Mil. i; l;l.A< KJil Ai;i».

ll:

iiitt tlifl'ri- ruHii Armsti'oii;,'"s ji.s I'lir as I'liiud ^(ifs : Imt,
wliilo tlir liiltrr is iiiUM'rioiis iiml jiiissionatf, flic foiiiirr
is an ainialilc black^niairl wlio atlciids t(» liis alTairs
wliilr t'lijoyiiiLj liiiiiscH' ami wlio ciijuys liiinscir so as to
.iltcinl to tlicni iM'ttcr. Wlit'icvcr lie shows liiinscll,, lie
KjH'iis ])ro<'(MMliiijfs l)y l)aiH|iii'ts : a liaM(|iii't tlu^ liist (hy,
,1 liaiMint't llic sim'oimI; tlicii! is I'alin;^ and diiiikiiiif.
I lie liist day no special topic is iiitrodiicccl ; next da\,
ilic kinj^'s death is annoinnu'd and the accesNiun ol his
siK'cessor, who is j^'rcatly inU'restod in tim weHarc of ihc
Acadians. They diink in nx-nioiy of tin; (h-alh of tin!
former an<l foi- tlu; liealth of the; hitter: tlu'v diink in
honor of His (Jracions Majesty, they drink the iicalth
of the (^)Meen rejrnant, of the other (^>urcn ; they drink
t<» all the other I'oyal and htyal toasts; ihen thisamiahle
ltlack_t,njard winds up hy drinkint,' with feelintfs of coni-

lunction

to n

irnit'

t'liVlilt'Ufi' II

hi ill Uif iiuiifs lint

tiff

xirii.

Afl.

kliicli," icsiiiut's Wrotli, "1 jiiilf,"'! Ill" iiiuiiiriil liivoiiiljlt

lo iiilrniliK'i' my littlf (liscoiirsc us follows:

" I (loiil)i not, my iVii'iiils, you know wliat liiiiij,'s me Iicrc. how tliiit,
liy lilt' (It'iUli of till' Kiiif,', my iiiiisttT, of i,'lorious mcmoiy, Dn-'nif
I'riiriiliiifi- lias tiiifiiriibntstii iitfonlt'd you tin' ocrasioii." ....

Here, lie extols the kin^ and his bounty, hut makes
no mention yet of tlie oath, which was the ol)ject of his

mission ; on

ly, h

le convokes them to anotlier haiMiuct

duriuij which they wei'e to iirocetid to the jiroclaiminn'
of the king, and Wroth improves the occasion liy ex-
horting th(^m to bring as many friends as jxi.ssible, for
that they were to acclaim and sign the Proclamation of
the king.

The way was thus skilfully ^irejiared ; but in spite of
orchestral .symphonies, boiiliies, discharges of musketry.

144

i»()rr.i,H-i>KAi.iN(;.

m' fi

liurralis, LMitluisiastu- tosists, yen even the fumes oi
liquoi', these Aeiulians I'ad not (juite lost tlieii- wits,
and, when ho finally presented the written oath to liave
it signed, they respectfully reminded liim that lie had
forgotten to complete it, and requested him to insert tlie
restrictions they had always demanded in such an emer-
ijeney. Tic flew into a rarje, cooled down, returned to
the attack on the morrow ; but, with their simple good-
nature, he found them still inexorable.

,tfi;f

fiff^' ,

" They still insistod upon the saiiio ih-mauds, and after having seri-
ously weii^hed them, and not judging thoin repugnant to Treaties,
Acts of I'arliiiinenl and Trade, 1 granted them as an indulgenee, and
l)y reason of their ditlidenee of my authority, / icus obUycd to certify
the sitnte in llio body of the oafh."

It was the same at Mines : the same matmnivres, the
same results. There, objections were made with refer-
ence to the word " obeirai,"

"... lohieh'juce me no conrern,the ewilixh lieuvj what Iliad to^ovrvn
myself til/ ; and finding hy adviee, the same might he translated in a
manner more agreahle to them, and. at the same time, as eonformahie
to the english and as binding ; I thoiiijht jiroper to alter the Nin)!!-,
as appears hy the oath they took."

So, here we have, nay?. Rameau, a man who does not
scruple, in a treat}^ of which two copies were extant, to
alter one of them so as to render the agreement more
acceptable, and who is, meanwhile, fully aware that tiie
French will understand the text in one way, while he,
the Englishman, will understand it in quite a different
way. After all, says he, I will sign whatever they
wish ; for nte, only the English text will count.

Wroth was very badly received by Armstrong, and
yet he had not swerveil from his instructions ; he had,

DOUBLE-DEALING.

145

substantially, followed the same line of conduct as
Armstrong himself. By a decision of the council the
oath obtanied by Wroth was declared null and void •
but, most strange to relate-for tliese negotiations are a
series of surprises-it was declared in the same resolu-
tion that, since the inhabitants had signed these acts and
proclaimed His Majesty, they had become his subjects
and would enjoy all the privileges attached to that
quality, which no doubt also implies all the obligations
resulting therefrom.
10

**«

A*?i

Vl^'

146

PHILIPPS KEDUX.

CHAPTER VII.

k] . >

Return of Philipps— All the Acadians of the peninsula take the
oath — Nature of this oath — It was entitlfd '•Oatli of failty,'^
(" Sermerit de Fidelite"), and tlif Acadians e called

" French Neutrals " — What the Compiler thinks ol vliis — Park-
man.

Whoever confronts Armstrong's reports on the ques-
tion of the oath witli his letters to tlie Lords of Trade
after his operations at Annapolis, the other letter that
followed the failure of Captain Bennett, his instructions
to Wroth and the hitter's report, can easily account for
the indignation the Lords of Trade must luive felt in
presence of this series of administrative tomfooleries
and tricks, wortliy, at hest, of a horse-jockey or a street
mountebank. The exploits of Wroth had filled u[) the
measure ; all this nonsense must now be stopped : the
Government's dignity gravely compromised by Arm-
strong must be restored; a linal and fairh' reasonable
settlement must be made of this eternal Acadian
question.

The Ivords ol" Trade had recourse to Pliili])[)s. who
always retained the title of Governorof Xova Scotia. It
was not without regret that he (piitted London where
he led so pleasant a life of leisure on his large salarv.
He himself, in his first attempt, it is true, had not been
more fortunate than Ai'instrong ; but he was able at least
to command attention by his high position, bis coiully
manners, his urbanity ; and, at all events, the digiiitv of

HE ADMINISTERS THE OATH.

147

the crown would be safe in his hands. Moreover,
knowing by his own experience the inflexible determina-
tion of tlie Acadians with regard to military exemption,
he brought with him or was expected to have brought
a solution to tlie difiiculty, a middle term, wiiich, lie
trusted, would give them satisfaction. We know not
the tenor of his instructions, but his subsequent acts
permit us to form a very correct estimate thereof.

Hardly had Philii)ps landed at Annapolis wlicn he
set to work, and three weeks later, he wrote to tiie
Lords of Trade that he had administered the oath to all
the inliabitants of Anna[)olis, and that at the opening of
navigation he would do the same for the inhabitants of
Mines, Cobequid and Beaubassin, who, it was said, were
all disposed to take it resolutely, '' as they are pleased to
exprc:;s that the good likeing they have to my Ciovein-
ment, in compariHon of what they e.rpet'lenced iiftcncanh^
did not a little contribute, and therefore, rcservt'd this
honor for me ; indeed, 1 hare had no ocea^^iun to make
nse of threats ami eonipalifiijn.'''

Philipps liad arrived in December, 1720. On Sep-
tember 2nd following, he infoi-med the Lords of Trade
that he had completed the tendering of the oath to all the
Acadians of the province. " ^V work." says he, " wliit-h
became daily more necessary in rt'gai'd to tlie great in-
crease of those people, who are this day a formidable
body and, like Noah's progeny, spreading themselves
ovei' the face of the Province. Vou are not unae(|U!iinted
that for twenty years i)ast they have contiimed stubborn
and refractory U[)on all sunnnons of this kind, /"'/
harhii/ ensai/eil the dlfferenee of Goi<ern)ne)it in mif
absence, they signilied their rciuliness to comjily ....
Thus far the peace of the country is settled."

li:

148

ORAL PROMISE.

How had Philipps been able to ol)tiuii, andiiiipareiitly
with so much ease, what he himself and otlieis liad
hitherto failed to obtain? Was tiiis, as he boasted, (hie
to tlie superiority of his metiiods, to the niildiiess of liis
govermnent? What had really liapjx'ued ? What wa<
the nature of the oath obtained ? Was tliere a clause
exempting tlie Acadians from bearing arms against the
French and their allies ? And if so, was it written or
verbal ?

The answer is easy. Philipps, it is true, did not ex-
jilain that to the Lords of Trade, he merely says that he
took care not to imitate Wroth's shameful surrender.
Any further statement was unnecessary, since he had
but just come from England, his instructions were quite
fresh, and the question must have been discussed in all
its different aspects before his departure, l^hiiipps well
knew by his own sad experience that lie could not hope
for an unrestricted oath ; lie must therefore have come
with a solution all prepared, and this solution was — to
agree hi/ word of month with the Acadians that they should
be exempt from bearing arms. A written promise an-
nexed to the oath was the difficulty that the authoiities
could not surmount ; it was, thought they, a shameful
capitulation, a derogation from the dignity of the crown.
It was not so for an oral promise, and that was, I have no
doubt, the concession which Philipps was instructed to
grant; for, in England at least, it was very well under-
stood that the Acadians could not be obliged to take up
arms against their fellow-countrymen. For the Acadians,
the objection to an oral promise was the lack of security ;
but this obstacle was not insurmountable. With a
man of Philipps's high position, newly arrived from Eng-
land, who vouched for the word of his sovereign, the

,»••«-:

HALIBUUTON S VI KW.

149

guarantee seemed sufHcieiit, and dirtideiice ceased. Such
was, I firmly believe, the compromise j)roposed, discussed
and accepted ; it readily explains the prompt success of
the negotiations.

When Ilaliburton wrote his liistory of Nova Scotia,
he had not access to the documents wc now possess. He
does not even seem to liave seriously ti'ied to penetrate
the problem ; but, with his knowledge of this people, his
great talent of observation, developed by liis experience
as a lawyer and a judge, he innnediately perceived that
the Acadians could not have accepted an unrestricted
oath : but he supi)Oses treacliery ; he recalls Armstrong's
impostures, and supposes that some artifice of the kind
had been practised. He camiot have convinced these
men, he must have deceived them, says he. He was
right in tlie sense that the Acadians did not indeed take
an unrestricted oatli. Hut I do not think they were
deceived. The promise was only verbal, but was ac-
cepted as a solemn promise. Haliburton, judging accord-
ing to previous events, cannot believe the Acadians
accepted simple oral promises. His mistake arises from
his not adverting to the wide distinction they drew be-
tween a man of Armstrong's character, so violent, so
crafty, so lickle, so little respected by the people about
him, a man whose position was after all only secondary,
and Philipi)s with his imi)Osing dignity, his high position
and the autliorizatiou wl)ich he had brought with him
from England.

Contrary, then, to several historians, who have su^v
posed a written restrictive clause annexed to the body
of the oatli and afterwards supi)ressed as was the oath
itself, wliich is not in the an-hivcs of Halifax. 1 assert
that, in all likelihood, the Acadians were not deceived by

'U'^\

•* 'l!'

150

lawkexce's testimony.

i I

>?li III

Philipps, that the restrictive clause about not bearing
arms was only verbal, and was accepted as such.

I would Jiot undertake to establisli tlie proof of this
restriction, had not the Compiler objected to it, and
Paikman accepted his ol)jection. According to them
the oath of fidelity was taken by all the Acadians vol-
untarily and without any written or verbal condition.

In sui)port of my contention, I shall first cite Gov-
ernor Lawrence, the very man who deported the
Acadians. In his circular to the governors of New
England, whicli accompanied the transports laden with
exiled Acadians, I iind the following : " The Acadians
ever refused to take the oath of Allegiance, without hav-
infi at the Kanw t'nnc from the Governor an axaurance in
7vrithi(/ that they should not he eaUed upon to hear arms
in the defence of the Province, and with this General
Philip})s did conijdi/^ of which I lis Majesty disap-
proved."

This would seem to prove clearly that there was a
written promise; l)ut Lawrence, 1 have every reason to
believe, was mistaken in that detail. The point on whicli
he wished to throw light was the restriction in the oath,
and that alone is well founded ; the details, which were
only incidental to the principal fact, are false ; and it
is equally false that His Majesty disapproved this re-
striction, for not the slightest trace of such disapproba-
tion a[)pears in the public documents. All we see there
is a small discussion between the Lords of Trade and
Philipps on the construction of a sentence in the oath, a
mere matter of grammar. Lawrence, avIio was not very
particular, has construed this simple question of syn-
tax into a formal disapprobation of the oath.

In another letter of Lawrence to Sir Thomas Robin-

A (JLOUD OF WITNKSSKS.

l.")!

son, of November 30, lT')o, wo find the follow! iiuf.
relative to the AcacUans of I>eaul.)a«sin:

" They were the ilesccndants of those French who had taken the
oath of allegiance to llis Majesty in the lime of Gntrrdl P/iilijtj'K's
Government, with the reserve of not taking arms."

Another letter from Lawrence, in the Archives of
Nova Scotia, page 259, contains this passage :

" As the Acadians of this Province have never yet at any time taken
the oath of allegiance uiKjunllfieil.''''

Governor Cornwallis, in his letter, dated Septeml)er
11, 1749, to the duke of Bedford, writes:

" I cannot help saying that General Philipps deserved the highest
punishment for what he did here, fiLs allowing) a reserve to tin' oath
<it' (ilhi/lcncr."'

Tliesame Governor, addressing the Acadian deputies,
said :

" Yon have alwai/s re/useil to tak<> this oath without an expressed
reservation.''^ *

Governor Ilopson, writing to the Lords of Trade,
December 10, 1752, said :

" Lord Cornwallis can likewise acquaint you tha„ he inhabitants of
Beauhassin who had taken the oath with General Philipjjs's eonill'
tion "

Governor Mascarene, in a letter to Shirley in April
1718, said with reference to the oath obtained by
Philipps :

" The Acadians intending to have a clause not to be obliged to take
up arms against the French, though not inserted, they have always

♦N. 8. Archives, p. 174.

■*-.

1 1^ ju^^diJiii

::m

M-"5

I/'-

152

ACADIAN CERTIFICATE.

1. 1«!

stood was promised to tliciu ; <iitd I hacv heard it owned by Umsv who
were at Miiien when the onth wan adinhustered at that itlnre, that
snrh a proin'me w(ik ijircn. Tln'ir ploa with the French, who pressed
them to take up arms, was their oath.''^

In 1744, when war was raging between France and
England, an attempt was made to oblige the Acadians
to serve as pilots and guides ; but tlie Acadians, believ-
ing that their oath exempted them from a service that
appeared contrary to their neutrality, addressed a petition
to the govei'iior to ask liim his opinion on this point.
Governor Mascarene replied :

" If in taltini; this oath of allegiance, the Government was kind
enoui.'li to say to yini, that it vniilil not roniini i/oit to tiike mi unns, it
was out of puri' doferenee. That they were not thereby exempted from
serving as pilots and guides. . . . Whereupon, they withdrew their
petition.

There are other proofs of the same kind in twenty
different places in the volume of the Archives, and
particularly on pages 204, 233, 234.

It was not without some apprehension that the Aca-
dians consented to waive their claim to a written proof;
so, in order to provide for emergencies, they, immediately
after the taking of the oath, drew up a certificate, which
was signed and attested, and addressed to the minister
of foreign affairs in Paris, to be, in case of necessity,
appealed to by the French Government.

" We, Charles de la Goudalie, priest, missionary of the parish of
Mines, (Grand Pre and River aux Canards) and Xoel Alexandre Xoir-
ville, priest bachelor of the faculty of theologians of la Sarbonne, mis-
sionary and parish priest of the Assumption and of the Holy Family
of Pigiguit, certify to whom this may concern, that His Excellency
Richard Philipps, etc., etc., has promised to the inhabitants of Mines
and other rivers dependent thereon, that he exempts them from bear-
ing arms and fighting in war against the French and the Indian*, and

|fc'' ;i

"FRENCH NKUTRALS.

loa

iiof

|oir-
Inis-
luily
]noy

lines

Ipar-

aiid

that tho said inhabitants have only accopted allegiance and promised
never to take np arms in the event of a war against the Kingdom of
England and its government.

" The present certificate made, given and signed by ns here named,
this April 2."», 17o0, to be put into the hands of the iidiabitants, to be
available and nsefn! to them wherever there shall be need or reason
for it.

'• Signed : de la Gondalie, parish priest; Xoel Xoirville, priest and
missionary.

"Collated by Alexander Bourg Uello-IImueur, this i*")th April,
1730."

It would Ijo (lifficult not to admit tlio foi'oo of tlie
proof I Imve just given. I miglit add thejtgry signili-
oant fact tliat, since 1780, the Acadiaiis Avere univeisally
known bv tlie name of '•'' French Ni'Kfraf.s.^'' Thus are
they very often designated by the olTicial document.s
emanating from the governors of the province and from
the Lords of Trade. To pretend, as the Compiler does,
tliat their oath contained no restriction, woukl be to de-
•stroy all the signitieance of this appellation, and to sup-
pose an absurdity.

In spite of all this evidence the Compiler says :
*' Governor Philipps, on his return to Anmipolis iit 1780,
brought the people, at last, to take an unconditional oath
iriUintjly.'''' The reader will be curious to know what
grounds the Compiler had to establish a pretension that
was never alleged at this epoch, and which is expre.s.sly
and repeatedly contradicted by all the governors of
the Province, who succeeded Philipps, namely : by ^[as-
carene, Cornwallis, Ilopson, and Lawrence. The reply is
very sim})le : his pretension is utt(;rly groundless. In the
entire volume, which he himself compiled, there is not
one sentence, not one word that sup])orts his pretension
or implies it, whether directly or indirectly. This may
appear strange, but it is not so for me who am accus-

>^e^

■Am^

w:.

'W.

^ ' ^

ir,4

THK COMl'ILKU INVKNTS.

tonu'd to tlio artifices of the Coniijiler. It would be
dinii'ult to express in fit language tiie conduct of a man
who dares to uphold such views not only without any
proof, but against a mass of documents that destroy
them.

" In April, 17-50,"' says tlui Com[»ilei-, '' Ciovernoi" Phil-
il51)s ann()uiict!(l to the council the utnindllfwd sul)-
mission of the inhabitants." No such thing occurred.
Neither to his council, nor to the Lords of Trade did Phil-
il)ps ever use the expression " uiuiudllficd^'' nor any other
equivalent one ; at least there is not a trace thereof in
the Compiler's volume, and there can be no doubt that
any document that contained such an ex[)ression would
not have been omitted, as he omits such documents only
as are unsuiled to his jjui'pose.

Until now I have had to attack only his bad faith,
and that was bad enough ; but it is, if such a thing be
possible, outdone by his presumption. Listen to him :

" The term " Xoiitral French"' having been so frcqnently applieil
to the Acailians in pnhlic doeinnents, tlieir constant denial of an nn-
qnalifieil oalli ever havinj; l)een lalten by them, tlie reiterated asser-
tions of tlieir i)riests. . . led the governors at Halifax, in 174i), and at
subsequent periods, crronconsUi to mtiiposc that no unconditional
oath of alleuianee had ever been taken by the people of Acadia to
the British Crown."

This is really ridiculous. A man must fancy himself
endowed with intuitive cognition and born with infused
science, before he thus ventures to substitute his own
groundless view for the wisely formed o])inions of all his
predecessors, and to set himself against them all. lie
is ludicrously in earnest when he proclaims to the world
that the term "French Neutral" never had any foun-
dation in fact. The contemporaries of these events, the

n „ '\

TIfK rOMl'ILEU INVKNTM.

i:>r,

governors and Lords of Trade, \vlieii tlu-y iimde use
of it in public doeunients, kiievr not what they weie
sayiuj^'. Masearene, wlio had Ijeeii i)res(.'iil at the liikiii^^
of I'ort Koyal in ITlO, wlio in 17-)0 was counseUnr to
Philipps, and in 1740 oovornor liiniself, knew nothing'.
'J'he ttrfii'crs of tlie <^arrison wlio h;id lu'cii, some of them,
witnesses of tliis ttmcU-ring* of tin; oalli, and who iiad
rej)orted it to Masoarene, Cornwallis, liopson and Law-
rence, knew nothintic. All these governors had a thou-
sand ways of ascertaining the true stale; of the i-ase ;
yet, they knew nothing. The facts that they so posi-
tively allii'm were contrary to their interests and desires,
and, nevertheless, they let themselves he imposed ui)on
by the aflirniations of the Aeadians. What a fraud
history is, if this be the case I Hut, considering that
this attempt to overthrow one of the best established
historical facts is supported only by the qixe dij-it oi a
man living in a dilTerent century, even though he be a
com[)iler of archives, I prefer to say : What monumen-
tal audacit}' !

" Their constani <hnii<tl Jed the f/nvermrrn to Re-
lieve '' , as if there had then been a great contro-
versy on this subject between the Aeadians and the
governors ; whereas, I repeat, there is not one sentence,
not one word in the whole volume of the archives, com-
piled by himself, that shows it was so. It is a pure
fabrication. And, if in reality this (piestiou had been
the object of a controversy, it would be necessary to
believe that the Aeadians were able to satisfy these
governors that their pretension.s were well founded, and
then it would be rash for afu-de-niecle compiler of the
nineteenth century to dispute the validity of facts a
century and a half old, already pondered, matured and

\tx

l^r'*^ -

P)^'

¥%

100

I'AKKMAN UKUTIFIKS,

III III

If*?'

accepted by contemporaries wliose interest it was not to
admit tliem. " 'IMurir fotiHfitnf dvnlnl of an nntiualilied
oath, and the nitcnttvij (ism'rfloHx of their priests . . . hid
the governors erroneonsly to ixdieve ". . . . Accordinj^
to this ineffahU,' compiU'i', the testimony, the constant
allirmations of the Acadians and their piiests, all count
for nothing, are not worth the least verbal report of tlio
vilest soldier of the garrison : that is no doubt the
reason why he lias systematically omitttid the few
documents coming from the A(;adians. In this spirit
has all this volume been comjjiled.

llaliburton, it is easy to sec, cannot have known the
opinion on this subject of the four governors I have
just named ; however, his powers of observation and his
legal instinct, aided by his impartiality, had guidi'd him
securely in this search for truth, lbs had not been able
to believe in an oath without restriction : tlu' subse-
([uent discoveries showed he was riglit. Thus is true
histoiy written; one must possess these (lualities to
write it ; otherwise it is only a lie.

Parkman, on this point, as on man}- (»theis, has
endorsed the opinion of the Compiler. It is so conven-
ient to find opinions ready-made. Hut, there is this
difference between them: while the Compiler had abso-
lutely no ground for his opinion, Parkman liad at least
the excuse of resting on the Compiler's authority.
Slender as this is, let him have the benefit of it.*

*Sinco tho furogoiug was written. Mr. Parkman iu liif' ii<'v.
Half Century of Couillct" lias recUlk'tl in tLi'so terms %vl
nicrly said :

" Hoeontly.howover, ovidoneo has appearod that, so far at
the Acadians on and noar tho Minos IJasin, the cflt'i't of the
lli'd by a promise on tlie part of I'hilipps that thoy should not i
to tako up arms cither against French or Indians."

Mr. Parkman had accepted tho opinion of the Compiler without verify-
ing it. I must do him tho justice of admitting that ho likes to found his

i ->r-

I-'

ivfjards

isi(uali-

iMpi i-(>d

I'AUKMAN UKCTIFIKS.

• }i

aUitomt'Utt* on Koiiiething ; hut ln' is wr<>ii>{ in miyiiiK: " nri'titli/ t>viili<ii(>i>
hiis iiiipcarcil," U>r witii tin- cxcoiitinii of tlio iillldiivit nf Mi'ssrs. di' In
(iiiiiilitlii>, Noirvillo iind Unwru, tint cntirit iiniiif I iiitvc |iriiiliii-oi{ in ilruwu
fnmi till- vnliimiMif tli(« Arcliivi's ItHi'lf, wliii'li li(< (lUoti'M fri'iiiii'iitly In hu
fcirint'r worli, " Wolfe iind Montciilni ; " liowi'V(<r, sonio liilior Is ni'i'ilcil to
niniliin<> th«» fiii'tors of tills proof. lJ<>Hl(lcs,liis i-orroction is iiu'oniiili'ti', us
he apiilios to the AcinliuuH of Miues whut shuuld iii>|)ly touU.

4' 'IS.,

•'A
.1 for-

v.iify-
nd his

j.'^'if

158

QUESTION APPARENTLY SETTLED.

rHAPTER VIII.

,i "'

Pliilipps returns to England 1731 — Armstrong resumes the admin-
istration of tlie i)rovinfe — His character, his difficulties witii
Major Cosby, Blinn, Winniett, etc. — His relations witli Mau-
geant — The Conii)iler. his omissions, his artifices — Suicide of
Armstrong, Dec. 6th, 1739.

At liLst, this question of the oath, so long an occasion
of strife, vexation and uncertainty, Avas, apparently at
least, settled for good. There was no more question of
it for twenty years till the foundation of Halifax in 1T4!>.
Until then, the Acadians had been held captive in the
eoinitry by the orders and hindrances of the governors,
who had refused to accept in good faith the treaty and
conventions of Queen Anne.

Wearied of a bootless struggle, the Acadians had
accepted the oath of fealty Avhich granted them tlie
exemption Avhich they clung to so earnestly. They were
becoming English subjects, and were iinally giving up the
ever-entertained idea of a departure. Their agricultural
holdings, which had suffered from this uncertainty, were
about to make rapid progress. Peace and contentment
were about to take the place of distrust, and prosperity
was going to spring up anew.

This period of twenty years was the most tranquil,
tlie happiest and most prosperous in the history of
Acadia. The Acadians had still to suffer from Arm-
strong, who, for nine years after the departure ul'

"PROCUL A JOVE.

159

Philipps, once more filled the office of lieutenant-
governor; but as much might be said of the garrison,
the officers and the council, all of whom suffered perhaps
even more than the Acadians, because the daily contact
they had with him exposed them still more to his whims
and bursts of anger. On the whole the Acadians did
not feel the yoke too severely ; in fact, those of Mines
jind Beaubassin were almost left to themselves. For a
long time there was almost no other garrison in the
Province than that of Annapolis. Outside this place the
authority of the government was in no way represented,
except perhaps by the notary, who was at the same time
receiver of the rents Jind revenues of tlie Crown, which
were very little. These notaries, moreover, were them-
selves Acadians,* and, during six months of the year, all
communications between these places and Annapolis were
interrupted. Disagreements between Acadians were
rare, and were usually settled by arbiters, except tliose
arising from the limits of their lands, which were re-
ferred to the Council of Annapolis. These latter seem
to liave been frequent after 1730. These properties
had never been regularly surveyed, and, as the popula-
tion rapidly increased and the government refused or
delayed to make new concessions, the result was re-
peated subdivisions of the land and frequent conflicts,
which were submitted to the decision of the council. I
shall return to this subject.

I would like to speak as seldom as possible of the
Com[)iler, but, in spite of myself, I am forced to return
to him, because he puts me in the impossibility of passing

* Jean Duon was notary at Annapolis, Pierre BerKoron at Beaubassin,
Alexauiln* Bourj^ at Min(>s. Saint Cenne was physician at Annapolis, ,
Bugeaud and Moutuu at Mines.

iikk

Hl/1£

»w

i^4

lt)0

GRAVE LACUNAE.

K**V

an enlightened judgment on many a phase of this
history. His volume, which, in the intention of the
Legislature, was to serve for the general history of the
province, is, as I have already said, only a compilation
of complaints against the Acadians and the clergy.
Insignificant as they sometimes are, they take up the
whole of his space during Armstrong's administration,
from 1725 to 1740. There is not in the volume of the
Archives a single document emanating from the Acadians
or their priests during these fifteen yenva ; it was not,
however, hecause they were completely wanting, since
in several of Armstrong's letters to the Loi-ds of Trade
he makes mention of copies of such documents which he
communicates to them.

Not only does the volume of the Archives contain
nothing hut letters setting forth complaints against the
Acadians and the clergy, hut these letters are mutilated
in such a way as to exclude all that does not relate
thereto. It is easy to understand that Armstrong in his
letters to the Lords of Trade must have most carefully
avoided whatever mijjht damaqe him ; hut his other let-
ters, treating of his endless difficulties with his officers,
his council and all his attendants, are quite sufficient to
give us a clear insight into his charactei', and these
were omitted hy the Compiler, who, I have no hesitation
in saying it, has carefully eliminated all that might
direct suspicion to Armstrong. And, if Armstrong's
own letters are a sufficient portrait of himself, how much
more life-like that portrait would he, if in each case the
letters of others ahout him were also shown ? Did the
Compiler imagine that writers who like to get to tlu-
hottom of a (question were going to accept as proved
and indis[)utahle every accusation hrought hy Arn)-

Alt.MSTUONC; S MlSDEliDS.

i<n

strong, even were this nmii what the Compiler litis eii-
deiivored to make him ? With some {)eople, doubtless,
he luis suceeedcid ; but all this deception will come to an
end : for, not to speak of the researches of painstaking
writers on this sul)ject. the (rovei'iiment of Nova Scotia
will. I trust, understand bow it is its bounden dutv to

have the Archives

d that

ilati

nave me Arciuves overJiauieu ana mat cominiation
com[)leted and corrected, whitli has issued so incomplete
and so one-sided from the bands of Thomas B. Akins.

'riu'ougb the fMult of this Compiler, I am unabU; to
salinity myself and the i)ublic fully as to Armstrong's
administiation, whicb occupies, in the period of history
I am engaged on, fifteen years, that is, nearly one-third
of the whole. Though tbe Compiler's liandling of tbe
othei' two-thirds is not niucb better, I have at least bad,
in certain parts, tbe advantage of receiving more com-
plete information from documents outside the volume
of the Archives.

I will, however, try to make up, as best I can, for the
Compiler's omissions, and to show, what he hides, tbe
chaiacter of Armstrong ; for that purpose T shall in eei-
tain cases receive help from the curtailed portion of the
documents that he delivers to us, in others, from new
documents coming mostly from Armstrong himself.
Thus, to a great extent, which ivS certainly a rare priv-
ilege, Armstrong shall be judged by himself.

We have already seen what Lieutenant-Governor
(^aultield said of him to the Lords of Trade, when Arm-
strong was as yet only captain in the regiment gar-
risoned at Annapolis in 1715. We have seen how be
had made himself enemies at Boston among the mer-
chants of the place. AVe have seen, ])esides, by another

letter dated October 24, 1735, not cited iu the volume of
11

lim

!^P

i'<*k»

J 1;

1(12

AlIMSTIJONti S MISDEEDS.

^ii?'"

fttr

1 1 ' I-

Ihe Arcliives, tliat, a« soon as lie arrived at Canso fiom
Loiulon with liis commission as lieutenant-governor, lie
wrote to the T^ords of Tiade, that he had asked to have
from Boston sixty Indians and twelve whalers, tliat he
liad fioni Commodore St. Lo the promise of sixty
maiines, that, with all of these joined to the soldiers of
ills gariison, he intended to traverse the province for
;lit' purpose of forcing the Acadians to take the oath.
He ended his letter thus: "T hope we shall do our
duty, and give a good aci-ount of ourselves." True, he
(lid nothing of the kind ; hut pei'haps he could not help
himself. At all events this letter speaks volumes for
his character.

At the same time he complained of Captain John
Kliot, Captain Fraidclin, Captain Kenwood and several
others. OnSe2;iember 28, 172*5, he accused his servant,
.lohn Nichols, of an assault on his person. In the month
of July following. Mr. Shirrcff, secretary of the council,
lesigned his position after some diffieulties he had with
Armstrong. A month later, as Murdoch writes: "A
discord ai'ose between Armstrong and M. M. Winniett,
James Bliim and Bissell, merchants, connected with the
sup[)lics for the garrison." August 2Bd, Armstrong in-
formed the council: "of M. Blinn's insolent behaviour
t(i him on ]\Iouday last, u})on the public parade, before
most of the oiliccrs and soldiers of the garrison, wliere,
after a great d(>al of disrespectful language and unman-
jierlv Q'cstures, he. at leiinth, told him that he would
not give him two pence for his commission."

In September of ihe sanu; yenr he noli tied the inhabi-
tants of Annapolis to take the oath. Tliev refused un-
h^ss he Avould insert the restriction, ]]() impi-isoncd llie
tlnee delegates they sent him, l.,an(liy, Bourgeois and

'. r i:

III

WINMKTT

168

Richard : " It was ordered that they .shouhl he sent to
prison and laid in irons." Landry's wife applied to
Armstrong, in consequence of her hnshand heing
dangerously ill, to grant his liherty on s\irety for his re-
turn when recovered. Her piayer was rejected.

July 12, 1728, Armstrong wrote to Mr. Stanion. of
the ofhce of the Secretaiy of Stale : " Several com[»laints
heing sent against me hy two or three malicious leachMs
in this Province, although not exhihited, hut lodged in
the hands of Governor Philipps, who. I am suie, only
wants a proper o[)[)ortunity of making his own use of
them to my i)rejudice." Mui'docli. the ostimahle author
of a history of Nova Scotia, to whom I owe some of my
quotations, saj's, that Armstrong had, in 1711 and after-
wards, undergone some losses, and that in consetiuence
he hecanie '^ miha/tpi/, irrifafiJi', iwu] jt'o/diis. lie sus-
pected Philipps and Coshy <»f heing his enemies." the
last named gentleman hecause he had niarried the
dauohtcr of Winniett, with whom Armstrono' Imd had
some dilliculties. '"Mr. Winniett," continues Murdoch,
"seems to have heen maiTJed to an Acadian lady and
to have had great personal inthience among the Aca-
dians, hut I helieve it was never used for any inqtroper
purpose, and that he was upright, loyal and kindly dis-
l)osed.'* ^

.lune 2;>, 1720, Armstrong wrote again to the Lords

1 Wiiinii'tt, who wtiH a mcrfbant at Aimaixilis and I'ouusollor of tbi' rov-
iTiKii-, had inarrii'd in 1711 Marii' Maili'liiiii' Maisoiinat. sccoml daii^rhtiT
nf I'it'rn- Maisoiiiiat anil .Miirt,'ni'riti' limirKt'ois. Tliis Tii'iTi' MaiM'hiiat,
ill till' wars tliat in'cci'iicd thr caiitiiri' of I'oi't lioyal, was, top'tiicr with
PiiTi't^ Moi'|iaiii and Francis (iuyoii. till' terror nf liostnii I'oninn'ri'i'. lli«
was kiiDwn tliroiij;lif>,.t all N'l'W I'.iij^'laiid liy tin- naiiii' of '•/.'((/.,''.-•/(."
Toward 17(1(1 Ids vi'ssi'i was talii'ii and lio liiiiisrif liiii\i},'lit prisoner t" ISns-
t<Mi. Ill 1707 111' was i'.\chaii>,'i'd for llov. Jolm Williaiiis, tin' iinfortuii.iti'
vii'tini (if till' niassai'ii' of I)i'i'rtli'lil. Major t'osliy. lii'Uti'iiant-),'ovi'riior of
the >,Mrrison of Anua|Kilis. inarrii'd Anno, the eldest dau^'hter of Winniett.
I'iorre Maisoiinut settled about 1712 at ]}eaubassin with his wife's relatives.

!?»^**

Ill

.f8

104

MAUCEANT.

of Tiadi'. Ill this letter, wliioh is very long, lie coin-
i)liiiiis of everj-body, of Major Cosby in particular, of
Father Hreslay, of the French papists, of the collector of
customs, etc., etc.

On the arrival of Philipps, in IT^iO, Armstrong went
back to England, whence he returned the following
year. Here is what Pliilipps Avrote to the Secretary of
State a few weeks after his anival at Annapolis : '• I
found at my coming <( (/cncrdl (lixsafisf'ivfin)! hi nil
/>rt/"^v,iind disagreement between the two lieutenant-gov-
ernors (Cosily and Armstrong) aliout the I'ight of
pow(!r and command, which drew the inferior oflicers
Into parties; but I assurt' Voui'draccit is now the reverse.
-Tot/ and sttf/xfacfion appear in everij rountenancc amonif
till' pi-oplt'^ and in the garrison tranquillity.'" '

This letter is in the volume of the archives, l)ut tlie
part I quote is omitted. Doubtless it is by mistake the
Compiler dates this letter January 8, 1T2J\ for in
ieality it .should be January o, 1730.

The followino- fact is a rev(dation of Armstrono-'s
eliarac'ter. In 172(3, tliei-e arrived at Annajiolis a
Frenchman by the name of Maugeant, who, when ex-
amined by the council, admitted that lie was fleeing
from French justice for a murder he hsid committed at
Quelicc. He pleaded as ail excuse .self-defence. Arm-
.'•;trong made him his man of business, his instrument,
and, as far as we can judge, his intimate counsellor.
With Armstrong's contidciice and protection, Maugeant
incurred the detestation of evervbodv: oflftcers, soldiers,
and Acadians. His infatuation for Maugeant was so
great tliat he took him with him to England, on the
arrival of Philippts. Here is what Philipps wrote of
him, September, 2, 1730 :

VHILllM'S AM> Alt.MSTItONO

" Tiiont.-(\)l. Annstrong who is none for Enjihiml, t'aniod with
him one Maugoiint, a I'lvnch papist, who fled lately Iroin Canada into
this rnnincf for a harharous nmrdcr. The liicnt. -Governor look
him into his protection and admitted him to take the oatli, after
which ln^ rendered himself exceedingly odious to the inhaiiitants,
hoth English and F'rench, they, Ijelieving that the Lieut. -(to\eri\nr
acted toward them hy his council and advice. At my arri\iil. he,
finding many complaints were ready to l)c I'xhihited against him.
petitioned for leave to^retire, which, hcing granted, with a dcfen>e
nevci' to return, gave a general satisfa<'tion, and pi'ovcd a great in-
dueement towards their suhmission to the Crown of (inat Mritiiin.
The fellow's character is very bad, hut is allowi.'il to have a genius,
and would make an excellent minister to an arhitrary i)rincc."

This lottci' is also in llu; vnlnint; of the tifcliives,
exi'epi, liowevof, this citiitioii ; and nevertlieless this
sliort e.xtiiiet says niofc as to the chai'actef of Aini-
sti'oiifr and is moi-e iis(!ful to the oenwial liistoiy of tlie
Pfovince tlian many othei' docnments found tlieiein.

IMiilipjjs sang liis own prai.ses rather hmd whi'ii he
attributed his proinjjt sueeess to the good remenihiance
everv oin; had })reserved of liini. and to the diffcrenee
hetween liis athninistration atid .Viinstrong's. He ean-
not he judged exactl}' hy liis own valuatif)n : for,
thougli he undouhtedly possessed great practical judg-
ment, tact, iind m.iny of the (jualities that go to make a
o-ood administrator, vet all tliis was favored and en-
lianeed by circumstances ; the contrast made him .seem
jrreiiter than he retdlv was.

Obliired to return to Eno'land for affairs of his ref>i-
meut, lie Avas again replaced by .Vrmstrong. At the
moment of his departure, Philipps wrote to the Duke of
Newcastle: " It imports me much to be very careful of
delivering up the Government to l>ieutenant-CTOvernor
Armstrong with the greatest exactness, who is turning
up every stone and raking into every kennel, to find.

i ^<'0-

\\t '}■

liU...<r

1H6

I'HILIIM'S AM) Ai:.MSTl:(>N(5.

some (lilt to bcspaltrr iiic witli, in hoju's tliiit some
may stick, etc., etc." He ueeust's him of iiijLjnititiKlc.

FFiiidly liad Pliilipps jl,'oiil' home, wheu Ariustrong's flif-
fieiilties C'ommeiu'ed aj,'aiii worse than before with Cosby
and Winniett. Cosby (li<l not wish to sit with Arm-
strong, and the eouni-il was leibiccd to foui- eouneiUoi-s.
Twice in the coiii'se of tlie autnmn of 17o2 did Arm-
strong comj)lain of l)oth tliese connciUoi-s lo the Lords
of Trade. At that time lie wished to establish a fort at
Mines, but was prevented by tiie Indians. Murdoch says
in reference to this : " Armstrong accuises and suspects
everybody in his disappointment."

There is reason to believe that Armstrong's unpopu-
larity and his ever-ieeurring ditlicultics embittered him
more and more and drew ui)on him a severe reprimand
from the Lords of Trade; for he ended b}' committing
suicide. Deiemln'r (1, 17ot>. He had made his will a
month liefoie. and a few weeks after his d(!atli all hisgoods
were seized in the hands of his executors, to pay for
rents and govennuent fees wliich lie had collected for
several years witliout rcndeiing any account of them;
in othei' words he was a peculator.

1 ask the readei- : Is th(! wiiter that does not get firm
hold of these facts a person capable of forming a sound
(estimate of events ? \\y sih'utly igncning them, does
he fulfil his duty towaids the [)ublic as an historian ?
I think not : on the contrary. I think that, when there
is (picstion of a governnuuit the power of which is
centred in the haiuls of a single man, the first duty of
the historian is to seek to penetrate the character of
that man. This once fouiul, he has the secret that will
enablt! him to disentanole and elucidate manv confused
situations, to s\d)stitnte light for dai'kness.

SOMK VIltTIKS, MAN'V VICKS.

V\l

I iui_L;lit )»('ilia])s t'X[)i«'ss an opinion altout some of
AiM)stroiiy;*s (litlii'iiltics: I will not do so: it is not
lu'i'f'ssai'y. It matters little, after all. wlietlier in this or
tliat particular ease lie may have lictMi riirht oi- wron^.
The fact that he was in a (Continual turmoil (luriu!"- his
whole administration, with everybody and everywhere,
is am[)le evidence that he himself was the author of his
troubles through his eross-grained and hot-temjiered
nature. His was an ill-balan(!ed mind. This makes it
nioi).' difHeult to understand and judge him than a man
whose character is (inn and steadfiust, whether foi- good
nr evil ; however, enough is known of him to preclude
all danger of a mistake, lie was by turns kind and
tvrannical. Amidst his fits of rage and liisbi'utalities he
sometimes gave prof)fs of Innuani! feelings and of a sin-
ceie desire to promote the interests of his govermnent.
Though des[)otie at times, he was the lirst to suggest
to the Lords of Trade the esiablislunent of a j-epresenta-
ti ve assembly, and. when he saw that his idea was for the
iiiomeut impracticable, lie nevertheless granted the Aca-
dians, aiid that spontaneously, the privilege to name
(Jejiuiies, Their functions and powers were almost null ;
yet this creation of his was wise and disinteresttMl ; it
piodnced excellent results under his successor.

While passing judgment on his chanicter and admin-
istration, we cannot foru'et thesi; facts: liowevei\ thev
atone but very poorly foi' his long series of administra-
tive buffooueries, his fi'auds, his unspeakable l)rutalities.
Ht^ made enemies of all the jjeople about him : of Major
('#osby. of the secretary of the (^ouucil. of the mer-
eliants, the Acadians, the clergy, an 1 even of rMiili[)j)s,
with whom it was so much his interest to be on good
terms. His authoritv had so fallen into disei'i-dit that

'■Bm

f/N^jri

t^''t^;-??i:

..... \ ,

ir,8

a<:adian li:ttki:s missinc!.

he was even puMicly insulted hy a iiiercliiintot'llic iilinr
and .suffc'i't'(l n [)t'isi)nid ussiiult iVoni Ids servant. 1 1
W()nl<l indeed be siiinetliing (pnte nniiret'edenicil if dif.
lieulties so IVe(iuent and persistent ci'ossed the jjiitli
of one who knew liow lo iisi- Ids authority witli din'iiity
and justiee. The tree is judyiMl l»y its I'ruits.

NothiuL,^ jTfives ns a hetter insig'ht into Arnistnini^'s
chai'acter than his ivhitions with Mau^cant. 'Plioni^h
the hittei' had been expelled hy I'hilippson a('<;ountot"his
criniinal record, and for having made himself odious to
ijveryhody, Armstrong took him with him to I'^ngland
as a cliosen companion. l)rnught liim hack again aftei'
eiglitecn months' absence, and, in direct (^p^jositioii to
the orders of his chief, retained him lu-ar his own person
even till death, as his intimate counsellor and the instru-
ment of his ca[»iicc. In view of tlieso facts it is noi
surprising that Armstrong's authority had fallen so low.

It will be readilv understood tliat what T have allegcil
embraces only a vciy small part of Armstrong's deeds
and feats, for, I lia\t' hardly touched on the last seven
years of his ailministration, the years that immediately
preceded his suicide. Very little is known of the
events of that period ; presumably, this suicide was
brought on by the aggravation of his faults and disup-
l)ointments so keeidv felt bv his ill-balani;ed mind as to
throw it (iompletely out of gear ; but the ( 'oni[)ilei' cun-
ningly saw that all this would throw too much light on
Armstrong's administiation and character, and defeat
his i)ur[)ose ; so he deemed it ex[)edient to eliminate
carefully whatever might reflect upon Armstrong, in
Older, thereby, to animadvert with cumulative force
upon the Acadiaiis and the clergy. AVhen the docu-
ments contain nothing against them, his occupation is

ACADIAN m:tti:i;s missincj

i»;o

troiie : he croiitcs ,i vuciimn.

tiU'tirs, tliiit li

And. so I'lir (lid lie cMiiy
luse tiU'lU's, riiiit iw. t;ven ciuufully omitted all doiii-
nients which would let the iciuler kii<t\v ol' Annstionn's
suici<li'.

'I'he better to exhibit his iirtilice, I lii'ie L;ive the iimu-
bef of the dncMuueuts that the voluine of the Archives
contains for each year of Arnistrontjf's adniinistiation :
17-2r),a— 172r,,4 i't-JT.II ITiiSj— 1T21M— 17:n.:)—
1732, 0—17:?!'.. 0—17:54. 0—1785, 1—17:50, 2—17:57. 0--
1738, — 1~?)\\ 0. Kxcept live or six documents of the
Council, this collection is wholly made up of ,\nti-
strong'.s own letters to the Lords of Trade, 'riien,' is
not a sinjfle letter tVom tin; Acadians or the priests,
and yet there were sucdi connnunications, since even
Armstrong's letters mention several of them. \N'riting
on Juncf 10th, 17:52, ho says : '' I transmit the enclosed
letters; Nos. 4, '), (>, from priest de la, (Joudalie : 7. H,
are mine ; No. is from Kc'iic l.c lllanc." In another
letter of Nov. 22nd, 17:50, he writes : - No. 1 is M. St.
Ovide's firxt lettei-, No. 2 is my answer : No. :^ are the
minutes of the Council; No. 4 is M. St. Policy's decla-
ration in Council ; No. o are the minutes of Council:
No. 6 is the petition of the Acatlians."

170

»TK(>N(i I,AN'(!U.V(JK.

CHAPTER JX.

ii*i^' ^

Armstroiu ".'• diflficulties with tho cU'r^y — Tho case of Abb* d«
Bresla.v, .^ bin- iHidoiv, and M«'ssis(;iiuiivn'iilx aiulduHt. Policy —
Painlui f)if "Hon of the clergy — Their attitude.

In the precetlin^ cliii|)tei' T have, of Armstrong's diffi-
culties, touiihed only on those which he had with liis
olliceis, his couiicil, and the EnoJish inerehajits of Aniia-
[)olis. It may reasoiialily ht; sn[)[)()sed that lie had some
also with th(! [MJests and the Acadiaiis. Strange to say,
those he had with the A(;adians are tew in mimher and
relate only to liie ([iiestion of the oath hel'ore it was
settled hy IMiilipps in ITHO, and they are of so trivial a
nature that the reader mwy well he s[)ared the recital of
them. All may 1h^ leduced to some complaints to tlu-
Lords of Trade eoneerning their ivfusal to take the oath
iu the form desired ; hut, if the facts are in themselves
insignilicant or justitiable, the expressions Armstrong
uses are not wantiug in force. Their conduct, iu so
resisting his wishes, is repeatedly termed: uudutiful,
insolent, contem[)tuous, etc., etc.

lie had far more trouble with the clergy; but, just as
it. would be impossible in most cases to judge between
Armstrong and Philipps, Armstrong and Cosby, Arm-
slioug and Winniett, so it would be iuipossible for me
to judge between Armstrong and the priests with whom
he was at variance. After what is known of Armstronir,
Avho would venture to accept as the exact truth all he
has said of [^hilip[)s and Cosby, and to believe, upon his

M. i»i: Mi;i;si,Av

171

siinplt' iiniiiiiiition, tliiit he svuh vh^Ul iUid they wort?
wmiiiir / No oiu', I piesunit', would In; so nish. Simi-
liiily, I iim utterly iiiiiible to (Ici'idf hctwot'ii Armstioiiijj
;iiid tlit'st.' pru'sts. I n'l^it't it : I'or, I would act with
iln' smut; fivedoni of niiud iis it' tlu'ie wciv (iiu'stiou of
iiiiytliinjjf fise ; I i«'i,M'et it, heciuisi*, fur from di.sctiuiiiif-
iiiuf me, problems of this sort liavc a j)articular attrar-
tioii. The reproach I should feel uiost would hi' that
I let luyself \)e iulhitniced hy prejudices, likes or dis-
likes, all of which it is my uiost siucere desir»; to esi-hew.
It wei'O. I thiuk, a le_<fitiuiate iufttreuoe, after what has
Ik'cu said of Anustroug, that, in his ditHiculties with
l'hilip[)s, Cosby or others, the blaiue was j;eiu.'rally nii
his side, aud, when it was not wholly so, lie was guilty
of liaviug drawn the (piarrel upon liimself.

The lii'st im[»ortaiil difticulty of this kind was witli
y\. do Hreslay, })arish-i)riest of Aniuipolis. All that we
know of it is contained in a letter of Arinstroii!.','s to
the [.ords of Trade, dated June 2nd, 17-JO. This l.-itci,
as a matter of cotuse, is published by the Compiler, biu,
as he only gives f/n- Diiili/fr of it (the part indieatt il
Iierein by italics), I transcrib(! it here almost in full,
because the passages he has suppressed modify consid-
ei'ably the part he has given. Ainistrong lirst speaks
of a series of insults commit te*! against him [)y diveis
jM'i'sons of his garrison and (»thei's:

• Tlirouf^li the inalicc of some jicople who are abetted ami fii-
(•uiirii;r<'<l l)y tlie favor and couiiteiiiince of Major t'osin'. the
Lieut. -( lovernor of tliis <;iinisoii. wlio. foigettinj;' liis eliaraeter ami
diiriiity. lias eondoseeudt'd to tu'come a party in the lualiciou-^ con-
trivjiuce's of my enemies, who. witliout any regard to truth or
Justice, or His Majesty's service, iiave obstructed, vilitied and niis-
rt pre-iented all my actions.
" Tlie Jlrst jieraoii I slmll take intt'n-c of for lu's notorinu^^ iiim)-

id "h.

i.^'v

^^\

,*<■»!

H'i

f^y

172

M. Pi: iw;i;si,

Iiiii'i is M. ill' liiisliii/. tlir I'l'/iisli i>riist nf litis rii'ir. irlin, iinrinif
for simir lime imst iinli'inuiiiri'il In irilhiliuir llir pioiilrfrniii llinr
liifiniilnicr dii It. M's (Idi'i'nniii'iil . In/ (issiniiiin/ id liiiiisilf llir
iiiilliiiiKi/ i>f II JiiiUji' ill ciril a(liiirs. iiiiil iiiiiiloi/iiiii his s/iirihiiil

•sill I'on-r llicni In a siihiiiissiiu

11 i

IS I iisiiii'iicr mill ii/riniii/i

ijroiri ilii<
lioiisr. loih'sitT Id . ■:!':■ u\' irilli liiiii. Iiiil his i iililliiiriicr jirurn' .v..
(jihhI, Ihoiiifh iiDbiiii,/ iriis nciiiiiiiiiliil Ihnririlh Inil MhJdi < 'nsh i.
lliiilybvfDvi' till' iiiljiiiliiiil ( Diilil riiicli his liDiisr. hr inis i/dih' d//', ninl
liiis rnr siiirr ahscDiiiliil in Ihr iroDils. uhniil Ihis rirrr, inmniii lln
liiih'iins. piirsiiiiiii liis fiirmi'r priirlins uf Dhstriirliiiii II. M <
sirvii'i. iiiiil r.rriliiiii llir siiruiirs Id iiiisriiirf. 'in prrrriil trhirh,
.1 lliDiiijIil jiroprr. hi/ uii onlrr. piihlishril nl Ihr .1/((n,s liiiii.'ir. In
nHiiiiiHuil him Id lir ijDiir mil nf Ihr riDriiirr in n iiiniilh's linir.

'I'lic Sii'iir M;iiiK<'itnt. wluun

iiniildx I'll

lo rc;l(l the s.ili

(ii (lii'iii in I'rciicli. ill (lie pirsi'iuc <>r (lie , i(i( .\liijitr. M. W'l'oth

;iiiil siimc

>lll

'lltlcilH'll. wllicll. li;i\ill^' (lullc. ;is tlicy Wrrc li

tiiruiiij:: hack to iiiakc iiic a rciioit, aiiioii.t;sl a crowtl nT ]m'(|>|i'.
tlii'v lia|)|H'ii('il (o iniH't Major ( 'osliv. (lie l.iciil .-( loMTimr. on tlw
In.uliway. who, witlioiit any provocation, insiihcil and alm^cd the
saiil Maii^caiil. . . MaJ.ir ( '(isl)y sent me iiniiKMliali'ly a complaint
auJiiiist tlic said !\lau}i(>aiit. alli';iiii,n' that hr liail alVrontcd him. \>\
j:;rinniii.i;- or lauuhii.j;' in liis lace I loiiiid M. ('oshys ailc.uati' 'iis
a.Ciiinst IMau.ucaiil to he frivolous and .i;roiindl(ss. and (he trin-
reason of the atl'ront and insult to proeeed I'roiii his reseiitim;- tiie
services M. Man.nfant had done His Majesty Ity reading and piih-
lisliin.i;- my orders to the |ieople against llieir departing; tiie I'l^v-
iiice without leave, ami a,i;ainst M. de. Hicslay. the I'opish priest.

)se t-ause

he i\\

vowedly es|)ous('s merely in opposilion to m

Sticli was tilt' iU'i'Usatioii.

u' (ibviotis iiilV'rciiicc Is

that M. (Ic Hfcslay had hccii i-hoscn as ai'hitci' : lluit
(MIC «)rthc ttai'ties refused to siihmit to his dot'lsioii. and
tliat lu' had iiiaiU use of ei-eh'sirstieal eeiisiires to eon-
strain him thereto. Hnt (liere was (|iiestioii here
neitht'r <)( eonspiraev aoaiiist the safety of the state nor
of ihreel iWYence a;;ajnst anthority. .\rhitratioii has
always heen allowahle in (he settlement of differenees,
ami it is devoutly to be wished that this practice were

MlCil Aln> Altnl r .Mfllll Ni;.

178

iiiiiic j^ciit'iiil. 'I'lir liivl tli;it Mill idiis Jill' ;i(l()i»iiji^ it ill
oiii uwii I ill ic is ( till' III' I lie lic'ilt liicsl sit,'! IS olsociiil ['I<»l;-
rcss in this iiiiictcciit licnil inv. 'I'lic (•riisiii(\s iiiiiy liii\t'
liccii iiiisiis>(i or iiilliclcd loi lrivi;i,l motives; hut siidi
ahi!<<' Imiic y.ith it its dwii iciiirdv. hv iiAcrtiiii;' suitors
IVoiii ;iii Jiiltitci' who hiid so liinh-liiiiidcd ;i \vii\- ol cu-
hii('iii<4' his judi^iiiciits. It wiis iiiih'ctl \ciy im|iolitii'
ot'thr j)i'i(!sl, thus ill omc to iiiiii th( j)o|)iil;iiit \- of lii>,
iriliMiiiil. However. AniistioiiL;' - I»iut;ilitv must iis-
suifdly have iieeii most tei'ril'yiiij^ to ohli'^c him to (le(!
into the woods lor si'.eli a peeeaililhi ; and it is kii(»wn
iVoiii otlier s(tiirees tliat lor more than a \'ear he did not
dare i)resent himsidf at .\iiiia|polis. \'eiy likely the
case is not, rully slated I v A riiist roii;_;' in his letter. I'oi-
M. (h' Hrcshiy, hel'ore ret ui'nin<4'. lodL,''ed his eom|)liiiiits
ir I'Jioland Mild (hd'eiided himstd I' against the accusation
III meddiiiiL^ with th(! afVaiisor tli(! iroverimuuit, hy [no-
dueiiig cei'tiliciitos fi'om IMiili|i|is and Cosliy, iiffestiiig
lliaton all occasions, as lar as they knew, he had ]>c-
liav(Ml well,* 'IMiiit. pint, ol" Ai'msti'onL,'''s letter whieii is
eliiiiiiiiited hy tli(^ Compii ;!• shows us that Coshy liiul
I'Sjionscd tli(! ciiUsiMif !\r. de I'reslay. This was impoi-
taiit. Itwas ('ii.a.:diUed to throw some doiiht on th(;
justice of Ann'IroiiLi^'s pr<)c(!ediu!^s. and the ronipiler
would have ac'ed very kiiidlv had he. not deprived the
pu])lic of this infonnation. Very little is known of
Cosby, lit! may have Ix'cn no hettiM' tlian Aniistioii!.r ;

f^r

iAih

b'^

«»( I

¥.t

if-!|

174

AN INTKUDK'TKl) I'ltlKST.

1ml it must (('itaiiily liiivc IjctMi very (lisiit^i'('('al)l(! to luni,
li<'iil.('iianl-^f()V(Miioi' (tt" tli(; giiiTisoii, to scv. IiiinscH"
fast into tlic shade, siipplantiid in liis autlioiity l»y Uiis
MaiiL,'<'aiil. Willi tli(! al>ov(^ remarks, 1 leave tlie
(le IJreslay iiie.ideiit to tlu! leader's jiidniiKiiil.

Aiiotliev of Aiinstr*

))l'" s

(liflictillies was eoiiiieeted

itli Fatlier Isidore, \v!i(» was an intcM'diejed piiest.
Armstroni;" wished to plai e him over tlu! parish of Mines.
lie oui^ht to ha\(^ had sense; enoiii^h lo niideislaml
that a, Catholif^ |)o|»nla,tion would nevtr consent ti> mc-
ee[it an interdicted ]triest. By the; I'iict of his interdic-
tion he had no more rij^hl than Armstrong- hi mse If to say
mass, hear cuntessioiis, or administer tlu! sacraments:

in (Jipiomatic itariance, /its i(f<fj KliirHx irux ijnn

■full

In I

iffer Armst roiiij- did not uiidei'sland the oI)slacle-> he

Avas I'uiuiiui;' up aj^'aiiisl, he w;she(| to impose

Fath
h

Isidore an\how: hut in iliiscase he was powerlos to
accomplish his will : there ever reinaiiUMJ to the in-
hahilanls the ])iivileo-e of not atteiidinn' elmrch. and.
at»'iiiiist thai Armslroiin- eould elTeet iiolhin^'. That is
jirecisely what they did, and, to use an alioLi'ether
modem expression, I'^ilher Isidore \\\is /loi/rofffi/. finfi'
ii-'tr. ArmstroiiL,'' e<)uld jtunish the parish hy vet'usinj^
it another ]»riest : Ik; did so as lonq- as his nv^o lasted.

le most si'i'ioiis diftieullv, oral least that which is

sometimes cited with accents ol indi<;na(ion a<4'aiiist tin;
insoleiic(i of the priests, particularly hy I'arkliliin,
relatestoMessrs.de ("hauvreiilx and de St Policy. A>;
there is here (question of tlu^ actions of tlu^ Conneil, (he
case would seem to <leserve special altciitioii : hut, it must
not he foi'Li'otteii (hat A rmstroiifjf alone was iio( far fi'om
cfHislitulini;' the whole force of the Council. I lis hiiital-
ities had dis^-iistcij the most important niemhers and

IN IIMill OriXiKON.

)•>

]<»'pl lliciii fr(»in altciidiii;^' it : lliosc wlio st ill cunsfiitcfl
to ultt'iul (;iim1 tlic iminhcr w ;is. ;i1 \\u: iiriival of
IMiilipps ill 1T'>0, IK) Idiiycr siiniciriil (oi ;i (pioiimi')
liad <'vi(l('nlly t(»L;iv<' up t heir iiKlcpciKlciicf. 'I'li('\- Imd
cithci' t(» siihiiiil t<t liiin or to rt'sii;'!!, or iti. Iciist lo ahsciii.

tliciiisclvcsoii en

tical

occasions.

A ftci' lliis necessary cxplaiiat ion I sliall reproduce in
llieii- cssentiiil pai'ts the iiiiimlcs of the ('oiincil relatiiej^
to llie cast! ol' Messrs. de ( 'Iiaii vreiilx and de St. i'oiic\-;
it is Ili(! last (loci 111 lent that the ( 'oiii|)iler Iransniits to us
coiiceriiiii<^ Ariiistroii!4''s adniinistrat ion. the docunieiit
nearest to tht! time of" his suicide.

'• V. licr('ii|M)ii, M .M. lit- St. I'oncv and lic < 'liaiivrcuiix, tlic two
ildiiiisti piii'sls, \vcr<' ciillcd in ami iiitormed llnil it inis /iiil<ii il
(/(■(T.s.svny/ Ix'forc M. dcSt. I'oi'cv's ilrpMrt lire lor ( '(ilii'(|iiid, that he
i>r M. i\r ( 'haiivri'ulx sliduld JirsI ijtt to I Nihoi net nip. mIoiij:; with M.
d'I'ailreiiioiit and Aiidicrsl. I<> use cndcaxors lh;il rcslitulinn in:iy
lie made III' liie vessel's sails and such olher ellecls a-- llif Indians
!iad taken.

'' Thi'v. thereunto, answered His lliiiKHand the liomd in ;i most,
iirNoient. aiidaeiiiiis ami disrespe<'triil inaniier, saving, that .altso-
Iwlely tliey would not j^o, and tiiat thev wnuld have ixtthin^ to do
in (he ad'air : ami, liein^:; asUed if they would nol ol»e\ the just,
and lawful onlers of II. M.'s (iovernmeiit. to which M. de('liaii-
•.I'eulx answered conleni|)luonsly with unliecij.ninK aii' .iml iiii-
Miannerly j;:eslures. sayinj.';: 't^ue je suis ici de l.a p;irt dii I'ni
dr l''rance.' imd M. de St. I'oney atridntin^^iy atlinuinj; the same
also, in words to the same etrecl.

■•|lis llonoi- therefore told them that he had a nnnd to xMid
liiciu to I'rance.

" Tliey replied with a tailed i and a most haiiKldy insolent air:
■ with all their hearts." then turn their hacks and went out of the
room, seem!n;j,ly in a^ great passion, slamming and throwing the
doors in a most riidu and insolent iiiamier. and without His
Honor's leave left the F^oard.

•Then !\I. d'Kntn'iiiont heing called, he said he was very sorry
lor it. for it was his opinion that tlif mo>l expedient luetliod to
I'liiii; these Indian'- to ie;e<iin an(l r<'^titution woidilhe to -m nd a

S' ;■'-''!

«„ ' ■, iW

m^i

\i^:

p -'li^

170

I.Ml'KIMOrSNKSS.

Iiricst : a priost being also imich neeiled to Iniptizi* and adiniiust.'r
tlif Sacrament.

•• It was resolved to send tliem out of the Province.
• Whereuiion, the two priests appearing again, their sentein-c
was read ; thev resumed their former insolence, calling for chairs
to sit down, saying that they did not ai)peiir as criminals, and tlutt
tfic!/ IkkI )io biixiiicsH with thiii'jx teiiipond."

Had the Compiler i)io(liiced tiie declaration of M. lU-
St. Poncy, which Armstrong' comnuiiiicated to the F.ords
of Trade with th(! minutes of the Council, we jshovdd
probably be better able to understand the situation.
After all, even according- to Armstrong's own statement,
it was a storm in a tea-cup. The demand was an impo-
sition, though it might have been ac(;epted if prelerit'd
as a polite recpiest and not as an insulting coniiuand.
How that command was intimated to them is what we
should know in order to be in a position to judge ; but,
even though this detail be not known, Armstrong is
sufficiency known ; we know he had the knack of
offending everybody, and that his difficulties were almost
always the consequence of his petulance ar.d fits of
anger. It must have been so in this case ; otherwise it
would be inexplicable that two persons, even though
not clothed with the priestly dignil}-, should become,
l)oth at the same moment, on hearing an unforeseen, or
apparently unforeseen injunction, so enraged as to
answer and act as the minutes of the Council represent
them. This is a most exceptional [)roceeding : a polite
retiuest is usuall}- followed by a polite repl}-, and an
insolence generally proceeds from a [)rcvious insolence
either in the form of words, the attitude and mannei',
or in the matter, by uttering an imi)erious or(Uu' whefi
one has oidy the right to make a request. Armsti'ong
prudently throws a veil over his o\\ n manner on tiiat

lit

lllti

i i.\

ri.oA I'IN(; A I'.lMd ANTINK.

177

(i('oasi(»ii ; hut if oiu' ('xnniiiu* closely, lie will see there
\v:is (|nestic)ii hcie of an ordiT. which was more than he
]ia<l a I'ight to use, ou a [»oint that did not regard tht!
<liitics of these priests: hut even this does not alto-
LH'ther sutili('(! to explain the t-ontents of the minutes of
ihe Council ; the order nuLst lia\'e het'U accompanied hy

unheeomiiiL'' eoiu

hict.

or j»erhaps then; may he some

lici' fact which we do not kn

e ease of

M. dc I'l'eslay, 1 am of o|)inion that Ai'instrong, here
also. Old)' makes known a ])ai't of the })roceedings, and
ihat what is omitted is the nmst imi)ortant i)art.

To su])])ort my statement I have at hand a document

that would warraid very diffinvnt conclusions, wer»
t distrustful of possihle rashness in deciding (j

ues-

tions of this nature. The document bears upon this
ver}- incident. It seems that the religious persecution
which .Vrmsti'ong exercised iipon the Acadiansof Anna-
polis had become so intoleiabh) that they addressed a
])etition to the King of France to interpose in their
favor with the English government, so as to put an end
to the persecution by determining more precisely the
position and the duties of the French priests in Acadia.

•• We besepch,"' say they. '■ Your Majesty to permit us to repre-
sent the sail situation to which we are reihued, declariux truly
that in the parish of Annapolis Royal, May 29th. 1736, contrary to
tli<- treaty and to (ill the promises iiioih' to iia when ire took the <mth
c/feolfi/ to His Majesty (ieorjje II.. (Joveruor Annstron^ t'orbadn
^lessrs. de St. Poney and Chauvreulx. our two missionary priests,
;is worthy ones as we have ever had, forbade them, we repeat. ti>
say mass, to enter the church, to hear our confessions, administer
The sacraments to us, and discharge any of their ecclesiastical
fmutions. arrested and obliged them to depart, though the gov-
f rnor, or other persons whom he had gained over to his opinioi;.
were unable to show or prove that our above-named missionaries
have any other faults than those of which they pretend to Hrid

I f - l^

1 , i rt •'

I •(

mT'M

\^*'->r.'^ ill

178

ri:i:si'X TTioN.

thpin guilty, iiamcly, not to hare been iriUiinj to go far f mm our
jtiirisfi to float a Itricfaitthif, which in no way concerns our niis-
biunuiies and tlieir functions.

" Oil t]it' tollowing .Sunday the governor assembled the deputies
and forbade them to do anjithing or say any prayer in the vhapol
i(j) fill' riri-r. Tliese are the sad and deplorable conjunctures to
which w<? are daily exposed with respect to our religion, wliich
oblige us to implore respectfully Your Majesty, that you would
deign to have determined and permanently settled the conditions
by whicii our missionaries may hereafter abide, in order that we
may not be dcjirivi'd of spiritual succor, at the least whim of those
who command."'

'I'lius, tlierefore, according to this document, wliich
did not proceed ah irafu as Armstrong's letters generally
did, it was not, or it was not only, in ordei- to make the
Indians restore the effects they had carried away from
a shipwrecked vessel, that Armstrong ordered M. de
St. Poncy to repair to Pobomcoup, but also to oblige
him to help in floating this stranded vessel. Thus
Armstrong w^as imposing on a French subject and a
missionary the compulsory labor he was wont to exact,
and had the right to exact from the Acadians, as being
Piritisli subjects. If such were the case, and the affirm-
ation of the many persons that signed the petition is
sui'ely worth Armstrong's counter-affiimation, we find
ourselves in presence of an act of persecution and abuse
of authority that is a worthy complement to what we
already know of him. This fact explains in a rational
manner the insolence of wdiich Armstrong complitincd.
and it would be difficult to explain it otherwise than l)y
an act of this character.

Moreover, even though his severities towards the \\\o
missionaries had bf en justifiable, was not his foibidding
the Acadians to make use of the chui'ch to ])ray tlierciji
anothei" t'<|ually tyrannical act ? The autlnir of ilic o-ie

TERSKCrTION.

17'.^

might very well be the avithnr of the other. Can any-
thing hut a h)ng series of arbitrary aets and perseeu-
tious, of which, in fact, the jjetition coniijlains, have
forced these people to implore the intervention of the
King of France in their favor? *

Fi'om all that precedes it must be evident that the
volume of the archives is nuu;!; too fragmentu y and
incomplete for the purposes of history. With all my
efforts to complete it by the analysis of wluit it contains
and by my researches in other (]uarters. I feel that tlui
result is unsatisfactoiy : but I ex[»erience at least the
satisfaction of a conscientious effort to throw some light,
on this " Lost Chapter."" The reader must have already
understood what methods the ("onipiler follows, and also
that, when I accuse him of partiality and l)ad faith, I
assert nothing without ])Owerful leasons therefor.

As we are just now concerned with the Acadian
clergy, I shall immediately comi)lete my vi(!W of them.
The facts I have pointed out must be tlu; most im-
portant of the individual cases, for they are almost the
oidy ones that have fomid a. place in tlu) volume of the
archives. Nevertheless, insinuations of a g'Mieral char-
actei' were not wanting against them; far fi-oiu it.
Often, indeed, weiv i-omplaints made of their influence
and the exci'cise of this influence over tlu; Acadians. It
was supposed that tjie [iricsts did all in their }»o\\er lo

When I iiiiiliTtiKik this wefk. I iiiti'inliMl to I'lihlisli milya scrii's of
articles ill lectin. Mtii)!! of what I ticeincd the errors of an articli' iuscrtiMJ
ill ''The Week" of 't'ofoilto from the pell of tile lilstoriaii, Stevens fierce
Hainilton, who coiiiinitted Miicidc at tlie liei,'iiiiiink' of this year ,ls',»:ti.
His (•oiiciusioii.s were to a ^f'at extent ilrawn from tlii> allirmations of the
self-rimriiered Arnistronj; and e>|,ecially of what lie said of Messrs. c|e
Ciiaiivreiilx and de St. Policy. I tlioiiirht that tlie iiitem[ieraiiee of his \« i\
v>'as ex|ilaiiied hy his suicide, tliat lie who wrote on the eve of his own
self-destnictioii'was not in a suitalile frame .if mind to form ii sound esti-
mate of history. This is the reason why I have (lro|i|,ed out his nam.' and
trausfornied my ariicles iat.i the work whi.-li I now oU'ei to the jmlili.j.

»■■■■■!■ ' f. ■

lis • \

180

I'AKK.MAN KXAiKiKKATKS.

preserve tlnMu in llieir iittiicliiufiit Id l-'ruiice. to avert
tlicin i'loiii lilt! oath iiii<l iiidiici' tliciii to leave llie
I'onntry. We are at lilu-rty to l)elifvc that thrse aceu-
.satioiis were well-foiindcd or not, or that tht'V were; so
to a certain extent. The authorities knew that the
jii'iests jiossessed intlneiiee over them, they knew that
the Aeadians ohstinately refused to take the oath thrust
n[n»n tluMu; this was enou<;h to give rise to sus[)ieions,
which sonietinies prohahly had more or less foundation.
Here there can Ik; little else than eonjeetiuv, and the
conclusions may vary aeeordiny to the })oints of view,
aeeordiiiin" to one's greater or less knowledge of the
heluivior of the elergy ; for no douht this inthu'uce, if it
really wert; exoreised, nuist have heen usi'd discreetly
enough to luaki' it almost impossible for the authorities
to detect it.

(rranting the morality of the Aeadians which was
uu»h)ul)tedlv "■I'eat, their isfuoranee which was not less
so. their peaceful maunei's, their isolation, their lively'
faith, the strictness of the principles of their religion,
the clery'v's intiuence over them nuist have been irreat.
But, great though it was, Parkmau lias exaggerated
l)eyoiul all measure both this influence and its exercise,
with the evident object of giving a brilliant illustration
to his favorite theory about the enervating action of the
clergy on Catholic peoples. Uncpiestiouably, whoever
abdicates his liberty of thinking and acting in the
oi'dinary affairs of life, loses all initiativ^e, becomes ener-
vated. 1 lowever, I shall have to animadvert on too many
greater shortcomings of Parkman's, to hold him to any
severe account for what is, after all, only an exaggera-
tion of facts in themselves partly true. I blame him
only for his exaggerations, which are inexcusable.

VAHIOrs PLANS.

181

Enough on a point that wouhl call lor vi'iy special
tieatnient. Certain it is that the situation of the piiests
of Acadia at thattinie was extremely delicate and IViiunht
witli danger. They Avere French suhjccts mid niission-
aiies to their c()ni|)atriots in an Knglish country Ixir-
dering on the French posst;ssions, wheic tlie interests of
hoth nations were fi'e(|uentl3' in direct contiict. Their
position was awkward and diilicult in n\any ways, and
the remedy to this state of things eciually (lilheult to
lind.

Armstrong thouglit of I'eplaeing these Ficiich priests
hy others of F]nglish or Irish nationality. This [Jiojcct
could not have been realized: amove in that direction
would have provokeil the de[)arlure of th«! Acadians.
Th(! only remedy to this anomalous situation was to
<'reate amou''' the .Acadians a national clerL;\'. The
authorities c(Uild reason;d)ly say to them: \\'i' are
loyally hound to grant you tlu; free exercise of vdur
religion : hut. in our interest and yours, to save you and
to save us from a- delicate; situation, ht-set with diintjei's,
it is Ix'coinino- tliiit \our priests be chosen tVoui aiiuMiijf
3'our children, in ordei' that their interests may he
identicid with yours. As this I'annot he accomplished
at shoit notice, we give you eight or ten yeais to attain
this object. We shall permit two French pi'iesls. of
whom ou(! will be stationed at Mines and the other at
Aunajiolis, to bi! exclusively occupied in educiiting
young men for the priesthood. After this period has
elapsed, you must provide for yourselves, and we will
no longer permit any French priest,; to enter into the
province, at least so long as France will be our neigli-
bor.

This plan does not seem to have occurred to any ono

i%\

f .-•'*^.:

f- '

182

VAKIOt'S I'hANS.

at tlie tiiiKV, it pi'ohahly (lid iiol t'vcii enter tlio m\\u\
of any ol tliu govurnors. I'nlii 1T'50, tlie ([iiestion of
the oath and of the departure! of the Aeadians (>(!eu[)ied
too nnieh phiee to leave ntoin f<»i' any sneli desit^n.
After 17-50, Aiinstron;^', as I have just said, thoiirrht i>f
I'Jiglish or Frish priests ; hut the only [jrojeet enter-
tained ill the secjuel was, either to e\'i)el the (^atholie
[)riests and rei>Iaee theni hy Freneh Protestant ministers,

trod

uenic

at tl

le same tinn; amonii' the

Acad

lan iioi)u-

popi

lation Freneli Pi'otestants oi- sinijily Fiiiu'lish ministers
and Knji'lish colonists, as anc shall see later on. There
was sonuitimes a tendency to adopt the lirst project,
because it wasthout^ht more acceptable to the Aeadians;
but oftenest the second prevailed. The sentiments of
the Aeadians thereon must have been little known to
those who con(H'ive(l either plan, and inian'incd that

tlicy would sul)nut losuch a poorly dis^'uised conspiracv.
To formulate such a |»lan supi)Oses that respect foi-
treaties, for conventions, for prt>mises and i'or libeity of
conscience nnist have been o-reatly weakened, though,
indee<l. it nuist be said, to the honor of the lb mie ( Jovern-
ment, that these inicpiitous projects fornKsd at y\nna-
poiis and Boston nevei' received, as far as I eau see, the

least

encourati'ement u\

Loud

on.

T am consideiinjjf in this cha[)ter only the attitude; of
the clergy from the treaty of Utrecht till 1740. 1 am
tryini^ to show it in a light that will most truly and
clearly set foilli their shai'e in the events of this epoch.
The best way to do this is to examine the state of minds
at this time and the interests on which the influence of
this clergy could be exercised. Tt is well known that
])rejudices and fanaticism were never more rife. We
naturally expect expressions of contempt from Protes-

WHAT IIAINTKI) TIIK (iOVKUNDKS.

ls:i

t,i!ils to Ciitliolics iiiid tVuiii ('atli(tlics to IMott'stiiiils in
convcrsjitioii mid piiviiU' ditcimu'iits ; Itiil, in [»»'rusiii«^
till- aicliivt's of Nova Scolia. we arc asloiiiidcd to liiid
iliat t'vcii tlit'se piihlic dociiiiu'iits are full of iiiveetivf.
Aiiiistroiin' and Ids predecessors, in their dis[)atelies to
the holds of 'I'liKh', invariahly use such expressions as
•• l'a[)ists," "l*i»j)ish superstition," •• Mass house," etc.,
etc. *• What Ix'ttei' proof of their had faitii ean Igivu?"
said Ariuslrony, " they an; pii[)ists."

So loiiM' as Catholics and I'rol(.'stauts stru^^'i^lcd in
cadi statf to riMuaiii or to hcconie the donunant eleiuent,
llic persecution was intense and [dots frecpient. When
the li^ht for sn[)reuiacy was over, this o-ra(hially ahated ;
liMt there reniainiMl the settled idea that the minority
wi'ic always j)lotting, whereas in ivality, if there were
.still any plot, it was oftenest that of the c()n(|ueror to
dciinitividy crusli the (•un(iuered. The hniiian mind is
ini'liiicd to fall into extremes on (piestions of this sort,
^leii either sleep peacefidly while their enemy is work-
in!4' out their ruin, or they aie morhidly sensitive to
imaijiiiarv iutriLTues that have no foundation in fact.
Thus weic the governors of Acadia haunted hy the i(h'a
that the priests were constantly conspiring aj^ainst the
sai'ety of the state.

'I'he hetter to conipreliend the situation, let us con-
sider the points on which the inlhu-nci^ of the cleri^'y
could he brouglit to bear. First, there was the (luestion
of tlie oath and of the departure. Did they use their
intluence for either alternative? There is room for
ilouht. hut I think it prol)ahle that some of the ])riests
did to some extent seek to pei'suade oi' eonlirm the
Acadiaiis iu the idea of departure or of an oath with
j)roper restrictions.

iOilkill

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jmim

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1H4

NO I'UIESTLY CONSPIRACY.

Practiciilly, ontsiile tlie fantastical picture drawn 1»y
Parkman, liere is what j^'cncrally liappcns and what
must naturally liavc hai)[>encd at tiiat time. I'licsts me
not wanting whom no om- dreams of consulting ahout
worldly mattci-s, ln'caus**, dt'Vot«!d entirely to spiritual
concerns, they hold themselves entirely aloof from
pundy temporal interests. Others there arc who are
very glad to give their opinion when asked : these arc
consulted hy a small number of persons, and their o])iM-
ioii has more or less W(;ighL according to the importance
ot the question an<l the reputation for wisdom they may
Jiavc earned. Finally, there aie others, few in nundier,
who seek to impose their ideas and somctinies hy unduly
interposing spii'itnal motives : but, in such cases, there
is almost always agitation, murnuiring, discord, religious
coldness, decrease of inlluencc. One single iiiter[)Osi-
tion of this kind by a priest is more remarked than the
silence of twenty others, an<l, at a distance, the noisy
oxcej)tion easily j)asses f<»r the nilc. Thus peihajis
may l)c explained Parkinan's extravagant exaggerations.
The rule, however, was not different then from what it
is to-da\', since, tifteen yvuvs later. Abbe Le Lout re was
severely reprimanded by the Bishop (tf Qiu'Iht for
having meddled with temiK)ral affairs that did not con-
cern him, contrary to the instructi(»ns the i>ishop had
given liini.

I am of ojjinion, however, that the majority of tiie
jtriests expressed j)rivately their opinion on this ([lU's-
tion of the oath ami the departure, but that opinion was
so ol)vious and so manifestly correct that this expression
of it was not necessary and had probably but little intlu-
ence on the result of the deliberations. Kven were il
otherwise, it would be veiv hard to blame a wise and

CLKltlCAL rLACE-KKKI'KHS.

185

piiulent infliUMici* exerted on tlit; «fxi'ieise of a ri<,'ht so
evident as was that of the departure, and on a petition
so i'easonai)le as was that of addini,' the restrictive
ehiuse to tlic oath. It was certainly not conspiraey to
rej)eat to th<^ Acadians what tliey couhl not otherwise
1k! ignorant of: that they had tlie right to <iuit the
conntr}', that obstach's to their <h'parture were unjust,
that, if tliey reniaiiu'd, they shouhl impose tlie condition
of not being re(piired to bear arms against tlie French.
Wliat can veiy pi'operly l)c termed conspiracy is the
action of the governors from Nicdiolson to Armstrong,
wlio liad recourse to all iinaginablt! artifices to prevtuit
the Acadians from taking advantage of the treaty.
Moreover, if these priests exercised so much influence,
it is astonishing that the Acadians, sliortly after the
treaty of Ttrecrht, ofFercMl to remain if they were ex-
empted fr<mi ])earing arms against the French, nt a
time when France, by this decision, would be dejuived
of all the strength that this [)opulation would have
added. Either the priests did oidy feebly ijiteipose in
these (juestions, or the}' did not, as people seem to think,
busy themselves with the interests of France, or. at any
late they gave precedence to the interests of the Aca-
dians.

Nevertheless, it need hardly be said that in those days
of rampant jirejudices, any inter[)osilion of the priests,
however insi<;niticant in itself, must have aroused great
anger against them. If such would have In^en the feel-
iTJgs of j)urely civil rulers, how much greater must hiive
been the anger of a militaiy authority at a time when
its designs could not In; thwarted without ])eril.

Still, I believe, and all tli«* evidence confirms this be-

lief, that the action of the clergy was on the whole (.on-

186

AN AST()UNI>IN(} KACT.

flucive to the preserv.ation of i»eace and the suhniissioii
of tlie Aeadiatis. Was there (hiring this period of
almost thirty 3'ears, from 1718 to 1740, a single insur-
rection, even a threat to tiouble the peace, or a siniph'
brawl? Wiis there as nnich as one act of resistance to
the ordei-s of the authorit}', or even one single murder?
I see no trace of anything of the kind in the whole vol-
ume of the archives. During all this time there wsis,
properly sfieaking, only one serious cause of dissension,
always the same, the difficulty Jihout taking the oath.

Over and over again were the Acadians ordered to
meet and send delegates to Annapolis; sometimes anger
got the upper hand, and these delegates, simple Ijearei-s
of a general decision, were put in irons: and 3'et, in
spite of this {)rovocation to disobedience, did the}' ever
lefnse to ol)ey these onlei-s? Is it not astonishing
tliitt so many hindrances, so many base subterfuges weif
unabjt' to produce a single ml of j)rolonged insubor-
dination, when the government, with its little garrison
of one hundred to one hundred and fifty soldiers, was
unable to constrain by main force a population cf»mpar-
atively numerous, scattered in places of dilVicult access,
in summer difficult, in winter imj)ossiblt^? This is, if
well pondered, the most astounding fact in the; present
history, and it must be well understood in order to
a|i|irci-iate all the rest. It may. therefore, 1h> a mere
niaitcr of justice to give the elergy some credit for it
especially if they had as nnich influence as is generally
attributed to them. 'I'lie advantages I have had for
forming a correct judgment on this j)oint and the inten-
sity of niy meditations tlieref)n have. I make bold to
say. never been equalled by any of those who have
written on this subject : 1 know whei'eof I speak. This

KXTi:A«H:iHNAi:V OHKIUKNCK

187

point lieiiii,' uii(I«MstniMl, the reiulrr will l>o convinced, in
K{>ite of iiititcaniMccs, that I am not indul^inj^ in special
plciuhM!:r. hilt that I aiii ehi-onidiiiH; facts in all their
siiiiphcity.

In spite of the noisy and ill-soiin(Hii<j expressions of
IMiilipps and Aiinstioie^f, whiih niav Ikj imputed to their
vcxatinii at not Immii^ able to force tlie Acadians to take
llie oath. I <!<» not find, from 1T1.'5 to 1740. a single well-
moiuuhMl. or rather well-ih'tined conij.iainl against them,
except the following:

Fiom 1720 to 1724 there were general hostilities of
Indians on all the frontier of these Knglisli colonii's and
particularly in Maine. In Nova Scotia they were lim-
ited rather to dejtredations than to a serious open war.

even Indians sei/e<l a merchant vessel in Mim's Hasin

and plundered it. P}iilip|ts was highly indignant hc-
causc the Acailians of the jilace had not interfeivd to
o|)po<c the sci/.urc of this hoat, or to hunt down these
Indians. The Ae:idians were ordcied to piepare a
doi'Umeiit in wliieli they were to express "in une(|uiv-

ucil

1 t

erm.>

le eliormitX' n

f tl

leir otVenct

aiK

1 tl

lis

document, signed hy all the inhahitanls, must he deliv-
eied hv the delegates and the [»arisli ]iriest of the place,
and the value of the ctTccts caiiied otT must he paid hy
them. All which was faithfully done.

This liapi»ened at the heginning of the year 1721.
when IMiilipps had just ordered the Acadians either to
leave the country without c;iiryiiig anything away oi to
take the oath, and when he had just forhidden them to

ipeii a roail so a> to witlnliiiw ii

thdi

rom tl

le jHovmce.

piohahle that the .\cadians preferred to sign such a
document and reimhiirse the losses rather than to expose
themselves to the venireance of the Indians ; for we

■f^l

"p-n

188

THK rLKn(}V SAVKM < ANA!»A.

know, from oilier sources, that those \vlio(lis|)liiye(l tlieii-
zeul ii^aiiist tlu* Indians lia<l l<> suffer disastrous ven-
peanee from the latter, the LCovtMnmeiit l)eing poweiless
to jii()t«;ct tliem. I'liilipps acted veiv injudiciously in
exacting sucli amends when he had just shown Iiimscit'
so unjust an
I)recisely in order to av(»id the reprisals to which they
wojdd Ih' «'X|>osed from the Indians, that they hitl
stipulated for exemption from hearing; arms iii,Min>i
them, and it was on account ()f this same danm'i- thai,
for forty years, Knj^'Hsh colonists covdd not lu; persuatlcii
to settle in the coiuitry. It is not easy to understand
why IMiilipps thus force<l the parish-priest tA' Mines 1m
take part in the didegation, if the tfovernor was ^o
anxious to exclude tlu' priests fiom all temporal affair-.
Did he think that the priest himself shouhl have taken
uj) arms to lepulse the Indians?

The influence of the clertjy. I repeat, must have h(»en
exercised to foster peace and suhmission to the author-
ities. All the history of Canada is theic to j»rove llii>
assertion. After the treaty of Paris, the l»ishop of
Quehec even went so far as to exconununicatt' those
w

fiV(

would not sul)mit to the ICnsflish ii^overnmcnt. iiinl
persons were, in virtue of this excommunication,
denrived of Catholic l)tirial. If (^anada is still a liritish

poss(?ssion. Kni;land owes it to this .sime influence. Let
tlie situation of Canada in ITTo he horne in mind. The

country was nfoverned in a

militi

that

IS. despot ic

manner, and did not contain live thousand Knylishmen.
Krance liad just thrown her sword into the scales on the
side of ther«?volted colonies. Lafayette deputed French-
men to (^neh(M', and Montreal to incite the people to
shake off the voke of the 1 Ion«e ( lovernment. The cleif,^v

THK CLKlMiY SAVK1> TANAbA.

ISO

o|)j>oso(l with all its mirrlit any (•(•Ihision with tin.' I'liitrfl
Stati's. tht' pt'dplf took iiji aims to (K'tViid theii' soil, and
th«' country ivniaiiu'd ICnyiish. Altt-i' the victory ofTra-
faljrar, so disasti'ous I'oi- Fiance, a solemn Tf fh-um was
sung in the Cathedral of (^uehec. In \><'M , in spite of
well-founded ^nievances. much more serious than th()>»'
which LTave rise to the ind«'pendence of the I'liited
States, it was still the (deri^v's efforts that paralyzed tlit!
rehellion and made it miscariy. Whether or not these
])i(>eeediniTs of the reliLfious authority l>e appioved. they
are none the less a fact, they constitute none the less.
for tlio clergy, a ]ioint <»f ti-adition, if not of ahsolute
doctrine. They hold that there can he no lawful revolt
aij-ainst legitimate authority. «!Xcept when pci-secution
hecomes intolerahle and when iclicrious interests are
gravely threatened in their very foundations. Tf Cajiada
were ever to se[)arate from the mother country hy an
act of rehellion, I do not hesitate to say that the
Catholic clergy would he the last hulwark of British
U)iion, the liust ivftJgeof toryism.

It was not (»thei'wise in Acadia. The priests might
<lesire that the country should again hecome a French
colony, much more through Tear of religious fanaticism
than thi'ough pure love of France: perhaps they may
have fosteied in the Acadians their love for France, they
may have sometimes advised them as to their rights and
the means of intluencing the atithorities of Aiuiajmlis.
counselled them to quit the country when they had a
right to do so, suggested a restriction to the oath, eom-
m\inicated in geneml terms to the French authorities
their feais and their hopes. All these things may be
8U|)j)Osed, if they cannot he prove<l, for they are pos-
sible and even prolMvble. These things may be approved.

t^.

■1

^»

I I

1<«0

THK CLKKCJY SAVKD <,'ANADA.

!* 'M.

Ijliiineil, diiiiiiiished or cxiiggenited at one's choice ; hut
what cannot lie douhted by uny one who knows that
clergy — unless, of coui-se, the fact may liave orrnrrpd
exceptionally or in cases of doubtful interpretation — is
that the j)riests, whatever may he thought of them in
other respects, did nothing to make the Acadians swerve
from their fidelity to tlie oath and their lawful duties
towards the English Government.

A I'AliAUON.

niAPTKH X.

Major Paul Masoareno sncc«>»'<ls Armstrong — His cliaraotor — His
skill— His siu-ct'SH— ( 1 740- 1 744).

With lively siitisfiiL'tioii <lo I now psiss to the adininis-
tration of Masciarene, called to replaeu Ainistnmi; in
the oftice of lieutenant-governor of the jirovince. 'V\w
death of the hitter, hv creating a vacancy in IMiilipjts's
regiment, promoted Major Coshy to the rank of lieu-
tenant-colonel and Captain Mascarent! to that of major;
hut, as Hi-st counsellor of the governor, the latter,
according to custom, Injcame lieutenant-goveiuor of the
piovince.

For several years Mascarene. prohahly through disgust
for Armstrong's hrulality and eccentricity, and in order
to avoid the inevitable jars his presence at Annapolis
might draw upon him, luul i)assed the greatest part <»f
his time at Boston. He was still there in the month
of December, 1739, when Arm.strong put an end to his
life, and it was only in the following spring that he was
able to enter on his oftice.

It would be difticult to imagine a more striking con-
trast than that which existed between Mascarene and
his predecessor. Whereas Armstrong was impetuous,
tickle and passionate. Mascarene was (;alm. tirm and
gentle. The one could not stir without getting into

lt»2

A l'Ai:A(i(»N,

triHiMc; tlic otlnT IM-MT j;ii\f ;iiiy liouMc at all, mid
had lliti uilt ot" siii(»(»lliiii<' d(»Nvii wlialovcr din'uullii's
iiiii,dit occur, however coinpliciiled they mii»'lit he.

I'aiil Mascareiie was the son of a French Protestant
Avhom the revo('ati()n of the edict of Nantes had oIiligc(l
to <ro into voluntary exile. While still youin^, he fol-
h»wed his father lirst to (leiiova and a few years later
to I'.nirhuid. Ife joined the army and i,Ma(hially, hy
slieer merit, raised himself to the [)osilion in which wo
at present lind him. ('onciliatin_<,% clever, well-instructed,
of a lofty turn of mind, he oaiued the esteem and con-
fidence of everyliody. All his correspondence is instin(.'t
with the same .si)irit. ami gives the highest idea of his
character and education. It would he dilTlicult to find
in his conduct a single point that could he seriously
hlajiie<l; it would he hard to note in his character one
striking «lefect ; we hehold in him nothing but good
qualities of a very high order. He could be severe
nay, very .severe, but also as humane and kindly as he
was severe. lie meant to command and he respcu'tfully
obeyed, and he was oV)eyed. He was [)atient, exceed-
ingly particular; he i)ushed the love of (U;tails even to
importunity, but he was loyal, just, compassionate ; and,
though he did not always succeed in convincing, yet he
seldom failed in securing most absolute obedience.
His vigilance bore on the minutest details of his admin-
istration and extended to the remotest parts of his prov-
ince. Nothing escaped him; the least delay, the least
infringement of his orders and regulations became the
subject of a long correspondence, in which he paternally
reprimanded and uttered warnings of danger. lie
punished sometimes : but most often sent away the
delinquents with kind words ; and, when he did punish,

sii'i:i;.MK Ai'.iurv.

[1, mikI
li'stiint
rs later

aiy, l)y

liith we

liuctetl,

11(1 eoii-

instinet

a of hi>*
; to tiiul
seriously
.cter one
L)Ut gootl
e severe
lly as l>e
^)eotfnUy
, exieed-
eveu to
ate ; au<l,

IfT,

et he

Midienoe.
is achnin-
his piov-
the least
aiue tlie
ateriially
1. He
vway tlie
I punish.

it was only al't(M' Imviii;;' licaid, wci^'hcd, nialiiitMl his

(K'fision, and <n\t'n cvciv chanci' ot" srlt'-di-ffm

II.

united in a hi(,di degree tli)> most eoiiiinenduhle ijiialities
ot the French eliaraeter with the steilinij worth of the
Kniflish ; from the fimiiei he took the alYahility.
courtesy, reyanl for the \veal<. the desire and the art to

»leas(*

oni tlie

hitt*

det

er, ealniness, (Icterinination. wise

delilteraleliess and |ieiseveiaiiee. Devoted to his (»nirc.
to his duty and to his adopted country, he was even
more the man of h'tters of ex(|uisite taste tliaii the
sohlier, and that is what gave him such su^ieriority as
an aihninistrator.

His position alToi(h'(l him a fine o[»portunity to take
revenge on the Aeadians and the priests for the intoh'i-
ance of whieli his family had l>een the ohject. lie, liow-
ever, did nothing of the kind. We need no otlier proof
(tf this than tlie results he ohtaiiied in the most dith-
ciilt eircuinstanees of this history ; and his merit was
all the greater because he liad to struggle against the
prejudices of the people almut him and of Shirh>y,
governor of Massachusetts, to whom tlie imperial gov-
ernment had given a voice in the administmti*)!! of the
])roviuce. His tact, superior to that of others round
liiin and even to Shirley's, showed him the line of con-
duct he was to adopt in the difficulties incidental to the
war. Without offending anybody, his skill triumphed
over all oi)position; and T have no hesitcition in declar-
ing that not one of the governors who preceded or fol.
lowed him would have been able to overcome so man}
obstacles. He had that supreme ability which is the
result of high breeding in a man gifted with a clear
bright intellect and a noble heart.

Surrounded with counselloi-s who knew nothini; Itut
13

'M r}

fc'kf

!|l!

HTimrr WITH THK J'LKIHSY.

the iubitmry wayH and rough iiianiu'i's of tlu> laiiip. hin
iiiitiiml l>iiiH strikeri lis an having Imhmi occasional ly tVi-
tcre«l by liis unvimnincnt ; lie showiMl more severity
than he woiiM have wished, in order to avoid tho
reproach of letting himself Ik; guided by latent synipa-
thy : and yet in reality his great powers of olwervat ion
\\Mu\v, him understand that mildness and persuasion were
tliif most eflicaeiouH means of securing the fidelity of
the Acadians.

lie was especially severe towards tlu; clergy. Was
he, whose family had siiffere<l pei-secution and cxili- (Hi
account of tlusir religions lu'licsf, now giving way to tinj
preju<lices he must naturally have entertained' I'cr-
ha[>s his family hud been humiliated, crushed by this
same clergy : he, in his turn had now the [lowci- they
formerly had against him : he could ImmkI them to o' v
his will, and even his caprices, if he so desired. It would
not be astonishinjj if this feelini; had sometimes mtt the
U[>per hand in spite (»f his lofty intelligence and just
and kindly spiiit. Nevertheless, I have good reason to
think this wius not the case. Tt is true he imposed on
the clergy numerous restrictions ; but, be always had
the condescension to discuss them point by point, and,
as a general rule, be obtained assent and obedienci'.
Moreover, in the particular circumstances in which, these
l)riests were then place«l, I am of opinion that these
H'strictions were for the most part perfectly justifiabK'.

'I'Ik^ volume of tbe archives (jontains five letters of
Mascarene to tbe missionaries De laGoudalie and Descn-
claves, ill which he most couiteously discusses tin-
motives of bis restrictions. The Compiler, as usual,
gives non(.' of the replies; but. bei'c, at least, tlu-ir
preseutx' is not essential, ami could merely .satisfy our

HTIMCT WITH IMF, ri.KIHIV.

curiosity; In'sidt's, we niii ttftni I'ttiiii ii siinii-it'iitly pre-
iisu t'stiiuatt! of what thcsi; n*)>li*-s coiitaiiu!!!.

" AnotluT iMiiiit of your li'tter." saiil Mart«"ar»'ii»' to M. rw»»n«
t'lavit4, " Ih that iii wliich you iiK-ntioti tli*> temporal to Ix- >oiiit-
tiiiH'H HO foniuTtt'd with till' spiritual as nut to Im- al>lc l<> hi' tli-
vi.l..<1."

Appiii'tnilly tlio \v(,'it,'lit of his reasons piodiitod an
iiiiiiiTstaii(liii^n>ii this knotty point, i'u: in anothrr K>tt(>r
he said to him :

•' I am k'i"' to sff from wliat ) lotc to you. that vnu arc M«iisi-
tili' of tli»' ill constMiucnccM tlnr n .ill follow f'rniu coi iicctiiin tho
tcin|Kiral with tlw spiritua'. '

In aiiothrr ho iniornis hiti'. )i' the sittiation in l-!nropt>
imd I'oiH'w inishini a<'ains( tin- danircM's that a war wtndd
entail on IIkmii and on ihr Aiadians:

"The alfairs in KmoiM' ar<> mitch »'iuhroil> il, ainl. in case tla-y
should (N-casion a rupture hi'tw*-i>n (in-iit Mritain ami FruMct', tlu^
Miissionarit's must *>.\p<M-t to fall very naturally uinlcr Nuspirjon,
and tln'n'forc ou^ht to he niort' circumspect in their conduct in
re>;ard to tht>mselv«>H and towards the inhahitants."

tfv(

' i V

To Ahhe do hi (loiuhili.', vicai-Lrent'i'al ol' the ck-itrvot'

provinci', he writes

" I found you so well dis|)osed since I have personally known
you during; yoiir residence hereto conform to those rules, that I
make no douht of your continuing in the same <;<iod intention,
and that hy your example and admonitions yon will (-ontrihute
to keep the missionaries to act in concert in maintaining; tiie ii\-
hahitants in their ohedience and duty to the govermnent."

To the same, a year hiter :

"Tam well satistied with the assin*ances yon j::ive jne on your
side a.s well as those uf the other missionaries to act in concert in

\,' •

STIDV TIIK IM'LKl;?

inniiitaiiiiii;; tlic iiiliiiltitiiiits in |M-iic<- ;ii!<l tr:iM(|tnIlity nnil in tlu'ir
duty tDuanls tlii' (Jovciuinciit as tin- oath tlicy li.ive taken ohlij^cs
tln'Mi ti(."

Ill less tliiiii two yciirs. !\I;i.s(*cii'ene, l>y liis so t'liiiuk-
iibly skilful iiiid just iulministnitiou. iiiul extirpated all
raiisos of (lissuMsiou. Tlu'it! \\\nv. noiu^ left: lie \nu\
only t(» o'ivf an order and lie was eagerly olx'ved in the
most distant j)arts of the provinee. tlioiioli the only fort he
had was in ruins, and his uarrison coiinnised only 100 ahle-
hinlicd soldiers. Tlu-se faets are elo(jUeiit to sh(»w what
niio'hl he expected from this peaeeahle and suhmissive
people, jirovided they were ruled with ecpiity hy humane
ami eoiieiliatory governors. The keystone of all histoiy.
es[ieeially in ahsoluti; g'overiinieiits and more esjieeially
ill small ones, is the character of the ruhirs : hence the
cart.' I have taken to give an accurate pii-ture of each of
the o-overiiors. Those who net'leet this cannot tliidw
light on diriicult situations nor faithfully discharge the
duty inciunbeiiton him who undertakes to write history.
Some om; has said : " Tell me what company you keep,
and I will tell you what youare." Still more appositely
may we say : '• Ciive me the eharaeter of him who rules,
and I will tell you the character of the people he rules."
If this man be an Armstrong, we may unhesitatingly
declare that, should the population he governs be
naturally unruly and turbulent, he will be continually
causing trouble, and perhaps a rebellion ; and that, how-
ever submissive the po[)ulatio!i may be, dissensions will
unavoidably arise even when the situation would call
for nothing but harmony and peace. If, on the contrary,
lie be; a Mascarene, he will maintain order and peace in
the most diflicult crises. The blame, or at least most
of it, lies at the door of the government.

CIIAMPKI) Koi; i;nnM.

story,
keep,
)Ositely
luU's.
ule>."
itiiigly
us 1)0

mually
it, liow-
jiis will
ulcl call
ntrary,
)eace in
<t most

Mascarene was liardly iiisiailed ii> liisotlice when lie set
to work to rt'ineily the painful situation in wliieh t'oinier
luleis liad placed the Aradiaus l>y refusing to tliein,
sinoe the treaty of L'ti-eeht, any new grant of lands,
Fioni •2..')00 souls in 171:1. the Acadian population had
reaehed in 1740 ahout 0.00() souls, and, nevertheless,
stiauge to say, this po[)nlatioti was confine(j within
the same extent of laud as in 171o. Nov. lo, 174<>,
Mascarene, in a letter lothe Lords ni 'I'rade, re[iiesente(l
to them in the following terms the injustice and incon-
veniences of this state of things:

'• Till' incrcasf of tlie Acailians calls lur sonic fresh iiistnictioiis
1h)\v to dispose of tlicin. Thri/ harr iliridrd niiil siihih'riilril
aiiioJifist tlo'ir vliildrc'ii the Itniils thiif irfir in posscssiim uf, . .
Tlicy applictl for new grants which the (Jovcrnois Philipps ami
Arnistrongtlid not think themselves anthori/.ed to favor them with,
as His Majesty's instructions on that head piescrihe the giant (^f
unappropriated lands to l'nttist<nit snhjicfs unl/f. This long delay
has occasioned several of them to settle theniselvi-s on -cmie of
the skirts of this Province, pretty far distant from this place, not-
withstanding Proclamations and orders to the <'ontrarv have heen
often ivp(»ated. . . . //■ fill'!/ nrf ih'barvi'il J'nnii in'ir iinssrssimis.
tlicjj III list tire III' !■<' iiiisi'nibli/. iiuil. (•(nispiiiii'iitl//. Ih' trniihliaitnir. or
else, they will possess themsehes of new tracts contrary to orders,
or they must he ma<le to witlidiiiw to the iieighhoring fiench
colony.

"The French of Cape Breton will naturally watch all opportuni-
ties of disturhing the peact- of this Province, sjiecially ai this
juncture, in case of a \^•ar with France: and. if occasion of di>-
gust was given to these peoph' here, they would soon make an
advantiige of it. and, hy the iiumi)ers of these Aca<lians. they
would soon distress the garrison if not taking the fort wliicli is in
u very ruinous condition."

After this statement it is not astonishing that Aini-
strong .should write: "They are a litigiotis sort of
people, and so ill-natured to one another, as daily to

■^ 'I

X*t "»»!

n i|.f H',

■Ui

bl"

III

198

CKAMI*KI> I'Ol; ItOOM.

etKMOiuli upon their neiglilM>ur*s pro[)erties." Parkman,
who has searched every nook an<l eoriier to find where-
with to liesniireh tlie Acadians, did not fail to fasten on
this seiitenee. What cared he for Ai'nistrong's charac-
ter, wliidi, by tlie way, lie was ciirefnl not to descril)e
to the public? what caicd he for the atitual circvun-
stances which he passes ovei' in silence? He had at
hand what he was looking for. and with this bit of a
sentence he was able to draw his conclusions against a
lumdred contiary statements : " They were vexed with
incessant quarrels among themselves aiising from the
unsettled Iwundaries of their lands." and nuu'h more to
the same effect. Could it be otherwise, when the
jiopulalion was four tinu's as large as inlTlo, when their
lands Jiad been <Iivide(l and subdividc(l so as to leave
nothinu' but morsels, and when these lands had never been
surveyed bv the m)vernment? With what we know of
Aiinstionii'. of bis cbai-acter and bis exacft^cration in all
thiiiirs, of bis violent lanijuaoe. are we not instified in
supposing thut tbe cxprijssions be made use of magnified
iM'vond mi-asurc tbe j-iain of tiutli that constituted tbe
foundalictn of this fact?

Wby does not Parkman. wb(» busies himself so mucli
with tbe character (»f tbe Acadians, and always with the
evident aim of reversing the invai'iable verdict of
bistorv. wbv «loes be not sometimes, since he is so [rood
a judge, make known to us what was tbe character of
the goveinors? It nuist be easier t(» judge a man than
a wliob; nation.

After having kept tbe Acadians in the country in
spite of themselves, it was a shame to refuse them grants
of land and thus drive them into indefinite subdivisions.
This ictardeil their progress, produced discontent,

KXTKNSIVK MOomaSG.

199

[novoked (lisoliedienee, troubled lianuony. weakened
tlu'ir lo\'alty. exposed the rulers to j^rave disa]ii)oiiit-
iiit'iit ; such was Mascarene's view. He tells us, itideeil,
that, in spite of injunctions, several took up lands on
the confines of the province; hut what is surprisinj;
is that the greater niunlxM- submitted to such tuijust
<n<lers. I have serious doubts whether the colonists of
New England, and in fact any other colonists, would have
snbiuiited during forty years to such a system without
it'volting against authority, especiall}' if that authority
li.id been represented by only 100 soldiers or a propor-
tionately small nunil)er?

Miiscaicne tells us that the instru(.'tions of His
.Majesty were to bestow giants of land onl}- on Protes-
tant subjects. This is undoubtedly true ; but it is not
improbable that this order was obtained thi-ough the
influence of those who had voted to themselves agjant of
100.000 acres of land at TJiand Vvr and heaubassin in
Aimstrong's time, and among whom, besides Ai'mstrong,
I'liilipji and his comicillors, iignrcd King (}ould.
Allured l*oi)ple, Henry Popple, Andrew Robinson,
Henry Daniels. I^squiics. all of Kngland. We know not
the eliaraeter of these gentlemen, except that of King
^Joiild. who was tinaiicial agent for I*liili[)ps : but I
li;ive good reason to believe that one of them. Alhiri'il
popple was no less a [x'rsonage than the Alluied Po|)ple
who was then the Secretary of State. With an inter-
ested party of such position and influence it was easy t(»
setiiie and maintain the deeree excluding the Acadians
from anv new errant, in oider to oblige them to buvland
fiom these fortunate grantees. In fact, I find nowhere
that the wise recommendations of Mascarene had their
effect, and T have reason to believe that this iniquitous

oe^li

•JOO

KXTKNSl VK HOODLING.

Ill I

situation contiinu'd till the tiiii*' of the <lepoitation.
These hinds, j^iivnted to the iilx)ve Kiiglishmeu. sui-
lounded tliose tliat were next to the Aeadians' hinds in
tlie two most in'i[)oitiint (•(•ntres. 'Phis must liave heen
a sjHM.uhition at their cxptMise. like the one tliat provoked
and followed theii' deportation. I jiave not strive.i to
dear up this matter, hut I recommend it to Mr. Park-
man's notiee.*

* This Kfant, or what \Vii>' Mi of it, was oschf'jit»^d on the 21st of April,
ITCiO, f<i l(c j;raiitt'd afrcbli tu (tovrruur Luwreuce's coiiucillMrs after tbH
tl<jNirtation.

P.I. ii

i>iii

MASCAUENK ANXIOUS.

201

CHAPTEK XI.

'>!^

War declariMl Ix'twopn Fram-H ami EiikIhiuI— Acadia invadoil l.y
the FrencJi undtT the coiiitiiand of Diivivier and De (iaiitu' -
Efforts t(i stir up tho Acadiaiis to r«'volt — Tho exixHlitioii witli-
draws — New »'xpetlition by Marin and later l)y RameHay — fJattlo
of (irand Pre — Fidelity of the Acailians — TestiinoniL's of .M,i.m ,i-
rene. ftc. . etc-. — Tlie Compiler— I'arkuian.

Mascahkxk's wise and pnuleiitcoii(luctlia«l pindin .mI
the Ijiijipiest results. Not (tiily had In; gaiiieil ili.'
esteem and eon tideiiee of nil ; hut ho luid in all tliiii'^x
established regulations and iiroccdurcs, whicli. in Ins
relations with the cleiii^y and the Acadians. ensuiecl
harmony and put an end to all the niisunderstandinus so
frequent in Arnistronof's time. On June :i8, 1T4-, he
wrote to the Duke of Newcastle :

•'The frequent rumors we have liad of war being on tlie point
of being declared against France. Iiave not as yet niatle any alter-
ation in the t^'injH'rof the Acadians, wlio appear in a good dis|)osi-
tion of keeping to their oath of lideiity. and of submitting to the
orders and regulations of tliis govennnent for maintaining peace."

However, lie was still very anxious : he knew that, if
the French invaded Nova Scotia, they would not fail to
make great efforts to })ersuade the Acadians to join
them. His fort was in ruins: Ik; had oidy live com-
panies of tliirty-one men each, a third of whom wcic
invalids. In his letter of December, 1718, to the
Secretary of State, he complained bitterly of his
situation :

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ilM

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•*^.H

S :?i K

202

hoVALTV sK<[i:i:i>.

"Tlio inhabititiits are all Firnrli Koiiiiiii Catliolics ; in cast' of a
rupture with France, it is as iiiucli as we eun exfMt't if we can
keep tlu'iu from joining with tho eiuMuy or In'ing stirreil up by
them to rebel. To prevent this, I luive used the best niean» I
••oukl by making them sensible of the advantage and ease they
enjoy under the British (lovermnent. wlierebyto wean them from
their old masters, but to do t\>'*- effet'tually. a considerable time
will 1m' rtMjuired. this Province in the meantime is in a worse con-
dition for defence than the other American Phmtations."

Will" Wiis (b'olai-ed on Miirch l')th()t' tlie following year
(1744). Tills untoward evtMil was going to submit
the tidelily of the Acadians to a hard trial. With a few
more y«'ars of peace, Mascarene, by following tlie line
of conduct which his tact and benignity «lictated to

niu. Would liavc I)een able, as he hoped, to give rise to
a s(»lid sentiment of loyalty based on ties of affection
and gratitude strong enough to resist all allurements.
His nii'iliods and his results would have; 1

)een a sate

j»reeedent, from which his successors would not liave
dait'd to depart.

France, which had done so little to eoloniz*' and

l>i

eserve Acadia, had never lost the 1

lOJt

te of reeoiKiucr-

ing it : and it is evhient, from the documents of French
oiigin. that the authorities of Canada fhittt-red them-
si'lves with the 1io[)e that tlu; At-adiaiis would sei'/e on
the i>i»portuiiity about to be offered tluMu of shaking off
the Knglish yok(^ The couist^ of events will, however,
show that the fears of Mascarene and the hopes of the

iciicii had !!(» touiK

lat

ion.

If Mascarene had not had tiiue to establish the loyalty
of the Aoadiaiis on the luore lasting basis of affection,
this loyalty was none the less really established on the
gi'ounds of inteit'st and of res[)ect for the oath: *" Their
plea with the French who pressed them to take up

ACAIUANS IIAKU!Kl» UY THK FHKN'CH.

203

arms.'" said MascareMe in 1748, when tlit* war had conio
to an end, " was their oath ; their living easy nnder tho
(rovernnient, and their havinji; no ioni[)hunt to inak*>
against it." This was the result ol a tew years of a just
and (conciliatory adniinistratioii.

During four years Acadia was invaded at least four
times by the French: Annapolis was besieged three
times, always in the hope of taking it with the concur-
rence of the Acadians, for whom thev had broutrht arms:
but they were obliged just so many times to withdraw
without tliis concurrence, and without having made any
serious attempt. Every means was tiied to overconic
the resistance of the Acadians, From Matteries the
French passed to threats, and from threats to 0|tt'ii
force, without shaking their determination, and tliis
ha[)j)ened at IJeaubassin as well as at (Irand Pre and
Annapolis.

The disa2)j)ointment of the French must have l)ccn
extreme to induce^ them to have recourse to such means,
since the result could not fail to diminish tiie sympathy
the Ac-adians nnist naturally have felt for the French.

Aflei' having exhausted all the means of jjcrsuasioii,
Duvivier and de (rannc, who connniindcd the tirs' ex[>c-
dition, issued the most severe orders :

" AVc order you to (U'livcr up yoiu" arms, aniniunitioiis . . . atnl
tliiisc wlio coiitrHvetH* tlicsc orders sliall lie punished aud delivered
into tile liaiids of the Indians, as we cannot refuse tiie demands
tlioe savap's maive for all those who will not submit theiuselv.'s."

;«^-.:'r!3

f 6 ■

•' I' '■ > ; 1^

Here is one of the replies of the Acadians :

'• \Ve. the inhabitants of Mines, (iraml Pre. Uiver Canard, Pi.Lri-
^uit and the surroimdin^ riveis. i)e.n' that yon will be jileased to
eiiiisider that while there would be no dittii-ultv. bv virtue of the

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iilHr- •:fll

204

At'AIUANS IIAKIMKI* MY THK FUKNCH.

Htron)< fore*- voii coiniiiaiHl. in .supplying yoiirst'lt' witli tlu> ipiiin-
tity of )^Hin ami iiirat you liuvo onlcrctl, it would ho «|uit«« iiii|MM-
HJhle for us to furnish you tlu< <|uantity you (h-umnd, or fvcii a
HiiialK'r, without placing ours«>lv«>s in great peril.

'• We lio|M', geiitlenuMi, that yiui will not plun>?e lM)th our-.elvi>
and our faniili<>s into a state of total loss ; and that this considera-
tion will eause you to withdraw your savages and troo|»s from
our districts.

" We live under a mild and tranquil (lovennuent, and we have
nil K'Mxl n-ason to he faithful to it. We hope therefore, that yi'U
will have the pmmUipss not to separate lis from it. and that yuii
will grant us the favor not to plunge us into utt<'r misery. Tliis
we ho|K' from your goodness, a.ssuring you that we are with muih
resjM'ft.

Your very hundtle and ol)edient servants.

Acting for the conunimities ahove intMitioned,

.lacipies Le HIanc. Pierre l^e Hl.iiic,
Francois Li«> Blanc, Hen«* ■ (Jrang(>r his mark, Claude Le Filain-.
JaL(iues Teriau, .\ntt)ine Liindry, Joseph ,< (Jranger his mark.
Pierre Richard,* Hene Le Blanc.

Mines. 14 Oct. 1T44."

"We have remaining," says Murdoch, "as many as twelve i>r-
ilers issued liy Duvivierfrom the French camj). f>f this n.'iture, cotn-
manding theservices of individuals by nanu' — the furnishing horses
and men to lea<l them, the bringing in |Kjwder. horns, etc.. the
swearing allegiance by the deputies and elders, furnishing ladders.
j>ickaxes, shovels, cattle, wheat — baking of bread — to forbid buy-
ing arms — tlie supplying of shirts, fiu-nishing canoes, etc.. el<'.
lJisobe<lience to these, is usually menaced with death, sonietime.s
with corporal punishment. . . I do not know whether we should
attribute this to the jtride of noblesse, then so predomiiuint, to the
liarshness of military sentiment at that time, or to peivonal in-
capa<'ity on the part of Duvivier : b>it. from whatever source, I
l(>f)k on it as having been fatal to his cause." |

* I'rothi'r of my aiK'i^stnr Ren''- Richanl. who camo to Oaiiailii iiftiT tho
i|i'|Mii-t,ition.

+ •' DuviviiT issin'cl pcrt'inptory unliTs to tlic A<M(liiiiis fur sn|i|plifs. . .
X'ltwitlistaiiilint; his Hic'iit. tho Ac-ulians wore very iiiuvilliiiK t" uivo him
liny assistance, aiitl liis l)riKht hopes <>f a spontiuiooiis risinj^ (>ftho.\oa-
fliaii po(i|)|o a$;aiiist Hritish powoi- vaiiishod liofon- tlio I'liillin^ reality.
A now KonorHtion had «ro\vn n|> who woro not disposed to wi^lconu' thosa
■who Would hrin;? war to tlicir ilnuv!<."-if(tnu<iij, History of Aeudia.

DlVlVIKi: n.\I-FLKI>.

I'o:

Tlie liiisty retit'iit of Dnvivicr ciiii ht; (^xpliiiiicd only
hy till* (lisiipiioiiitniciit lie must Imvi! felt in not ht'iiii;-
supported hy tlic Acjuliims. A FrtMuh sijuadion \v;is
daily cxpcctt'fl in Annapolis liiirltur. and nolliinij sccnitd
t'l call lor tiic raisincr of tlie siene. Tliis sijnadioii,
licariiin' To onus, arrived a tew days after his departure.
Not lindiny tlie troo[)s lie liad reckoned upon meet iii<4
there, unable with liis crews alone to I'ecluce tlie Ljarrisoii,
tlie eoniinaiMler put out to sea ayain without having"
made any atteni[)t. This new hasty departure wa> as
disastious t(» the Fi'ench as had heeu that of I)uvi\ ier,
for there? came from Boston, four days after this <h'-
jtartiire, a wholes convoy huleii with provisions and
ammunition for tlit; iLjnirison, which would have un-
avuidahly fallen into the hands of the commatuhM' of
the Fi'cnch sijuadion.

Hannay, speaking,' of the expedition of Duvivier, says :
" Duvivier, unsuceessful at Anna[>(dis, returned to Mines,
where he proposed to remain for the wintei' with his
soldiers, hut tlie Aoadians sent iusneli a strongly worded
remonstrance that lu; was constrained to withdraw. At
T>t'auhassiu he found the {)eople ecjually aveise to his
remaining and finally returned to Louishourg."

.\s soon as war was declared, Masearene aetively
employed hims(df in [>utting the fort of Annapolis, the
oidy one in the province, in fit eondition to resist a
siege. The.se woiks were consideral)le, since the walls
had fallen into ruins. For the materials espe(!ially. hut
even for the manual labor, he eould count but little on
any but the Aeadians. Of course in sti'ict justice, they
weic bound to do this work : nevertheless the actual
fining of it was a great proof of good will. Masearene
had gained such an {uscendancy over them that they

^Mf

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P'^l

1''%

[ !

E' i

I,
i

120(5

ACADIANS ItKl'Ain FOi:T.

iu'V«'i' ininle any ohjectioii. Writing toSliirley lie siii<l:
"Tlu" Aiiiulians showed themselves ready, not only to
get tin; lindHM' neeessary For that kind of work, hut to
Im? eini)loy('d in the repairs, when, on the 1st of .July,
the first ])arty of Indians, consisting of about 800, came
to interrupt us."

Later, aftei- the departure of Duvivier, Mascareiie
I'esunicd the works that had l>een abandoned and
demanded anew the assistance of the Aeadians : '• I also
])ievail(Ml with the deputies of the Aeadians of this
river." said he to Shirley, "to furnish the engineer the
material requisite for our repairs, which they seemed to
undertake and perform cheerfully."

The fruitless expedition of Duvivier was followed in
the succeeding year by that of Captain Marin with the
same results.

The moral decadence of France, commenced under
Louis XIV., continued and hastened under the regency,
was, under Louis XV., about to consummate its degra-
dation and provoke the great catastrophe which would
later ruin or regenerate it. This moral degeneiacy had
its effect on the warlike virtues of the nation, and this
war was going to give the measure of the evil. Watch-
ful I'iUgland was ready to realize this, and to take upon
itself, a few years later, the task of completing the
liumiliati(m of a too restless rival, by overthrowing its
piestige and d(!priving it of what might yet re-establish
its strength and its renown.

England's apprehensions were greatly relieved when
it became evident that the Duke D'Anville's jiowerful
fleet, dispersed by storms, weakened and demoralized by
death, sickness and dissensions, was no longer to be
dreaded.

.fS f-

OUANI) HIIK KAID.

207

De Ramesay, wlio liud waited under the walls of
Annapolis for the L'o-oj)emtion of this flnet, waH obliged
t^> withdraw upon Mines and soon after on Reauhassin.

Here comes tlie only glorious feat (»f arms for Kranee
in this part of the (country, and it was accomplislu'd l)y
the Canadians whom d«^ Uaniesay commanded. While
this officer was at lieaubassin, Masearene, after having
revictualled Annapolis, stationed in the district of
Mines a detachment of 470 men eonnnanded hy ('oloiicl
Noble of Massachusetts. This armed body were billeted
for the time being at the village of (irand V]6 in tlu;
hcmses of the Acadians. De Ramesay conceived the
daring project of traversing on snowshoes the long
distance that sef>arated him from (Jrand V\C\ and of
surprising during the night the troops stationed there ;
a raid winch, though it won renown for the Canadians,
produced no practical result.

We have seen, from divers exti-acts, wliat was the
attitude of the Acadians during these four years of
repeated invasion by the French troops: let us now
listen to other testimonies gleaned from the correspond-
ence of Crovernor Mascarene himself.

At different times he l>ears witness that, during tlie
intervals between these successive expeditions, the
Acadians came to inform him of the movements of the
Frencli and to work at putting the foundations in a lit
state to withstand their attacks.

To Governor Philipps, on June 9tli 1744, he writes: "I have
(lone all in my power to keep the Acadians in tlieir fidelity wlio
promise fair and a.s y<>t assist )is in repairing our breaches."

To the Lords of Trade on tlin same date: "These latter (the
Acadians) have given nw assurances of tiieir resolution to keep
in their fidelity to Ilis Majesty, wlucii tliey seem to justify in

i/'

1 1'

20H

mas(Ai:i;nk i'i:aisi:s thk acaiuans.

haviri;; liitlicHo ^i^'*'" ">* tli«'ir I'SHistaiict' in tluMV(irks|j;((iii;; on fur
tin- it'iuiirs »»l" this Fort, whirii iiccordin^; t<» my foi'inor rcprt'st'ii-
tatiniis of tlic iititiirc of tliesc iiilial>itarits is tlu* utmost w(> can «-.\-
pcct from tiit-m."

To tlif Scciclaiy of War. .Inly 'Jnd 1744 : " Tlio Acadians of tliis
rivt'i- iiavt' kept hitlu-rto in tlicir tltlrlity. and tin irtiifs JDi'tirti with
///«' ('//f'M///, wiio has killed most of tlicir ctittle, and tlu* priest n--
siding amongst tht-m has Iteliavcd also as an hunt'st man, thougli
none of them dare come to us at present. They helped in the re-
pairing of our works to tlir rcrif ilai/ pirt'cdhid tlir nttiick'."

To(iovernor Shirley. July '-^Hth 1744: "The Acadinus, as soon
as tlie Indians withdrew from us. brought us jtrovisious and coii-
tiime to testify their resolution to keep to their lidi'lity as long as
we keep this fort. Two deputies arrived yesterday from Mines,
wlio liave brought mea |>aper contaiiung mi (is.ii)viiiti'())i sigtu'it ti//
most i)f tin' iiilitil>it((nts of tlidt j)ltici' to pverciit cuttle bi'iu{i traun-
ported to tite Freuch, according to the prohibition sent them from
hence. These Acadiaiis are certainly in a very perillous situation.
Those who pri'teiid to be their frien<ls and old mastei"s having let
loose a parcel of banditti to plimder them, whilst on the other
baud they see themselves tlireatt'iied with ruin and destruction if
they failed in their allegiani-e to the British Goverinuent."

To King Gould, on the .same date : " The Acadiuns still keep
in their fidelity and have not anyways joined with the enemy,
but we have lost their a.ssistance in the rejjairing of our works.
they being in dread of the Indians."

To Dec. 1744 : *' To the timely succour received from the

Governor of Massachusetts, and our Freneli iiiliubitantH refiisitHj
to take Hpariitsdyaiiist lis ireuire our j)reserr(ttioii. If theAcadi-
ans had taken up .vrms they might have brought three or four
thousand men against us."

To dear Ladevese, 1747, at the close of the war : " The great

french Armada under Duke D'Anville which would have swal-
lowed us up, was by God's Providence, weakened and shattered by
sickness and storms. . . In these several struggles I used our
Acadians with so much mildness, administered justice so impar-
tially and employed all the skill I was master of in managing them
to so good purpose, that, though the enemy brought near tiro
thousand men in arms in the midst of them, and used all the
means of cajoling and threatening to make them take up arms,
having brought spare ones for that end, they could not prevail
upon above twenty to join them."

'#"1

Tin; roMi'ii.Ki: at his tihcks.

20! ♦

To tilt' Diikf of MfdI'oid, .Iiiiif ITitli 174H. nft«'r the war: "Th.-
rtpoiiU'il iitf»'mpts of the I'lUMiiv on Nova Scotia hav*- not had tlu*
mu'rt»rtH tlii-y »'.\|M'<-t«'«l ; aii*l. notwitliMtiiiu'iiiK tlu- nu'ims tlu-y
liavt' iiHcd to ciiticfor t'orcc into o|it>n rclicllion tlu> Acadians, who
arc all of lit'Mcli extraction and |ia|iiHt.s, tlicy have not licen ahlc
to provail except n|>on a few of them : and. after having entered
this pi'ovince three ditferent tiinen. witli forces far sn|)erior \>>
what roidd he op|M».se»l to them, they were at last ohiiged to retire
t<» (.^ttehec."

'I'wo numtlis IiitiT. in Aiiijusi, 174M, MiiscurcMcni'dcn'il
I.ieiiti'iiiiiit-Cohnu'l (torliiiiii '"to piocccd to Mines to
jiiiy ilic Aciidiiins for provisions jind other iicet'ssurics,
also for lal)or and losses ini-iirred by tlicni for houses
liurnt and fences destroyed to the value of over ten
thousand ])oiinds."

I would liave the reader remark, in})assing, that none
of tlie letters (|uoted above are found in the volume of
the archives except two, which are the le.ust important.
I would also have him remark that, from 'luly 4, 174<i
to Ociobei' 27, 174"), this volume contains forty-three
documents of divers kinds, while it contains not a single
one from October, 1745 to A})ril, 1748.

Why, one naturally asks, this accumulation of forty-
three documents within tlie four years befonj the war
and nothing within the three years during the war, that
is, during the most important period? The reason is
not far to seek ; it is always the same: suppression is so
plainly a set plan that one only need open his eyes to
detect it. Before tlie war Mascarene entertained doubts
of the fidelity of the Acadians and gave utterance to
them ; in the tirst years of his administration he had
discussions by letter with the priests before inducing
them to accept his regulations concerning themselves
and concerning the Acadians. Tliese documents also

W.t

iiil

210

MUIIDOCH DEFENDS ACADIANS.

contained remarks favorable to the Acfidians, which
the Compiler could not easily separate : he has allowed
a few of them to pass. But, to include the documents
of the period of the war, wius to make known to the
])ul)lic that the Acadiaiis liad been faithful to their oath
in the most perplexing of situations. Therefore, these
documents must not be included. So manifest is this
set i)urpose of his, that, in spite of this gap of three
years he found means, before creating the gap, to in-
sert in a note a letter of M. de Beauharnois to the minis-
ter at Paris, in which this gentleman expressed the hopes
he entertained that the French would be supported
by the Acadians. This document is, clearly, foreign to
the archives, but the Compiler, however shortsighted he
may sometimes be, has found means to ferret out tiiis
one somewhere. Nevertl.eless, tins document had no
real importance. Hoi^es ! why, every one has them ;
M. de lieauluirnois was welcome to have his ; he was
quite free to believe that the Acadians would take U[>
arms against tlie English. But the real facts were far
more important, and they were to be found in the docu-
ments of which the Compiler has deprived us just in the
very place where he has created a gaping void. History
is based on facts, not on the vague hopes of this or that
individual.

lioth the fears of the English and the hopes of the
French had, therefore, no serious foundation, as the above
citations abundantly prove. This war had submitted
the fidelity of the Acadians to a hard trial, such as ougiit
to give the exact measure of what might be hoped fioni
them under equitable treatment. " When we consider
these matters," says Murdoch, summing up tlie events of
this war, *' we see more clearlv how it was that the little

MUKDOCH DEPENDS ACAUIANS.

•Jll

army from Louisbourg, wliile it was largely reinfon'ed
by the Mit;mac warriors, who had always l)eeii taught to
believe that the Freiieh king had not ceded their terri-
torial rights, received no effective aid from the Acadians.
Although there were always a portion of the inhabitants
of Beaubassiii positively disaffeeted to English rule, in
the other settlements of ('ol)e«[uid, Pigiquit, (irand Pre,
River Canard, as well on the Annapolis river, flicrr were
ver^ few perKoits who were cceu Kiinpected of wiHitif/It/ nid-
iufl the invai<ioii^ and Duvivier received ius little sup[>ort
from the Acadians after he crossed the Avon, as
Prince Charles Stewart did in the next 3*ear after cross-
ing the Tweed." Mascarene had notified the Acadians
that their neutrality did not lelieve tliem from the duty
of instructing him with the movements of Hie French
whenever they could ; as a result, the latter never moved
to another place without having j)reviously guarded tiie
reads, to prevent them from connnunicating with the
English.

It is undoubtedly true, as !Mascarene says, that the
French had " a few sympathizers amongst them.'" He
fixes the nund)er at about twenty. This account seems
to me exact, considering that it fairly tallies with
French rc[)orts. Twelve of these sympathizers were
arrested upon the denunciations of Acadians. How-
ever, it should 1)0 carefully noted that no Acadians were
arrested for having taken up arms, but only for having
advised and assisted the enemy, or for having i'"glected
to give information to the authorities when tney were
able to do so. 'J'he names of those twelve pei-sons are:
Louis (lanthier and his two sons, Aiinand lUigeaud,
Joseph LePtlam; dit Le M.iigre. Charles and Fraii^ois
Raymond, Charles antl Philii)[)e Leroy. Joseph Brassard^

.:m

1-^'

"<|i;i

'2V1

|-|:\V SVMI'ATHIZK WITH THH FKKNCH.

It.': -

Piern^ CfHediv (liiilt-I)ie(l) and Louis Jlebert, fortiior
servant to Captain Handtield. Some were condemned;
others were released, their ex[)huiations having beisn
jndi^'ed satisfactory.

The wonder is, not tliat twenty persons thus lent as-
sistance to tlie enemy, but rather that there were not
more, as this war lasted four years, and the province
was invaded so many times. There must necessarily
liave been officious persons giving information to one
side or the other. To sui)[)ose the contrary would be to
be totally ignorant of human nature. The French re-
jiorts show us that there often came to them soldiers
who had escaped from the Ainiapolis garrison. These
deserters informed them of the situation of the English.
Sucli isolated facts belong to all times and places, and
no unfavorable conclusion can reasonably be drawn
therefrom.

It is useless to insist on this point; the fact remains
established, that the Acadians, in this juncture, the
most difficult in their liistory, superabundantly proved
the great esteem in which they held tiieir oath of
fidelity. " Their plea with the French who pressed
them to take up arms, was their oath," said Mascarene.
Besides, these facts .are not disputed, except by Park-
man wlio dissents only by implication, by making use
of expressions that give quite a different impression.
This writer, who, in his work " Montcalm and Wolfe,"
devotes only three pages to the account of the events
that occurred from 1710 to 174!^ sums up in three lines
the events of the war of which we have just sketched
the most important phases : " This," he says, - restored
comparative quiet till the war of 174"), when snme of tlie
Acadians remained neutral, while some took arms

A PAUKMAN DOIKiK.

218

against tlie Englisli, and manif ofhem aided the enemy
with information and supplies." This sentence, appar-
ently simple and candid, is distinctly insidious and dis-
honest: latet anguis in herha. It specifies nothing; but,
through crafty insinuation, it leaves the reader under
the impression that al)out one third of the Acadians re-
mained neutral, that another third took up arms, and
that the remaining third aided the enemy in different
ways. This trick is a great favorite of his, I could
quote several examples of it without even going out-
side this subject. A dodge of this kind might be con-
sitlered, in common parlance, smart , some people
might admire it in a lawyer or a politician driven into
a corner ; but there is question here of history, the mas-
ter quality of which is impartiality. However, no
Acadian, so far as j. know, was ever accused of having
taken up arms during this war.

In presence of this fidelity, preserved in spite of all
sorts of seductions and threats, what becomes of Park-
man's accusation that " the influence of the priests was
always directed to alienating the Acadians from their
allegiance?*' an accusation which he repeats in every
key and in the most positive terms. If the people re-
mained faithful, then the priests had not the influence
which he attributes to them, when he tells us that the
Acadians had no will of their own, that they were the
<lo('ile instruments of these priests. Either these priests,
having the great influence which Parkman attributes to
them, exercised it in iiistilling fide'ity to the oath, or
the Acadians had the firmness and independence ntM-es-
sary to resist them. Surely, the Acadians needed a
strong dose of firmness to resist the solicitations anil
threats of llii; Frem-h, especially if, as Parkman avers,

mc:^

Si""

III

If,
lit ' '

214

ACAOIAN STUBBOHNNESS.

they had likewise to resisttho.se of their priests, piessing
them in the same direction.

Parkman, in order to prove brilliantly his theory of
the debilitating action of the clergy, had to snppose,
firstly, a great influence of this clergy, secondly, a con-
tinual exercise of this influence, and. in order to draw
conclusions fiom his theory, true in itself, if taken in
the abstract, false or exaggerated in the concrete reality,
he had to infer that the Acadians h.ad lost all initiative,
all will, all energy : in a word, to make of them, as he
does, men who could hardly stand up alone. That was
giving free rein to his fancy, and if the conclusions do
logically follow from the premises, these latter lested only
on one crutch, i^taus pede in ntio.

Although I sometimes pass judgment on the character
of individuals, 1 have no inclination to do so in the case
of a nation; it is so easy, in such matters, to be too abso-
lute. However, I will venture one such judgment on
the Acadians, and it will bear on a defect in their char-
acter, and one direct 1}' opposed to what Faikman blames
in them, namely: "that they were weak of j)urposc."
The most characteristic fault of the Acadians is to be
extremely headstrong. Even to this day, in the pro-
vince of Quebec, when people wish to express in a strik-
ing phrase any one's obstinacy, they say: '• He has the
head of an Acadian," which is tantamount to sa3'ing:
*• He has tlie stubbornness of a mule." Firnmess is a
beautiful ({uality ; but stubbornness, which is its fii-st
cousin, is a grave defect, and it is the besetting sin of
the Acadians. But Parkman, who beats the air at
random, without seeing anything else than his theory,
has. as might have been expected, hit upon the opposite
defect. Men rarely make a bull's eye when they tire

MISTAKK IN KIIKNCH POMCV.

•215

^^i

with their eves shut. Was this detect acquired by the
Aeadians in their struggU-s on the (juestion of the oath,
or was it in them before that '! I know not. If Park-
mf instead of theorizing in a vacuum, had made a
mt ■ careful study of their history, he wouhl have
become convinced of this fact, which is too evident to
es<3ape observation.

The efforts of the French to engage tlie Acadians
to viohite their oath of fidelity, merit, in all respects,
severe condemnation, and these efforts were continual
from the Ijeginning of this war until the taking of Beau-
s^joui- by the English. True, with the help of tlu;
Acadians, Annapolis would have been taken ; but the
definitive conquest of Acadia would not have been
thereby decided. Even had the taking of Annapolis
meant the comiuest of Acadia, the French were none
the less in lioiior bound not to urge the .Vcadians to
swerve from duty, and not thus to expose them to the
direst calamities. Tiieir lot, till then, had been as favor-
able as they could have lioped it to be under a military
administiation, with the intense piejudices that then
prevaile<l. France, for a Avliole century, had done
]iotliiiig to people Acadia and to make of it a self-pro-
tecting province ; she had done nothing to])reserve and
support it in the moment of danger. If. at the eleventh
hour, she wished to repair the errors of her past, she
must first reconquer tlu; country with her own troops,
and then protect her comiuest effectually.

I am convinced that the conduct of France towards
the Acadians during this war caused lier to lose their
sympathy, which she had been able t(» retain up till that
time. If England, oi' rather her representatives, had
luiderstood the Acadian character, if thev had trusted

^'11

iMP

.*ul^

iili

216

MISTAKK IN FKENOH I'OLICY.

them and mad«^ tlie most of their faitlifuhiess, we should
not have to deplore the misfortunes tliat ensued. At
any rate, these incessant attempts to seduce them, far
from heing prejudicial to them, shouhl have Wimi an
additional proof of their fidelity, a certain pledge for \\w
future. At the same time, their conduct, interpictcd
with kindliness, should liave hecome for the l^nylisli
authorities an earnest of lasting friendship and prnctiral
gratitude ; for, as Mascarene said, '* without the nou-
trality of tlie Acadians, the province would liave het>n
lost;" it would likewise have been lost, if they liad
emigrated to the Freiich possessions of Cape Breton, for
then they would have been sohliers of France in the

war. But gratitude is a rara uvin.

I. I

I'UOKELYTIZING SCHEME.

217

ril AFTER XII.

Other events of the war (1T44-1T4H) — Ini<|uitnus projects of Shirley
against the Acadians— Tlieir ahirins — Letter of Sliirlej' repudi-
ating the supiKtsed projects — It is not judged satisfactory —
Shirley procures the authorization of the Secretary of State and
issues a proclamation to the Acadians — His correspondence
with the Duke of Newcastle — Pro(!laniations of the French com-
mander to the Acadians — Firmness of the Acadians.

Other circnnistances a<l(I a new and immense ^veight
to the titlelitvof the Acadians in tliis war. If Mascarene
had not been obliged to endure the meddlesomeness of
Shirley, governor of Massachusetts, there would prob-
ably not liave been a single exception to ihe strictest
lidelity. Mascarene, by his conduct, admirable in every
respect, had gained the esteem and confidence of the
Acadians to an almost incietlible degree. They came to
him as to a friend, as to a father. Whenever any diffi-
culty arose respecting the extent of their obligations,
they came to submit it to his decision, and his reply was
invariably accepted without a murmur. Tlie documents
in hand offer several examples of this, among others Uu^
following: Some English officers obliged some \v:\-
dians to serve as guides and pilots against the Freneli.
Interpreting these orders as contrary to their neutrality,
they addressed a petition to Mascarene, enti'eating him
not to oblige them to such service. He entered into
lojig arguments with their delegates to show them that
their oath did not exempt them from this service.

/:^:

rei

!*•'

fill''

1'18

VUOSKLYTIZIN(J SCHEMK.

Without hesitation they withdrew their petition, and
afterwards no longer objected to any assistance that did
not imply the liearing of arms.

Shirley, wlio was not animated with the same spirit,
came near ruining everything, and, once more, Ma.s-
carene sa\e<l the situation. Toward the beginning of
the wai'. Shirley, somewhat through distrust for the
fidelity of the Acadians, but much more through
fanaticism and contempt of riglit and liljerty, had
proposed a project in regard to them which Murdoch
thus epitomizes : " He proposes to intei'sperse Protestant
settlements among the Acadians, taking part of thf
inarnhlandH from them for the new Hettlern. . . .he recom-
mends i/ratitini/ xmall privilefien and immtmitleH for theen-
coHrai/i'hient of siwh an should come over to the Protes-
titnt raitiniHnion and send their children to learn
English."

This upright historian cannot help condemning the
project : " This suggestion of offering worldly advantages
in exchange of profession." says he, " can hardly be com-
mended incur days."'

This plan included a further injustice, that of
arbitrarily dei^riving the Acadians of the best part of
their lands, of that which had entailed the most labor.
tlic marshes. Would his suggestions have been
adopted? Certainly, if Shirley had been master of the
situation ; but, fis we shall see elsewhere, the authorities
in England were far from taking the same view. The
Duke of Newcastle may have been a great briber, he
may not have known, as Parkman says, where Acadia
was situated on the map ; but, at least, he had respect
for certain things. Shirley himself may have been very
sagacious ; but he was laboring under a strange delu-

SHIHLKV A TUIMMKR.

•219

sion when lie imagined that, with siu^h projects, he could
retain tlie Aeadiaiis in tlie province.

This design hecame known to the Acadians in the
second year of the war, 1 74r), but was falsely represented
to tliom as a plan for their expulsion. They were
greatly alaiined thereat. Tlie French took every
advantage of this rumor to increase this alarm and to
overcome the resistance they were meeting with. They
argued that such arbitrary acts released them from theii
oath of fidelity ; that sooner or later they would 1h;
wholl}^ deprived of the free exercise of their religion, of
their pi'iests and their language; that their properties
would be confiscated, etc., etc. In this perplexity
Acadian deputies from all parts of the province ^^■ent
to consult Mascarene. Tie combated their apprehen-
sion, and promised to procure a speedy denial from
Shirlev, and assurances guaranteeing anew the free
exercise of th(;ir religion, etc.

Shirley clung tenaciously to his project, for, at tliis
very time, August 15, 1740, he wrote to the Duke of
Newcastle : . . . " IJy which means, an<1 rfnini'ini/ ///-'
.RiiiJiixh priests oi(f oft hi' P/'orliire, ntid iiit/'o<h<fini/ /*/<>.
tentaut IJiii/llsh ai'IiO'iLs ami Ftrndi Protcntatit ininixti'rx
mill ihd' I'licdiii'di/t'tneHt (fii'cn to .siirh nf tJw Atuvl'iKiix us
iih<(ll i-iiiifiii'in f'l tin' Prntcstavt ri'ii(/io)i, and send thcii
children to English schools, in the next generation they
would in a great measure become true Protestant sub-
jects."

When the Acadians had resisted all seductions and
saved the province l)v their neutrality and their labor iu
repairing the fort, at that very time did Shirley renew
his infamous project.

St'ptember l<»tii, four weeks after tlie above h.'tter,

-y

•B5 i!

'jM

220

LKTTKI! TO THK UL'KE.

Shirley, as lepresentative ol' His Majesty, addressed to
the Acadians a letter in which he affirmed : »• I'hat Ww
apprehensions of being removed were groundless, and
that they might Ije iissured that he would use his In-st
endeavors to obtain the continuance of the Royal liivor
and protection."

Three days later, September 10th, Shirley made tin-
Duke of Newcastle acquainted with the situation. A^ \\v
have seen, Shirley's plan was not expulsion, but it w;is
none the better for that: it was ecjuivalent to an expul-
sion and more odious than a mere order to depart, which
would have left the Acadians free to go where tlicy
liked. It was tiierefore easy for him to rejjudiate it
proje(!t, which, litcially, he had not formed, and to re-
main vague on other matters : but the Acadians wet e not
to be taken in by assurances that were so little dctincd
and so unauthorized.

November 21st, Shirley wiote to the Duke of New-
castle to inform him that his letter to the Acadians had
not had the effect of quieting their fears :

*' Tliey are still alarmed at the rumor of the design to remove
them. New assurances should l)e given by His Majesty at once :
if this was done it would have a great tendenc}' to remove their
present apprehensions of being sent off. . . . These measures, to-
gether with the iiitrndnviug of French protectant ministers and
English schools, and so)ne snmll eneonragenients hi/ pririleffes fn
Hitch as shoiiJil conform to tlie Protestant religion : the ttisalloiranci'
of the public e.rercise of the Roinish religion, at least after a short
term of i/ears, and forbidding Romish priests under sei'ere 2)enal-
ties to come into the coiintrij

"Just as I had finished the last jiarapraiih. a letter from Ad-
miral Knowles was delivered to me in which he informs me that
he has given his opinion to Your (irace, that it will be necessary
to driv(5 all the Acadians out of Acadia. . . I am of a contrary
opinion. . . It seems very difficult to drive all the Acadians out of

LKTTKi; TO Tin: lU'lvK.

2-Jl

Acatlia. 77(/.s inmld stninjlliin tlir h'mirli cnnshlerdhl/i. ami
ii'iiidil iitdkv the rcchiiiniiKj of till' IiiiiiaiiH iiiipiiivfirnhli'. . . . Hut,
nfXcY their luiviiig i<'iiiaiii<'<l so loiiK in tlit- country upon tin- loot-
ing of Hritish subjects, iimlrr Ihr siincfiini of tliv tiriitij of ('fri'clil,
ami making inil"'*'^'"'"*'"*'^ •'" tl't-ir lauils for one or two goiu'ia-
tioiis. ami Ixiiig growii up itito-iicli a ninnlH-rof fainili«»s. to drive
tiieiu all otr witliout lurtlier eiupiiry snuis In hf liiihh' lo nimiif oh-
je.i-tiims. Among others. // iiiiiji hi ilonhfnl wlietlier uniler the
rirriniistances of tiiese ))eoj)le it imnlil vlrnrl// uii/H'iir to hv n jiisf

iisiii/i' of tlii'iii Till' ''.ii'iujitioii of not bi'iiri III/ onus upon

anil (tovouiit ijii'i'ii to flii'in hi/ Gorcrnov I'liiliiifix. on their rnnxeiif-
iiifl to tiiki' fin oiifli ofiilli'i/iiini-i', wlietlier it was done hy him with
.>r without authority. // nini/ inrliops hv ihiniiil too riijoron.s n
jninislinii'iif tliiif ironlil nirolri' tliv iniionnt iritli tin' {/niltn in the
lo-s of their estates and the expulsion out of the country : it is not
improhahle hut that thtMe may lie many among them who would
.xt'ii prefer His Majesty's (roveiiniieiit to a French one. ami have
done nothing to deserve such fate. Sonif iilloinnnT miiy ULTirisr
If niaih' for tin'ir hint nit nation hifinrn ('uniuliiins, Tniliitiis anil
IJii/tisli. the riiriii/i's of all n-hirli thr/f hiirr fi'll hi/ turns in tin'
coll rsr of the war : iliirini/ irhieh thi'i/ seem to hnre hecn voiit inn-
nil 1/ /}laee.<l between two furs, the force anil meiiiires of the ('ana-
ilia IIS aiiit Indians pill nileriinj them of irhatecer theij wanted and
deferring them >>i the stronijest manner from hariiii/ any conunii-
iiieation with His Majesty's ijarrison ov the one hand, and the re-
sentment of the gar rinnn for their iritliholdinij their intelligenee
and supplies on the other, though at the same time it was not in a
ronditinn to protect them from the enemy. Wherefore, it seems a
matter wortljy of your (rrace's consideration whether, under such
douhtful circumstances, the driving all the Acadians off tlie coun-
try, thereby greatly strengthening the enemy, is more eligible than
treating them as subjects."

Such is the man whom Parkman .sets on a pedestal
for the admiration of his fellow-citizens. True, he was
*' determined," " energetic," " resolute," and these qual-
ities appear to be those which Parkman appreciates
above all others. I am willing to make allowances for
times and circumstances ; but I refuse to believe that
this conduct of Shirley's was comformable to the code

/Ha.

'I«l,

I \.'

i^w

0')-)

A rUKClKSOll TO LAWKENCK.

of luinor tliat (Iumi previiiled, how low soever tlisit was :
and yet all this vile stuff was written to a tluke and
a secietaiy of state, and it was the third time \\v re-
peated his projeet, at the very moment when he had just
assured the Aitadians "of his Ijest endeavors to olilain
the eontinuanee of the Royal favoj' and protection : '"
when, as ho himself said, *' they were under the sanetion
of a treaty," and, when, as Masearene said, "they hud
in no ways joined the enemy."

Need we Im; astonished, after this, that a man (-(lUidly
" fuin and resolute,"' but moially nuich infeiior to Shir-
ley, deported the Acadians without more reason than
Shirley would have had at this time ? Shirley, however,
keeps within bounds ; feelings of honor stop him some-
where; the limit is not very high, it is even very low;
but we ean guess at a vague boundary line whieh hi;
prefers not to oveileap. This \ague line is the treaty,
that oath with a restriction, the dilheult position of the
7\c'adians, their i-t'sistance to the seductions and threats
of the enemy. On second thoughts, he asks himself
whether the Acadians should be blamed for, some-
times, not giving information to the government, when
tliey were prevented from doing so by terrible threats,
and when this government was unable to protect them.

These objections would hardly be obstacles, " hi(t tin'
departure of the Acadians would (/reafli/ atreni/theu the
enem.if avl would make the reclaiming of the Indians im-
practicohie.''^ This is the serious point. At bottom, the
politic aspect alone interests him, and, for this reason,
" it is more elijiihle to consider them as subjects."

Between Shirley and Admiral Knowles who left such
a poor reputation at Boston and elsewhere, there is at
least this difference that the fcnmer is amenable to

NKWCASTI.K TO THK liKSCl'K.

-'•J3

(liploniiitic I't.'iisoiis, wliilt' tlic^ liitter stops at iiotliintj.
Hut, liiul Sliiilcy's diploniiicy Iuhmi iinytliin^' nioic tliiiii
xkilful wire-pulliuj^, lie iiiust have understood that not
an Aeadian would remain in the conntiy, if they wtMo
deprived of their relif^ion. It is truly leniarkable that,
not on(! of these ji;overn()rs, except MascarcMie and Ilop-
^on, roali/ed this, thou;>h tin; proofs of it stareil them in
the face. Evidently they judj^ed others hy their (»\vu
feelings.

Let us pass to the reply of the Duke of Newcastle i
May :}Oth following- (1747) :

)ii

I. ; ■{

^, ,,. )"

"Ah you aii<l ^fr. Waircii hiivc rcjjroHeiitcd that an opinion
prevaileil amongst tlw Ai^atlians, that it was intended to rtniovi-
thfin from tlieir settlements and liahitations in tlie Province ; and
as tliat reiK>rt may prol)al>ly iiavi' Ik-cm Jirttnlly spread amongst
tliem in order to induce liu-m to witiidraw tiiemscives Ironi their
allegiance to His Majesty and to taive part with the enemy: His
Majesty tliinits it necessary that |)roper measures should l>e taken
to remove any sucli ill-grounde<l suggestions: and. tor that jiur-
|M)se, it is the King's plejisure, that you sliouhl decliire in some
public and autlu-ntic manner to His Majesty's subjects, the Aca-
(iians of that Province, tliat there is not the least foundation for
any apprehension of that natur*^ ; on flic roiitniri/. it is His Maj-
esty's resolution to protect and maintain all sucli of them as shall
continue in their duty and allegiance to His Majesty, in the (piiet
and peaceable possession of their res])ective liabitatioiis. and tlnit
they sliall ('(nitiuue to enjoy tJie free cvereise of tlieir rrliffioii."

TTore aq-ain is a strikinof instance of the immense
superiority of the I Tome authorities on the .score of justice
and honor. The provincial government systematically
misstates all the facts so as to deceive the Home Govern-
ment; and yet the latter never swerves, to any great
extent, from its righteous line of conduct. When Shirley
has done all he could to get his infamous project ap-

r':i?

■2-JH

SHIULEV (lAinsLKS AXI» KXI'LAINS.

Itidved, the answer conies back tliat the Acadians should
he promised ^^ the free exercitti' of theii' rellj/t'on.'^

What is Shirlej- going to do? We shall see. Hut
first. I shall produce an extract from another of Shirley's
letters to the Duke of Newcastle, addressed to him a few
days before the receipt of the preceding one. On July
8th he represented to him that the French had just left
Grand Pre to retire to Beaubassin ; that they ought to
be dislodged, that English-American colonists ought to
be settled there in place of the Acadians of this district,
" a7id fhene AcadhinH trauHplantt'tl In Netr Enqland, an<f
dixfribiifed nmonij f he four t/ove rumen fa there.''

This shows I was quite right in saying that Shirley's
scruples were of a very low order, almost infinitesimal.
He was nuich put out b}- the orders of the Duke of
Newcastle, so much so that, for a long time, he did
nothing at all. It was important for the safety of the
province to allay as soon as possible the api)rehensions of
the Acadians, lest they should weary of waiting and
allow themselves at length to be seduced and convinced
by the French. But Shirley persisted so strongly in
his project of Protestantizing the Acadians, that he did
nothing for several months, and, when he made up his
mind to act, he simply suppressed that part of the Duke
of Newcastle's letter which ordered him to promise tliem
the full exercise of their religion.

He explained his conduct to the Duke on Oct. 28th,
when a whole year had elapsed since he had promised
the Acadians to procure from the King himself the
promises the}- solicited. In this letter of Oct. 28th,
1747, he informs His Grace that he has just drawn up a
proclamation conformable to his letter of the preceding
30th of May ; but that he has taken upon himself to

}''*.■ '

SHIRLEY GARBLES AND EXPLAINS.

■2-2-i

omit the clause concerning the free exercise of their
religion :

" Because the treaty of Utrecht does not seem to lay His Majesty
under an obligation to allow the Acadians the exercise of the

Roman Catholic religion.* And, as His Majesty is as y«'t

under no promise to do it, / sliould hope tluit methodx might h'
found for weaJcening the ties of coHsangidnity and religion. . .
which may possibly be cut off o/- at least obstructed by His Majesty
making a promise to continue the Acadians in the free exertiist'
of their religion. . . Therefore, I have taken the liberty to suspend
promising them tiiefree exercise of the Romish religion, thougli
it is mentioned in your Grace's letter to have been part of what
wan to he included in His Majesty's in";ended Proclamation, till I
could transmit my sentiments to your Grace, and I should liavt»
His Majesty's farttier directions upon it ; and have in the mean-
time ma<le a declaration of such points as seemed necessary to be
ascertained to the Acadians for quieting their minds and ivould
not admit delay.""

:5?i'

28th,
ru up ii'

;eding
Uelf to

What an accumulation of frauds from Nicholson to
Lawrence! Pelion on Ossa. Shirley would, indeed,
have included in his proclamation the promise of the
free exercise of their religion, but that promise, emanat-
ing from His Majesty, might ^^ possibli/ ^* have been
" an obstruction.^^ A trifle, a mere nothing which could
not embavf-ass a statesman ! A simple question of not
pleo riu! imprudently the name of His Majesty without
a'«olut3 necessity, in order to be more at liberty to seek
%fme I'leans of weakening this senjieless attachment they
Lave for their religion !

Muscarene communicated u ' . Acadians Shirley'.s

♦ By the treaty of Utrecdt : " The Acadians are to enjoy the free exeroiBe
qI their religion according to the usage «f the Church of Ron\e, as far us
the laws of Great Britain do allow the sjvme." In 1730 the Acadians n»?r(>»«rt
to take the oath only because this iiriviloge was more explicitly <»i-aiited
to them anew by Philipps.
15

MMi^'^-

'Sik)

MASCARENE THE COMFORTEB.

inoclamation on Oct. 21st, 1747. To their deputies he
wrote :

" You have in possession His Excellency William Shirley's Pro-
clamation, whereby you may be made easy in that respect, you are
senxible of the promise I made to you, the etfects of which you
have already felt, that I would protect you so long a by your con-
duct and fidelity to the crown of Great Britain you would enahl«
me to do so, which promise I do again repeat to yov."

1 do not believe the Aoadiaus were fully satisfied
with Shirley's proclamation. The tenor of Mascarenes
letter seems to indicate that he was anxious about it,
and that, knowing* the confidence he iutjpired them
with, he relied quite as much on his own pci.-<()nal assur-
ance, to dispel their doubts, as on Shirley's ijiolUuuu-
tion. They had been left more than a year under an
impression that was but too well grounded. During all
this time, in order to maintain their fidelity to the oath,
they had resisted the arguments, cajoleries and threats
of the French ; and if, by exception, some assisted the
enemy, these exceptions were so rare tliat, taking ail in
all, they count for nothing ; and it may be reasonably
supposed that these exceptions would not have existed,
if the projects formed against them had not come td
their knowledge.

In all this 1 fail to see the •' weakness of purj ■.>■ ""
witli which Parkman entertains us ; it is rather a fii lu
ness that resembles obstinacy. The sequel will show-
how far this funmess went. Here I shall lay aside the
documents 1 possess in order to quote Parkman him-
self, who, to my surprise, sums them up faithl'ully
enough in his new work " Half a Century's Conflict : ""

' De Ramesay, who was at Grand Pre, on learning the iij)pr(>iiL'»

FltiHT AT OKANl) IMtl.

227

ln>\v

liiiu-

illv

Ivoac'i

of an English force, hiul tried to persuaih' the AcatUans tiiat they
were to be driven from their lionies, and tliat their only hope was
in joining with him to meet force by force, but they trusted
Shirley's recent iussurance of protection, and replied tliat they
would not break their oath of fidelity to King George. On this,
de Ramesay retreated to his old station at Btniubassin. and Noble
and his men occupied Grand Pre without opiwsition."*

A few months later, in February, 1747, took place the
memorable light at Grand Pre, which we have aheady
mentioned. Surprised during the night by the French
under the command of Coulon de Villiers, who haci
taken advantage of the darkness and a blinding snow-
storm, the English troops occupying this new post were
obliged to capitulate after losing, according to French
reports, a hundred and forty offic^ers and soldieis killed,
among whom were Colonel Noble, his brother. Lieu-
tenants Lechmere, Jones and Pickering, and iifty-four
taken prisoners, among whom was Edward Howe, com-
missary of the English troops in Acadia. f Not long
before, when some Acadians had warned Colonel Nol)le
that the French were planning an assault on (Irand Pre,
they were laughed at: " They, the people of Mines,"
says Murdoch, " had assured the English that the French
would come and attack them, but the English were in-
credulous, relying on the severity of the winter." |

The Frencli then found themselves masters of (iiand
Pre, after a battle in which they had defeated iuid driven

* Piirknuiu must bo li(>ri> iilludin^ only to thi> lli'st Icttor of Shirlt-y totht)
Aciuliaus and not to his i>ro('liiniatiou, siiiL-o Onmd Prt'i was occupii'd by
Col. Noblo in tho aiitunin of 1740, and the proolamutiou is dated Oct. '21st.
1747.

t The French-Canadiau nobility wore numm'ously repri'st'iitcd at this
eomlwit: " Cotilondc Villiors, LaCornc do St. Luc, do Boaujou, do I,ory, do
(raspo, de Lotbiniore. de LiKni'Hs, do RopontiKny. do Hif^auvillo, do Lau-
gis, do Hoishi^bort. do Lusignau, do la Columljioro, do fiuilleul ;" wero
j)rosont also MM. Marin, Morcior, Ma.jur.

J Cf. Ilauiuiij, Hist, of Acadia, p. 349.

j'"^ll

»,..^.

}^m

ill

i-i

228

PilESSUUK IMMENSK.

away the English ; after a capituhition in virtue of
which the coiiqueied had given up the post with all it
contained, and had pledged themselves to retire to
Annapolis and not to bear arms for six months. It was,
properly speaking, a conquest of this part of Acadia.
Tlie Acadians, who dwelt therein, thus changed mas-
ters, at least they might have reasonably believed they
did, and it was possible to find more arguments in favor
of this view than of the contrary one. De llamesay
directly understood the advantage he could derive from
this situation : he avail'^d himself of it to issue a proc-
lamation in which he declared that, by this battle,
France had reconquered this part of Acadia ; that the
Acadians had thereby become once more French sul>-
jects, and that therefore they owed submission and
fidelity to the French Government ; that they should no
longer entertain any relations with the English under
severe penalties.

To this proclamation the Acadians replied by a letter
of which we have only the conclusion :

" Thus, sir, we beg of you to regard our good will and at tlie
same time our powerlessness, poor people as we are, burdened,
most of us with large families, without succor if obUged to evacu-
ate the country, a disaster that daily threatens us, that keeps us in
continual fear, for we see ourselves in proximity to those who
have been our rulers for such a great number of years."

Meanwhile, they wrote to Mascarene, explaining their
situation and communicating to him a copy of de
Ramesay's proclamation.

Not content with the result of his proclamation, de
Ramesay applied to the Governor of Canada to obtain
from him orders confirming his own. Upon receiving a

BUT UNAVAILING.

reply, he addressed a new proclamation to the Acadia*!!,
ordering thera in the name of the King of France to
take up arms against the English, and adding an extract
of a letter of the Governor of Canada, which was as
follows :

" We consider ourselves as masters of the districts of Beaubas-
sin and Mines, since we have driven off the Englisli. Tlierefore,
there is no difficulty in forcing the Acadians of these parts to
tiike arms for us : to which end we declare to them, tliat they are
discharged from the oath that they formerly took to the English,
by which they are bound no longer, as had been decided by the
authorities of Canada and Monseigneur our bishop."

The pressure, it must be admitted, was immense. It
was Ramesay's second proclamation, and this time,
besides his jjereonal opinion on the lawfulness of his
pretensions, he produced thtat of the Governor of Canada
and even that of the Bishop of Quebec. Besides, every-
thing seemed to show that the conquest and capitulation
did indeed release the Acadians from their oath of
fealty.

Nothing of all this seems to have had any effect on
the Acadians. On June 8th following, Shirley wrote
to the Duke of Newcastle :

" I have nothing to add to my letters, which I have latelj' trans-
mitted to Your Grace, except that Mr. de Ramesay is still at
Beaubassin with liis party in expectation of a reinforcement from
Ciinada. . . and that he has not thought fit to venture again to
Mines, but insists in his messages to the Acadians there, that they
should look ujwn tliemselves as subjects to the King of France,
since the New England troops were obliged to retire out of their
District by capitulation, but that this /(fi.s had )io effect vpon the
Aendianf, the reinforcement which I sent there afterwards having
taken repossession of Mines, . . . and the deputies having there-
upon renewed their oath of fidelity to His Majesty at Annapolis."

"^,

is -'r (

230

BUT UNAVAIF.INO.

It is not easy to see in all of this any sign that the
Acadians were " weak of purpose," and such slaves to
the influence of the clergy, since they resisted even the
opinion of a bishop, if it be true that this opinion was
not invented or misapplied. Subsequent events will
abundantly prove that their firnniess or even their
ol)stinacy was the same up to the deportation.

What more, then, was wanted to satisfy the Govern-
ment and deserve its gratitude ? Mascarene perfectly
understood that the safety of the province was due to
the firm attitude of the Acadians, and, had he been left
to himself, I doul)t not they would have received from
him a most equitable treatment ; but Shirley was far
from allowing himself to be guided by such high
motives.*

* Not a single one of the docuiueuts cited iu tliis eliapter is I'ouud iu the
vulumo of the archives.

1*1,! iHj-;

LUt'lSBUUG UESTUUEU.

231

CHAPTEIi XIII.

Signing of the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle — Cape Breton restored to
JVance — The Frencli remain in their jxwitions on tlie north side
of the Bay of Fundy — Founding of Halifax, June, 1749 — Proc-
lamation of the new governor, Edward Cornwallis — Oath with-
out restriction exacted or departure within three months —
Refusal of the whole population — EmbaiTassment of Cornwallis —
Temporizing — Founding of Beausejour by the French — Their
efforts to attract the Acadians.

Peace was coiKtliided in October, 1748, at Aix-la-
Chapelle. The treaty left the respective situations of
the two nations as they were before the war. The
l^rovinces or towns, that were conquered, were restored.
1/ile Royale (Cape Breton) was given back to France.

Foi" special reasons this restoration was particularly
vexing to the Anglo-Americans. To them, indeed,
belf)n<Ted the honor of having taken Louisburj^f. where
their militia had given proofs of much courage and skill.
This fortress, which had cost France so much mone}-,
had been a continual menace to the Englisli posses-
sions : the news of its fall had been hailed with great
rejoicings, and its restitution left bitter regrets.

Nearly forty years had elapsed since the treaty of
Utrecht, which had stipulated that France was to cede
Acadia, but without otherwise specifying what consti-
tuted Acadia. Its frontiers, as well as those of the
whole of Canada, were to be determined by commis-
sioners to be appointed for tliis purpose. Nothing had

■MM'-':

ft'.-*.;''' '.I' !■'

J <<*•*''■

232

WHAT WAS ACADIA ?

yet been regulated at the time of the treaty of Aix-
la-Chapelle, nor did this treaty decide the question.

The neglect to settle the frontier difficulty was to
give rise to many other difficulties, find eventually to
inflict on France, not only humiliation, but a blow tlu'
consequences of which were the most disastrous it had
ever experienced. Until now France and England
seemed Ui istruggle with ec^ual chan(;es of success fm-
the empire of the sea; Spain had been left in the lurch.
The Seven Yeai"s' War was about to decide that Kuu:-
land should definitively occupy the first pliice ; that
its language, civilization, and institutions .should spread
over all colonizable countries, sill the strategic points
of the Old and New worlds ; that its industry and its
commerce should assume an immense development and
bring it great wealth ; that its wares and its money,
scattered broadcast over the surface of the olobc. sliould
secure for it a preponderating influence in tlie council
of nations.

The English claimed that Acadia ought to comprise
all New Brunswick, besides the peninsula ; wliile the
French, on the other liand, claimed all the country to
the north of the Bay of Fundy and even the east coast
of the peninsula ; nor were reasons wjuiting to support
each of these alleged rights, since these rights were
based on undefined or contradictorv charters granted
n.ore than a centur}- before. In each case and for
similar reasons the conflicting parties asked for more
than they knew tliey had a right to or than they hoped
to obtain.

Meanwhile, Captain ^larin, after the treaty of Aix-la-
Chapelle, occupied the north coast of the Bay of Fundy,
that is, all the countrv that is now New Brunswick,

WHAT WAS ACADIA?

leaviiit^ It) ilii! Kiiurlish, until tlie decision of the com-
iiiission, the present province of Nova Scotia except
the island of Cape Breton. Marin's territory comprised
the Acadian settlements of the river St. John, of Chi-
jiody, Memranicook and Peticodiac. Beaubassin was
situated partly on the Fiench side, partly in the penin-
sula.

This state of affairs awakened in the mind of tht; Kiig-
lish authorities the idea, often expressed by Philijips,
Mascarene and Sliirley, of founding English colonics in
Nova Scotia. The two fii-st-named suggested the estalj-
lishment of a fort at Beaubassin, and the colonizing of
the isthmus from the eastern extremity of the Bay of
Fundy as far as Bay Yerte. Shirley, as we have seen
elsewhere, proposed moreover to take away fioin tlie
Acadians a part of their lands and to introduce thereon
colonists from New England, in order the moi'c effect-
ually to make the Acadians English and bring about their
conversion to Protestantism. Whatever may have been
the reason, whether neglect, or the dangers of the situa-
tion on account of the liostility of the Indians, or
because these projects implied too great an ex[)en(liture
of money, or because already those colonists of Massa-
chusetts inspired the imperial government with distrust ;
at any rate nothing had been effected.

The first of these projects had become harder to realize
on account of the great expansion of the Acadian popu-
lation in these parts ; on the other hand Shirley's pro-
ject, which implied spoliation and an odious infringe-
ment of the religious liberty guaranteed by a treaty,
was not to be encouraged by the English Government,
always more equitable and humane than the colonial
authorities.

u.J-nr

,mf

■0'

iiir

234

rtAFIU INC'RKASK.

The Acadian population had increased tvith surprising
rapidity. From 175 lieads of families who arrived in
Acadia at different times in the course of a century, a
little nation had sprung up, which, at the time of the
cession of the country, counted 2,500 souls, 7.11-4 in the
year 1739, and about 12,500 in 1749. Of this number
nearly 3,500 dwelt north of the present bordei-s of
Nova Scotia on the territory then occupied by the
French.

The position of these latter Acadians was going to be-
come exceedingly critical and perplexing. Until then,
this part of the country had, jjroperly speaking, been
held neither by France nor by England. The inhabit-
ants, who occupied it, especially those of River Si.
John, Chipody, Meniramcook and Peticodiac, had
governed themselves, or rather lived peacefully without
goverinnent, without control, without intervention.
As France had ceded Acadia, and as they were the sons
of the Acadians established in the peninsula, they made
no difficulty in acknowledging themselves English sub-
jects, and in 1730 they took the oath of fealty.

The encroachments of France, before the decision of
the commission appointed to fix the limits of Acadia,
determined England to found an English colony and a
fortified post that might serve as a counterpoise to
Louisburg. Chibucto Bay was chosen, and the found-
ing of Halifax decided in March, 1740. Fourteen
ships, bearing 2,750 persons with all the necessary pro-
visions and a complete civil organization, comprising an
administrative council, magistrates, a schoolmaster, a
minister, as well as merchants, artisans, and clerks, set
sail on May 14th, and entered Chibucto harbor June
27th following. Edward Cornwallis was the new

STi;ATKtH<' VALl'K OK HAMI AX.

•2:V)

Sjovenioi

flalit'tix Wiis t'uiindeil. The plmMj was most
judii.ioiisly chosen. Tlie French had made the mistake
of oveilookiug the advantages of this harlx)i' and of j)rc-
ferring Louisburg to it. The English were perhaj>s
wrong in <lehiying so h)ng to occupy it. Acadia had
been forty years in their possession, and yet, in t74H,
there were not a dozen English colonists in the whoh;
province. Tlie consequence was that the Annapolis
garrison would not have l)een able to subsist without the
Acadians, and this dependence on them had been partly
the cause of all the efforts and frauds of the governors
to retain, against their will, a population whic^h had for
a long time wanted to withdraw at any cost.

The much-delayed foundation of Halifax repaired to
a certain extent this error, which had no grievous c(»ii-
sequences for England, tiianks to the mild and peaceful
manners of the Acadians , but, later on, it enabled an
unfeeling and conscienceless governor to crush this little
nation and inflict on it woes, the remembrance of which,
after more than a century, still tills with anguish the de-
scendants of those who were his victims.

If, upon the whole, regard Ijcing had to the times, tlie
Acadians had been hitherto governed with gentleness,
they met with different treatment after the foundation of
Halifax ; which proves that this gentleness originated in
the weakness of the rulers and the submissive spirit of tlie
governed, ii^ the fear of losing a population whose as-
sistance was indispensable. How could they have been
governed harshly, when there wt i. only from a hun-
dred to a hundred and fifty soiuiers at Annapolis,
when the mass of the population was far distant from the
only fortified place in the whole country ? Such a state
of things would have been impossible with any other

;^• -iii:

23tl

STl!ATK(il(J VAU'K <)1" IIAI.ll AX.

but a pcacciiblti imd siibiuissivf pfoitlc. Oidcis iiiiiy
sometiiiies havo been oxtHUtcd rehutaiitly or slowl.v ;
but instaiict's of tliis kind are so ip><i*riiilicant that lliuy
would not deserve to l)e inenti(»ii cm they not tlie

only instances on rec^ord, and liiid not the deportatinu
invested them with a certain interest, lilven when,
under Armstrong's adniinistr;ilioii, several [triests were
arrested, and ill-used, and the chnichi's dosed, wo do
not hear of any tlireat or ael of resistance from the Aca-
dians. We shall see tiie same self-restraint later on,
despite })rovocations and an evei'-increasing o[)[)ressi(m,
all of which was sei-nungly designeil to provoke a [)re-
text for depoiting them.

As may be sn[iposed, this new town suddenly aiisiui,^
must have greatly exercised the Acadian centres. An
event of this importance could ii' "ail to entail upon
them very serious proximate or 'e eonseciiiences :

they must have understood its bearings and coinment«'d
at length upon the new situation. Cleaily this was a
serious enterprise, a colony that would In; strongly en-
couraged and assisted b}- England. What boded it for
them? Would the actual state of affairs be changed 7
Would their hai)piness be ti'ouliled thereby, tin- free
exercise of their religion restricted, or entirely taken
away from them ? Mad they not reason to fear that a
part of their lands wouhl be conliscated ? It may well
be supposed that these (juestions and others of like
natiu'e were so many prol)lems stated and discussed at
the fireside in evening chats. In this leview of [)(»s-
sibilities it was very likely the j)essimistic opinions
that generally prevailed.

The fleet, as I have said, had entered Chibucto harbor
June 27, 1749. A few days later, the Acadlans of

('()HN\V.\M>IS ANSWKItS A DKI'lTATlOX.

2:^7

Hiver C'luiurd, (iiiiiul Pre and IMj^iguit, Hunt three dei*-
uties to the new j^overnor lo present him in their :>auie
their respects an<l their honiuj^e.

Jean Mehin(,'on, ChiiKh; Lelilain^and Philippe Mehin-
«,'on were the three deputies admitted to tlie presence of
the Governor. Tliey weie asked if they had any petition
to present from the Aeadians of their district ; they re-
plied that they liad t;ome simply to offer their resj)ects
to His Excellency and to know if their condition w.'uld
remain the same as hefore, esj)ecially with regard to the
free exercise of their religion. His Kxcellency, who
had just drawn up a proclamation enjoining upon the
Aeadians to take the oath without restriction, communi-
cated it to them with the order to publish it, to post it
up in all public places, to return within fifteen days
with the other deputies, and to give an account of the
resolutions of the inhabitants of their respective districts.

On July 29th, the date tixed for their return, despite
the long distances they had to travel, the Acadian depu-
ties of the whole province, including those residing
north of the Bay of Fundy, had reached Halifax, namely :

Alexandre Hubert, i * v

r 1 T^ i Annapolis.

Joseph Dugas, ) ^

Claude Le Blanc, | Grand Pr^.

Jean Melan^on, j Riviere aux Canards.

Baptiste Gaillard, | p. . .,

Pierre Landry, j & & •

Pierre Gautereau, — Cob^quid.

Pierre Doucet, i .j ,

^ . Tj i Beaubassin.

tranqois Bourg, )

Alexandre Brassard, — Chipody.

" They were called in before the Council and asked what reso-
lutions the inhabitants had taken in consequence of His Majesty's
declarations.

■^ ,'-f

;v <lfl»|

S'-

2;{H uKsi'Krriri. riioTKST.

".Iran Mt>l!in<;ori(K<livi>n<(l to His Rx«'oll<'iu\v ii letter wlieicin. In-
said, was coiitaiiUMl their answer, which letter, heiiifj; read, llic
Coiiiieil AILS «)t' opinion that with regard U> that ))art ol'tlieii li'ittr
dentandin^ an exemption t'roni hearing; arms, it was the o|)jni(>n
ol the ( 'onncil that no exception shonid Ih< giixded them, Ixit lii.ii
they shonid he told jteremplorily that they innst lake the oath ;is
ulh'retl them. That His lOxeelleney will send persons as soon , is
possil>l(> to administer tlui oath, and tiiat all sneh as are willing to
eontinue in the possession of their lands, nuist appearand take the
oath iM'fore the '-itUli of Octoher. which will he the la.st day allowed
tluMn.

"This declaration Iteinjj; read to them, they asked whethei. it'
they had a mind toevacuate the conntry they would have leave to
sell tiicir lantls and cirects. His Kxcellcncy answered, that. Iiy
the Treaty of I'trecht. tlu're was one year allowed them, wherein
they nii,L,'ht have sold their eirects. hnt that at the present time,
thosi' that shoidd choose to retire conld not he allowed to sell or
carry »>IV aiiytiiinK.

'The dei)iities hej; leave to retnrn to their Departments and
<ons)dt with the iidiahitanls. I'pon which they w»M'e warned,
that, whoever shonid not have taken the oath hel'ore the 'Jtlth of
October, shonid lorleil all their possessions and ri^^hts in this

•ovince

I'l

"They then asked leave to f::o to the trench }j;overnor and sei>
what condiiion miKht he otVered them. His Kxcellency's order
was. that whoever siiould leave this Province without taking the
oath should immediately lort'eit all their rights.

• The secretary was ordered to write all the pritvsts to repair
liither."

A j>i'(icl;vii\iitioii coiironnivblo to the I'oply of tlit^
o-ovi'iiior w;is Iclt in the liiuids of tlu; tlopiitie.s to lu;
]iul)lisluHl ill tlioiv ivs])Ot'tivo districts. A few weeks
!;Hcr the same (lei)Uties returned, bearing a letter to the
o'ovt'ir )r, signed hy a thonsantl persons, iii whieh they
most eoiirteonsly expressed tlieir views :

"We are very i-ontrite. sir. when we consider the p»'iviK'ges
which were granted to us hy (Jeneral Philipps, after wc liad taken
tiie oath of allegiance to His ^hijesty. . . . .,

RKSI'KrTI'TL I'lJOTKHT

•2W

■ Tint i/iiirs iiffo. llix Mdjr.tt// irn.s jtlniHi'tl ^» f/niiit iin HmrH/ni/-
Hii lit (if (iiir firojx'rtf/, c/c, rlr. U'#' harr ircvivt'd all flii'Hc i>n>nn'm'H
Its I'oiniiuj ffoni llix MujiHtif ; irr liavi' t:nrniirii(iin(ilfi rvlml upon
tln'iii itml liarf midvtnl svrrice to tlir (Uu'vriiinnit, never liitrinfi
IkiiI the Irish to ri(>l<tte. niir ndtli. We Ix-lifvc, Your Kxccllcncy.
Iliat if f lis lyiiijfsty hud Ihtii iiir<>rinc(l of our coniluct. towiinls his
(tov«>rnuu'iit, he woulil not propose to uh jim ojith whir^h. if JaKi-ii,
would at any nionirn' •'X|«>h(^ our liv«'H to^n-at peril from thf sav-
aK«' nations, who hiiv(( repn)a<;iif«l us in a Htranx*' inaniM-r, as to
the oath we have taken to His Majt-sty. This one hindinK us still
more strictly, we should assuredly he(!oine the victims of their
harharons «-ruelty."'

"The inhahitants in general, sir. have resolved not to take the
oalh whicli your Kxcellency reipiire of us ; l)ut, if your Kxcelleiiry
irill tjriDit IIS our olil odili, irliieli. iriis ifirni to doreriior Phili/))is,
iritli on <:riiiif>tioii from tiilcitiij up (inns, ire irill aeee/it it.

" Hut if YoiU' Kxcelleiicy is not (!is|)osed to ^rant us what we
t.ike the liherty of askinj^, ire ore resolretl rnri/ one of iis to Iriire
the eoinitrif.

"We take the liberty, sir. to Im-j;- N'our Ivxcellencv irhetlirr or
not His Mo jest !/ lias on nulled the oiith ijirni to us tnj (li'uenil
I'liitipiis.

" Thereupon, we hope, sir, that you will take notice of our liiini-
lile su|)plications. and that Your Kxcellenciy will allow yourself
to he moved hy our miseries, and we. on our |)art, we will exert
ourselves to the utmost in praying to (fod for the preservation of
your person."

("oiiiwiillis lijul [)i'(!vi()iisly told tliciii tliiit lliey i^oiil*!
<liiit tlu! ('(umtiy, but lliiit tlic}' .sliould tiiki; iiolliiiiLj
awiiy willi tliein. llu liiid commiUed tliu same blunder
as liis pi'edeeessors. He had tliought that these tneu
were too mueh attached to th«;ir goods to lesigri tluiin-
selves to the utter abaudoiiineut of the fruit oi their
patient labor. Like his predeee.ssors, he was deceived.
I*erhaps lie did not yet see his mistake clearly ; but he
was soon to be convinced of it.

His reply was, as the preceding ones had been, luirsli
and haughty :

240

COUNWALLIS WAXES WKOTH.

'• Yoifc do nothing but repeat the same story without the loa.st
change ; you want to be subjects on such or such conditions. That
cannot be. All those who chose to remain after the Treatij of
Utrecht have become British subjects and could not have imposeii
conditions to their becoming sue).. You Imve always refused to
take this oath without an un&rpressed resen^ation ; I tell you that
Governor Philipps who granted you such reservation did not do his
duty. It is only out of pity to your inexperience that we con-
descend to reason with you, oth£rwise the question would not be
reasoning but commanding and ig obeyed.'"

Thus did he dismiss them with these harsh words,
without reiterating or even mentioning the orders con-
tained in his proclamation, and without so much as
communicating to them a written answer, which they
awaited in order to transmit it to the inhabitants.

His letter to the Lords of Trade, five days later,
shows us clearly enough the state of his mind and the
current of his thoughts :

"The Acadian deputies have been with us this week. They
came, as they said, with their final answer. Your Lordships will
see from the enclosed copy, that they are, or say they are, resolved
to retire, rather than take the oath of Allegiance. As I am sure
tliey will not leave their habitations this season, when the letter
was read to the Council in their presence, / made them answer
without changing anything of my former declaration, or saying
one word about it. My view is to make them as useful as possibh
to His Majesty while they do stay. If, afterwards, they are still
obstinate, and refuse the oath, I shall receive in the spring His
Majesty's further instructions from Your Ix>rdships.

" As they stayed to have copies of my answer in ivriting, I saw
some of them in the afternoon by myself, and exhorted them to
be faithful to His Majesty. . . They went home in good humour
promising groat things."

Cornwallis seems already to be doubtful of the result.
Had he known tlieir history and the relations of his

INJUDICIOUS AStKOGAXCE.

241

predecessors with ilieni, lie would have iininediately
understood that his haughty numners, his arrogance as
of a Roman proconsul, must, while alarming them,
produce an effect just the opposite of what he intended.
Any humane and tolerably observant man would have
realized this. He had ilattered himself that, by dc-
liveriiig, in a magisterial tone, these subtilties to poor
ignorant people, he would lord it over tliem and thus
stamp out all resistance. Tliis showed great ignorant-e
of their character. Besides, it was a very bad begin-
ning : he was entering upon a line of conduct that
could bring l»im only deceptions and humiliations ; he
was about to traverse all the phases througli which
Armstrong and Philip[)s had passed, before making up
his mind to adopt mild and conciliator^' measures, and
then it would be too late.

Other deputations followed ; memorials were pre-
sented in W'hich were narrated the facts relating to
their sojourn in the country' and to the oath. They
recalled the treaty of l^trecht, which gave to all those
who did not desire to become English subjects the
right to depart within the space of a year taking with
them their movable property ; they mentioned the let-
ter of Queen Ainie which enlarged the privileges of
the treaty. They reminded him that their decision
had been to quit the country, but that they had heeu
always prevented by all sorts of means. "■ In presence
of so many obstacles we have," said they, " offered and
taken several oaths, all of which were based on that
promise of exemption from service in war ; if we have
stayed in this country, it has been with this explicit
reservation, and the finest phrases could not change oui-

conviction on that point." " Your oaths are illegal,"
16

1,-1" -

.""si

' :Mi

•242

HIS HKJH MUaiTlNLSS.

said Cornwallis, "and if the preceding governoi's sanc-
tioned them by their promises, they delivered to you
titles that are null and void; you aie here subjects of
the King of England, even without having taken the
oath of tallegiance ; you have tlierefore lost all your
rights, and it is a favor he granted you when he con-
sented to admit you again to the benefit of his alle-

giance

The Acadians replied that their claims were founded
on authentic acts, which could not be repudiated or
distorted by mere Avords. " Governor Philipps had
l>egun by denying our claims; then, after examining
into them, he recognized our rights and consented to
grant this exemption from bearing arms ; he assured
us he had full authoi'ity therefor. If we have been
deceived, the King cannot turn against us such a
fraud: if the condition of our sojourn be withdrawn, we
should, at least, be rephu'cd in the position that the
treaty guaranteed." Then these unfortunate persons,
who naively believed in justice, brought forth the copy
of the acts they had signed. "We have always lived
thus on our plighted oath, without having lieard from
any one that these agreements were null ; on the con-
trary, they were recognized and acted upon in the last
war. As for ourselves, we have preserved inviolate our
fidelity to the oath, despite seductions and threats."'
" So much the worse for you," replied Cornwallis, '' if
you knew not the invalidity of these conventions, y<»u
now have only to submit, or you shall be despoiled of all
you possess." This is a pretty fair summary of these
negotiations, says Rameau, whom I am quoting.

Obliged, before this quasi-Majesty to couch tlicir
thoughts in terms of the most profound respect, obliged

< ; K i:at kx( ; i t i:.m kn t.

24.i

to avoid even the appearante of a contradiction, they
were condemned beforehand to be in the wrong. It
was the eartlien jar against the iron pot.

However, says Murdoc^li, the liistorian of Nova
Scotia: " The memorials wliich these Aca(hans sent to
tlie Council were all stamped with a respectful modera-
tion and also with a profound conviction. They all
rested on this fundamental point ; an oath of allegiance
taken with all due restrictions, from which they had
never consented to swerve since the concjuest.''

The Acadians invariably asserted that they willingly
recognized themselves to be the very faithful subjects of
the King of England; that the obligation to bear arms
against their compatriots was repugnant to their
feelings; that, if an oath like the one they had already
taken were accei)ted, they would be hapi)y to renuiin in
the country and maintain, under all circumstances, the
inviolability of this oath.

While these negotiations were being carried on, the
excitement, as ma}- well bo expected, was increasing in all
the Acadian centres. Would their reijuests be granted?
Should they depart or should they not? ?.iany were
getting ready to go away; the majority did not wish to
do so without an express authorization of the governor.
The French still occupied the north of the Bay of
Fundy : they were building a fort which tliey called
Beausejour at a mile and a half from the village of
lieaubassin. (treat efforts were made by Abbe Le
Loutni and the French to in(hu-e the Acadian colonists,
and particularly those who dwelt nea; this frontier, to
emigrate ovei' to the French side. The haughty and
\nijust conduct of Cornwallis was begiiuiing to produce
the results he ouglit to have foreseen. Irritated by the

^iti

244

( ; It EAT KXC rTKM ENT.

efforts of the French to attract the Acadians to their
settlements, he gave Captain (.'obb the foUowing order :

"You iiro herebj' to proceed to Cliignecto (Beaubassiii) to seize
and seeuri' as many of the inliabitants as you fan. or. in case tliey
t|uit tiieir houses upon your ai)proacli, you are to seize and secure
an many of tlieir wives and children as you tliink jn'oper and de-
liver tliem to the fii-st Enj^lish Fort you wliall come to, to remain
as hostages of their better behaviour.""

This oi'der however, was not carried out.

So, while on the one liand lie was forcing the
Acadians to choose between swearing allegiance and
leaving the country, on the other he was giving orders
to prevent them from taking advantage of his alter-
native.

BKIEF RISTKOSI'FXJT.

245

CHAPTER XIV.

Cornwallis's proclivniation is followed l)y the departure of some
families — The emigration threatens to heconie general — In the
beginning of May, 1750, the Acadian deputies, assembled at
Halifax, ask leave to <iuit the country — Cornwallis, frightened,
changes his tone — He avoids giving an answer ; will give it when
they have done their sowmg — Seed-time over, the deputies
return to Halifax — Fresh subterfuge.

CojiNWALLiR seemed at lengtli to understand tliat he
•was not going to obtain from the Aeadians the oath he
required; tliat they would submit to the cruel alter-
native of abandoning their property and leaving the
country rather than consent to an act that did violence
to their feelings. All the old artifices, all the cheats of
Nicholson, Vetch, Armstrong and Philipps were to be
repeated to prevent their departure.

In Nicholson's time, as we have seen, the Aeadians
were not allowed the benefit of the clauses of the
treaty. Under various pretexts their departure was made
impossible. On the one liand, French vessels wore forbid-
den to enter the ports ; on the other, the Aeadians were
not permitted to take passage in English ships. They
built themselves small vessels ; but, when they wanted
to equip them at Louisburg, this was refused. Later
on, they were forbidden to apj)ly at Boston. Undis-
mayed, they begged the French authorities to act as
mediators in tlieir favor at the KiiLrlish court. When

the order of the

English

(lovenn)ient instructinsr

I 1.

'imk

i
I*

lilt

246

FKKNCH NElTltALS.

I' '

Nicholson to give the Acadiaiis full permission to leave
was handed to Colonel V^etch, he pretended that he had
no authority to act, that he must await the arrival of
the governor. Nicholson, on his return, in order to
avoid obej'ing ordei-s, reserved certain points to the
decision of the Queen.

For three years the Acadians, who, i)ei'haps, trusted
artlessly in the good faith of their rulers, waited for the
answer to these reserved points ; it ntjver came. SuIh
sequently, Philipps, thinking that the time had come
for exacting an oath of allegiance, issued a iiroclamatioii
ordering the taking of this oath within four months, or,
in defaidt thereof, departure from the province without
taking awa^- anything but clothes. Ill infoimed of the
character of this people, he believed, as his predecessors
did, that love of property and the absence of all means
of transportation would force them to accept his pro-
posals. Great was his surprise when he saw them at
work opening out a road for their departure. Tliis
contingency had not entered into his calculations. lie
was equal to the emergency and forbade them to ct)n-
tinue that road.

At last, finding that inatteis could not be settled
otherwise, the Acadians resigned themselves to remain
in the country and to take the oath, on condition that
they should not bear arms against the French. This
condition being accepted, the struggle came to an end.
Thenceforth thej^ Avere called by themselves. l)y their
rulers, by everybod}-, "• The French NentraUy During
twenty years, relying on this solenm agreement, they
lived in the most peifect tranquillity. Not onl}'" the
agreement was not disavowed, but both sides observed
it scrupulously during all that time, and especially

FRENCH NKlTltALS.

247

(luring the war. At bottom, there. Wiw good fuiih only
on one side ; the government was waiting for an opjmr-
tunity to repudiate what had been merely a makeshift
to get out of a difficulty.

The opportunity was now at hand in the foundation
of Halifax. Cornwallis could now, he thought, speak
as a master, ego nominor leo ; agreements were of litth*
weight with him ; nor was it necessary for him to {)lea(I
want of iidelity on the part of the Acadians, for of this
he says not a word. Might for him was all sufficient ;
with that, a soldier of his importance could snap his
fingeix at arguments. Like his predecessors, he believed
the Acadians would elect to take the required oatii
rather than lose their jjossessions. Instead of a year or
four months — the delay granted by Philipps — he allowed
three months on!}' ; and, like Philipps, he forbade them
to take anything away. When, at last, he came to
realize that the Acadians would quit the country rather
than submit to his oath, he, too, adopted ''ways that arc
daik : *' " Ax they sfai/ed to have eoplex of viif aiiHicer in
•ivrifitii/, I mode them answer, without rhnH(jin;i ani/thiti;/
of mij fanner declaration, or saijin;/ one word ahoiit it.
My view in to make thou a.s useful as possible while the//
do stay.'''

This happened in September. He hoped that, when
the season would be more advanced, there would no
longer be question of leaving in winter; by the time
spring came round, he could find some other pictext,
should they persist in their intentions.

The French, as I have already pointed out, remained,
after the Treaty of Aix-la-ChapcUe, in the northern })ai't
of the Bay of Fund\-. This territory was disi)uted by
the two crowns, and the question referred to a comniis-

'■:M

24ft THK (lOVKHN'Oir OK TANADA IXTEllFEHES.

Rion. As soon as the foundation of Halifax was lesolvtvl
upon, the French, supposing that tlie intention of the
English was also to occupy and colonize the district of
Reauhassin, liad a mind to settle there permanently.
Cornwallis's prochimation to the Aeadians deterniine(l
the KrencJi to improve the occasion and try to win thoni
over. The Governor of Canada, M. de la Jonquicre,
sent the Chevalier de la Coine with reinforcements
stiongly to occupy the isthmus from Beaubassin to May
Verte.

During this autumn of 1T40, the English were loo
busy putting things into shape at Halifax to make any
effective opposition to the mano'uvres of the French.
The lattei-, taking advantage of the state of alarm into
which the Aeadians had been thrown by the Proc-
lamation, left MO stone unturned to induce tlicm to
choose the alternative of departure and emigrate all
together. The Fieiuih had to make haste, for the
English would not fail, the next year, to thwart their
plans. ^leanwhilc, as a check on them, Cornwallis
threw a small garrison into Giand Pre under Captain
Handtield. Instigated by the French, no doubt, three
hundred Indians in October (1740), blockaded this
gariison with a view to enable the Aeadians to quit tlie
country without being molested by the soldiers. The
attemj)t was made in vain ; not one of the Aeadians
wished to leave before obtainiuLT a final answer from the
Governor and without his permission. A few days
later, seeing the usclcssness of their efforts, the Indians
raised the bloi-kade, taking away with them the notary
Le Blanc, Cai)tain Hamilton and eighteen soldiers who
liad been surrounded and made prisoners in one of the
sorties of tlie garrison. As no one was killed, it is

A NKNV DOIMJK.

249

pvident that tlu; oiilv object of this Jittaok was to facili-
tate the (lepaitine of tiie Acadians.

Oil the allidavit of Iloiiore Gauterot, a warrant was
issued for tlie arrest of Chark^s Uelxirt, Fra)ivois Kb
I'i'ineu, (^laude Le Prince, Henauchon Aiicoiii, Joseph
V^incent, accused of liaving- assisted the ludians : hut
tliey couhl not he arreste(h At C'olwquid, where there
were no troops, no i)rotection of any sort, tlie Imiiiins,
by threats and viohMice, forced a ))art of tlie j)opiilatii)n
to follow them before tin; arrival of tlie troops.

In the followinjjf March (17o0), Cornwallis wrote to
the Duke of IJedford :

'' T proj)nsi' to defer i)ressin}< tlu'in upon that lioail (tliH oath of
allegiance) till we Hee what can be dont' at Bfauhassin, and what
settlers come from England : then I irill ileiiiaitd a fieremptor/f
inisu^er,"

This letter had not yet reached its destination when
( 'ornwallis received front the Secretary of State tiic order
not to tixact the oath for the present, and to treat the
Acadians Avith kindness in order to wean them tioni
their intention of (luittin^r the i-ountry.

At last, in the montli of May. when the Acadians
came to Halifax to beg leave to de[)art, there was noth-
ing left but to choose betwtMMi consenting and inventing
some new dodge. Pretexts were getting rare : Nichol-
son, Vetch, Armstrong and Phili[tps had almost ex-
haitsted the supply. However, listen to Cornwallis:

" You were indebted to nte for not havi'nq made ifon leave tlie. 'iX

country even during winter. But. after having past the winter in
the province, it is ridienlons to come and tell me. that i/on irill not
sow having resolved to withdron'. My friends, ijon must go and .so/r
your lands in order that they may be left in that condition in which

.'IvJi

200

COUNNVALLIS COAXKS.

they inight fn hr at fhinm'(isnii, in'thniif tUiit you will luvve no riglit
to export tliv h'iiHt /iiritr from the KovcriiriH'nt. When yon hniv
done your ihity in this respect, I n'iU yice yon a more preeise rejily
to yonr ret/next."

'riit'V luul not hoeii allosvud to leave in English,
Kieneli or Aeadiiui vessels, by sen or land, in the autumn ;
now llic springtime is <lenied them, for they must sow
their huMJ. 'I'his long" series of subterfuges, whieh
would l)e incredible if ihe proof were not before oui
eyes, consigned in documents written by the governors
themselves, is, however, not yet ended, as far as Corn-
wallis's contrilnuion is concerned. The Acadians weic
deteiinined to liave the last word. Seeing that, in order
to obtain permission to (juit the country, they had to
sow their land for tht; btMielit of strangers, they did so.
When this worlc was over, on .May ^oth, they once more
st(»od btil'ore the (TOviM'iior, hoping that this lime no
new objection would In; raised. Once more they were
(loomed to disappointnu'Ml. 'IMiere yet lemained one
pretext which had not been uneai'thed by Nicholson,
nor Vetch, nor IMiilipps, nor hitherto by Cornwallis him-
self. <-)nly, there was danger lest the Acadians, detect-
ing his purpose, should refuse any longer to submit to
his trickery. Hence the oratorical precautions with
which he a[)pi'oachcs tlu; subject. The irrepressible
martinet, who, slK)rlly befoie had been so harsh and
haughty, linally understood that he nuist change his
face: he became gentle, insinuat ug, ; flittteriug.

J'arkman, who has noticed " ' , of the farce played
anent the Acadians, or w .^ purpose! ignored it,

is deeply affected by Cornw lis's words :

" We proniisetl to give a iJiecise reply lu the inhabitants, witli

I'Assi'oitTs i!K(?ni:i:i),

251

it'rtpi'ct to tlu' |M>rrnissioii tli»'y nsk U» Inivc tln> F'rovince when they
shall Ihii'i' HDirn their hinds, imi\,(ts it (ippeiirH that i/on htire olyej/eil
our (mhi-H in that ptirticulai', w«> will expluin to you our smti-
iii»'iit.>< on that very iui|Mjrtant atfuir, with the smiie sitieerity Hint
in hare iilinii/s iiidilr use of toirnnls yon,

" My friends. tlu> nioint'ut that you ha\-tMl('clar«>(l your dcHiri' to
l»'av»' an<l submit yourselves to another government, our deter-
inination was to hin«ler nobody from followinK wiuit he ima^ciiied
to be liis interest.

"We frankly confess, however, that your determination to leave
t fires lis pain.

" We lire ii'ell aim re of your inilnstry ami your teiiiperanie,
anil that yon are not aililieted to any rice or lieliaurhery. This
PriH'hiei' is yonr eonntry: yon or ijonr fathers hare enltirateit it ;
iiatnrnlly yon oiiijht yoiirselres to enjoy the fruits of yonr labour.

" When we arrived here, we ex|»ected that nothing? would K've
yoii so much ))leasure as the determination of His Majesty to settle
this Province. Certainly nothing more ailvantaKt*ous to you could
take place. You possess theoidy cidtivated lands in thisTroviiu c ;
they jiroduce ^rain and nourish cattle sutlicieiit for tlu' wlioli-
colony. \\\ ^\\oy{. ire flat fereil oiirselres that we iroiihl make yim
the liajijiiest iieople in the irorhl, . . In your petitions you ask fur
a j;eneral leave, .l.s // is inii)ossihh' that yon eonid all meet at a
i-irtaiii rendez-rons in order to .set out all loijether, icith all yonr
fiiiin'liis. one must midcrstand by th(^ expression, ' eonije ijeiieral.' a
jjreiieral permission to set out whenever yon shall thitik projier. by
land, or by sea. or by wliatevei- conveyances you please. In order
to etfect this, we should have to notify all tlu; conunanders of His
Majesty's sbi[is and troops to allow eveiy one to i)ass and repass
whicii would cause the greatest confusion. . .

•• Till' only manner in irhieh yon ean irithdrair from the Pror-
iiirr, is to folliiir till' riyiilations (dready established. The order i-i.
that all peisoiis wisliiu}^ li> leave tlu- Prt)vinco shall provide them-
selves irlth one imssport. And we declare that nothin>^ shall i>re-
veiit us from giving' such ])assports. //m' moment that peace and
trauipiillity are re-established in the Province."

C'oniwiillis must luivc thouglit hirnselt" very .skilful,
\\\\i\ iudoetl lu; showed great skill in striving to reverse the
unfortuuiite impi-i^ssioii lie had at first produced, and to
prevent at any cost the departure of the Aeadiuns. Tired

«!•

"v pi

,1^' !

252

TH?: I'OWEU OF KINDNESS.

of short-lived tricks, which had several times betrayed
his bad faith, he was now to hold the key of the situa-
tion ; he would make that situation last as lon^ as he
pleased. Nol)ody could leave the country without lirst
coming to liini ; it was always in his power to refuse
under pretext that the country was not quiet, or under
any other pretext, it mattered little which; the nuiiii
thing was to put an end to these deputations that
worried him.

This subtei'fuge was, I believe, Cornwallis's last ; the
country was tranquil, and would never be more so. The
Acadians seemed to understand that those passi)orts
would never be granted to them ; for thencefortli they
ceased to press their claims. They had l)een told to
take the oath or go ; and, in point of fact, the}- had no
alternative but to remain at the good pleasure of the
rJovernor or leave without permission. They remained
quietly on their lands until tiie time of the depoitation.
Tliose who had chosen to emigrate to French soil luul
done so, for the most part, the previous autunm after
Cornwallis's proclamation.

Cornwallis's behavior t( ward the Acadians was not i
only unjust, it could not have been more unwise than it
was at his arrival in the country. Me was confnmted
by a moral and peaceful people, from whom he had
reason to lioj)e for the most willing assistance and t'w.
most complete submission. To ensuie their j)ermanont
attachment to the Crown, all he need do was to let them
understand that they had nothing to fear from him, and
to treat them with gentleness and humanity.

After giving such evident proofs of their fidelity t<»
the oath during the recent war, in exceptional eircnni-
stances \vhich eidianced their merit, after receiving the

THE PONVEl: OF KINDNKS.S.

253

assurances of His Mtijesty through the Secretan' of
State, the Duke of Newcastle, the Acadiaiis might have
hoped that the bearing of the governor's would not
change. Cornwallis had only to let his better nature
appear. JNfildness and justice have always been infal-
lible methods of action ; otedience and sympathy spring
fi'om kindness as water from its source ; no bond is
lasting that is not woven of sympatliy and justice.
Scarcely liad Cornwallis touched the soil of Acadia,
when the Acadian deputies hastened to do him liomage.
What must they have thought, when, instead of the
cordial welcome they had a right to expect, they were
received with arrogance, when so severe a proclamation
was flung in their teeth ? Did not this sudden change
seem to sa}- : " So long as we were weak, we had re-
course to all sorts of subterfuges and stratagems to kee[)
you in the country ; now that we are strong, we are
going to speak as your loids and masters ; we mean to
treat you in a veiy different way?" Had they not
reason to fear that their prisileges would be taken from
them one by one? that the free exercise of their religion
would be impeded, perhaps done away with ? Since the
solemn agreements made twenty years before in the mat-
ter of the oath were no longer respected, why should
their other privileges escape the same fate ?

For still another reason was this an excellent occasion
for winning their affectionate fealty. The way the
French officers had treated them during the invasions
of the late war had considerably weakened their natural
sympathy for France. A little kindness, together with
the assurance that the foundation of Halifax would not
alter the good undei*standing of the last ten years, would
have suty\.ed to bind them to England more closely, and

(■-■■1 . ■^:

'mm

>'\'' r ':~-iT-

2fA

A LION IX THK PATH.

to iiuluee tliem later on, without pressure and without
trickery, to take the much-desired oath.

Tt would seem, at first sight, that with the foundation
of Halifax the retention of the Acadians had ceased to
be an important object. Their farms were the mo.st
fei-tile in the province, their system of dikes represented
an enormous expenditure of labor ; these farms could
give plenty to a population of 12,000 souls. Quite
true ; but there was a lion in the path, as ready to
devour now as he was in 1713. The Indians Avere still
the irreconcilable enemies of the English. Thisliostility
was skilfull}' fostered by the French of Cape Breton.
.So long as the latter owned a square mile of territory
thereabouts, it would be impossible or, at least, dangerous,
to establish new colonies without effectively protecting
them at great expense against those Indians. Otherwise
no one would risk settling there.

However, the strongest motive for keeping the Aca-
dians was the increase of strength the accession of their
ijreat numbers would give to France. This considera-
tion, weighty enougli in the days of Nicholson and
Philipps, was doubly so now. The addition of thirteen
thousand souls might make the situation of England in
llie peninsula very precarious. This Avas cleai- to
Coinwallis, and just as clear to his successor, Ilopi^on,
when he besjijed the Lords of Trade not to force him to
urge this question of the oath, alleging that, for the
moment, it was inq)ossible to make them take it. and
that their departure would be the ruin of the country.

The Freni'h were as much interested in getting them
to quit Acadia as tlie English were in keeping them
there. The question of the oath hi\d l)ei'U settled under
Philipps for the benetit of England, and thenceforth

ItRJHTS OK THE FItENCH.

2o/>

France had seemed inditferent. Jiut Corinvtvllis's
pit/clamation, by withdrawing the long-standing agree-
ment, had re-opened the whole question and now left
the Acadians free to depart. As the proclamation
itself said, the only issue was submission to an unre-
stricted oath or departure.

Cornwallis severely criticises the conduct of the
French striving to win over the Acadians, and their
conduct was indeed blameworthy, rather in its nietliods
than in its purpose, for it was France's right and duty,
as a party to the Treaty of Utrecht, to have an eye to
the fulfdnient thereof. Since the Acadians had the
undoubted right to quit the country, the French had an
equal right to persuade them to do so : further than
persuasion this right did not go. Because they used
undue pressure and violence, they are to be blamed, and
this blame they deserve to receive much more fiom the
Acadians than from the authorities at Halifax. How-
ever, the guilt of the French does not surpass nor even
equal that of the governors : in the one case there was
violence in the exercise of a. right, in the other, violence
(Ufahist the exercise of a right. This oath, agreed to by
Philipps, was for the Acadians the necessary condition of
their remaining in the country, it bound the English
Govermnent quite as much as the Acadians. To say
the least, they ought to have been restored to the
position they occupied before Philipps's compromise ;
that is, they ought to have once more become free to
withdraw within the space of a year with all their
effects, and even with the proceeds of the sale of their
property. Cornwallis had, with no little subtlety, laid
down the principle that no man can be a subject
conditionally. But governments, as well as individuals,

' i.i- f pi''

'it-;., J- '*l

jr '•>'\i

Jr-lil

■%;

3 .!-''»

■' , .ilM •Willi'

256

ItliiHTS «)I' THK KKKNCH.

Tl,

are l)onn<l to the coiulitions which they accept. iiieie
is no k)opli()le of escape liere. Either leave to depart
must be granted to the Acadians who chiinied it as a right
recognized by a solemn treaty, or the conditions of tlieir
settlement must be sanctioned. This latter alternative
liaving Ijeen accepted, the Government was as strictly
l)ound as private persons are by contracts. Did not the
autocratic Tzar accept the settlement of the Mennonites
in liis empire under the same condition of not bearing
arms? True, this agreement was revoked a century
later, but after notice given long beforehand and with
the privilege of selling and carrying away all that
belonged to them. Could a constitutional government
like that of England do less ? As the Acadians wished
to leave, they would have been justified in taking no
account of Oornwallis's hindrances, and in departing
witli their effects and without passports, since the
exacting of the latter was only a trick to keep them.
But the generality of them did no such thing. They
once more withstood all the seductions and threats of
the French, as they had done during the war: a new
proof of their firmness and submission to the Govern-
ment ; a new proof also, may be, of the non-intervention
of their clergy, if not of the slight influence of the
latter.

E!'i

: »»l

MISSION AKY TO THE INDIANS.

257

CHAPTER XV.

Doings of the Frencli — The Abbe Le Loutre — His character —

Parkman's opinion.

The entire summer of 1750 was devoted by the
Frencli to fortifying Fort Beausdjour, which they had
begun the previous autumn. It was in the most land-
ward part of tlie Kay of Fundy, on a high hill north of
the village of Beaubassin and of the little river Messa-
gouetclie, whicli the French considered as the frontier
of Acadia, until the decision of the commission then
sitting. This district of Beaubassin, or Chignecto, as
it was sometimes called, had become very populous, and
contained a vast extent of very fertile meadow land, of
which a large portion was enclosed by strong dikes.
Northward of this frontier were the settlements of
Chipody, Petitcodiac, Mtnnranicook, Jolicanir, Aulac, la
pree des Bourgs, la pree des Richards, Cocagne, etc.
Southward were the village of Beaubassin, the Riviere
des Heberts, Menoudy, etc. Thus lialf, or nearly half,
of this district was on English territory, and the French
naturally expected that the English would lose no time
in occupying it, were it only to prevent the emigration
of the Acadians.

In the mean time, the Abbe Le Loutre, who was a

self-constituted agent of the French, made great but

vain efforts to determine the Acadians that lived near

this frontier to go over to the French side. Here it
IT

2C8

INDIANS HATE THE ENGLISH.

will be well to pause and consider this Ahh6 Le Loutre,
who played so considerable a part in tlie events of this
epoch. He has brought upon himself much hatred, not
less from the French officers and even from the Acadians
than from the English.

For about ten years lie was a missionar}' among the
Micmac Indians of the liver Sliuljenecadie. between
Cobequid and Chibouctou (Tinro and Halifax ). We
hardly ever hear of him till the war of 1744. In 1745
he accompanied the Indians of his mission and others in
an expedition against Annjipolis, after which he with-
drew to Bay Verte (on French territory or claimed as
sucli by France) with his Indians. Shortly after, he
went to France, whence he returned in 1747, Avhen the
war was drawing to a close. Thenceforward, until 1755
he resided at Beauscjour.

Tlie foundation of Halifax alarmed the French ; they
had always hoped tliat some day or other a treaty or the
chances of war would restore to them Acadia, which
the English did not seem to value very highly, as they
had done notliing to consolidate their conquest. The
foundation of Halifax dashed these hopes ; it foreshad-
owed a colonizing policy, which, in a few j-ears, was to
endear this province to England by its sacrifices and its
population. Honor showed France what her duty was ;
but honor in America Avas, between the two historic
rivals, an evanescent quantity which frequently went
no deeper than the surface of things. To save appear-
ances was the main point, and these ai)pearances were
screened by tlie Indian allies of eitlier nation. In the
west, England had her savage allies, whoni she occa-
sionally used to defeat French plans ; there France also
had hers, so that neither the one nor the other could

'"if

INDIANS HATE THE ENGLISH.

259

move witliout difficulty. Hut in the east all the Indiana
were friendly to France and sworn enemies of England,
which, exasj)eratod by their continued attacks, liiui"
fought them with a barbarity that frequently surpassed
that of the savages themselves. These Indians had
many wrongs to avenge, and so intense was their hatred
of the English that it was always easy to urge them t«v
hostile acts.

It was dread of these Indians that, for half a century,,
j)revented liingland from colonizing Xova Scotia. The
French imagined that, by harassing the new colonists
and sjn-eading terror thi-ough skilfully managed hostili-
ties, they would disgust tlunn with the country and frus-
trate England's projects. It was an iidiuman and insane
policy, which could only end in embittering England,
and in increasing her efforts to dislodge a lival wliose
presence would ever be an obstacle to her connnerce
and to her expansion.

The influence of the French on the Indians of these-
regions was artfully disguised ; but we know enough
about it to visit it with unqualified reprobation. The
instrument emploj^ed by the governors of Canada tO'
carry out this wicked and fatal policy was that Abbe Le
Loutre whom I liave just mentioned. His blind zeal,
his efforts urging the Indians to worry the colonists
introduced by Cornwallis, his unjustifiable methods for
forcing tlie Acadians against their will to cross the
frontier, deserve to be condemned by every one and
especially by the Acadians,

Before proceeding, it is well to explain an important
point which has never yet been cleared up. All histo-
rians speak of the Abbes Le Loutre, Germain, Maillard, Le
Guenie, as if they had been missionaries to the Acadian*

260

A MISTAKE CORRECTED.

on English territory. On this supposition, their efforts
to subserve the interests of France are iuterpieted us
shameful. Now to obviate the confusion introduced by
these writera, let it be well understood, once for all,
that not one of these priests ever was, as far as I know,
a missionary to the Acadians in the peninsula. Mail-
lard, until the dispersion, was never employed as a mis-
sionary elsewhere than in the island of Cape Breton,
which belonged to France ; Germain ministered to the
Malecite Indians in the upper waters of the St. Joim
River ; Le Guerne was missionary among the Indians of
the north shore of the Bay of Fundy, and also attended
to the few Acadians living on these coasts. Le Lontre
was long a missionary to the Micmacs of tlio Shube'iie-
cadie River ; but during all that time ho never caused
any trouble ; when he decided upon anotliei- line of
conduct, he withdrew with his Indians to Bay Verte on
the French territory. Consequently, all of these priests
were on the territory claimed and occupied by France ;
hence their patriotism, ardent thougli it was, was justi-
fiable, if not deserving of credit. If their actions were
not honorable, let them be condemned. Because Le
Loutre's conduct is condemnable, I stigmatize it as it
deserves. But it is a sovereign injustice toward these
men to leave the public under an impression that blames
what is honorable, and brands with infamy what is merely
blamable.

This important distinction ought not, in fairness, to
have escaped the attention of these writers, still less
that of Parkman, who lays especial stress on the doings
of this Abb^ Le Loutre. Yet he seems to have done
his best to increase the confusion. Thus, when he tells
us that Le Loutre was Vicar-General of Acadia ; that

WILFUL DECEPTION.

261

the Indians to whom lie ministered lived a day's march
from Halifax on the banks of the Shubenecadie Rivei',
which implies that that was his residence, he is know-
ingly guilty of a twofold deception, because Le Loutre
was not then Vicar-Generfil, and because both he and
his Indians had long since left the Shubenecadie River,
and then lived at Bay Verte on (he territory claimed
and occupied by France. I might add that the decej)-
tion is threefold, because Le Loutre was named, four
years later, Vicar-General, not for Acadia or the pe-
ninsula, but for the northern part of the Bay of Fuiidy,
then called French Acadia to distinguish it from Canada
and from the peninsula which the French called Eng-
lish Acadia.*

I should be glad to be able to say that Parkman
merely blundered ; but I cainiot : I liave studied too
closely his methods, I am too fully aware of his con-
stant efforts at disguising tlie truth, not to recognize,
here fis elsewhere, the elaborate system of deceit that
underlies every page he has Avritten on Acadia. Dura
Veritas, hciI veritaH.

I Ijavc sought to })enetrate tlie character of this
Abbe Le Tioutre who has heaj)cd well-deserved hatred
on his own devoted head. The undertaking was far
from easy ; however, I think I have liad a large meas-
ure of success. Parkman, who " rushes in where
angels fear to tread," soon measures and weighs him.
In a few words, with the laconism of Cjesar describing
his conquest in Gaul — " veni, vidi, vici," he says
oracularly : '' \jQ Loutre was a man of boundless egotism,

* Parkman saw tho proof of this last fact in a report of the Acadian Mis-
sions by the Abbe de L'ile-Dieu in 1755, who was himself Vicar-Genenil of
the diocese of Quebec, on which the missions of Acadia depended, and who
was, therefore, the best authority on this question.

#"l|

2(;-j

CLAI'TKAI'.

a violoiit spirit of (loiniiiiilion. an intense hatred of the
Enji'lish, and a fanaticism lliat st()[)[)ed at nothini(."
.Sir Oracle " opes his month; let no dog hark." As a
literary efft^ct it is startlinsf ; the common herd likes to
be tlins whirled at a gallop through the obscurities of
history: nothing is so popular and catchy as this sem-
blance of devouring activity which pierces to the quick,
<;uts out and fashions, as by magic, a sometliing that
looks surprisingly like a brand-new bright and polished
gem. Serious writers. Innvever, disdain this claptrap.
Seldom, if ever, can a striking portrait of the inner
depths of a man's chara(!ter be drawn by a few strokes
of the pen. Caricatui'es can ; and, as a caricature,
Parkman's porti-ait of Le Loutre may bear a distant
resemblance to the original. Macaulay also seeks con-
ciseness and ra})id movement ; but he does not seem to
have discovered I*arkman"s secret; on the contr.ary, like
the great masters, he Hums his portraits with the
greatest care, the result being that they ai-e generally
good likenesses, thanks to the after-touches of pen and
bi'ush, to the delicacy of shades and tints, to the pains-
taking patience of the artist.

With some corrections I might admit, as a back-
ground, one or two of the four pen-strokes of Parkman;
but I refuse to subscribe to the " boundless egotism " of
Le Loutre. I see no proof of this assertion and much
proof of the exact ojiposite. To arrive at a fair esti-
mate of Le Loutre, one must enter into the feelings and
thoughts that generally actuate a Catholic missionary.
Clearly, this was difficult, not to say impossible for
Parkman, even if he had been gifted with that rectitude
which, to my mind, he lacks, and with that penetration
in which, though to a less degree, he is deficient.

FAITH AND rSKAITH.

•2t;8

Moreover, tliis elmracttn must be viewed in tlie liii^lit
of the ideas of the time luiil of the speciiil eircumstaiiccs
of the phiee. (heat was national fanalu-ism, but <^rt'aU'r
still was relit^ious fanatii-isni. Piejudires had struck
deep roots. I'ersecution was only he^inninu^ to relax
its revolting rigor; but intoK'ranec still subsistetl in all
its strength. Not long before, France had ex[)elle(l the
Huguenots; Ireland was gasping under England's hei'l ;
everywhere minorities were oppressed. Wliat crimes
were committed in the name of religion ! What acts
of cruelly done in the name of a good and merciful
(lod ! Was this a fruit of Christianity or of human
interests and passions? Was this a permanent result,
or merely a transient phase, a bad dream that would
wear itself out and indirectly serve the cause of Chiis-
tianity and civilization ? This last question must have
been in many people's minds ; two answers were to bo
given to it : unbelief, fruit of a spurious and merciless
Christianity ; and a return movement to the pure
Christian spirit, all impregnated with charity, love, and
mercy. Man moves and (iod directs. In the life of
religions as in that of commonwealths nothing happens
without an aftermath which no one had suspected.
Small events added together produce great events ;
fact is linked to fact by invisible bonds, as thread to
thread in the weaver's loom.

Though the true fibre of Christianity was warped,
faith was strong ; in other words, motives weie excel-
lent, methods often deplorable ; this double aspect of
things should be borne in mind when judging Ahh6 Le
Loutre. It is no easy matter for us, men living in the
world, to realize the faith that animates those who con-
secrate their lives to Christian education, especially to

<<i

■iMi

2f;4

LE LOUTHE NO E(J(>TIST.

the irksoiiiL' ciiteehoticul labors of a CiitholicniissitJiiiiiy
Stiugglin^f as we are with one aiK iher for the iiet-es.saries
or the comforts of exislenee, absorbed and, as it were,
overwhehned by the thousand and one details of ways
and means for needs and pleasures, we easily lose sight
uf tlie motives that actuate and the spirit that aiiimateii
the missionary. That 'boundless egotism' which Purk-
man attriimtes to Le Loutrc, a{)plicable, as it very ofteu
is, to ourselves, can hardly be applied to the missionary.
He wlio, like Le Loutre, had forsaken fortune, [)leasure,
kindred, frit'uds and fatherland, to spend his life in the
lieart of the forest with coarse and cruel savagi's, he
wlio, in order to evangidize these savages, liad volun-
tarily end)raced privations of all sorts, from which the
most devoted of men would recoil in disgust and horror,
could not be, what Parkman fancies him, 'a man of
boiuidless egotism.'

No doubt liuman nature is very complex, no doubt a
man's high calling does not destroy his natural bent ;
still, as a general rule, incompatible defects disappear
or are dwarfed and replaced by other defects compatible
with the new vocation. Tn the case of a missionary^
egotism, having nothing to feed on, must l)e diminished
or obliterated, thougli it may sometimes be replaced by
otlier defects wliich are, so to speak, the human excres-
cences of the divine gift of a lively faith. From thia
view-point must we examine into the defects of Le
Loutre.

In what he did where is the proof of that ' boundless
egotism ? ' In that he harassed the English settle-
ments ? In that he tried hard to force the Acadians to
emigrate and thus be deprived of their property ? Other
motives may explain these acts, but certainly not ego-

MOTIVKS FOR ALAUM.

mVy

tism. No other motives at all eoiimieiisnrate with his
selfless activity can be assigned hut religion and pa-
triotism, es|)eeially religion, to which \\v. had sacrificed his
life, lie iiad spent twelve peaceful years among his
Indians when Halifax was founded. From that mo-
ment, his ai;tivity, his zeal, his fanaticism lose to a high
key; he is no longer a mild and peaceal)le missionary ;
he is a dictator, an energumen frantically striving to
snateli the A(!adians from their countiy, as if he were
struggling with a madman on the briid< of a pret'ipice.
Unable to persuade t^ven those who lived near the
frontier to emigrate willingly, ho gets the Indians to
burn down their house.s in order to constrain them.
What liad liappened to liim? Whence this change?
Evidently, something liad filled his soul with anxiety,
and that anxiety eoidd be only the effcu-t of some im-
pending danger to religion. The change wrought in
him can scarcely be explaiut!'' otherwise.

This impending danger is eaf.ily found. Have we
not seen that Shirley had entertained tiie project of
Protestantizing the Acadians, of ex})elling their priests?
that he had reaffirmed this project with extraoi'dinary
jjersistency ? that, a vague rumor of it, liaving reached
the Acadians, had given them great alarm ? What
wondei" that Le Loutre should have been inexpressibly
shocked at it and profoundly convinced that this project
would soon be realized ? Since it had been conceived
in time of war, when the neutrality of the Acadians was
most needed, when these very Acadians were withstand-
ing seductions and threats for the sake of fidelit}' to
their oath, when Acadia was piactically at their mercy,
defended, as it was, by a mere handful of soldiers, had
they not everything to fear now that Halifax was.

■A

fiil!

266

MOTIVES FOR ALAinr,

foundtHl? Had not Coriiwullis marked his ari'ival l)y «
proclamation which aiinaUod the agreemt'iit of IToO
and tlie recent entraiifements oi tlie Kiiiu' thronoli his
Secretary of State, tlie Dv^ke of Newcast'j/ Had not
the deportation itself been aheady thou<rht of I)y a
Secretar}' of State (Crai^t^s) ? liadnou the same idea
been entertained by Admiral Knowles and by Shirlev
himself, and in eacli case without any excuse? Even
though Le Loutre may not have known all these thiiios,
he surely knew enough to feel his soul stirred to its
depths. I do not hesitate to say that his fears were not
only justiiiabiu but, to all ap[)earances from what we
now know, founded U[)on stubborn facts. T'nder such
circumstances we need only consider the ardor of his
faith and suppose that he was hot-tempered, to lind a
satisfactory explanation of his conduct, without drav, -
iiig on our imagination for a fancy picture that lias no
solid foundation.

How far removed soever we may be from the ideas of
11 man we Avish to judge, we must, in ordc to pass judg-
ment on him with some degree of precision, put aside
our own views and enter, as far as possible, into his,
taking into account his beliefs, his education, his sur-
roundings. ]je Loutre had sacrificed everything to one
single idea; he had sacrificed the enjoyments of this
world for tlui joys of the next. To us, to the man of
the world, this Abbe's ideas seem very narrow ; to him,
perhaps, our struggles to acquire things frivolous and
traiisitory must have appeared very mean ; we lind him
cruel to deprive the Acadians of their homes; for him
the sacrifice was nothing compared to the loss of relig-
ion. The scientific theorist buried in meditation, and
the astronomer soaring in thought through inteistellai

A GENEROUS SOUL.

2H7

space, botli straiit^ers to this nether earth they tread, are
also to tht! Avorldlint'' veiy narrow-mi luleil ; yet we, in
our feverish moving" to and fro, a[)i)ear to thcin, from
tiieir liiu'h vantaire-uround, as so many littU' aiils has-
tliiiijf around an ant-hill.

J^e Louire's faults, to my thinkinf,^ ai'e atlrihutahle
rather to his ill-bidineed mind than to a disordeied will.
Like all men ri (jio idea, lie was ignorant of th-j world
and unsuited to the governance of men. Ilis letters to
his superiors are impregnated with an ardent faith and
the purest spirit of the gos[)el. In 1740 he wrote to his
superioi': " Rememl)er that I am hei'e oidy in ohe-
dijuee to your orders; I iu'i here for the glory of (lod
and the salvation of souls." In 1747, wlien he had
returned to Fr.mee, his superiors, thinking that he had
had his share of hardship, proposed that he should re-
main there. Deeming that he had not done enough for
his salvation, lie refused all .such offers. We know that,
on several o(;casions, he .saved the lives of English
ofiieers ; that Oaptain Hamilton, who had ^vitnessed his
kimliiness, esteemed him highly; that, after the deporta-
ion and liis return to France, he became a ministering
angel to the Acadian refugees, that he devoted his
time and his money to the alleviation of their ^ot.

His friend. Abbe Maillard, who had initiated him
into the Micmac language and the management of
missions, was himself, though in a lesser degree,
involved in the same condemnation. He spent the last
years of his life at Halifax, in the midst of those who
had been his enemies. Now, he concpiered them all by
the irresistible ascendency of his talent and virtue.
There stood by his dying bed the Protestant minister
whose friendship he had won and who read certain

268

A GENEROUS SOUL.

prayers to him at his own request ; the elite of Halifax
society, civil and military, the government and the
council followed his remains to the tomb. Perhaps,
under similar circumstances, Le Louti would have
received the same homage. What we know of him
rests on so valueless an authority — Pichon — that no his-
torian, except Parkman, has consented to use it. More
of this anon.

FOKTS BLALSEJOUIl AND LAVVRENX'K.

•2»Ji)

,:^^l

CHAPTER XVI.

i&i

Murder of Edward Howe — Wliat Parkman saj's of it — He accuses
Le Loutre — His partiality and his ruses — " Les Meuioires sur le
Canada" — Pichon — What lie was.

CoRNWALLis's proclamation had revived in the
Freneli tlie hope of regaininr^ the synipatliy of the
Acadians, whicli the events of the hist war had severely
shaken. De la (lalissonniere, the new governor of
Canada, hoped it would now be easy to decide them to
emigrate. For tliis purpose he needed a man active,
determined, known to the Acadians and ahle to exert
influence over them. He was not slow to understand
liow serviceable would be Ke Loutre, wlio was already
heading a movement in this direction. 'J'henceforlh
until the fall of Beausejoui', four years later, I.e I^outre,
owing to his high standing witli the governor, shared
with the local authorities the conduct of affairs in this
part of the country. He seems to have inspired all tiie
operations directed against the p]ngiish in the penin-
sula.

Surmising that the English would soon occupy Reau-
bassin and build a fort there, the French vigon»usly
pushed on the works at Fort IJeausdjour. They had to
make haste and lay waste the English side of the
frontier. Having liitherto failed to make the Ai.'adians
emigrate voluntarily, Le Loutre, in ordei' to gain his
point and to leave the English in a wilderness, decided,

Hl^!^

«iUl

270

KDWAKD HOWE,

■ill

^ ^'^f ',"

as ;i la.st resort, to tire the dwellings of the Aciuliiuis.
On the approach of tlie Eng-lish, eoniniantled hy Law-
rence, the Indians, douhtless obeying Le Loutre's orcU'is,
set about their incendiary work and destro^-ed most of
tlie Acadian liouses. The pretty village of Iieaul)assiii,
whicli contained over one hundred ])uildiiigs, was
reduced to ashes, the church with the rest. 'I'lu'
i'^luvbitants, left without shelter, were obliged to take
refuge on the Frencli side of the frontier. Lawrence,
finding notliing but ruins, and having too small a force
*:'} resist if attacked, re-embarked with liis troo[)s and
withdrew. In September, he returned with seventeen
small vessels and seven luridred men. After a slight
skirmish with the French outposts, he established
himself on the site of ihe village of Beaubassin and
built a fort there, which he called Fort Lawenoe, less
than two miles from Fort Beausejour, and a few
liundred yards from the little river Messagouetche,
which the French looked upon as the frontier letween
the two countries.

Lawrence was succeeded the following year by (^ap-
tain Scott, and it was shortly after the arrival of the
Latter, in October, 1751, that occurred the murder of
Edward Howe, which made such a noise at the time and
threw a shroud of sadness and stupor over both camps.
Howe had been for many years judge of tlie Court of
Admiralty and commissary of the English forces in
Acadia. He had been first counsellor to Governor
Mascarene, and, when Cornwallis became governor,
he sat in the council next to Mascarene.* As com-

* Acpording to a onstoin estftblishod at tho ocouptition of tlio country.
Howe should hiivf sufM-ccdcd Masi'mviR' as jjovcriior ; luit tin- fouudatit'U
of Halifax li'(l to a diTciffatimi fi-um this. ruJi'. Some wi'oks hcf.iri' Howi-'s
Ueutb, Coruwallis had asked tn Ik; rclii-ved, imt he had also .-u^Ljesti-il

EDWAHD HONVK.

iil|;

missary of the forces, lie had had long and con-
tinued intercourse with the Acadians, and, as he
spoke French flueiitly, he was Mascarene's principal
adviser and go-hetween in the efforts made to keep
them faithful to tlie Govei'iunent. His influence with
the Acadians rivalled that of Mascarene, and he Avas
distinctly the man for all difficult missions. lie was
acknowledged on all liaiuls to Ije a man of great worth,
of tried and trusted bravery and devotion.

The mission confided to him by Corn wall is at Fort
Lawrence seems to have been to negotiate the return of
the Acadian refugees, to conclude a treaty with the
Indians and to withdraw from their hands tlie prisoners
made by them two years before at Grand Pre.

t'i

Lawrence as his successor, on the plea that Mascarene " had solil out and
was worn out, and that Howe, not being a military man, was unlit." Pos-
sibly, Cornwallis's objection to Howe might not have been ai'ee|ite(l, for
Lawrence was not appointed his successor. Howe is almost invariably
designated under the title of Captaii'. ; the reason probably was that he was
commissary of the forces and had often bern charged with mihtary ojMTa-
tions : thus, when Annapolis was first attackM by Duvivie' , he was ordered
by Mascarene t<> 'Msiodge the enemy and to raze the hcasos that jtrotected
them. Ac the bittlf of Grand Pr^, Howe fell grievously wounded b"side
Colonel Noble. .\s he was fust bleeding to death fr<im a wound he had re-
ceived in the left arm, he askr(i a French officer to have tin- wound dressed
by their surgeon; but the hitter was busy with M. Coulon de VMIier:-', also
bad'y wuunded; then H^we begged the French oflieer to transmit his re-
((Ut'st to the English surgeon. This led to nvertures of surrender, and
Howe, weakenetl though he was, acted as interiiretei- during the negutia-
tious. Ho wasallowed to withilraw to.Vnnapolis on par<il(», and afterwards
ho was exchanged for M. I,acroix and all the Canadian prisoners then at
Boston.

Murdoch says of him: "He left several chii«lren. The esteem he won
while living, tlie gt^neral iisefulness of his conduet as an «>arly fnunder of
our colony, and the cruel ci rev. instances of his death commend his memory
to us who enjoy a happy, jieaceful and prosjM'nms home : for the security
find comfort of which we are bound t > be grateful tf> those who pioneered
the way in the earliest p<'riods under many an<l serious circuinstanees."

Edward Howe is one of my ancestors. His des<*endauts are numerous
in the Districts of Three Rivers and Montreal. C'lU^picuous aiiKnig them
are Theodore Doucet. Esi]., N. P. : h's sisters Lady Middleton and the
Comtasse de Bhgnv; Edmund lijimard, Es((.. (^ C. ; Lieutenant-Coloii(>l
Hughes, Chief of Police in Montreal : Odilon Doucet of the Post Offl.-e De-
partment in Ottawa: .Vntoni" Prince, M.P.P, : Auunsfe Kichard, Viee-
Consul of France in Winnipeg; Canons Jean and Joel Prinee.

272

PAKKMAN S STOUY.

!<' '

Listen to Paiknian relating \n his own way tla'
cireunistanees of liis death :

'• Among the English officprs was Captain Edward Howo. an iii-
telligt'iit and agr»'t'abl»> person wlio spoke French tluently,and luni
been long statione«l in the Province. Le Loutre detested liini :
dreading his iiiHuence over the Acadians. by many of whom he
was known and liked. One morning, at about eight o'clock, the
inmates of Fort Lawrence saw what seemed anotWcer from Pean-
sejour, carrying a tlag, iuid followed by .several men in iinil'oriii,
wading through the .sea of grass that stretched beyond the Mis-
sagouetche. When the tide was out, this river was but an ugly
trench of reddish mud gashed across th* face of the marsh, with
a thread of half fluid slime lazily crawling along the bottom ; but
at high tide it was filled to the brim with an oj)a(iue torrent that
would liav(\ overflowed, but for the dikes thrown uj) to contine it.
Behind tlie dike on the fartiier bank stood the tteeitiiiH/ officer, wav-
ing his flag in sign tliat he desired a j)arley. Jfe iras in vmliiji im
officer, hilt oiieof Le Lout re's Luliiiiis in dififpiise, Etiennele Batanl,
or, as others say. the gri'utciiief Jean Paptiste Cope. Howe, carry-
ing a white flag, and accompanied by a few officers and men, weiu
towards tlic river to hear what lie had to say. As they drew ne;ir.
his look and language e.\citedtlieirsusi)icion. But it was too late;
for a number of Indians, who liad hidden behind the dike during
tile night, tired upon riow(> across the stream, and mortally
wounded liiin. They contimied tiieir fire on his companions, i)ut
could not prevent them from carrying the dying man to the fort.
Tht^ F^reiicli ottici'rs, iiulignant at this villainy, itid )i<^f Jiesitate fn
elnirije it upon Lc Lontre: for, .s«//.s one of tlieni : ' What is not u
wieJi-ed priest capable of doing ? ' "'

Tlie very .'Special interest T have taken in tryino" to
get at tlie facts in this nionrnfnl tragedy will easily be
credited on the score of my descent; yet. the true state
of the case still seems to me very doiilitful. 1 should
never drcitni, in putting an\- version ,)f tlie story before
the ])id)lic, of beino' as dd^iualical as I'arkrnan is. I
believe I have seen all the docunieiils he has seen him-
self; at any rate, I have seen all those he quotes ; how-

^•d'

mi:m(i||;ks sri: \.i: canada.

liT:5

all

ever. In; i^ivcs lu'W (Iclails. wliii'li I liii\c' ruiisoii to think
liave Ix'fii I'VolvtMl l)y his iiiiiiniiiiitioii iilom;. Thu
:>tory is based on ihri'c (»r four dit"t'(;ft!iit iu-foiints. ull
niort' or h-ss coiilriKHctoiy : he has adopted tiic otit;
vvliich setMiis to nu' the h-ast [H()bal)le, the least hoiior-
abh;. Tlic authority he I'elieson is sd (luestioiiable th:it.
serious wi'iters lio-lit sliy of it, or, if they lefer to it, tliey
aie eaiidid t'uougli to wain the reaih/i- and K'l him know
their i(;asons I'oi' distrusting' that iiuthoiity.

Some i(U'a may l»e formed of Parkman's (;alibr(i as an
liistorian by the faet that tliis rejeeted authority, and
another ahuost as ([uestional)U', su|ti)ly mueh of the nia-
terial foi' the two clia[)ters wliieh he devotes to the his-
toiy of AeaiUa in his '* Montealm and Wolfe." These
two chapters, oi Hi entitled '' Conlliet for Acadia," and
the other, "The Uemoval of the Aeadians," eontaiii
ninety [)ages. Ilci skim.s lightly over the events of the
first foi'ty years in ten ])ag'es, in oi(h;r to get quickly to
Abbe l^e Loutre and to (h'vote to liim the greater [)art
of his narrative.

Tlie doings of this ai'dent al)be were too keenly in-
teresting to Parkmaii to allow of his losing this oppor-
tunity. What a sensational chapter he could i-reate oni
of the chaos of historic data I I7nfortunately, most of
wliat we know of the doings of Le Loutre rests on the
two (juspicious sources I have just mentioned. The
less contemptible of the two is an anonymoux work
styled "• ^[enu)ires sur le Canada, 1749-1 It iO." Parknuin
takes good care not to .say that the Ixiok is anonymous,
that the author professes a deep hatred for the clergy,
that he is so partial to the ijifamous Tntendant Bigot as to
call him an honest man. This autlior's hatred for t!ie

clergy is «o glaring that Murdoch, who incidentally
IS

,f^'i

il^'

.m '

4?l

?;?^' '

274

A DISTKUHTED TKAITOU.

quotes him in referenee to other inatters, lias the frank-
ness to cast doubts on his veracity :

" It mnst neverthelcsH be, n'tnemheiTd that ice have derived our
ill format ion of 1a' Loiifre from sources not friendly to priesfx —
ttie Frenvli of tliat period being tinged irith the philosophy of ]'ol-
taire."

Tliis is the caution of an historian worth}' of the
name ; but Parkman, as usual, is silent about all such
matters, nay, he emphasizes liis inferences l)y layino-
stress on the fact that he is (juoting an authority tliar is
Frendi. His fraud, however, does not stop there. To
add weight to his assertions, he sometimes uses the
author vaguely a; '■'' if Catho/lc rontrinpornr//." as if a
Voltairian could be a Catliolic. and thus we cannot evt-n
Sfuess that he is alludino' to the " Mcmoires sui' h- Caii-
ada." Xo altt»rnative is h'ft to the ingenuous iinkUm'
but to suppose that there is (juestion of some additional
authoi'ity cori'oborating what was said by anotlicr wvitev
or confirming the •' iSremoires " themselves. 0\ onr
poor authority he cunningly builds up two appaiently
good ones. This is killing two birds with one stone:
multiplying by dividing. Between such double-dealing
and th(! caudoi- of ^lurdoch yawns a bridgeless gulf.

J*arkman's other authority is verv much worse yet.
and, in passing from one to the other, he falls out of
the frying-pan into the tire. T refer to Pichon. a Fiei;rli
subaltern, who, after having been several years at
Louisburg, was transferred to Beaiiscjfuir in 17o3, tli;it
is. f/rn i/ears after the events ive are no/r ronf<(ilerni;i.
Cajitain Scott was then in command at Fort Lawrenct-.
Pichon found means to siM^ure an interview with him.
in the cours«? of wliich he offei'ed his services, ])ledging

1 ■"

A nisTitrsTEi) Tit.vrroK.

27.)

himself, in return lor a [jeciiiiiary ruwanl aiul proiiiLscs
(jf prott'i'tion, to eoiunmiiieate all the infonnalion hti
could get hold of on the aetions and i)lans of tlie French,
and copies of all the documents that miglit pass through
his hands. Pichon transacted this hateful business
with great assiduity, in his communications, first with
Scott and later on with C'ajttain Ilussey, wlio soon snc-
fceded the former in the conunand of Fort F.aw renrc
I'ichon continued his treachery at Halifax. LouishuiL;'
and I'hila(lel})hia ; after which he withdrew to Fnglaiid,
whei'e he published a pamphlet entitled, *• l^etters and
Memoirs relating to Cape Hreton."

Such was the man and siudi the i)ait he playt'<l. A
creature of this stamp is, cvidenily, not a weighty
authority, even if tliert; weie nothing worse agiiinst
him ; but we have })leuty of other reasons for discredit-
ing his testimony. lie w:is all that his dirly work
imjjlied. Captain Ilussey, when transmitting to the
(lovernor the information he had received from I'ichon,
gave his reasons for believing and for doubting him,
and frequently pointed out liis inconsistencies and the
slender credit one could give to his allirmations ; so
nuich so that he ended by ex[»ressing the opinion that it
would be better to cease all intercourse with him. Dr.
Blown also discusses tin; testimony and the writings of
Pichon, and veiy sagaciously sets off the baseness they
]"eveal. Admiral Hoscaweii would not l)elieve i'ichon,
and Murdoch, having to ([uote him with regard to the
taking of IJeausejour, begs the readei'"s pardon. ;iiid
alleges as an excuse the a])sence of all other sonrces of
information.*

* Ciqil. iIu^M'> to ("aiJt. Si'olt, lltli of Xov. I7")4. The iiiconsist-
eiicy, tlii: fiMi' of guilt, nmk< thi: iinilt i/ ruiiunil nlmiirditiis ruinuuti to

I !'.

isn

H : .'^t

I'.VIIKMAN IHSSKrTi;i».

Wiiliotit llic " Moiiidi res sill' U^ Ciuiailii "* and |*i(lioir.«
iiiiiiifii>ii> (Iciiiils, I'iiiUmitii Wdtild hii\T ti> lost' all hi-
aiit'cildtfs ahoiit Ia' liuulro and llic ninsl intcri^stiiii^
j)ait III' liis two chapUji's. He I

viK'W Imw al

lal

winild l)f cau'erlv dt'voiirt'd. iiow liis <jil'ts ol" Wdnl-

j)aintiii,!4- wm

lid tell ill the book-market. What

\Vil>

(I he (lone

le sitiialioii was

tiekl

isli in

le ex-

treme, I'lill of teni|)ta(i(His and daii^-ers. Must lie let
so liiK! a plum fall without [diiekin^' it whilst it i>

itl

Witliin easv Jcaen

iiie, no one

iiad

ever ilaitMi to

toueh it bel'ore: but tliis only made it moi'o of a temjit;!-

ciiixciri s

TrailDis ail' never cordially l>elieveil : how is ji

tl,

to hiiKJ lliem l)v oidinaiv lies '.* '

lllisslli

halef, lliisse\ to Seoli : ••eiicloseil vdu iia\e some letters 1 rerri\cii

floiii I'ielioii. / ////(.s7 cniil'iss I lull

xniiic sii.siiiciiiiiK III lii.s miiri ri

iliissev to the ( oimiiissioiier in ( liiel', iL'tli Nov. IT')4:

le ".Mil (.1

this inonlli 1 I'ei'eived I

le eni'losei

I letter, which, ii'lirtlnr inilhiut'i

>/. I think mv diitv to tiaiisniit lo von.

jK rti.i;/

I'ii-h

I cniiiiiil liclp SI

mil s .sniriri

hi Ills lilli

Ijl, and '■(/■// nil, 11 liiiil i/niil iiifniisiNhni'li

I eaiinol Iml icinaik. that in this, sir. he makes t

le I'ov-

ernnr nf ( anada say that he enuaues ],{• I.ont re and ile N'eiiior to lind
some plansihlr in-eiexi to make the Indians lireak i>m, and tells nn'
that de \'eri;(>r ii'lll tulc- i-urr tluil tin;/ ilo iml nlli m/il iiiii/l hhi'i
1,1 >;■."

" He hath also, ever since I have heeii here, complained Imir mir-
rmi'lll Ik' Ik iilisiri'iil iind limi' Jinhiit.s Lr Limtri — whom in contempl

he styles Moses

/■ ///

IS III llllll

which I think. Is n lilll

ii-illi his I rust nil/ liiiii villi liis Ifttirs si>/ii)'(is In Ink

I- niriinsisliiil
r riiiilrs iil tlii m.

1 tldnk, sir, / Imrr iimnl ri'iisniis to liclirrc that, the letter Piehnn

calls Mr. l)nsi|iiesne"s is n/ liis mi'ii ciiiii/iiisiir
iufiii'iiii'il I'riiiii.

I, I'l'i- I

illii litis iiiiiriiiii;t

Mr. !'i(di(>n is ulsn ,

ihil,

rii II

liiiill.

woidd yon thiidv prnper

ot' my keei)ini; up this oorres])ondence with him dnritiLt the winter ".'

The l.'ev. .Mr. lirown devotes a whole chapter to dissect iiiir I'ichon's
ineonsisleneies and character, with lht> title: '• Casual hints from the
let 1 1 MS of I'iehon indicating the state of his nund diirinji his traitor-
ous correspondeiu'e."

Ailiniral IJosea wen. writ ini; to liord f'hathani after the takinji of
Lonist)in'i;' in IT.")S. says: '■ 1 received this stalemein with hnt a mod-
erate amount of lielief in its accin"icy, as Pi<'hon my informer was no!
there himself, and, hi'liii/ ini njicn srcp'cr iit llic inuistlinnil, without,
iinpiignini; his veracity, I think he was prone to helleve any riiiKif'!^
]w heard that tended la ,lisiiitrii;/r Fniirli niitlinritirs m- jiriisls. It
resembles too closely the harsh I'harge.s of pillage at LJeuusejour fur

which we have only his assertion.

FIVK TKM.'KS.

•277

tion and a ivlisli. tSV non e lu-ro, e Ik n frovafo. At
last, llu! iiie vital >lt.' has come to pass; Paikinaii yields
and sei/,('s tin; forbidden tVuit. Still, we must give Iiini
credit for having loner lufsitated before plucking it, as
is evident fiom the great pains he takes to disguise
I*i(!hon's identity and to sui)press whatever might de-
pieci
A I

ate 1

nm.
alvsi

>t' I'arki

Midi

assment is extremel ,
interesting; it constitutes a sort of vivisection of the
ways and n:eans, ruses and shifts that may be adopted
by a tricky writer. We witness the fluctuations of a
soul l)uffeted to and fro l>y glee and distress, and yet
maturing the most skilful combinations of a fertile
brain.

As to the •* Meinoiitjs sui' h; (^iiiada," lie seems to
hav(! made up his mind reailily enough. After all,
thought he, there was no need to follow Murdoch's
example ; it was not absolutely nect!ssary to say that
the work is anonymous, that it exudes hatred of the
clergy. Hut, in the rase of Pichon. the j)roblem was
far more dilhcult ; something must be said of the j)art
he played. Here several alternative courses were open
toParkman : he might (1) (juote IMchon under the vague
designation of '• a French officer ; " (2) simply refer to his
letters or to the page of the volume of the archives for
tliose of his letters that are there ; * (•') mention his name
Avithout comment: (4) acknowledge Pichon's odious oc-
cuj)ation and yet say something in his favor to act as a
buffer against the sliottk of the disclosure : or, (5) linuUy,
take shelter behind some respectable name. Instead of
choosing one of these numerous alternatives, Parkman

l-.jl:

* Till* Compiler has yiddiMl tn (In- nuhii' ti'ni|>tfition ; hi- lias iiiiscrted
SOmc! <^f tMc^'linii's IcttiTs ill thii volume of the iiri;bivos. Arrdilei' ambo.

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

1.0

I.I

1.25

12.5
2.2

|;a 1 2.0

1.8

U III 1.6

^;.

/!;«

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Corporation

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(716 873-4503

27 H

FIVK TRICKS.

thought the best way out of tlie tangle was to take
them all up one after another, in skilful gradation, so
as proi)erly to prepaid the reader. Thus, in case of
attack, he had five dooi-s to escape through, not to speak
of the windows. In sheer astuteness it would be hard
to lind a iNimllel to this feat. All Parknian seems to
care about is to cover and protect his retreat in case of
an attack, which was very unlikely. Who would be
painstaking and suspicious enough to search and fer-
ret out, to weigh and compare? Certainly not the
Aeadians, whose astuteness would not rise to the level
of such refined tricks. If we could have read Park-
man's thoughts and seen him chuckling over his discov-
ery of these five tricks for whitewashing or concealing
Ms Pichon, we should have witnessed a scene of high
comedy.

Fii-st trick: Pichon's name does not appear; Park-
man quotes him in this way : " A French officer says,"
" a French writer relates," doing like the naughtj- lioy
in tlic Spanish proverb who throws a stone and then
puts his hands in his pockets, " lira la piedra y eHconde
la manor Second trick : a little further on, he refers
to the pages of the volume of the archives, still with-
out naming Pichon. Third trick : he names Pichon
without a word of comment. Fourth trick : he tells us
very briefly what Pichon was, but does his l)est to raise
him in the reader's estimation : " He was non' acting the
part of a traitor, carrying on a secret correspondeiKU'.
He (i'a>i a man of education, born in France of an Enf/lixh
mother, he was author of genuine letters relating U)
Cape Breton, a work of »ome valae. "

Thanks to this method, the reader is not aware that
Pichon has been really quoted al)out twenty times. If

WHITEWASHING PICHOW.

279

he know8 nothing of Pnrkman's dodges (and how could
he know them ?), he supposes that tlie " French ofllicer "
was very respectable, and that his testimony is all the
more convincing Ijecause he relates facts that tell against
his fellow-countrymen. In the second alternative, the
authority is, apparently, no longer " a French officer,"
still less Pichon, but the volume of the archives, there-
fore, some official document ; this satisfies the reader,
and saves him the trouble of consulting that volume.
In the third alternative, he reads Pichon's name ; but,
lus he does not yet know who he is, he pays no special
attention to that name. At length, in another chapter,
towards the end of the story, and far apart from the
first, he learns that a certain Thomas Pichon, a store-
kei'pt'r, was a traitor to his country : but there is nothing
to show that hv is the Frcttr-fi offin-r ijuoted in another
chapter, especially as Parknian, by another chamcter-
istic ruse of his, speaks of him, no more as an officer,
but as " Connnissary of stores." Moreover, the reader,
being intiodueed to a man of whom Parkman writes
favorabl}', lays no further stress on the matter. He has
l)een deftly thrown off the scent.

It must be admitted that all this is " very smart,"
and such smartness, with an attractive style, is a
quality witli which Parkman cannot but be credited.
Yet he seems, at last, to have been tashamed of himself,
or rather, to have feared lest perhaps his artifice should
he discovered; for -and this is the fifth trick — after
what he has admitted about the traitor, lie sidds, while
• luoting Pichon once moie, " Pichon cited by Murdoch. '
Evidently he felt he was not quite safe ; lie must seek
shelter behind a respectable name. But Munloch, who
really does cite Pichon once or twice, speaks of hi in at

iV'"*

fPI

lit

^i^

2H0

I'ICHON S STOIIY.

some length and tells us immediately and without suh-
t^M'fnge what he was. lie cites him anent the siege of
Heaus{^j()ur on questions that have no further imjiortanc c
than to satisfy curiosity; ami, even then, he seems to
have felt scruples, and so excuses himself by the Jilisencc
of f)th('r sources : " In the following account of the siege
of Heaus<';jour we hav«! not any Knglish account, ofliciiil
or private, to ludp us. . . . The nmin i)arts of our n;u-
rative are derived from I*i(;hon.*'

Thus, Mui'doch's use of him, far from being blame-
worthy, gives us a high idea of the historian's character ;
while Purkman's methods j>roduce a diametrically o[)p(t-
site imi)ression, and, in p.articular, his attempt to enlisl
Murdoch as an accomplice, aggravates, instead of attenu-
ating, his guilt.

r*ainful as is the task I have uiulertaken with respect
to Parkman, \ venture to think that the interests of
historic truth make it imi)erative. Leaving to others
the duty of applying a similar analysis to his other
works, I will confine myself to the ninety j)ages he has
written on the subject in hand.

After this long paienthesis 1 return to the murder of
Edward Howe and to Parkman's acc<mnt of it, drawn
from Pichon, who was then at Louisburg ; for, as luis
already Im-cu said, he did not come to Beausejour till
two years hiter, in 17o8, so that he was not even a resi-
dent, still less an eye-witness. We have read how
Parkman said : "■ 7*//*' Frenvh officerg indignant at this
villainy, did not hesitate to charge it upon Le Loutre,
for. sdi/x nut- lit' them : '' What in not a wicked priest capable
of liouiif/

Now, I am going to give Pichon's account of tliis

A TKLL-TALK PHI: ASK.

2H1

mui<lt'r. It is to Ixj I'ound at page 195 of the Voluino
<»f the Archives :

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** Itwiis very wrongfully ami with tliegroiitpst injuBtirc that the
KiikUhIi accused the French of having a hand in the horrors coni-
niitt^Hl daily by Le Loutre with hi.s Indians. i\'hut in not n iricknl
fpriettt capable of doiiiy / Heclotlu'd iti an ujfficer's reyhiiciitais an
Indian named Co|h.>, and laying an anilnis(>a(h> of Indians near t4)
the Fort, he sent ('o|H' t«i it, wiiving a irliiti- handk'. rcliief in his
hand, which was the tistial sign for the adniittan(;e of the Frencli
into the English Fort, having affairs with the <-onnnander of the
Post. The Major of the Fort, a worthy man, and greatly beloved
by all the French oflflcers, taking Co|k> for a French officer, came
out with his usual politeness to receive him. But he no stKnier
appeared than th(> Indians in and)ush fired at him and killed
him. All the Frencrh officers had the greatest horror and indig-
nation at Le Ix)Utre's barbarous actions: and. I dare sav. if the
Court of France had known them, they woidd have been very
far from approving them ; but he had so ingratiated himself with
the Martpiis de la (Jalissimniere that if heeaitie a crime to write
aguinxt him. It is nee»lless to explain further Le I^tntre's execra-
ble conduct. Critelty and inhinnauit/; hati ever Iteen .siicerdittaf
from (til ages."'

On comparing Inchon's narrative with Parkmau's, it
is esisy to see that the one is tiie offspring ol" the other.
We have Parknian ckitljed in Pichon's rei/lnietitafx witli
some additional trimmings (hawn from liis imagination.
On one point Parkman lias heen imi»rudent. By yiehl-
ing to the temptation of (pjoting Pichon's !pftii<f<hna
verha : " ^V^l<lt /« not a wickeif prieKf capable of ilolnji y
he has furnished us with indis[)ntable proof that the
officer on wliom he relied was none other than Pichon,
;'^id that Piehon himself wius also his oidy authority for
jferring to "the French ollu'ers" in geiuaal and to
jeir supposed in<lignation at Le Loutie. Was it pos-
sible to doubt tliatLe I^outre was the real culprit, when

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282

C'OUSWAM.IS'S A(X'Ol'NT.

Pui'kinan was Uicked, apparently at least, by the Fieiieh
officers themselves? " The Freifrh officers,'" says he,
*" did not hesitate to charge it on Le Ijoutre, for, hii//»
one of them, etc."

There is much scientiHc work in all this, and the
public, it is to be regretted, seemi indulgent wlien
smartly taken in. "Qui nescit dissiniulare nescit
regnare " is one of Machiavelli's sayings. The s[»irit
that animated Pichon is manifest in the closiiii; .sen-
tence : " Crneltt/ and inhumanity has ever been naoer-
dotal from all ai/es." The hypocritical traitor thus
aimed at flattering the prejudices of those whom he was
writing for and increasing ' is chances of reward. Let us
note, by the way, that Edward Howe was neither major
nor conunandcrof the fort, as Pichon calls him.

Cornwallis, writing to the Duke of liedford less than
a month after the nnirder, says:

" I liave iu)\v an afrairof iiioit»extraord.iiarya nature to infonn
you of. Captain Howe was i-niployt'd on the i'X|K'tlition to Beau-
baHsin as knowing the Counliy well, and lieiii;; better actpiainted
botlt with tlie Indians and inhabitants, and. p<H)r man, fancied he
knew the Frenoh i)etter. and pei-sonally tiiose villains «le la ('orn<'
and Le Loutre. His whole aim and study was to try a |»eaet' with
the Indians and to yet our prisoners out of their hands. For
which i>urposi', he had frequent I'onferi'uces with Le Loutre anil
the French ofhcers under a flag of truce. La Conn'* si'tit. one
day. a tlajj, of truce ?>// (t Frviirh ojficcr io the water .side of a small
river that parts his pi'oph' from our troops. Captain Iloweawf/ tt)e
ojlficir held a parley for .some time across the river. IJoire iiad no
soomr taken leare of tin- ojl'iccr, than a party that lay jM'rdue fired
a volley at him and shot him through the heart."

Cornwallis's account is, clearly, very different from
the Pichon-Parkman one. True, Cornwallis speaks dis-

* Do lu CoruL' was fonuiiiuidiug oflleer In those parts.

I 'I', i,

VAhlilKllKS ST«H!Y

ii8.{

paragiiipfly of tlie French, and especially (»f f)e la Come
and Lf Loutre in cunnection with this nuirder. It is
clear tliai he entertained snspicions of i-oniplicity, but
it is <M|nally clear thai his suspicions are of a vague,
general character. Other aecJ»unts there are wliich
I'aiknian knew of, since he refiMs to them at the f(H>t of
tlu; ]>agc. I'revost, int'Ciulant-conunissary (eoniniissaire-
onlonnateur) at Louishurg, says distinctly that Howe
had l>een forewarnol by i^e Loutre himself of the risk
he ran by trusting too much to the Indians, and that
it was owitig to his own imprudcnite, and for not having
followed Le Loutrc's advice, that he was killed.

"Mr. Howe," says l*r(!Vost . . . ^' hnvinij Ioh;i tin-
voi/t'il till- ImfianK, took it into his head to risk it again.
iiotirlthxftitiilitii/ thi' tntniiiK/K of AhhS Le Lout re anil rr»ti
uj' t/f Imit'tniM f/wniKt'/n-ft. lie came, with a white tlag,
opposite one of them, and the Indian, having a /v>/ Hag,
fned bis gun at him and stretched him dead." *

The A\)])v .Maillaitl seems to coidiini I'revost's testi-
mony, "^"ir that man <li(l iu)t wish to perish in this
Avay, he ought to have carefully avoided any meeting
Avitli the Micmacs. He had been warned to that effect
shortly bi'foie this fate befell him."

Another version is from M. de la Valliere, an ollirci
ulii» was llien at Foil IJeausejoui' and who kei)t a journal
of hual events fioiu September \S\ 17')0 to .July '2f^.
17')1 : therefore, to all a{»[)earanees, a man well able l<»
form a c(»rrect opinion.

He thus related How(;"s death :

♦Two yt'Uis liiti-r this saiiii- Pivvost, wiitiiij? to tbr .Miiiir'tfr. siiid : I
Iiav<' l«'Jirnt timt tlio iniiii imint'il '()/,,',» Imd Mii'iiiac who Ims always t>f«'ii
iiiiiv'iUiiu iu hislH-ha\ jni' ami siisiH-otcJ by both iiatinus. has inadi- st-vt-nil
joiirm^ys to tlic F.iiKli»h s<'ttl<'Hii'iits in Ai^adia. am) tliat lie ha-* cihI'mI liy
sigWJug at Httlifax a »<iit n[ tn-aty."

: I.

>i5?^ ii

iiH4

VALhlKKES 8TOUY.

" About llie loth of October, tlie Fiulians, who WmI
observed and had been informed that Mr. Howe, iom-
missary of the English troops, often came to walk on
the river Ixmk, where he liad already had conferences
with the otHcei's and missionaries, in order to speak to
the inhabitants and pei'siiade them, by making many
promises, to come over to the English side, went dur-
ing the night into ambush with some Acadians iH'hiiid
a levee that runs along the river ; and, at alx>ut eiglit
o'clock in the morning, Stephen Batard went with a
white flag opposite on the other side of the river. The
Indian, after putting a few (juestions to Mi-. Howe,
threw down his flag and gave the signal to his men,
who lired inunediately on Mr. Howe an<l wounded him
mortally."

These are the only authorities I know ; I'aikmaii
mentions another in a note, " Les Memoires sur le
Canada," which, he says, declares that Le Loutrc was
present. So it does, but it does not accuse him ot' cum-
plicity in the murder, evil-minded though its author al-
ways is against the priests.* Now, whosoever wcigits
and compares these different accounts cannot help think-
ing that Parkman's view, expressed with so much assur-
ance and as though it w;is the only one, is In- far the most
improbable. I felt a lively personal interest in ascertain-
ing tlie truth, and yet 1 am now far from inclined to ad-
vance a positive opinion in favor of any view : in fart,
no one could do so with the diverse aiul conflicting
testimonies which we possess.

* ThiSiUKmynious wiitiT, oftou quoted by I'arkmau, is so iiuiOfiii-.«t»' in
ill! that I'oiictTus At-adian affairs that it is better to iguore hira. His ver-
sinii <if Howo'rt iminicr is a uew one aud evidently absurd iu more than
one point. Wp should bear in mind that the author must have reside.! in
Quebec or Moutreai, as his book treats chiefly of CauadiaD affairs.

I'Kohaiim-: kxim.a nation.

28")

Although 1 luivc not yt't solved the proMuin, I will,
liownver, hesitiitiiigly hazard aiu'X[»hinalioii. Ilowe, as
may have h«en gatlHMvd t'loiii Coniwallis's letter, had
K'cii sent to this post with a view to eoiuludiiig a
treaty witii the Indians and to withdrawing from their
hands the prisonei-s they held. Having l)een tinMo
some weeks, it' not some months, In; had already hail
.several conferences with the Indians on the hanks of the
little river that was the horder-line l)etweeii them.
Though he ha<l hithertc) l)eeii unsuccessful, he still
persisted in his efforts. He also had frciiuent inter-
views in the same place with Le Loutre and tin; French
officers. My view is, that, on this occasion, Howe went
t(» tlie usual place to meet an oHicer, who wius [)erhaps
accompanied hy Le Loutre; that Cope, chief of one
Indian trihe, Le Batard, chief of another, and some
other savages, were in ambush along the Icvce, watch-
ing for an interview between Howe and the Ficucli
oHicers in order to carry out their purjtosc; that, di-
rectly after the French ollicer and \a' r^outre had left, at
the end of the interview, and bcf(»re Howe had with-
drawn, the Indians waved a flag as a signal that they
wished to have a parley. This interpretation has, at
least, the merit of reconciling otherwise irreconcilable
differences in the various accounts. I'ichon says Howe
went dowu to the river bank to n\eet au Luliaii dressed
as an officer. This is scarcely possible, as Corn wal lis,
who was not likely to be mistaken about a fact which
he could verify, says that " ffowe and the offici-r hhi a
parley iov some time across the river." " Howe had no
sooner taken leave of the officer than a party that lay
perdue, etc." The Indians had to make haste in order
not to let Howe escape ; consequently, the French

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0f\

280

<oN.in:iN<; with witnkssks.

onii'iM' and \a- LouUe, il" iiidctMl tiu* liitttu' was piofiii.
caiiiiot liavt! Inm'II tar oH'. I'rt'vo-st preteiids that tin-
Indian wlio kill«Ml Howt; \va.s('o|M'; La VullicMf act-u^o
SU'pluMi Lu HuUu'd; perhaps lx)tli of iheni had a huid
in it.

Cornwallis makes it (leaithal Howe had a conrereiK**-
witli a j^'enuine ollicer, that he hehl _/'(»/• mdhh- fimr a |iaiit>\
with him, that \vh»'n tht-ir parley was over they took
leave of eaih other. It eould not have Ix^en so il that
man liad l)een an IncUan in an «>lli(er's icginienlaU. a>
the frand wt)uhl snrely have l>een dctei-ted at onee : and
this is made clearer hy Cornwallis's further stalenuMii
that it was after taking leave of the Freneh ollieei' that
" a party tliat lay perdue fired a volley." The absurd story
of an Indian clothed in an ollieer's rej,'imentals is not al-
luded to hy any other than Pichon, and is, inferentially.
eontradieted hy ("ornwallis. Moreover, aeeordinij to
Cornwallis, that ofTieer was sent hy De la Corne himselt,
so that, if then; was an ambush by others than Iiulians,
we should have to eonneet with it theeommander of the
French post and the ollieei' who lield the parley. Thu^,
Parkman, wIkj, for these i)artieulars, had the testimony
of the English governor al)out facts part of which he had
been able to verify and control, has preferred to accept
ill all details the fanciful and absurd story of Pichon,
for no other motive, it seems, than the better to eoniictt
Le Loutre with this nmrder.

To sum up in a few words : Parkman's proof of Lc
Loutre's complicity in the murder of Howe has no other
foundation than the testimony of Pichon, of Pichon who
then, and for the two subsequent years, lived at Louis-
burg. Directly, inferentially or in essential details, he*
was contradicted by Maillard, Prdvost, La Valliere and

CON.IUKINi; WITH WITNKSSKS.

•JH7

Cornwallis, tluit is. by a (lisliiiguiKlied priest, two of-
Hcers of high niiik aiKl oim govuriioi'. The odds wuro
thus very heavy ugaitist the version Piirkiuaii sought to
ftu.st on the piihlie, and few even of tlie most artful and
unscriipuhius writers wouUl have faced siuh odds.
I'arkiUiui. however, <hd. lie wais lK)iind t«» get I'ii lu>u
admitted and to givt; liini a solid iNU-king. Auda«>ity is

an iusittiai>k' rraving which every suecess develops more
and more. Parkman luul succeeded so well in recom-
mending the " Memoires sur le Canada" thanks to his
little trick of division hy which this witness s»ispecte<l of
paitiality and irreligion is made to reappear incoi/. under
the veil of "a ('atholic contempoiaiy." that he thoutfjit
he eouhl adopt similar tactics in Pichon's case;: only lie
mu.«»t make them more elal)orate to tit the higher impor-
tance of this jiew accusation. His lirst stcji was to give
Pichon an air of respectability by speaking of him. with-
out naming him, as *' a French otlicer." His next was
to make use of this oflicer as a voucher that all the
French ofHcers held the same opinion. I>ut now Park-
man wius confronted with a more serious dilliculty.
What wiis to Ih! tlone abo\il Maillard, Prevost, i.a Val-
liere an<l Cornwallis? Must lit; reproduce the substance
of tlielr version, or should he ignore them completely?
Neither of these extreme courses suited him ; he sou<:lit
and found a third alternative. lie ingeniously con-
trived to put their names at the foot of the page with
an uiiimi»ortant remark al>out each of them, .so worded,
however, as to create the impression that they had not
taken a different view of the matter, but that the little
they had said tended to corroborate his " French
officer.''

So with nothing, or something worse than nothing in

■m

^if

■<ifj

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III

^i^^

>3l

»«l

M ill

I.,. „, ■ e*

•JHH

MAI.M'K AS A IMNK Al!T.

liis favor, tiiul with an ovfrwiifliniii^ [)ro()l .i^uiii^i lii>
fliiiix*'^' I'arkimiii liiis coiisUucted iMusliiii^ uviih'iu •
ii^iiiiist \a' liiMitiu. Il(; has so twisted aiui <listi^iii)*l
every authority as to niakt; it appear that Ia; liOiitre was
aciustMl and eoiideniiied on all sides: by ''a French
orticer," "all the French oflicers," * by Provost, Mail-
lard, La Vallierc, Cornwallis, and " Lcs M<Jinoires siir Ic
C'ana<la.''

Tlius, I'arknian has given an honorable character t<»
the woi-Mt accusations against Le I^outre, particularly to
that which iniplicate<l him in a murder. Aft(;r that, he
liad no doubt peo[)le would belic^vc whatever he chose
to advance against him.

With such methods you <;an prove anything, (five
Parkman a blackmailing letter from tin- veriest black-
guai'd, and, if not clostdy looki-d after, he might bring
about the (conviction and electrocution of the President
of the United States. Have \\v not a right to apply
Piclion's virtuous indignation to Paikman and e.xelaim :
'• What is not a wicked stoiy-teller capable of doing?"

Let us not foiget that the lirst ust; made of Pichon
is about L(! Loutre ; that, sid)sc{puMitly, lu! (piotes him
no less than fifteen or twenty times in live difl'erent dis-
guises. He could safely divulge tiie name and charac-
ter of Pichon wIkmi once ho had extracted from him all
his venom against I^o Louti'c, and when the divulging
thereof did not remove the euphemism under cover of
which he had administered his poison, f

It may be very diilicult to get a correct idea of the
details of Howe's death ; but I refuse to believe that an

* It i8 Pii'bon who suy.s that the Freuch officers act'\iso(l Li- Loutre.

f Pichon is iiitrodiici'd iiH "a French Officer" iu Piirkiimns J)ookiit pigrt
IIH. in the fourth chapter; and it is not till jkiko 243, in the eijfhth chap-
ter, that liis name ami his vile liusiuess are revealeil.

....

LE LUUTIIKS C'OMPI.HITY IMPOHHIliLE.

•JHII

officer or a pii«'Ht, ^reiit iw iniiy liave l)een thuir prejii-
dices or tlieir faiiatitisiii, can have had tlie smallest share
ill a criine of tliis sort, when they had nothing to gain
or nioic to lose than to gain by even an indire(;t partici-
pation in it. Harharian.s alone could have conceived
and executed su(;h a (M-inu^

I do not lielitive that suspicions were tlien entertained
at Halifax of Le Loutre\s complicity in the nuirder ;
though, if they w»Me, these suspic "Hs would lead, as a
natural conscciuencc, to the furthei supj)osition that he
was capable of any villainy. P'li if, in fact, ■ i.ording to
the affirmations of Provost ah i Maillan'< Le Loutre liad
really warncci llowt* of the dangt r 'le ran, we are con-
fronted no longei with a crinu, noi with the suspicion
thereof, hut ^^ ith a i)raiseworthy action that exhibits Le
Loutre in a less unlikely character and one fiir nioie in
keeping with his past devotedness as a missionary.

In order to elucidate this niystv'rious affair. I have, as
I usually do in sutdi matters, tried lo fathom the mo-
tives of the actors therein. I lind that, though Le
Loutre may have been jealous of Howe's influence with
the Ai-adians, this jealousy is far from sufficient to
implicate him in this murder. My liist reason is that,
without convincing evidence, no one can be warranted
in making a monster of a man who had sacrificed all the
comforts of life to the salvation of his soul and to the
higher interests of religion. Secoudl}-, this crime would
be altogether at variaiu^e with what we already know of
him. Thirdly, it were impossible to suppose him short-
sighted or blind enough not to have foreseen the disas-
trous, and inevitable consecpicnces of .such a deed for
him and for his dearest interests. Fourthly, to connect

Le Loutre with this crime seems necessarily to imply
1!>

2tlO

LEI/)UTH1*:S COMPLICITV IMPOSSIDLK.

the complicity of fcrtain French officers, in j)iirti('ul.ir of
the Commandant De hi Corne, and thus charcfc them
with the same perverseness and blindness. Now wo
have tlie clearest proofs that these oHicers had oxct'lleni
reason to he jealous, and were indeed jealous, of L(i
Loutre's influence and of his share in the <(Mi(hul of
military and civil operations. Mdieover, we know that
Howe was held in hij^h esteiMU by these sanu' Krciicli
officers. Therefore, I infer, they cainiot have conspired
with Le Loutre against Howe.

What, then, can have been the motive of the Iixlian
assassins? I do not know. Written proofs are wantr
ing, as they are wanting in so many other chaptei-s of
this history, where clearly-defined facts are the excep-
tion. Though the Indians may have had many a
long-standing grudge to wipe out, they probably had no
more valid excuse than the harm Howe wiis doing them
by his zeal for the service of England.

However, we are justified in supposing that Le
Loutre, by his overstrained ardor and his violent dia-
tribes, may have, indirectly and unconsciously, influ-
enced to some extent the conduct of the murderous
Lidians. For many yeare he had been fanning the
flames of fanaticism ; and to the savage mind tiie
logical and practical consequence might have been the
removal of the man who personified all that made against
their nation, against France and Catholicism. This is
the conclusion I am inclined to arrive at, in virtue, not
of documentary evidence, but of arguments based on
the study of human motives and the teachings of his-
tory.

Seeing that Parkman undoubtedly aimed at imparting
a flavor to his narrative by implicating a priest in this

LEOEl{r)?:MAIN NOT ANALYSIS.

21>1

murder, lie miglit have Jittained his object in a less
sensational fashion hut more plausibly, had he used the
method I have adopted. This method, albeit necessary,

le St

foil

ows.

For him, as all hi> works hhow.

history is merely a clever f(ame of lefjerdemain, a hunt
aftei' anecdotes, a salmagundi of items picked U]) every-
where without nnieh regard to their origin or their
valu(\ lie has no misgivings, he cuts the toughest
(iordian knots with a few swift strokes of the pen, with
a few admirably balanced sentences which give the
reader no inklingof the tremendous dilllicudties involved.
Small wonder that he should thus (le[)ort himself;
analysis would shackle his (hiinty feet, woidd over-
weight his style; analysis is a painful [jrocess. whic'h
suits the sincere writer alone; analysis is the \v('a[»on of
him only who, seeking in history nothing but the truth,
is not afraid to place the reader ina})osition to judge by
himself of the facts at issue, and of the value of con-
flicting testimony. Hence it is that Parkman, even if
lie had the necessary peneti-ation, seldom sifts and
analyzes evidence in such a way that the public may
judge of his power of analysis.

The facts that form the basis of the foregoing chapter
are important, not only in that they afford full play to
Parkman's peculiar methods, but also in their bearing
on the subsequent history of the Acadians. Howe's
death had much to do with the sequel of that sad
history. By increasing the irritation of the English
against the French it made the deportation possible.^ .

1 Sinpo writing the abovo. I seo that Parkman, in his last work, says,
without explanation, that Le Loutro's coniiilicity is not provoil. '■ (jnnn-
tiiin tnntalus ab illo ! " Wheueo comes this chauKeV What has hapi^etii'd';'
Nothing, except that CaHjjraiuhas biken exception to his inferpnc("-. Idliug
him that La ValliSre, Provost, Maillard, whom he cites, draw irifeniices
wry different from his and from what he leads the reader to infer ; but

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292

GOING BEHIND THE RETURNS.

CHAPTER XVII.

Intrigues of the French to urge the Indians to hostilities — Letter
of La Jonqui^re to the Minister — Indian warfare against tlie
English — Hostilities between Englisli and French— Le Loutre's
methods against the Acadians — He is blamed by the Bisliop of
Quebec — Divers acts of cruelty against the Indians of Maine.

I A^r proceeding with a sincere desire to discover the
share of bhime which belongs to each of tlie conflict-
ing parties ; endeavoring to be just to the English ns
well as to the French, to the Home (Jovcrninciit as well
as to the local authorities, to the Acadians as well as to
the priests. The materials for this history' are so scanty,
there are so mfiny gaps to fill, that here, more than else-
where, it becomes imperative to enter successively into
the minds of the interested parties in oi'der to detect
the motives that impelled them to adopt one course
rather than another. One must become, so to speak, by
turns, a missionary, an Acadian peasant, an Englishman
and a Frenchman, a Catholic and a Protestant ; one
must divest oneself of preconceived notions, narrow or
broaden one's views, penetrate into the prejudices of all.
This is not always easy, nor equally easy for every one.
My life has been spent amidst these opposite elements,

Casprain has produeod no now proof. Truo, Casgrain ha8 not discovorod
the j^iviit secrt't ; but ho may bo on tho right scout, and ho must thoreforo
bo iiuniodiatoly turned away' from it by somo concession; olso either ho or
soinoVjody else miglit nmko further researches and possibly ferret out
Parkman's artful dodges and his dear Piehou. Matters had reached a
point where Parkman might say. as children do whoa they play Hunt tho
Slipper : " It's getting very hot 1 "

INDIAN ALLIES.

29a

i»^^-

and, owing to exceptional circumstances and perhaps
also to my turn of mind, I experience no difficulty in
seeing with the eyes of others. If some writers have
examined more documents than I have, perliaps no one
has more honestly and deeply ])ondered the true inward-
ness of the facts.

Under different circumstances it is possible, 1)}- a mere
compilation of documents connected by such explana-
tions as are necessary for understanding the narrative, to
compose a history that would be a pretty faithful picture
of events : in this case, such a compilation would be
altogether insufficient. Not oidy are materials few, not
only have the most important been suppressed, but
those which remain are generally but the story as
written by one side, in stiff official letters calculated to
show merely the deceptive surface facts, merely what it
pleased the wrii r to say. Motives, intentions, secret
thoughts, all the inner springs of action, which are
revealed in private letters, secret journals, documents
from the otlier side, are completely wanting here.

The circumstances did not favor an international code
of honor equal to that which obtained among the civil-
ized nations of Euro[)e. Tlie interference of Indian
allies in war made i)eace factitious, war doubly cruel
and hatred incredibly intense. Each nation had its
savage allies, sometimes fighting on tlieir own account,
oftener egged on l)y one or the other of the two nations.
Even when they spontaneously took to the war[)ath,
they were suspected of doing so at the suggestion of
interested whites. An act of hostility committed on
the great lakes was avenged later on in New England
or in Nova Scotia, and vice versa.

Numerically, France was much inferior to her rival.

., s

I 'i

^m\

294

INDIAN ALLIKS.

Tlie assistance of \hv Indians was, tlierefore, a necessary
condition of her existence ; and so we (ind that Fiance
always mon; assiduonsly and more snciMissfidly cnlti-
vated llu'ir friendslii[>. Iler most powerfnl lever Avas
the missionar}'. Whilst this si)urner of ereatnre-com-
forts phiiiji^ed into the forest to follow the Indians in
their expeditions for the diase, for barter or for war,
.sharini^ their privations, assoeiating with their daily
life and their interests, the Protestant minister, lK)und
to eivili/ation by family ties, coidd not ex[)ose his loved
ones to the trials of sneh a life and to the contact of
those barbarians ; yet this was the best means of evangel-
izing them and nltimately of winning them to civiliza-
tion. We can readily nnderstand how, for the mission-
ary, tlie interests of religion were closely linked with
those of his nation, since his efforts l)ecame or might
become useless as soon as the territory passed into
English hands. It was, assuredly, very natural that
the missionary should preserve his love for France;
but Parkman, in viewing liim as too exclusively domi-
naied l)v this sentiment, does not realize the intimate
connection which the missionary saw between his
religion and his country.

Those vast and fertile regions that had no other
masters than a few savage tribes were coveted by both
nations, and had to be occupied as early as possible, so
that the rival nation might not step in beforehand.
However, there were no exact and definite titles to
legal jiossession accepted and recognized jis such ; much
stress must also be laid on the friendship of the Indians,
often an uncertain and easih'-broken bond, often threat-
ened by underhand seduction. Thus it happened that
there was no distinct line of demarcation beyond which

'>Ij*d

DKKiJS OK sham::.

honor coiild not siit'ely go. In l^uropc the most iii>in-
nificiint lU'tions wt'ic (h)nt! hcl'oii! tlic eyes ol" all, Ikhmm-
was held in eheclc by |)ul»lie opinion, ever sueh a
might}' power. Here, the blackest erinies frecjnently
were without echo, or were lost in the stditude of the
forest. We need not, then, be siirpiised that rival
interests should have proni[)ted many acts of duplicity,
and that both nations are responsible I'oi- deeds the
memory of which may well make them blush. Indul-
gence is, thei'efore, o[)portune ; still, there are misdeeds
80 blameworthy that history cannot ignore them ; and,
if such blame is deserved by France, it applies pai-
tieularly, I believe, to lu;r conduct in this part of
the country, and at the very period upon which we are
entering.

The eight years' peace, from 1748 to 1750, in America,
was nothing but a series of continued liostiliti<;s, getting
worse each year. Macau lay says : " The peace was,
as legards Europe, but a truce ; it was not even a truce
in other (piarters of the globe."

Cornwallis's proclamation, ordering tl»e Acadians to
take an uiuestricted oath, was, for Acadia, the cause or
the pretext, at first, of secret hostilities, and ultimately
of o[)en war.

The enmity of tlie Indians for the Englisli liad always
been carefully fostered ; it was the counterpoise which
equalized the advantages of the two nations in this i)art
of the continent. We shall presently see, as I'arkman
rightly says, that nothing was neglected by the French
to urge them to hostilities, whether with a view to dis-
courage the colonists introduced by Cornwallis or to
force the Acadians to cross the frontier. A few days
after this proclamation, De la Jonquiere wrote to the

^i'ifr

i#f 'i ^

i»

i'lt

290

rSIN(} THK INDIANS.

Minister of Colonies tluit Cornwallis, on liis arrival, had
issued a proclamation rec^uiring from the Aeadians an
unrestricted oatli ; that this proclamation Imd tilled them
with alarm ; and that he liimself had given instructions
to Captain de Roishdbert to favor their departure. Tie
informed liim of tlie conferences he had liad with the
Indians :

" I dill not care to give them any advice upon the matter, and
(confined myself to a 2»'oiniNc that I uumld on tto acvoimt (tbamloa
tln'ui ; and 1 h<tre provided for mipplijiny thvm with I'verythinij ,
whether {irnis. anununition or other necessaries. It is to 1m' de-
sired that these savages should succeed in thicartiny the desiyns of
the EiKjIixii, (iiid eren their settlement at Halifax. They are bent
on doiiKj so ; and if they can carry out their plans, it is certain
that they will give the English great trouhle, and so harass them
that they will he a great obstacle in their path. Tiiese Saraijes are
to aet (done ; neither soldier nor French inhabitant is to join them;
ei'erything will be done of their oini motion, and without showing
that I had any knowledge of the matter. This is very es.^sntial;
therefore. I have written to the Sieur de Boishebert to observe
great prudence in his measures. a)id to aet very secretly, in onler
that the English may not perceive that we are proi'idi nij for the
needs of the said Savages. It will be the missionaries n-ho will
vianarje all the negotiations, and direct the movements of the SaV'
ages, who are in c.i'cellent Inntds, as Father Germain and Abl)e Le
Loutre are very capable of making the most of them, and using
them to the gradcst advantage for our i)dcrests. They will man-
age their intrigue in such a way as not to api^ear in it."

He went on to say that he hoped thus to prevent the
English from making any new settlement, to remove
the Aeadians from them, and to discourage them by con-
tinual attacks of Indians, so as to make them give up
their pretensions to the territories of the King of
France.

Nothing can he clearer. De la Jonquiere's sugges-
tions, it appears, were ap[)roved by the French govern-

I i

rsiNT, THK INDIANS.

2l»l

ment. This iipproviil is lH)th contemptible and iiioxcu-
sable. This (locHiim.'iit is a stigma on France's lionor,
and is dttnbly so, as it directly involves tlie Home
Autlioritics. True, hostilities liad been connnitted-
shortly before in these parts by the English on the
Krencdi and Indians; it would be no easy matter to
ascertain satisfactorilv which side was the lirst airirressor
and on whom the l)lame, or most of it, rests; yet, as
this letter shows that peacre might have l)een restored
without these insti<;ations, France's truilt cannot be ex-
cuseil nor diminished to an}- great extent. The same
reprobation may be applied, though with less force, to
the participation of Le Loutre and (Jermain ; history is
justified in charging them with the vexations and atroc-
ities committed by the Indians on the colonists oi
Halifax. However, in all fairness, I must once more-
direct attention to the fact that Fathers Germain and Le
Loutre were missionaries among the Indians of Frencli
Acadia (New Brunswick), and not among those of the
Peninsula (Nova Scotia).

I have already mentioned how Le Lotitre failed to
make the Acadians of Grand \*v6 and of all the Klines
Basin emigrate ; I have also indicated the moans he
used toward those who dwelt at Beaubassin near the
frontier. For fuller details as to these latter, I will
quote Parkman, not because of the absolute .accurac}- of
liis facts, for liis information is mainly derived from tlie
questionable sources examined in the previous chapter,
but because, in the absence of all other information, his
account may be received as containing a substratum of
truth, now that the reader is in a position to estimate
the value of his authorities.

At page 116 of his work, " Montcalm and Wolfe,'*

,.|:

:•"■■■ j»f

[•.T

298

HL'KXINCS llnrsKS.

I'lukniiiii Siiys : '• ResolvcMl that tlie peopK; of Ii«.';ni-
biissiii slioiilil not live under Knglisli iiitliu'ncr, he
Loutre with his own hand (?) st;t tin' t«) the paiisli
cliurch and this conipelh'd the Acadians to cross to the
Frencli side of the river.*'

Speaking of the inliahitantsof Coheijnid (now Truro),
he says : '• 'I'hi'V began to move their baggage only
wlieu tlie savages eonipeUed thenu"

When Lawrence lan«h'd witli his men to found Fort
Lawrence on the frontier, then; still remained, in the
iieif;hl)orhood of iJeauhassin village, which ha<l l)een de-
stroyed some months before, an«l, on the Knglish side,
quite a luunber of houses an«l barns that had not been
burned. " Le I^outre's Indians," says Parkman, " now
threatened to plunder and kill the inhabitants if tliey
did not take aims against the Knglish. Few complied,
and the greater {>art tied to the woods. On this the
Indians and their Acadian allies set the houses and
barns on tire, and laid waste the Avhole district, leaving
the inhabitants no choice but to seek food and shelter
with the French."

At jiage 120 Parkman says: " Le Lontre, fearing that
they would return to their lands and submit to the
English, sent some of them to isle St. Jean. They re-
fused to go, but he compelled them at last, by threaten-
ing the Indians to pillage them, carrying off their
wives and children, and even kill them before their
eyes (?) "

After making allowances for the exaggerations of
details, I am not far from believing that these events
really occurred pretty nearly as they are descril)ed. It
must be said, however, in extenuation of Le Loutre's
conduct, that he acted on the luiderstanding that the

LV: LOrritK IlKIMtlMANDKD.

Aciuliiins would In* tnlly iiMlumiiilicd lor nil tlu'ir
losses, and, if thesi' promises were piirtiiilly fnistriit(.'(l,
tln' fault lies at the door of Inteiidaiit Hiijot, Vendor
and tlH;ir acconiplicies. who kept, foi' their own iM'iielil,
the funds set apart for the relief of the Aeadian ref-
ugees.

Men who, like l^e i^outre, allow themselves to he
carried awa\' hv reliiiious fanaticism, almost alwavs he-
come dangerous as soon as they (piit thc^ s[»hei'e of re-
liction to come <lown into the aiena of worldly eonfliets.
He should have ceased pesterinf^ tlu; Acadians to move,
.'18 soon as he met with decided resistance on their [)art;
and, sinc(> he was so vij^orously o[»posed hy those who
lived near the frontier, he had nothini( to hoi)e for from
those whos(! remoteness placed them heyond his reach.
His machinations coidd oidy serve to agi,'ravate a situa-
tion that was ali'cady painful enough. Although the
Acadians, as we shall see, never did anything that could
justify either their deportation or any severity even re-
motely comparal)le to that, yet, when they weigh all the
causes of their exile, they cannot shut their eyes to the
unforgotteu fact that the conduct of France toward
them was impolitic, selfish and cruel, that it (piickened
latent })rejudices and antipathy against them, aiul paved
the way for the misfortunes that ensued. And here, as
Parkman, in quoting I'ichon, states facts of a puhlie
nature, which could not he altogether unknown to the
Halifax authorities, and which are partly sustained hy,
or in line with, De la Jonquiere's lettei-, I would find no
fault, provided he had given out the name of his author-
ity, objectionahle though it he.

The following letter of the Bishop of Quebec to Le
Loutre shows what the prelate thought of his behavior:

■ y

IK; h^

hWi

:')0()

LK LOl TKK UKrillMANDKD.

" Yoti have nt last, my cloar sir, Kot into tho very troul>lt> whiolj
I foresaw, and which I predicted lonj; a^o.

"The refnfjees could not fail to K«'t into misery sooner or later,
and to charge you with l>ein^; the cause of their misfortunes. Tin;
Court thou(;ht it necessary to facilitate their departure from tlieir
lands, hut it is not tlie concern of our jtrofi'ssioii. It was my
opinion that we should neither say anything against the coursi;
pursued, nor anything to induce it. I reminded you a long time
ago, tiiat a jiriest ought not to meddle with temporal alTairs. and
tliat, if he did so. lu; would alwavs create enemies and cause his
people to he discontented.

" T am now persuaded that the (Jeneral and all France will not
approve of the return of the refugees to their lands, and the Kng-
lish Government must endeavcmr to attract them. . . Hut, is it
right for you to refuse the sacrainents, to threaten that they sliall
he deprived of the services of a priest, anil that the savages sliall
treat them a.s enemies V I wish them conscientiously to ahandon
the lands they possessed under English rule ; hut can it he said
that tiiev cannot conscientiouslv return to themV"

The above letter shows the vast difference hetweeii a
(listiiiguishecl prelate and a liery abhe of lie Loiitre's
stamp.

In the absence of clear docimientary evidence to prove
which side i)rovoked the hostilities, j)rior to De la Jon-
(piiere's letter, we have to giii<le ourselves by the cir-
ciinistances of the time, which show that the French
had every motive to hinder the English from colonizing
Nova Scotia, wliereas the latter were just as much inter-
ested, for the moment, in avoiding all .aggressions.

The first attack made by the Indians occurred August
19, 1749, about six weeks after Cornwallis's arrival at
Halifax. They captured twenty persons who were cut-
ting hay at Canso, and brought them as prisoners to
Louisburg, where they were freed on the intervention of
the French commandant : " The Indians pretend they
did this," says Cornwallis, "because a New England

.' IT

CANSn AN!) HKArnAHSiS ItAIDS.

:5<H

flll

man wlm ]iiul ijiiisonu'd his vossel of them for JtlOO,
aii<i left his son hostaj^'e, never returned to them, thoii<;h
Colonel llopson iidvaneed him the money. I have
written t*) Boston to iiavi; this examined and have the
master, one Kllingwood, taken up."

In Seittrndjer, Oornwallis again informs us, the In-
dians, under pretext of harter, attaeked two vessels at
Beauljassin ; three Knglislnuen and seven Indians were
killed. On the 30th of this same month, four men
who were working in a mill were killed by the Indians,
an«l another ma<l(! prisoner. The next day, the Council
of Halifax i)ass('d a resolution ordering all the com-
manders " to annoy, distrt^ss, and destroy the Indians
everywhere. That a [jremium of ten guineas he prom-
ised for every Indian killed or taken prisoner.""

While throwing most of the hlame on the French, I
think it only right to refer to the counter-accusations
consigned in the French archives or elsewhere. Invari-
ably the archives of one or the other nation contain
nothing but accusations against the ojjposing nation ;
so that history l>ased on the exclusive testimony of one
of them, as has been more especially the case for Acadia,
cannot but l>e altoijether one-sided and incorrect.

•• Evervbodv knows," wrote to the French Court the
Comte de Kaymond, commander at Louisburg, '• that,
since the year of the last peace (1748), there has hardly
been a month in which the English have not sent armed
corsairs to visit the coasts of this colony."

"Since the end of the year 1749," says he elsewhere,
"a date at which the Enijlish bci»'an to come in crowds
to Chilx»uctou (Halifax) to settle there, the French
have not Ijeen able to navigate in safety along the east
coast, and even in the neighborhood of the island of

Kii-

802

r'OMI'LAINTS OK TIIK IKKSrU.

Ciiiiso oil uct'ount f)t' tli(^ fr('<iiuMit tlirt'iits iiikI.'

tlicic. Tluiy liavi! (•(uitimiud to ciiiduic! vcssfls of ;ill
kinds, to liiy luiiids on wliiitt'vcr tlicy coiilaiiH'd, and. ;it
tli(! sanu! tinu', to sci/.t! on tin* iiiaiincis (ln.'m.s(dvt'.s."'

'i'luf Conitc iU'. ({ayiiiotid supported tlu'st; acciisatiuiis
l)y a miniltcr ol" facts related with tlic most cijciinistiiii-
tial and precise (Kttails. lie niciitionod, ainon<jf other
things, that the ICii'dish had seized, in this very vcur
174t>, in a port of ('a[)e Micton, thrt-e lM)ats toj^clhir
with tlieir crews, and had released them only after
tiikiiip; all the codlish the hoats contained.

"They attacked and ca[)tnred Kreneh hoats ply int,'-
betwtH'ii ('a[»e lireton and Piince I'Mward Island, ill-
used the (Mews, laid hands on their cargoes and some-
times on their lK)ats."

On OctolMT 1(), 17'>0, a hri<j;^antino belonging to the
French navy, the Saint Frain,'ois, laden with the pro-
visions, clothing an<l arms destined to the French jiosts
of the St. John Hiver, was captnred and looted.

In the Left res et MSmoircn sitr le Cap Breton (^Picho)i)
we read :

"Towards the end of July, 1740, when tlie news of
the truce between the two crowns had not yet reached
New France, the Indians had taken some of the English
prisoners on the islai .d of Newfoundland ; but these
prisoners, having informed them of the truce signed the
previous year at Aix-ha-Chapelle, they believed them on
their mere word, treated them as brothel's, released them
from their lx)nds ; but, in spite of so much kind treatment,
these perfidious guests massacred, during the night,
twenty-five Indians, men and women."

" Towards the end of the month of December, 1744,"
says another document, " Mr. (lanon (?), commanding

COMPLAINTS (»F TIIK KUKNCII.

:5()3

a (IctjU'linicnt of Kn^'lisli troops . . . . I'ound, in Ji lonrly
])lnce, near Atiiiiipolis, two liiitsof Micuuu; Iiidiiins. In
those huts \vi;ie live woiihjii aiul tliit'o children, two of
tlie woiiUMi hoiiif,' pn'^iiiiiit ; hut, di'spiti; the feelings of
liuiuanity that such persons were likely to excite, tin;
Knglish not only plundered and hurned these huts, hut
also niassa(M'ed the live women and the thr(;e cliildreti.
It was (!V(^n found that the pregnant women liad heen

hsendiowe

^lled.

I hav(! no intention of (hawing a parallel hetween tlie
misdeeds of the two nations, ho as to decide which of
them deserves more hlame for the cruelty practisnl hy
th(! savages in the wars hetween the two n;'t;ons or in
those which they wag(Ml against tin; Indians. Owing to
tlie (!ireumstanccs of the Linu*, the historian nuist shut
his eyes, provided the authorities took reasonahle pains
to repress cruelty. A distinction must also he made
hetween the conduct of suhalt«!rns and that of sujxirior
oHicers. But the atrocious ciimes perp(!trated hy the
whites themselves against the Indians are inexcusahle,
and, in particidar, those which are traceahh; to the
authorities of Massachusetts against tlie Indians of
Maine far exceed all other atrocities committed (dse-
where, even those of the Indians themselves. I do not
think that the French ever were guilty of anything that
can remotely he compared to what I am ahout to relate.
These facts are told in the same way by many historians ;
but I take them from Ilannay, whom I have at hand :

" The Eastern Indians renewed the war in June, 10H9, by the
destruction of Dover. N. H., where Major Waldron and twenty-two
others were killed and twenty-nine taken captive. Waldn^n
richly deserved his fate, for more than twelve years before he had
been guilty of a base act of treachery towards the Indians, which

i^''^-*^!'

304

WALDRON AND CHURCH.

has doubtless since caused the spilling of much innocOi ' blood.
In 1676, Waldron, then commander of the militia at Dover, had
vuule peave with fonr hundred Indians, and they were encamped
near his liouse. Two companies of soldiei-s soon after arrived at
Dover, and by their aid Waldron contrived a sclieme to make the
Indians i)risoners. Ho proposed to the savages to liave a review
and sliam figlit after the English fashion, the militia and soldiers
t(j form one party and tlie Indians another. After manoeuvring
for some tinie, Waldron induced the Indians to fire the first volley,
and the instant tliis was done they were surrounded by the soldiers,
and tlie whole of them made prisoners. Some of them were set
at liberty, but over two hundred were taken to Boston, where
seven or eight were hanged and the rest sold into slavery. It
was to avenge this despicable act that Waldron was slain in 1689."

Again, page 238 :

" One hundred and fifty Penobscot Indians made an attack on
York in February, 1692. The place was surprised and all the inhab-
itants wlio wei'e unable to escape killed or captured. About
seventy-five were slain. Several aged wc>men and children were
released and allowed to go to the garrisoned liouses, to requite the
Englisli for si)aring tlie lives of some of the Indian women and
children at Pejepscot a year and a iialf before. This proves that
the savages were not wholly destitute of gratitude, and that they
had rather a nice sense of honor, for. it is worthy of note that at
Pejepscot Clun-cb did not spare all the scpiaws and children, but
onlj' the wives of two chiefs, their children and two or tlnee old
squaws. All the other Indian women and the children, of wliicli
there was a large number, this squaw-killer Church slew in cold
blood."

Elsewhere, again :

'• During tlie winter tlie English were guilty of an act of treacher-
ous folly, unpaiiilleleil aiiywliere. Stoiighton. Governor of Massa-
chusetts, sent a message to tlie Indians, telling them to bring in
their prisoners for exchange. They brought five English jn-isoners
to Pennuiuid for exchange. Captain Chubb persuaded them to
deliver them u)). i)romising to send to Boston at once for those
desired in return. A conference was proposed inside the Fort,
nine Indians and nine English only to be present without arms :

CllLni! KASLH.

:iO."i

the nine En<rlish liud pistols wmcealed in tiieir bosoms. Tliey wero
surroimdt'd hv a party of soldiers and all killed except two who
escaped. Three of the Indians were chiefs of great renown. It
is unnecessary to enlarge npon tiie character of this scandalous
transacti(jn. further than to observe that it was ;» crime not only
against the Indians, but also against the English settlers, who. in
the end. were the greatest sufferers by all such treacherous acts.
Such inexousahle crimes against faith and honesty as those of
Waldron and ('liul)b, made it impossible for the Indians t(j believe
that tlie Eiiglisli would kecj) any truce with them ; for those
instances of English treachery were told at the camp Hresof every
tribe from ( 'ai>e Breton to Lake Superior, and they were repaid
in kind in after vears."

'■'I'm

It will not be amiss to iiisei't heiu the ti'eiitnuMit oF
Fatliei' Kaslc, who had })eeii a uiissionaiv on the Kenne-
bec Hiver for forty years.

'• This Romanist," says Smith, * ■" was higldy accomplished, and
his life literally one long martyrdom. Being a correspondent and
frientl of the Governor of Cana<la, the English believ, d he might
be the instigator of liostilities of the Indians. Tlieir village was
taken by surprise ; Father Ralle, in hopes of diverting the atten-
tion of the enemy to himself and screen his beloved dock by liis
voluntary offering of his own life, fell together with seven Indians
who had rushed out to defend him with their bodies. "When the
pursuit had c(\ased, the Indians returned to find their missionary
dead at the foot of the village cross, his body perforated with balls,
his scalp taken, his skull broken with blows of hatchet, his mouth
filled with nuid. the bones of his legs l)roken and otherwise maii-
gl '(!. The death of Ralle caused greut rejoicings in Massachusetts,
ard when Harmon, who was senior in command, carried the
scalps of his victims to Boston (this string of bloody trophies in-
cluding the scalps of women and children and an aged priest), he
was received as if he had been some great general, fresh from the
field of victory. I

* Philip H. Smith: .\widiii— A Lust Chapter iu Aiiierictiu History, p. 119,
t This episode is related otherwise l)y Piiricman. I hav(> not tried to
jjetatthe most correct versiou ; I Kivo this one us I Hud it without voui'li-
ing for its exaotness. However, this is the version mlopted by all ttn- hi-*-
torians I have aeeu. Munlocli attrihutos these cnu-ltics and others of tlin
Huuio kind to tlve pfculi.if r."ti"ii^ nf tlic I'uritaus, •■ Wi- mii<t lit-ar iu

4.!|l

;J0(>

SCAIJ'S OK MEN AND WOMKN.

"A ceitain Captain Lovewell," says Hannay, "enm-
lous of Harmon's fame as a taker of scalps, and with
patriotism fired by the hiige bounty offered by Massa-
chusetts for that kind of aiticle, gathered a band (»f
volunteers and commenced scalp-hunting. They kiUcd
(»ne Indian for whose scalp the company received £100.
lie started next year witli forty men, surprised the
Indians whose scalps netted £1,000. In a subsequent
light he lost his own scalp, as did thirty-four of his
men."

These barbarities were not, as is clear, perpeti ated by
irresponsible individuals aciting on their own inipidse,
but by superior officers yielding to the stinuilus of a
government bount}'. In the war which had just come
to an end (1744-1748), this veiy government of Massa-
chusetts had offered a bounty of £100 for the sca][) of
each male Indian above twelve years of age, and of £;'iO
for the scalp of ctwh iroman or t'liihl. I am aware tliat,
in certain circumstances, the French also offered
bounties to the Indians for the scalps of their enemies,
but I have yet to learn of a single instance where this
bounty was applicable to either women or children ;
and — an essential difference — this hateful work, instead
of ])eing performed by whites, as was continually done
in Massachusetts, was left to the savages. Moreover,
during the last fifty years of the French regime in
America the manners of the Indians had become more
gentle, most probably thaidvs to the missionaries, so much
so. indeed, that the usual custom was to make prisoners
wlio weie afterwards released on ransom.

iiiiuil,"' says be, " that the doctrines of the New Englauil Puritiius at thiit
period were d(>e]ily tiujjred with ideas drawn from the aucieut Jewisli iii-^-
t<iry. in theOUlTcstament, whence they also drew theirmaxinis of repri.--nl<
uud retaliatiiiu."

«CALPS OF MKN AND WOMex.

" " "'^^^' "Jot

exasperation. Tl,e/ o, It, ' h'' '" ■" " •^'""- "' sL
™«ans of putting a sto. Ton! *^'" "'"' ""' ™'ly

"'■ «pAal. i„ kind 't IVr ""T "■'" '" "'»l>-« -«
«ve,y point of view; it wa, ", "'"' '''""*' ''"<»

^oi'ing .i,e wofk „" ; ^; :» '■'"'■«'• 'lela,ins and
""" ^^'"tc n,on should W f " ""'«'■ T'"' le^'»t

_^«'ge.s, by .sparing ,|,e liC„ , ""'^■'■"''""■'"'»''

"'e-'e Itulian, wSe as . .t ,""""''" ""'1 .l.ildren.

'■-venge;andneve ,^nl' ' - '" ^'"'•'"'^'' - '"

•"'■ 'l-r "ot re.speote .f ■', ""T' '"" " '

""ch ba,l«,.i,ies as "' "S't^^ml al«l,,ined fron,

Indians of New H.nn.svi kl'M;' ''"''"■ ^" "-
>)aki.s, Medoctete.s, con ,i „, » ■"'" '^ ^'•■"'■-'^S Al,,-
■"■•'« of Acadia, o,n;'t .,*■'''''''*'■ ""'■ ""■ ^'H-
"f kindred and friendthnT'^: """'" ''-^ '""^ l«>"<l.^
tl».'se tril,e« rankled for a io„t • "''""■'' ''""" '" """ "f
.•;- others as a pe.ona, v ^I ""f- .^ "'*' 'T^ "' ^»
" '" "ot to 1,0 ,vo„dero,l at if M /""'■""'='' ooi.ditioas
^''wa.s the tnortal c-ne,;':: If ^ KSf ^-'''^ «-

,.'1.

..■•;m\

m it

I l,*l

iif

ilii

^•i;

i]08

CLAIMING SCALl' IJOUNTV.

CHAPTF^R XVIII.

Treaty of ])eiK'f' concluiletl between the Englisii and tlie IndiaiiB of
Acadia during the autumn ol' 17.VJ — An infamous deed com-
tnitted by Conner and (xrace. two inhabitants of Halifax, puts
an end ti- the treaty — Revenge of the Indians — Captivity of
Antiiony Casteel. messenger of tlie Council — His journal — Mis-
takes of iiistorians with regard to these two incidents.

Wm-ycHKK it was that tliu Fieiicli were aslumied of
tlieir own coiiduet, or that thcv beoan to see it was iiii-
[)olitii'. or that they met with more apathy on the part
ol" the Indians than tlie}- had expected, or, perha[)s, for
all tliese motives together; at all events, we have every
reason to believe that they soon oavf up the odions
plans they had formed against the English settlements ;
this, at least, is the inference to l)e diawn from the
general trend of events.

In November. 175'2, the pr«;liminaries of a ti'ealy of
peace between the governor and the Micmac chiefs wtnt^
arrano-ed at Halifax. Thiee vears befoi-e, a similar
peace had heen signed with the Indians of the St. John
River, and until now this peace had not been broken.
However, this peace was so short that Le Loutre and the
French are almost invariably accused of liaving pre-
vented the treaty from being concluded. This might
be considered probable if we had not manifest evidence
of the contrary.

The act wliich gave rise to this accusation was the
following : In April, 1753, two inhabitants of Halifax,

AN ATROC'IOIS CIMME.

809

John Conner and Jpnies Grace, came before the council
and prese' ed seven Indian scalps for which they
i;lainied tl tisual bounty. They related how that, with
John Poor and Michael Hagarthy, they were wrecked
on the coast ; that their companions were killed and
scalped ; that, after several days of captivity, the}' took
advantage of the absence of the Indians to butcher the
wcnnan and the child tliat liad been left with them ; and
that, on the return of these Indians, they had fallen upon
them, killing and s('al[)ing them.

The tale was improbal)le. It was hard to ex[)lain
Avhy they had been left alone with a woman and a child,
and still more difticult to account for their rmt havinor
run away instead of waiting for the return of the In-
dians. This was, doubtless, the imj)ression produced on
the council, which ordered : " tliat John Conner and
.lames Grace do give security for their appeartince at
the next general court, in case au}^ complaint should be
biought against them by the Indians."

§■■- 'I I.I \m

iil

'' This is the substance of ilu'ir story," said the sur-
veyor Morris, afterward judge of the })rovince, writing
to Cornwallis, who was then in England ;" but, as the
Indians complained, a little aftei' tlie sailing of Conner's
schooner, that one exactly answering her description
put into Jedore, Avhere these Indians liad theii' stores,
and robbed them of forty barrels of provisions given
them by the Government, 'tis supposed that these n)en
might afterwards have been ap[)rehended by some of
this tribe whom they kilUMl as they describe.

" If this be the case, V/.v o twrt/ nti/inpj)i/ acnih)if at
this juncture, and time oidy can discover what its eon-
sequences will be. The chief's of every tribe in the

310

AN ATltOClOUS CUIME.

Peniiisula had sent in messages of friendship, and, 1
believe, ivonhl have ultfited articles of peace tliis spring,
if this acciihnl does not prevent them.'"

The Reverend Andrew Brown, who eonnnents on
Avhat Morris called an unhuppif nrrlifeiif, adds these
remarks :

•' Tims far Mr. Morris ; but the facts were still l)Ia«jker than he
8US|)ectt"tl. After having robbed the Indian store-hcjuses, Conner
and the crew of his unfortunate seh(K)ner were obliged to encounter
th«' ftiry of the deej). They suffered shipwriH-k : the two survi-
vors. I'onner and (trace, were foinid by the Indians drenched
with water anti destitute of everything, were taken home, cher-
ishe<l, and kindly entertained, yet watched their opportunity,
and to procure the jnice of scalps, mm-dered their benefactors,
and cime to Halifax to claim the wages of their atrocious deed.

••The Indians, as may well be supposed, were exasperated
beyond measure at this act of ingratitude and murder. (Revenge
boils keenly in their bosoms, and their teeth Avere set on edge.)
To procure innnediate retaliation tliey sent some of their warriors
to Halifax, to comi)lain of the difticulty tliey found to keep their
jH'ovisions safe during the fishing season, and to reipiest that the
Goveinor would send a small vessel to bring their fanulies and
their stores to Halifax. In compliance with this desire, the vessel
and crew mentioned in the Jom^nal of Anthony Ca.steel were
engaged, tho" several suspected from the fij'st that it was an
Indian feint to spill blooil.'"

The ruse the Indians had adopted foi- the sake of
revenge mot with comi)k'te success. A schoonei- was
put at their disposal inoider to bring back their families
to Halifax. The erew consisted of Anthony Casteel.
messenger of the council, of ('a[)tain Bannerman, of a
Ml'. Cleveland, and of four sailors. All were butchered
iind scalped except Casteel. How he was saved is ex-
I)lained minutely in the journal he kept, which, on his
return, was sworn to and transmitted by the Ciovernor
to the Secretary of State. It is a thrilling tale and

Ill

CASTKKLS NAItllATIVK,

311

was an

slutws tilt! Ikisc tiviiclit'iy of wliicli (\)inier and (Jnice
liad lx'»Mi guilty iigaiiist tlie Iiidiaiis.

C'a>itoel. after the luassaere ot" his companions, was
diaginreil fiouj .ledoie, not far from Halifax, to Bay
Veite. Near this plaee they reached a camp of almost
liv«' hundred Indians, who made a circle arountl him.
After deliherating on his fate, an old man, the father-in-
law of the chief wliose prisoner Casteel was. «leclared to
him that his life would he spared on paynient of a
ransom of three Ixundred fivn-s, •• We were on the
])oint of signing a lasting peace," said the old nuin : "• we
had for a long time abstained from any act of hostility
against your countrjnnen ; but now that the English
liave begun, we will not sto[). We had sheltered two
sliipwrecked men. who, the day before, had stolen most
of our provisions: they were almost lifeless: we had
l)roug]it them into oni- camp, wheie we fed and took
t'aie of them : we were soon to take them to Halifax
when, takino- advantage of our absence, they massacred
during the: night two men, three women and two chil-
(b'cn. one an infant at the breast. In retuiii for such a
deed our vengeance would not be satistied even if we
had kille<l as many English as their victims had hairs
on their heads. We have hitherto always spared
wt.iiicii when we could ; henceforth, we will not even
spare the infant in its mother's womb." Then he tore
up before Casteel the paper that bore the preliminaries
of the treaty.

These facts, Casteel goes on to say, weie conlirnied
b\ other pei-sons. The culpilts were Conner and (Irace,
who, some weeks l^fore, had brought to Halifax seven
scalps, for which they claimed the bounty.

The chief who held Casteel prisoner stoppeil at the

■ ■ • •]

ft'

£mT'

312

CASTKKLS NAKUATIVK.

liouse of an Atiuliau naiueil .Islcques Vigneau <lit Mau-
rice, Tliere lie met .some Indians and a Fiench oftitLT.
One ol" tliem asked liim wliat mnsom lie wanted IVn- lii>
juisoner. *• Three hundred //rrf;»," said Casteel's mas-
ter. " 1 will jifive them to you." said another Indian,
"my father was handed .at Boston." Me rushecl ai
CiWteel to stab him: l)ut the French officei", who had
In'en watchiuiT the Indian's movement, irave Castctl a
great shove that stretched him on his back and >:i.Vfd
him fi'om the blow. The sons of .fames Vigneau carried
him into a little room, where he swooned away. When
became to himself. Vigneau's wife offered him a gla<s
of wine and asked him if he was wounded, lb- said
no. She then went to a chest, opened it and tor»k fiom
it lifty pieces of six lir/wn forming the thi'ee bundre<l //'•/•'>•
of his lansom. Jacques Vigneau called Civsteers mis-
ter and counted out the money to him saying: "This
man belongs to me ; let none of you come here to
molest him, or I will break his bones." " I then
asked Vigneau," says Casteel, "if he would take my
note, he answei'cd no: that he believed I was an honest
man. but, if he was never to receive one farthing, that
should ))ot hinder him saviiii; the Eno-Hsh to the utmost
of his pow»!r. (!vcn to the last shirt on his back. The
next day Vigneau gave me a shirt, a few other articles,
a six-h'vrc!t piece, and we }).arted."

I have dwelt at some length upon these two incidents,
the Conner and (iiacc butchery and Casteel's advent-
uics, because all the historians that mention them point
to the murder of ( "asteers«companions as to au infamous
crime traceable to French instigation. Some of them,
litmally Ixdieving the declaration of ronner and Grace,
count this as another crime referable to the same source,

THK FKENTH rNJI'STLY ACCUSED.

nt8

althouj^h the eonipiiuions of these two ini.scieanls leally
perished wlien their vessel was wrecked.

l*ark)naii, as usual, must needs fall into the worst
possihle view against the French. It is amusing to see
with what a sagacious air of superior penetiation lie
strives to entangle the facts and cireumstances so as to
implicate the French. He harks back five years in orikr
U) weave a chain of circumstantial evidence that jus-
tifies liim in concluding, or in insinuating, tliat the
preliminaries of the treaty in the previous autuuni were
(mly a stratagem invented by the Freneli.

It is true that the Compiler lias not sununari/ed the
contents of Casteel's journal as satisfactorily as could
have been wished. However, there is enough in what
lie. has given, provided tlie sunnnary of Casteel's journal
l>e compared with Conner's declaration, to show that
tlie incidents of tlie one are connected with tliosc of the
other. There might still remain some unc«Mtaintv ;
but, if Parkman was in doubt, he ought either not to
have touched the matter or to have pushed his researcbes
farther. Instead of a cruel crime committed by Tndiiins
at the instigation of the Fiench, we thul an act of excus-
able hostility done by these Indians to avenge a shameful
crime committed against their tribe by Conner and
(irace.*

Though the responsibility of this deed rests (tuly on
two unimportant individuals and not on the govern-
ment, yet it is none the less certain that the peace,
which Avas about to l)e detinitively signed, was broken for
a long time to come on account of this crime, and that

.• ■»,,

* About this time, the cnw of a vosh(»I LailiuK from Boston liatl troacli-
erously killed, near Cajje Suble, two ludiau girls and an Indian boy, wlio
had been invited on board their ship.

^*''*k

ai4

THK (lOVKHNOR S STliANCK CONDUCT.

deeds of blood were the outcome of it, deeds that exits-
perated the autliorities and hugely contributed to shape
the unfortunate events that followed. It would seem
that the fioveinor's duty was, as soon as he had discov-
ered the atrocious conduct of Conner and Grace, to
confei' with the Indians, repudiate this crime, and give
them satisfaction in some way or other. Nothing of the
sort appears. Those haughty soldiers had too muoli
contempt for the savage to treat him as a human being.
We do not even hear of any i)unishment inflicted on
the monsters, Conner and rjrace. One thing I cannot
understand is the striui<.;c conduct of the Government
signing the preliminaries of a treaty of peace with the
Indians in the autumn, and yet keeping up, during the
ensuing wintei- and spring, the bounty on Indian scalps.

In a letter of .Inly 28rd, 17o8, the CJovernor, coni-
numicating to the Lords of Tiade the sworn deposition
of Casteel, mentions the facts of the ciise. This lettci-
is in the volume of the Archives; but the Compiler has
thought })roper to sui)prcss all that it contains on this
subject, just as lie has completely omitted another
letter of the 20tli relating to this affair. Whatever may
have been the Compiler's motives, his omissions have
had the effect of leaving the question somewhat mud-
dled ; hence it is that some historians have eluded it,
and others have fallen into an erroneous interpretation
of it.

Mistakes of this nature, shifting the crimes of one
parly on to the shoulders of another, are not calculated
to inspire confidence in history. The events related
above contain the key to an imjiortant situation. By
throwing on the Indians or the French the odium that
really belonged to English subjects, the entire sequence

MKItCILKSS OlM'ICKKS.

31i

"■'n

of fiut-i ill this ol>s«!iue epocli iKicomes very seriously
<list<»rtf(l. Iliid not Casteel escaped the fiite of his oom-
paiiions. or had he not kept a journal of his adventures,
\veslH»nhl never have been ahle to get at the truth of
this storv: for, even with his sworn deelaration Ix'fore
th«'in. men have found means to palm off as the truth
what is only a sl»ameless counterfeit. All liist(U-y. and
particuhnly the history of Acadia, is j)erforee honcy-

dnd with

ilar li

c-oniiH'H \vitn similar lies, whicU one writer passes (»n
to another, and which ultimately crystalli/.e into indis-
putahlc facts.

The most l)arl)arous have not always been the Indians.
It would be liard to tind any Indian misdeeds that (tan
l>e ••oinpaicd to the dui)lieity and atrocity f)f the crimes
attributed to Stoughton, Church, Waldron, Chubb, Love-
well and narmon. And these were not irresponsil)le
indivi<bials like (xraee Jind Conner; one of them was a
governor, another a colonel, a third a major, and the
three others captains. It may truly be said that the
j^oveiiiment ol" Massachusetts is resp()nsil)le for tlicse
Iiorrois. since it tolerated or enconiaiu'ed them l)y tenipt-
in<; l^uinties for scalps of Indian men. squaws and
children.

In stiikiiH'- contiast witli these colonial cruelties is the
Waring of the Home (ioveriimeiit toward the Indians.
Had its counsels been heeded manv misfortunes miijlit
have Ijcen averted. Such acts as I have just related
i-fiuld only ])erpetnate hatred and revenge. Twiee was
Coiinvallis lectured by the liOi'ds of Trade because he
wished to waofe against the Indians a merciless war :

■• As to your opinion of never hereafter niakinjr jieaee with the
Indians and of totally extirpating them, we cannot hut tliink that
as the prosecution of sucli a (h'sign must he attended « itii acts of

31fi

KN<J1.ISH VKKSrs KllKNCH MKTHoHS.

Kn-iit H<>v«'rity. it may prove full of (liin)r(>rouH constMim'iu'fs to tli*
Hafety of Hih Mii.j«'sty's other colonies u|K)n tiie continent, liy (ill-
inf< the niindH of the hordering IiuliiUiH witii ideiix of our cruehy
and inHtigating them to a dangerouH si)irit of resentment."

Ill a subsi!(|Hoiit loiter the liords of Trade, apparent Iv
(Injadiiig Cornwallis's iinpetiiositv, renewed the same
advice: " G(Mitler methods and offers of peace ha\t'
more frequently jH-evailed with the Indians than the
swonl."

'I'hese gentle methods do not seem to have been con-
genial to the Knglish national character ; ami, though
circumstances made it the evident interest of Kngiish-
mcn to adopt these methods, they seldom have Imjimi
able to count on the absolute lidelity of any Indian
tribe. One would think there lies, deep down in the
Anglo-Saxon, a rock-bed of roughness which the best
instruments of civilization catniot smooth, just as in the
(laul there lurks a mercurial substratum of levity which
no disasters can solidif3\ In spite of his defects, the
Frenchman was nnich the more successful with the
Indians; he honestly strove to makt; the lattci- forget
the <lift"er(Mice between the pale-face and the red-nun i.
whereas the Englishman ever sought to emphasi/.e his
own superiority. The former's first thought was, '• How
shall 1 win the Indian's heart?" The hitter's main
(juestion was, -r seems to have been, •' How shall I

make that d d redskin respect me?" and he i)ni-

ceede<l to enfoite this respect by a dignified demeanor,
if Ik; was well-bred, or by surliness, if he was a (ad.
This scornful bearing led to brutality, and brutality led
to that curions historical fact which Sir Charles Dilke
chronicles when he says that the Anglo-Saxon is the
only race that extcMininates the savage.

KN(iMSM VKI.'Srs I'ltKNTH M KIMHUlS.

-Wl

Soon iit'tiT llu' L'Vcnls recdrdt'd iiliuvi' it .st'ciiKMl likely
tliiit ;i I r(!iity of {)t'ii('(! wtmlcl Itc niiulo lM;twt'(.'ii tlio
Kiiglisli ;m(l the Miciiiiic fiidiiuis. ('aptain Ilussoy,
toimnaiKliny; at F<»rt Lawreiict', iiotilii'd Le Loutic to
bring with him, accoriUng to agiL't'ineiit, a dck-gation nl"
Indians to (confer about th».' pitdiininaritNS t)f a treaty.
Mo received theni, says Le lioutre, with such dischiiiifn!
haughtiness that tlie Indians, who liad taken the troubU?
to c(»ni(; from a h»ng distance, went baek greatly of-
fended. The negotiations were broken off. History is
full of similar incidents. What disasters might havo
been averted had the advice of the Lords of Trado
recommending gentle measures btieii followed ! S(tme-
thing of the same kind oeeurre<l about this time, when
General Braddo(;k undertook his disastrous expedition
to the Monongahela River. He received the Indians
with such contemptuous stiffness that they all abau«
doued him with the result we know.

318

CORN W ALUS IMFKOVES.

CH APTKU XIX.

Peaco-making — PrrcgiiiU' Tlionias Hopsoii succeeds Cornwallis in
1752 — His conciliatory spirit — lit' inspires great confidence iiiul
secures liapj)y results — Al'ler fifteen months his health obliges
hiiu to return to Kngland.

Lk l.oi'TUK.s t'ffoits to make tlio Aciulians emioiatc
were soon exhausted. He may have heeii disheartened
hy his I'aihire ; Jie may even liave eiiaiiged liis mind as
to tht; advisability of sueh a course ; btit probaoly whal
made liim give up was especially the way the English
tliwaited him.

On the other hand, there was no longer any talk at
Halifax of reciuiring the oath from the Acadians, who,
relvinur on the riohteousness of their elaim and on their
experience of the past, must have believed that this
silt;nce was e([uivalent to a definitive return to the old
state of affairs. This was a cruel illusion. Meanwhili',
however, ([uiet was restored everywhere ; so nuieh so,
imleed, that, from IToO to September, 1752, the dale of
Cornwallis's departure, hardly any mention is made of
the Acadians in the despatches of the governor or in the
<leliberations of the council. The most important refer-
ence to them is in a letter of Cornwallis to the Lords
of Trade in September, 1751 :

" There is a visible alteration in the behavior of the Acadians ;
they Iiave this year cultivated well their lands and have great
crops, a (juanlity of corn to dispose of over and above what will
serve their fauiilies ; this will be of great service to this settlement

AN KI:A «»K Hl'MANITy.

;n9

.it this <?ritical junctuii'. Hotli as to the Acadians and Indians,
it would be improp«?r to send the Germans into that part of the
country."'

Hitherto Coruwiillis luul sevei-al times .suggested tliat
l^rotestant eoloiiists should he phieed here and tliere
among the Aiuidiaus, "in order to remove theii- i)reju-
dices in favor of the Komish faith.'" Hut eaeh tii'M! the
Lords of 'I'iMd(i liad rejected his suggestion ; iiiid now
(V)i'iuvallis seemed won over to tlieir views. His atti-
tude! towards tlie Acadiaiis appeals to liave ncjtidily
altere(K In Septeud)er, IToO, lie liad applied foi' Icavtj
of al)seuc(;, suggesting Lawrenee as his suhstitut<' : and
yet we find Hop.son succeeding Cornwallis at the latter's
departni'e in 17")2. In 1 T^O r'ornwallis leaned to harsh
measuies, aiul in this polic\' Lawi'tnee was the man to
continue and improve vpou his predecessor. I'ndoul)t-
cdly, fi'om 17i)0 to Hiy'I, a great change had come over
Cornwallis; he S(!ems to have realized that he had
blundered, that harshness and stiffness raise uj) obsta^'les
instead of removing them. Had harshness hcen the
basis of his character, he nev(!r could havt; so mateiially
alteretl liis demeanoi'. Strongly indjiutd with inilitary
notions, having but an imperfect knowledge of the
special status of i]\(; people under his jurisdiction, he
had houestlv tlu igiit that it was wise to act as he did
on his nr ivai. lie had the rrood sense to turn back
from ih- evi'O!- oi" his ways. However, the consequences
of his ilrs: n.istake were too disastrous lO admit of
complete reparation; and, able and ^. ~ ^ - tliough lie
may have oeen at bottom, the change came too late for
a full development of his latent virtues.

Peregrine Thomas Ho])son. who succeeded Cornwallis,
had been commander-in-chief at ]y.»uisl)urtr« and. wlien

820

FfOTSOX, COPK, AND LK LOrTIti:.

this fortress was surrendered to France, after tlie tn-aty
of Aix-la-Chapelle, he, with the troops under his eoni-
uiaiul, joined Coi'uwallis at IJalifax. I venture to say
^ that TTopson shared with Mascarene the iionor of hein^
the most straightforward, huu)ane and conciliating of all
the governors of Acadia since the Ti'caty of Utecht.
His letters, orders and all his acts prove this assertion.
Though Cornwallis left him a legacy of trouhle, yet he
managed, in it very short time, to make peace with
every one. Despite an unfortunate event tliat hindered
liis liherty of action, he would probahly have reconciled
the Indians to {'English rule had not ill-health v wVIged
him to rifsififu after Hfteeu months of office.

His kitidly disposition led, only two months aftt' his
inauguration, to offers of peace from John Baptist Cope,
the great chief of the Micmacs. An uudei-standing was
arrived at, and some weeks latiM- a treaty of peace was
concluded and signed between Cope and the govern-
ment. Cope pledged himself to exert his influence to
persuade all the Indians of his nation to make a final
treaty the following spring.

Was this peaceful issue duo to the good reputation
Hopson had alread}' earned? Was this a bona fidt;
jdedge on the part of the Indians, and what share in it
should we attribute t(^ Le Loutre? For this John Bap-
tist (^ope was, r believe, chief of the Indians in Le
lioutre's mission. The; latter could not but be aware of
this step : and if he really v/ielded over the Indians the
powei' that is commonly attributed to him, this treaty,
whether feigned or sincere, must have been, at least in
part, his work. True, it was broken eight months later,
but the motive, viz., the infamous crime of Conner and
Grace, affords a full explanation of the rupture ; and for

HOPSON T'LEADS FOR THE ACADIAN'S.

:J-Jl

eight entire months tlie IniUans observed the treaty
faithfully. Now if, as seems probable, Le Loutre favored
this treaty, the question naturally presents itself, why
did he favor it? Tlie only reason I can see is the con-
fidence ins[)ired by llopsoii's noble character and the
sincerity of his dealings with the Acadians. This makes
the infereiu'e probable that, had there been no violence
nor arrogance on the part of Cornwallis, Le Loutre
■would have done nothing to force emigration upon the
Aca(hans or to stir up the Indians to hostilities. Per-
haps the very foundation of Fort Beaus^jour had no
other motive than resistance to the arbitrary proceed-
ings of C'oi'invallis.

C^n the 10th of Dccembei., 17')8, soon after the de-
parture of Cornwallis, Ilopson wrote to the Lords of
Trade :

"Ishoukl bo glad to have Your Lordships' opinion as early in
the spring as possible, concerning the oath I am to tender to the
Acadians. as directed by the 6Hth article of my instructions.

" Mr. Cornwallis can thoroughly inform Your Lordships hou^
difflculf, if not inqiossibh: it Diay be. to force niicIi (I thing itpoii
them, and what ill vonseqiienres niaij (dtend it. I believe he can
likewise ac(iuaint you that the inhabitants of Beaubassin — who
had taken it before with Genernl Philij)i)s'.s conditions — made it a
pretence to quit their allegiance and retire from their lands,
thougli it was not otlierwise offered to them than by issuing the
King's I'roclamation to that effect.

" As they api)ear to be much better disposed than they have
been, and ho|)e will still amend, and. in a long course of time.
l)econie less scrnpnlons, I beg to know from Your Lordsiiips in tlie
spring how far His ^Lajesty would approve my silence on this head
till a more coiirenient (}j)poytintit!i.

" Mr. Cornwallis can inform Your Lordshii)s //oi/- useful and nee-
essdt'if these people are to us, how impossible it is to do without
them, or to replace them even if ice had other settlers to ji^d in
their places ; and. at the same time, how obstinate they hav©
always been when the oath has been offered.
'21

■'/^n

•NVOHKIXCJS OF C'ONSCIENCK.

It appears evident by this letter that Cornwallis had
come round from his earliest impressions and shared
llopson's views as to the maimer of treatinj^- the Aca-
dians. How easy it is, on reading this letter, to iVcl
that we are in the presence of a man inwliom kiiidlimss,
gentleness, calnniess and reflection predominatf I lie
Jieither can nor will blame liis ijredecessor : yet he none
the less implies that there hasbeiMi l)lnnderiMo-, that time
and tact will be needed to bring back the spirit of tiust
so rudely shaken, and to do away with the urmp/fs
.iroused by exacting the oath. Xo stranger is he to the
•oc .,igs of the Acadians ; he lias put hiniself in their
pii.c , he seems to expeiience their own sentiments.
He has gone down into his own soul to listen there to
the canswer of his conscience, and has lieard his own
heart tell him that, were he in their place, he could not
easil}' make up his mind to bear arms for strangers
against his brothers, for enemies of his religion ayainst
liis co-religionists, for people whose language he does
not understand against those with whom lie lias familiar
intercourse ; hence he sees before him "a long course of
time " before their scruples can be effaced. That phrase.
" less scrupulous," shows that he has in very deed eon-
suited his conscience and his own feelings.

Cornwallis had perceived merely the material aspect
of their situation. He had thought that attachment to
their property was the great, the only motive of their
actions ; it had seemed clear to him that all that was
needed, to get the better of their sheer stubbornness, was
resohitely to place them face to face with the cruel
choice between abundance on the one hand and desti-
tution on the other. Rut, when he saw deputation aftei'
deputation unhesitatingly accepting destitution, begging

If i-'

NO KXCITEMKNT.

3-J3

for leavo to <le])ait, lio was (|uite upset; he could make
uotliing out of such conchict ; eitlierlie himself is really

mov
emotioi

or
1 a

lie wishes to mov<! them hy his words, but his

11 t

urns on tiie en

M'>}'

ment or the loss of their

goods: ''Your lands produce [^^rain and nourish eattle-
.suflicient for the whole eolony. It is you who would
liave had the advantatjes for a hmij; time. We llattcred
ourselves wo would make you the hap{)iest peo[)l(' in

le woi

Id.

II(

far-

lopson s vision was clearer ana more lar-reaeinng : ne
saw that conscientious motives threw all })urely material
interests into the shade, and therefore he implorrs the
Lords of Trade not to oI)li[,^e him to urge tlu; (jmistion
of the oath. "Mr. Coruwallis can inform you how use-
ful and neeessaiy these jieople are to us, how impossible
it is to do without them, etc., etc."

("ould such a description ap[»ly to a turbulent and
dangerous impulatiou, ripe for revolt? ("leaily not.
And yet the period we have just traversed has been more
atjfitated than that which is to follow and which imine-
diately precedes the deportation. We have reached
IToS, only two years before the terrible event. Ad-
visedly do I use the Avord "agitated," for I int(ind to
convince whoever is open to convi(;tioii, without hiding-
anything and without going beyond oilieial documents,
that nothing uiore serious than agitation occurred
throughout the whole extent of the peninsula. And
what did this agitation amount to? Merely peaceful
meetings of men who discussed the situation. simi)l(V
peasants wOio weighed the pros and cons to decide upoii
the alternative imposed to them. This agitation, if
indeed it deserves the name, lasted some months, at
most one year, the lirst of Cornwallis's governorship.

f: ..: I.
i '1i

324

KVION-IIANDKD .1 USTICK.

There is not tlie slightest sign tliat these meetings wcif
seditious or even noisy ; (luite the reverse. Wiien ilu-y
liiid decided to clioose the alternative of leaving tlic
countr3% they went directly to inform the (roverin)r and
to ask Ids permission. IJefore granting it, lie obliged
them to sow their fields; without a murmur they diil
so ; they sowed what they believed would be reaped li\
others; then tliey came l)ai;k for the promised ]»ernii>-
sion; again were they put off with wretched pretexts,
again did they return to their homes without a nuuimii
and remain perfectly quiet. In all this there is not the
vestige of a single act of insubordination or even of re-
sistance. And yet there were strong excuses for sedi-
tion. Seeing that they had been kept in the oountiy
against their will, that a com[)romise had been made
wi.l: them in 1730, they certaiidy had the right of eany-
ing off their movable goods, which was an important
consideration for them. To deprive them of this liglit
was to cast them from plenty into beggary. And yet.
without complaint, they yielded up this maiufest right.
Does not this submissiveness afford a safe standard bv
Avhich to judge of their dispositions and of their subse-
quent conduct?

Cornwallis had mapped out his plan of action before
hearing them ; lIo[)son had taken pains to see and lieai'
evervthint; and consider the motives on which their
claims were based. The following order, addressed to
the commanders of Forts Vieux Logis (Grand Pr<j, now
Horton), and Edward (Pigiguit, now Windsor) by Hop-
son, reveals the same kindly temper observed upon
above:

. " You are to look on the Acadiuns ;"/; the name light with the rent
of His Majesty's subjects, us to the protection of the laws and Gov-

imf

EVEN-HANDKI) .JUSTICE.

:52o

frnment, for which rcaaon nofhhig is to he takni from fhcjn hi/
force, or any price set upon their j^ootls but wliat they themselves
agree to ; aud, if at any time they sliould obstinately refuse to com-
jily with what His Majesty's service may require of them, i/oa
(ire not to I'edretis yourself by mil iUtry force, or in any unlawful
manner, but to lay the case before the Governor and wait his
orders thereon. You are to cause tlie following orders to be stuck
up in the most public part of the Ft)rt, both in English and
French.

" 1st. The provisions or any other commodities liat the Acadians
shall bring to the Fort to sell, are not to be taken from them at
anj' fixed price, but to be paid for according to a free agreement
made between them and th<! purchasers.

2d. No ofticer, ncjn-coinmissioned officer, or soldier, shall pre-
sume to insult or otherwise abuse any of the Acadians. who are
upon all occasions to be treated as His Majest\''s subjects, and to
whom tiie laws of the country are open, to protect as well as to
punish.

" At the season of laying in fuel for the Fort, you are to signify
to the Acadians bj' their deputies, that it is His Majesty's pleasure
they lay in the quantity of wood that you require, and when they
have complied, you are to give thenx certificates specifying wliat
quantity they have furnished, which will entitle them to payment
at Halifax."

P. T. HoPSON.

i';

This order was evidently intended io modify or com-
pletely cliiinge previons orders ; else it wonld have been
jnirposeless. It amounted to .saying: Hitherto the
Acadians liave not been on the same footing as the rest
of His Majesty's subjects; henceforth they »h<tll be.
You shall take nothing from them by force ; they shall
have, like others, the privilege of making bargains for
their produce ; and if you have reason to complain of
them, you siiall not employ force or any other illegal
means.

This order is just as eloquent a eulogy of Ho])son'.s
character as it is a powerful plea against Cornwallis.

iiiit;

WHAT THIS ()l!l»KI! IMI'LIKS.

Tims, to ill! apiJoaiaMci's, undiir tlui lattor's goveniiiKMit
the livatiiUMit of the Acadiaiis was oiii! tliiiij^ and tlial
(tf His Maj(\sty's oilier sul)jt'c;ls was <(iiitt; aiiotliei'. The
pettiest sei'j^eaiit could lay hands on Acadian produce,
and any resistance niiifht he punished as ho chose with-
out trial and without appea'. Whci one retK'('ts on the
tyranny insi-parahh; from a niilitaiy rule, even in our
day, a tyranny sonietinuis bearahle from supi'rior olli-
cers, but ever growintj less endui-able witli h'sser raid<,
one feels that the abuses of this power conunitted to
subalterns must surely have Ihhmi occasionally dt;[»lor-
able. Yet, save in ()ne instance under tlie ferocious
Lawrence, tlu're does not a{)pear in the entire volume of
the Archives a sint,'le case of recrimination on the part
of the Acadians.

Perhaps this ordcir may have been inspinid by the
Lords of Trade; but, as the Compiler does not publish
so much as one of their letters to Ilopson, we can only
indulge in conjecture. However, this dt»cunient is al-
together in keeping with what we know of Ilopson's
character.

On another occasion he; gives \is a new proof of his
excellent sentiments. Among the emigrants landed at
Halifax in the course of the autumn of 1752 were a
certain '"unber of decrepit old men and some orphans.
Hopsoii eom[)lained to the Lords of Trade against such
people being sent out to the colonies. In the course of
his letter he cannot refrain from pitying the woes of
these wretched beijigs : " I can assure you, my Lords,
that I thid this very shocking, for no mortal that has
the least humanity can do otiierwise than feel to the
very heart at the sight of such a scene of misery."

The character of Coruwallis does not stand out so

"M.

ACAIHANS THAIt INHIANS.

■vi:

clcuily; 111! iiiiiy Iiiivt; Im-cii iiificly IniULflily uikI iiii|ii;-
jioiis; but li(! hIkiws no siifiis of coniiiiiscriition. I lop-
son, on tho contiiiiy, ]H'ovrs lli;iL lit; Wiis not only lull
of c'cjuity and kindlintjss, hut iilso that hf had tlie jj;\h
of ex(|ui,site .sympathy. All his ac-ts mv. iini)rt!ssed with
the sauK! stani[); and so his administration, uiifortii-
jiatfly too short, was i'cjrtilc in ha[)|ty icjsults, and would
liave lujcn still hap[(i(;i', had it not hcon for th<.' dastardly
crlnu! of Conner and Grauo which levived liidian hos-
tilities for a tiuK!.

If Ids administration liad lasted sf)nHi ycsars, lie would,
most likely, liavt; won fi'om the Acadians, without any
show of foi(;(3, the unreserv(!<l oath i'iM|uir(!d of them.
II(! wrote, -lul}' 2.')r<l IT')-*, to the liOi'ds of Trade that
he was pi'ivatel}' informed that some Acadians who liad
Ictt ihcir lands had l)een delegated to confer about the
situation with their fellow-countrymen dwelling on
English territory;

■' That they went so fur as to hold consultations whetlKT they
slinulfl not tlirow tlicniselvcs under the protection of the Eufj^lish
(lovcrninent (tiid hccoinc siihjtvts to nil intents <inil ]tnrj)(>.s('.n ; hut
there arose ;i coi\sideriii)le ohje(rtion to tlu'ir taking this steji. which
was. tliat, (IS till'!/ livi'don farms nri/ rcinoti- frnni oiu' (luatln'r, a ml
ofvoHVsc are not capable i if resist i nij (niykinilofenenii/, the French
might send tlie Indians among them and distress them to such a
degree, that they iiumhl not he able to remain oh their farms."

Was Ilopson's infoirnation correct? Most probably,
for what he relates is iu full accordance witli the well-
known sentiments of the Acadians. No dou))t tla^y had
the greatest repugnant-e to the obligation of bearing
arms against the Fiench; but the danger of Indian hos-
tility was an equally imjwrtant matter, and recure in all
tlieir petitions whenever the question of the oath is
raised. Cornwallis and afterward Lawrence laughed at

328

HKALIZIN(} THE DANCEll.

lliis as at a foolish dread. Hut, as wu liave hcif tlicir
dt'libt'iatioiis ainoii^ tlu'iuselvt's, unknown to tin- au-
thoritios and fnjo from all outsidu pressure, it is easy to
see that this danger wius thoujifht by tlicm to be a seiious
one, sinee it alone stood in the way of their aceepting
the oath.

Wcndd they really liave been molested by tbo Indians
at the instigation of tlit; Fn-nch, if they liad taken the
oath? I cannot say ; howi'ver, I am inelincd to believe
they wouhl not. It was plainly in tlu; French interest
to perpetuate thc^ status of neutrality ; thi!y tried to
make the Acadians believe that they would be molested
by the Indians if they took the oath ; but, once that
oath had biu-omo an aeeomplisbed fact, I am convinced
tliat no hostility woubl have been manifested on the
part of the French or Indians until tbe Acadians should
actually liave bad to take up arms against either of
them. Fi'om that moment, however, they would have
been just as much expostid to the liostility of the In-
dians, just as much their enemies, as were the English
colonists, and tlien, as Ilopson says, "As they live on
farms very remote from one another, and of couise not
capable of resisting an}- kind of enemy," their position
Avould have been untenable. The Acadians, deliberat-
ing with a full sense of their grave interests at stake,
and Avitb long experience of tbe character of these In-
dians, must be considered the best judges of what was
likely to happen. Hopson seems to admit the force of
their reasons ; unlike Cornwallis and Lawrence, his
delicacy of feeling and sympatbetic nature enabled him
to enter into tbeir views.

Although there is nothing surprising in these delibera-
tions of the Acadians, there is something that rather de-

IIOMK, SWKKT IIOMK

829

tnwts from IIk; liciowt aspect \ve are wont to view tlit'in

111, since tlicy now wcic leiuly to sucn

\yU

ilicctl

icir sciitiinuiits

to their iiiiitcriiil iiitt!rests. However, the residm; of
viriue in tlietn is <iuite siilVuieiil toendear them to their

• k'se^'iulanls. 1 leroie sactriliees arc; ahovt; natun

U'Sl-

taiicy iM'fore makin<( them is tlierefnre not asttniishinj,'.
More than ;; centuiy had elapsed since their torefiithers
had opened out th(! country, several jjenerations hud sat

hv th

r>y the sanu; lu^aith. Whatever makes man, es[)eeially
the hushan(hnan, cherish lite, whatever is dear to simple
and hon(;st hearts, they saw thert; in Acadia. 1 1 was
their fatherland, tlie home of their ancestoix, all the
dearer to them heeause theyhiid founded and (U'eated it.
Each hill and dale, eacdi glim[)se of smiiinj^ landscai)o
was sparklinj^ with sweet nuunories. Tliosi; luxuriant
meadows that fed their imuKMise herds had heen wrested
frrun tlie sea hy theii* own [)atient and painful toil. That
eliineh wliither they (!ame to kneel each Sunday had
witnessed the only imjiortant events of their sim[)le and
l»eacefnl lives. That j,'raveyard held the remains of
tlieir kindred, and told iu its inscriptions the story of
those wlio had j^one l)efore. How their hearts must
liave 1)een wrung at tlu; mere thou<,dit of ,t^<»ing away !
rioing! Why, that meant hi dding an everlasting fare-
well to liome and country, to all the}' had and all they
k»ved, quitting ease and plenty, the joys of the dear old
fireside, for exile, separation and penury.

Dear were the homes where tliey wer' '■'i,rv,,
Where slei>t their honored deail ;
And rich and wide, on every side
Their fruitful acres spread.

On the 12th of Septemher, 17o3, Hopson read to his-
counc"! the following petition :

35iO

I'KTITIONS.

" Tlii> inlialti(;iiilH()f (Jniml I'lv, Kivcr( 'aiiiinl. I'i^'iKnit, t'tc, ctf..
«'lc., taki- the lil)«Tty <il" pri-st'iitiiiK tlicir very luiiiil)lf |M'titi<iii tn
Y'diir Kxccllcrwy, hcj^'niiiK yoii to rcinovt' the (lilliiiilly w lii<|i
presents itsell' witli respect to the missiniijiries wliu came here, hy

exeiiipliiiK them from the oath of allej^iaiicc uhici jiiireil of

them.

•• We ho|)e, sir, that Your Kxcelleiicy will he 1<intl eiioiiuli to
Kraiil that favor, inasmuch as, wiieii we idok ihe oath of .\lle;;i-
unce to His liritaniiic Majesty, we took it only on condition that
We shoulil he allowed the free exercise of oui' reiij^ion, and a suf-
ficient numl)er of ministers to jierfomi tiie services.

" It appears, sir, tliat we would he deprived of this last article,
if the (<o\ernment wei'e to force them to take this oath, hecause
the missionaries would certainly not remain amoii^ us on terms
which they caimot afjjrec to; wi- should therefore s«'e ourselves
deprived of the main jtoint j^ranted to us.

" Morettver, sir, when we suhmitted on the terms by which the
practice of our relif;ion is granted to us, it was hy no means speci-
lied that our missionaries should be oblig(>(l to take this oath.
That is ])roved by the two missionaries who wi>re present when we
took the oath, and who were also entrusteti with our irs, with-
out its being thought necessary to exact of them v • now re-
(piireil of them. Notwithstanding all the exjjense Have in-
curred in endeavoring to get them at Louishurg and even at
Quebec, the dilHculty of this oath prevents them from settling
amongst us."

llop.soii gniiited tliis request on cniidiiicjii tliat tlie
pricst.s would confonu to what Ava.s ro(Hiired of tlieui in
tlio n'cculatioiis. It wa.s Cornwallis who had, on tlie
31st of July, 174!), issued an order obliging the priests
to take the oatli of allegiance. Here again Jlopson
gives a new proof of his liberality.

On the 27th of the same September another petition
was presented to him by those Acadians who had crossed
the frontier three years before :

'* We. the inhabitants formerly settled at Beaubassin and vicinity,
beg to inform you that the reason which causeil lis to leave our
property was the new oath which His Excellency M. Cornwallis

EliH

I'KTITIONW.

wished til cxMcl I'l'mn lis, dcsiriiin l<> Im-iiU iiml revoke tlie mie
Knmli'd t<i ns lieluie. Hiivin^' leninl siiiee nur ile|iiirtiiie. tliai if
we were willing to retiiiM, we should liiive Ihi same liiMUs Hint
werr' ;;raiiled lo lis l(iriiierly, we iire ready to lu-eept it under these
conditiiiiis. It is iiM|iossiltle tor us to si^ii any other i atli "// ffc-
coiiiif of llii' /*/'//(( ;/.v. as we liave slaleii on several .leeasioiis to
His Kxcellencv M. ('ornwailis. //' In' hml kiinini hrltrr oiir cir-
(•lUiixtoiici'x he ii'iiiihl Iniri' son lluif it irns iiiiii(tsnihli' for its lo siijn
(llijl iiflnr thilii Unit ii'lilrli irr Itiiri' siiliiiil.

•' We liope that these articles will lie ;;ratiled to us liy \i)\\r lv\-
rclleiicy. '/;/(/ iTiti rdti'lirtf />// tlir ('i)iiit of KiHjhniil, no thai lliosf
irlio nun/ siK'ci'i'd )'oiir E.vccUnivji slnill not tnokf IIk' iirt'lc.rt tlicf
Jlis K.rci'llincn M. ( 'oviiu'itlliH ukkIc in sdjiiim tintt M. I'hilipiis
liitil no (iiilhoritji from the Court of Eiujlnnil for titc lutth which hv
(irnnliil ns.

"These heiiiK K'"''i"ted, we shall feel ((iiistraiiied to continue,
and even increase? our prayt'r i'or Yuur Excellency's health and
prosperity. "

This i)ro))o,su(l rotiiiii of tlio volimtury oxilos Wiis
{iiiotlicr liJippy result (jf tlio ^mnd r(.'j)titiitioii IIopsoii
had so soon oiiniod. lie gfiiiited all llicir nMiuosts
exce})! that which ])()ic on a restriction to the oath, for
lie ]iad not then the necessary authority for making this
concession.

It is woi'th notinif that tlie petitioners, thougli ahva^-s
respectful, yet, lieing safe from restraint Ix'yond the fron-
tier, freely stigmatize its a pretext Coriiwallis's j)roceed-
ings towards them when revoking the agreement entered
into witli Philipps. The statement was true, but they
would not have dared to express it in tliis way had they
still been under English rule. Now, if their pro[)osition
was accepted, they wanted to be shown an express rati-
fication from His Majesty.

Hcj-e ends Tlopson's career as Governor of Acadia.
Ill, and perhaps disgusted with the part he had to play,
he set sail for England, leaving the temporary adminis-

V::'d

882

PETITIONS.

tiation of the province to Lawrence, his first coun-
cillor. Hopsou carried away with him the esteem ami
the confidence of every one, after fifteen months of a
firm and energetic administration, tempered by a spirit
of justice and conciliation the like of which no other
governor but Altuscareiie had showu.

HOPSOK S SUCCESS.

333

CHAPTER XX.

General Considerations — England and Finance.

It is painful to take leave of so worthy a man as
Hopson, endowed with all the gifts tliat were called for
by the perplexiiig condition of the province. He had
governed it but one year and a quarter. In that short
space, without violent orders, without threats, without
apparent effort, by the mere t)ersuasiveness of his kindly
character and gentle ways, he liad so far restojed confi-
dence as to induce the Acadians, of their own accord, to
consider the question of an unrestricted oath. Had it
not been for the dread of Indian hostility, the problem
was in a fair way of solution. Those Acadians who
had crossed the frontier, learning of tlio Governor's
favorable dispositions, asked leave to return to their
farms.

During these fifteen months, in spite of Indian hos-
tility aroused by an untimely crime, for which the
Governor was in no way responsible, the greatest tran-
quillity reigned in the Acadian setth^nents ; no sign of
discontent, no act of insubordination is mentioned any-
where. Is this not a fresh proof of the mild and peace-
able character of the Acadians? A little kindness,
some consideration for their difficult position, care not
to alarm them by arbitrary or violent measures, whicli
might make them fear interference with the free exer-
cise of their religion : this was all, and yet this — if sup-

h^a

384

PEHSONAL GOVEUNMKNT.

plenieuted by protection against huliau attacks — was
enoiiyli to win from the Acadians the desijed coiisfiit.

This fact also proves to a demonstration that the luiids
of small absolute governments are alone responsible' for
the good or evil conduct of their subjects. 'J'lieiefoie
it is strange that tlie majority of thn.e Avhohave wriueu
about this period of Acadian history have laid no stress
at all on the respective characters of the various gov-
ernors. Surely tliis point was here ore than in most
countries, essential to a clear underN .ndingof thefaeis.
In a representative and responsiljle commonweahh it
might have l)een overlooked as of slight importiuu.e ;
but here was an absolute ruler, and what is more a sol-
dier, whose will was law, whose wishes were commands.
In such small despotic goveriunents good rulers make
good subjects, l^et the governor be kind, humane, just,
careful of the interests of all ; peace and contentment
will flow from liim as naturally as water from a spring.
Let him be haughty, arbitrary or cruel; mistrust, discord,
uprisings perhaps, will be just as certain to follow. The
mass of the people will have remained the same ; the
governoi-s only have changed. So true is this that the
Home Office might have said to each of these governors :
" Your administration lias been marked by nnich trouble
and dissatisfaction ; therefore you have ruled unwisely ; "'
or, " During your governorship there have been no
complaints, no unrest; therefore you have been a wise
ruler."

The first thing, then, is to study the character of the
governors. When this has once been carefully done, it
is easy to pass judgment on the various events of their
administration. Those who are unable or too careless
to undertake this critical examination should refiaiu

:■;, :-^M

PERSONAL GOVERNMENT.

from writing history. Though sometimes difficult, and
especially so here, this inquiry is, nevertheless, possible,
even without any other assistance than that supplied in
the official documents.

We cainiot expect that an autocratic governor, when
writing to his superiors, will make a clean breast of all he
does and of alibis plans. Far from it. He has every in-
centive to show liimself in the best light, to omit facts that
tell seriously against himself, to defend himself against
all comers, to throw the blame on all who thwart his de-
signs or interfere with liis tastes aiul caprices. And
yet the attentive observer will almost always detect,
either in the details or in the general tone of bis cor-
respondence, something that will reveal the undercur-
rent of his character and his secret motives.

Other historians of this period give us little or no in-
sight into the character of the governors. They pass
from Armstrong to Mascarene, from Mascarene to Corn-
wallis, from Cornwallis to Hopson, from Hopson to
Lawrence, as if tliere had occurred no material change,
as if they were talking of an impersonal being, devoid
of passions, interests, caprices, prejudices and defects.
Yet, what a fathomless abyss yawns between a restless,
whimsical spirit, like that of the ill-balanced Armstrong,
by turns benevolent and tyrannical, and ^Mascarene, the
cultured quiet gentleman, too particular perhaps on oc-
casion, but ever paternal, firm and kind ! Again, what
a striking contrast between Hopson, so upright, so con-
ciliatory, so humane, and Lawrence so false, so despotic,
so cruel !

After carefully weighing the whole matter, and with-
out taking into account the possible adverse action of
Hopson's successors, I feel convinced that the latter.

'■,.1

\,r 'v}

it;..

||j,..:^ft6»|||

336

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN.

in a few years, thanks to his kindliness, would have ol>
tained from the Aoadians an unrestricted oath. Their
attachment to France was no douht great, hut not great
enough to have heen the sole motive, as Parkman and
other writers make it, of their refusal. Indeed, tlio
Aeadians did not object to remain liritish subjects.
What is more, I do not hesitate to say that, if the re-
striction to the oath liad been maintained, if furthei'
grants of land had been made to them in proportion t<»
the growth of their population and to their needs, if
they liad had no cause to dread any interference with
the free exercise of their religion, they would probably
liave preferred to see Acadia i-emain an English posses-
sion in order that they might enjoy their neutrality.
So long as the restriction subsisted, they were under the
protection of a contract that ga^.-e tliem the undoubted
right to leave the province if the stipulations of tliat
contract were violated. To take an uiu-estricted oatli
was to forfeit this right. This they must have realized.

To l)ear arms against the French was a thing they had
a horror of. It seemed to them a monstrous crime
against nature. Yet, such was their situation, so badly
had they been treated by them, that they would perhaps,
at this time, have sacrificed this question of sentiment,
with the vague hope that they would never be actually
culled upon to fight the French. But, what they never
would have sacrificed — and this was the most delicate
question of all — was tlieir religion, which they thought
threatened and exjjosed to cureless ills by the rescinding
of their neutrality contract, as it was indeed menaced
by projects of Avhich they had heard.

Never was a people in such a desperately critical
situation. Both French and English were too busy with

NAL(;HT lUT THK MUJHT OF MIGHT

•)-j»

the I'OiniiiiJ' coiiflift to take serious thous'lil- of Aciuliiiii
seiitiment or it» pity the woes of Aciidia. Tliis |)eo[»le,
with its s[)irit of obedience, liiid iioshiehl but the might
of virr]it. They were eh;arly free eitlier to go if they
refusiMl the i)roposals of England or to aeeejjt tlieni and
remain. They iirlUissly thounht that justice would
liniilly ])i'evail. The l)oi(l intriguer wlio suci-etMUnl

II(

opsdii was aliout cruelly to undeceive them

the A cadi

had of

As to tli(! lusurniouutahle norroi' tiie Acadians nad oi
heariiiL;' arms against the Freneli, w(! Friuu-h Canadians
and Acadians bv descent can thoroughly understand it
an«l speak of it knowingly ; for we need only analyze
oui' own fceliii<js.

We esteem KuLjlaud and Ihu- institutions the blessins's
of which we enjoy ; we admire her creative genius, lier
civilization, the wisdom of hei' statesuuiu, her far-seeiiig
])lans and the tenacity with which she carries tliem out.
We have served her faithfully ; we an; willing to do so
again. We have had more liberty than Freiudi rule
would have gianted us. We are satisfied; our lot is
just about what we should liave chosen ourselves. Ami
yet, after 130 years of separation, we still love France
as we did in 1763. Is ours an ('xce[)tional case, or
woulil Eufjlishmen feel as we do if tliev were in our
place? iruman nature is pretty nearly the same every-
where, lint the(piestion is not practical. since England
— however the fact may lu; ex[)lained — has always man-
aged to kee[) her eomjuests. and above all she has never
been forced to abandon her children to the enemy.

Our love for France seems to stirpriseour English fel-

low-eountrymen. They seem to think love of country

is a chattel that can be transferred by order from place

to place on a given date. Is this thoughtlessnesvS or
22

iia«

LOVK von FllA^UE.

narrowness of mind ? Does it arise from the fact that
Englishmen have never had any personal experience n\'
a situation like ours ? Or are they less sensitive to thu
finer feelings ?

Suppose, for a moment, that the Province of Quebec
became once more a colony of France. Ask the Englisii
residing in Quebec if they would not feel scruples and
iV an insurmouutal)le horror at the thouij^ht of liiihtinLi- for
■/ France against England, against Ontario, even after a
century of allegiance to France with the greatest pos-
sible freedom. Their answer admits of no doubt; l)ut,
whatever it might be, this is our view: nothing could
induce us to fight against France on foreign battlefields ;
and if the refusal to do so were to entail upon us what
the Acadians suffered, our hesitancy would Ijc short,
with tliis difference, however, that we would meet iowv
Avith force. Cold-blooded leusoning hits no place here ;
we are not free to change the feelings whidi are in-
U'rained in our nature. Should Knolislimen act diffe!-
ently in similar circumstances, tlie inference would be
tliat their nature is diametrically opposed to ours.

It is a matter of common ol)servation that a French-
man is swayed more by sentiment tlian by self-interest ;
that an Englishman, on the contrary, 2)liU'es .self-interest
alongside, and sometimes above sentiment. Some think
this distinction is merely a difference of degrees and
shades, not of natures. But may not the divergence be
radical ?

When the United States revolted against the mother
country, the Acadians, unable to understand such cimi-
duct, never called that struggle by any other name than
the mad war. Still, .the Americans, struggling for tlieir
money interests, were iighting for a principle ; whereas

THE IMMIGRANT AND THK NATIVK.

):J9

the Acadians could have invoked no i)iini:iple t(» justify
tlieir taking np arms against Fiance.

An important distinction must Lo drawn hclwceu the
immigrant and the man tluit claims the couiiiiv he dwells
in as the home of his forefathers. The immigrant's oIh
ject is business ; unwittingly, perhaps, lie has made U[>
his mind beforehand to become, to all intents and [im-
poses, a citi/.eii of his new countiy. His children, if not
himself, will claim hardly any other country than this
ni!W land of theirs. The native, on the other hand, is
still more iirmly rooted to the soil. His attitude to-
wards the immigrant must be carefully eonsidercd. His
traits of chaiacter, his customs, traditions, lanouaye, are
all dear to him ; he means to eling to tlicm as long as
possible, he ho[)es, forever. His eye is on the innni-
grant, who may easily excite his siisjiicirns. If he finds
out that the newcomer wants to dislodge him, he will
never forget it ; he Avill ever attribute to him the same
purpose, even in the Litter's most harmless behavior. If
the natives constitute a j)eople, be it ever so small, they
will close up their ranks and become more and more
clannish ; and, should they come of a strong and manly
race, whose past histoiy is glorious, there is no knowing
Avhat complications may ensue.

Hut if the incoming settler is prudent, gentle and
trenerous ; if he lets the native know that, far from hav-
ing any designs upon the autonomy and maintenanee of
the native nationality, he is anxious to keep up all the
dearly loved traditions of the country, then a few gen-
erations will sullice to win ovt-r the native element to
the immigrant nation, fusion will take place Avithout
friction, without hiteh. without bitter regrets. A con-
trary course on the settler's part would leave the various

iUn

i.ivK .\Ni» i.r.r i.ivK.

clt'iiifiits uiiliannniii/cd ;iltci' t<'n j^fiitMiitiniis. Tlu'ion-
.s('(|Ut'iit iicfd iA' |irii(l(>ii('(' is ('s|K'ciall\ >j;rri\{ wIutc the
liillivt's iUf I"'rt'ii(li, lifcaiisi' of tin- t-xtiriiir (lcluiu\ of
tlu'ir rc»'liii;4s.

Ill itdttiiics ((imiilcit'd hy l''ii<_;IaiMl. llic l''iiifli.'>li stt-
llci's have aliiutsi always striven lo iiii|ilaiit tlicii Imi

iit^c ami it'linioiis lu'licl's l»y st lata^rm or li\ Utu

it'V arc striviii'"'

to (1

(> s(» nioif or less ex rii now

n'li

ijicat ()l»i('ti si'cins to 1h' the roiniatioii of (»iic solid, ho
iiio'>('iu'oiis, dcsiiairiii''l\ iiioiioloiioiis mass of liiiman
lu-iiio's iiisiiiict wilii tlif same ideas, the same tastes, thr
same reelings, as it" this ol)jeiii\i' wi-re iiidis|ieii.sal»le lo
tile security and progress of the eoiintiy. Tliey seem lo

ii'!4i'l that sii'

•h ill-(

oiiecaU'd striviii;^s prodiiee an t

11 «

exactly eoiii laiy to that which was expected, and tend
tt) weaki'ii those hoiids of syiiiiiathy which a kindls ol)-

siTvaiiei' of the advice

li\(' and h't live

would iiavi!

helped to streiin'theii. ^\<4Teement in essentials is c^iiitc
iMminrh ; to aim at more is to secure less.

l"'ranee. with all her faults, has i-ver adopted a very dif-
ferent liiii' of conduct w i til inucli more satisfactory rcsnlis.
Her Urittanv, aftei' so many centuries, still >peaks

r.ret

on, and IS none

the 1

ess ver\' I*'rench

sace w a-

(Jeriuan, spoke and still speiks (lennaii ; liut, afti'r two
centuries i)}i l-'rench inK'. it groans in (Jennaii under the
(u'rman yoke, and si^hs for return to I*' ranee. Corsica.
Nice, Savoy, treated as sisters, never uttered a nuirmur.
The iVral), reconciled after a short resistance, ilies for
France on every field of battle, only too proud to he able
to tlefeiid her flag. In spite oi' the errors and the levity
of France, the nations she takes to her bosom become
French in heart and mind.

While France was ursed on by her feelinos, Kmjlaiid

W i N >M '

I i;.\sri;

lil-

lis.

.Us

w ;is

the
ica,
uur.
for
il.h-
:ity
>m('

uid

Wiis stinnilat(Ml by hvv interests. While the I'oiiiuti'
iiiined at iissiinilnting lier new siihjeels hy res|»e(tin^
their eustdiiis aiid tradilioiis, l)y making,' them shaicns in
the privih'm's :in<l rights coninion to Kienehnien, hy
aits (»f kindness and urbanity, the hitUsr strove to brinLj
the (•oh)nists into lino by sheer force or I)y eral't. Had
I'^niiiiind a,(hh:d to her (»th(;i' <ril'ts, so nunuirous and so

iinixM'ial

run]

ler <>ltt ol

\\ insonitiness.

sne

\\|>M

hav(? been !)y this time (h)nblyth(! mistress of the \\ni Id ;
the whoh' of tliis continent would now ])e liers ; I it-land
wouUf hi- to hei" a i^ailand ol honor insttiad oi' a tlioin
in her si(U'. Alas I It is with nations as with indi-
viduals ; tht.'re nw. virtiles tliat, exclude out; another.

Throuifhout all her vicissitudes France alway-^ rt;- n
mained, politieally and economically, one with bur ■
colonies. In wai', in peace, in revolution ; under king,
emperor or icpublic ; under Hourbons, IJonapaites or
the Orleans eiti/(Mi king; with ont; taiitV oi' another,
llie colonies submitted to every change without com-
plaint. Nev(!r could England achieve such a result.
Self-iuteiest bars the way.

Zs^>

r'-f ^;

342

AMBITIOrs AND HKAIiTLKSS.

CIIArTER XX r.

Major Charles Lawrence, President of the Council, acts as a«l-
niinistrator in exp<H'tation of Hopson's return — His cliaracter —
His beliavior towards tiie English colonists, the (Jernians and
the Acadians, causes great dissatisfaction.

Thk good feeling wliieli Hopsou had .so lui[)j)ily
restoied was to disa|)])ear Avith him. lie had made the
governorship an easy task, if only his siieeessor had had
.some of the virtues for which he himself was so emi-
nently distinguished, rnfortunately, Lawrence, a first-
rate soldier, a bold and active man, endowed with moic
than connnon intelligence, with that insinuating mannei-
whieh so often is the intriguei's passport to succe.ss,
was totally devoid of moral sense and utterly heartless.
The be-all and end-all with him was his ambition, to
which lie had vowed all the resources of his lively mind.
Imperious and cruel to his subordinates, he was supple
and obsecpiious to hi.s superiors. Oi humble birth,
having begiui life as an ap[)rentice to a house-painter,
he had raised himself, while yet in tin; prime of life, to
a positiou which a nobleman's son might have envied.

.V knowledrje of the character of this mail is verv
important : for on the judgment that shall be meted out
to him depends, to a great extent, the judgment histoiy
iiuist pass on the extraordinary act that marked his
government. By the help of the public documents
alone — his own documents, garbled as they are — anyone

liALKiOMA.NS |)I;SCU1I5K LANVIiKXCK.

:U:J

cau convince liinisell' that niy opinion of him is iiot too
sev«'ic. since, thron^fhont his whoh.' ciinier, one lo^>ks in
Viiin loi' ;i single deed, iind, in all the documents, for a
single lint! liiat might hint at the semhhincu of any ft;el-
ing tif delicacy.

My searcli after further ini'ormation to c(»nlirm or
modify ihe impression produce(I upon me I)}' the mere
perusal of the volume of the Archives has been rewarded
lieyond my hopes ; and I can now safely assert that my
lir>i view fell far short of the realitv. I will adduce
some of my proofs in the course of the nanative : for
ill*' present. I need only give a short extract from a long
petititin addressed by the citi/.ens of Halifax in IToT to
a disiinguished person in England whose name does
n'li appear in the document supplied by Kev. Andrew
Ijruwn.

• W.- iuc extri'iiu'ly olilij^t-il U) you lor your favor of the 3rd of
July last and for i/aiir (issidiu'lif In mir ajfalrs.

• W.' can assure you. sir. tliat we wore almost without hojxs of
li. !:!.: loiisidcrtMl as Eii;;lish subjects : the linncility aiut tUfidtihifiif
Im l-iiriiDir iif (iiir ifovvnior to all our rcinonstntiices, (iUIioikjIi
fiifl' ml irilli till' iitiiioNt Hiibminsiuu, gave as much reasfju to
iiiiiik ]if Wius countenanced at Home

• V"ur letter has revived the hopes of the inhahitants. and it
l!;i> (><•( 11 !;reat eoinfoit to them to find an Eii^^lishmaii in Enf;laiid
win 1 lias ///('/(■ auhapj)ij stiite mid CDiiilition ttt liriirt diid CDininlsrr-
iit> •< fix I r hi>iida<ji' under oppression mid ti/rdinii/

•Tiii'seaie all the friends (ioveriior Lawrence has at Iloiiir.
/",■• oil (hin slili' of the irofcr he has in^iie, either of the lidiol>itmits
III- <!< iitleiiieii of tlie iirmi/, iriio hold him in the utmost contempt,
(^■rcejit those fornierl// mentioned to i/oii liis agents in ojipres-
sion. . . .

•perhaps you will lie surprised to hear how this gentleman,
who. some time ago. was only a painter's ajtprentice in London,
should have advaneeil himself to such heights. We are obliged lo
confess that he has a gooil addiv^ia. it (jreat deal of /on- en nnimj,
is a must consuminute flatterer, has icords fidl of the warmest e,r-

irm

^t: ;i

844

IMITMTY.

piT.Hsiou of nil iif)ri{flit iiitvntinii, thon\ili iii't'cr iiitnuh'd, iiml iriih
niiirh art iimst solifitinislif i-niirtx nil slrmifirrN ii'lioin In- lliinlx cnn
Ih' nf nii/f .sc/r/r'C /o /(///(, Hif tln'si' and siicli mislins lir risni f,, !„■
what In' in, ainl,rlah'ti iritli liin sin'risx, is (intrniiiinmln In nl npnn
llie (It'slriirtinii nf i'ITi'i/ niir Hint dni's tail roncnr in la's innisiirrx,
'* Alintllcr nf t)u' ( lOV'iTllor's iU'ts /s la iiiiKrrprrsi'nt niid nlillsi-
all liiinir liiiii. Ilr IniH piililiclii cnlliil liisf 'ninicil n inwliif si-diiu-
(Iiu'Ih, tin' nnivlniiits a parri'l nf rillaiiis and linidi'rniils, mul Imn
ri'pn'sfiilcd III llnint' llir irlnilc ns n jiatjilc itisciinti'iitrd ii,i,l rr-
bt'llinns." '■''

Siifli Wiis, nccoi'diiiL;- to Ills I'l'llow-toiiiitryinoii. tin-
iiiiiii wlio cuiiccivcd iiiid ciinicd out llio dcpoiiation of
tins A(!iidiiiiis. If lit! piiiiitcd tlit; citi/ens of lluliriix in
sn(!li s()iid)ri! colors, wo. need not wdiidcr tliat tlir
Aciuliiiiis should Iiuac met willi tin' siiint' Ircatnicnl.
Nor sjiould \\r. wonder lliat lie uricvoiisly o|i|irc-s((|
tlicni, since the oppression he exercised on those wiiom
it was iiiiinil'(!stl_v iiis interest to spare hud diiven them
to extreme exasperation.

His must lia\e heen a strangely cruel and pel verse
nature, sinc(! hv could not curl) it when his I'ellow-tMti-
zeus might (h^uoiince him, ovei-wludm him with (listiT.iee
and ruin liis ])i'ospects t'orcvei'. Mut what had he to
fear from the Acadians? \Votdd their complaint^ timi
an echo beyond the sea? Would these complaints even
so much as leach England? (Mearly not.

In d(!aling with a man of this stamp, would it he wise
to tak(! his own (h)cuments lileially, garbled as tliey
were j)urposely lat(M" on by himsidf and his aci^omplices,
in order to justify an unjustifia1)le act? ffav<> \\ )t

at least the I'ight of retjuiring tVom 'in Yell-j)roved
facts and not, unsuppoited assertio .sow, as f 'i

about to demonstrat(^ in all that pa >f the Arc'hive.s

* Seo ApiJeudix, Vol. II.

I.IIMinU S ATAKIANS.

liiili rcffis lo Law n-i

ices ;i(lmiiii.striUioii, (If.sjtiu- tlio

iiiit-si(l('(]ii('ss (lispliiyt'd ill llio coinpiliitioii (if tliiit
volunu', tlii'ic is 111)1 our siiiLflo iiistiiiicc, tlir()U<f1i(»iil the
wlmlc fxtt'iit <>t tlic jii'uinsiila. ol" rt'sisliiiicc, tliat ciiii ho
iiii|)iil('(| to llic Aciuliaiis, siihjt'rhMl ihouuli t lit-y w i-k; to
iiitol(;i'iil)l(> pi'ovociitioii.

TIk! l)('tt»'r to set this forth, I will ii'vii'W thr doru-
lueiits foiitiiiiH'd ill th»^ Vftluiiif of tiic An hives, dwrll-

ij^f rspccuiiiy on tiios«! wiiicii coiiiiiiu i^(•l•nsauoll■^ of
(•oin[>hi,iiits ilijfiiilist the Aciidiiiiis.

At lirst, wliih- IIo|isoii, ahsciit on ]^•■,\\^■. htr his hfiiith,
Wiis exput'lcd to ictiirii. I^aw rcMic was int'rtl\ Adniiiiis-
trator /*/•" ti'in. of tho piovinci! with the title of I'lesi-
di'iil, of th(i Council. My inakiiiL;' hinistif niciisiirahly
aLfn'cahlc to tiit; pcojdc under his care, and still more to
the Lords of 'Liiidf, Ik; could icasoiialjly hope. pio\ided
his friends liclpttd him at hoine and llopson did not.
ivtuni, to 1)0 soon aj)poiiitcd u()vcrnor. The nomination
was slow in comiiiy, l)Ut it canu! at lust in the Noveinher
of th(! following yoar. !'[) to this time his coiiducf,
seems to have been more guarded iuid jierhaps iilso less
liaish and more just.

On DecemlH!!' otli, lTo»), shortly alter 1 lo[)soirs depart-
ui'c, he wi'ote to the Lords of 'l'rad(,' :

" 1 take tlie earliest opportunity of doiiin inysell' the hoaour to
write to Your Lordships, tliougli hardly anytliiiiji; worth your notice
has liapptMied since (iovernor FToi)son's <U'i)arture. . . .

" T come next to the Acadiaiis wlio are toh'rahly <|iiiet .is to
fjcoverunient matters, hut exceedingly litigious amongst them-
selves. As this sjtirit shows the value they set uikiu their posses-
sions, it is so fai' a favorahle circiunstaiKie. Ihit. <is Ihrrr i.s int
rviptlar iiicfhixl i>f adininisfcriiKj Jiistia' <nii<)ii<j.sf fhein. (hci/ ijroir
verfi iinetinjf at the decision of their disputes hariiig been so Iniiij
put off. To give them a hearing in our t'ourtsot' Law vvouhl lie at-
tended with insuperable difKculties ; their not having taken the

346

LITIGIOUS ACADIANS.

oath of allegiance is an absolute bar in our law to their holding any
landed possessions, and Your Lordships may imagine how difficult
it must be for tlie courts to give judgment in cases where the pro-
prietors' claims are far from being ascertained, and where the dis-
putes comnionly relate to the bounds of lands that have nether as
yet been surveyed that I know of.

"The French emissaries still continue to perplex them with dif-
ficulties about their taking the oath of allegiance ; and though they
have not been in the least pressed to it of late, yet they seem fn
think we only trait a cont'enient opportunity to force it upon them,
us they every day magnify to themselves the difficulties theyshonhl
lie under with the Indians if they take the oath, as well as the no-
tion that it would subject them to bear arms."

From the foregoing it appeals that the Aeadians
were tlieii " pretty quiet as to government matters, hut
exceedingly litigious amongst themselves." There is
no reason to question this statement. Hopsou liad
given them satisfaction on many important points, and,
for a long time, there had heen no talk of the oatli ;
this was all that was needed to ensure quiet. Nor
have we any motive for doubting that there must have
been difticulties among themselves anent the limits of
their lands. More than twelve years before, Mascarene,
in a letter T have produced elsewhere, had begged tln^
Loi'ds of Trade to alter the I'ejTvilations excludinof Catho-
lies fiom Crown Land grants :

•• They liiivc." said he, •' divided and subdivided amongst their
cbiklrt- II th<' lands they were in possession of, ;is His Majesty's in-
structions prescribe tliegnuitof unappropriated lands to Protestant
subjects only. ... If they are debarred from new possessions, they
must live here miserably and consequently be troublesome, or they
must withdraw to French colonies. If we give occasion of disgust
to these people, the Frencih in case of war will soon make an ad-
vantage of it."

Now we gather from Lawrence's letter that nothing
had been done to right this crying wrong ; and yet the

Kin I ,

NO NKW O It ANTS.

347

sinister forecasts of Mascarene had not been realized, in
otlier words, the Acadians had neither given trouble to
the goveriinient nor left the country because of a wrong
which was in itself so grievous. In spite of this *' occa-
sion of disgust," and of Shirley's plans more disgusflnif
i/et^ the French had failed, during the late Avar, to shake
their fidelity. How grave soever was this question of
land grants, it was after all a matter of secondary im-
portance to the Acadians in comparison to the oath and
its consequences, and therefore wiis not made the subject
of comi)laint to the authorities. Still it stands to retuson
that lands which had never been suiveved, and whiih
had been divided and sul)divided into small parcels
during forty years, must have given rise to many dis-
putes. And, as if to pei'petuate tliis state of affairs, ilif
settlement of the difliculty was indefinitely postponed
and evaded, for the unavowed reason th.at the non-
acceptance of the oath " was a bar in our law to their
holding any landed possessions." This really meant,
according to LawrtMice's contention, that the Acadians
had no legal right to the property wliich they enjoyed in
virtue !il" the treat}- of I'treclit.

rp to 1730, in spite of the growth of the ^uipulation,
the Acadians did not address themselves to occupying
new land noi- to lixing the limits of tlie old, nor to
making improvciuients, for the very obvious reason that
their stay in the country was uncertain. After the
agreenuuit with PhUipps, exempting then) from military
service, they thought theii- status wius definitely settled,
and then only did the land cjiu'stion assume impoitance
in their eyes. As new grants were refusiMl to tin in,
thev were t'orcecl to subdivide their old farms, and as
these had never been pi()[)eily surveyed, difficultie*

■t

](: H

348

POSSESSION DIXLAKKI) I N LAW III-

arose. Their disputes were submitted to tlie mivcjiior
as early as 1731, when Armstrong said of theiu that
they were litigious. Tlie only way to settles the lival
claims was to have the land surveyed; bnt, in Law-
rence's time, ten, fifteen, twenty and moie years had
elapsed since the disputed clainis had het'ii tiled and
placed in the governor's hands, and as yet nothing had
l>een settled. No wonder Lawrence could say : •■ Thrv
grow mieaxji at the decision of their disputes having
been so k)ng put off." Surely there was more than
enongh to make them uneasy. Lawrence lets out, the
secret of these endless delavs when he savs : "• Their not
liaviiig taken tlu; oatli of allegiance is an absolute bai-
in our law to iheii' holding any landed posscssidns."
Tliis amounts to an avowal that, since 1730, the; delay
of surveys and settlement of claims was intentional, and
was owing to the resti'ictive clause contained in theoatli
accepted by (lovernor Philii)[)s. f)ut, then, it becomes
evident that the acce[>tance of this oath was only a
<leception, since it did not give the Acadians any right
to their land. Tf, however. I should hapj»cn lo have
mistaken the drift of Lawrence's letter, there i.s at-
least this other infei'ence to be drawn, lliat the gover-
nors were but very little conct>rncd to end the bickerings
of the Acadians, oi- they might hnve leadily done so by
ordering the necessaiy surveys. <

To deprive them of new grants called for by the in-
crefise in their numbers was not enongh of an injustice:
\\\cy must, furthermoie, be refused all right to the |iai-
cels of land which they held in virtue of a treaty. They
Avere ordered to take an unresti'icted oath, which would
not even have criven them anv claim to new ffiants of
land, these grants being reserved, by regulation, " ^»

ACADIANS COMI'AltKD To A.MKIMCANS.

:;4:)

Protesianf nuhjcrt.s onli/.'' Thus was being secretlv
piepiired for theni the fiite of outcasts and pariahs.
Perhaps their only resounie now was to huy land fioni
tlu)se Englislinieii who had taken up, as 1 mentioned
elsewliere, 100,000 acres around the settlements ot
Mines and IVaidwissin. But it is easy to understand
that the prceariousness of their position was apt to make
them mistrust such [)urchases. Besides, was there any
security against future annulment of all their title-
deeds in virtue of Lawrence's contention as to their
being barred out by the law?

Tliese few considerations uivc an inklinu' of Law-
rtiuce's deep-laid schemes. Tlu; sequel will show that
it is well nigh impossi1)le to find one; ot" his state papeis
that is not a fresli masterpiece of duplicity.

■^rhe Acadians nuist, forsooth, have been the most
submissive and peace-loving [)eople vnider tlie sun.
"■ The lenity and the sweet of Englisli r\de,'" on which
Parkman dilates, may ap[)ly reasonably enough to the
Home Government, but assuredly not to the provincial
administration. Had the New England colonists lieen
in the same situation, they would long ago have raised
the standard of revolt and broken every trannnel, as in-
deed they did a few years later to destroy abuses that
were far less blameworthy and affirm ricrhts that were
far less important, for the sake of stamps and tea, when
their language, their religion, their feelings, their lands
were in no way threatened. Because the Acadiaii>
scorned rebellion, because they were too nobly obedient,
they were deported like cattle, tliey were hunted like
wild beasts, while statues were raised in honoi* of suo
cessful rebels ; and, to crown their misfortune, they have
to-day to bear the humiliatiou of the dying lion kicked

350

LOKDS OF TIIADK PElll'LKXED.

by the ass from one who — be it said without blame-
bends low before the heroes of the revolution. To the
vulgar mind success is the proof of merit, and the old

saying,

Donee eris felix, niultos niimerabis amicos,

is accepted as an exhortation to the worship of success.
Had England quelled the revolt, as she very prohubly
would liave done without the timely succor the Fiemli
gave Wasliington, and had slie deported the Anierii.-au
rebels, true rel)els these with far less grievances than
the Acadians, liow would Parkman have attuned his
lyre ?

It is strange that Mascarene's equitabli; suggestions
were not acted upon by the Lords of Trade. Tlieir
conduct in this matter contrasts with their usual eciuit y.
Had tiie grantees of the 100,000 acres — amongst whom
were .i Secretary of State, his brother and a future
Secretaiy of State — enough influence successfully tu
plead in bar of Mascarene's request ? I cannot say.

Lawrence's letter threw the Lords of Trade intd
great perplexity, as may be seen by the following
extract from their answer of March 4th, 1754:

"The more we consider this point, the more nice and difficult it
appears to ns ; for. as on tlie one hand great caution ougiit to lu^
used to avoid giving any ahirm and creating sucli a diffidence in
their minds as might induce them foqitit the Pi'ovinvi\ and hi/ tlicir
iniinlwrs add sfrengfJi to the French .settlewe)itn,HO, on the otiur
hand, we should be equally cautious of creating an improper and
false ('onfidence in them, that by a perseverance in refusing to take
the oath of allegiance, they may gradually work out in their own
way a right to their lands."'

To a man of Lawrence's character this was tantamount
to saying : Deceive them if necessary, give them

KEVOLT OF (JEUMAN SETTLERS.

iiol

vaguely to understand that titles will be granted to
them, taking great care, however, not to commit your-
self to any formal promise. Nevertlieless, do all that is
needed to prevent tliem from leaving.

And yet this much must be said in palliation of the
Lords of Trade : from their point of view, they were
imparting counsels of prudence and modeiatiou that
might serve as a check on Lawrence's impetuous and
perverse nature. Of course there is no denying the
ti'ickery implied in this letter ; but we should bear
in mind that, for the last forty years, trickery had
become so interwoven with the traditional policy that
it was impossible for the best of well-meaning men
entirely to fi'ee themselves from its meslies. Moreover,
this letter was written at a time when the Lords of
Trade liaidly knew what decision to take on the matter
at issue ; and, in order to be pei'fectly fair towards them,
this letter should be collated with another dated on the
29th of the ensuing Octobei', which may be viewed as
completing and greatly modifying it.*

In the letter cited above from Lawrence, there is a
loner account of an insurrection of (lerman Protestant
settlers at Lunenburg, who belonged to Cornwallis's
colon}-. Before becoming president of the council,
I.iawi'ence had been commandant at that place, and his
presence had been marked by troubles and by many
desertions doubtless due to the severity of his rule.
Directly after his departure the discontent broke out,
men rushed to arms, and to avert the actual shedding of
blood nothing less was needed than the presence of
troops from Halifax, and as ^Murdoch says: " Monckton
advised that, as the people there were so generally im-

* This letter is iuserted further uu.

! iill

|;i!il"f

352

i;i:v(»i/r or (jki;.man si:rTLi:i;s.

l)lic;iUHl, the ])etlt'i' (•(•urse would ))l' lt> gniiiL ii gfiioral
forgiveness, hut Lawreueo desired to [»uiiish tlie riiin-
leaders. . . ."

According 1(» his iuviiriahle hahit the Conipih^' ii;is
nuitihitcd Lawrence's letter, leaving out all that iclalcs
to the insuiTection of the Luneidmrg (iolonists. As we
know the (Compiler's pui'[K)s<;, we (j^uitt! understand that i*^
would havelH-'ou inipolitic for him to hring to light such
facts, for they constitute a glaring contrast to the
ohcdience of the Acadians, alheit the latter must liavc
heen still worse treated than those Protestant colonists
Avho had hccu hrought out and established at the
expense of the goveriunent.

Now tliat we know the effect of Lawrence's adminis-
tration among the English and German colonists, and
what, the}' thought of him at the outset of his career,
uc aiv in a position to judge of the reputation he had
left behind him among the Acadians according to a
letter from (^i[)tain Murray, conunandcr of Fort Edward
(Pigiguit) to Lawrence himself, wherein he reports to
him what the}' hiul said of him : '•• That he was a man
they personally hated, and dislike his government so
much tlici/ u'ouhl iievrr he ecxi^j/ uiuhiv if, hohiixing tivniud
them so harshly when amongst them." However, hr
had never bci'ii al)lc to provoke the least resistance,
whereas the (Jciinaiis had no intention of so meekly
enduring oppression.

On .June "21st, 1754, Lawrence '• informed the Council
that he had received a letter from Captain Scott, ccmi-
mandant at Fort Lawrence, acquainting him that on
the 14th of .lune instant, the deserted inhabitants of
Beaubassin District who had petitioned for leave to
return to their lands, came and brought him their

UEAV HASSIN IlKFL'CiEKS.

3."):]

answer in relation to the resolution of Couneil of iTtii
September lust, wliieh was that, unhstt the President of
the CoiuK-il ii'ouhl aHUure them, from under his hand,
that the 11 nhoulff remain neuter and be exempt from takin;/
up rt/•//^s• against any person whatsoevei', it woukl Im'
iinj)()ssible for them eiwn to think if retyrnivt/, as the//
u'oidd ever// dai/ run the risk of having their throats eut
and their rattle destroijed hij the savages, and this they
gave as their last answer."

" Wherein it was resolved that nothing further would
be done than as resolved by the Council on the said 2Tlh
(»f September."

This resolution of September 27th had been passed
under llopson's administration, and the communication
of the vXcadians mentioned above was the answer there-
to ; but, since that time, Ijawrence himself had made
proposals to them inducing them to return to their
lands. He had declared to them that it was not his
intention at present to oblige them to military service ;
which meant that he bound himself to nothing. Such
an offer coming from Ilopson would have deserved con-
sideration ; coming fiom Lawrence, it was worthless.
Some more formal engagement was needed, with his
signature into the bargain ; else it were impossible
" even to think of i-eturning."

Their motives for mistrusting Lawrence were too
numerous to admit of their falling into the snare, and
they had been too often deceived to be satisfied witli
vague promises. But, why was Lawrence so anxious
for their return? For we must not forget that the
deportation is now less than a twelvemonth ahead.
Had the Acadian voluntary exiles been turbulent, sedi-
tious, dangerous, it would have been the acme of im-
23

■It- :,

;!*■■(

854

BEAUBAaSIN REFUGEES.

prudence to receive a hostile element in the very heart
of the province, and woi-se still to invite them to come.
Now, contemptible as Lawrence was, he was no fool.
Therefore, we may safely say, the presence of this new
Acadian element was desirable, useful, almost or quite
free from danger ; therefore their behavior had been
liitherto submissive enough to warrant Lawrence's press-
ing invitations ; therefore, in fine, to justify the deporta-
tion, motives must be sought in the twelvemonth that
followed. In point of fact no valid reason exists any-
where, not more and perhaps less during this twelve-
month than before it.

OfiNEUAL CHARGES.

355

CHAPTEK XXII.

Lawrence becomes Lieutenant-Governor — His accusations against
the Aeaiiians — Project of expulsion — The Lords of Trade.

Mv aim has been to pick out by preference and relate
the facts supposeil to tell against the Acatlians, a.s they
are to be found in the volume of the Archives. Thi.s
I liave faithfully done hitherto and will continue to do.
The following letter from Lawrence to tlie Lords of
Trade, dated August 1st, 1754, is clcai-ly the document
that contains the gi-avest accusations against them. I
produce it almost entile despite its length :

"Your Lordships well know, that the Acadians have always
affected a neutrality, and as it has been generally imagined here,
that the mildness ot an English CJovernnient would by degrees have
Jixed them in our interest, no violent measures have ever been
taken with them. But I must observe to Your Lordshij)s, that this
lenity has not had the least good effect : on the contrary, I Ijelieve
they have at present laid aside all thouglit of taking the oath vol-
untarily, and great numbers of them are at i)resent gone to Heau-
sejour to w(jrk for the French, in order to dyke out the watei' at
the settlement I informed Your Lordsliijjs they were going to make
on the north side of the Buy of Fundy. notwithstanding they were
refused passes which tliey applied for to go thither. And upon
their complaining that they could get no employiuent with the
English, they were actpiainted that as many as would come to
Halifax should be employed, tho' in reality, I had no employ-
ment for them, but I pro) ed to order them to widen the road to
Shubenecadie, as I very well knew if I could get them once liere,
it would put off their journey to Beausejour, and would be no ex-
pense to the Government, as I was sure they would refuse the work

:5.)(i

I)i:i'oi:tation fo[:kshado\vi:i).

lor IViir of tlisol)li;;iri;:; tlic Indians. Hut, iis they did not coini', T
have issued a Proclamation, ordering them to return forthwitli to
tiu^r lands, as tiu-y should answer the contrary to their peril.

"They have not for a loiij; time brought anything to our mar-
kets. l)ut on the otiier hand have carried everytlung to the I-'remii
ami Indians whom they have always assisted with provisions,
(piarters and intelligence, and. indeed, while they rem.'iin without
taking the oath to His Majesty — which they never will do till (hey
are forced — and have incendiary Freud i priests among tiiem, thero
are no Iiopes of their amendment.

" As till'!/ ))()ssi'ss the hi'sf tnid liirfirst fractsof land in this Pn>r-
iiirr. it cannot l)e settled with any effect while they remain in this
situation, atnl. thoiiij}i I intiild he ri')// ftir froiii (itt('iiii>fiii(/ sm-li u.
stij) iriflioiit )'<>iir l^indshi/ts' (ijiprobtitioii, yi't I viiinntt ln'ljt
heinfj of opinion tJittt it mnild In- iinu-li In'ttcr, if they refuse the
oath, tliof fhcji ici'ir ointij."

Wliy this cliiiuge of tone from the pres.sing iiivifcition
to retiifii Avliieh he sent to tlie eiingratcd Acadiaiis a
few weeks ago? The reason is very j)lain : r.,awreiice
had jnst made up his mind to deport the Aeadians, nor
does he scruple to let liis intention be known. Up to
this time he had been oidy president of the Council
awaiting IIo[)son*s return. Now lie must be aware that
Ilojjson is not to return and that his own iippointmeiit
as lieuteinint-governor is sure ; it was, indeed, oHieially
announced a few weeks later.*

Tiie better to prepare the Lords of Trade for his per-
iidions designs, he had to depiet the conduct of the
Aeadians in the most sombre colors. The above letter
is the result of his efforts in that direction. As the
correspondence and the othcial acts of the governors

* Philii) II. SiiiiHi, who, ia his " Auiulia ; a Lost Chiiptor iu AmoricMU
History," sliows so luiK'h fairness uud perspicacity, .says of this letter aud
the following ones: " The reader cannot full to note the change in the tone
of the letters .sent to the Home Government relative to the French Neutrals;
Lawrence proved himself the sort of ruler that was needed to carry out
the harsh measure of the deportation."

TUADlN(i WITH THK KUENCH.

8o7

for tlie past four years did not hint at the slightest iu-
fringenient of orders throughout the entire i)eninsula,
it U'hooved Lawrence to pave the way for specific alle-
gations by general complaints, so that his change of
tone might seem to he supported by facts. This is the
onlj'^ explanation that can l)e oft'ered of the general ac-
cusations contained in the above letter, which are either
false or greatly exaggerated.

My purpose being to reply to each and eveiy one of
Lawi'ence's accusations, I now take up those which are
contuincd in the foregoing letter. He accuses the
Acadians of intercourse with the French and of having
assisted the latter by selling them their produce. This
must have been true in Mascarene's time, and before,
when there was only one fort at the extremity of tlie
province, and when there was practically no protection
of ihe frontier line. But no o-overnment hiis a riyht to
com[)lain of such infractions, when it neglects the
necessary precautions against them. Experience proves
that, when breaches of a law are easy and unaccom-
pjvnied by risk of punishment, the most virtuous and
loyal i)eople will wink at them. Loyalty and ol)edience
offer no remedy to the greed of gain. Surely, the
Acadians would need to have been endowed with super-
human perfection, if they had not sometimes taken
advantage of a situation that enabled them to do a good
stroke of business without let or hindrance. Moreover,
Miiscarene never complained of these business relations
with the French in time of peace ; on the contrary, in
one of his letters he very wisely remarks that this traffic
should be ignored, because the Annapolis garrison
could not consume all the produce of the farmers, and
therefore, to stop that traffic was to paralyze farming

308

Tun-LEa.

interests ; besides, ho adds, it is a source of profit to
everybody because it brings into the country French
money, which otherwise would go to ( iinada or else-
where. When war broke out in 1744, thi- Acadians, as
we have seen, whether at the (iovernoi\s suggestion oi-
perhaps of their own accord, foimcd an association to
prcv»;nt all such business relations. Tliey thcn)selves
undertof)k police duty for the Ooveinnient against their
fellow-countrymen, and, after the wai', those of them
who were suspected of infringing the [nohibitory decree
were arrested on complaint of the members of this
association. The most loyal of subjects could have
<lone no more and would have been justilied in doing
less.

Since the foundation of Halifax and the buildintj of
forts at Grand IMc, I'igiguit and licaubassin, the
English Government had the nunins of preventing all
commercial or other relations between the French and
the Acadians ; and, in point of fact, such misdemeanors
in this line as eluded the vigilance of the English nuist
have been few and far between, as the iVichives do not
mention one single complaint before the courts. Had
there been any complaints, Lawrence would not have
been slow to order an investigation and severely to
punish the guilt}'.

Granting, however, that there may have been some
breaches of law on this score, they would be but the
veriest trifles, occurring in all times and places and
among all nations, subject to the cognizance of law-
courts, and at any rate (juite too unimportant to figure
as an argument in a tragic event like the deportation.

" They have not for a long time brought anything to
our markets," was Lawrence's perfidious assertion, I say

LOCAL CONIHTIONS OF SALK.

359

iKTlldious, hocimse he wrote these wordn to the Lords of
Titide on \\ni 1st of August. At that date it could not
well Im"! otherwise : the preeeding harvest must liave
been sold or consumed loiijjr before, and tl.o coming har-
vest was still standing. Probably Lawreiuje's implied
accusation had no other giound than this ; but this was
a plausible ground for a man that was on the look-out
for pretexts to make his point. lie relied upon ilw
Lords of Trade not noticing that the iM'ginning of
August was a date far removed from the usual time for
the salt^ of last year's «rrops. There were also other
local (!onditions which would no doubt esiai»e their
notice. F'or instance, it cannot be supposed that the
Acadians went one by one to sell their produce at Hali-
fax, which was so far off, and the road to which wtus
almost impassable on foot. They must have employed
agents to cai'iy their prodiic',! by water. Now the only
commercial agents in Acadiuii centres were Knglisli :
lilin, Donnell, Winniet, Jr., at Annapolis ; Rogers at
(^obc(|uid ; Arbuckle at Fort Lawrence; Dyson and
^liiuger at IMgiguit and CJrand ]'n'. Mauger had
another store at Halifax, and, if I mistake not, Blin,
Donnell and Winniet had other stores cither at Grand
Prd or Fort Lawrence.* To these men, therefore, must
llic Acadians have sold their produce, and through tliem
must all pui'cbases have been made. As in Lawrence's
mind the smallest things easily usurped the proportions
of great ones, or took their place when the latter could
mit be found, he has taken the trouble to enter the
following item in his otBcial papers : " Their desiring —

* Alain, Nicholas Gautbior ami Joscpb Lc IJliiiK- liail cIosimI tln'ir storos
during the war, and, as far as I can ascfrbiiii, thfrt^ was not at this tiiuo
out' Acadian merchant in the whole pt-niusula.

a\i

5|i'

3'oO

LOCAL CONDITIONS OF SALE.

the Acacliaiis — to sell thc-ir graih to ?J]'. Dyson ;tii(l in-
fusing it to Mr. Maugev for the same money appedi-ii
verif extraorilinary.''''

Wliile tlie puhlic documents do not contain, to the
hest of my knowledge, one single specific case of com-
mercial I'elations between the Acadims and the French.,
atti'ibnted l)y name to one in particular )r to 'several C( tlln-
tively, they do contain many cases of l)nsiness iiiiiis-
actions between the French and some English merclmnl ,,
particulaily Arbnckleand that very Manger whom I^aw-
rence seems to have taken under his protection.* And
as to sfeneral charijes ayainst Fnijlishnien, maiiv will be
found at ])iigcs 080, (538, (>4() of the Arcliives. I will
()iUote one only. Wiitinvj; * o the Lords of Trade, Xcveiii-
her "27th, 1750, ("ornwallis said: "lam assured the
New England peo])lc have this year carried nuinbt^s ul"
dollars to Louisburg. . . . They supply Louisburg \\ it li
every necessaiy, and the advantage ui)on this tralVu;
is so great, that they go sooner there than to this Poii."

1 am almost ashamed to have to weaiy the reader witli
these trifles ; but, as the de[)ortation has no more solid
basis than tluse, and as its justifiableness must stand or
fall with the accusations of its author, I am forced to
discuss these childish charges v.ith becoming gravity.

In the letter of August 1st, 17.")4, Lawrence speaks but
tentatively and hesitatingly as yet of his deporting plan,
though this is clearly whal he means in spite of the
care with which he veils his design. He is content with
humbly submitting to the Lords of Trade his opinion
that, if ihe Acadians, irlio have the fiuvxt farms of tlie

* MtiiiK''!' iiocami^ a inciiilu'r "f tlic Hoii.so of Coiinnons ia 17(W. Miir-
<lucb iiiciitiniis, as diiiii)^ tiusincss at Louisburg witli tlif l-'ivuL-h : W,
Bliu, ]<arh(3r, S, I'litlcr, J.'iikius. lirocd, Lord, Turner, Clarke, Aubin.
Given, Dyke, all fioni New luig'and.

■SKIl.rrii SLKiGKSTION.

nni

prooincr, refuse to l;ike the oatli, ■' it would be much
letter that they were aieai/, thonijh''^ he '•'• would he very
far fi'oin attempting sneli a step teithout " their '" Lord-
ship/ approhatioti.'''' Doubtless the deportation is aheady
decided ujxiu ; the means tliereto and the dale alone
remain to be settled. Lawrenee's only concern now is
to prepare the Lords of Trade for an approval of I he
deed beforehand, if possible, or for an acceptance.' of
accomplished fa(!ts whicih is to be Avrung from them by
dint of misrepresentatioi s. This letter is the lirst step
in the course he lu\s alieady planned. He cannot ho[)e
to bring the Lords of Trade to approve so cruel a measiiie
lus deportation would be ; so, as yet, he conlines himself
to an indefinite suggestion : " it ironld he letter that Ihci/
were aivaij ;"" and he submits his Avill to theirs with the
most huii.ble deference: "' I would he rvri/ far from,
attemptinif such a step vjithout Your Lordships' approha-
tion.''^ For the time being he intends merel}' to predis-
pose them against the Acadians. Hy a skilful renewal
of the dose he hopes to biing them gradually round to
liis way of thinking. Besides, has he not full power in
liis own hands? Can he not, by continued severity,
provoke she Acadians to some acts that will justify on
his part an increase of rigoi' ?

Vhun Lawrence wrote that the Acadians liad better
\^- away, his real intention cannot have been to let them
join the French at Beauscjour, since he had, precisely at
tliat time, issued a i)roclaniation obliging, under severe
j)cnalties, those who hiul just left the countiy to return
immediately. lie knew of the pressing and reiterated
instructions of the Lords of Trade to his predecessors,
and to himself a few months ago, urging the governors
to avoid whatever might, by alarming the Acutlians,

362

WHAT LAWltKNCK MKANT.

lead to their departure. The oonsequencea of their
voluntary de[)arture uuust have seemed to him too dis-
astrous, oi- at auy rate too tlireateuing, to be thought of
for a nK.meut. No; what he had in view was, mani-
festly, a forced departure to places chosen by himself,
that is to say, a deportation such as he accompli^ .ed
twelvtj months later.

For the past four years at least the only act of dis-
obedience specified in the volume of tlie Archives is
mentioned by Lawreuce in the lettei- I am now review-
ing. Three hundred Acadians had gone off to Reause-
jour, as he tells us, to assist theii- emigrated countrymen
iu the work of dike-l)uil(liiig. Had they or had they not
left with the intention of returning no more? It would
be hard to say. What we know, tlirough Lawrence
himself, is that they tusked leave to go and were re-
fused. Nor should we forget tliat, live years before,
Cornwallis, driven to liis wits' end. liad i)romised pass-
poi'ts, as soon as the state of the country wouhl allow,
to all who might wish to quit the province. If the three
hundre(t intende<l not to return, then, with or without
j)assports. it was high time to take advantage of the
promises of Cornwallis, whether tliese were sincere or
not. If, on the othei' hand, those absentees had left
with a mind to come back, then Lawrence mi>dit l)e
justified in taking jnoper measures to enforce their
retuiii and e\en to punish theii- disobedience. Very
likely some of them had left for good, while others in-
tended to decide at IJeausejour whether or not they
would return. Lawrence's increasing severity was al-
ready making people anxious, as this unauthorized de-
partuie shows.

The season for the building of dikes was a very short

WHAT LAWIJKXCK MKANT.

oiu'. and i1k> present iiiKlertaking at lieHUsejoiir was the
iirst serious attempt to secure farms for those who had
emigrated in Cornwallis's time. These refugees were
the rehitives, tlie }>rothers of the Acadiaus, wlio miturally
Avislied to assist them in a hibor that promised to lift
them out of poverty and furuisli food for their fami-
lies. Tlie helpers who had gone to Heausejour weic
tlieniselves ex])oscd, at any moment, to be expelled from
the pi'ovinee if tlie uniestrieted oath were exacted. In
such a juncture they would he glad to find beyond the
frontier relatives and fii»;nds able to help them in their
turn. Thus in a way they were really working for
themselves.

Tliey were ordered lo return dii-ectly. In all likeli-
hood the order was pi'omplly o])cyed by those who, in-
tending to I'eturn, had left their families behind; else
the Archives would ceitainly mention severe measures
against the disobedient, their families oi' tlujir property.
When Lawrence gave an order, he \\as not to be triiled
^vilh. as the Acadiaus knew to their cost.

That Lawi'eui'c had l)y this time determiru'd on tlie
deportation is. 1 think, clear enough. Trtu^-. the evi-
dence is still vague and iiideliiiite, though convincing
as far as it goes. Patience will be needed by those who
follow ]iiy line of ])rool' : for the chain of evidtuice is a

l.>i

\<J one

r)Ut ev<'r\- Imi

theiv. The last letter I

have (juoted fioni bawreut'c is, jirojierly s[)eakiiig. onlv
the Iirst link in the chain that eoustitutes tlu! main
strength of this i^ost Chapter. The entire evidence,
strong in iudiu.'tion and an.dysis. will be eiptally strong
ill otilicial documents of undoubted authenticity.

Howevei'. iM'fcnc 'proceeding further, let me aiitici[)ate
an objection which doubtless is already taking shape iu

364

HIS SKCKKT I'UKl'OSK.

the readers miiul : viz., the improbability of such an in-
liinnaii purpose based on no grave eanse and boin of
sheer ci'uelty. Riglit liere, then, U't nie afHirni tliat the
deportation, in tlie mind of ils chief anthois, was nei-
ther a justifiabk; act nor a dtu'd of ciuelty pnie and sini-
j)le, b\it a means of acquiring weiillh by (U'spoiling tin-
Acadians of their cattle and their hinds. On this point
I entertain the hope tliat, long beft)re tlie leadei has
iinished the book, lit; will be full}- convinced that I am
indulging in no historical tiction.

Forestalling somewhat the strict cliroiiological
sequence of events. I will now give (he answer of the
Lords of 'I rude to Lawrence's insidious letter:

" ll'<' (unniof form r (jirc a Jiinil njtiin'oii of
what nioasurcB may he necessary to l>e tiikeii witli regard to tliose
inhabitants, initil iit hare /aid the irholi' r.fntc of thf (■(^s■^ lirlon-
Ill's Maje.st;/ oikI rvccirt' lii.s iii.stnictioii.s upon if.

" We were in hopes that the lenity wliich had heen sliinsii Id
those people l)y indulging tliem in tlie Tree exen se of their ivli^'-
ion, and the (piiet jiossession of their lands, would hy de<;ree-i ha\ c
gained their Iriendsliip and assistance and weaned tlieir atrictii.ns
from the French, and we are sorry to Jiear tiiat this lenity has 'ad
t<o little elTect.

'• It is certain that hy tiie Treaty of L'lrerht tiieir heconiiii^ sub-
jects to (heat Britain (which we ai»prehend they cannot be Imt by
taking the oath rut|nired of subjects) is made an express condition
of their continuance, after tlie expiration of a year, and therefore
it maybe a (piestiou well worth considering how far tliey can lie
treated as subjects without taking such oatlis, and whether their
refusal to take them will not ojiera.t; to invalidate the titles to their
lands ; it is a question, /loircrcr. irliirii ire irill not t<ik'r npoit mtr-
seh'es absoliifeli/ to deform inc. but could wish that you would
consult tlie Chief Justice U]M)n this ])oint and taki' his opinion,
which may serve as a foundation for any future measure it may be
thought advisable to jiiirsne.

•■ .l.s /() fJiosi' of fill' District of licanbiissin n-lio ore ncfi((i/lii ijone
over to tin' French at Bcausi'jonr, if fJie L'liiif Justice slionld be

UNSATISKACTOllY KKl'LV

805

of opinion that hy refiimKj to fair oaths irithoiif o rcsenv or />//
'irseHing their settlcvioifx fa Join the FrcncJi. fhci/ hare forfeili'it
their title to their lainlx, ire coiihl irisii that jirojter iiteasiires iivra
jiiirsiied for carrying such forfeiture into execution by legal ^iru-

T^iiwreuce must liavo expected sometliiug better. Of
course lie liiul gained his point in tliat lie liad indis-
posed tlu' Lords of Trade and prejudiced tl.eii- minds ;
but he may have hoped that their reply would contain
some declaration that should he a more definite step
toward his chos(!n goal. Unfortunately for him hi.s
proposal, "it would be better that they weie awa^-,"
was nuM'ely referred to His Majesty or rather eluded.
Politeness foibade the Lords of Trade expressing doubts
about Lawi'ence's accusations ; but the difference of
tone between him and TTopson in so short an interval
must have struck them, as tin? tenor of their letter
seems to show. lb)wevci', they in no way depait from
their habitual wisdom and serenity. They seem to
fear that he may act arbitrarily; they strongly ad\rise
him to keep to the rules and traditions of his otTice, to
I onsiilt the Chief Justice as to whether the refusal to
taKc the oath will invalidate the title-deeds of those
who remain in tht^ province, and even to ask his opin-
ion on this matter with respect to those wlio have ([uit-
ted the province. Should the Chi<'f Justice decide that
these latter have by their departure forfeited their
titles, resort shoitld be had to legal [.rocess of confis-
cation.

This letter is a fair average specimen of all those
addressed to the governors of Acadia ; and fi'om one
who, like myself, seeks nothing but historic truth, dis-
tributing praise or blame irrespective of persons, though

;}t3t>

FAIUNKSM OF THE LOUD9.

always linding it more agreeable to praise than to hlauie,
this letter naturally elicits the remark that the Lords
of Trade hardly ever swerved from this wi.>?e and
prudent course. If we take into account the circum-
stances of time and place, the pressure exercised iiixm
them, the misrepresentations made to them, their con-
duct, viewed as a whole, certainly deserves no very severe
censure and is often praiseworthy. I have not llie
slightest doubt that they would have treated the Aca-
dians very differentl}' in the matter of the oath, iutd
they been aware of all the facts I have recorded alioiit
the hiiidering of tlunr departure by Nicholson, X'ctch.
Armstrong, IMiilipps, and Cornwallis. These hindrances
aie, for obvious reasons, not mentioned in the lellers of
these governors; they could not mention them without
condenniing themselves. This important fact must not
be overlooked by those who wish to be just to the Lords
of Trade.

Furthermore, this letter seems to prove conclusively
that, when Cornwallis placed the Acadians in the cruel
dilemma of taking the oath or of leaving without their
movables, he must have been going beyond his orders,
since the Lords of Trade here show that they are
doubtful even as to the Government's right toconfiscute
the iiiiiiiuoubles of those who had left the province.

DATE OF LAWRENCES DECISION.

367

CHAPTER XXI II.

Lawrence's jierseciition — Its effect — Complaints to justify the
deportation collected in the Archives — Order not to quit tl»e
province under pain of military execution for the families of
delin(iuents.

It was all tlie easier for Lawrence to be tyrannical
and cruel because he was naturally so violenth- pione
to sucli beiiavior tliat he persecuted his fellow-coun-
trymen of Halifax and his German co-religionists
of Luneidjurg, when it was liis interest to stand well
with them. From the Acadians, on the other hand, he
had nothing to fear; and if, as seems likely, he had
already planned their deportation, it became his interest
to drive them to acts of insul)oi'dination in order tf) t»ive
a semblance of justice to the execution of his project.

Nor is it at all difficult to follow cveiy step Lawrence
took as he matured liis decision. Tiiis decision was
come to in or about July, ]T.'')4, when it was known tliat
Hopson was not to return and that lie, Lawrence, was
to succeed him. Hitherto he had laid no cliaices
against the Acadians ; he had even gone the length of
be<Tfri»ff tliose who had emigrated to return ; and. to
all appearances, he had not indulged in excessive rigor.
Now, however, comes a complete change. On the 1st
of AuiTUst he addresses to the Lojds of Trade a letter
filled with accusations, concluding thus : •• theij h<ire,
the lest lands in the Province, it would be better that

3tJ8

nKV()KlN(J HOI'SON S OUDKl:

tliuy were uway." I lis resolution is taken. PeisecU'
tion begins. Ilopson, iis ue liiivo seen, had ordered the
officers to treat Acadi.ins in all cases exactly like tht;
othei' subjects of Tlis Majesty, and not to take anytliiii!:,'
from them l)y force or without a voluntary agreement
on their part as to prices. Lawrence's fust act after his
letter of August 1st was to revoke the just and humane
orders of Ifopson, and — a circumstance wortli noting
— this ini(piity /run rviiHuinmatcd oti Amjuxt the. rtth^ four
ihfi/'t lifter til)' Ji'tter just referred to. Here is the order,
bearing the above date, addressed b)- him to Captain
Murray, Commandant of Fort Edward, at Pigiguit.
Similar order.s were sent elsewhere:

" Yua life not tu hunjabi witli the Acadiaus for their paymeut;

Ijiit, as tlii'y bring in what is wanted, you will furnish tln'in with ccr-
Yj;^ tificatcs, which will ontiflc them tc snch payments at Halifax as shall
;. -^ bethought reasonable. //" tliiij slioiiUl immediately fail to c»mi)l!/,

you will assure tlieui ///"/ the iic.ff ronricr will, hring mi order /or

■iitllitunj r.i'eeiifiun upon the (lelincpients."

In another letter to the same, dated 1st of September
following, we find this : "iVb excuse will be taken for not
fetching in firewood, and if they do not do it in proper
time, the soldiers shall absolutely take their houses for
fuel,'''' This was over and above the military execution.

As always happens when the documents have not the

desired tendency, these letters are not to be found in

the volume of the Archives, lialibiirton, who rej)rO'

duces them, adds:

"The ro(|uisitions which were occasionally uiado of them were
conveyed in a manner tiot mitcli calculated to conciliate affectimi,
and when they were informed by Captain Murray, that unless they
supplied his detachment with fuel military execution would follow,
they were not slow to notice the difference between tlie contracts of
Government with the Eugllsli and the compulsory metliod adopted
towards them."

UKSi'KCTiri, i)KMri:i:KK.

'.V>\)

With ift'cii'iu'c to the saiiiL' ordi-is Philip IF. Siuitii

say;

" Miuiay wa-^ ill (■oiiiiiMiiil of a liaiidt'ul of men a( Fori FMwan)
(now Windsor), and liiic otlicr iipslart despots, laboring under an
ahidin.<; senses of Ids own iiiiporlaner, clothed with absolute aiitlioiiiy
over life and properly, and sefMU'e in the fact that French evidenee
would not he reeeived ai^aiiisl him, he was not liktdy to be at a loss
for a pretext to display his authority."

Thi'si' ofdeis, as may ho readily supposed, provoked
discontent : hut thi'y were oheyed everywhere, except
lit IMojo-tiit, and even in tliis case there was no relusal,
merely (U'hiy until tlie inhid)itants should receive an an-
swer to their re])resent<itions iuldressed to the Governor.

This incident would seem unimportant, since the
peo[)le decliired that, it" their demurrer were not favor-
ably received, they would obey. This is what Murray
himself wrote to Lawrence :

"All the affair of the Indians or inhabitants taking up arms is
false, for M. Desehanips * told nie this morning that, in eonversation
with some, of the Aeadians, he told them what Daudlii (the jiriesi)
had .saiil, they were astonished and deelareil that they had no inten-
tion ever to take np arms, lor, if at the return of the party from
Halifax, they were; ordered to bring in the fuel, nntidtliKtinvliinj tlnW
rejir('s<')it<itions, they tocre resolved to obey.''''

A great fuss was made about this disobedience, which
in reality was no disobedience at all, since the Aeadians
made the execution of these orders depend on the (lov-
ernor's answer. At most it was a short delay. Was
the right of complaint by petition, one of the basic
rights of British freedom, non-existent for them? [n
the name of the most elementary common sense, was it
not fitting to grant them the slender satisfaction of

* Deschamps, lator a judge of the province, was then a clerk at Mauger's
store at Pigiguit (WiDUSor).
24

ii-i'i

870

ori)ei:ed to Halifax.

Mailing till llio iiiiswor came? Surely, any man wiili
the faintest .spark of kindliness would have done this:
nay, T feel confident that Lawrence himself, in spite of
liis ferocity, would have waited, had he not intended to
t'XusjHirate them by his severity, to make trouble and
ihns crea((! pretexts for deporting them.

Iiut h(! would brook no delay. The foUowing order-
iu-council, refusing to entertain their petition, left thoni
no time to obey and summoned to Flalifax five of the
principal citizens together with Abb<:! Daudin their mis-
sioiuuy.

" The Couucil having taken tl»e 8!iiiM' into consideration, were of
opinion and tliti advise tliat tlu; commanding otiicer shonid \n- in-
structt'd to repeat his orders to brini; in the firewood Tijuin imin of
military execution. Aii>l if n'os lik-rnufie ri-snlffil that Mr. Daudin
and five of the i)rineipal of tlie said inhabitants shonid be ordered to
repair immediately to Halifax to give an account of tlieir conduct."'

Captain Murray ordered live of the principtd inhal>-
itants to appear before him. viz., Claude r^rassard,
Charles Le lilanc, Baptiste Galerne, Jacques Foret and
Joseph ITebert. " As they had the impmlence," said
Murray to T.,awren(5e, " to ask me to show them }-our
instructions, I turned them out of the house." Daudin
iind these five inhabitants were taken to Halifax, es-
corted by Captain Cox, Lieutenant Mercer, Ensign
Peach, and a .strong detachment of soldiers.

After a week's detention the liiymen were released ;
but Daudin was kept prisoner till an occasion should
offer for sending him out of the province. The docu-
ments here given by the Compiler are not sufficient to
afford a clear notion of Daudin's part in this affair.
The charge was that he had used disrespectful language
towards the authorities, that the insubordination of the

PAUDIN.

ilTl

iiiliabitmiis dated from liis ivtuvn from Amiapolis.
Daudiii })r()du(!t!d a wiitton (lefcncti wliicli was not
deemed satisfactory. It do(;s not ajtju'ar in tlie volume
of tlie Ardiives.

Murray, i('[)oiting to Lawrence liis conversation with
l)au<lin, said :

" Daiuliii said to iiu' tlial he was i<;n(iraiit of llif rciui'sciilation
inailc by the inhabitants until Monday morning. 'Dial 1 liiui lalttMi
a very wroMji .sti'p in not consulting liini litiforc 1 aciiuaiMlfii you of
the affair, wliicli, if I liad, lii> would have bi'i>ui.dit ilic iiilialijliinls
in a very submissive manner to me, l)Ut, tusliinl ni' llmt. I I, ml sr„i n
Ih'tiu'hmvnl to i/nii vhn vns a nmn tlic inlKiliiliiiiln in rsmiiilh/ hiitnl,
iiiiil iVisl'iki'd i/tiiir <iiirir)iiiiiHf ki> miirli, llicij mnlil niri r hr mni/
illlilir il, iKiriii'l Iri'illiil till III sii liilr.s/ili/ ir/n n iiiiinniisl t/ii hi."

This would seem to show that Daiidin had known
nothino- of the resolution of tin; inhahitiints till after
they had formed it; that, on tin; contrary, he would
have been ready to use his inthiciice in bringino- them
to obey the Government's orders; and that he merely
objected to Murray's proceedings. The hist part of the
above tjuotation is probably what constituted the - (bs-
respectful language toward the authorities.*' l^awrenee
was not likely to forgive so ])ersonal an offence.

f gather, moreover, from all the foregoing incidents,
that the Acadians expected Muriay would jircsent
their petition to the Governor in the usual way. without
attaching to this step nor to their momentary suspension
of work more importance than was projicr; that, instead
of doing so, .Miiiiii}' confided the petition to a dctacli-
ment of troops, thus giving an exaggerated idea of tlie
affair and exposing the Acadians to fresh severity from
Lawrence : and they were evidently in mortal terror of
this despot.

■,%

^ ^

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ail'

HUIM'OSKI) FUKNCH DKSKISTKKS.

Such is the conclusion (Unluced from the sole testi-
mony of the accuser. This is one of those rare cases in
which we might have been allowed to study both sides
oi the Dandin incident, since Daudin produced a written
defence; but this defence is wanting in the volume of
the Archives, which also omits the petition of the Aca-
dians. With such one-sided testiuKUiy it is impossible
cither to exonerate or to condemn Daudin. We must,
however, Ix^ar in mind that in Captain Murray, as will
Ik* proved later, we have the most inhuman of all the
othcei-s in Lawrence's cli(jue. Murray was a great han<l
at makini; much ado al)out nothing, and this seems to
have been a case in point.

Another incident that occurred eight months after
the one I have just related is inserted here, in spile of
its futilit>", because it will serve to show that, in culling
from the volume of the Archives, I negh'ct none of
those documents that might militate against the Aca-
dians and their submissive spirit. T'nder date of the
:27th of the following May, 17')'>, I^awrence wrote to
Murray informing him that he had been advised by
Major Ilanillield of Anna])olis that three French sol-
dier's from Beausejour were in the Mines district, ostisn-
sibly as deserters, in reality to .seduce the inhabitants
an<l urge them either to take up arms or to leave the
province:

" 1 would liiivo you Issuo .1 Proolaniatioii oflforing a reward of
twonty jtoiuidM 8ttMliii>5 to wlioiusoever shall discover wiieii anyone
or nu)re of tlu'se prcttMidcd deserters may be apprehended. You will
publish this rroelan.ationby means of the Acadian Deputies, and you
must assemble them for that purpose and infonu them . . . that if
any Inhabitan' eitlier old or younji ulioiihl offer (it tjo ^• Henusvjour,
or to take arr.ts or induce others to commit any act of hostility upon
the English, ur make any declaration in favor uf the French, they

SUPPOSED FKEN'CH DKSKKTERS.

873

will be troatiMl as rebels, their estates contiseat«H], and their familifs
undergo immediate military execution.

" 1 desiru also that you will immediately publish a Proclamation
offering a reward of twenty pounds sterling to any person that will
apprehend and bring Joseph Dugas of Cobequid, or any or more of
the couriers who arrived at Beans^jour on the 5th May instant with
letters for Le Loutre, also the same n>wanl for apprehending the
couriers who arrived at Beausejour the evening of the said 5th May
with letters for said Le Loutre from Mines and PIgiguit."

The infornuition Lawrence had received might be
true or false, we liave no means of knowing which ;
but, {IS the volume of the Archives repoi-ts no later pro-
ceedings with regard to these proclamations and the
possible results thereof, I am inclined to think that the
whole story wjis a groundless rumor. Nor is there .any-
thing surprising in that, since the events that led Law-
rence to write were siipposed to have occuned in the
immediate neighlwrhood and in the jurisdiction of
Captain Muri-ay himself, wheresvs the information came
from Annapolis at the other end of the province. At
any rate these events are of no real importance, except
inasmuch sis thi!}' prove that Lawrence's rule had lK?come
so oppressive and so odious that the French were re-
newing their attempts to make the Acadians emigrate.

And yet the above facts must have l)een the gmvest
that could lie trumped U[), since they are the only ones
tliJit occsvsioned governmental interference, or at least
the only ones that figure in the volume of the Archives.
Tims — incredible as it may seem — these are the onl}'
facts on which the reader can base his jmlgment as to
whether or not the deportation wjis justifiable. Barring
the 1-efus.al to take an unrestricted oath, there is not, up
to tlie very de^iortsition itself, one single other incident
that might, by any constructive process, be twisted into

:574

(NSKSXIFICANT PHKTKXTS.

a pretext therefor. Would any man in his senses niain<
tain that such petty incidents, trifling in themselves
and (Ijvoid of all general significance, could constitute
ade(][uate motives foi' inflicting upon a whole people a
chastisement that injplied the accumulation of all
human ills? In the Pigiguit incident the only culprit
was Lawrence himself. His ordei-s upsetting the equi-
tahlc regulations of Ilnpson wei(^ unjust and kirlKuous.
He ought at least to have allowed them the right to
make respectful remonstrance, especially when they
had declared that they would <>l>ey directly if their
petition was rejected, and when Lawrence was informed
of this hy Murray himself. In the case of tin* French
soldiers coming to seduce them, the Acadians (M)\ihl not
1k' bliimed unless they listened to their proposals.
Scductiojis of this kind, hut much niort; sciious, were not
lackint; duriimlhc war from 1744 lo 1748. and we know
how inopt-rative they were. If sufh motives could
justify Lawrence's eonduet, he mij^lit liiivt! found still
stiongei" ones against the (Jei-mans (»f Luneiil>urg, and
jicrhaps against the eolonists of Ilidifax, though in both
these instances his govennnent was far more equitahle.
Tlie fact is, a despot can always find means to justify
any act ol ciueity : and we read of no other peo[tle
Avho, if situated as the Aea<liaiis were;, would have
l)orne such injustice and so much [»rovocation with so
little nnndincss.

It will he reinend)ered that Cornwallis, after exhaust-
ing numy suhterfnges to prevent the departure of the
Acadians, finally took refuge in the passport rus«'.
Kvents are there to jnove that his promise waw nothing
hut a suhterfugc. and now we have Lawrence carrying
ferociousness to the extent of threatoninsjf with militaiy

KLKVKN SlIiTKUFntKS.

.^7")

exetutioii tlif fimiili«'s (»f tliosf who slioiiM leavu the
eountjv.

Aa th«' li.sl of suhterfugi's is a lontf <»in*, T may be
all«>we(l to siiiniiiiiri/.i' them thus:

1st. subtt'rfjijjc (Vktcii) — Voii sluill not «)o|>art iM-fnic Nichol-
son's return.
" (Nk iioi.HioN) — Yuu shall not. tli-part till after such

aixl such |N)hilH hIihII have liccn
•h'cidcd l»y the (^neeii.
" (Vkt<ii) — You shall not doparl in Kuglish vessels.

(Vkt(ii)— French

" (Vkt<ii) — Voii cannot procure rijiginj; at Louis-

hurg.
" (Vktcii) — You cannot prcKture ri^jsini^ at Hoston.

" (Vktcii) — You shall not <lepart in your own

vessels.
" (Piiii.ii'i's)— Vuii shall not make roads to depart

l7;Mt — Hestricted oath acceptec!.
lT-4!» — Your oath was worthless.
" (CouxwAM.is) — You shall uotdepart this autumn.

" (CoitNWAi.i.is)— You " " " tillafteryou

have sown your tlclds.
" (CottNWAt.Ms) — You shall not depart without

passports.

iud

:ird
4lli
r>th

ah
7th

8th

mh
luth

nth

After thLs hist siibterfiige, they now were prisoners,
kept in th^iir country in spite of tlieniselves^ herded like
a lot of cattle awaiting the butcher's plejusure. Does
not this atford strong presumption that, when Lawrence
wrote the Lords of Trade, ''it would be better that they
were away," he had not in view a free exodus but a
deportation such as really took place ?

376

FKENCH MISRULE.

( HAPTER XXIV.

Situation of the Acndiaiis at B«'aust'jour — Venality of Vergor
and tli«' French oftieers — Le Loutre.

'J'HK linn; lias iiinv roiiie lo review briefly the priii-
eij»ul events that had occurred within the hust few years
at Heansejonr on French territory. I liave ahcady
sjtokcn (if the efforts Le Lontre liad made to force the
Heanl)assin Acadians lo c »ss the frontier. lie then
lia<l a promise from the (Jovernor of Canada that tlutse
wlio sliouhl eniiirrate from Knjjlish territorv woulil
receive compensation for their h>sses. A line of (Hkcs
Wi\s to l)e constrncted that wonld provich- f(»r the
iiiajority of them excellent farms ready for tillage.
Unfortunately Le Louin;*s efforts seem to have het-n,
for a lon<j^ time, frustiated by the extortions and venality
of tlie Fi'ench oflicers. France was then traversing one
of the most shameful epochs i)f her history. She was
takinjif all available roads to ruin. Kvery incentive to
great movements and noble undertakings, whatever had
hitherto conunandcd respect and provoked entluisiasm
was fast disappeaiing under the polished irony of gentle-
manly scamps whose wh amused France and stood to
hei' instead of glory. There wiis pulling down without
building up. All that had l)een the strength of France
was wasting away In'fore this destructive blast, and
nothing remained but the wilderness it created. Plea-s-
ure was the standard of all things. The example Wiuj

I.K LOl'TUKS THKE-BriIJ>l>'(5.

•'?:

set l)y tli«? tliroiH' mid iiiiitatiMl in tliu liigher ihu».ses of
.society. In this nuulcap race after sensual deli^'lits tlio
ti-easury, carelessly guarded, lx}canie a j)rey to favorites
and venal hangei-s-on.

In Canada Intendant liiy;ot was tin* vampire wliicli,
sucking tlu' life-hlood of France, was rapidly huiiying
lier to ruin and«lislionor. Not content with his perxmal
delinquencies, he incited his fiiends to siniilai- pti ti-
liitions. Thus he wr<»(e to V'ergor, commandant at,
Heausdjour : •• Make \\\v Ijest of your position, my dear
Vergor ; shear and pare to your heart's content, so as to
join me one day in Frances and Iniy yourself a man>ion
near mine.*' As might well Ik; supposed this invitation
to ]>illage was sure to tind a response in that venal
wretch, and so the jjromise of assistance to the emigialed
Acadians wa.s made void. In the face of all these
«)l»stacles Ke Loutie went to France for the lu'lp li»^ so
mui'h needed. A sum of lifty thousand francs was
conlided to him, and on his return dike-huildinir was
vigorously pushed. To prote(^t himself against the
venality of middlemen, he personally j>rocurcd tlu;
neces.sary provisions and distributed them to the Acadian
workei^s. This is. I hclicve, what atTorde<l a pretext for
th«.* charge that Le Loutie was engaging in connmMcial
transactir)ns on his own account. Tht^ otl^icers. whom
lie Wits thus balking in their attempts to defraud the
treasury, were naturally very jealous of his great
inrtuence. They nmst hav«; dreaded an«l hated him.
This Ixiing the case, one understands I'ichon's savins;:
" He had so ingratiated himself with the Manjuis de la
(Jalissionniere that it became a crime to write against
him."

Oddly enough, I'arkman has failed to give publicity

878

nKArHF:.ioL'it acaihaxs.

to this clmixf <>t uiiiniestly truHic. l'erliai»i he wan not
aware of it, fur I'iehon, I think, does not mention it.
Or |u'rhii)>s I'aricnian'H silence may l)e due to the fa(;t
that hi' liad found means to im[)licate him in a murder,
compartMl to which the peddling of wares hy a priest
became a mei'e ()eccadillo.

The funds did not arrive till the autumn of 17r>8, too
late to Inigin operations that year. So far, little had l)een
done to allav the distress of the emigrated Acadians.
They led a mther miserable existence, working some-
times foi- the French of lieaus<!jour, sometimes for tht!
English of Fort Lawrence, in full view of the lields
they had watere<l with their sweat and where they hud
spent hapj»y yeais in phiiityand pj'^ace. Their lot wouhl
have Ik'cu nuue endurable had there been any [)rospe»t
of stability in the future ; but the part of the (jountrv
offered thiMU was <lisi)Uted territory. The Connnissicju
appointed to settle tlii^ frontier line Avas then sitting: it
might decide that their new lauds belonged to Kugland ;
in whicli case thev would have either t(» no into exile
once more and face its concomitant tribulations and dis-
tress or to accept conditions tlioybad just rcfust-d at the
costof tlic greatest sacrifices. Tlic circumstanccsof tbeir
•Icpaiturc, their forced ex[>atriation after the destruction
of their dwellings, wore so many overwhelming memo-
ries. 'IMie storm which Cornwallis bad raised about the
(Kitli had long since been lulled. Their relatives, their
brothers, their friends of (riand Pre. I*igiguit and
Annapolis were no longer molested. They dwelt in
tranquillity and abundance as in the happy days before
the foundation of Halifax. They were once more
l»eginning to hope that the <iuestion of the oath wouhl
never again be raised. To Coinwallis, himself consider-

MKArsiJoriJ ACAIHANS.

379

uhly hnmuni'/.t'd during the hiMt two yuurs of his adniiiiiii'
trutioii, had sii((«>cded a kindly iind Hyinputlielic nmii,
the piuise of whost* intentions and actions was in every
lunuih. Tlie combined result of all their surroundinjjs
was an increase of feai- on the one h»nd und of regret on
the other. Many crossetl over with their families and
their cattle to \\v Saint-Jean (Prince Kdward Island).
There at least, if they took up land, they ran no risk of

ito the state of affii

k'hich had h

relapsing into
alH)Ut their departure: for the island was incontestahly
French soil ami not disputed. Hut there als(» they
W(»iild havea precarious and dangiMous situation. This
islancl, being long and nan<»w. left them ever exposed,
in case of war, to the depredations of corsairs and to
the lu)rrors of an invasion. Jlowever no choice was
left to them, und so most of them preferred this alter-
native.

As \vc have seen, those who remained at lieatiscjunr
had addressed a petition to (Joveruor liopson, e\[ncss-
ing their tlesire to return to their fainis, prctvidcd they
wt'vc exempt from hearing arms. This [>roposal had
Itei'ii rejected. In the lirst monllis of his administra-
tion, when Lawionce ha<l not as yet conceived his sinis-
ter desJLrn. he had made overtures to them throuiih the
eomniandaiit of Fort Lawrence. lie had authorized
him to deel;ire that he had no intention, t(f pn-Kruf, of
ohliging them to hear arms. His guarantees were
deemed insuthcient.

Ill making a report to the Lords of Trade of those
)iegotiati(Mis, Lawrence said : " I was privately informed
that at their return, they were in a very ill humor with
I-.e l..outre and with the French commandant ; and that
they represented to them the hardshijis they liil)Oied

i\HO

rH'H<»N nS |,K l,«)rTi:K.

iimltT ill not iK'injj suflfi'iod to lui'ept tlu' proposals of
tlu? Knj^lish ill a rcnioiiHtrarice tliiit I am told was wry
little sliort of a mutiny." Tliis inl'ormatinn was I'ui-
iusIhmI liy I'ichoii.

Some iiinntlis lat(!r, when Ahlx' Daiidin was anvstcd,
IMelion, writing to Captain Srott, told him '•tlialtlif
affair of Ablii- Daiidin was making a great stir at ISean-
s<5joiir; tliat I^e lioutre had preaclu'd a very violent
sernioTi, in which lie aluised the Knglish, and showed
tlie Aeiidians what they could expect from a treacher-
ous nation whicli thus expelled a holy priest ; that the
same fate was in store f(»r tli«f other priests, and that, if
tliey recrossed tin; frontier, they would peiish niiserahU.
deprived of the sacraments and of the helps of thcii- re-
ligion. " Mr requested them — this is the suhstaiice nt'
IMchoiTs further statements — to meet at tin; ("onniiaii-
dant's after Mass, .saying that he liad to read to them a
letter from the fJovernor of Canada. Hut the refugees
did not come. M. de Vertjor twic»? sent a serm-aiit to
notify them. Only about twenty canus As tlie\
seemed loath to enter the house, the Commandant got
angry and ordered them to enter under [)ain of heing
]iut in iron^

The letter of the (lovcrnorof Canada.
which Piehon said was a forgery, was then read to them.
It promised various kinds of assistance. '• Vou must

know,"contLiiues Piehon, •* that, hist month, eiirhtv-thi

numhcr wiih

of tlie Acadian refuijees sent two of their

a p»'tition to the Ciovernor of Canada, in which they

requestc'd to Ik.' allowed to return to their farms, .seeing

that

we ciMild not srivc

thei

n sui

lal>l

e ones,

lose w

hich

\N<' offered tliem iM'iiig claimed liy the Knglish (tovcin-
ment. They furthei- said that the>- did not deem thein-
Belves releiised from the obligations of their oath of

ninl'llKTir AI.AIIM.

381

fiilelity to tin' Kln^' (tf CJiviil niitaiii, mid tliiit tlicy
wnc thiTutt'iu'd with the jmnislinu'nl (»!' rebels should
they he taken iinioiij,' the French."

It is ini[i()ssihle for nie either to contriidiet or to eon-
liiin these assertions of Piehon. T quote liiiu because
what li»; relates is not unlikely; on {\\v contrary, his
story is (|uitt' in kcepini,'' uith the idea I hav(^ formed of
the situation and of l,e I.outre's motives. Theie is this
contrast In'tweeu I'ichon's accusations anent tlie Howe
uujrder and bis j»resent testimony that he is now on the
sjiot at neaus^jonr, and therefore able to bo thoroughly
well-informed. In this ciuse he seems to liuvc had no
motive for lyini;-.

Alter the excitement (laused l)y (^ornwallis's eon<bict
on liis hunling at Halifax. Lo Louti'(( had eonsich'rabjy
cooled down, m(»st probably because tlie danger In; had
foi'cstvn liad, for the time bein^;, disappeared. Hut when
he saw that Hopson was not coming back, and that
Lawrence, whom he had had occasion to know, became
tituljir governor and was already yielding to liis erne!
instincts, he once more took alirm. Ami when his
colleague Daudin was <b'agged to Halifax and con-
deuuied to (piit the country, no doubt his impetuous zeal
found in this incident all that was needed to set it
atlame. Fi'om his point of view, and I am inclined to
think it was the right one, Daudin was a victim of per-
.secution. This was, as I'ichon makes liim sa}', the
beginning of a regime which would soon deprive the
Acadians of their priests and of the free exercise of
their religion. Was he mistaken ? Certainly not, and
this certainty increases in the light of subsequent events.
He knew enough of Lawrence's character to suppose
him capable of any crime. Of course Le Loutre's ini-

3H2

I'KOPHKTIC ALAKM.

jtulsivoncHs, liis religious uiithusiaHin — some would say.
Ills faiiiiticiHin — might (;loud his l)cttcr ju(lgn)(!Mt aiul
make him scu intcntinns that did not exist, or at least
«'xaL,'gerat«5 them; hut I am jonvincu'il that, Cassainlra-
like, he saw elearly the woes that were to whelm tilu-
Aeadian people, if the FruiM'h wtire dislodged from their
lioM oil the Hay of Fundy. Ahhe he (Juenie, who was
also a missionary n»'ar Hisius^jonr on the French side.
without sharing he houtre's ardor and vehemence,
thoroughly shared his fears. \\v himself tells jis that
he lioutre, after the taking of iJcjaus^'jour, and on leav-
ing the country, strongly urged the Aeadiaiis to Ikj
suhmissive towards the English, in order, if possible, to
avert thu niisiurtunes which hu saw threatening thum.

A FOKGEl* LKTTKK.

383

CHAPTKK XXV.

Pic'hon's letttT |)r<)V(ik«'H an <-\|M'<liti*>ii iin'»''Jf*t rU'iiUM«'jour— Pif|i-
arutiuiiH in Now Kngluiui— Moiiktoii. ajtsistcil liy liit'Utciiaiil-
t'oUdiflH WiiiHlow atxl Srott, aiiivcH al Fnrt lijiwrciicf with
U,<KK) iiii'ii, June Slid. 175r>_(:onHt«»ni .'.'"U of till' Frcncli aial
weakneHHof tli«>K»<°>'i!^')i> — AKsiHtantt' ini|> «Mil)lt' — SicK'' "' Fttaii-
Ht'jour — TIh' Acailians ifl'iiHc lu-li) — Tiirn' liinidrcil an- lun -d
to take lip arms— Capitulation-- .e Loutn-H (V,,lii— Piclion
claims his reward — What KiiK'nii-. owes to th • Acadians.

nri.MNo till! iiuiumii pn'ci'iliii;^ tlf liiptiirf ••!' lii'iui-
s^^jmir, IMchoii romiiiimiciitcd tit ( aptiiiii lliissi-y, tlu'ii
(toniniiinding at Knit Liuvieii'M', a Ictti-r supposi'il to
liavi' lu't'ii aililrt'sst'd to Im Loiitro In I)iii|iH!siu-, (iov-
einor of Canada, in whioli wis the t'ollowiiitr : "J invite
yon and M. dti Vingor to seek a [)laM.sil)|i' piiitext for a
vigorous attack on the Knglisli.'* Ilnsscu wlicii tians-
niitting this letter to Captain Scott, cnmncrated at
some length the reasons for which he helieved that it
nmst have })een fabrieated bv IMchon himself.* Yet,
three weeks later, Lawrence wrote to Shirley :

" BtiiKi ifill hiforiiiiil that the Froiich havo dosignsof purroiirhin;;
still fartlicr iii)on Ills Majesty's right in this Provinee, and that they
propose, the iiiouient they have repaired tlie fortitications of Louis-
burg, to attack our Fort at Chigiiei'to (Fort Lawrenee), I tliink it
high time to make some effort to drive them from the north side of
the Bay of Fundy."

* See Chapter XVI.

384

A COMPIiETK sriJI'iaSE.

Under other cireumstiinces Lawrence would have
hesitated to base an iniporUmt decision u[)ona letter the
spuriousness of which was demonstrated to him hy solid
arguments ; hut, in view of the projects he enteitaincd,
he now thought it advisable to seize the opportunity and
to act as if there were no doubt as to the contents of
that letter. I Fe said Ik; was " widl informed," for he knew
that this would be ([uitc enough to make Shirley, whose
ardent natui'c was cousin-german to his own, chime in
with him and help him Avitli all his might. Nor was lit*
mistaken. Sjiirloy immt'diatcly resolved to levy 2,000
men in New England for an ex[)edition destiiKul to dis-
lodge the Fi'ench from their strongholds on the istlnnus
the following sj)ring. I*rej)aralioiis wei'e pushed on
with vigoi'. and tin; lleet, comprising thirty-three vessels
under the oi'dfrs of Colonel Monkton, assisted by
luieutenant-(;olonels Winslow and Scott, appeared befoie
Fort Lawi'cnce on the 2nd of June, ITr)').

There is reason to believe that the letter sent by
Pichon to Ilussey as if it canii' from Duquesne, was
really, as Ihissey thought, "of Pichon'sown comjjosing;"
for, since the preceding autunui. the French had done
nothing to give a color of likelihood to this letter. Tlu!
Indians wei-e quieter than tliev had been for a long
time. The garrison of lieansejour had not been rein-
foi'ced and nnndxM'cd hardly 100 soldiers : the fortihea-
tions had not been improved. At the very moment
Avhen the fleet aj)peared at the entrance of the Bay,
Le L<nitre was busily engaged in the building of those
dikes that were to ensure farms to the Acadians. So
skilfully and secretly- had this expedition been organized
and conducted that its appearance before the fort was
the first intimation of the danger that threatened the

|i '

DE vp:iu;oii s vain thukats.

:;«;>

Frencli. Altliough the two nations were, ostensibly at
least, on terms of peaee, tlieie was no mistaking- the
])Uipose of this display of force : and great was the
consternation at Beansejour, whieh liecanie (greater still,
a fe'W days afterwards, when it was leali/.ed thai no
assistance eonld Ik; ho[)ed for from Cape Hrelon: for
English vessels werc^ (•rnisin<r heforc; Lonishnri"-. and to
forct; the blockade i:i order l.o assist lieaiisejonr wonld
expose Lonisbnrg- to be taken b}- snrprise. 'riitic were,
it is trne, on lim I'"'rench side of the frontier, from twelve
to lifteen hundred Aeailiaiis able' to bear arms, and this
was ([uite enough to hold the besiegers in cheek and
pei'haps to make; the ex[»edition a failure ; but foi!uan\-
reasons De Verg'or could not count nj)oii them.* '^i'hose
who had always lived in this [)art of the couiiliv. and
they were (he majority, were undoubtedly Freneli sul»-
jects. So were also those who, in C'ornwallis's lime or
later, had chosen to emigiale ; on their arrival they had
taken tlie oath to the French government; but Law-
rence, knowing tlieir dispositions, had shrewdly ]»layed
U})on their feelings by signifying to them that the}-
.still remained British subjects, and that, should they
ever be taken in arms airainst Kniiiand, thev wiMild be
treated as ivbels. lie knew that this detdaration. how
absurd soever it was from a legal point of view, would
trouble their consciences and give them scruph's of
which he would take advantage. These scruiiles coupled
Avith his threats would produce the desired effect.

Do Vergor issued severe orders, conniianding all able-
bodied Aca<lians to re[)air without delay to the fo]t for

I !

* D(> V(>rf;;iii', in ii li'ttor tn M. clc Pruciiui-t tin- |irocoiliiif,' yi'ar. saiil that
ill east' of attack he could uut rely na tin? asbistaui'oof tliu At'adiaiis, wLdiu
tln' Eiiglifili iutimidatoil l,>y their throiit.s.

< \'

:J«t;

I.K SIKCK 1)K VKI.nllis.

eiilistiiu'iit ; I)Mt, llioiij^h his oidi-rs weiv repoalud and
iici'OMipaiiit'fl l)y threats, tht-v li'iiiiiim'tl deiif to his cnm-
niaiids: '• lie sent them orders U[»on orch'i's," says Mur-
doch ; "• they aiiswensd that lie shouhl have used them
l)etter when (hey wei-e in his j»o\ver." De N'eri^oi'eoidd
t,'et tojifether only ahout three hundred of those who,
havinn" no homestead, lived in Foit lU'ausejour, and,
rei'eivinn' rations fiom the (lovernment, were under its
eontrol. Hut even they, in the straits to which they
were I'educed, with a view to |trotecl themselves anainsl
disaster, stipulated that the orders should he repeated in
writing-. This force was insullicient for a long- resist-
ance, esj)ecially as two thirds of it were men who had
never done military duly, and, what is worse, were
lighting unwillingly under c(»m[)ulsi()u of the most tei-
rihle threats. ^ Many of the Acadians," Murdoch a(hls,
'•escajx'd from the Fort, hut seventeen of them were
caught and hrought hack."

Nevertheless, had the chief heeu hrave and deter-
uiined, it would hav(.' still heeu possihle to make a line
stand and save the honor of France ; hut the defence was
most mi.serahle : nothing- that I know of in the military
annals of that nation ai)proaehes, in point of stupidity
and cowardice, the conduct of this siege, which the
French themselves derisively jueknamed " the velvet
siege." With Vergor ami his kinsman and accomplice
De N'annes, the g^reed of gold had .stifled every feeling
of honor and patriotism. Their only care .seems to have
been to save their ill-gotten gains an<l their precious
persons. Without waiting for the investment of the
fort, without any deadly tight, despite the protests of
Le Loutre and some officers, De \'ergor made overtures
to Colonel Monkton, and on June ItJth, only fourteen

THK riJKNCII WITHIMIAW.

8»7

days after the arrival of the ex[)edition, Beaus>djour
capitulated on the foUowin*^ terms : *

*' 1st. The cunimandant , otticors, staff and otliers, omployod forthe
Kin^, and the garrison of li«>aust>j<)iir, sliall gc) out with arms and
baggage, drums beating. 'Jud. The garrison sliall b«! sent direct by sea
to l^ouisburg, at. tlie expense of tin- King of (Weat iiriiain. ;!ril.
The garrison shall have provisions sutHeient to last until thfiy get to
]iOuisl)urg. 4th. As tit thr Antdions, as fhii/ nun: /orrcd (n hear
iiriiiK iiii<li-r fiiNii <)(' ilf'iilli. tlii'i/ xlidll lir jiiiriliitifit. .')th. The garri-
son shall not bear arms in America for the space of six montlis.t

" Ko»KRT MONKTOX.
" At THK r.\MP ni'.FOIlK BKAt'S^.rOlJK.

" Kith June, IT-'w."

This capitulation involved at the same time that of
Fort Ga.si)ereaii on Bay Verte. This latter was de-
fended hy a mere handful of soldiers and ^va^^ strictly
sjieaking, only a storehou.se for provisions and ammuni-
tion. Vergor ordered M. de Villerai. the commandant,
t<^) surrender his fort ; which he <lid a few davs later.
I'eausejour was mmcdiately occupied hy the Knglish
troops and its nan. ; changed to that of ('und)erland. In
tlu! course of the ton days that followed the ca[titulation,
all the Acadians came one hy one to surrender their arms
to Colonel Monkton. Not long afterwards the French
also evacuated the fort of the River St. John ; thus there
remained no vestige of French domination north of
the Bay of Fundy, except the trading posts at Mirami-
chi and on the Cfulf coast in the neighhorhood of Bay
<les Chaleurs. Le Loutre had [)rudently slipped off

* B<>for«? th(! overtures for a siuTondcr a Ixjiulj thrown by tlii- I.i->i.-gfrs
fel! on one of the casemates that was usimI as a prison, and l<ill -d f.mr
J'renchnieu and Mr. Hay, an English clTlccr who was a |)risuni'i-. This
olTlci'r had l)ceu captured some days liefm-e by the Itidiaiis. wh') wt-re t;i't-
tiuK ready to sciilp him wlien he was snateiie<l from tln-ir liarids hy an
A<*adian named IJrassard ami led tutlie Pott, wiicri- !)«• was vi'ry kindly
tn'ated.

t Document omitted in tbo volurao of the Archives.

888

ncnox I'LK.vns koi; iwv.

before' the oceupiitioii ol" Fort lieaiisojour, and on liis
way to Quebec, tlii'ou<^li tlu; solitudes of the St. John
River, h(.' had leisure to meditate on the instability of
liunian aft'aiis. Fioni Quebec he endKiiked for France
in ihe foUowint;' August: but another niisfoitune awaited
jiiin : the ship he was on was taken at sea by the Fng-
lish, and he was imprisoned in I'ili/abeth Castle in the
Isle of Jersey, whence he di<l not recover his freedom
till eight years later on the conclusion of the peace.

The captui-e of lieaus^^jour was really I'iehon's work.
It was the letter of T)u(|uesne, whether true or forged,
that gave rise to the expedition. According to a j)re-
vious agreeujent between him and Captain Scott, instead
of accom[)anying the l'"'rench garrison to Louisburg. he
was held [)risoner for some time at Ueansejour. then
sent to Foit JMlwaid at l*igiguit,and tiuallv to. Halifax,
where lit^ remained a[>parently a prisoner, in order that
he nii'»ht minole with Ihe French oflicers who weie
already there or who would be biought thither, and leain
the secret plans of the French.

It was time for him to claim the full price of his serv-
ices. The memorial he addressed on this subject to
the rrovernor's secretary bears, as may well be supposed,
the stamp of Ids baseness and cupidity. Men of this
kind can hardly possess aught else than second-rate
skill, ingenious enough, perhai)s, in the [ilaying of their
vile parts, but puerile and lame when they have to seek
theii' own interest, for then all the vileness in their
make-up oozes at every pore. Pichon's memorial con-
tains, together with nnich s^^cophancy, a long enumera-
tion of liis sewices and losses : " I have lost," he says.
"a fine future witli m\' countrymen, in order to attach
myself to the fortune of a nation which I loved, and which

I'ICHON I'LKADS H)|; I'.W.

:1S9

1 knmr tn Jtc t/ic most i'i(tx.i>n'.il>h uml tin' most ijcneraiOi of

nUthoxi' that exixt in /mf/i Jn-mixpherts ^[l■. Scott

liad idoinistMl that he would sunoinid mo with comrort
and case. Am 1 not now warranlod in desiriiiir the
fulfdiiuiiil of those promises, hy seeming for myself a
xolid and (i(h'(vtttti/co)is position '/ . . . Kindly boar in
mind that I had a good soeial status in !•' ranee, where I
still own propeity. Tin; Court had charged me witli ....
Tiieso jiosts would have been V(,'ry profitable; I have
had to give them up, as well as all I have in Fianee,
Mhither I nuist never think of returning. I have lost
the extensive 2)i'oi)eity I liad bought near Fort IJeau-
sejour. moreover two liouses and gardens on a very liiu^
site. By the taking of this fort I have lost two valuabh;
hoisi's. a (luantity of piovisions, furniture, linen, clothes,
books and <i f/ioiisainf i/niin'ftK xto/r/i front iiw

•• There are eireumstanees when a man should bo
allowed to s[)oak in praise of himself, and when it is his
interest to make himself known and lo direc^t attention
to the services he has rendered. . . .

•• I am well aware of all the power the Admiral wields
and of the advantages 1 niay hope for fiom his illustrious
patronage and fiom that of His Exeelloney the (Jover-

: the honor of a reeommendation

•y

from them to Cieueral Sliirlo}-, as Tvell as to the other
governors of the English piovinees, in oider to invit(;
them to exercise their generosity by doing good to the

inosf ili-voti'ij of mv

n m

le serviee of the vixext of un-

to ns ,

The main point would be to beg theii- Excel-
lencies to giant me their jtowerful patronage at the Court
of England and Avilh the Prime Minister, in order to
obtain special favors for me. I am pretty well stricken

31W

srnuKNiJKi: uvi: to akcadians.

in yeiirs uiid liiivu lejiclictl an age when mu'x neiih /'fcj/nr
ycneraUif ///•l7/^'/^"

Among .servifesiendeied, I'iehon ineniionedliisluiving
biouglit about the surrender of H(,'ausdjour, by persuad-
ing tlie Aeadians that were in the fort to refusL' to
fight at all and to insist on inunediate surren(K'r.
Although any assertion of I'iehon's earries very little
weight, es[)eeially when, as in this instanee, it was jiis
interest to make the most of his serviees, still, with due
allowanee for his bragging about his inlluenee in the
matter, his anirmalion may Avell be true as to the
Aeadians refusing to light, a faet whieh eoidd easily be
verilied at the time and which is sustained by nuieh
other evidence. If so. as we already have i>roof that
the great majority of the Aeadians refused to iicar
aims, we may also rest assured that those who, under
})ressure of cruel threat.s when they were absolutely at
tlie mercy of the authorities, consented to enlist, did,
by refusing to tight at the critical moment, bring about
the surreiuler of Beausejoui-. Ah to the Ai'dtfimix, said
that article of the capitulation which concerned them,
an the// irere forced to hearun/ix under jmin nf tJenth, tln-if
are pardoned.

All this proves that Lawrence was not mistaken wlu'ii,
at the begimiing of his administration, he wrote to the
J^ords of Trade concerning the Aeadians who had emi-
grated : '"• I believe that a very large part of them would
submit to any terms rather than take up arms on either
side.'' Lawrence knew them well and could make correct
forecasts with respect to their future conduct. And yet
this opinion of Lawrence seems strange. Why should
they not have taken up arms for the French ? Wert;
they not subjects of France and as such had they not

LAWKKNCKS ("OlIKKCT l-OUKCAST.

391

tilt' light to .serve liei cause / Uiuloubtedly. Tlie
greater part of tliem had dwelt tor generations in this
jiart of tlie country ; the leniaindei- were those to whom
C'ornwallis, revoking the ooniproniise of l|30, had given
the choice between an unrestricted oath and departuie,
that is, the choice between English and Frendi alle-
giance. " My friends," he had said, " the moment that
you have declared your desire to leave and snf>niif t/our-
xelf to unothi-r Gorcnimi-nf, our di'termination was to
hinder nolwdy." Even had he not made this <leclaration,
it is evident that, by levoking the condition of their
stav, he set them free to dei)art, and. once <M»ne, as soon
as they dwelt on French territory, they l)ecame French
subjects. It mattered little that the jnirt of the country
where they took refuge was then dis[)Uted by the two
crowns. The telling fact was that it was then occupied
by France; this was enough to settle the (juestion of
their French citizenship in virtue; of the nu)st elementary
principles of the law of nations and esjjcciall}' of the
diplomatic formula vfi jinxs/'iji-fix. IIow, tlien, could
Lawrence, in the teeth of this evident right, l)elieve that
they would not take up arms against him ? Simply
because he knew that a cpiestion of this sort, clear
enough in itself, would not appear to them clear enougli
to satisfy their conscience ; that the scruples that would
l>eset them v.'ould sufTice to keep them from acting ;
that the oath they had formerly taken and the liabit of
looking upon themselves as British subjects would be a
powerful deterrent ; that long years of peace had made
them lose the taste for fighting ; and that, by taking up
arms, they would provoke their tyrannic oppressor to
wreak his fury on their brothei-s of the Peninsula. To
make his belief a certainty, Lawrence had taken care to

3^2

ACADIANS DKSKUVK (JKATITUDE.

issue ii proL'liiinatioii in wliicli lie wiuned tlieni tlmt they
still reiiiiiiiied British suhjeets, that they were not re-
leased from their oath of lidelity, and that, should they
be taken armed, they would he treated as rehids.

Lawrence's forecast was fully conlinued. I)esj»ite
the efforts and threats of the Freueh, out of lifteeii hun-
dred Aeadians only three hundred took up arms, and,
even of these, several deserted : linally those who re-
mained refused to liyht, and lieausejour had to cajutu-
hite.* To an impartial ohservi-r these Aeadians would
seem to have won for tluMuselves, not merely the par-
don which the eajiitulation i^rauted them, hut tlic eter-
nal gratitude of l^n^land lor the territoiy, the picstige
and the glory they had hrought lier. At any rate the
ofli(ual pardon in the deed of surnmch-r should have im-
plied perfect inununity from annoyance for iinything
that might have hai)i)(Mied in tlui [)ast. "We shidl see
that it was not so, and that, for want of valid motives,
Lawrence made the events just related serve as pre-
texts for the de[)oi'tation of the Aeadians of the Penin-
sula. Ilenee the importance, on the reader's part, of
deeply fixing these events in his menioiy; tlu-y will
helj) him to understand subsecpient develo[)jnents.
Aleaiiwhile, the conduct of the Aeadians on either sich)
of the frontier shoidd he separately examined. I will
iirst take up the case of the Aeadians who remained on
English territory.

* Do Vorgor and Do VilloAy wcro brou>?ht tioforo a council of war at
Quebec, tlirue years later, oujaccount of their cowarilico at the sie^e «>t
Beausejour and ftas])er<Niu. '• I)i' Vorjjjor and l)i; Villeray," says /j^s
Mnnoiren siir If (Jantuld, "were diseharKod ; the rtrst explained his feeble
defence by the fact that tho Acadiaus refused to assist them and raised a
mutiny."

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