%. 1 . ^ the name ot Louis- iana to its valley and ncigiiboring regions.— Ho sails to France, and gives an account of his procoodlugg to the king, who receives him graciously 2AS \\\: CHAPTER III. This Mabsaore " t Laohinb.— 1682-1689. H. de la Barro succeeds to the Count do Frontenac— His partizan adminiBtration ; is inim- ical to La Sale.— War imminent; the " notables" convoked: augmented immigration proposed.— Two hundred men sent.— Colonel Dongan excites the Iroquois against the French.— La Barre lulled into security by those savages for a time; the Iroquois attack Ci^vecocur.— Dongan'8 hostility to the French thwarted.- La Barre takes the field tigaiust the Iroquois ; famine in his camp ; makes a ghamefhl peace with the savages.- Ho is recalled; and succeeded by the Marquis de Denonville.— Unlucky adminis- tration of Dononville ; ills attempts to exclude the Iroquois and English traders iVom the southern Laurentian region.- Meeting convoked of Iroquois chir^fs, in the English interest, at Albany : to prevent the asBcmbly, the Marquis treacherously seizes several Iroquois chiefs, and sends them as prisoners to France. — Magnanimity of the Iroquois. —The French attack the TsonnonthouanB, and burn their villages, to no usei\il pur- pose.- Foundation of Niagara.— Negociation for peace with the hostile Indians : perfidy of Le Rat, a Huron chief; the war continues.— Conquest of New York proposed.— Deceitful calm among the Iroquois, followed by the massacreofLachine.— Denonville recalled.- "War between Franco and England.— M. de Frontenac sent to replace Denonville: vigorous and successful administration of the former 368 N CONTENTS. BOOK FIFTH. CHAPTER I. Tni. Akolo-Amkhioan Colonies,— 1600. Preliminary notioofl.— To porsccutiouB in the mother country must bo attributed the rapid increase of population In tim EngllHh colonloH of America.— Foundation of Vir- f(inia, afl a royal colony.— The London uud UriMtol Companies.— Captain John Smith and other early governors of Virginia.— Yicisititudea of that colony ; first introduction of female emigrants and how disposed of, with observations ttieroon.— Foundation of Maryland, as a proprietary colony, by Koraan Catholics.— Fair character ot its founder, Lord Uultlmoro.— Colonisation of New England.— A few notices of the Puritans.- The "Pilgrim Fathers," and their expedition ; they land on tho " Kock," and found the colony of Now Plymouth.— Settlement of Massachusetts Bay.— The eA-pfTsrcutcd become persecutors in their turn.— Nature of tho three forms af govornmoi.' tab- lislied in the diiTcrent English colonies.- Account of tho early commercu of J. tisb America.— Tho New England plantations lose tlicir chartered rights for a time ; but thoso are renewed, soon after the Uovolutionof 1688.— Concluding reflcot'r vt 290 CHAPTER II. The SiEbB or Quebec .—l''>^1696. League of J "sburgh formed against Louis XIV: which Britain Joining, active war fol- lows bctwctu the colonists of New France and tho Anglo-Americans.— Dispropcu a of tho belligerent relative forces.— Plan of the French operations agaii.st the british poBsossions.-Intended conquest of New York; it proves unfeasible, and is abandoned.— Miserable state of Canada and Acadia.— Vigorous administration of M. do Frontenao. —First hostilities ; two British vessels captured.— Pemaquid taken by the Abenaquis. —Schenectady sacked.— Destruction of Semontels.- Fort Casco taken and razed.— Wavering polity of the western tribes of Indians.— Raids in Canada by tho Iroquois; they arc well resisted by the French colonists.— Retrospective Notices of Acadia.— Sir William Phippg captures Port-Royal ; he attacks Quebec, but is repulsed, and retires.— General Winthrop advancing simultaneously by Lake Georgo to Join Phipps, has to retreat also.—Disasters befall the fleet of Phipps.— Humiliation of the Anglo-American colonies ; their exhaustion, as well as that of Now France, at this time.— The Iro- quois and the Abenaquis ; their depredations.- Major Schuyler defeated by M. de Varennes.— Now project of the British for taking Quebec ; it proves abortive.— Expe- ditions of the French (in 1693 and 1696) into the Five Cantons.— Tho Miftmis and the' Iroquois at war.— Canada, now secure within its own limits, the colonists prepare to wage war in their enemy's territories.— Credit for tho favorable state o affairs in Canada chiefly due to the wise measures of Do Frontenac— Intrigues of his enemies in France SIO CHAPTER III. Newfoundland aitd Hudson's Bay.— 1696-1701. Continuation of the war: The French resume the offensive.- D'Iberville captures Pema- quid.— Description of Newfoundland; earliest French ecrr.blishments there.— The Governor and D'lberrille combine their forces.— Misunderstandings and reconciliation of these functionaries.— They take St. John's, and ravage other English settlements. —Winter campaign.— Notices of the Hudson's Bay Territory.- Departure of D'Iber- ville; various contests in which he was engaged.— A shipwreck.- Hudson's Bay cleared of the enemy.— Advantageous situation of New France.— Projected conquest zu HISTORY OP CANADA. of BoBton and New York.— M de Nesmond eaila from Franco with a fleet for that purpoBo; delays occurring, the project is abandoned.— Feace ensues by the treaty of Eyswick (1697).— Disputes betwoon France and England concerning their colonial itontiers— M. do Frontonac refuous the intermediation of Lord Bellamont in Bottling with the Iroquois.— Death and|charactorof M. de Frontenac— M. de Calli^res succeeds him as governor-general.- Peace of Montreal (1701) wtb all the tribes of aborigines. —Discourse of Le Kat, on tho ratification of the .treaty .—Death and funeral of that Chief.— Sketch of his character.. . : ; BOOK SIXTH. CHAPTER I. ESTAnLISHMENT OF LOUISIANA.— 1683-1712. Province of Louisiana.- Louis xrv puts several vessels at the disposal of La Sale to found a settlement there. — His departure with a squadron : and mi6undcr8tanding.s with , his colleague, M. de Beaujou. — Ho misses the sea-entry of the Mississippi, and is landed in Matagorda bay, Texas.— Shameful conduct of Beaujou, who leaves La Sale and tho colonists to their fate.— La Sale builds two fortlets, and calls one St, Louis.- He explores several parts ot the country, to no good purpose, during sc roral mouths, and loses many ot ,his men.— Despairing of finding tho Mississippi, he FCt* out for the Illinois, in view of obtaining succor from France— Part of his companions murder • him and his nephow. — His assassins fall out; and two of their number killed by the others.— Joutel and six of the party, leaving the conspirators behind, reach tho Illinois. — Sad ffete of most of tho party left in the Texas territory.— D'Iberville undertakes to re-colonise Louisiana, and settles a colony at Biloxi (1698-9).— Appearance of the Brit- ish on the Mississippi.— Tho Huguenots ask leave to settle in Louisiana, but are refused. — D'Iberville demands free trade for his colony.— Illusive metallic riches of the country. — ^Tho Biloxians removed to Mobile in 1701.— The colony progresses apace.— Death of BI. d'Iberville.— An intendancy appointed, and its evil results.- Louisiana ceded to M. deCrozat. (1712) 366 CHAPTER II. Tkeaty of Utrecht.- 1711-1718. A French colony settled at Detroit.— Four years' peace.—" War of tho Succession."— Operations in America. — Neutrality in the western region : hostilities confined to the maritime provinces.— Trinal state of Acadia.— Quarrels among the western savages.- Kaids in New England by tho French and the Abonaquis.— Destruction of Dcerfleld and IIaverhill,(1708).— Colonel Schuyler's remonstrances on these acts, and M. do Van- dreuil's defence of them.— Captain Church ravages Acadia (1704).— Colonel Marck's two sieges of Port-Royal ; is repulsed in both (1707).— Notices of Newfoundland : hos- tilities in that island : M. de Subcrcase fails to take Fort St. John (1705).— M, do St. Ovido captures St. John (1709). — Further hostilities in Newfoundland.— The Anglo-American colonists call on the British government to aid them to conquer Canada ; promises made in 1709, and again in 1710, to send the required aid, but none arri^fes.— General Nicholson besieges and takes Port-Royal.— Tho articles of its capitulation diversely interpreted.— Resumption and termination of hostilities in Acadia.— Third attack meditated on Quebec, and double invasion of Canada; the Iroquois arm again.— Dis- asters of tho British maritime expedition.— Tho Outagamis at Detroit; savages' intents against that settlement; their defeat and destruction.— Re-establishment of Michilimaokinac.— Sudden change of ministiy in England; its consequences.— Treaty of Utrecht; stipulations in it regarding New France.— Reflections on tho comparative Btrength of France at this time and at tho death of Louis XIII 374 11 1 1 ! II li.; ..^ CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. CoiOHiZATiON OF Cape Bretos.— 1718-1744. Motives of tbe French Government for founding an establishment at Cape Breton.— Description of that island; its name changed to " Islc-Royale."— British Jealousies excited.— Flans ot Messrs. Raudot for colonizing the island and making it a trading entrepot (1706) —Foundation ofLouisbourg.— Notices'of the island's later colonization ; its trade, &c.— M. de St. Ovide succeeds M. de Costebello.— The Acadians, being aggrieved, threaten to emigrate to I'Isle-Royale.— Abortive attempt, in 1619, to colonize St. John's (Prince Edward's) Island.— A few notices of that isle I ••• 3011 BOOK SEVENTH. CHAPTER I. LA^^'8 System— CoHSPiBAcy of the Natchez.— 1712-1731. Notices of Louisiana and its inhabitants.— M. Crozat's monopoly.— Civil government reconstituted.- LaCoutumedeParisintroduccd as a legal cude.— Abortive attempts to originate a trade with New Mexico.— Traffic among the aboriginal tribes, shared with the British colonists.- The Natchez tribe exterminated by the French.— M. Crozat throws up liis trading privileges in disgust; they are transferred to the Western Com- pany, as re-instituted in fa /or of John Law and others.— Notices of this adventurer; rise, progress, and fall of his banking and coloni^ng schemes, known as the Mississippi system.— Personal changes in the colonial administration.- New Orleans founded, in 1718, by M. do Bienville.— New organization of the provincial government.— Immigra* tion of the West India Company's colonists ; the miserable Ikto of most of them. — Notices of divers French settlements.— War between France and Spain ; its origin and course.— Capture and re-capture ot Pensacola.— At the peace, the latter restored to Spain. — Recompenses to the Louisianian military a i>d naval officers.— Treaties with the Chickasaws and Natchez.- Hurricane oi Sept. 12, 1722.— Charlevoix recommends mis- sions, and his advice is adopted.— Louisianian trade transferred to the Company of the Indies, after the collapse of Law's company.— M. Perrior, a naval lieutenant, appointed governor of the province.— Most of the abor1p;inal tribes conspire to oxter^ minateall the French colonists. — The Natchez perform the first act of this tragedy, with savage dissimulation and barbarity, but too precipitately, happily for the remainder of the intended victims.— Stern reprisals of the French.- A few concluding words on the polity of the West India Company in Louisiana; which is fain to render up its modern privileges therein to the king 887 CHAPTER II. DiSCOVEBT 09 THE BOOKY MomtTAINS.— 1718-1744. State of Canada r reforms effected and projected by M. de Vaudreull.— Rivalry of Franca and Britain in America.— The frontier question, uncertain limits of Acadia.— The Abena- qnis territories.— Hostilities between that tribe and the New-Englanders.- Murder of P6re Basle.- Frontiers of western New France.— Encroachments on the Indian ter^ ritories.— Plans of MoKsrs. Hunter and Burr et.— Establishments, one at Niagara by the French, one at Oswego by tho British, are followed by complaints fl-om the former, protests from the latter.— Fort St. Frederic erected at Crown-Point, a deputation from New England vainly remonstiatea against this step.— Loss of the Chameau, French passage-ship, in the Laureniian waters.— Death of M. de Yaudreuil; Ui XIV HISTORY OP CANADA. cbsraoter.— M. de Boanharnals, appointed governor-geneiral, with M. Dnpnis as inten- dant.— Death of M. de St. Yallier, gocond bishop of Quebec; dissenBlons among his clergy about the interment of his corpse, which load to a complication of troubles, in which the civil authorities take part; the governor betraying his duty to the state, the clergy come off with flying colors.— Recall of M. Dupuy, who is thus made a scape-goat by the French ministry.— M. Hocquart nominated intendant.— Intolerance of the clergy of the cathedral of Quebec— Mutations in the episcopate for several years: nominations of Messrs. de Mornay, Dosquct, de I'Aube-Rividre, as third, fourth, and fifth bishops; appointment and settlement of M. Fontbriant as sixth prelate.— The Ontagamis' hostilities avenged on their allies.- Travels and discoveries of the Messrs. V^rendrye, in search of a route to the Pacific Ocean:— they discover the Rocky Mountain range.— Unworthy treatment experienced by the fkmily.— Appearances of war being imminent, M. de Bcauhamais takes precautionary measures, and recom* mends more to be adopted by the home authorities; the latter (as usual) repel or neglect his warnings.- -Anecdote, afibctiug the reputation of M. Van Benselaer, of Albany.. . 410 BOOK EIGHTH. CHAPTER I. COMMBBOE, Industbt.— 1608-1744. Canadian trade; evil effects of war upon it.— Its rise and progress: cod fisheries.— Peltry traffic the main branch of the commei^ce of Canada.— From an early date, tar trafiSc a monopoly.— Rivalry of Canadian and Anglo-American fur-traders.— Policy of governors Hunter and Burnet.— Non-intercourse laws of 1720 and 1727 ; their evil effects upon French colonial interests.— Various branches of Canadian industry in former times.— Canadian Exports, their nature.— Ginseng, notices of —Mining and Miner- als.— Quebec the great entrepot.— Manufkctures ; salt-works.- Posting commenced, in 1745.— Admiralty court; exchange for merchants.— Negro slavery in Canada.— Money of the colony, its nature, and depreciatione ^ 429 CHAPTER IL LouiBBOUBO.— 1744-1748. Coalitions of European powers for and against the Empress Maria'Thercsa, which event- uate in a war between France and Britain. -First hostilities in America.— Capo Bre- ton; Louisbourg, and its defensive works.— Expedition of Duvivier to Canso, &c.— Governor Shirley proposes to attack Louisbourg.- His plans disapproved of by the council, but welcomed by the people of New England, and adopted.— Colonel Pepper- el and admiral Warren, with land and sea forces invest the place.— Mutiny in the gai^ rison.- Mr. Vaughan makes a bold and succcsstXil night assault, and destroys garrison Btores.-Capitulation of Louisbourg; the settlers taken to France.— Project for invading Canada.— The duke d'Anville's expedition, and the work cut out for it to perform.— Of the disasters which attended it from first to last; the duke dies of chagrin, and hia successor in command kills himself.- M. de Ramsay menaces Annapolis.— Fart of his men attack and defeat colonel Noble and a corps of New Englanders, at Grand-Pr6- aux-Mines.— The American frontiers invaded in many places, and the country ravaged. Sea-fight near Cape Finisterre, and another at Belle^Isle; the French defeated in both. Count de la Galissonidre appointed interim governor of New France; the previona nominee, M. Jonquidre, being a prisoner in England.— Troubles with the Miftmia. — Treaty of Aix-lft>Clupelle, and its conditions.— Condadiag reflectioiu on the part war. iM HI! CONTENTS. XY CHAPTER III. The Fboktieb's Cohxisbion.— 1748-1766. The peace of Aix-lar-Chapello only a truce.— Britain profits by the ruin of the French war marine to extend the frontiers of her possessions in America.— M, de la Galis- 8oni6re, governor of Canada.— His plans to hinder the neighboring colonies from aggrandising themselves, adopted by the court.— Pretensions of the British.- Rights of discovery and possession of the French. — The limitary policy ot Galissoni^re ex> pounded and defended.— Emigration of theAcadians; part taken in their regard by that governor.— He causes several forts to bo raised in the west; founding of Og- densburg (1749).— The Marquis de la Jonqui^re succeeds as governor; the French ministry directs him to adopt the policy ot his predecessor.- De la Come and MiOor Lawrence advance to the Canadian isthmus, and occupy strongholds thereon ; t. e. , forts Beaus^jour, Gasparoaux, Lawrence, Dcs Klines, &c.— Lord Albemarle complains, at Paris, of French encroachments (1749); reply thereto of M. Puyrieulx.— The Fronch.in turn, complain of British hostile acts on sea.— The Acadians take rei\ige in St. John's (Prince Edward's) Island ; their miserable condition there.— Foundation of Halifax, N . S. (1749).— A mixed commission, French and British, appointed to settle disputes about the frontier lines; first conferences, at Paris, on the subject.— Pretensions of the parties stated and debated : difficulties found to be insurmountable.— Afiair of the Ohio; intrigues of the Britiuh among the natives of the regions around that river; intrigues of the French among those of the Five Nations.— Virginian traffickers arrest- ed, and sent as prisoners to France.— French and British troops sent to the Ohio, to fortify themselves in the country.— The governor-general at issue with certain De- moiselles and the Jesuits.— His mortal illness, death and character (1762).— The Mar^ quis Duqucsno succeeds him.— Afikir of the Ohio continued.- Colonel Washington marches to attack Fort Duquesne.— Death of Jumonville.— Defeat of Washington by M. de Villiers at Fort Necessity (1764) .—Plan of the British to invade Canada ; assembly of Anglo-American governors at Albany,— General Braddock sent from Britain with an army to America.— Baron Dicskau arrives at Quebec with four battalions (1765).— Negociations between the French and British governments on the frontier difficulties. —Capture of two French ships of war by admiral Boscawen.— France declares war against Great Britain 408 i BOOK NINTH. CHAPTER I. The Seven Years' Wab.— 1756-1756. Dispositions of mind in Britain and France at the epoch of the Seven Years' war.— France changes her foreign policy in forming an alliance with Austria ; which mutation only flattered the self-love of Madame do Pompadour.— Warlike enthusiasm in Great Britain and her colonies ; their immense armaments. — Small number of the Canadian forces.— Plan of the first campaign ; zeal of the Canadian people.— First operations.- Troops from Boston scour Acadia and capture Fort Beaus^Jour, &c. : cxilo and disper- sion of the French Acadians.— General Braddock advances towards For^ Duquesne ; M. de Beaujeu marches to meet him ; battle of the Monongahela ; the British defeated, and Braddock killed.— A panic ensues in the American colonies.— The Canadians and savages commit great ravages, and take many prisoners.— British corps formed to attack Niagara and Fort Frederic— Colonel Jobneon encamps at the head of Lake George. — Baron Dieskau attacking him, is defeated and taken prisoner.— General Shirley delays the siege of Niagara.— Results of the campaign of 1756.— Bad harvest in Canada; a dearth ensues.- British preparations for the campaign of 1766.— State of Canada ; succor solicited from France.— General Montcalm sent with a reinforcement of troops, arrives at Quebec in spring, 1766.— Plan of operations.— Disproportion of the forces of the two belligerent parties; invasions projected by the British 176 zvi HISTORY OF CANADA. CHAPTER n. Captttrb of Oswboo ahd Fobt William-Hbhkt.— 1756-1767. Alliances with tho savages; the Iroquois afibct a neutrality.— Military preparations.-^ Canadian bands afoot the whole winter of 1755-6.— Fort Bull razed, and an enemy's convoy of 400 bateaux dispersed.— Discord begun between the governor-general and Montcalm.— Siege of Oswego; the garrison capitulates; booty gained by tho victors; the savages kill many of the prisoners ; tho works of the place razed ; joy at its fkll in Canada.— The British suspend all f\irther operations in the field for the year; the savages ravage their pi ovincos.— The Canadians capture Grenville.— Dearth in Canada ; an arrival of famished Acadians, to make matters still worse.— Aid demanded from France.— Kapid increase of colonial expenditure.— Montcalm proposes to attack Acadia, rather than forts Edward and William-Henry .—Pitt obtains ministerial power in Britain. —Renewed efforts made by tho British government and people, in view of achieving American ascendency in 1767.— Abortive enterprise against Louisbourg. — Canadian bands afoot again during tho winter of 1757-8 ; exploits of M. Rigaud.— Succors arrive fh)m Franco; the alliance of the savages secured.- 8iege and capture of Fort William- Henry; massacre of many of the prisoners taken, by the savages; the works of the place razed.— Tho dearth in Canada becomes a fitmine; tho troops murmur at the privations they endure.— Disagreements become notorious among the colonial chiefk. —Varying fortunes of the F|ench forces in Europe, Asia, &c.— The British raise an army 60,000 strong, for their American campaign of 1768 604 CHAPTER III. Battlb or Cabillon (Tioondeboga).- 1768. Canada, left to her own means of defence, determines to fight to the last.— Plan of the Bri- tish campaign : proposed simultaneous attacks on Louisbourg, Carillon, and Fort Du< . quesnc.— Capture of Louisbourg, alter a memorable siege, and invasion of the island of St. John (Prince Edward's) ; the victors ravage the settlements of Gasp^ and Mont- Louis.— Defensive measures in Canada.— General Abercromby advances, with 16,000 men, on Carillon, defended by scarcely 3,500 French.— Battle of Carillon, fought July 8 : defeat and precipitate retreat of Abercromby.— Colonel Bradstreet captures and destroys Fort Frontenac— General Forbes advances against Fort Duquesno. — Defeat of Major Grant.— The French burn Fort Duquesno and retreat.— Vicissitudes of the war in different parts of the world.— Ministerial changes in France.— Dissidences between Montcalm and the governor.— Tho French ministry takes Bigot to task.— In- trigues for superseding M. de Vaudreull.— The ministry accept the self-proposed recall of Montcalm; tho king opposes it.— Conciliatory despatches sent to the rival chiefs, with knightly orders, &c., for them, and promotions of their subalterns; but accompanied by no soldiers or other substantial succors. — Defection of the French Indians, who at Easton adopt the British side.— British decide to advance upon Quebec, with three armies, to rendezvous under its walls.- Amount of Canadian force in hand to resist this triple invasion 628 EDITOR'S PREFACE. 604 As the following production, in English, of M. Garneau's " Histoire du Canada," is a moderately free, rather than a slavishly literal transla- tion of that work, a few prefatory remarks are by the Editor considered to be necessary for the information of his readers, more especially those who are not acquainted with the original. As regards the text, the tenor of the author's narrative has been scrupulously observed, although, in a number of places, some of his sen- tences have been abridged, in order to bring the volumes within a reason- able compass, no less than to make room for illustrative matter ; which latter is, for the most part, appended in supplementary foot notes, or in additions to the author's own notes. In both these cases, an initial B, superadded, plainly shows the amount of material for which the transla- ting editor alone is responsible. It is to be observed also, that a few passages have been intercalated even with the author's textual matter ; but in nearly all such instances, bracket marks [ ] define, typographically, the limits of sentences for which the translating editor needs to claim indulgence. Readers acquainted with M. Garneau's Histoire, and who may happen to compare the present translation of it, page by page, with the original, will discern at sight, the several retrenchments of its exuberances which have been ventured upon, as above indicated, in a good many pages ; not only so, but in a few chapters some substitutionary matter, of a more exact, or more complete, or more succinct character, occupying the place Vol. I. — B xvm editor's preface. Il ! of M. Garneau's. It will be for him and for his friends to judge whether the work has, upon the whole, gained or lost by the changes thus made ; which are, after all, chiefly modifications rather than super- cessions of the transmuted material. In very many instances, faulty figures have been corrected, wanting dates supplied, and vague indications elucidated, while translating. French-Canadian critics will please to remember — the editor would hint — that the present work had to be shaped, to some extent, to meet the reasonable expectations (but not to flatter the prejudices) of Anglo-Canadian readers; for whose special benefit the abridgments made and the illustrations appended are intended. Had the translator not taken some friendly freedoms with the text of his author, verbally speaking, the volumes would not be so " readable," for such, as the editor hopes those who peruse will find them. The editor earnestly appeals to his brethren of the Canadian Press, in hopes of a favorable estimation of the worth of the pains taken in the present case : this much, at least, he can safely say, that his labors have been conscientious in their nature at least, if necessarily of a subordinate character. ANDREW BELL. Jfoatreal, fthJulj, 1860. !i! I I !il!i! ■! ; w AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION, We present to the public a third edition of the History op Canada, from its discovery till the Union year, 1840. When wc began the work, we did not possess the ofl&oial correspondence of the French Governors with the Home Government, commencing with the foundation of Quebec, and ending at the Conquest. On the other hand, the accredited docu- ments we had regarding the after times of British domination, threw little upon our history. Since the time above adverted to, several compilations of historical pieces have been formed. We may adduce here, the Albany Collection, which the Legislature of New York has had translated and printed, under the care of Mr. O'Callaghan, author of an excellent history of the New Netherlands ; also the repertory of Canadian documents in the library of the Provincial Legislature ; likewise the official pieces given in the last two volumes of Mr. Christie's History of (British) Canada; finally, the collection of documents, regarding Canada, brought from Paris, or found among the archives of the Province, by M. I'abbd Ferland, of the archdiocese of Quebec. These precious acquisitions have enabled us to rectify sundry particu- lars not stated with sufficient exactness in either of our two preceding editions, and empowered us to speak with more certainty regarding sev- eral facts ; besides adding many curious details nut hitherto kuown. To put the public in possession of ameliorations necessary to make our work less imperfect, we have not hesitated to incur the cost attendant on issuing this third and improved edition. There are few countries in America concerning which so much has been written as Canada, and yet there are few so deficient as we arc in histories : for we are not to accept for such, several productions which take that name, which are merely memorials, or narratives of travellers and voyages ; such as VAmirique Septentrionale of La Potherie. During a long period, there appeared in France a host of printed pro- ductions, into which were carefully gathered all that was passing la XX HISTORY OF CANADA. I ! :' m ; ^1 li i !t Canada, then the arena of a sanguinary struggle between civilization and barbarism. These had, for the most part, small literary merit; but they contain a mass of remarkable and interesting materials, which caused them to be read in Europe with avidity. By degrees, however, as Cana- dian peculiarities became known, the interest excited by their novelty greatly abated, and the Province had ceased to attract much public attention in France, till it was invaded and passed under the yoke of an alien power. This change once eiFected, French writers who collected materials for our annals became more rare than ever. Among authors anterior to the Conquest, the most conspicuous is the famous Jesuit Charlevoix. The extensive plan of his book La Nouvelle France, the exactness of the facts he minutely reports, added to his simple and natural style, long ensured for him a high place in public estimation ; and he is, even yet„considered the best early historian of our country. If he listens too much to inspirations of a pious credulity, if his likings and dislikings occasionally lead him, in all honesty, into mis- estimations ; yet upon the whole all the learned admit, that he discourses of men and things with right judgment and sound discretion ; that he appreciates events with wisdom and impartiality ; while his relations with the Court of France procured him access to peculiar sources of authentic information. Under his pen our history, thitherto an imperfect sketch, took the proportions of a complete work. That he fell into some errors regarding Cartier's voyages and explorations, and a few other matters appertaining to our early annals, is not to be wondered at, considering that means for testing the exactness of what he wrote respecting those times were few and widely scattered. The precious materials he did possess must have been brought together with great care and cost ; for it was not then as now, that governments and legislatures consider it a part of their duty to form public collections, or to aid the efforts of indi- viduals to form such. We may cite as an example, what has been d jne in this regard by the British Government of our day, for illustrating he history of its American possessions. Still the history of Charlevoix comprises only the first moiety of the years which have elapsed from the foundation of Quebec till our own time. Neither does the aim or nature of his work apply to present circumstances, or harmonize, in its spirit, with our present political state. Written chiefly in an ecclesiastical view, it contains many digressions from the highway of history, to the side-path of missionary enterprises and experiences, which have long lost their interest, for a majority of readers at least. And again, the author, viewing things chiefly from a author's preface. HiXl French stand-point, enters into details which, perhaps necessary for the elucidation of his suhject to European readers, were and are superfluous to Canadians. Lastly, through lapse of time, much of his general mat*"- rials have ceased to repay perusal anywhere. The plan we had to choose necessarily occupied much of our attention, because the scenes of our historic actioli were many and lay widely apart, taking Quebec for the middle ground. Now although the present work is, in name, a history of Canada only ; it includes the annals of all the French Colonies on the continent of America, from their origin till the treaty of 1763. The unity of the viceroyalty of New France, and the relations maintained between its several territories, forbade our treating the subject otherwise than as a whole. Nevertheless, we do not always cause the events passing in others of France's American Provinces to run in pairs along with those reported, in order of time, as proceeding in Canada itself; for that would have been to raise a sense of confuscdness, rather than due order, in the reader's mind, through frequent temporary transitions, which it is ever fatiguing to follow. We therefore report, in separate chapters or sections, the events which passed synchronically in each dependent colony, wherever that is useful for clearness' sake : yet still keeping up a virtual unity in the collective composition. Among the subjects treated apart will be found, — notices of the abori- gines; accounts of the governmental institutions, civil and ecclesiastical, established at different times in the viceroyalty ; a relation of discoveries and explorations, early and late, &c. By this arrangement, a Canadian reader can skip, at will, such chapters of the work as may not interest him ; say, for instance, the notices it contains of Louisiana. While treating of the memorable epoch when constitutional government was established in this country, the mind naturally reverts to the earlier time of the Magna Charta, that first basis upon which British franchises were founded, and which have descended to us ; and we are especially interested in remembering, that to barons of Norman race did our second mother country owe its earliest free institutions ; to the operation of which she chiefly owes her present power and glory.* From the moment that Canada was endowed with a representative constitution, our annals have borne a double interest. No sooner did it begin to operate, than the feel- ings, tendencies, and peculiar genius of our people took an immediate * All the Barons who obliged John Lackland, King of England, to sign the great Charter, whether subscribed literally or in latinized form, have the appearance of being French names. Thierbt : Histoire dela Conquele de VAn- gkterre par Us Normimds. xxu HISTORY OF CANADA. II !l I 'I I I ! ill! ! ill! expansion, political struggles and the rivalries of race forthwith com- menced ; the executive and the people's deputies, in earnest contention as to the limits of their powers and rights, or for privileges always dis- puted : there was, we say, everything attractive in the animating spectacle of those bloodless jousts of human reason in action, which had for their object the amelioration of a country and the well-being of its people. But in proportion to the importance of this part of our task, will be the difficulty we shall have in treating it properly. * The destiny of Canada is dependent on the cause which we vindicate in this work ; namely, the conservation of our religion, our language, and our laws. By holding to the creed and maintaining the nationality of our forefathers, we perhaps are opponents of British pojicy, which has placed the two Canadas under one government, in view of causing the disappearance of those three great features of Canadian existence ; and it even may be, that in taking our stand upon the old ways, we incur the censure of such of our compatriots as wish to fall in with British views on this matter. In any case, we can conscientiously declare, that in whatever we have related, with or without comment, we have been actuated by no feelings of party hostility. We have only obeyed the impulses of our heart, by favoring a cause founded on all that is (or should be) sacred in the eyes of Christians and patriots. We are quite alive to the consequences which may result from our firm attachment to repudiated sympathies. We know that in reproving the decrees of an all-potent metropolitan state, we may be denounced on one hand, as propagators of pernicious opinions ; and on the other, regard- ed as the purblind votaries of a separate nationality, which had best become extinct. Not discouraged by such repudiations as the latter, we are consoled by the conviction that we play an honorable part, and although our Province should never attain that prosperity, or make that progress in material civilization, which some parties think would result from an amalgamation of races, they must still respect the motives which impel us to pursue the even tenor of our way. There remains this consideration too, that if Canada's future be menaced, who knows what its birth-time may bring forth ? Islamism assured itself that the cause of Greece was lost for ever, yet Byron sang the Maid of Athens and the Bride of Abydos.f The free breath of ancient Greece now stirs the folds of the Acropolitan standard. * The three paragraphs after the above mark are additions, hj the author, to the Preface, as it stood at first. — B. t This illustrative allusion seems rather odd : how applicable it may be, we cannot divine. — B. AUTHOR S PREFACE. XXIU the to " A great people," says Thierry, " are not so speedily subjugated as th« official acts of those who govern it by force would have the world believe. The late resurrection of the Greek nation proves, that those deceive them- selves strangely who accept the histories of kings, or even of conquering populations, for the final annals of the territory wherein they are domin- ant." And a race of smaller account than that named in the foregoing passage cited from the work already referred to, may survive long in its fallen estate. Add to all, that there are for certain races, propitious times, when Providence seems to come in aid to exalt them from depression and animaU^ their minds with a fitful renewal of their hopes. The people of the United States have already, more than once, by their resisting attitude, prevented the uplifted hand of oppression from falling on the (French) Canadians. The flag of the neighboring republic possesses this advan- tage, that when waved abroad, it scares violence from its prey, and para- lyzes the arm which would be exerted in effacing the name of a people from the roll of recognised nations. we PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. I I'll I II ii : History has bccorao, dating from a half century back, a rigorously analytic science. Not only the facts narrated, but their causes also, have now to be indicated with precision and discernment, in order that the former may be judged by the latter. A severe criticism will throw aside all that bears not the impress of truth. That which presents itself with- out critical acceptance, and without having been discussed and approved before the tribunal of sound judgment, is treated as being of fabulous nature, and dismissed into the region of figments. In this perfect day of close scrutiny and applied common sense, disappear marvels, prodigies, and all those phantasmagoria in presence of which nations in a state of mental childhood are stricken with a secret fear or are rapt in puerile admiration ; such phantasmagoria, we would ^observe, as of old animated the sombre forests of Canada in the brooding fancy of their first inhabitants, those warlike and barbarous tribes, of which the remnants now remaining are so few. The historical revolution adverted to above, in the mode of appreciating events, is incontestably duo to the progress of mind and to the increase of political liberty, and is in itself the greatest proof that could be adduced of the gradual perfecting of social institutions. The clouds of mystery which enveloped the early annals of Greece and Rome,* have now lost their awe-inspiring aspects; keenly scrutinising eyes have pierced the veil that hid them from ordinary inspection ; and if we closely scan the true origin of those nations, the clouds of historical marvel disperse, even as light morning vapours are scattered by the rays of the sun. It is a notable fact too, that while to mythological heroes and early kings a celestial origin was assigned ; while the adulation of the adorers of per- sonal might and rude regality enveloped their origin with portents and prodigy, nothing super- or infra-human preceded or attended the existence of the dominated commonalty ; the prosaic life of the masses held '' the * The historians of this continent have not had to overcome the difficulties which long embarrassed those of Europe, in respect of the origin of races. They can, without difficulty, indicate the point of departure of the wares of emigra- tion firom the Old World, and follow their traces onward, even into the obscur- est valley of America. PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. XXV even tenor of ite way," in tho memorials regarding them even in the earliest annals of pseudo-history. No farther back thon three centuries ago, superstitious ignorance everywhere dimmed and paralysed popular intelligence. Three guese and Spaniards.— Christopher Columbus, his birih and lift : he repairs to Lisbon, Hnd thence passes into Spain; Ferdinand and Isabella, to Whom be had communicated his prqject of seeking a western passage to India, give him the command of three vessels equipped for that purpose.— He discovers the New Worlds— He returns to Spain; the dis* tinguished reception accorded to him at the Spanish Court —His second voyage, and further discoveries.— He is sent back, in chains, to Spain by Bovadilla.— Death and character of Columbus.— Continuation of the discoveries of the Spaniards and Portu* guese.— Sebastian Cabot, a Venetian navigator, discovers Florida, Newfoundland, and th« coasts of Labrador, for Henry VII, king of England.— Verozzani, a navigator in the pay of Francis I, icing of France, coasts tlie North American Atlantic shores, ttom Florida to Newfoundland.— The fiust noted, that French fishermen from the Basque, Breton, and Norman provinces, liad taken cod on the Banlu of Newfoundland long previously. Among the Greeks and Romans^ who deified all things which bore the stamp of greatness, the founders of cities were worshipped as gods. Had Columbus been a citizen of olden Rome, he would have taken rank with Romulus ; for blind chance, the causes of so many discoveries, had nought to do m^ the finding of America. Columbus alone conceived the magnificent idea of raising the mysterious veil which, before his time, covered the western limits of the Atlantic Ocean ; setting out, as he afterwards did, with a determination to pass oceanic barriere which ignorance and superstition had for ages conjoined to regard as the unpas* sable limits of the earth on its occidental side — in which great quest, that foremost of navigators had the far greater fortune to discover a world lost to tiie view of civilised man during, it may be, a thousand years or more. Nevertheless the r^ons, since misnamed America, which form nearly a third of the habitable earth, seem, in part at least, not to have been all «aknown to the people of the Olden World. Thus Egyptian traditions ^1 I 36 HISTORY OF CANADA. |i!l! speak of an island named Atlantis, situated westward of the Columns of Hercules, or Straits of Gibraltar, amid the ocean beyond, and which the Phoenicians were said to have visited as traders or otherwise. The first anoient author who made mention of such an island, or rather continent, was Plato ; and the notices. of it occur in two of his Dialogues, namely the " Timatjus" and the " Critias." Upon a tradition which had some foundation in facts, he grafts a statement which was doubtless intended to flatter the national vanity of his countrymen. Solon, it is intimated, when travelling in Egypt happened to meet a priest of that country, and speaking of Athenian antiquities, the latter said to the sjige, " Athena has existed for many an age ; and its people became civilised at a very early date. Long ago its name became famous in Egypt through exploits they achieved, which you know not, yet which arc recorded in our archives : it is therein you will find the earliest antiquities of your city. In them you may learn how gloriously the Athenians, in times remote, stopped the invasive career of a redoubtable power which by a sudden irruption of its warriors, starting from the bosom of the Atlantic Sea, overspread Europe and Asia. That sea environed a tract of land facing the entry of the Herculean Strait, being a territory larger than Asia and Lybia in one. Between this country and that strait, there were several other but smaller islands. The Atlantian region, of which I speak, was governed by a eonfederation of sovereigns. In one of their expeditions they possessed themselves, on one side, of Lybia as far as Egypt ; on the other, of all the western regions of Europe onward to Tyrrhenia. We, all of us, were enslaved by the Atlantians j and it was your ancestors who restored our freedom, for they led their fleets against those our alien masters, and defeated them. But yet a far greater evil befel them not long afterwards : for their island sank in the ocean ; and thus a vast country, larger than all Europe and Asia together, disappeared in the twinkling of an eye." The annals of Carthage report that Himilcon saw a previously unknown land in the same oceanic region of the globe. During the year 356 of Rome, a Carthaginian vessel, having made a long stretch westward, on an unknown sea, reached a spacious and fertile island, having great rivers with magnificent forests. The attractions of the land tempted a part of the crew to settle there ; and the rest returning to Carthage, its senate, being apprised confidentially of the discovery thus made, and deciding to bury the event in oblivion from fear of what its promulgation might lead to, caused all those who knew of it to be put secretly to death. All means of communication were, through this stroke of policy, perforce DISCOVERT OF AMERICA. 87 broken off for ever between the remaining mariners and their natiye land.* Such traditions as the foregoing assume a semblance of verity, through the archajological explorations of Antonio del Rio and other scientific men in Central America ; whose recent discoveries render more probable than ever before, the hypothesis that some such nation as the people reported as of the island Atlantis did indeed at one time inhabit our continent. But in what age did they exist ? Some authors opine that it was before the Deluge ; f a belief which helps us not in accounting for the general peopling of the world after all its inhabitants were drowned, excepting those that were saved in the ark with Noah. We must, adopting the above hypothesis, conclude that an emigration took place from the orient to the Occident, and that previously America was in communication with Europe or Asia. Be this as it may, we rigidly infer, at sight or on report of the majestic ruins found at Palenqud and Mitla, in the forests of Yucatan, the pyramids and idols of granite, the bassi-rilievi, the hieroglyphics, there existing — viewing these objects we conclude that the people, whosoever they may have been, who left these works behind them, must have attained a high degree of civilization. J On the other hand we conclude that no such people as those whose relics are still extant in Central America/inhabited the Atlantian country (supposing the story of its existence were not a figment) discovered by the Carthaginians, since upon the same authority, it was reported, even as Columbus actually found the parts of the American continent he visited, to be destitute of all vestiges of art and industry. Such, then, are all the evidences that have descended to us of the exis- tence of an Atlantis, which yet became a subject of learned speculation during successive ages down till the 15th century. At that period of time, even the learned in Europe had the most confused notions of coun- tries with which no direct intercourse was maintained. Thus the contemporaries of Columbus believed that the torrid (sun-roasted) zone was a region literally answering to its name, and by natural consequence, • So reported by Aristotle and Theophrastus. This strange as well as cruel proceeding will not appear so improbable, if it be true, as Montesquieu asserts, on credible authority doubtless, that the Punic Council of One Hundred bad a singular practice of drowning all aliens who dared to trade in Sardinia or in regions near the Columns of Hercules. t Le Bailli d'Angel : " Essai sur cette question, Quand et comment I'Am^riqoe »«t-«lle 6t6 peupl^e d'hommes et d'animaux ?" :( Isoard Delisle: "Histoire des Atlantes." 88 BISTORT or CANADA. utterly rniinbabitable. T).ey were also content to put impIMt faith in fictions, which reported distant or unexplored regions as having men- monsters for their chief inhabitants ; it being easier to take fitbulous narrations of pretended travels and voyages on trwit, than to verify material facts lying at a distance from European observation.* We need merely advert to the real or imagined expeditions to the New World, reported as having taken place by sea-rovers from Gaol, fVom Scandinavia, and other regions of Northern Europe. Chance may have borne castaway crews as far as Greenland, or to the nearer shoree of the upper American continent itself; by a \ik'^ haphaiard, petty crews of adventurers, loeated even during preceding ages, on the outer sea-margins of Western Europe, may have been drifted across the Atlantic, and have returned to relate those experiences, although these have not reached us ; but what we are certain of is this, that although the Danes or Norwegians discovered Greenland at an early period of the Christian era, f the par- ticulars of their voyages remained unknown to the other peoples of Europe, whose general belief was, that the hyperborean regions so visited by the Normans were scattered islands amidst a remote and undefined expanse of ocean. Nevertb^ss the time was drawing nigb, when the once civilized races of Europe, whom the irruption of Asiatic barbarians^ on the decline of Roman domination, sank for ages in medissval ignorance, were about ta make rapid strides in the march of improvement. Trading instincts at length being aroused and the spirit of adventure re-awaking among most of the populations of Christendom, ext^ided navigation neoessarily fol* lowed. The Normans, in especial, a race of daring nature and restless disposition, with trading or a^ressive mma, ventured as far forth of the eastern shwes of the Atlantic as the Canary Isles; and the Norman baron Jean de B^tbaneourt actually conquered these islands for himself and , * Even ia the Itth centarj, Shakspeare made bis .Mtorish hero accrediting!/ discourse upon the assured actualities reported hr ihei \f} :g or credulous travel- lera of the tine : for instance, " Of antrefl vast and deserts ldle« Sough qvarries, ro^s, and hills whoa&head touch hMTen, It was nqr hint to speak, such was the proeess ; And of the cannibals that each other eat. The anthropophagi, and men whose heads Do grow beneath their shoulders. These things to hear Would Deedemona seriously incline," &e. Othello, Act i. 8C. ij—B^ t La Peyrdre reports that the Norwegiaas discovered Greenland a.ik. 110, when voyaging to Iceland. DI800TIRT 09 AMERICA. foUowen, holding them as a fief of the Spanish kingdom of Castile. In ' eariy times, the Canaries were of great repute ; and for the ancients as well as the people of the middle ages, they were the farthest territorial landmarks of tiie western world.'*' Portugal, one of the smallest kingdoms of Europe, was fated to lead the way to great geographical discoveries, and to a new field of glory for modern nations. Its explorers had already made some progress in this new path, when there appeared among them a prince whose name will be ever memorable in the annals of navigation and commerce : Henry IV, son of King Joam I, who was deeply versed in every science pertaining to seamanship, formed the plan of despatching ships to Asia, by rounding the southern promontory of Africa, now known as the Cape of Good Hope,t and of thus opening up a trade with India by a shorter and leas arduous route than that of the Red Sea. The Carthaginians, indeed, had tried to efiect this project long before. If it were now fairly realised Henry hoped to make Portugal the entrepSt of oriental riches and trade for all Europe. The idea was worthy of a great genius, the conception was that of a mind far in advance of the age which gave it birth. Under the direction of Prince Henry, the Portuguese navigators doubled Cape Bojador, penetrated boldly into the hitherto dreaded tro- pical latitudes, and explored the African shores as far as Cape Verd, between Sen^al and the Gambia, which river they discovered A. D. 1474. Nearly at that time, Gonsallo Velio reached the Azores' isles, 360 leagues distant from Lisbon, and intermediate to Europe and America. But Henry died (a. d. 1463) while still engaged in superintending the explor- ations of his countrymen ; nevertheless, although it was not till several years afterwards that Yasco de Gama was able to double the Cape of Good Hope, to the memory of the Portuguese Prince attaches the chief eredit due to that ^eat undertaking. The discoveries of the Portuguese soon excited the attention of all Europe.^ The news of their distant expeditions, the narrations of their voyagers, spread throughout Christendom, and were listened to everywhere with astonishment. Forthwith, numbers of spirited individuals, from * Pliny gives some account of the Oanary Isles, upon the authority of Juba, a contemporary king of Mauritania, calling them Fortunata IntuUt (" the Happy Islands ") ; Nat. Hist. vi. 33. Some of the ancient writers placed the fabled Garden of the Hesperidei in the Oanaries ; others again, located them in Gyreo- aica ; also at the foot of Mount Atlas, Ac— 3. t Galled, at first, the " Oapejof Storms."-^B. X Herrera. ► ' 40 HISTORY OF CANADA. other countries, repaired to Portugal, all hoping to share in the good fortune of its mariners, in the regions newly opened up for colonization or trr.i'e. One of these adventurers was Christopher Columbus, who reach cl Lisbon in 1470.* Columbus, whose name is for all time inseparably connnected with the annals of the New World, was born, according to the most reliable accounts, at Genoa, circa 1435, His father, who gained a living by manual labor, could give him but little education. At a very early age, hovv-ever, Columbus manifested strong aptitude for acquiring geographical science, •along with irrepressible desires for a seafaring life. Whatever know- ledge of geography he may have acquired he was impatient to turn to account, for, when only fourteen years old, he took service as a boy- mariner. Very little is known of his experiences as such ; but it appears that be took part in several warlike expeditious against the Moors of Barbary and against certain Italian princes ; that he served under John of Anjou in the war of Naples, and under Louis XI of France : for the French kings were then accustomed to hire Genoese vessels for war- like uses. In all these services, but more especially in the Neapolitan expedition^ he evinced both skill and courage.f During his residence at Lisbon, he pursued his geographical studies, noting particularly the Portuguese discoveries, and examining all ex- tant cosmographies, both ancient and modern. With Portuguese crews, he made sevevai voyages to the coast of Guinea ; and he visited Iceland in 1477. His voyages and researches brought him into relations with several of the scientific men of Europe and with such navigators as had taken part in the voyages following those since the time of Prince Henry. It was through living in the society of an age big with enterprising aspirations, when the imaginations of men were exalted every day by the recital of new discoveries, that he conceived the idea of reaching India by a direct course to the west. Such a project, according to his concep- tions, had nothing of unreason in it, for he was convinced, despite the Ptolemean system, then in universal credit, that the globe is really round ; as several of the ancients thought it must be, and as Copernicus taught in Northern Europe some years after the time when Columbus became a * His soa Ferdinand reports that it was by mere accident he first came to Lisbon ; adding, that after an engagement with some Venetian armed galleys, both the vessel of bis father and the enemy's galley took fire, and Columbus, fearing for his life, threw himself into the sea; contriving to reach the Portu- guese shore, distant some six riilcs. — History of the Admiral^ oh. 5. t History of the Admiral: Bossi. DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 41 convert to the true cosniograpluc tlicory. The times were indeed auspi- cious for the advancement of geographical knowledge : a novel application of science to the art of navigation, the astrolabe, since become the octant, through its ameliorations by the celebrated Auzout,* and the mariner's compass, then coming into use, were about to embolden navi, n? nci the " Santa Maria," was decked. • We th nk the author here give? honor v hero it is scarcely due. Auzout was indeed a passable astronomer rnd an oxciiUent optician; but a kiiiu .• astrolabe was used by Ptolemasus ; and i lat of later times was but a graduated circular rim with sights attached, for taking altitudes at sea. M. Garneaa probably means Halley's quadrant (since superseded by the sextant,) and which at first took the name of " octant," from being, in its outline, an eighth of a circle. — B. t Ferdinand II, of Aragon ; Isabella, his consort, queen regaant j2 ('asli'e : the twain afterwards becoming conjoint monarchs of all Spaifl.- — B, t Charles VIII, Henry Yll.— 'J. ^ HISTOIIT OF CANADA. With these he sailed from Palos * August 3, 1492. Before leaving the Spanish Court, he was invested with the title of Ahnircmte, admiral or- administrator, of all new lands he might discover, and possess in name of, and for his royal employers. He was accompanied by three brothers' named Pinson, who risked their all in the great enterprise. The vessels were victualled for a year, and the entire number of the three crews was 120 men ; f while some, even of that small abrogate were nnenroUed hands ; who took their chance in reliance upon the future fortune of their admiral. At night, on the seventieth day of the voyage, Columbus thought he perceived on the verge of the forward horizon, the semblance of lights, shining fitfully as if from a range of coast, under cloud of night. Calling one of the watch, the latter soon observed the like signs of human habit- ation. Presently the cry of " Land !" woke every sleeper on board the Santa Maria, and the night was spent in one anxious vigil. As day dawned, a fair shore, richly clothed with trees and herbage, rose gradually to view, its woods and thickets resonant with the song of birds of the gayest plumage. Entranced at the sight, the crew set up a shout of triumph. Their pride of heart, next giving way to a devotional feeling, caused all in unison to chaunt a Te Dmm, not unaccompanied with tears. Early in the morning, Columbus manned his boats, and, with his armed followers and standard-bearers, in fine array, made for the land ; the rowers keeping stroke to the strains of martial music. He was the first to leap ashore, when, after kissing the earth amidst his kneeling men, he, with sword in hand, set up a cross and took formal possession of the country in name of the crowns of Castile and Leon. It proved to be the sea-margin of one of the Guyoaos, Lucayhan, or Bahama Islands. Mean- time the discoverer named it San Salvador.* The country proved to be inhabited, and its almost naked people looked on, with mingled curiosity and awe, at the ceremonial going on before them, and at those engaged in it. The differing complexion of the Spaniards, their costume, their armour and warlike implements, the * Palca de Moguer, a petty seaport of Andalusia, on the river Tinto, and 8. W. coast of Spain. At present it is a trading dependency of Seville. — B. t M. Garneau writes 90 only — a mistake. Some of the hands were impressed men, who, for Columbus' sake, had better been absent, few as the rest were.— JB. X The nativoB knew it as " Ouanihani." Some doubts hare arisen lately a« to the first landing-place of the Spaniards ; there being reason to suppose that it was in another of the group, now called Turk's Island. — B. DISCOVERT OF AMERICA. 43 vessels that had borne them — all was novel, nnaoconntable. It is said that the simple natives at first imagined the strangers to be " children of the sun," on a visit to the earth. Above all, the noise of the artillery fired upon the occasion, astounded their senses. The curiosity of the Spaniards was scarcely less awakened as to what they saw before them. The coppery tint of skin in the aborigines, their wild mien j the animals, the trees, the plants, that met the view, differed totally from any they had seen in Europe. And thoi^ the soil of the country was so plainly lertile, not a trace of cultivation anywhere appeared. After a short survey of the island, Columbus set sail to proseeute fur- ther his explorations, and soon eame upon others of the Luoayhan group.. Progressing still, he reached Cuba, and then San Domingo. In the latt^ he found tobaccu growing, and noted IIh being smoked by tiie aaiiveH ; a practice till then new to Europeans. The batatag, or potato, was another novel plant ; the tuberdes of which have proved, as Washington Irving ohiserves, more precious to mankind than all the spices of the East. Columbus took possession, in every case, of all the r^ons he arrived at, in iiame of their Spanish majesties. Having done so, he paused in his career of research, with intent to return to Spain, and be the first to announce to his royal patrons the most important discovery that had ever been made by man. He was able to tell them, that wherever he had landed, he was well received, or at least met with no opposition. And having lost one of his t^essels at St. Domingo, he left there a part of his crew, by pern'.ission of &joaziqiie, or lord of the country. He even obtained leave to build a fort, for the safety of the men, in raisii^ whi^ th& aborigines as8ii::ted. This favor was granted under condition, however, that the Spani<' i)' *^us remaining should assist the islanders to repel the attacks of the aribs, fenxHous and predatory tribes who then inhabited \)^ mo ^e southern isles. Finally, on the 4th January, 1493, Columbuti ..^et c<'}\ "^ith his two vessels for Europe ; and, after a stormy passage, reached ralos, amidst the acclamations of the people of that place, most of whom had, by this time, lost all hope oi evar seeing him again. The journey of Columbus, from Palos to Barcelona, where the Cowrt was then held, was a continued triumphal progress; crowds gathering around him, from far and near. The conjoint sovereigns of all Catholio Spain, willing to honor him with unusual though deserved distinction, received biui at a public sitting ; Ferdinand on one seat, Isabella beside him, on a kind of double throne, under one canopy. Thence arobe both King &nd Queen, surrounded by grandees, to receive Columbus j who I . u HISTORf OF CANADA. eamo with a train of titled men, himself, personally, the most noble-look- ing as well as interesting individual of all present. Their majesties, after bidding Columbus be seated, — an honor then rarely accorded, even to a grandee of the first class, — caused him to relate the chief circum- stances attending his voyages, and adventures on land. They listened to all with deep interest ; and when he ceased speaking, they with bended knees, and tearful eyes directed to the firmament, breathed their grateful thanks to God for having crowned with an unexpected amount of success, an enterprise sure to become the chief glory of their reign. Every one present joined in this solemn thanksgiving ; followed, before the august assembly broke up, by enthusiastic demonstrations in honor of Columbus. Nor were the first honors paid to Columbus confined to this signal public recognition of his merits. A patent of nobility was at once made out in favor of himself i his posterity. But a time was coming, neither was it distant, wh, amembrance of the homage now paid would but embitter the suffer :'" and mortification in store for him, through the baseness of certain agents of the rulers of his adopted country, the ingratitude of too many of its people, and their blindness to his surpassing merits. Meantime the news of his discoveries quickly spread throughout Europe ; and made, in other countries, a sensation little less profound than in Spain itself. Learned men, and all those most capable of appre- ciating what had been done, while anticipating what was sure to follow, exulted at the thought of living in an age of time which was marked by such an event as the discovery of a New World.* Columbus voyaged yet thrice to the New World : namely, the second time, in the years 1493-96 ; the third, in 1498 ; and the last, from 1502 to 1504. During his successive researches he discovered most of the isles of the Mexican Archipelago. In his second voyage, he coasted the southern continent from the Bay of Honduras to the Gulf of Darien, and explored the Gulf of Paria. It was in one of these expeditions that Francis de Bovadilla, governor of San Domingo, and a mortal enemy of Columbus, had the audacity to send him, fettered, back to Spain. The king seems not to have manifested the indignation against his deputy which the occasion called for, although he blamed or pretended to blame him for thus ignominiously treating the greatest man of the age ; while, in sign of the ingratitude of the master as well as of the insolent tyranny of his man, Columbus carefully preserved the irons that had bound ? i ff 4 r ^ |L i I t i* ■| Jl 1 W I af \ th t CO 1 to -'ij^ ■^ rt.4- 4 ul ,^ % be I * Herrera ; Robertson. i;y DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 45 second tm 1502 the isles ;ed the Darien, editions enemy- Spain, deputy blame while, tyranny bound him, and directed that they should, at his death, be put into his coffin along with his body. After some years of suffering, through courtly ne<'lect, poverty, and bodily pain combined, he died at Valladolid, in Spain, on the 20th May, 1506. His body was transported, first to Seville, then to San Domingo, and lastly to Cuba. It now reposes under a monumental tomb in the cathedral of Havana. Christopher Columbus was, even in person, a remarkable man, as we have already intimated. His stature was majestic, complexion fair, visage regularly oval, nose aquiline, hair auburn in youth, but become prematurely hoar, doubtless through mental over-labor and the vicissitudes of a chequered life. His courage, both active and passive, was surpassing. His mien was cour- teous, his speech ready, and, when occasion demanded, loftily eloquent. While Columbus was prosecuting his discoveries in the Bay of Mexico, other navigators were pursuing their researches in the southern regions beyond. Thus in 1500, Pin§on discovered the estuary of the river Amazon ; and the same year, (May 3), Pedro Alvares de Cabral, when on his way to India, sighted the shore of Brazil. He sailed along the coast as far as Porto Seguro (lat. IG" S.), where he landed, and took possession in name of the king of Portugal. Thus, as Doctor Robertson observes, if Columbus had not discovered the New World eight years before, such a happy chance as that of an unexpected divergence of an India-bound vessel (through the force of equatorial currents), — the agent in Cabral's discovery of Brazil, — would, it is probable, have assured to Europe a knowledge of America before many more years would elapse. The prodigious acquisitions made in and around transatlantic waters by Spanish and Portuguese adventurers, had by this time awakened the acquisitiveness of all the other nations of Christendom. The mariners of every European seaboard, shaking oflF the timidity which had confined their adventurousness to coasting voyages or to short passages across land- locked seas, were now ready to undertake any enterprise, even the most daring. Henry VII, king of England, regretting his indifference or tardiness regarding the offers made to him by the brothers Columbus signed a patent, March 5, 1496, in favor of Giovanni and Sebastiano Gabotto (the Cabots, father and son,) for the discovery and conquest of new lands. Early in 1497, Sebastian Cabot, at that time but twenty years of age, sailed in a Bristol ship with the view of seeking a N. W. passage to India. June 24, he reached the American N. E. coast, prob- ably the shore-line of Labrador, about lat. 56° N. In the succeeding year, he made a second voyage to parts unknown, in or near to the same region ; of which no details have been recorded. In 1499 he made a 46 HISTORY OF CANADA. i 1 third voyage to America, and, coasting the upper region of the Gulf of Mexico, discovered Florida. In this voyage he also discovered Newfound- land and Labrador. All this time, it was the universal bdief that the occidental lands thus discovered were parts or appurtenances of the continent of Asia ; hence originated the name, long applied to both Americas, but now confined to their eastern insular portions, the West Indies. This error became manifest in the year 1513, when Vasoo Nunez de Balboa traversed parts of the Isthmus of Panama, and discovered the Pacific Ocean. By another misncwier, not yet corrected, nor ever likely to be, the whole New World missed taking its rightftd name of Columbia ; which thus hap- pened : — When, in the year 1500, chance directed Pedro de Cabral, as related above, to the shores of Brazil, he sent an account of the event to Lisbon i upon which the Portuguese king sent Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine, to examine the country ; who accordingly took an extensive but superficial view of most of its coasts, and upon his return, drew up «nd published a plaup^l .. account of the whole, with a map, or rather chart of the Brazilian seal>oard. From that time, the collective West Indies began to take tlf^ ram" -"f Ajiebioa. Three years after the voyage of Cabot, it appears that the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador were visited by a Portuguese named Gort^rdal j but already about this time, Bretons and Normans fished for cod on the Great Bank of Newfoundland and on the coasts of Canada. Charlevoix reports he had read in memoirs, that an inhabitant of Honfleur, Jean Denis, traced a chart of a part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, at as early a date as 1506. — How was it that those fishermen should have found their way to the Banks of Newfoundland, in so short a time after the discovery of America by the first voyage of Columbus? A question hypothetically answered by some authors, who assume that (unknown) French navigators had previously visited those r^ons. One in particular, author of the " Us et Coutumes de la Mer," maintains that men of France discovered the Banks of Newfoundland a hundred years before Columbus reached the New World. The " Archives de la Marine," in Paris, contain an old MS., entitled " Abridged Account of discoveries in New France," in which it is stated that natives of Brittany and Normandy were the first to discover in 1504, the great bank and island of Newfoundland. Certain it is, that when Sebastian Cabot visited those parts, the native Newfoundlanders called a fish found thereabout iaoaU4o9, and this term in Basque idiom, is the name of the cod. DISCOVEBT OF AMERICA. But whatever may have been the nature or extent of the relations maintained, for trading purposes, by natives of France, with the New World, the French government claimed no national interest in North America sooner than the year 1523. The general trade of France, at that date, was considerable : more so, in fact, than is generally imagined. National authority in France was not, as yet, properly centralized. Each of its provinces played a kind of independent part; and this makes it difficult to combine the early commercial returns of the Basque, Breton, Norman and other trading populations, so as to form a just notion of the amount, at any given time, for the whole kingdom. We know, however, that, from the year 1517, the whale fishery and the cod fishery became important and extending branches of the industry of France ; and that, early in the 17th century, some hundreds of its vessels took part every jear in the fisheries of Newfoundland and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The pecuniary benefit thence accruing, naturally turned public atten- tion towards the lands in the adjoining territories; and in 1518, Baron de L^ry, lealous, say the old chroniclers, for the common weal, also for the credit of the nation (which we must allow, came late into the field), proposed to found a French establishment in Acadia (Nova Scotia.) The baron was a man of courage and of lofty aapirations. He set Bail for America with a company of colonists, intending to become their resident director; but the adverse weather which the adventurers encountered, and other cross accidents, caused the enterprise to miscarry. Louis XII having demised, was succeeded by Francis I. Continued wars, and stinted finances, had prevented the former from undertaking any maritime expeditions. The new king, less careful than Louis had been of the pecuniary means of his people, was also impelled by a desire for gaining the credit attaching to a nation from its colonial acquisitions ; and even during the hottest of his warrings against the Emperor Charles y, ceased not to excite his subjects to emulation in commercial pursuits with those of other countries, and in the forming of colonies in new or recently discovered regions. The latter inspiration took a practical form in 1523, when he confided to Yerazzani, a Florentine navigator taken into the French service shortly before, the command of four vessels, for a voyage of exploration. No detailed account of the incidents attending his first attempts has come down to us ; nor do we know what was the course he pursted. In his second voyage, a.d. 1524, he passed the Island of Madeira, still steering to the westward ; and, after nearly losing his vessels through a tempest, and attaining about lat. 34° N. t ■ I! I m ill 111! 48 HISTORY OF CANADA. he anchored (finding no bay to run into) hard by a coast clothed with the richest tropical vegetation, of varieties not known to him or his people ; the country being inhabited by savages, who gazed upon the former, and upon the vessels that brought them, with wonder and awe. Thence departing, Verazzani stood northward, " in view of ascending," as he expresses himself in the relation of this his second voyage, " to the countries discovered, in times bygone, by the Bretons, below the 50th degree of latitude." Florida and Newfoundland seem to have been the extreme points, S. and N. of the seaboard he now touched at. King Francis was so well satisfied with the report given by Verazzani, that he entrusted him with the charge of a third and an ill-starred expe- dition, in which chief, captain, and crews must have perished, for no tidings were ever learned of a living soul embarked in it.* The sad fate of Verazzani paralysed, for a time, all projected coloni- sation of America by the French. Less given to maritime exploration than to trading with their neighbors, they doubted the advantages supposed to attend the acquisition of distant territories: and this tendency of the national mind manifesting itself for continuous centu- ries, we find that in no part of the globe, during that time, did a colo- nial population, of French origin, become numerous enough to ensure its predominant nationality. Another obstruction in the way of French colonisation, arose from the unquiet state of the country itself. " Intestine troubles," observes Baynal, " in France, discouraged its people from prosecuting extensive foreign commerce, and checked all aspiration for founding kingdoms in the two Indies. Again, the paramount authority of our kings, though not formally, was virtually either opposed or eluded. Traces of the feudal system still remained, and several of its abuses yet existed. Most of the provinces composing the monarchy were self-governed, under differing laws and forms. The machine of general government was of a complex character. The nation was always negociating, as it were, with its Sovereign. The royal authority was really unlimited, though not recognised as such by the laws ; the nation, though often too independ- ent in act, yet had no legal guarantee for its liberties. The government, occupied alone with the task of subjecting the people, took no care of the interests of the commonwealth." • " Verazzani's narrative of his voyage in 1524," says Bancroft, " is the earliest original account, now extant, of the coast of the United States. He advanced the knowledge of the country ; and he gave to France some claim to an extensive territory, on the pretext of discovery."— ffis/. U. States} I. IT. — B. DISCOVERT OF AMERICA. 49 3 the He im to .—B. Yet Francis I had fewer troubles with his subjects than his predeces- sors; although the defection of the Constable de Bourbon, and some popular revolts from over-taxation, marked his reign. . Civil and religious discord, under his sway, would have been greater than they were, but for the continued wars he waged against Charles Y, which nearly absorbed the attention of the fierce spirits of the nation, of whatever degree. For the time, then, all further attempts at maritime discovery, and distant colonisation, were either abandoned, or indefinitely postponed. I ) ill liji! I CHAPTER II. DISCOVEUY OF CANADA.— 1584-1544. Projected French establlslimont in America.— Jacques Cartier appointed to command the flret expedition for that purpose; he explores the Gulf of St. Lawrence; liis return to Franco. Second voyage of Jacques Cartier; ho discovors the river St. Lawrence.— Visits StadacoiiC'(8ito of Quebec).— Aspect of the lands seen by him.- Indian village of llocholaga (site of Montreal city).— Cartier winters in the country, his vessels being iced up.— Scurvy attacks his crows.- Advent of Spring, 1534-5, and departure of Cartier for Franco; wherein war being renewed, l\irthor expeditions to America are postponed for the time.— Upon the return of peace, Roberval named Governor of Canada.— Third Voyage of Jacques Cartier; he ascends tho St. Lawrence as high as to Lake St. Louis, and winters at Capo Rouge.— lie leaves for Europe, and, meeting Koborval at Newtjpundland, on his way to Canada, refuses to attend him thither—The latter pursues his way to Canada, reaches Capo Rouge, raises a tort and winters there.— Disease carries off flfty of his mon.— Next year, Cartier arrives, and Roberval returns home. At this time (1534) the war-harassed French people having enjoyed an unwonted breathing-time of three years, — thanks to the treaty of Cam- brai, popularly known as the " Paix des Dames," signed in 1529, — their battling King was temptingly reminded by his grand admiral and chief companion in land-war, Philippe de Chabot, of the prodigious golden and territorial acquisitions lately made by the Spaniards auJ Portuguese, in Central and Southern America ; where numerous native populations had submitted to the yoke of Europeans almost without resistance; the Governor of Burgundy and Normandy (for such then was Chabot) proposing that King Francis should now resume those designs, he had long entertained, of seeking to share along with his brother monarchs in the riches perennially flowing into the Old World from the New. The attention of the French King, in a project for obtaining a firm footing upon the mainland of America, was turned by his advisers in the direction of its nearest north-eastern regions ; and this the rather, because many of his seafaring subjects had long fished the banks of Newfoundland. The royal consent having been obtained, for the equip- ment of an experimental armament, the grand admiral gave the direction of it to Jacques Cartier, of St. Malo, reputed to be a hardy mariner and skilful navigator. When the expedition was in preparation, its probable destination coming to the knowledge of the Kings of Spain and Portugal (the Emperor Charles V and Joam III), they entered a protest against it, as tending to an encroachment upon their territorial rights. The pretensions thus DISCOVERY OP CANADA. 61 I coming Imperor I tending Ins thus set up only elicited an indignant exclamation from Francis; "What, then ! do my royal brothers expect that they arc to share all America among them, without my even seeking to take part with them in the spoil?" The king adding, sarcastically, " I should like to see the clause in our father Adam's will and testament which bequeaths to them alone so vast an l^eritago I" Cartier sailed from St. Malo, a seaport of Brittany,'f^ in the spring of 1534, with two vessels, neither of which exceeded 60 tons burthen, their united crews being but 122 men in all. Twenty days thereafter, the coast of Newfoundland was reached ; thence the tiny barks passed, through the Straits of Belleisle, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Here Cartier and his men passed nearly three months, the latter trafficking, while coasting along, with such of the natives of the surrounding countries as they could fall in with ; the former carefully noting, as he nearcd the great river itself, the peculiarity of the shores that successively came into view. During this his first voyage Canada-ward, Jacques Cartier made no important discovery, most of the salient points of the shores of the Laurentian Gulf being already known to his countrymen, who habitually fished in its waters ; — the latter had even bestowed recognised names on some of thc«e,f — -but he was the first to scan carefully the arid and deso- late sea-margin of Labrador. He coasted Newfoundland as far as Capo de Raye, passed between the Magdalen Isles, and entered the Bay of Chaleurs, which owed and yet owes that name to the heat of the weather at the time he visited it. Landing on its coast, he took ceremonial possession of the country around, in the name of the French king ; and set up, despite the remonstrances of an aged native chief who witnessed the act, a wooden cross, on a point of land situated, probably, between Chaleurs Bay and Cape des Hosiers. Sterile in results this first expedition of Cartier was not, seeing that it led afterwards to the discovery of the river" St. Lawrence. Two of the aborigines, whom he embarked at Gaspd, and took with him to France, were, it is reported, the first parties who informed him that the river existed ; and we are led to believe, adverting to the route followed by him in his second voyage, that he wished them to verify their accounts, both • In the department lUe-et-Villaine ; now containing a population of about 10,000.— J3. t Such as "le Cap Royal ;" «le Cap d'0rl6ans," near Miramichi ; " le Cap de Montmorenci," &c. See Voyases et Dicouvcrtes en Canada. Quebec, 1843 68 niSTORT OF CANADA. ^1«ii!!l of tho course of the stream and the countries it traversed, as they then appeared, from Montreal to tho Bca.* Next to the grand-admiral Chf'^at, tho cause of maritimo discovery had no greater friend in France, at this time, than Charles de Mouy, Siour de Maillcraic, vice admiral of France, He it was, in fact, who first recommended Cartier to Chabot ; and he obtained for the former far better means than he had the year before, for effecting the object in view, by assigning to his guidance three good vessels,^ all well manned. Conforming to tho laudable custom of the time, Cartier, before setting out on his second voyage, repaired with his men, in procession, to the cathedral of St. Malo, to crave the blessing of Heaven upon the enterprise he undertook to carry out. The little squadron, having aboard 110 hands and provisioned for three months, departed with a favoring wind, in May, 1536. As Captain-General, Cartier hoisted his pennant on La Grande Hermine, a vessel of about 110 tons burden; the two others, of much less tonnage, had for Captains, Guillaume le Breton and Maro Jalobert. Several persons, of gentle blood, such as Claude le Pont-Briand, served in the three vessels as volunteers. The passage was tedious, and adverse wind» widely separated each several vessel from its consortb. The flag-ship did not reach, till July, the Baie des Chateaux, situated in an island between Newfoundland and Labrador, which locality Cartier had appointed as a general rendezvous; the two other vessels got in some days after La Hermine. After a few days of rest, the flotilla set out again, made stretches on divers lines, and neared numerous isles. After having been forced, by stress of weather, to seek refuge in a haven which he named Port St. Thomas, he put to sea again, and on St. Lawreuee day entered a bay, which he named after that Saint, at the mouth of the river St. John ; the designation (of St. Lawrence) attaching itself afterwards to the river itself and to the gulf reoeiving its waters. Conducted by two savages taken on board, Cartier entered the river mouth, and ascended to ■^— — — — — ■ ■ * " There are, between the land, 3. and N., about thirty leagues and more of 200 fathoms deep. And the savages have certified this part to be the route and commeacement of the great river of Hochelaga, also which, constantly narrowing^ leads straight up to Canada ; as also have affirmed, that the water of said ocean stream is fresh, saying it comes from such a distance that no man ever traced it to its sources, so far as they had heard : observing, that the passage through it was only by means of batteaux. Hearin^^ all this, and being, assured that there was no passage but this, the said captain willed to proceed no farther until after having seen the rest of the coasts to the N. and ^.''-^Contemporary relation of the second Voyage of Cartier, iiiii DISCOVERY OF CANADA. a point fully 200 leagues up; reaching a fair island, since named Isle d'Orldans. His native guides reported that the country around him was then divided into three sections : namely, the Saguenay territory, extending from the Isle d'Anticosti to the Isle aux Coudres ; next Canada, — its chief place, then called Stadacond, occupying the site of Quoboc. Tlu' territory of Canada, indicated above, commenced at the Isle aux Coudres, and extended up the river to Hochelaga; the last, the richest and most populous of the three sections. The denomination Canada, thus given to a part only of the Laurentian regions, doubtless signified, in the native tongue, clusters of cabins, or villages. Cartier set ashore his two native guides, to treat with the people of the country ; who fled from them at first, but soon returned, and in their canoes of bark quite encircled the ships ; oiFering to their crews supplies of fish, maize, and fruit. Cartier gave all a kind reception, and made them presents. Next day the agouhanna, or chief of Stadacond, followed by a dozen canoes, full of natives, paid Cartier a visit. The interview between the two was most friendly; and their different peoples parted mutually content; the chief of Stadacond, before leaving, kissing each arm of Cartier, — this aet being esteemed one of the greatest marks of respect the native chief could show for a stranger. As the season was now far advanced, Cartier made the bold resolve to winter in the country. Entering, therefore, a tributary stream named by him the " Sainte Croix," but since known as the St. Charles river, he moored his vessels under the native village Stadacond, the huts of which were perched on a height to the southward. This part of the Laurentian country, with its mountains, hill-slopes, and valleys, forming collectively the basin of Quebec, is one of the grandest sites in all America. The St. Lawrence itself, for a great portion of its course above the gulf of the same name, has an imposing, but, at the same time, a wild and saddening aspect. The immense breadth of its waters, which are 90 miles wide at its embouchure, the numerous rocky points, apparent or hidden, obstructing its course, the dense fogs attending the blasts that ruffle its bosom, at certain seasons of the year, all combine to render its navigation redoubtable to mariners. The rocky steeps which confine its waters for more than a hundred leagues ; the frequent islets met with, and which increase in number as the navigator advances ; all manifesting the struggle of ages between a stream and the gigantic natural obstructions opposing its passage to the ocean, are well fitted to sadden or appal the spirit of the voyager when first ascending its course. But on nearing Quebec, the scene changes at ! mFm lilii iliillil 54 HISTORY OF CANADA. once. The river, so vast and sombre in its lower expanses, now becomes varied and graceful in feature, yet in its whole aspect still preserving the stamp of natural majesty; further enhanced and embellished, as its environage has been, in modern times, by the improving hand of man. And not alone are such ameliorations, of the face of Canada of the 16th century, peculiar to the regions around the beauteous city of Quebec. Were Jacques Cartier to waken from the sleep of death, what marvellous changes, operated on the regions he found one vast and trackless wilder- ness, would meet his view. Impatient to vist Ilochelaga, a native settlement situated sixty leagues above Staducond, Cartier set out for that place, Sept. 19, with a portion of his people, including his two captains and the gentlemen volunteers. It took the party thirteen days to ascend thus far. Hochelaga, they found, was located on ground which now forms part of the city of Montreal. When the French appeared, a crowd of the natives came forth to meet them, and, as the denizens of Stadacond had done before, manifested the liveliest joy at their coming among them. Next day, Cartier and his suite, in gala garb, made a ceremonial visit to the inhabi- tants of the locality. Ilochelaga comprised about fifty wooden dwellings, each 50 pace?, long, and from 12 to 15 broad. Every house was roofed with Blips of ( ark sewn together, the interiors parted into several rooms, encircling a square apartment in which was the fireplace, round which the inmates reclined, or sat. This Indian village was begirt with a triple inclosure, of circular form, palisaded. There existed, in several places, towards the upper end of this enclosure, raised passage-ways, with ladders placed for ascending ; and heaps of stones lay near by, to serve for defen- sive missiles. In the centre of the village was a large area, or public square. Thither were Cartier and his followers conducted at first. The accustomed salutations, native and French, being concluded, the Indian women laid mats upon the grass for the strangers to sit upon. Forthwith there appeared the agoulianna, borne by twelve men, who seated him in a bear-skin they spread for him upon the ground. This personage was about fifty years of age, and decrepit in every limb. A cap of red fur encircled his temples. After saluting his visitors, he made signs to express his pleasure on seeing them all ; and, as an ailing man, held up his legs and reached out his arms towards Cartier, as if he desired him to touch them. This the latter at once did, rubbing the shrunken members with both hands. Thereupon the grateful pationt took his head-tire and presented it to Cartier ; at the same time a number of persons lame or infirm pressed around the latter, seeking to be touched ; believing, doubt- less, that he was a being of rare endowments. DISCOVERY OF CANADA. 55 The French oommandant asked to be led to a mountain top, a short mile distant. Arrived there, his eye commanded an immense extent of country. Enchanted at the view, he gave to the hill itself the name of Royal Mount ; words which, combined and slightly modified, have become the appellation of the fair city, Montreal, laid out on its southward decli- vities. When Cartier returned to St. Charles river, doubting the continued friendly feeling of the natives, he strengthened the palisades of an enclo- sure which his men had, while he was absent, formed about the vessels, adding thereto pieces of artillery. December arrived, and scurvy, of a violent kind, broke out among the French, whose condition altogether became deplorable. The winter cold was now intense, and increased day by day. Of 110 men, the three vessels' crews, for some time not more than three or four were free from disease ; and in one of them, there was not a hale man to wait upon the sick. Too much weakened in body to open a grave for the dead, the survivors, yet able to crawl about, depo- sited them under the snow covering the ice-bound soil. Twenty-six men died between this time and the month of April. Most of the others were at death's-door, when a native accosted Cartier, observing that he too had become scorbutic, and told him of a means of cure ; which, being resorted to, did in efiect cure all the ailing Frenchmen in a few days' time. When spring returned, Cartier hastened to depart for France, taking with him, for presentation to its king, several natives ; among them Donacona, a chief who vaunted to have travelled much, and professed to have seen in the western regions of his country men who wore woollen garments. None of these savages, thus expatriated, ever returned, all dying before 1541, the earliest year after the present that the French again visited Canada. Cartier found his native land distracted with religious dissensions, and plunged in renewed war against Charles V. In the year preceding that of Cartier's return, severe laws were decreed against the Protestants. Scaffolds were erected, penal fires lighted up, in all parts of the realm. The Emperor, who had, by his crafty policy, lured Francis into a war of conquest in Italy, taking advantage of the spiritual discords of France, and of the absence of its king and army, poured his forces into that country at both extremities, north and south, simultaneously. Amid intestine troubles, and the din of defensive war, Cartier found his presence unheeded and his projects disregarded. The existence of Canada, even the name of America, seemed now to be ignored by king and country alike. Elks:! 56 mSTORT OF CANADA. Gartier was fain to wait fbr better times. His favorable season at last came round : this happened towards the year 1540, when Francis once more inclined to listen to his subject's proposal for further explora- tions in the New World. The success of the last expedition had raised clamors against colonisation among those opposed to all enterprise of that nature. This party represented that the climate of Canada was rude and unhealthy, that numbers of those ahready sent out had perished miserably ; the objectors adding, that the country had no mines of gold or of silver. These sinister representations had a discouraging effect upon some minds : but friends of colonisation, on the other hand, con- trived at last to nullify them, by proclaiming the advantages which were sure to accrue to the French nation through a large trade with the Canadian savages in peltry; urging, at the same time, the impolity of the Frenr people looking on, while others were exclusively sharing the spoils of the New World among them. In fine, the party of progress gained their cause. One of the leading spirits of that body was a Picard noble named Jean-Frangois de la Roque, superior of Roberval, whom King Francis called " the little king of Yimeu." This personage, who had gained his royal master's esteem through his bravery and fidelity, asked and obtained the right and title to govern, in the king's name, all the countries newly discovered. It was conceded at the same time, in a royal edict dated June 15th, 1540, that Roberval might raise a body of volunteers to found a permanent establishment. Cartier also had the command of the vessels assigned to him for conveying the colonists to America ; and some delays and disputes arising, he, without waiting for Roberval, set out with five ships, early in the summer of 1541. After a three months' stormy passage, in which the vessels were scattered about, Cartier arrived at Newfoundland, where he tarried a while, expecting the arrival of the Governor, who was to have followed him within a few days, but he came not ; so pursuing his own voyage, he ascended the St. Lawrence, and cast anchor at Quebec. The colonists, on landing, at once began clearing spots of land, near by, for cultivation. Leaving these men thus occupied, he ascended the St. Lawrence, hoping to get above the Sault St. Louis, but found it impossible to clear the rapids. Autumn came on and passed away, bringing no tidings of Roberval ; Cartier, therefore, prepared to winter in the country. He despatched two of his vessels, however, to St. Male, to iuform the king of his own proceedings, and to make inquiry why Roberval delayed coming out. Cartier and his remaining people were allowed to pass the winter in peace ; but in spring following, the savages manifesting a hostile spirit, DISCOVERT OF CA17ADA. 57 he thought it fitting to re-embark his colonists and return Lome. He set sail for France about the very time that Roberval was leaving it with three ships, in which were several gentlemen adventurers, besides 200 other colonists, of both sexes. Insuperable obstacles had, it seems, prevented Roberval from joining Cartier the year before. According to the statement of a document lately found in the archives of the dipot de la Marine, Paris,* the two squadrons met at a short distance from Quebec, and Roberval caused Cartier to turn back, in view of founding a settlement in the Isle d'Orl^ans. And if we may confide in another version of the alleged rencounter, it took place near St. John's, Newfound- land, a more likeiy locality ; the narrator adding, that Cartier declined to follow Roberval, as perceiving that the latter desired to rob him of a part of his discoveries. Be all this as it may, we know for certain that Roberval reached his destination in safety ; that he sent home, in autumn following, two of his vessels, to inform the King of his arrival, and to request that provisions might be sent out to him next year. We know also that fifty of his colonists perished during the winter of 154243 ; and that the governor started in June following, with 70 men, upon an expedition for the interior, hoping to be more fortunate than Cartier, and reach that country which the savages spoke of as abounding in the precious metals and stones of price. This second exploratory voyage to the interior was still less encouraging than that of Cartier. The extant relation of it, by Roberval himself, is incomplete ; but had he discovered the country in the west, reported by the savages of the east as abounding in gold, silver and precious stones, — missed by his predecessor, of course, — surely some indication of its existence, if discovered, would be found in the extant account, fragmentary though it is; from which however we learn the discouraging fact, that before the expedition returned to Quebec, one of Roberval's vessels sank, and eight of his men were drowned. Intelligence of Roberval's arrival in Canada arrived in Paris just as war was about to recommence between Francis I and Charles V. Instead of sending the succour that was asked for, the King, according to Lescarbot, ordered Cartier, in 1643, to bring Roberval back to France,f where his valor, and influence in Pioardy, a province then about to become the seat of war, might be useful. All those whom Roberval • Documents de Paris, t. 5, published by Lit. and Hist. Soc, Quebec. t Some writers are dubious of the reality of this voyage, the fourth of Oartier ; which Lescarbot, alone, as it seems, taking notice of, has been passed over by other reporters. But that author says distinctly, that « the King being engaged in affairs of state of an onerous nature in France itself, wag unable to send I 58 !'[:„: I' I 111,, ,i! 1:1. ri. liiliii! 11 ' m m r HISTORY OF CANADA. took out as colonists, were it would seem, conducted, at the same time, to France by Cartier. Thus terminated the first att,empt at colonising by France in North America, if we except that made by Baron de L^ry. The name of Jacques Cartier, immortalized as it is by the discovery of Canada, thenceforth disappears from French l^istory. But if we may rely on the validity of the claim advanced by his nephews, some fifty years afterwards, for a continuation of the privileges accorded to their uncle, it is supposable that during several after years he trafficked in peltry with the natives. Cartier manifested, in all his expeditions, adventurous courage. No contemporary navigator had as yet dared to advance so far into the lands of the New World as he, or ventured to face the perfidy and cruelties of their many barbarous tribes. In his braving the rigors of a Canadian winter, and shutting himself up for six months, without means o:' escape, among the aborigines whose amicable feelings towards the French he had every reason to distrust, he gave a signal example of the intrepidity of the mariners of his time and country. Of right, therefore, in every sense, he heads the long file of visitors of inner North America. By his ascent of the great river St. Lawrence, in which he reached the Sault St. Louis, he became the harbinger of successive French explorations, such as those of the shores of Hudson's Bay, of the Mississippi valley, and onward to the hither slopes of the Kocky Mountains. In acknowledgment of his rare merits, it is said * that he and his race were ennobled by his royal master. Few of the mariners upon whom that distinction was conferred in France merited it so much as Jacques Cartier, master mariner of St. Malo. bodily succour to his colonial subjects ; who, besides, ought to have been able, by that time to extract from the country itself the means of subsistence . . " And again : " Roberval was sent forth to serve the King in those regions ; for I find, from the relation of the said Quartier (sic), that he passed eight months seeking him, after Roberval was there (in Canada) seventeen months." Th*. account by Roberval himself confirms what Lescarbot reports about the lack of pro- visions, viz • " Roberval sent back to France two of his ships in order to bear advices to His Majesty, afterwards to return to him next year with such provisions and other things as it might please the King to send for his use." • Recherches de M. Cunat sur Jacques Cartier, consigned in a paper annexed to the prods-verbal drawn up by the commissioner named by M. Hovins, knight of the Le 'on of Honor, mayor of St. Malo, for the recognition and receipt of the remni i i of " la petite Hermine," which were sent to him by Joseph Hamel, Esq., Surveyor and Arpenteur of the city of Quebec, who discovered the imbedded hull of that vessel some months before, at the very spot where it was abandoned by Jacques Cartier, in 1536, that is, 307 years previously. CHAPTER III. TEMPORARY ABANDONMENT OF CANADA.— 1543-1603. Roborval sots out for America after the war, and perishes with all his followers.— M. Ville- ^agnon attempts to found a French colony in Brazil ; the enterprise miscarries through the disaccord of the adventurers.- Foundation of Carolina, in Florida.— Massacre of its French colonists, by the Spaniards in time of peace ; the queen- regent, Catherine de Medicis, demanding no satisfaction therefor, M. de Gourgues avenges the wrong done to his nation by sanguinary reprisals.- Prolonged indifference of the French people to colonisation.— Progress of the fisheries and traflSc in peltry.— The Marquis de la Roche undertakes to found a French settlement in Acadia ; the project fails ; of his colonists loft in the Islo de Sable, the greater number perish ; five years thereafter the French King causes the survivors to bo removed.— M. do la Roche, ruined by his failure, dies broken-hearted. —Concerning the obstacles French colonisation in those times bad to encounter. The war between Francis I and Charles V lasted for about three years (1542-4). During that time of hostilities, as in others since, Canada was lost to the view of the rulers of France. When the treaty of Crespy was signed (Sept. 17th, 1544) between the King and the Emperor, the return of peace caused the royal attention to be turned favorably to the suspended enterprises of Roberval ; and this none the less that the latter had, meanwhile, done the state great service in fields of battle. No expedition, however, to Canada was realized before the death of Francis I, which took place March 31, 1547. Not till two years afterwards, Henry II being king, did Roberval organise his expedition to Canada ; but which he was destined never to reach, as he perished in the passage, with all his followers, including a brother, who was almost as distinguished a warrior as himself This catastrophe caused all projects of colonising Canada by natives of France to be abandoned : and it would also most likely have restrained its people from undertaking any hazardous enter- prise of the kind in any quarter, if admiral de Coligny's attention had not been directed to the subject of American colonisation by Frenchmen. In 1555, Coligny, who was chief of the Huguenots, proposed to Henry II to found, in some region of the New World, a colony whither his Protestant subjects might retire, and there exercise their worship in peace and with full freedom. The king approved of the design, but it was afterwards abandoned. Nicholas Durand de Villegagnon, knight of Malta and vice-admiral of Brittany, imbued with the new doctrines, obtained without much difficulty permission to conduct a body of such colonists to Brazil, — a country the temperature of which made it prefer- able to Canada. But this establishment met the fate of those that had II .1 liii liiiili 60 HISTORY OF CANADA. been desiderated for the opposite extremity of the continent ; the failure of each, however, being due to diverse causes. Villegagnon abjured his apostacy ; and dissidences arising among the French colonists, they were unable, at length, to maintain their footing in the country. All this while, religious dissensions were becoming more and more envenomed in France. The frightful massacre of the Vaudois in 1545, had filled the Protestant mind with secret terror. Civil war was ready to break out : Coligny thought more seriously than ever about founding an asylum for his co-religionists, upon whom now began to press the rigors of a cruel persecution. He profited by a species of truce, in 1562, to interest the court in the plan of a settlement he had projected for them in Florida. Charlevoix opines that the Admiral, according to all appear- ance, did not discover his main design to the King, and that he directed the royal attention to his project only as an enterprise that would prove beneficial to France in general ; but it is difficult to believe that he could thus palm such a project upon His Majesty. Charles knew all about it ; and he was but too happy t(i learn that Coligny engaged Huguenots only for his expedition, beciduse the kingdom would thereby become purged of just so many enemies. The admiral was at first left sole director of the enterprise. He gave the command of the expedition to Jean de Ribaut, an excellent mariner of Dieppe; who set out for Florida in 1562, accompanied by several gentlemen volunteers. Ribaut coasted the North Americin seaboard, holding a northerly course. He took possession for France, of Florida and Georgia, by erecting a pillar, bearing the royal armorials, on a mound. Pursuing his way, he reached at length a small island, known as Santa Cruz to the Spaniards, upon which he constructed defensive works, and named the fortress Charles-Fort, in honor of the reigning king. The country bore every appearance of fertility, and its indigenous possessors gave the French a kind reception. Ribaut returned to France in 1563, leaving in charge of the fort one of his captains, named Albert. Instead of tilling the soil, the French whom he left behind, trupting to the provisions in store, set about searching for veins of gold and silver, the whole soil of the New World being reported to cover abundance of both. Meanwhile, as food began to fail them, dissensions soon followed; and the commandant, who had till then disguised his true character, showed himself to be a cruel tyrant. One soldier, who offended him, he hung with his own hands ; and at length he became so odious to all his men, that they killed him. As the colonists saw themselves in danger of death from famine, and Ma Bibaut -vtill returned not, they built a vessel, and caulked its plank- geams wit for corda all embark to guide tl days, thei] «' One of that the lives of all| with a kii victim by i sacrifice carefully parts of th( no second e lUen, as an rescued the " G}aspar( deterred by colonisation, their perseci enjoyed thro Charles IX settle them i equipped vesi ' aptain-in-chi familiar with had under h gave him, 50 departure, or him, defrayii 8(X3ond exped Fort." Laudouini< Iiles, thence ^it. Mary's ai Tie caused a : amed it Ca voused the jei apressly " to worship ia A TEMPOKARY ADANDONMBNT OF CANADA. 61 seams with mats, made sails for it with their bed-sheets and shirts, and for cordage used the inner fibres of tree-bark. In this rude vessel they all embarked far France, though having neither sailors to work nor pilots to guide their vessel. Belayed by a oalm at sea, whieh lasted for several days, their provisions ran out, even fresh water at last failed them. " One of the party," reports Gu4rin, " having reminded his comrades that the death of one of them might beeome the means of saving the lives of all, not only waa the proposal heard without horror, but received with a kind of ferocious joy. When lot* were about to be east for a victim by compulsion, a soldier named Laehau offered himself a voluntary sacrifice. He was forthwith slaughtered, and his blood, as it flowed, carefully caught and put apart, for after use as a beverage. Meantime,, parts of the flesh were served out and ravenously devoured." Happily, no second sacrifice of this horrible nature was required by these forlorn jien, as an Engli^ ship shortly thereafter neared their vessel, and kindly rescued them. " Oaspard de Coligny," continues the same authority, "far from being deterred by difficulties of every kind which stood in the way of Calvinism colonisation, persevered in his attempts at its realisation all the more that their persecution was redoubled. He profited by a breathing-time they enjoyed through his means, by a composition with the court, to engage Charles IX to furnish new means for carrying his further attempts to- %ttle them in America. The king did actually grant him three well t'quippo this proposed lord of all, as they had done in the case of Cartier's desce'^ants. T\ marquis de La Roche, fearing that his people, being chiefly crim- inals, or vagabonds, might desert him, landed them on the Isle de Sable, at the entry of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. That island, which is of crescent-like conf niration, arid, and of rude aspect, bears no trees or fruit : its on]|y vegetation is scanty grass or moss, growing around a lake ^ >\hm[''r''f\ 68 HISTORY OP CANADA. ilii. "I ! || I M in.H:l!i!f liill •'t|fi| i T b in the centre. Leaving his colonists in this dreary sea-beaten region, La Roche passed on to \cadia. Returning thence, he was caught in a tempest ; which, proceeding from the west, drove his vessel, in ten or twelve days' time, to the French coast*. Scarcely had he set foot in Franco, than he found himself in a maze of difficulties. The duke de Mcrcoeur, then at war with Henry the Fourth, arresting him, kept him a prisoner in Brittany, for some time. Not till five years afterward was the marquis able to apprise the king, then at Rouen, of the jiarticulars of his voyage. Henry, compassionating the situation of the unfortunates in the Isle de Sable, ordered the pilot who had led them thither to learn their fate, and it was found to be deplorable. Of the whole band, forty in number, not more than twelve remained. Left to their own discretion, and incapable of self-government, they had became utterly lawless. Evil passions being ever in the ascendant, each man^s hand was turned against his fellow, and several of them had thus come to a violent end. The few survivors, however, tamed by their ill-supplied bodily wants, had perforce latterly led a more tranquil life. It was found that they had constructed huts with the remnants of a vessel which had been wrecked on the breakers abounding on the isle's desolate shores ; and owed their nutri- ment chiefly to eating the flesh of a few domesticated animals, which baron de L^ry had landed on the island some fourscore years before, that had there continued their several species.* The clothes they had on being soon worn out, they made themselves vestments out of the skins of the seals they captured. The King wished to see them, accoutred just as they had been found. Along with their beards unkempt, and their hair in wild disorder, their visages had assumed a savage expression rather than that usual to civilized men. Henry (doubtless moved at the sight) gave to each of them fifty crowns, with full liberty to return to their homes, and assurances of oblivion of their evil acts committed aforetime. The marquis de La Roche, who had embarked his entire fortune in the enterprise, lost all of it that yet remained, in succeeding misfortunes which awaited him through its means. Ho had set his heart upon real- izing a noble project, and it had signally failed. The chagrin which consumed his mind was yet stronger than his regret at the dilapidation of his finances, and both working together consigned him to an early grave. He was censured by some of his contemporaries for imputed faults ; but he could not rightly be blamed for the failure of plans which he had no fair opportunity of carrying out ; while, in our day, his memory must * Laet : Hittoire de fjimtri^. TEMPORABY ABANDONMENT OF CANADA. always be held in respect by the descendante of the early colonists of America. All the disorders, observable in the attempts at colonisation made during the times now under review, were due to the intestine troubles which agitated Europe during nearly the entire 16th century. The choice, too, made of the kind of individuals to begin the work, who were, in most cases, soldiers, or men of like habitudes, waa injudicious. Again : no regard was had for connectedness of the successive steps made towards the great object in view ; and the indifference of statesmen to this great requisite ran an even race with the heedlessness of private individuals : the means at the disposal of the latter, beside-s, being usually inadequate to accomplish the task undertaken by or prescribed to them. But the lastrnoted species of obstructivencss was not peculiar to early French colonisation. The annals of the thirteen English-founded provinces of America, the first in chronological order of the United States, inform us that it was long before the people of British race were able to maintain a permanent footing on our northern continent. For, not to speak of the first English colonising expedition seat out in 1579, and which the Spaniards, jealous of the projects of other nations, and then masters of the sea, forced to retrace its course ;* setting this aside, we know that Sir Humphrey Gilbert, four years later, began a settlement at St. John's, Newfoundland ; which, though it bore hopeful appearances at first, yet the indiscipline of the colonists brought all to ruin. The celebrated Walter Raleigh, a disciple of Coligny's, whose tendencies and perseverance he shared, desiring to follow up the oesigns of the knight above named, who was his brother-in-law, planted a colony at Roanoke, in Florida ; but, three years thereafter. Sir Francis Drake found it expedient to take the settlers on board his vessels on his return to England. f In 1586, ano- ther colony was commenced in Virginia ; but all its people died of want, or were massacred by their savage neighbors. In 1602, again, a body of colonists from Britain, located on the seaboard of New England, had no better fortune. Other abortive attempts, succoodingto the foregoing, were made by English adventurers, although sundry of them were rather trading expeditions than efforts to realise territorial settlement. J Despite * Oldtb : American Annals. t R. BiETBRLEY : Historj of Virginia. t M. Garneau, in narrating the failure of the earliest of the English colonisa- tions in North America, has put himself indisacco"*! with the best-accredited accounts of other historians, in several particulars. Here are what we belie v« to be the facts of the case :— Sir Humphrey Gilbert, aathorised by a " patent " 70 mSTORT OF CASADA. ..||i: these and other diflcouraging results, from diTors oanses, it would be a mistake to conclude thence that the right time was not yet come for the general colonisation of America. " The wars, political and religious, raging in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries, were as influen- tial in impelling governments to colonise and induce their subjects to emigrate in those times, as the suffering from penury, or the pressure of over-population, at the present day." Repressed malcontents, and perse- cuted religionists alike, had heard of a land of refuge ; and the wilds of America seemed to them a providence for that urgent want. Thither they hied eagerly, therefore ; their trustfulness in the future not unmin- gled with regrets, however, at thus, through physical or moral compulsion being forced to renounce the lands of their birth, for those where their descendants have established or laid the foundation of empires, present or to come. (charter) from queen Elizabeth, equipped a small squadron with which he sailed from England in the year 15'?9, in view of founding a permanent territorial settlement in America, but losing one of his vessels, and experiencing other disasters, he was fain to return home. Gilbert and Raleigh (step-brothers) conjoining their resources, fitted out new vessels, aboard which they went forth, in 1683. Arriving in Newfoundland, thej took ceremonial possession of the country, in their queen's name. No attempt at colonisation took place ^ however, nor even an exploration ; unless, indeed, we term as such the falling upon a mineral vein in the territory somewhere, which Raleigh mistakenly believed was silver ore. Shortly thereafter, the vessels set sail for England ; but that commanded by Sir Gilbert foundered on the way. In spring, 1584, Raleigh, again chartered by the queen, despatched two ships of observation, commanded by Amidas and Barlow, master mariners,^ directing them to coast the sea-board of North America along its southern face. This they did for only about 100 miles; their first landing-place being an island of the Ocracock group. They next coasted Albemarle and Pamlico sounds along with Roanoke Island, in Virginia (not Florida); when, having taken a general view of the country, and tested the dispositions of its people, forming a favor- able opinion of both, they returned to England. Next year (1586), Raleigh, now knighted, did indeed equip an expedition, in view of founding a colony in the region above noted ; the country having, at the same time, the name assigned to it of "■ Virginia," in compliment to the queen. The flotilla now despatched was composed of seven vessels, in which were embarked, besides the crews, 108 intending colonists, under the governorship of Ralph Lane. The adventurers were landed at Roanoke ; and forthwith pro- ceeded to lay the foundations of a settlement. The injudicious severity of Sir Richard Grenville, however, who caused an Indian town to be burnt, to punish a petty theft by one of its people, evoked a spirit of enmity, at the outset, which ultimately made the position of the English quite untenable. And thoa it was, that the colonists had to leave in the following year.— £. BOOK FIRST. PERMANENT ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW FRANCE. CHAPTER I. ACADIA (NOVA 8COTIA).-160&-1618. Observations on the oivllisation of Europe at this epoch ; importance of Colonies fbr France. — M. ChauTin appointed Lieutenant-General of Canada and Acadia, with a monopoly of the peltry traffic therein.— Chauvin dying, is succeeded by the Commander do Chastos, who forms a commercio-colonial Society.— Messrs. Pont Grav^ and Champlain's voyage to Canada.— De Chastes dying, M. de Monts, a Calvinist, succeeds to his functions, and allows French Protestants to settle in the Colony.— Expedition of M. de Monts in Acadia, —Messrs. Champlain and de Monts discover the Bay of Fundy ; also the rivers St. John, Penobscot, and Kennebec— The colonists disembark at the Isle St. Croix.— Champlain explores the coasts.- Messrs. de Monts and Poutrincourt found Port-Royal, which place is conceded to the latter.— Lescarbot.— Progression of Port-Royal.- Withdrawal of the monopoly accorded to M. de Monts.- Dissolution of the Company trading in peltry.— Temporary abandonment of Port-Royal.- M. de Poutrincourt, who had left for France on a visit, now returns ; after refusing to take Jesuit priests with him. — Assassination of Henry the Fourth —The Marchioness de Guercheville purchases the rights oi the partners of M. de Monts, in order to send Jesuits to Acadia.- Dissensions between the colonists and the Jesuits.- Madame de Guercheville sends them to found an establishment near to the Penob- scot river.— The English of Virginia destroy St. Sauveur and Port-Royal, in time of peace. —The French Government takes no heed of these hostile proceedings, not considering the Franco- American Colonies in America as national, but private fouudatious merely We have now attained to an epoch wherein we may fix the com- mencement of dnrahle success for French colonisation. Many obstacles and calamities may yet retard its coarse, but its progress will not cease to be real. This epoch corresponds to the reign of Henry IV, one of the greatest of French kings, and to that of his successor, Louis XIII. Foreign had given place to civil war; Richelieu had abased Austria and the French nobles ; the latter having been weakened and divided by wars for religious pretexts. The national character, re-tempered in these long and sanguinary broils, had resumed its wonted energy ; and France, once more in and at peace, wanted a new career to be opened up for her disposable energies. The march of civilisation still continued throughout the epoch referred to. Henry the Fourth brought his kingdom into order, caused it to flourish, regulated the finances, reformed the laws, fostered agriculture and commerce, established manufactures of all kinds, formed the Canal of Braire, &c. Trade with foreign countries was as profitable in improving men's manners, as in returning pecuniary gains; and the ii!l!iiiil 72 HISTORY OF CANADA. art of printing, which was rapidly spreading its influences, gave a new and potent impulsion to amelioration in every form. The middle claas, having at last acquired importance by its riches, took the rank in society its most active and industrious members deserved ; and, in elbowing from its accustomed pride of place the warrior nobility who had stood between all other subjects and the throne, exalted along with itself the inferior laboring ranks, erewhile lying hopelessly prone at the foot of the social scale. " Every step of progress," says Lamennais, " is resolvable into the extension of liberty ; for progress is but a development, more or less free or complete, of the potencies of human being. Now, in the social scale, there is no real liberty without property ; realised thrift alone can release men from slavish dependence on their fellows." The discovery of the New World had accelerated the great movement going on. The nations set about colonising: some, to rid themselves of restless sectaries : others, to find a field for missionary labor ; all, hoping to open up new sources of wealth and power. France, above every other, was distinguished for efforts at converting infidels. It is to the fervor of her zeal, in that regard, we must attribute the preferential esteem the French people have obtained, at all times, among savage nations. America was now, more than ever before, fixing the attention of Europeans ; and it remained to be seen which should obtain the largest share of its territory. When the time for division took place, it was not meet that France should be absent. Spain and Portugal had already divided much of the southern continent between them, by an arrangement with papal sanction ; England persisted in forming settlements in Florida, despite the checks she received; Holland, with her flag displayed on every sea, had founded the New Netherlands (a province better known under its after-name of New York) : in a word, the whole European world was in movement around France, and in such a condition of things she could no longer remain stationary, or look on, while her enemies and rivals were strengthening themselves in America. But the earlier individuals to whom the French Government confided the task of occupying a portion of the New World, after the decease of the Marquis de La Roche, merely turned their privileges to account in the form of speculative self-aggran- disement. The sieur de Pont-Grav^, a rich merchant of St. Malo, formed a plan to obtain, for his own exclusive benefit, a monopoly of the fur trade both in Canada and Acadia ; and in order to gain this end, he took into his confidence a master-mariner named Chauvin, who besides having influen- ACADIA (nova SCOTIA). 73 tial friends at court, had obtained some personal favor with the Govern- ment, from services in late wars. He obtained a royal grant in his own favor of all the powers and privileges conceded to La Roche, armed with which he set sail for Canada, and landed a dozen men at Tadousac, in such forlorn plight, that they would have died of hunger during the winter, had they not been succored by the natives of that country. Chauvin himself dying shortly thereafter, Pont-Grav6 would have found himself no further advanced than before, had not that luckless officer's mantle fallen on the shoulders of the Commander de Chastes, Governor of Dieppe, who was now invested with all privileges granted to Chauvin. Trading interests, however, were but secondary objects with de Chastes ; but Pont-Grav6, whose sole aim had been to enrich himself, showed to him how needful the profits attending a monopolising traffic would be found, to defray the unpaid cost attending the work of colonisation ; and persuaded the Conamander to join with him in forming a trading society, having for its chief partners several men of rank and the leading merchants of Rouen. All other preliminaries being arranged, Captain Samuel Champlain, a distinguished naval officer, who had voyaged in the West Indies, and enjoyed favor at Court, was invited to command an expedition, and otherwise to carry out the views of Pont-Gravd and the other associated adventurers. With three barks of the pettiest dimen- sions, each but of twelve to fifteen tons burden, Champlain set sail in 1603. Arrived in Canadian waters, he, accompanied by Pont-Grav^, aacended the river St. Lawrence as far as the Sault St. Louis. Upon his return to France, he showed a chart and relation of his voyage to his royal patron. King Henry was so well pleased therewith, that he promised to countenance the objects in view with all his power ; and, M. de Chastes having died meanwhile, his functions devolved on Pierre du Gua, Sieur de Monts, Governor of Pons, and a placeman at Court. To him was accorded the monopoly of the fur traffic in all parts of North America lying between Cape de Raze, in Newfoundland, up to the 50th degree of north latitude, inclusive. All Huguenot (French Protestant) adven- turers, it was ordained, were to enjoy in America, as in France at that time, full freedom for their public worship ; condititioned always, however, that they should take no part in native proselytising; the charge of converting the aborigines being exclusively reserved for professors of the Catholic faith. Much good was expected to result from the enterprise, if only through the merits of its chief; M. de Monts being a man of superior talents and much experience. He was distinguished, also, as one ever zealous an I WWm ililli 74 mSTORT OF CANADA. for the glory of his conntry. The assooiation, formed by his predecessor and still subsisting, was increased in number ; several of the chief mer- chants of La Roohelle and other cities and towns joining it. Four ships were manned and victualled : two of which were destined to commence the trajffio for the company in peltry at Tadousac ; thenoe proceeding to range the whole seaboard of New France, and '^:iize all yesself* found traf- ficking with the natives, in violation of the royal pruhibition. The two other vessels were destined to bear the colonists embarked to such landing- places as should be agreed upon, and to aid in suitably locating them afterwards. Several gentlemen volunteers, some soldiers, and a number of skilled artisans, were embarked in these vessels. It will ahready have been noted, that young men of family usually took part, from choice, in the early exploring or colonizing expeditions which lefb France for distant regions. Cartier and Roberval were accompanied by such, in all their voyages. The restless and adventurous spirit which had largely manifested itself among French scions of nobility in the middle ages, during which time it originated warlike exploits in battle fields extending from the foggy coasts of England to the arid rocks about the river Jordan, — the adventurous spirit, we say, of the young nobles of olden France in the time of the crusades seemed to revive in such of their successors as sought, in America, a new and wider field for its exercise. But there were other influences at work, in some cases, which impelled men of gentle blood to self-expatriation at this time. Numbers of nobles and gentry had been ruined during recent civil wars in France or by the vicissitudes of the time; while other nobles again, whose fortunes remained to them, desired to profit, by the chance now presented, of escaping from the heavy pressure now laid upon their exor- bitant caste, through a constant increase of the royal power, for the abridgment of its privileges and suppression of its disorders. To the latter class we may assign baron Jean de Poutrinoourt, who embarked with Champlain, intending to settle in America with his family. The ships, with the emigrants. Catholic and Protestant, sailed from Havre-de-Grfice in March 1604, and stood towards Acadia, which M. de Monts preferred to Canada, because of its milder climate. He wished to set out a month earlier, but the parliament (supreme court) of Nor- mandy refused to register his nomination because he was a Protestant. The king had to interpose, and blamed the parliament, reminding the judges that he was sending, along with M. de Monts, clergy of the character. ACADIA (NOYA 800TIA). 76 Ao&dia, then the chief place of resort for French traffic, was oonaidered to be the finest country of New France ; and certainly it possesses fine ports, has a healthy and temperate climate, and a fertile soil in its middle region. Towards the seaboard, it abounds in copper-ore, iron-stone, coal, and gypsum. The coasts are frequented by a number of marine animals ; ae the whale, the se&-wolf, the seal. Among the variety of its sea-fish, we find cod, salmon, mackerel, herrings, sardines, shad, &o. Besides these advantages, it possesses yet others over Canada, in having a finer situation for external commerce, and harbors accessible at all seasons of the year. The Micmacs or Souriquois Indians, who inhabited the country, wchre at oDce bold of heart and gentle in their manners ; they received the French at first with a kindness which never abated to the last. In a word, M. de Moots had no reason to repent of the preference he had shown for their country, as well suited in every respect for present colonisation. The first place landed at was Port Rossignol, now Liverpool. After- wards the adventurers coasted the peninsula, as far as the bottom of the bay of Fundy, — called "la Bale Fran9ai8e" by M. de Monts. While voyaging along the coast, the vessels entered a spacious basin, surrounded with smiling slopes, cleft with river-coiirses, their waters being lost in the sea. Poutrincourt, charmed with the beauty of the locality, wished to settle here : accordingly, having obtained a grant of the land be named the settlement about to be formed, Port-Royal. After having circumnavigated the Bale Frangaise, M. de Monts pursued his voyage to the southward; and Champlain, who had sailed in advance, discovered first the St. John's river, and next the river Ste. Croix. It was in an islet at the mouth of the latter, that M. de Monts concluded to embark his colonists, the fine season being far spent. But the choice he made was not a happy one ; for when winter fairly set in, his people found no wood or water near; and scurvy breaking out, thirty-six of them died of it. As soon as spring returned, he made haste to quit the place, and set out in quest of a more suitable locality, further to the southward. After having coasted the shores of Lower Canada, and what was afterwards the seaboard of New England, as far as Cape Cod, M. de Monts, perceiv- ing no locality thereabouts which united all the conditions he desiderated, turned helm and returned to Acadia ; where, he found, Pont-Orav^ had arrived, while he was absent, with forty additional colonists. This oppor- tune reinforcement raised the spirits of all, which were at a low ebb, owing to the privations and diseases the people had suffered during the past winter. The entire body of colonists set out for Port-Boyal, and b^a tc construct that town, which is now better known as Annapolis. #■ '. :1; , * '"irs «• ' 76 HISTORY OP CANADA. i'l lliiiii!! In autumn ensuing, M. de Monts returned to France. He there found public feeling very unfavorable to his enterprise, owing to the reporte set a-going by the unassooiated peltry merchants, whose interests were endangered by his monopolies, that the climate of Acadia was unhealthy, and that such establishments as his were injurious to individuals and costly to the state. He feared, for a moment, that the Society, thus discredited, would be broken up, for want of the aid without which, he concluded, nothing durable would be effected for colonisation : he resolved, therefore, to remain in France, to prevent, if he possibly could, such a disaster: and M. de Poutrincourt who had returned also to Franco to gather emigrants, was ordered to fill the place of governor-substitute for M. de Motits. But before the former could reach Port-Royal, the colonists were already on their way home, thinking that they had been left on their own resources entirely. The individual who had rendered the greatest service at Port-Royal was the celebrated Lescarbot, a person of great acquirements, and the first to point out the true means to found a colony solidly. He urged that proper culture of the land, being indispensable to success, was the one thing needful : and, adding example to precept, himself showed his fellow-colo- nists how to set about it. Some he cheered on, others he shamed into activity, says our authority ; he was loved by every one, and this none the less that all knew he never spared himself when the general weal was in question. Not a day passed that he did not set a-going some new work of utility, constantly bringing into play his scientific acquirements along with the manual labor he either practised or stimulated. It is to Lescarbot that we owe the best memorials we now possess regarding the foundation of Acadia. Therein we may discern the superior mind and the practised pen of a man equally capable to write the history of a colony, as to lay its foundations. Spurred on by a mind so intelligent and so practical, the colonists forthwith busily engaged themselves, some in charring wood, while others took to road-making in the forests. Up to this time, the people ground their grain with hand-mills ; a water-mill was now constructed ajjd pufc in action, thus setting free many pairs of active hands for more skilled labor. Lescarbot showed the colonists how to make fire-bricks ; and to construct a furnace, with apparatus for clarifying the gum of the fir and making pitch ; in a word, the most advanced experience of the useful arts in that day was put in practice in the new settlement. The aborigines, astonished to see numberless objects taking shape before their eyes, admiringly exclaimed, "How many things these Normans know!" ACADIA (nova SCOTIA). 7T It WM, however, during the three years of this busy industry, which promised to do so much for the colony, that two misfortunes fell upon it and ruined all. The first blow was this : aparty of Dutchmen, conducted to the Society's depot by a vagabond emigrant, seized a whole year's store of peltries there accumulated, and bore them oflf as a prize ; the second and fatal blow was dealt by the merchants of St. Malo, who found means to bring about a revocation of the Society's monopoly of the traffic in peltry. As soon as authenticated intelligence arrived of these disasters, the colonists at once determined to quit Port-Royal. It was an unfortu- nate and even uncalled-for renunciation ; for, had the people struggled on till the coming year, it is probable that means for their future subsistence would have been secured, and that the final establishment of the colony, by them, would have become a certainty. M. de Poutrincourt, who had always governed the settlement, was a favorite of the natives of the locality ; many of whom shed tears while r^retfully escorting him to the shore, when about to sail for France. Such, indeed, was the respect of these people for the French generally, that when they returned three years afterwards (in 1610), the fort and every other erection, with all that thty contained, was found just as they were on the day of departure of their late possessors. When M. de Poutrincourt thus left, it was his design (probably commu- nicated to the natives) that he would soon return ; as trusting to find partners rich enough to aid him effectively in continuing his work of colonisation. Certain persons of rank, indeed, during two years after his arrival in France, made promises of their assistance, but never meant to be realised : which being at last perceived by their dupe, he sought for help in another direction, and soon found it ; for early in 1610, he concluded a satisfactory arrangement with two leading traders of Dieppe, named Dujardin and DuquSne, for the equipment of a new expedition. When all was ready, he set sail for Acadia, taking with him a body of colonists, including skilled artisans, all of a superior class. But, unhap- pily, the assassination of Henry IV taking place soon thereafter (May 14), the blight which for the time fell upon France itself, extended itself even to its remotest settlement at la Bale Franyaise. A system of conjoint despotism and intrigue succeeding, under the queen-dowager and her minister Concini, to the conciliating polity of the late king, brought about events which first called trouble on Port-Royal, and finally caused its second fall. As soon as Concini attained the chief power, the Jesuits, by his means, forced M. de Poutrincourt to receive them a& missionarieb into his settle- I 78 BISTORT Of CANADA. 1|||Pl!j|i|!l ment. His partners, who were either Huguenots, or men who had prejudices against the Jesuits, whom they regarded as authors of the League and of the murder of Henry IV, preferred to retire from the Acadian association rather than to admit these reltgieux into the oolonj. But the Jesuit missionaries were sustained by the marchioness dc Guercheville, who proclaimed herself the patroness of American missions. She secured their admission by buying up the dormant rights that M. de Monts had over Acadia, and which she proposed to obtain a renewal of, intending to put Poutrineourt himself under her dependence. In fact, the son of the latter was obliged, soon afterwards, to conclude an arrange- ment with her, that subsistence for the Jesuit missionaries should be had out of the produce of the fisheries and the peltry trade of the colony ; an exaction which, says Lescarbot, tended directly to deprive those who would have taken part in the colonisation, of the means for doing so. That judicious author remarks, that " if a contribution of a seigniorial nature were due to any one, it certainly was to Poutrineourt, and not to the Jesuits, who could not subsist without him. What I mean is this : first give our aid to the commonwealth, without which the church cannot exist ; insomuch as (said an early prelate) the church cometh of the republic, while the republic proceedeth not from the church." A portion of the profits accruing from the traffic in peltry by the colonists, was however set apart for the sustentation of the Jesuit missions, to the detriment of Port-Royal. The Protestants and such of the Catholics of France as were partisans of Sully's polity, formed the most industrious section of the French people ; and being so, were natur< ally the chief friends of commerce and oolonisation. Dissensions were not slow to break out in consequence. These were followed by hostile measures : the Jesuits, in the name of their potent patroness, seizing Poutrincourt's trading vessels, and originating impri* Bonings and lawsuita which efiected his ruin. This reduced the people of Port-Royal, to whom he could not send supplies of provisions, to starve through a whole winter upon acorns, beech-mast, and such wild roota as they could grub up. After having thus crippled Poutrineourt, the mar- chioness ceased to be a partner in his association, and withdrew with her Jesuits to other localities, leaving Port-Royal desolate. Champlain did all he could to avert this catastrophe, by advising the lady to join with M. de Monts in carrying out the enterprise she thus abandoned ; Sut thi^ she refused to do, because the latter was a Calvinist. Besides the obstacles thus assigned, the members of the Society of Jesuits were bent upon forming in Acadia an establishment similar to that they had in ACADIA (nova SCOTIA). T0 Paraguay, in order that the French colony should be entirely at their devotion likevvise ; but this attempt of theirs had the most unfortunate results, as the sequel proves. Meantime the protectress of the French Jesuits in Acadia, aided by the Queen-dowager, got fitted out, at Harfleur, an armed vessel, and gave the command of it to La Saussaye, one of her favorites. The desti* nation of La Saussaye was Portr Royal, in view of removing the Jesuits ; but he proceeded, in the first place, towards the River Penobscot (Pentagoit), the valley of which stream Father Biart had explored the year before. His course being impeded by misty weather, however, he was fain to disembark his people at the island of Monts-Deserts, where he commenced a settlement which he named St. Sauveur ; which at first seemed to thrive beyond his most sanguine hopes, but a political storm was gathering, which, when it burst, at once crushed the colony of the Holy Saviour. At this time England claimed the whole territory of north-eastern America from its southern seaboard up to the 45th parallel of north latitude, including, as of course, the central region of Acadia. France, on the other hand, contended that its share of the north-eastern parts of the continent and its adjoining islands, descended to lat. 40° N. ; whence it followed, that whilst La Saussaye believed himself to be within the limits of New France while at St. Sauveur, the English insisted that its site was theirs. Following up this pretension. Captain Argall, from Virginia, proceeded to dislodge the French therefrom. He was stimulated to this invasion by the double motive of a desire for plunder, and by his preju- dices against the French Catholics, to whom he attributed the ruin of Poutrincourt. He appeared suddenly before the then quite defenceless port, with a ship of 14 guns ; and some show of resistance being made, he assaulted and sacked the place without mercy. Father Gilbert du Thet was killed in the attack.* By way of legalising this act of piracy (for such it waa), Argall filched the commission granted to La Saussaye, and afiected to consider La Saussaye and his people, thus deprived of their official voucher, aa unaccredited adventurers. By degrees, however, his harsh deportment towards them softened, and he proposed to those among the Calvinists * The French at that time held on to Acadia because it coTered their fisheries ; the English coveted it because the peninsula lay in the road of their encroach- ments. Setting apart ArgalPs personal motives, he made no scruple of thus attacking a French colonj in time of peace, founded on debatable territory, for he knew that his countrymen were willing to solve a moot question of national rights by a preliminary seizure. "! 80 HISTORY OF CANADA. who could Rain thoir living by hard labor, to accompany him to Jainps- town (Virginia), whore, alter a year's toil, it was promised they should bo restored to their country. A dozen of such accepted his offer ; the rest, including La Saussaye and Father Massd, preferred trusting thctii- solves to a frail boat, in which they embarked for La Ilevo ; where they found a vessel of St. Malo, in which they took passage to Franco. The twelve persons who had taken Argall at his word wcro confounded at being cast into prison, and treated as pirates, upon landing at Jamestown. They demanded in vain a realisation of their capitulation with Argull, and wore condemned to die I Argall, thinking that matters had gone far enough, and fearing that trouble might fall upon himself, through his abstraction of Do Saussaye's commission, sent it to the Governor, Sir Thomas Dale, and confessed all. At sight of the above-mentioned document, and in consequence of a number of the facts relating to the aspirations of France which transpired during the inquest that followed, the Government of Virginia resolved to drive all J^'renchmen from every point occupied by them to the southward of 45" N. lat. A squadron of three armed vessels was accordingly sent, under the orders of Argall, to carry out the resolution thus adopted ; Father Biart and the entrapped men of St. Sauveur being sent at the same time. This Jesuit was accused afterwards, too hastily doubtless, of now piloting his country's enemies to Port-Iloyal, out of hatred to M. Biencourt, then Governor there, with whom he had some misunderstandings previously, in Acadia. The fleet began by razing to the ground all that remained of Ste. Croix; a bootless vengeance, seeing that it had been abandoned for several years. It then stood for Port-Royal, the inhabitants of which were laboring in their* grounds, five miles distant. Argall set fire to the town ; as also to the fort. In two hours' time the whole was a shapeless mass of smoking ruins. The French, perceiving the flames, hastened to the scene of destruction ere yet it was complete. Father Biart, trying to persuade them, thus deprived of their all, to seek shelter with their invaders, as their chief was a ruined man, was repulsed with indignation. One colonist, in particular, lifted a hatchet to kill him, saying that ho was a traitor, and the cause of all the mischief. Thus was Port-RoyaJ thrice destroyed or devastated, through divers evil chances. This time its perdition was complete. Many of its late inhabitants took refuge in the woods around, with the aborigines ; others found their way to the settlement which Ghamplain had formed beside the river St. Lawrence. Poutrincourt, who still lingered in Acadia, ACADIA (nova SOOTIA). 81 immediately returned homo. Upon his arrival, he took service in the army; and soon afturwurds was killed at the siege of Mdri-sur-Seine, which bo hud undertaken to reduce, during the seditions which accom- panied the CHpousals of the young king.* Poutrincourt may bo regarded as the real founder of Port-Royal, and even of Acadia itself, as a French colony ; for the destruction of Port- Royal did not cause the abandonment of the province, which ceased not to be occupied, at some point or other, by the remaining colonists; whoso number was augmented, from time to time, by other immigrants. The home government, while the events wo have lately noticed were in progress, took little or no heed of the colony as a national dependency. The Queen-regent's court was a foous of intrigues which eventuated in a civil war, and put the independence of the kingdom in pcril.f It was not a time for attending to the wants of the impoverished French Acadians, or for avenging the misdc<}ds of the piratical Argall. Pou- trincourt, seeing the hopelessness of the case, made no formal represen- tation of their wrongs; unless we take for such, a useless measure addressed to the Admiralty of Guienne, against Father Biart. The marchioness do Guercheville, however, was more active : she despatched La Saussaye to London, to claim a full indemnity for the loss she had incurred through the illegal acts of the invading Virginians ; and her demands, backed by the French ambassador, were in part com- plied with. She now recognised, but too late, the fault she had com- mitted in not leaving Acadia in the charge of Poutrincourt, as Champlain counselled ; a mistake, the discredit of which she indirectly imputed to Father Cotton, confessor of Louis XIII.J But led away by a spurious * The commencement of the reign of Louis XIII was signalised by intestine troubles, which were but indifferently appeased by the pacification of St. M^nehould, in the year 1614. — B. t " The Spanish Ambassador, noting the almost general anarchy prevailing in France, advised his master to profit by the occasion to dismember the kingdom, rather than to consolidate it by the marriage of his daughter with Louis." — Anqubtil. t " Le Pdre Cotton, famous for his souplesxe and his intrigues," says Dulaure, "was confessor to Henry IV as well as to his successor. His influence over the former was great, though the king liked him little and many of the king's subjects still less." A conceit of the time respecting this Jesuit has come down to ours : some one remarking that His Majesty always desired to do right, though right wu not alwayd done by his agents, a punster exclaimed, '* Que voulez-vous I le r '"ii?^ r •■! i *' U !i 1 ' iiijlft ! m 82 HISTORY OF CANADA. zeal, she thought it would be unsafe to entrust a Calvinist with the direction of an establishment, the chief end of which, in her estimation at least, was the propagation of the Catholic faith among the heathen. !!ii|!#i»*' SUPPLEMENT TO CHAPTER FIRST, BOOK FIRST. On page 103, vol. I, of the edition of 1845, the following paragraph followed that ending with the words "other European nations:" — " This conduct of France, viewed in its political aspect, mei 'ts not equal praise, especially in regard of the pernicious sway she exercised over the moral regulations of her colonies. In Canada, for examr ' >, from a fear of shocking the savages by a juxtaposition of men of diverse religious creeds, the government was induced to permit none but Catholics to become settlers among them. Thus while Catholicism was obliged to permit Protestantism to subsist at its side in the mother country, it had force sufficient to exclude it totally in the plantations beyond sea; a spirit of exclusion which, antecedent to the revocation of the edict of Nantes, adumbrated that overturning of the system of compromise fallen upon by Henry IV and Sully. The liberal and somewhat republican tendencies of the Huguenot mind, made the Protestant party always appear menacing to the crown; while the court viewed with a very diflFerent eye the submission of the Catholics and the higher clergy, as hostile at the least as the royal power to the liberty of the masses." And again, page 1^2 of the first edition, chapter I, book I, ends with the following sentences, which have been omitted in the last edition :— " it is very deplorable that the interest of the c( ony, and that of religion, have not always been identical. roi a les oreilles bourr^es tellcment de Cotton." (The royal ear ia so stuffed with Cotton, that the complaints of his people are shut out.) In 1611, the first arrival of the Jesuits from France took place in Acadia. Peres Biard and Masse were earliest in this field of missionary labor. In the Relation of the year we find the following passage : — " A great fruit of the mission is the confidence and friendship the Acadian savages have for the French, we being so familiar with them.... Some English coming in their way as we once saw ourselves, they rushed upon them, but success did not crown their assault. And, late in 1611, some Dutch landing to take in water, they fell upoc tbem ad killed six with the captain. R. 1611, ch. 2i.—B. Il'l'l'" "^' ACADIA (NOVA SCOTIA). 83 *< Despite the nullity of its results in our day, we cannot but admire such religious enthusiasm as that of Madame de Guercheville, and which led her to sacrifice a part of her fortune for the conversion of the heathen. But while rendering all the justice due to her for a devoteduess which ought to appear sublime in this age of cold calculation and self-seeking interestedness, the question still recurs, why did such charitable works bear no permanent fruit, or operate ultimately for the advantage '^f France? It is true that, at the *ime indicated, men's experiimce hud not as yet taught them that the interest of religion itself demanded the sacrifice of all else, for the advancement and consolidation of the colonies ; for, these failing, either the perdition of the missions must needs follow, or at least their after success would become problematical in il highest degree." CHAPTER II. iii' CANADA.*-1608-1628. M. do Monts abandons Acndia for Canada.— Foundation of Qucfbec— Conspiracy against Champluiu punisliod.— Alliance with tlio Algonquins, &c.— First expedition against the Iroquois.— Second expedition against tlic samo.— M. de Monts retires from Canadian aflairs. —The count do Soissons replaces liim.— Dcatli of the latter.— The prince de Cond4 appointed lioutonant-gcncral ( viceroi) of Canada.— Chumplaiu forms a Society possessing a monopoly of the peltry trafflc— Opposition made to thi.s Society's exclusive privileges.— The prince de Cond*!^ sells his commission to admiral de Montmorency.— Champlain's treaty with the Huron tribes.— He explores the Outaouais (or Ottawa) river, and discovers Lal(0 Ontario and I^ittlcc Nipissing.— Tliird expedition against the Iroquois. — ^Treaty of peace with the Algonquins and other tribes.— 'llic duke de Veutadour becomes lieutenant-general of New Franco.— Arrival of the Jesuits in Canada.- Champlain leaves for France.— Cardinal do lUchclicu dissolves Champlain's company, and constitutes the association denominated " Society of the Hundred I'artuors." The sieur de Monts, as we have seen, abandoned Acadia in 1607, His whole attention was now turned to Canada. Two motives impelled him to persevere in his projects : a desire to enlarge the French posses- sions in America; and a hope he cherished, of being able, at a future time, to reach the Pacific Ocean by a North-west passage. The possibility or otherwise of such a desideratum being realized, — a moot question ever since the age of Columbus, and still an unsolved problem, — was left to our own times to settle. • The series of years, printed at the head of thia chapter, mark the limits cf an epoch inwhich it maybe said thatCanadaand its dependencies were refounded. The wors of France against foreign powers, and the worse hostilities waged between her own sons, during most of the previous century, had now terminated. The kingdom was prospering under the conciliatory sway of Henry the Fourth; whose deficiencies as a ruler were compensated by the administrative talents, economical spirit, and orderly habits of his prime minister and confidant, Maximilian de Bethune, duke of Sully, There were therefore time, inclination, and pecuniary means ready to be employed in ameliorating the situation of the French settlements in America ; which had been allowed, through the troubles and impoverishment of the mother country, to become almost extinct as organ- ised dependencies. [It was, indeed, full time that the vain-glorious title of "New France" should be other than an empty sound; and from this date the enormous territories which France claimed for herself and called a great colony though still a huge wilderness merely, should have its skirts at least trimmed with the edf'ings of civilisation. M. de Monteil, in hisgreat work, Hittoire des Frangais des divers Etats writing of oarly Frensh eoloniaation, real and unre&I in North America, puts the follow* CANADA. 86 After having obtained from the king (1607) a renewal of his pririlegep for one year, M. dc Monts appointed Chaxapiain his lieutenant, and along with his partners equipped two vessels: one, to traffic at Tadousac; the other, to bear the colonists who were to commence a settlement near the St, Lawrence- The expedition arrived at Stadacon<5 (Quebec) on the third day of July. Champlain's people disembarked at the point of land now occupied by the lower town of the present city of Quebec. They forthwith cleared a site, and erected cabins for temporary sheltering-places. Nature herself would seem to have formed tlie table-land whose bascF are bathed by the rivers St. Lawrence, Cap Rouge and St. Charles, as the cradle, first, of a colony ; next, the central point of an after empire. It was not to be wondered at, therefore, that the tact of Champlain led him at once to pitch upon this locality as a proper head-quarters for th( projected establishment. Having fairly set his hands to work, Chainplain soon saw rise before him a fort, of some extent and respectable strength ; while several laborers were busied in clearing contiguous land for tillage, or in other useful and urgent works. The foundations of a town, yet to become one of the most famous cities of the New World, were now being laid in the re '-ce of wondering red men of the woods. The etymwiuj.j' of the name of Quebec, like that of Canada, has been •the subject of much learned discussion ; but the question now scarcely admits of a doubt : Quebec owes its name neithLV to the exclamatory wonder of a Norman, struck with the peculiar features of the site and bold scenery around it ; nor yet to the patriotic piety of another compatriot of the founder, said to have attributed to the locality a name dear to hip recollections: in a word, Champlain jisserts positively that he landed at ing words in tbo mouth of an interlocutor ; " The English, for a time, did little more than show themsclvcB in the western seas and touch at various points of their shores. Tiie other nations of Europe remained mere spectators of what was going on. I make an exception of the French, however ; their national pride never yet would let them play so simple a part. But still their sea-ciiptainB, Bent to the scene of action — Vcrrazano, Cartier, Champlain, Ribou, Villcgagnon, Laroque, and several others — did nothing or little more than embarlt for Amenca, disembark there, build a few wooden forts, leave behind them a hand- ful of miserable wretches {pauvres diablcs) and return to France forthwith. Nevertheless, you will find, in maps of the time. North America parcelled out with its Terres Neuves, Canada, Florida, &c. There you may see rivers with French names, such as American Seines, Loires, and Garonnes ; and new cities (on paper) called Charles-Villc, Henri-Ville, &c. Ahl our geographers havt achieved many more conquests than our captains." — B.] "\r. „ !» ti i- 86 HISTORY OF CANADA. a place which the natives called KSbec, which woid meant, in their language, a strait ; thus indicating the narrows between St. Lawrence and Cap Kougc^ where the great river is not more than 500 rods (verges) wide.* Hardly had the French gained a foothold on a part of the Canadian soil and made beginnings to clear it, than a plot was got up which menaced the settlement with ruin. The severe discipline maintained by their chief, served for a pretext to Jean Duval, a Norman locksmith, to cut him off. This man, who was both violent and courageous, and had distinguished himself in war against the savages of Acadia, drew in several colonists to take part in the proposed murder of their governor. The conspirators proposed, when he was thus disposed of either by cord or bullet, to pillage the stores and take refuge in Spain with the booty. Some days before the prescribed time for putting in act what had been proposed, one of the party, stung with remorse, confessed everything and named his accom- plices, as indeed, upon the trial, all the others did, yet were they severally sentenced to death ; but Duval only was executed : the rest were sent as felons to France, where the king pardoned them. The example thus made, however, sufficed to keep down a spirit of mutiny among the colonists, f Chuniplain had been invested with ample powers, executive, legislative, and judicial — all which devolved upon his next successors in order. These powers constituted a real despotism ; tempered, nevertheless, with usages • The word Quebec, pronounced Ouabec in the Algonquin vernacular, says Mr. Stanislas Vassal, signifies dStroil, a strait. That gentleman (whose mother was an Abenaquis), who speaks several native dialects and has passed most of his life among the aborigines, assures us that the word is purely Indian. — M. Malo, a missionary, in the year 1843, among the tribes of the Gulf of St. Law- rence, also assures us that the word Kebec, in Micmac idiom, has the above signifi- cation : the reverend gentleman himself had no doubt that the name of Quebec is of native origin. The proper application of the word is adjectival ; viz closed, obstructed. [It was rather unusual, in any part of colonised North America, English or French, to adopt native names already in use for the sites of settlements. That of Quebec must have been an exception, seeing that Chimplain speaks so positively as above : else it were just possible that the nauie of Caudebec-sur- Seino in Normandy, carelessly pronounced, was transferred by the settlers, many being Normans, to the new town built near a bee de rivierSj riveraiu promontory or bluff. — B.] t Ohampiain ; Lescarbot. CANADA. 87 and formalities ; but which temperings, by degrees became less and less operative.* The governors, as will be seen below, had no other curb put upon their absolutism, than such as might arise out of the ofiicial advice given them by a council, the members of which they nominated themselves, and whose opinions they were not bound to carry into practice. Such powers as we have detailed, or powers very similar in nature and extent, were delegated to all the founders of provinces in North America, setting aside a few exceptions in the JSnglish colonial provinces. A despotism like this was not inconvenient at an early stage of the progress of any colony ; because, in respect of the early French settlements at least, most of their members were in the pay of a governor or of a company. But in proportion as the colonies extended and became populous, they fashioned their institu- tions after the model of those of the mother country of each ; unless indeed, taking into account differing conditions of existence, such a pattern it was impossible to copy exactly. Champlain found that, since the days of Jacques Cartier, aboriginal Canada had been metamorphosed by revolutions among its contending tribes. Stadaoond and llochelaga existed no more ; and it did not seem that the same native populations as those of Cartier's day po.sscssed the country which had those places for their head-quarters. Had these settlements been destroyed in war, or had their possessors moved to other locations, better suited for the chase or the fishery ? — Golden f reports that the Five Nations (Iroquois) once occupied the environs of Mont- Royal, whence the Algonquins drove them, according to an accredited * Thus ran the constitutive terms of " instructions " in tlie early governors comraidsions: — "....in times of peace, repose, and tranquillity, to command and govern, both by sea and land ; to ordain, decide, and cause to execute all that you shall judge ought to and can he done for maintainiug, keeping, and. preserving the said places put under your power and authority, in the forma and ways, and by the means, prescribed by ()ur ordinances. And to enable you to carry out your views, you are authorised to commission, constitute, and establish all offices whatsoever, whether for affairs of war, or of justiciary and police, in the first resort; and, in liie second resort, to indicate and present deferred causes bi'fore Us, so that these may be linally decided on : such letters^ titles, and requisite^ to be given as may be necessary. And accor.'ing as alfairs occur, you shall ic person, with the advice of prude at and cap.ihle persons^ prescribe — subject to Our good pleasure — all laws, statutes, and ordinances ; in so far as they may conform to our own, in regard of such things and con* cernments as are not orovided for by these presents." t Golden ; HUlory V ^ ^^^ Nattviu of Canada. Ijfff 88 HISTORY OP CANADA. tradition of these nations themselves. Revolutions of this kind are not uncommon among savage tribes. It is inferrible, from the silence of Cartier upon the subject, that the wars between the Iroquois and other savage nations of Canada had not begun when he wrote. He speaks only of the Toudaments, a sea-board tribe, between Acadia and Manhattan (New York). This people trav- ersed the AUeghanies, to ravage parts of the Laurentian valley. In Champlain's time, again, the country had inhabitants yet more barbarous than those encountered by Cartier. The tribes now generally found manifested signs of suffering, which proved that they were oppres- sed and overborne by other savages, of superior courage or greater craft than themselves. In their despair of holding out against the latter, they eagerly sought an alliance with the French against the Iroquois, who occupied the forests southward of Lake Ontario. These Iroquois were of the Huron type of aborigines, and formed five nations in confederation. One of these nations was divided into three tribes ; bearing, severally, the appellations of Turtles, Bears and Wolves. The Iroquois were men- tally superior to all other native nations of North America. Uninformed of the strength and nature of the confederation, and naturally most anxious to stand well with his nearest native neighbors Champlain accepted, perhaps rashly, the proposal above mentioned ; which embarked the colony in wars which lasted more than a century. He expected that, by securing the people of one of the native tribes for friends, he might not only break up the Iroquois confederation, but ultimately subdue or awe into neutrality all other tribes disposed to be troublesome to the French. He knew not the fact that alien colonists' had ranged tljemselves with the Iroquois, and were ready to sustain their pretensions, so as to counterwork the polity he meant to pursue. The Iroquois had now become the terror of all the North American aborigines out of their own pale. Thus when the Agniers took arms against the tribes of New England, the cry of alarm, passing from hill to hill, " The Iroquois arc coming! " chilled every heart, paralysed every arm ; and having arrived, other native men, women, and children were used to flee before them, as sheep from wolves. The Iroquois, from policy, took great care to keep up this dread ; and sought, upon every occasion, to persuade other nations, that themselves were invincible. M, Pont-Gravd, having arrived from Europe with two vessels, full ol men, Champlain set out, with his Indian allies, to attack the cantons, July 29, 1609, he met their forces on the borders of the lake which bears his name. Both sides forthwith prepared for the action, which did not CANADA. 89 take place, however, till next day. During the intervening night, the savages beguiled the time with dances, songs, and provocative taunts launched at the native foes before them, in the style of warriors of the heroic ages of Greece, as recorded by Homer. When day dawned, a body of Iroquois, 200 strong, advanced slowly, but with steady step and much confidence, to the attack, headed by three chiefs, each distinguished by a large bunch of feathers on his head. The allies of Chainplain, who had only three of his men at hand, the rest of his people not having come op, drew up into two separate corps, and put him forward as tlicir leader, telling the French to aim principally at the enemy's chiefs. The Iroquois, when within thirty steps of their foes. °tcoJ still in wonder upon observing the unknown auxiliaries in the van of battle. Recovering from their surprise, they answered a flight of arrows from their adver- saries with another ; but when the French discharged their firelocks and shot dead two of the chiefs, and mortally wounded another, the entire horde fled to the woods, and, being hotly pursued thither by their trium- phant antagonists, several more were killed, and some of them taken prisoners. Only fifteen or sixteen of the victors were wounded in this action, and none of them killed. They pillaged their enemies' camp and began a hasty retreat. Evening being come, they took one of their captives, and first causing him to sing the native chaunC of death, prelusive to his coming fate, they tortured him in the modes usual with them upon such occasions. Chau.plain shocked at their barbarity, asked leave to put the wretched man out of further pain by a quick despatch ; but this was not allowed until the tormentors had exhausted every device of savage cruelty. Towards autumn, Champlain returned to France. King Henry, then at Fontainebleau, received him favorably, and listened, with much inter- est, to the report he gave of the state of Canada : or, rather, as that prince now chose to call his American dependencies, " New France." But M. de Monts was unable, notwithstanding, to obtain a renewal of his monopoly of the peltry traflSc : adverse interests proved inorc potent than his credit at court could overcome. Yet although all the means that now remained for him to rely upon were the pecuniary resources of his partners, and the expected profits accruing from the traffic, — despite the competition of other parties, he dared to hope that he might still realise enough to balance the outlay occasioned by the needs of the infant colony : and thus confiding in his fortunes, he equipped two vessels, which he entrusted to Champlain, who set sail for Quebec. 90 HISTORY OF CANADA. Pi i' \,h {•' »■ , , ,| i' i The Indians, meanwhile, were impatient at the prolonged absence of the French Chief, under whose orders they were eager to set out on an expedition against the once-dreaded Iroquois, but whom they no longer feared to seek out for attack. Champlain, nothing loth, complied with their wishes shortly after liis arrival, and took the field in pursuit of a body of Iroquois hovering about the embouchure of tlie river llichelieu. When Champlain and his allies set out in quest of their foes, they were found nearer than was expected. The Iroquois had intrenched themselves, hoping thereby to shelter their bodies from the deadly action of European implements of war, such as they had experienced the year before. They met the first assault upon them with spirit, and successfully resisted the assailants. But at the second attack, volleys of musketry again decided the conquest ; which was long and well maintained by the Iroquois, and in which Champlain himself received a wound. Most of the defeated party«^were finally cut in pieces, and all those who escaped the tomahawk perished in a stream Avhither they were driven. Two hundred Hurons arrived after the combat was over. Most of these, having never seen a European, regarded the persons of the French, their dress, their arms, with astonishment, without forecasting, any more than Champlain's allies, the destiny of the strangers now recognised by them for the first time. It was just after the return of Champlain from this short but brilliant campaign, that he became apprised of king Henry's tragical death, the news of which spread as much consternation at Quebec as Port-lloyal. Every one appreciated the magnitude of the country's loss ; but Champlain felt it more than all, from having enjoyed the protection and friendship of that great prince. He embarked immediately for France, in order to attend personally to the colony's interests at head-^iuarters, which would likely be jeoparded by the discussions likely to follow upon the event which all good subjects, at home and abroad, conjoined in deploring. The tendencies of the new government, its throwing open the trafiic in peltry lately announced, all which had already given rise to brisk compe- tition, forced M. de iMonts to renounce his projects entirely ; and those who wished to follow them up along with him, were fain to turn their speculative regards in other directions. Champlain, after having conferred with his patron at Pons, strove to form a new company, and to put Canada under the protection of some high personage capable of assuring the favorable dispositions of the Court. The influence of the marchioness de Gutrcheville in the affairs of Acadia seemed to him to prove the necessity of similar patronage in the present case. Passing in review the likeliest individuals to meet his 'liMi' CANADA. 91 views among the crowd of French princes and grandees, he pitched upon Charles de Bourbon, Count de Siissons, as a suitable party; and on application made, that nobleman consented, by letters dated October 1612, to succeed M. de Monts as Lieutenant-General of Canada, and to retain Champlain and his deputy. Scarcely were those letters expedited, when the Count died. Champlain was agaiii in difl&culty ; but he was promptly relieved from it by the prince de Conor's consenting to take up the functions which had fallen from the dying hands of De Soissons. The commission now given to Champlain warranted him to seize every unauthorised vessel he should find trafficking in peltry between Quebec and the upper course of the St. Lawrence. This was abolishing, within those limits, the freedom of trade accorded by Henry IV. When the terms of the new commission became known iu the several ports of Franco, u formidable opposition to it arose, and Champlain was put to his wits' end to conjure the storm. He proposed, in order to conciliate all adverse interests, the formation of a society for colonisation and traffic, into which every merchant whatever might rightfully enter. He desired at once to assure the prosperity of the colony thereby, and to give a certain amount of freedom to all parties engaged or intending to engage in the traffic on their own account. This compromise was the most judicious measure that could be adopted, under the circumstances ; but the merchants of La Rochelle refused to join the association thus amended. They had been invited to repair to Fontainebleau, to sign the articles of agreement, along with the merchants ot St. Malo and Rouen, but now refused to come. To give the dissentients due time for re-consideration, a third part of the shares of the new association was set aside for their use, if claimed within an appointed time ; but as soon as that period elapsed, without such application being made, the book was closed, and the whole shares were allotted to the two other trading marts in equal moieties. Constituted to endure for eleven years, the legality of the association was ratified by the Prince de Conde and confirmed by the King : a high sanction which, when notified to the Rochelle merchants, caused them to repent of their obstinacy; because all legal trading competition was now shut out, a result they had not anticipated. They continued, however, to carry on a contraband traffic in opposition to the new association ; this being all the easier because of the impossibility, in those days, of effectually guarding the coasts and interior water-ways of 8 extensive a region as Canada. Champlain, who expected great returns from the society's traffic, caused a site to be cleared in the vicinity of Montreal, for erecting a fort to protect the factory intended to be opened mmm 92 HISTORY OP CANADA. 1 It P ! m w in the island of that name. He ooncluded, at the same time, a treaty of Allianoc and trade with the Hurons, a party of which nation, 200 in number, had come on a visit ; and the chiefs gave liim peruiisHion to oommenoe a settlement in their country, if he found its soil suitable for the purpose. Constantly scanning the country situated near the sources of the St. Lawrence and its chief tributaries, Cbamplain's attention specially fixed itself, in 1613, on the regions of the north. An adventurer assured hini that, in company with some Algonquins, he once arrived at a remote sea- shore, where he had seen fragments of a wrecked English vessel. He wished to ascertain if this report were true, which the discovery of Hudson's Bay, in 1602, had rendered probable enough. But, havin|; ascended the Ottawa nearly to its sources without coming to any sea, he retraced his course. The discovery of Lake Ontario, in 1615, was an ample compensation for previous disappointments in his indefatigable explorations. lie wu8 at the Sault St. Louis, when the Hurons and the Outaouuis arrived, to claim again his aid in repelling the Iroquois, who always obstructed their path. Accordingly, he set out for Cahiagud, on Lake Ontario, where the allies had assembled their forces. Ascending the Ottawa, he reached Lake Nipissing, about sixty leagues north-east of Lake Huron ; then descending southward, he reached Lake Ontario, late in July. Chaniplain was the first European who visited the "fresh-water sea," as he called Ontario ; then, as now, a huge natural mirror, but at that time reflecting on its surface only the skirts of wild woodlands, instead of the smiling images of flourishing citiee and towns which stud its Jjhores at the present day. Operations forthwith commenced; for all that was needful to reach the Iroquois, was merely to traverse the St. Lawrence. The savages, foreseeing what they had to expect, were found solidly intrenched ; and by this means they effectually resisted the assaults of their native foes, who advanced in disorderly fashion, in spite of all the French could do to regulate their movements. Thus repulsed, their distrust of themselves now became as depressing, as their confidence had been high before. Nought was thought of but retreat, and this was effected happily without loss. Champlain, who had received two wounds in the affair, demanded the aid of two guides to conduct him to Montreal ; this being denied to him under different pretexts, he was obliged to winter among the natives. But he did not pass the season idly : making himself acquainted with CANADA. the Ontnrian regions around, and visiting, in especial, the Neutral nation, a race of natives which kept up friendly relations with all the battling tribes around. Ghamplain did not return to the 8ault St. Louis till next June. A report of his death had gained currency, during the interval ; therefore great was the joy of the colonists upon his re-appearing among theui, after making discoveries which gave added celebrity to his name. While he was extending to the westward the limits of New France, contestations were ceaseless in Old France regarding the company's invidious privileges, ^n 1618, when the convocation of Estates was sitting, the deputies rom Erittany had succeeded in persuading the oounoil to adopt an article in their instructions claiming free trade in peltry. Champlain, when he next revisited Franco, obtained a re-con- sideration of this concession, which undermined the basis of the lately formed association between the merchants of St. Malo and Rouen ; and, after a hearing of all the parties interested, the society's monopoly was recognised as valid. Still a majority of its members were so wearied out by the vexatious oppositions they had to encounter, and so malcontent at the poor returns accruing from the speculation, that the association would have broken up, but for the hopeful perseverance of its leading spirit. The founder of Quebec, by constantly recalling to his partners' minds considerations of personal interest, patriotism, and honor, succeeded in maintaining the association ; upon whose continued existence, he well knew, that of the colony itself entirely or mainly depended. With him the latter consideration was paramount; for others it was subordinate. Often did he strive to excite the zeal of the association for extended oolonisation; the only effect resulting being favorable promises, never kept. How these gentlemen understood their obligations in this regard, soon was made manifest. Thus when Champlain was preparing to return to America with his family, a majority of the society proposed to deprive him of the Govern- ment of Canada, and give it to a more manageable man, one less addicted to colonising ; a veil being drawn over this unworthy supersession, by the plausible pretext put forward, that he might be most usefully employed in explorations and in treating with the native tribes, for the benefit of the company and for national good. Pont-Grav^, a man whose only thought was the extension of traffic, was the party thought of to succeed Champlain, if the latter were superseded. Opinions on the whole subject, however, were divided: warm discussions arose; and the affair being brought under the consideration of the King's Council, a royals decree IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V. // Q- y 1.0 I.I m 11^ i^ S IIIIM i^ " 2.0 1.8 1.25 i.4 1.6 <« 6" — ► % ■ V /. ■rf M Photographic Sciences Corporation ^•\ 4 heir official acts were dated from this vice-regal dwelling, which has never been rebuilt.* The RecoUet Friars f had already, by royal permission, begun to erect a convent on the banks of the river St. CharleS) although the whole population of Quebec, including those monks, did not exceed fifty souls. But such was the devotional spirit of the time, that different monastic orders were enabled, through the liberality of the pious in France, to found amid the Canadian wilds vast establishments of education and beneficence; which are still the boast of French Canadians. The foundation-stone of * Its name, however, is still given to a building, erected late in the 18th century, as an appurtenance to the castle, and which the conflagration spared. I The RecoUets exchanged some lands they possessed for others, belonging to M. Hebert, beside the river St. Charles ; a stream so named because M. de Ramsay, grand-vicar Pontoise, wished, if prolonged life permitted, to found a Seminary on its banks, in honor of that Saint, for the instruction of savages. [Rkcollkts : Friars Minor of the strict observance order of St. Francis. They originated in Spain. Introduced to Italy in 1525, they were there called gli Reformati; and invited to France, in 1592, by Louis de Gonzague, due de Nevers, he first established them in the convent des Recollets : its name thence- forward distinguished this branch of the order of Franciscan friars. Protected by Henry IV, Louis XIII, and Louis XIV, they spread all over France. John of Zumarraga, first Bishop of Mexico, was a RecoUet. Diet, des Dates. — B.] CANADA. 95 the RecoUet convent chapel was laid in 1620, Six yealrs before, Rccollets of the Province of Paris had been invited to Canada by several parties, but chiefly by the association who feared the presence of Jesuits in the colony. Four of the body arrived in 1615. They visited the Hurons, along with Champlain; and one of them went, next year, amongst the Neutral tribe. An Indian whom they sent to France, was well educated in Callcville college. In 1618, Pope Paul IV accorded, at the instance of the French ambassador, the charge of missions in Canada to the llecol- lets of Paris. Several of these religious men lived and died among the natives ; and Father Nicolas Viel, a very learned RecoUet, was drowned by the Huron savages. These friars were the only missionaries in the colony till 1624. In that year. Father Irenaeus Le Piat gave an invitation thither to a few Jesuits. The associated merchants at first would not sanction the proceeding. They set out for Canada notwithstanding ; but when they reached Quebec, they were not permitted to land till the RecoUets should find a permanent asylum in the infant city.* In the sequel, the RecoUets sold their convent, to which they had given the qualification of " Notre-Dame-des-Anges." It became an hospital. Louis XIV gave them, in 1681, the locality where was once the Seneschal- sea of Quebec, facing the castle of St. Louis, for the site of an hospitium. As the RecoUets were the earliest missionaries known to Canada,f so were they the first to disappear from it. What arrested the attention of foreign visitors in an early time, was the number of conventual institu- tions ; whereas, in the Anglo-American provinces, it was chiefly industrial eetabllshments which first caught the stranger's eye: a characteristic difference, significant of the diverse character of the two races. While our forefathers, were erecting monasteries, the early settlers of Massa- chusetts were constructing floating erections to be borne, on the wings of the wind, for trading purposes, to the ends of the earth. | * Authority : Documents collected ii France, by M. G. B. A. Ferland, priest in the archdiocese of Quebec. t Father Denis, Jean Dolbeau, Joseph Le Oarron (who had been almoner of the King when Dauphin, also to the Duke of Orleans), and Brother Pacifique Duplessis, came to Canada in 1615 ; Fathers Huet and Modeste in 1618. t The material aspect of the towns of olden France was, in those times, quite 83 ecclesiastical as those of New France. Two-fifths of the entire superficies of Paris were covered with religious establishments or their dependencies : DuIiACrb. And in the " Memoires surle Canada, depuis 1749 jusqu'a 1760," published under the diiection of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, we find the following incidental notice of the state of the city of Montreal just 100 yeara 4m -. .•4 NEW FRANCE. 103 Eii,i,'liHli and Irish members of the pre-existing baronctngc, "baronets of Nova Scotia." * At tliis time, intestine war between Catholics and Huguenots was raging in France. La Roclielle, tlie hist bulwark of th<' latter, being closely besieged, an English fleet, commanded by the presumptuous yet incapable Villiers, duke of Buckingham, was sent for their intended relief. The ill-managed attempt utterly failed : Cardinal Richelieu took La Rochelle, and the position of Protestantism in France became one of abjection. Stung by his defeat, rather than moved by patriotic feelings or by regard for the cause of religious freedom, Buckingham persuaded his master to declare war against Louis XITL Hostilities between their subjects, forthwith begun in Europe, soon extended to those of America. A fleet of war-vessels was equipped in England to invade the settlements of New France, and in particular to attack Quebec. One of the ships was commanded by David Kertk, a master mariner of Dieppe, and another by Captain Mitchell, both being French Protestants. In midsummer liVlS, the English ships reached the gulf of St. Lawrence, where they captured several French vessels, engaged in the fisheries and peltry traffic. Kertk. arriving at Tadousac, wrote a very civil letter, dated July 8, to Cbamplain, admonishing him, that as famine reigned in Quebec, and no supplies could reach it by sea, the entry of the St. Lawrence being blockaded by the English fleet, it were best for all parties that the place siiuuld be yielded on favorable terms being accorded. Chaniplain, judging from the distance between him and Kertk, that the latter was not so ready to put his threats io execution as he announced, sent a defiant reply to the summons ; although, had Kertk acted at once, rather than lost time in parley, he might have attained his object easily ; for the garrison of Quebec was then in helpless extremity. In order to disguise the nakedness of the land, the wily governor ostentatiously feasted the impressed Basques whom Kertk sent to deliver his minatory missive : although the inhabitants then had no resources whatever, and lived upon seven ounces of bread per head daily, served from the government stores,^ the latter containing, at this time, not more than 50 lbs. of gunpowder. When the messengers returned to Kertk with Champlain's letter, and answered the questions that were probably put to them, that officer, dis- trusting the reports he had previously received of the state of Quebec, * The translator is answerable for all the above particulars regarding the origin of " baronets of Nova Scotia," substituted for those given by M. Garneau on this point and others immediately following, which are either quite incorrect^ or at best inexact,— .B. ■ik: ^.., . '«* 104 HISTORY OF CANADA. 'A dostrnycd nil the vesaelH he hud at Tudousuo, and returned to the lower Liiurcntiiin waters. Shortly afterwards, Roquemont arrived in the f^ulf, and won (irronenuHly informed, as he entered it, hy natives whom he met, that Quebec had been taken by the Enjilish. Doubting the evil ncwH, however, pcuoc having been re-established when he left, he despatched eleven ot his men. in a light vessel, to Quebec, for n»ore relinble information. Scarcely had this bark set out, than the people in her sighted six vessels bearing English colors ; and next day, they heard a brisk cannonade. It proceeded from the guns of Kertk'sand Ho(|uemont's ships, then in close action. The latter had been chased, and were easily captured after a short opposition ; they were, in fact, almost unman.igeable in fight, being loaded to the ^unwah' with supplies, and necessarily crowded with unwarlike passengers. It ap[)eared that lloquemont rather sought than avoided this irreparable caliiniity, for such it proved, as being the real mediate cause of the surrender of Quebec, although that untoward event did not take place till next year. The governor, having had his mind prepared for the intelligence brought him of the capture of Koquemont's ships by what he already knew, bon- the shocfe with his accustomed equanimity, and set about making the means of subsistence still I ft go as far as possible. Unfortunately, the year's returns from the small patches of land under cultivation proved unwontedly scanty. He dispatched agents to buy as much provisions from the natives as they were willing to part with ; and sent a number of others to winter with the Indians, so that there would be fewer mouths to consume the almost exhausted government stores. After evcr\ precaution taken, however, the suffering from privation by the inhabitants of Quebec, during the following five or six months, must have been very great ; for it is recorded that no sooner had the snow disappeared frniu the ground, than numbers of those whom want had not quiti! prostrated, went forth to the contiguous wilderness, to search for rootSi Ac, to keep life in their own bodies or in those of their families. In the midst of this distress, Champlain seemed to rise superior to evil fate. Personally, he set the example of patience under extreme privation, while he gave encouraging assurances, which he could hardly have put trust in himself, that plenty would soon return ; as doubtless vessels freighted with abundant supplies, would soon arrive from France. But days, weeks, months, glided on, and they came not. The season of starva- tion continued through part of the spring, with nearly as much suffering as in the previous winter, and was now being prolonged during the first months of sum ner. Every wood, for many leagues round the city, having iiiipil!ii-i NEW PRANCE, 106 been thoroughly nmsnokcd for petty edibles, the fiiifferers luid become utterly (lospoiident, when all were rouned iutoj;;lad expectiition on hcnring that three inwurd-bound veHHels were near, and had been sij^naled lu'liind Poiiito-L«5vi. The joy nt their prescjice was short-lived. They were EiiirliHh whips of war, comnianded by Loxiis and Thomas Kcrtk, sent on by tho admiral their brother; who sailed from England with a second expi'dition, but had tarried nt 'i'ndousac with a larger number of vessels. No thouL'ht was entertained now in the mind of any one, but to give up the city, on the most favorable conditions thnt its foes would be persuaded to oonci'tlo. They entered its gitos, and took possession on the twenty-ninth day lit' luly, 1H29. Louis Kertk, who installed himself as Knglish gover- nor, treated the citizens with kindness, — and, it may be presumed, supplied the iniiro pressing bodily wants of the people whose ruk l • had become. However this may be, it is certain that a majority of colon i is concluded to reiiiain in the country. It WIS to be kept in view, also, that the taking • I' Quebec dii^ not necessarily include the loss of New France, for overal pla< 's in Acadia were at thin t'-o occupied by the French : and tlie island of l .i|/e-Rreton, suddenly lost for a moTucnt, was almost as soon to bo recovered ; as we shai. iiave occasion to narrate presently. Thomas Kertk, accompanied by Chaniplain, passed to Tadousac, there to take passage for Europe. In the descent of the St. Lawrence, they met M. do Caen, then steering towards Quebec a ship loaded with provi- sions. Thomas Kertk attacked and captured it aftcran obstinate resistance. Chainplain embarked for England, where, having arrived, he repaired to London, and reported to the French ambassador there resident what had lately taken place in Canada ; urging upon him the propriety of demanding the restitution of Quebec, its capture having been effected two months after the termination of the short war between the two nations. In fact, but for the understanding that no further hostilities would be tolerated, on either side, the city would have been re-inforced before the recent inroad of the Kertks, as the directors of the Company had given orders that transports bound for Canada should rendezvous at Brouage or La Kochelle, and take convoy under commander de Razilli. whose duty it would be to escort thcra in safety to Quebec. Peace, however, having been proclaimed, this arrangement was countermanded, the royal ships being recalled to exact satisfaction for some wrong inflicted on French subjects by the Sultan of Morocco. Forty days were lost while this change was impending ; and Razilli not appearing, the Company's vessels set out, in the month of June, for America, under the convoy of Captain Daniel. Arrived in American t ■ t 106 HISTORY OF CANADA. i ■i"'!i waters, Daniel's ship was separated from De Caen's vessels by a tempest when near Newfoundland ; and shortly afterwards he was met by an English armed vessel, which prepared to attack him, but the captain of the latter, on a near view noting the formidable look of Daniel's ship, which carried 16 guns, would gladly have sheered off; but the meditated flight was prevented, and his vessel became a prize to the French. After this capture. Captain Daniel, instead of seeking out the Company's transports, which, he concluded, would by this time have reached their port, changed his course and steered for the Grand-Cibou, on the eastern coast of Cape-Breton, expecting to obtain news from Quebec. There he learned that Lord James Stuart, with three armed vessels, had taken ■ possession, two months previously, of a fishing-buss from St. Jean-dc-Luz ; that he had sent this vessel, along with two of his own, to Port-Royal ; and that his lordship, in the remaining ship, had gone to Port-aux-Bakines, and there erected a fort, pretending that Cape-Breton belonged to England. Thus apprised, Daniel decided on capturing Stuart's fort, and do whatever else were expedient for maintaining French supremacy in the island. He arrived before the stronghold in September, and, immediately landing 53 of his men well armed, proceeded to scale the works. The struggle was both violent and prolonged ; but in spite of the courage displayed by its defenders, the place was captured, and several of the garrison, along with its chief, taken prisoners. Daniel razed this fort entirely ; but proceeded to construct another, at the entry of the river Grand-Cibou, armed with eight guns, and garrisoned by 38 men. Leaving here also Fathers Vimont and Vieuxpont, he set sail to France. Having reached the English shores, he landed 42 of his prisoners at Falmouth, and bore the rest, 21 in number, including Lord James Stuart, to Dieppe.* Whilst Kcrtk was taking Quebec, and his lieutenant losing Cape-Breton, the French located in the southern region of Acadia were engaged in repelling the attacks made by two vessels of war commanded by Claude de la Tour, a French Protestant who had lately taken service in the royal navy of England. This enterprising man, owner of a large fortune, had been taken prisoner in one of Roquemont's vessels and carried to London, where he was well received at Court. W hile in England, he married one * Champlain : Memoir appended to the edition of 1G32. Captain Stuart's ship probably made part of the fleet of admiral Kertk, who, according to the report of Haliburton, subdued Cape-Breton without resistance, and built a fort in the island, before ascending the St. Lawrence, NEW FRANCE. ia7 of the maids of honor to-the Queen,* and was created a baronet of Nova Scotia. Having thereby obtained a concession of territory as a species of fief, in that province, situated near St. John's river, he made an ;irran"eiiieut with Sir William Alexander to found a settlement there, with emigrants from Scotland. The ungrateful duty also devolved upon him, meanwhile, of attempting to bring his own son under sub- mission ; the latter, true to his country's cause, being in command of a French fort at the Cape de Sable.f In order to bring this about, two English ships-of-war were put under his orders, with which he set sail, accompanied by his youthful spouse. Arrived at his destination, he demanded an interview of his son ; which being granted, he vaunted the flattering reception he had met with in England, and the honors that had been conferred on him by its King. He then promised that similar distinctions and advantages to those himself enjoyed would be extended to young La Tour, if he would continue in I'ommand of the fort, but hold it as an English not as a French possession, with the rank and title of a knight, which he now had in charge to accord. The young man made this noble reply : " If those who sent you on this errand think me capable of betraying my country, even at the solicitation of a parent, they have greatly mistaken me. I am not disposed to purchase the honors now offered me by committing a crime. I do not undervalue the proffer now made me by the King of England : but the prince in whose service I am is quite able to reward me ; and whether he do so or not, the inward consciousness of my fidelity to him will be in itself a recompense to me. The King of France has confided the defence of this place to me ; and I shall maintain it, if attacked, till my latest breath." After this repulse, the father retired to his shin ; but did not desist from further attempts to shake the faithfulness of the young man. He addressed to him a letter written in the most pressing terms, and couched in a tender strain, appealing to his filial regard. But this letter had not tlie desired effect. Menaces followed ; still they had no result. He then disembarked his soldiers and a body of armed seamen, and tried to carry the fort by a brisk assault. His men were repulsed ; and several other attempts, of the like kind, during two days, were equally unsuccessful. His people provoked at his obstinacy, refused to answer his call upon them for further efforts to take the place ; and he had perforce to give up what he rashly ' FTunrietta-Maria, youngest daughtei of Henry IV and Mary de Mcdicis. — B. t La Tour, junior, in a memorial {placet) presented to Louis XIII, in tlie year I62t, had asked for a command in Acadia. How well worthy he was of the i;liarge, we need not say.— 5. J" :-U -H m * ws HISTORY OP CANADA. undertook to do, retiring hamiliated even less by the defeat itself, than by the reflection that he had sustained it in a contest with his mother country and with his own fl sh and blood. Not diiring or carinfj to re-appear either in Franoi; or En^^land, La Tour remained in Acadia with his English lady, who was willing to share his evil fortunes. The son, judjring it improper ever to admit him into the fort, yet pitying him still, caused to be erected in its vicinage a small but well furnished house, wherein he dwelt for several years. It was in this dwellinir he was visited by M. Denis, author of " the Description des Cotes de TAradrique," in 1635. The invasion of Canada by the English, in time of peace, at first made a considerable sensation in Paris, because the honor of the nation seemed to have been affected by the proceeding ; but, when the question was debated in the council of state, whether the restitution of Quebec should be insisted on, opinions were divided. It was urged, by some of the king's advisers, that the possession of a rock amid a wilderness was not worth contending for ; that even the country, for which it served as a capital, was almost uninh;ibit;ible from the rigor of the climate ; that it was too vast to be properly peopled without draining France of its inhabitants ; and if scantily peopled, of what value was it ? The colonies held by Portugal in South America and India, it was observed, had been sources of weakness rather than of strength to that kingdom ; Spain had visibly declined in importance since she had been deprived of so many of her most enterprising subjects by the constant drain of men for the Aniciicae. Lastly, it was urged, by the same councillors, that although Charles V had the resources of the German empire, those of the kingdom of Spain, of the Low Countries, and of the Western Indies, at his command ; yet Francis the First, monarch of a kingdom comparatively of small extent, and having scarcely any colonies, was able to make head against him, and, when dying, leave to his successors a kingdom at least as extensive as he found it " Let us endeavor, then, rather to improve Old France, than strive to found a New France in the most unpromising regions of the West." Thus reasoned the " parti-ans of abandonment."* Those who argued in an opposite sense, maintained that the Canadian climate, if subject to vicissitudes of heat and cold, was salubrious; that the soil Was fertile, and the country, if properly cultivated, capable of supplying, in abundance, all the necessaries of life; and, adverting to the decline of the Spanish monarchy, they intimated that the injudicious expul^iion of the Moorish race was a primary cause of the evil. They • Charlevoix. iiiiiiiiili NEW FRANCB. 109 reminded their adversaries, that the drain of men from France for Amerioa was as yet, almost nominal ; that the few soldiers hitherto sent out yearly were mostly invalids. Then the produce drawn from French Anierio« was reilly considerable : the Newfoundland fisheries alone did mnch to enrich the kingdom, and formed a valuable nursery for sailors ; adding, that, as the woods of France became exhausted of timber, she had at her disposition, if she cliose, the largest forests in the world supplying wood for every kind of construction, or as fuel. Lastly, as a measure of enlightened national polity, it was of the last importance to keep a firm hold upon New Fi ance, in order to counterbalance the enhanced importance England had gained through the extent and populousness of her Aiuericaa plantations. The sum of all was this : Demand, at once^ that Quebec be restored to its rightful owners. These latter reasonings had much cogency, and were not lost upon a majority of the councillors, although no very strong decision was come to either way, at the time. As for the inert king himself, he seemed to take little interest in this matter, as was the case in too many others. But his chief minister — who r garded the English irruption, Raynal remarks, as a kind of personal injury done him, he being nominal patron of the Canadian Society — did not accept the insult offered to France so tamely. Accordingly, he instructed the king's ambassador resident at the English court to press for the withdrawal of the English garri on from Quebec; as also that New France generally should be evacuated by any other interlopers, military or other, of the same nation or from its colonies. King Charles promised that all this should be done; but diplomatic delays, accidental or intended, arising, Richelieu, by way of quickening the alien negotiators, equipped a fleet of six armed vessels, which he put under the orders of commander de Razilli. This practical hint sufficed. In terms of the treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, signed March 29 1632, the govern- ment of England renounced all the pretensions that had ever been put forward by its subjects ; and pledged itself not to renew any such, at least so long as the peace should last. " We may date from this treaty," say» Chalmers, " the commencement of a long series of evils for Great Britain «d her colonies, the difficulties with the provincials afterwards, and, in imne measure, the success of the American Revolution." True it is, that in the seed-beds of nations and growing empires the germs of change are sown or in activity, to be fully developed in coming time. The proximity of the French tended greatly to loosen the band* of the Englbh colonies to their mother country; as she bore with them linger than she would otherwise have done, because the flag of her ancient 1 ' no HISTORY OF CANADA. :,ii| rival floated so near to her possessions as the rock of Quebec, and rallied under its shadow so many barbarous hordes as it did. To make head against such warlike neighbors, it was needful to be armed ; and we know that an armed is ever more exacting than an unarmed race, England could not help manifesting liberality in the case ; the blood shed in her cause demanded a return, and colonial freedom was the compensation Moreover, British colonists, from the outset, had chosen an American location, because of the perfect freedom they counted on enjoying there. Nothing less would have contented them; and England was wise enoufrh to accord to an exacting son what he demanded, than to provoke him to cast off that allegiance to her which he might have transferred to an alien protectress. The neighborhood of the French, then, was favorable to Anglo-American liberty, and, in the end, to that of several other nations; but by means of a concatenation, none of the links in the chain being, for the time, perceptible to political vision. The course of the war terminated in 1632, exhibited Frenchmen ever in armed struggle against each other, and constantly rending and spoiling their common country for the behoof of enemies of all contending parties. The conduct of the Huguenots justified the predictions of the Catholics. who insisted that it would be unsafe to leave them in possession of colonies peopled by their British co-religionaries ; because, on the smallest niisun derstanding arising between the former and the government of their fatherland, they would be sure to join the latter, and thus imperil the continued existence of New France. The affair of the chevalier de l:t Tour is a case in point.* * The translator, on referring to the first edition of I'Histoire du Canada bv M. Garneau (that of 1845), vol. I, chap. I, pages 90 and 91, finds three para- graphs most of the sentences in which hare been suppressed or greatly modified in the last edition of the work. He has thought it fitting to reproduce them, as they stood at first : — " In forming establishments of Protestants in the New World, Ooligny executed patriotic projects, which England came afterwards to profit by, and of which we daily see the immense results. The admiral desired to open an asylum in America for all his co-separatists from the established religion of the country ; whereby, inhabiting a dependency of the kingdom and forming an integral, if distant part of one extending empire, they might therein enjoy the same advantages as the orthodox people of their common mother-country. That project was one of the most beautiful conceptions of modern times ; and since it did not succeed, although at the outset supported by government aid, it was because the Catholic party, which had always predominating influence over French royalty, constantly opposed the realization of Ooligny's views ; some- times covertly, sometimes openly. This is especially true of the state of things NEW FRANCE. Ill Shortly after the treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye was concluded, namely, on the 13th of November ensuing, the king of France in council ordained the " Company of the Hundred Associators" to pay 40,000 livres to Marie and Salomon Langlois, Raymond de la Raldle, Nicholas Canu, David Michel, Paul Languiilez, and others, for having seized three ships sent by M. de Caen to fish upon the coasts of Canada. De Thou,-the friend of Cinq-Mars, for whom he lost his life on the scaffold, was the judicial reporter of the royal decree issued in the above case. The same document contains the name of '* Cabot, burgess of Dieppe;" also that of the sieur "Duquesne, naval officer:" the latter being father of a personage whose name became famous in the after history of France and Canada. at the epoch the annals of which are now passing under our review. The long period of time which elapsed from the expedition of Roberval till that of the marquis de la Roche in Acadia, a. d. 1598, was entirely taken up by the struggle France had to maintain against the powers of the German empire and Spain, or by the prolonged and sanguinary wars of religion, rendered so sadly memorable through the massacre of St. Bartholomew ; and which wars were terminated by the treaty of Vervins. During all this space of time, the attention of the chiefs of the state was absorbed by a series of memorable events, the elfect of which was to shake the French empire to its very foundations." — B. ;m * ':!li! BOOK SECOND. CHAPTER I. DESCRIPTION OP CANADA-ABORIGINAL NATIONS. Ifftinc given to tho territories first discovered in North America.— Frontiers of the Pcvend oolouies imperfectly defined ; this indeflnitcncss the cause of many contestations.— Synop. Bis of the native populations of North America, particularly of the tribes of Canada.— Eistimato of their numbers,- Account of their persons, their dress, their implements ot war, &c.— Their modes of hostilities, of hunting, &c.— Their governmental polity.— Nnture of their religious notions.- Of their diviners.— Of their regard for the dead ; their manner of sepulture; their festivals.- Their figurative oratory. — Formation of the Indian Ian- guageb : tho aborigines were ignorant of letters. — Synthetic nature of Indian speech.— Intellectital qualities of the race. — Thrir origin: question disoussed, whether they arc dCBcendiMits of nations which had attained to civilisation. When Europeans began to pour into America, they gave to the vnrious countries they entered the genoral denomination of terrce novoe, or New- foundlands. From the time of Francis T, that name indicated the rep:ions afterwards known as Florida, Canada, and Labrador, as well as the island which then, as now, bears the above designation. But when the different countries became better known, and were oftener visited, they had assijrned to them particular appellations, which distinguished each from all the others ; still those names were often changed, and always wrongly applied, while the territories they designated were of uncertain limitation. The confusion thence resulting became, in the sequel, the cause, often of dissensions, sometimes of wars, between France, England, and Spuin, concerning their territorial rights or pretensions to debateable lands in America. Early in the 17th century, the appellation " New France " was given to a v;tst region which now comprises the Hudson's Bay territory, Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Canada, and a great part of the countries now known as the United States.* • Lescarbot gives to New France a atill greater extent : " Our Nouvelle France,' says he, " is composed of all the western territories on the hither side of the Pacific Ocean ; and, downwards, to the tropic of Cancer. To the southward, it reaches as far as the Antilles. Its eastern parts are bordered by the North Sea; and, to the north, it adjoins the glacial region called Terra Incognita, from the Frozen Ocean to the Arctic Pole." But these boundaries were more imngin- ary than real ; since in Lescarbot's time, even the entire valley of the St. Law- rence was m DESCRIPTION OF CANADA. 118 At that time, the peDiusula of Nova Scotia began to take the name of Cadie, Acadie, or Acadia ; and the territorial term "Canada" already waB not only the appellation of the country we now inhabit, but a name that, in an extended sense, covered a much larger region than the united pro- vinces to which it now solely applies. New France, before the discovery of the Mississippi, to the valley of which the foregoing collective appellation was extended, comprised, there- fore, the basin of the St. Lawrence and that of Hudson's Bay. The St. Lawrence, which has a course of more than 700 leagues (over 2000 miles) takes its source, under the name of the " Kiver St. Louis," in lat. 48° 30' N., long. 93° W.* on the great central plateau whence descends the Mississippi, (but which takes a southern course ending in the bay of Mexico,) and other rivers, of northern course, flowing into Hudson's Bay. The Laurentian valley, making a bend as if to clip Lake Erie, descends, by successive stages, from the plateau above noted ; which table- land, like most other regions of the northern continent of America, is not much elevated above the water-level. In two localities only does the St. Lawrence lose its gentle and uniform slope. At Niagara, its mass falls, in sheer descent, 160 feet; and just below Lake Ontario, its swift and turbulent waters dash foamingly over a rocky bed, which obstructs navigation between Kingston and Montreal. The valley of the St. Lawrence is bounded, on the north, by a mountain chain now called, collectively, "the Lauren tides;" which commencing in Labrador, form a line prolonged to the farthest region of Lake Superior.f The bases of the Laurentian heights are washed by the stream whose name they take, as far down as Cape Torment (30 miles below Quebec), where they rise to an elevation of 2000 feet. They traverse the bank of the river Ottawa, above the Chats Lake, and shut in Lake Huron on its rence was not satisfactorily known. It would be hard to say what habitable or uninhabitable portions of North America, whether continental or insular, with the exception of Mexico, were not boldly claimed as sections of " New France.'' -B. * Keefer. [" If we consider Lake Superior as the true source of the St. Law- rence, the length of the rirer, including a curved line drawn through the centre of that lake and extending to Gape Roziere at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, is 1859 miles." National Cyclopedia.] — B. t None of the Laurentides attain so high an elevation as to form a bulwark against the freezing gales descending from the arctic regions. Gape Torment, one of the most considerable of our mountains, is, as we have seen, but 2000 feet high ; and in the Saguenay country, where the face of the territory is often ragged, the hill summits do not range higher than from 200 to 1000 feet above the sea-level. B 114 HISTORY OP CANADA. northern side. The Alleghanies, the suiiimits of which are visible from Quebec heights, enclose this basin as far as Lake Champlain. The Alleghany range, starting from the gulf of St. Lawrence, follows the course of the river, at from six to eight leagues distance in the canton of Rimouski, where its highest peaks attain a height of 4000 feet ; deflecting to the south of Lake Champlain, it traverses the Hudson valley, and continues as far as Virginia. Recent surveys of the five principal lakes of North America, four of which part Canadian from United States territory, gives us a pretty exact account of their respective superficial areas. Thus Lake Superior is (following its curvature) 435 miles long and 160 broad, with a medium depth of 988 feet ; its water-line is 627 feet above the sea-level ; and its whole area is about 32,000 sq. m. Lake Michigan is 360 miles long and 108 wide, area 23,000 sq. m., depth 800 feet, elevation 587 feet. Lake Huron is 260 miles long and 160 wide, area 20,000 sq. m., depth 800 feet, elevation 574 feet. These may be called the upper lakes of Canada and the United States. The two lower are not so extensive. The greatest length of Lake Erie is 250 miles and its breadth 80, mean depth 84 feet, elevation 564 feet. The greatest length of Lake Ontario is 180 miles, and its greatest breadth 65, mean depth 500 feet, elevation 265 feet. The total length of all five as a continuous water-way, including intermediate channels, is 1,612 miles, with an aggregate superficial area of more than 90,000 square miles.* These lakes, the Falls of Niagara, the St. Lawrence River and Gulf, are of colossal magnitude, and in perfect keeping with the land-region which encloses them. Northward are mysterious forests of unknown limits ; to the west, is much unappropriated woodland ; while on the southern side, is the territory of a republic which much exceeds all Europe in extent. To the eastward, again, is the ocean, parted into the fog-beset, storm-vexed, and iceberg-encumbered seas of Newfoundland and Labrador. Infinity itself seems to reign over our f rentier. Geologically, Canada is seated on an immense couch of granite, the elevations of which form the frame of its highest mounia,iuS : cropping * For these data the author accredits Mr. Eeefer. They differ considerablj, as to the superficial area of the five great lakes, from all others we have seen. M. Garneau does not give, it will be observed, the area of lakes Erie and Ontario. The writers of the Naiional Cyclopedia (art. Oanada), aver that the waters of Lake Superior cover more than 43,000 square miles ; Lake Huron, 16,500 ; Lake Michigan, 13,600 ; Lake Erie, 10,900 ; Lake Ontario, 12,600. Total, above 96^600 square miles.— .B. DESCRIPTION OF CANADA. 116 ont at Lake Saperior, Lake Huron, Kingston, and elsewhere, in the upper province ; at the River St. Maurice, Beauport, Tadouaac, Kamou- rafika, in Labrador, &o. This bed of granite is overlaid with many kinds of rocks ; those most abounding being schists, limestone, and sandstone.* Canada is rich in ores of iron. Several iron mines are worked ; among others those of Three Rivers, L. C, (where the metal produced excels the Swedish,) and of Marmora, U. C. Copper,f zinc, lead, titanium, and mercury are found at intervals in small quantities ; but explorations, now in progress, will disclose further our metallurgic riches. The French administrators of olden Canada paid much attention to this subject : their explorers discovered most of the mines mentioned by existing geologists. The soil of Canada is generally fertile. It is especially so in its upper region, where its milder climate enables the cultivators to raise large quantities of wheat, some of which is superior to any grown elsewhere upon this continent. But the Alleghany and Laurentian highlands greatly abridge the cultivable surface of the Canadas. Nevertheless, their abundant watershed much promotes the fertility of the valley-lands and lower levels. By some convulsion of nature, the Laurentides, which in the Saguenay region are from 12 to 15 leagues broad, have been reft in two; and in the ravine thus formed, flow the Saguenay waters, which are 1000 feet deep in some places, and shut in by nearly perpendicular rocks. The basin of the St. Lawrence being of angular form with its apex turned toward the south, its two extremities, terminating almost in the same latitude, make its average calorific temperature tolerably equal. The maximum intensity of cold at Quebec is 30° F. below zero (62° under the freezing point), and that of summer heat 97 to 104° F. in the shade. At the foot of Lake Erie, the mercury sometimes falls, in mid-winter, to 20° below zero. The intensest heat seldom, if ever indicates a higher pomt than 103° F. * The ancient sea-margins observed in the central basin of the St. Lawrence which in some places are recognisable at a great elevation, from a subject for interesting speculation. The aspect of the country between Montreal and Gaps' Torment, some 200 miles long and of about 3000 square miles superficial area,., lajs Sir William Logan, " presents a varied surface rising in many places by. abrupt steps (the marks of ancient sea-margins) into successive terraces, some of which are from 200 to 300 feet above the level of the river. These terraoes are occupied by extensive beds of clay and sand." — B. t Copper ore has been found in abundance near the shores of Lake Huron, and Saperior; while, more recently (I860), rich views of the same have been fouodi at Acton, &c., in the Eastern Townships of Lower Canada.— JB. .-;■■», -I I '\ n.. . 116 HISTORY OP CANADA. The difference of climate between the provinces, lower and upper, will be best estimated by comparing the duration of their winters, and noting the nature and amount of their several products. The inhabited regions ot the two Canadaa, says Bouchette, are situated between the 42nd and 48th degrees of north latitude. Judging by their distance from the equator and the north pole, wo should expect that their relative climatic conditions would be similar to those of southern and central Europe ; whereas their extremes of heat and cold are, the former more intense, the latter more severe. At Quebec, lat. 46° 48' 49", apples are grown in abundance, but neither grapes nor peaches ripen ; at Montreal, all three attain to maturity. At Toronto, these fruits, along with the apricot, grow in the greatest perfection. The acacia, which may not brook the chances of out-door temperature at Quebec, stands the climate, if indifferently, of Montreal ; but constantly meets the eye as we ascend towards Detroit.* At Quebec, and region around that city, winter usually sets in about the 25th November, ard lasts till the 25th April ; the latter being the under- stood day when field labor ought to be resumed. Snow lies on the ground fully five months, and is usually from three to four feet deep in the woods. At Montreal, the winter is three or four weeks shorter, and less snow falls. la Lower Canada, during most of winter, wheel carriages are superseded by sledges ; but in the upper province, their useful employment is confined to a space of seven or eight weeks. Upon tJie whole, the climate of the Canadas is salubrious, and favorable to longevity.f The excessive cold experienced in the Lower Laurentian region is apparently caused less by latitudinal conditions than through the absence of high mountains from its northern sides. The vicinage, too, of Hudson's Bay, which polar winds traverse before reaching the lower parts of the river valley, where they arrive charged w'.th icy evaporation from the seas • The Academy of Sciences, in Paris, at an early date, occupied itself with Canadian Natural History. Its members requested Louis XIV, in ITOT, to engage Dr. Sarrazin, a French regimental surgeon who had come out with some military twenty years before, to send a collection of plants to the Jardin-du-Roi, and the king complied with their wishes. Sarrazin was a man of great accom- plishments. He died at Quebec, in 1734, aged seventy years. t Persons who emigrate to Canada after middle age, from Britain, find its climatic vicissitudes rather trying to their constitutions ; and the mortality among children under seven years of age, (even those born of Canadian parents,) is considerably higher than in Qreat Britain. Authority : Dr. Archibald Hall, Montreal.— .B. origin a languii DESCRIPTION OP CANADA. 117 of Labrador, doubtless adds to tbe rigor of tho atmosphere during our winters.* Tho aurora borealis illuminates the nocturnal sky of Canada with a brilliancy and variety of play, especially during its autumnal and winter months, unknown, at the present day at least, in any part of northern Burope. It is now believed that this meteoric phenomenon is of electric origin ; and this opinion is all the more probable, because of the peculiar rustling noise, similar to that of a stiff silken tissue put in movement, which often, if not always, accompanies the luminous appearances. The Aboriqines. — When the territories of Canada were discovered, they were found to be inhabited by numerous nomade tribes, belonging to three out of the eight great families of savages who occupied the region between the Mississippi, the Atlantic, and the Esquimaux country ; namely, the Algonquins, Hurons, Sioux, Cherokees, Catawbas, Uchdcs, Natchez, Mobiles, &c. These were considered substantive races, because each spoke a language bearing no analogy with that of the others, and which was not understood by others when spoken : whereas, although many idioms existed among the different tribes forming a part of, or connected with a nation using what might be called a native mother tongue, yet the indivi- duals of each tribe composing a nation, however far apart, could under- stand the language of every other tribe of that nation ; while they could not communicate with the men of an alien nation.f This aggregation of uncivilised men was thus distributed over the ex- tent of territory we have pointed out : — The Mobiles possessed all the southern extremity of the northern continent, from the bay of Mexico to the river Tennessee and Cape Fear. The Uchdes and Natchez (the latter, not a numerous body, being wedged in, as it were, by the former) ; the Natchez having a small country, bordered by the Mississippi ; the Uohdes, more serried towards the west, joining on to the Cherokees. The country of the Cherokees was equidistant from the bay of Mexico, Lake Erie, the Atlantic, and the Mississippi. That nation had for neighbors, the Mobiles • None of the Laurentides are of surpassing height. Cape Torment, among the most considerable, rises 2000 feet above the water level. In the highlandg of the Saguenay, the eminences range between 200 and 1000 feet only. Captain Bayfield says that the culminating point of the range is near Lake Superior, and rises to a height of 2100 feet. t Just as the Celtic race in the Scots Highlands understand the Erse or Irish language, although it is spoken and printed differently from the Scots Erse or Gaelic ; neither being intelligible to the Anglo-Scotian or Hiberno-Saxon people of Britain.— JB. 118 HISTORY OP CANADA. W\' and TJcli«5c.s to the north, the Cutawbas to the cast. The Catawbas possen aed a country of hhiuH extent, to the south of the Mobiles and to the west of the ChiTokecs. The groat fnuiily of AIgon((uins posaescd nearly a moiety of North America, eastward of the Mississippi. Their territory joined that of the Mobiles on the south side, and extended northward to the Ks(juimaux regions, over the breadth between the Mississippi and the Atlantic, a superficies of 60 degrees of longitude and 20 of latitude.* The Hurons, whose real name has been variously written Yeiidate, Ouendats, Wyandots, and Yendots,f but to whom the early French colonists gave the appellation we now know them by, and which is derived from our term hnre, because of the rugged locks of unkempt hair of the people of that race ; the Hurons, we say, lived amidst the Algoncjuins, on the margins of Lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario. The Sioux, whose vast country was to the west of the Mississippi, occupied a small country to tlie eastward of Lake Michigan. Thus, as New France comprehended the river St. Lawrence and all the lakes out of which it flows, it included a part of three aboriginal *' nations, " who spoke the Sioux, Algonquin, and Huron languages, or three mother tongues of the Indians. Originally, the Algonquin dialect was spoken in the Lake Champlain district, and in the southern Ottawa region extending to the north ; but in the sequel, migrations of tribes speaking other dialects, spread these in divers parts of Canada. The principal tribes speaking Algonquin in New France were, to the south of the St. Lawrence, the Micmacs or Souriquois, whom occupied Nova Scotia. J Gaspe and islands adjacent : a small tribe, their number never exceeding 4000. The Etchemins, who inhabited the seaboard countries, and the territory watered by the rivers St. John and Ste. Croix. The Abcnaquis, who were located betwe(;n the Micmacs and the Etchemins, the river St. Lawrence, New England, and the Iroquois. The Sokokis, a mongrel race, were refugees from English colonies, living under French protection. To the north of the St. Lawrence, were : — The Montagnais, on the bor- ders of the Saguenay and Lake St. John ; the Papinachois, the Bersiamites, the Hedgehogs, and several other tribes. The Algonquins, (properly, • Albert Gallatin. Jl SyTiopsis of the Indian Tribes. t The first two forms are French, the second two English. Father Jerome Lalemant, long a missionary among the Hurons, called them Ouendats, as ftbove ; but Champlain called them Attigouantanta ; while Golden denominated them Quatoghiers. "Album Litt^raire" of La Revue Canadiennne, 1855, p. 14. t A considerable number of Indians, of Micmac descent, still inhabit that peninsula. — B. TUB ABORIOINAL NATIONS. 119 Lenni-Lonappos,) whoso occupation extending from a point rather hclow Quebec to thu river St. Maurice; one of their tribes inhubitin^ the ishind of Montreal. The Ouutuouuis, or Ottawas, who ranged at tirst about the country watered by the river which still bears their name above the Montreal district ; and who extended themselves afterwards as far as Lake Superior. The tribes speaking the Huron tongue were : — The Hurons or Wyandots, located on the northern margin of Lakes Huron and Ontario, as already mentioned. They were driven thence shortly after the French came, by the Iroquois. They were repelled on one side, towards the Lower St. Lawrence ; on the other, beyond Lake Superior, to the arid plains which separated the Chippeways from their western enemies. Brouj^ht back by the potent aid of the Sioux, they were met with afterwards at Sault Saintc Marie, at Machilimukinac, and finally at Detroit, The Hurons located at Lorette, two leagues from Quebec, are living relics of the great nation which once b< j that name, so powerful of old, and to which the Iroquois, who conquciCu them, and other tribes besides, owed their origin. To the south of Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the river St. Lawrence, up to the river Richelieu, in the vicinity of the Abenaquis, ruled the famous Iroquois confederation ; whose proper name was the Agonnousi ODui, or " constructors of wigwams." The appellation irojwo is was at first- applied to them by the French, because they usually began and finished their discourses or palaver with the word hiro, which means cither " I Bay," or " I have said ; " combined, as an affix, with the word koiU, an exclamatory vocable, joyful or sad according as it was pronounced long or short. The Iroquois confederation was composed of the Agniers or Mo- hawks, the Onnontagui^s or Onondagues, the Goyogouins, the Onneoyuths, and the Tsonnonthouans.* The Eries and the Andastes, once located between Lake Erie and the Iroquois country, had dwindled into a pfetty remnant when Canada was discovered, and soon afterwards were pitilessly exterminated. The countries around Lake Superior, Michigan, and Huron, were fre- quented, also, by the Nipissings, the Ottawas, the Miainis, whom the Poutewatamis, coming from the south, thrust northward ; by the Illinois, the Chippeways, the Outagamis or Foxes (a plundering and cruel race ;) by the Kikapous, the Mascontins, the Sakis, the Malhomines, the Osages, • Hence, the term, " Indians of the Five (also Six) Nations," often occurring daring the border wars of the 18th century between the colonists of the British plantations and those of New France. — B. 120 HISTORY OF CANADA. the Missouries, the Menomonis tribes, all speaking the Algonquin tongue: and, finally, by the Kiistinots or Kilestinots, using the language of the Sioux. A number of other tribes, belonging either to the Sioux family, or to those of the Hurons or Algonquins, inhabited countries more or less distant from the foregoing, and individuals among them would come occa- sionally to visit the missionaries or trade with the peltry collectors on the borders of the lakes. This done, they re-entered the wilds whence they issued, and never were seen more; while men of other tribes, equally unknown to the French, came in arms to thrust out of place those who were nearest to the former, and force the rightful owners to relinquish their possessions. We cannot estimate with precision what may have been the entire number of the native populations of North America in Cai'tier's time. Judging by the variety of " nations " and tribes spoken of, we might be led to suppose that the aggregate was very considerable ; but when we look close into the matter, we incline to fix the total amount at a low figure. In no wild country are the aborigines numerous, nor can they he. Some of the earlier explorers evidently were led astray on this point, hj the metaphoric language of the savages, who considered 1000 souls as a prodigious multitude, and beyond the power of definite numbering. Thus in the year 1753, when the savages informed colonel Washington that the French were about to attack him with a host numberless as the leaves of the forest, their whole force, when counted by precise arithmetic, Was reducible to a few hundred men. Calculations have been made, with great care, for the countries situated between the St. Lawrence and Mississippi ; which estimate the total nations of Algonquin race, the most considerable of all, at 90,000 souls ; the total eastern Sioux at less than 3000 ; the Hurons and Iroquois together, about 17,000 ; the Catawbas, 3000 ; the Cherokees, 12,000 ; the Mobiles, 50,000 ; the Uchdes, 1000 ; and the Natchez, 4000 : general total onlj 180,000, dipersed over an immense space of territory. We incline to think that this moderate estimate must approximate, at least, to the truth; for a race of hunters requires a large field to draw even the scantiest Bubsistenee from. Despite the great extent of the forest-lands of North America, its aborigines often were in straits from the difficulty they found in procuring a sufficiency of game for their support. If the general population had been really numerous, how was it that the Iroquois, who could count only 2200 warriors in the year 1660, were able to run a conquering career from Hudson's Bay to Carolina, and strike terror into the hearts of the whole tribes of that great range of territory ? THE ABORIGINAL NATIONS. 121 Cartier could see in all Canada only some sparse native hamlets, which he called bourgades, each containing at the most 50 cibanes ; and the greatest influx of the aborigines reported as having taken place on any occasion, at Stadacoad (Quebec), during the winter he passed iced-up in the river St. Charles, did not number 1000 soule. In other parts of the country, he could scarcely discern a trace of human inhabitation. M. Joliette and Father Marquette traversed a great part of the Mississippi r^ion and met no living man. M. de la Joncaire, in 1736, drew up for the information of the home government an official estimate of the number of fighting men amorg the whole savage tribes then in existence between Quebec and Louisiana (that is, in nearly the whole of New France), and the aggregate total he ventured to give was but 16,000. We have said that a comparison made of the different native dialects spoken in North America to the east of the Mississippi, had led to the recognition of eight aboriginal mother tongues ; and upon that basis, the tribes were divisible into just as many great branches or families. Accep- ting this datum, of there being originally eight radical divisions of the red race of mankind within the limits assigned above, — but the adoption of which rather militates against the hypothesis of one only route of immigration from Asia by its north-west side, — one might expect that thefd would be as great diversity in a physical as in a moral point of view, between the people of tribes thus widely dispersed and speaking so many distinct languages. Now there neither is, nor ever was, much sensible difference of either kind to be found. Between the savages of Canada and the far-removed red men of Florida, any slight differences of bodily height or make, complexion or aspect, were little if at all perceptible ; ot if such were apparent, it was readily referable to causes fairly imputable to climatic influences. In person^ the men of the Indian races, or rather race, of America, were and yet are ta i and alender, their forms giving promise of agility rather than strength ; their visages havlug that stern expression natural to all men, of whatever complexion, dependent upon the chase for subsis- tence, and exposed besides to the perils of war.* With a complexion bronzed by sun, rain, and winds, the Indian of the forests has a visage more round than oval, the cheek-bones high and salient ; eyes, of dark or light hazel color, small but lustrous and deeply sunk in their orbit ; forehead narrow, nose flattish, lips thick ; hair of the head coarse and long, and beard wanting, — not that nature denies them that *, ■,1^! * Raynal. SettlemetUt of the Eurupeam in the East and West Indies. "H iiNi- 122 HISTORY OP CANADA. iiihr ♦ ftdjunct, but owing to a custom of depilation, begun at an early age and continued through life among the boys and male adults. Such were and are the physical characteristics of the unsophisticated man of the New World. It need scarcely be added, that the five bodily senses of the race, while denizens of the wilderness, are exquisitely keen. The North American savage, when first made known to Europeans, went almost naked in summer time ; during winter, he girt his reins with deer-skin or some other kind of untanned hide, and covered the upper part of his body with a sort of jerkin, made of the spoils of one or more furred animals. The claws of a bear killed by the bearer, and serving as a brocch to attach the parts of a mantle of parti-colored skins, constituted a favorite ornament in the costume of a chief, he being often arrayed in such sort, as to give other intimations of his exploits in war and the chase. A pair of moccasins (a kind of buskins, or gaiters rather) of curried hide, sometimes variously ornamented, with shoes of doe-skin, composed his foot and leg covering. The femaled had a costume little differing from the men's, except that they went with bare heads and naked arms. The latter wore necklaces of wampum ; and shell or bead- worked. ornaments, of the same nature, they attached to the front of their vestments, painted in striking tints, red being the predominant clor. The savages painted ur stained their bodies with resemblances real or imagined of beasts, birds, fishes, serpents, &c., in lively and varied colors, according to the means, skill, or caprice of the individual, Vermilion they had a passionate regard for, in face or body disfiguring. Some painted their noses blue, blackened cheeks, eyelids, &c., leaving the rest of the face an intense red ; others, again, colored their visages to represent three or more facial bands, passing from ear to ear, in red, black, or blue tints. The men arranged the hair of their head in different ways ; some wore it raised up, others flattened it, others again let it hang in dangling locks. Head-tufts were worn by many, composed of vari-colored feathers or bunches of animals' hair, all fixed in the most eccentric way. The ears and septum of the nostrils were pierced for aflSxing pendant objects. To the arms were aflBxed bracelets made of serpent skins, or wampum. The several nations, tribes, and villages were distinguished by some kind of distinguishing symbol. In 1 753, the Abenaquis of St. Fran§oig and of Becancourt wore, by way of heraldic signs, the bear and the turtle- dove. Some others adopted the beaver and the partridge for their signs. The Algonquins of the Lake of Two Mountains had an oak in leaf. Among the five Iroquois nations each village and every family had its armorials; nay, individual men bore their distinctive marks. The THE ABORIGINAL NATIONS. 123 Wild-oats of Lake Michigan bore an eagle perched on a cross ; the Sioux had a buffalo, a black dog, and an otter. Among the northern nations, J man intimated his personality as much by using the symbols of his wife's family as by those of his own ; but he never took a wife out of any family which bore the same symbol as his.* The only offensive arms in use by the savages, before Europeans camo among thena, were the arrow and the tomahawk. The former was a kind of dart or short javelin ; being a taper stick pointed with bone or flinty- gtone ; the latter, a kind of club made of hard-wood or stone, had a cut- tinf ed^e on one side. Their defensive armour consisting of a kind of cuirass of light wood ; and sometimes they bore a buckler of cedar-wood ample enough to cover the body. The very mention of a coming war raised in the bosoms of the younger savages an uncontrollable feeling of joy. Their imaginations, constantly exalted by the recital of the great deeds of the ancestors of the tribe, daring the heady current of a fight, with imagined enemies palpitating and bleeding at their feet, caused a kind of sanguinary intoxication. Although reasonable causes for going to war could not often exist, yet hostilities among the tribes were very frequent. Prescriptive rights attaching to certain hunting-grounds, a national or family feud, through the violent death of a compatriot or relative, these were the ordinary and fertile causes of internecine war constantly breaking out among the restless aborigines. Each man being, to a great extent, independent of his tribe, could at any moment — through his pugnacity or thirst for plunder, or from motives of personal vengeance or dislike, by one overt or secret act of enmity against a family or individual of another tribe — suddenly draw whole nations into hostilities of the most destructive character ; the war never ending perhaps, till one of the contending parties had exterminated its adversaries, or expelled them from their lands. The duration of peace, being thus constantly imperilled, in every region of the wilderness between Mexico and Hudson's Bay, made general tranquillity rather the exceptional that the normal state of existence in uncivilized America. On the other hand, when it happened that a nation was disinclined or unprepared to wage war against another from whom it had received a wrong, the matter might be, and sometimes was settled by recourse to the lex talionis. Thus, M. Dalbert wrote under date of April, 1684 : " When the nation of those who have been killed does not wish to war against that * " Concerning the savage nations protected by the government of Canada," ia 1736.— JMS. 124 HISTORY OF CANADA. which haa been offended by it, the nearest relatives of the slayers killed themselves; that is to say, to the extent of man for man."* Each savage, when capable of bearing arms, was ranked as a warrior, and had the right to be present at meetings of the tribe, with power to deliberate and vote upon any public subject. Peace or war was determined on by the whole males called in council. Thus would the old men address the younger, to excite them to war, if such were intended, against another tribe : — " The bones of our slain brethren are bleaching on the ground; they cry to us for vengeance, and the cry must be answered. Paint yourself with the deepest colors ; take up your terror-inspiring arms : let our war-songs and our demands for vengeance gladden the shades of our departed warriors and cause our foes to tremble. On, then ! take captive our enemies, and fight as long as wood grows or water runs. Let the sun and the stars leave the firmament sooner than we shall quit the field of battle before victory be gained I" Then would the song of war be heard : — " places which the sun floods with his light, and that the moon illuminates with her paly torch ; places where verdure waves in the breeze, where runs the limpid stream and the torrent leaps : take witness, earth, and ye heavens, that we are ready every one to encounter our foes The war-clubs we snatch from enemies shall testify to our surpassing valor. The scalps we tear from their pros- trated heads will ornament our huts. Our door-lintels we shall redden with the blood of our prisoners. Timid in captivity as feeble in combat, we shall cause them to perish by slow torturings; and when life has fled their mutilated frames, we shall burn them up, and scatter their ashes to the four winds of heaven," &c. Incited by such adjurations, inspired by such enthusiastic strains as the foregoing, the assembled warriors would testify their eagerness for the fray. But a chief, in whom they could all confide must be chosen; and one would be elected forthwith. The qualities required in a leader were — experience in stratagems of war, and renown acquired from former exploits ; a commanding presence and high stature ; a sonorous voice to harangue with effect, and so powerful in tone as to be heard distinctly amid the din of battle. The newly elected chief, before setting out with his warriors, to prepare himself for action, would endure long fastings to propitiate the powers of good and evil ; he would also scan his dreams, which in this season of preparation were for him so many oracular res- ponses. The warriors, as a prelude to the campaign, would collectively 'Documents de Paris, 2nd series. ^«^*:.^ ME ABORIGINAL NATIONS. 126 Wpeat a prayer to their gods for success ; all this followed by the war- dance, the movements and gestures in which were significative of what passed in real combats. The dance finished, a solemn feast would ana- ceed, dog's flesh being the only viand devoured. During such a banquet, the warrior-chief would entertain the company with a vaunting discourse, the subject being the great deeds already done by himself and his ancestors. All preliminaries over, at a preconcerted signal, the petty army would get forth. So long a," he path of the warriors lay through their own hunting grounds, the^ -arched in little order, dispersing occasionally to kill or entrap game for their subsistence by the way, and re-assembling each night at stated places, to encamp together. But the instant they set foot on alien territory they kept close together, advancing stealthily, and communicated with each other rather by signs than words. At all times, but in time of war more especially, the aborigines were careful observers of the natural features of the countries through which they passed. They turned this observation to after account ; and could antici- pate safety or danger for themselves from the most trivial signs. So keen was their scent, that they were sensible of the existence of dwellings, though distant, by the odor of their smoke wafted from afar. So sharp were they of vision, that they could discern the trail of any human being or animal of any kind, though impressed on the ground or herbage ever so lightly ; specifying at once the sex 5,nd stature of the person, and the length of time since they passed. In order to hide their marches, if that were desirable, the warriors would move in single file, each man putting his foot-plant in the trace left by his predecessor, and covering it with leaves. If a river or other stream flowed parallel to their course, they would walk in it rather than on land, so as to spare themselves the trouble of obliterating foot-marks. Arrived at the scene of action, a council was called, and a plan of attack adopted. Before day-break, if their enemies were supposed to be asleep, they glided into their village or camp, shot a flight of arrows against them, accompanied by the war-whoop ; then rushing upon them, tried to complete the work of murder with clubs and tomahawks. They usually took prisoners as many as survived who were fit to walk ; others they scalped before they left the scene of carnage. As the attack was sudden, so would the retreat of the assailants be precipitate, whether successful or repulsed. When followed or intercepted by avengers, the retiring party without scruple massacred their prisoners, and continued theur flight. If left unmolested, on the other hand, the captives were ^'i( 126 HlStORY OP CANADA. carefiilly guarded, especially at night. The latter, anticipating their doom would make the forest resound with funeral strains such as these : " I am about to die a cruel death, yet I fear not the torture I shall first have to suffer ere life quit this body. My end shall be that of one who is as stubborn to endure as his enemies are stern to inflict. Thus shall I fit myself to enter into company with the spirits of those heroes, my ances- tors, who have passed to the land of shadows before me."* When the victors returned to their villages, the females, with the invalid And juvenile population, went out to meet them, uttering exclamations of welcome and triumph. The prisoners, ranged in order, had each to run the gauntlet between a double file of men, who cudgelled them as they passed through. Those of them who were destined to die at once, were given up to the untender mercies of the war chiefs ; others were, it might be, reserved and put at the disposition of the head of the tribe. Each of the first-named was tied apost, and his suffering began; but sometimes they did not terminate till the lapse of several days of purposely prolonged torture, such as it is inconceivable that any other beings than demons could inflict. The sufferers, either from pride of spirit, or in a forlorn hope of provoking their tormentors to despatch them outright, braved them to do their worst, But such diabolical enormities were perpetrated only, we are told, upon the persons of the leaders of alien tribes : warriors not of high rank were burnt alive or enslaved. The French missionaries did all that was possible to persuade the savages to renounce such barbarities : and as the most likely means to effect this end, called into play a selfish motive for adopting more humane usages, by inducing the captors of prisoners to keep or sell them as slaves ; thus securing these unfortunates, at least, from such a death as we have, with intentional vagueness, described above. The lives of such prisoners as were turned over to the chief of a tribe, were usually spared, in order that they might replace those warriors whom it had just lost. By this means, the amount of its fighting men, so far as the number thus adopted extended, would be maintained. Such * Such an anticipation of inflexible contempt for suffering by captives was seldom an idle boast. In the " Relations des J^suites" lately printed, may be foand (Vol. I) startling accounts of the tortures remorselessly inflicted by victors, and uncomplainingly, nay exultingly borne by their victims ; this, too, occasion- ally in the presence of one or more of the missionaries. One wonders that the latter bad nerve to be present at such shocking scenes, and still more that they could remain to the end ; they taking note of all the particulars till the close of the horrid process of prolonged murder, so minutely described by them afterwards.-— £. THE ABORIGINAL NATIONS. 127 substitutes, We are assured, were treated with the same consideration an the native-born of the community. There was good policy in this mode of treating captives as well as humanity ; for by what other ties than those of kindness could the adopting party secure the attachment of the adopted? With dispositions so vindictive as the savages habitually manifested, it may seem strange that their ordinary wars, if sharp, were also short; but their aggregate numbers, as we have seen, being very limited, the whole race would have been all but exterminated, had their internecine hostilities been carried on for such a length of time as among European nations, 'the interruption given to the pursuit of animals by a long- continued pursuit and slaughter or capture of men, would, in no long time, have led starvation into the households of the belligerents. A state of peace — such peace as savages may brook — soon became, therefore, a necessity for all. The only difficulty was, how to bring it about; for the untutored savage, as well as the civilised man, must always have his feelings of self-love carefully respected ! These having been tenderly handled, the chiefs and elders of the party most wearied of the war would wait upon the like personages in the antagonistic camp, and proffer terms of pacification. Such would probably be rejected at first, with real or feigned contempt. But, by degrees, the repelling parties would be talked into consent. It was usual, on such occasions, for the applicants to bring with them a kind of smoking-pipe, of particular make, called by Europeans " the calumet of peace." The palaver, or conference, fairly begun, it was the duty of a subordinate chief to fill the bowl of the pipe with tobacco, which, having lighted, he raised it toward the sky, then, depressing it, turned the end to each of the four cardinal points of the horizon ; thereby inviting the powers of heaven, earth, and the atmosphere to sanction the transaction by their presence. The hereditary chief then taking the pipe in hand, drew from it a few puffs of smoke, which he blew forthwith, first heavenward, then all around, and next on the earth. The calumet waa then passed to the other chiefs present, each of whom pressed it to his lips. If peace were conceded, a reddened hatchet was buried, as a symbol that oblivion of all past hostility between the contracting parties was to follow. A mutual exchange of neck ornaments sealed the treaty, after its terms were debated and determined. But all was not over yet, for the chiefs, on each side, proffered and accepted pre- sents of rare articles; such as calumets of price, embroidered deer-skins, &c. This kind of ceremonial barter being terminated, to mutual satis- faotioQ or otherwise, the conference broke up. 128 HISTORY OF CANADA. In times of peace, almost the sole occupations of the natives were hunting and fishing. The womankind among the North American Indians were the men's born-slaves ; and, as such, did all kinds of servile work, out door labor included. To put hand to the latter was to degrade a savage, both in selfnsstimation and in the eyes of his fellows. Even the toils of hunting were habitually put off by the " noble savage," till the calls of hunger forced him to take to the woods or the water for prey, From the latter he chiefly derived his food in summer time : in the winter season from the forest ; the skins of furred animals then being in their best state, an important consideration for him. In default of animal food, wild fruit and edible roots, oak and beech mast, even the inner bark of trees, were had recourse to for the support of a miserable existence. The native bourgades, or settlements, were constantly being broken up : for the game and fish in the contiguous forests and streams were soon captured or scared away ; and these parts of the wilderness, like exhausted arable ground, had to lie fallow, as it were, to recover. It was therefore difGicult for the early traders or colonists to maintain steady relations with any portion of the native tribes. To speculate upon the probability or even possibility of the existence of governmental institutions among such a people, would be idle. For such to exist, communities of men must be of a stable character, the first requisites being security for life and property. The aborigines of New France possessed none of the latter worthy of the name. As proper enjoy- ment of the benefits attending acquisition demands some fixity of habita- tion, and the Indians were almost all wanderers in the vnlderness, what security for human life there could be among them we have already seen, or may easily divine.* The first Europeans who visited the aborigines of Canada reported unanimously that no religious worship existed among them. The Micmacs and the savage tribes nearest to them, says Champlain, used no devotion for any superior being, nor any religious ceremonies. One tribe (the Cenis), according to Joutel, had no certain notion of a supreme God. But though the savages had no religion, as we understand that term, they made habit- ual offerings to departed or unseen existences, — a kind of sacrifice which other reporters called worshipping; and all, or almost all the natives recognised supernatural beings, to whom they addressed aspirations for aid * The translator hag taken the liberty to substitute the above paragraph for a long catalogue of negations, encumbering the pages of the original work ; it being needless to enumerate the multitudinous things which Savages have no' and cannot have.— £. rtfi'r THE ABORIGINAL NATIONS. 129 in critical circumstances. Those of Canada in particular, assured Cham- plain that each prayed to his own deity in heart if not orally. But these inward emotions had none of the purity of religious aspirations. Valour and virtue were with them, as with the pagans of old, convertible terms. Hi^h desert, in a future as in the present state, was rewarded by a sensual paradise, reserved for the Indian warrior who had killed the greatest num- ber of enemies, and exalted the renown of his tribe. His Hades was an imagined land of gloom, destitute of game, and all other creature comforts, whose inhabitants, sluggards and cowards on earth, lived forever in a wretched and despicable state of existence. Like the heathen of antiquity, also, the North American Indians deified supposed powers of the visible universe, and its more striking natural phenomena. A " spirit" they sup- posed to be at work when air and water were in conflict, who would of course be the god or demon of storms ; it was thus they would account for thunder and lightning, eclipses, &c. The sun, moon, and stars would also be considered as conscious entities by such a people. But of the existence even of a leading divinity, such as the Jupiter of the ancients, they do not seem to have dreamed. The first notion of a " Great Spirit," who created and sustains the universe, it is reasonable to believe, was Buggested to them by those spiritual interrogations — which lawyers would call " leading questions" — addressed to them by missionaries and others, willing to believe, for the credit of human nature, on slender evidence, that no entire race of human beings, however barbarous in manners or degraded in mind, ever was or could be destitute of belief in a Supreme being.* When the natives were preparing for a hostile expedition, they tried to propitiate war-loving spirits, by prayers and fastings. When setting out for the chase, preliminary fastings were supposed to be agreeable to the tutelary spirits of the creatures to be hunted. Superstitious respect was paid to the bones of the more redoubtable animals of the wilderness, Beemingly out of sympathetic regard for fierce natures, akin to their own.f E the amplitude of a river, the height of a peak, the depth of a stream, the roar of a waterfall, arrested their attention in a region newly visited, their oblations were oflFered to the spirits of these waters, that rock, &c. The sacrificing, in such cases, was usually an offering of tobacco thrown * For the summary of Indian theolo^ in the above paragraph, the editor alone is responsible. — B. t Leclero : — ■' The savages cast the remnants of such, after a feast, into tho fire or a river, to bury them As for the bones of beasts easy to take, they throw them contemptuously to the dogs." — Relations des J6suites.—B. \^'\ J 1 A u;e '■■♦b him, on which I still look back with pleasure. He appealed to my sense of ik.'ioi au'' justice, on his own part and that of his sister, to retract tlie aspersions -vrhicb, unconscious of their unfairness, I had cast on his father's memory. . . . Among other expressions to young Brandt, I made use of the following words : ' Had I learned all this [from documents produced] when I was writing my poem, he should not have figured in it as the hero of mischief. It was but bare justice to say this much of a Mohawk Indian, who spoke Eng- lish eloquently, and was thought capable of having written a history of the Six Nations. I learned also, that he often strove to mitigate the cruelty of the Indian warfare. The name of Brandt, there/ore, remains in my poem a pure and duwpd character of fiction." Illustrated edition of the Poetical Works of T. Campbell. London : Moxon, 1840. — It is to be hoped that the Brandt family was q^iUe satisfied with this recantation.—^. m f» 138 HISTORY OF CANADA. In advanced in the arts of life than they ; nor had any such contact really taken place even in the remotest ages : for then they would have preserved somewhat of the advantages thereby to be acquired. They had nowhere the habitudes of that second stage in the progress of nations, the pastoral state. They bad neither herds nor flocks, and were ignorant of the use of animals' milk as a nourishment for persons of all ages. Wild bees they knew of ; honey-comb, doubtless, they sought after, but its wax they turned to no account. Iron they were not cognisant of; or if they were, they were incapable of smelting the ore : and no nation ever attained to high material improvement without its use. "~- — These negational data being assigned, respecting the state of the North American Indians, when first visited by Europeans, are we thence to draw the positive inference, that their ancestors could not have been immigrants fr . Asia, in every regior of which the above commodities have abounded ' ' ^ countless ages? But central America, we now know, was once tho . .it, of civilisation : the ruins of Palenque and Mitla, cities which of old stouti proudly on the table-land of Mexico, indicate the presence there, during unascertained tracts of time, of a nation far advanced in the arts ; as the late Mr. Prescott has so well expounded, in his admirable history of the Conquest of Mexico. The red races of America present a striking facial likeness to the Mongols. Mr. Ledyard, a distinguished traveller from the United States. vrrote from Siberia that the Mongols resemble, in every respect, the abor- igines of America; and that there still exist in their remote region of northern Asia very perceptible traces of a current of emigration having flowed, from the northwest to the eastward and to the south, at some far distant time. The Tschuckchi of the north-west of Asia, and the Esqui- maux of America, appear to have had the same origin, as the affinity of their languages indicates ; and though the Tschuckchi and the Tungounas do not understand the Esquimaux tongue, the latter regard themselves and the former as people of one race.* The Tunassas of Siberia are the perfect bodily counterparts of our aborigines ; and if we traverse America, starting from the north, we find more primitive languages towards the gulf of Mexico than anywhere else ; f as if the nations, brought to a stand by the narrowing of the upper continent at this point, had been precipitated as it were on each other. There existed a communication between the continents, of North America and Asia. A Jesuit, when • G. P. MuUer, Voyages et Dicouvertes des Russes. t Albert Gallatin. THE ABORIGINAL NAHONS. 139 travelling in the latter continent, was astonished, once on a tiire, in meet- ing an American savage whom he had known in Canada.* Adopting the hypothesis of an Asiatic immigration,-}- we are to oon- clade, then, that the Esquimaux and the Tshuckchi composed the extrem- ity of the supposed great torrent of incoming population ; which would come to a halt at the time when the two peoples were, one on the Ameri- can sea-margin, the other on the opposite side ; and separated, at Behring's straits, by a sea-passage only about fifty miles wide. The Californians and the Aztecs themselves claim a northern origin ;I and all ethnic data that have been brought together in reference to the present subject, confirm the opinion, that the aborigines of the New World had their origin in the Old ; and that those of North America, in particular, less advanced as they were and are than the race which nused the monuments found in Mexico and iu other southern regions of the continent, had their origin in the deserts of Tartary. It would be impossible to conceive, in reality, of a greater similitude between two peoples, separated so long in time and so far removed in space, than that we find between the American savages and the Asiatic Tartars.^ • " Some men have become famous for building large edifices of conclusiona upon a knife-edge breadth of facts." Lawrence Sterne — quoted from recoUec- . tion. — B. t Father Acosta supposed that America had been peopled from the north of Asia or of Europe, or by passing through territories which, he imagined, neigh- bored the Straits of Magellan. + The Chickmeques, who settled on the Lake of Mexico, and the Mexicans who subjugated them, came from California. — Herrera. § " The condition of the Indian tribes comes next. The Indians 1 Whether subjects of history or heroes of romance, or mixed up in the miserable epheme- ral literary trash ^of the day, they are always exaggerated, disfigured, carica- tured. They have been represented, by some, as brave, high-minded, and ca- pable of sustaining extraordinary privations : sometimes as cold, stern, taciturn; sometiraes as gay, lively, frolicksome, full of badinage, and excessively given to gambling ; sometimes as cruel, and even man-eaters, delighting in the inflic- tion of the most horrible tortures. Some will tell you that they have no reli- gious notions, no conception of a great First Cause : others, that they have a simple natural religion. "Some of the earlier historians represent the Natchez as worshippers of the sun, or worshippers of fire ; as having a temple dedicated to the sun, keeping up a perpetual or vestal fire. They conclude, of course, that these Indians must have been allied at least to the Peruvians or Mexicans, if not descended from the fire-worshippers of the East. The truth probably was, that in some miserable cabin or wigwam, a few chunks were kept burning, as is the case in every Indian encampment, and indeed in every well-regulated kitchen. The 1 1 140 HISTORY OF CANADA. We are well aware, now-a-days, how much influence climate has upon the physical nature of man ; how it modifies his manners, his morals, and even the tendencies of his mind. The old native citizen of the United States is quite a different person from the man of British hirth. The Anglo-American is tall, lean, lathy; his complexion pale, or sun-embrown- ed or wind-dried. The Briton is of stout make, his complexion sangui- neous, and freshened by the moist nature of his native climate. The descendants of the British races in federated America retain, in a word, little of the outward aspect that would conclusively identify them as being. In flesh, blood, and bone, the same human stock that became loca- ted in the now United States, at intervals, during the 17th or 18th centuries, and even the now elapsed years of the present century. fact is, that neither the pen of Cooper, nor the more eloquent and fascinating style of Chateaubriand, can inspire the slightest interest for their Indian heroes and heroines, in the mind of a man who has been much among the aborigines, and knows something of their real character and habits. With respect to those nations whicl< ' . exist, we are able to see for ourselves, and correct the false impressions which earlier writers may have produced." — Inaugural Discourse of Hbnrv a. Bullard, Esq., President of the " Historical Society of Louisiana." New "iork; h. ''—.,. Dig Louis Kcrtk gives np <; and strives to attacl built at Quebec— Dea nor.— M. do Moiitmag Father LcJcuno fouiK Maisonneuvo. Found the Indian tribes; tliii Hontmagny as governi and as a nation broken perpetual alliance witl d'Aillcboust. TljcIro( oslabJislimonts.— M. d'. I'oaco made with tho Ir( rols with the Bishop, him.— Dissolution of t of France. ■] We now take up th (1632) of the treaty Kertk, kept Quebec fo a heap of ruins,* toM Company of the Hum ing the following year a richly laden fleet, ai guard of soldiers, coi heating, landed and i Bouchard took comma Recollecting the ma nada, Champlain soug Hurons more especial Gospel: these were Jef of French domination, very popular in the cc presence of a mendicar • "But as for our habiti consumed, along with 9( »i BOOK THIRD. CHAPTER I. , DISPERSION OF THE HUKONS-1632-1663. Lonlg Kcrtk gives up Quebec to the French.— Cliamplain returns to Canada as governor,, and strives to attach the aborigines to the interests of France.— College of tlie Jesuits built at Quebec.— Death of Chaniplain (1635.)— M. de Ci.atcaulbrt succeeds liim asgover- nor.— M. de Montmagny.— War between the Iroquois confederation and the Ilurons.— Father LeJeuno founds the native village of Sillcry.— Foundation of Montreal by M. Maisonnouve. Foundation of the Hotel-Dieu and Ursulinc convent.— reace-timo for all the Indian tribes; this is first broken by the Agniers.- M. d'Aillcboust replaces M. de Montmagny as governor.— War between the Iroquois and ilurons ; the latter finally beaten and as a nation broken up (1649—50.)— Tlie colonists of New England propose i treaty of perpetual alliance with the inhabitants of New France.~M. de Lauton t^ucceeds to M. d'Aillcboust. Tlic Iroquois, after their victory over the Ilurons, full upon Ujc French establishments, — M. d'Argenson replaces M. do Lausou.— Dcvotcdncss of M. Daulac,— I'cacc made with the Iroquois.- Baron d' Avaugour appointed governor-general ; his quar- rels with the Bishop.— Eartliquake of 1663.— D'Avaugour recalled; M. de Mi5.uy succeeds him.— Dissolution of the Company of 100 I'artners ; Canada becomes a royul province of France. We now take up the thread of historical facts, laid aside from the date (1632) of the treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye. — The huguenot, Louis Kertk, kept Quebec for three years, in England's name; and gave it up, aheap of ruins,* to M. de Caen, in terms of a clause in that treaty. The Company of the Hundred Partners resumed possession of the place dur- ing the following year. Champlain, re-appointed governor, arrived with a richly laden fleet, and took administrative charge of the colony. A guard of soldiers, composed of pike-men nnd musketeers, with drums beating, landed and marched to fort St. Louis, of which M. Duplessis- Bouchard took command. Recollecting the many eflForts hitherto made by France to defend Ca- nada, Champlain sought to attach to her interest the native tribes, the Hurons more especially, to whom he sent missionaries to preach the Gospel: these were Jesuits. Occasion had been taken, from the abeyance of French domination, to exclude the RecoUets, though these friars were very popular in the colony ; because it had long been thought that the presence of a mendicant order in a new missionary field, was more burden- • "But as for our habitation, " said M. de Caen," my people have found it utterlj eoDsumed, along with 9000 beaver-skiasi valued at 40,000 livres." 142 HISTORY OF CANADA. some than useful. The RecoUets in vain petitioned the Government to let them return.* For an instant, immigration to the colony sensibly increased. Among the new-comers were many rural laborers and artisans of the more useful kinds : besides a number of persons of good family, who sought in New France that tranquillity denied them in the Old ; inhabiting, as they previously did, those French provinces wherein the Protestants out- numbered the Catholics. In 1635, Ren<5 de Rohant, a French Jesuit priest, son of the Marquis de Gamache, laid the foundation-stone of the college of Quebec. This was altogether a year of great promise for the colony ; but before it closed New France suffered a heavy loss, in the person of its governor and best friend, who died on Christmas-day. Samuel Champlain was born at Brouage, in Saintonge (Charente infdrieurc). His first calling was that of a mariner; and he distinguish- ed himself, as such, in the service of Henry IV. The commander de Chastes singled him out as a fit person to command and direct the first of those expeditions from France to the New World which have caused his name to become a household word in Canada. Endowed with sound judgment and quick perception, he conceived quickly, and followed up his plans (all eminently practical) with a perseverance that no surmoun- table obstacles could discourage. Thirty years of untiring efforts to establish and extend the French possessions in America, often under the most unpromising circumstances, prove the inflexible steadiness of the resloution he brought to his great task, — the exaltation of New France. And this he chiefly effected, not by military or naval force,— for he had little of either at command, — but by equitable diplomacy and Christianising influences. For one deviation from his system of peaceful polity, he has been very severely censured, more, as we think, than the occasion called for ; we mean, his waging war against the Iroquois. But the war, in which he thus took part, was not one of his making ; and he was always ready to listen to reasonable proposals for the cessation of * " Memorialwhich waf; written respecting the Recollet Fathers of the province of St. Denis of Paris, and the right they have had, ever since the year 1615, to repair to Quanada Isic], by the authorisation and in virtue of the mission of the sovereign pontiffs ; under favor of which they built a convent and church at Quebecq [sic'], and have originally celebrated the holy mysteries in divers parts of said country." The document thus intituled was drawn up by Pere Potenlan, the supirieur. The RecoUets, in effect, asked permission therein to be allowed to resume their labors in Canada; and replied to the objection! which were raised against that resumption. DISPERSION OF THE HURONS. 148 hostilities. Had he lived, the Euron tribes, whose confidence he posses- sed would assuredly have found in him a friend able and willing to save them from that perdition which they were fated to sufier not long after his death. Champlam has left us a relation of his voyages and expeditions, in which we find its author an atttcntive and judicious observer and a conscientious narrator. The work itself gives valuable notices on the geography and physical aspect of the countries he visited ; and abounds in details, interesting and curious, on the condition and manners of their inhabitants. He had a religious turn of mind ; but, like many of his compatriots, he distrusted the influence of the Jesuits. He preferred the Franciscan order to that of St. Ignatius ; the former having, as he said, " less (political) ambition." The Jesuits, however, having exerted their influence with the court of France to obtain permission to supersede the RecoUets, gained their point. Doubtless that influence soon became of great service ; for, more than once, the French kings were about to re- nounce the colony, and each time they abstained therefrom, chiefly through religious motives. In these crises, the Jesuits, directly interested in Ca- nada, powerfully seconded the founder of it.* Champlain had a comely visage, a noble and soldierly bearing, and a vigorous constitution that enabled him to bear the wear-and-tear of body nnd mind which he underwent in a troublous career. He crossed the Atlantic fully a score of times, to defend the colony's interests at Paris. By the death of Henry IV, two years after the foundation of Quebec, he lost a good master and friend, whom he had faithfully served, and who had, in return, been greatly helpful to him. As has been said before, Champlain brought his wife to Canada in 1620. She was a daughter of Nicholas Bould, a protestant, and secretary of the royal household at Paris. The marriage-contract was signed late in 1610 : but as the lady was then too young, it did not take effect till two years later; yet 4,500 livres tournois, out of a dowry of 6,000, were paid down. Champlain bequeathed, in advance, the usufruct of all his fortune to his wife, " in case he should decease while employed on sea and land in the royal service." * The opinioa thus expressed derives negative confirmation at least from ttie sentence rendered by the provostry of Paris, July 11, 1637, in re "The Jesuits ef Quebec versus Jacques Hersaut and Demoiselle [damej H^lene Boul^e, veuve Champlain." Champlain, become paralytic, had by a will, signed at Quebec, bequeathed part of his estate to the Jesuits. 144 HISTORY OP CANADA. It would seem that ho left no issue when ho did die. .The Recollet* began to keep the parish registers* of Notro Damo of Quebec durinj,' the following year. " When we open the first of these," says M. Ferland ** a pardonable curiosity impels to a search for any entries which inii^ht exist therein of the Champlain family, in regard to whom other contem porary documents are silent. One would gladly trace the family history of the founder of Quebec, if its course lay amid the people for whom he opened up a new country to dwell in ; one would gladly learn whether any of our Canadian families have a right to claim him for ancestor. But I have ascertained, not without chagrin, after careful research, that there exists not, in allj probability, a single descendant of his in the col- ony he created, and in which his remains were reposited."f Dame Champlain remained in Canada only four years. She returned to France in 1G24, and appears never to have again revisited America. She founded a convent of Ursulines at Meaux, J took the veil herself, and •From the 24th of October, 1621, when the Quebec parish register was begun, till 1C29, there were but six marriages and two baptisms among the Europeacs in the colony. The first marriage, solemnized Aug. 1, 1621, was that between Guillaume Couillard and Guillcmctte Ilebert, whose numerous family extended through the whole Quebec district, but more especially on the southern river- board below Point L^vi. May 12, 1621, the first marriages in New England took place. — Rev. J. B. A. Ferland : Notes sur les Rcgistres de N. D. dc Quebec t [We find the following notice of Champlain, in the Relations of the Jesuits, in a paragraph penned by Pere Le Jeune, regarding the Fete of St. Ignatius, July, 1633 : This day, " Sieur de Champlain and the ship captains then in Quebec, came to gain the Indulgences awarded to those who attended chapel, on occa- sion of the festival of our holy father, Ignatius Loyola. A number of Huroib were also admitted, after vespers. The chapel being as handsomely ornamented as our small riches allowed, the savages were quite struck, for we had set up the images of our St. Fran9ois Xavier on our altar. They thought these were living beings, and asked if they were not ondaquis (divinities), and the tabernacle their house ; also, if they used as habilaments the altar ornaments. There were also three images of the Virgin Mary, in as many places. They imagined these images represented three persons. Being toldtha+ . 231.-- A I ' .4 150 mSTORT or CANADA. -.1.."' whether the sarviving members of the broken tribe might not yet be brought together ; offering, at the same time, that if they could be, and would oome under his protection, he would treat them well and supply all their wants. The kind proposal came too late ; for the very name of the nation thus ill-treated, had now fallen into oblivion.* 'An idea strikes the mind, while reflecting upon the above incident, that those aged men may have been survivors of the aborigines found in quiet possession of Hoohelaga little more than a century before. The traditions of savages do not go far back without becoming vague and confused. The early explorers of New France could scarcely advance a step into the wilderness without hearing native accounts of tribes which had existed in times not distant^ according to our impressions of the lap*^" '^f time, but far remote in the estimation of a race upon whose unrecoi i annals each succeeding oyde of revolving time brought total obliteration. While the well-being of the aborigines was an object of such deep solicitude on the part of many persons, a regard for that of the French residents did not less occupy the thoughts of philanthropic individuals. We have already made mention of the foundation of the Jesuits' College. The Hotel-IMeu for the sick, and the Ursulines' Convent for training young girls, were also standing proofs of that inexhaustible generosity to which Canada owes almost all the great establishments of education that she possesses. The Hdtel-Dieu of Quebeo was founded in 1639, by the Duchess d'Aiguillon. In the same year, a young widow of high rank, Madame de Lapeltrie, commenced the erection of a convent of Ursulines ; into which, when finished, she retired for the rest of her days. The religieuses who were to inhabit the two foundations, arrived at Quebec from France in one vessel, and landed on the same day. " The occasion was observed as a holiday by all the people of the city ^ labor was suspen- ded, and the shops were closed. The Gbvernor with an armed escort, re- ceived the heroines of the day on the quay ; they left the ship, while the cannoneers of the fort were firing a salute. The first compliments paid, M. de Montmagny led them to the High Churchy amidst the acclamations of the people, and Te Deum was chanted in thanksgiving for the two- fold benefit which Heaven had now conferred upon Canada.''y The Hospital was at first placed at Sillery ; but from fear of the Iroquoio, it was refounded at Quebec, in 1644. These pious institutions which still exist to the honor of the country, * Galktin, Golden. The latter reports that acoording to a tradition current among the Iroc[uoia, their ancestors once inhabited the environs of MoutieaL t Let Servant* de IHeu en Canada^ par M. de Lacoche. < DISPERSION OP THE HURONS. 151 rose amidst din of war and amidst perplexing anxieties, caused by the vicissitudes of a troublous time. We have seen how the negotiation terminated at Three-Rivers, when the Iroquois, who made deceitful proffers of peace, were unmasked, but not intimidated. Thenceforth the embarrassments of M. de Montmagny Wflnt on increasing. The colonists, who did not begin to sow wheat-seed till A. D. 1644, as thinking the climate too cold for that cereal, did not reap enough of any product to support themselves throughout the year ; 80 that the governor had to partially subsist as well as protect his people. The insecurity of life for a few hundreds of peaceful colonists, amidst thousands of prowling Indians, was a great obstruction to agriculture and planting; for no man could till his ground with any safety without carry- ing protective arms. * The Iroquois habitually made intrusion s even to the environs of Quebec, and spread alarm among the French residents on the banks of the St. Lawrence. The audacity of these savages ever increas- ing, it became necessary at last to resort to energetic measures for putting a stop to their encroachments ; and as a preliminary measure, the founda- tions of a fort were laid at the mouth of the river Richelieu, in view of barring their descents to the lower waters. Discerning the intent of this, an armed band of them, 700 strong, suddenly attacked the builders unawares ; by whom the treacherous assailants, however, were repulsed. To avenge this check, they fell with renewed fury upon the Hurons, over whom their superiority was constantly increasing. The Dutch settlers of New Belgium, now the state of New York, had begun to supply them with fire-arms and ammunition, despite the remonstrances made by M. de Montmagny to the Dutch governor. Deprecations upon this point addressed, to the latter, were civilly replied to, but the practice continued. For some time, the French had suspected that the Dutch were fomenting hostile feeling among the border tribes against them, though the two coun- tries were then at peace, f By this time, the Hurons were nenvly reduced to extremity. The ex- tent of territory held by them was lessening day by day ; and its frontiers were being pitilessly desolated ; yet those who ought to have defended • Authority : Father Vimont. 1642-4. t The truth is, that both parties were playing a hypocritical part ; for we find, in the Relations of the Jesuits for the year 1643, on page 71, this significant passage : *' The use of fire-arms, refused to infidel savages by the governor, but accorded to Christian neophytes, is a powerful means of gaining them (the savages in general). It seems as if our Lord wills to serve himself, by this attraction, to make Christianity acceptable in these regions."— 152 HISTORY OP CANADA. them hung back from making reprisals, as fearing to incur iUrther assanlts from foes who, they said, wished " to swallow them up entirely." In 1644, the Iroquois laid a plan, on a greater scale than ever before, to overwhelm the colony, by strategic means which seemed too far-reach- ing for savages to conceive. They began to carry it into effect by divid- ing their forces into two armies : then subdividing these into small bands, they took post at intervals around the colonial limits ; thus inclosing the French territory as in an immense net. At a preconcerted signal, in spring following, they made an irruption, at all points, simultaneously. The positions they took, says Father Jer. Lalemant, were such that they could see their antagonists at four or five leagues' distance, without ex- posing themselves ; and they never made an attack without having the advantage of superior numbers. Their two first bands were located at the portagfi of Les Chaudieres, the third at the foot of the Long-Saul t, and the fourth took post above Montreal. Five other corps were distributed in the post of Montreal isle, the region about Rivi^re-des- Prairies and lake St. Peter, also in the en- virons of Three-Rivers and Fort Richelieu. Lastly, there was a tenth band, charged to carry murder and destruction into the Huron country as soon as the time for action should arrive. The fifth band, composed of eighty warriors, which lay in ambuscade before Montreal, intending to take the place by surprise, was discovered before it could act, driven off, and dispersed by the garrison. Several of the warriors were killed, and others taken prisoner by the Algonquin allies of the French. The latter savages burned alive the captive Iroquois four days afterwards. In an ambuscade laid by the ninth band near to lake St. Peter, six leagues distant from Three-Rivers, fell Father Bres- sani, an I^^alian Jesuit. He had been two years in Canada, and was about to set out on a mission to the ^urons.* The governor of Fort Richelieu repulsed the band arrayed against that fastness ; but he could not, with his few forces, protect the entire territory of the colony, or the lands of his Indian allies j nor reach the hostile Iroquois, ever on the alert to attack or to retire. He, therefore, thought it would be advisable to re-open the negociations for peace formerly initia- ted by the Iroquois ; hoping this time to engage them to consent to an * Several of his companions were killed or tortured. He was cruelly beaten with sticks ; and was on the point of being burned alive, when he was saved, as if by miracle, by a woman ; who got her son to convey him to New Belgium for a ransom, after four months of captivity. — Relation abrig6 de quelque Missions des PP. de la Compagnie de Jesus, Sfc. 1653. DISPERSION OP THE HURONS. 153 'i •.••..- enduring amity with the French, He trusted, for gaining this desirable end, to the influence of superior European diplomacy, — a superiority sen- sibly felt, if not acknowledged, by the Iroquois themselves. He had per- sonal need of repose, indeed ; for he was fairly wearied out, by the sleep- less vi<'ils constantly kept up, to prevent his post being taken by surprise. The governor's first step to obtain a pacification, was to release one of the Iroquois prisoners in his hands, whom he charged to repair to the cantons, and intimate, that if they desired others of their captive countrymen to be set free, envoys must be sent forthwith, charged with full powers to conclude a treaty of peace. This measure had <;he efieot desired. Several chief men repaired to Three-Rivers, and, after a solemn conference with the governor on the place-d'armes of the fort, assented to the terms he proposed. The Algonquins, the Montagnais, the Hurons, and the Attikamegues, conjoined in the same treaty. Amongst the Iroquois nation, only the Agniers canton ratified it, because it was the only one with which the colony was at open war. But the pacification, compassed with much difficulty, was soon violated, as we shall presently see. The ftompany of the Hundred Partners, which had suffered immense losses during these disastrous struggles, and whose members had disbursed more than 1,200,000 livres besides spending the revenue of the colony, hastened to profit by the suspension of hostilities, to transfer the traffic in peltries to the inhabitants. In the arrangement to this effect entered upon at Paris, the latter were represented by Messrs. Repentigny and Godefroi. The company made the renunciation of their privileges, which was confirmed by royal edict, for a yearly seigniorial rent of a million beaver skins. As soon as the treaty with the natives already mentioned was conclu- ded, all the tribes contracting parties to it proceeded to chase and traffic together, as if they had always been good friends. The missionaries had ; penetrated to the Iroquois head-quarters, and they thought they had over- come the evil dispositions of the Agniers. But a state of unbroken peace was not at all to the taste of these restless and ferocious barbarians for any length of time; and in 1646, hostilities broke out afresh. An epi- Nemic, which made great ravages in one of the tribes, and the loss of their jcrops by worms, they imputed to the wizardy of Father Jogues, whom jthey killed with a hatchet : murdering likewise at the same time, a young IFrenehman who was in his company. The heads of their victims they jMf«ised on a palisade, the trunks they cast into a river. After committing these barbarous acts, the Agniers took up arms every- where, and slaughtered every one who fell in' their way. Some Algon- I ' 45» 154 HISTORY OP CANADA. t! ■31 « quin women, who had escaped as if by miracle, from their gripe, brougbt intelligence to the French of what was passing in the wilderness. It was about this time that the chevalier de Montmagny was replaced by M. d'Ailleboust. The recall of the former occasioned some surprise ; but it was merely a necessary result of a general arrangement just previously entered upon by the court. Commander de Poinci, governor of the French islands in America, had refused to consign his governorship on demand, to a successor ; and persisted in retaining his post despite the royal orders. This act of disobedience was not without imitators. To provide against the recurrence of such insubordination, the council of state decided that in future all governors of French dependencies should be changed every three years ; and it was in consequence of this rule that De Montmagny was superseded for the time. Several important events signalised the administration of that governor of New France ; such as the establishment of the island of Montreal, and the commencement of the ruin of the Hurons, which, as we shall see, was consummated under the administration of his successor. The Jesuita ext(tnded their explorations very far, in his time, towards the north, and in the west. Father Baimbault even formed a design of penetrating as far as China, evangelising all nations by the way ; and thus completing the circle of missionary stations around the whole globe. Although the opening up of heathendom by the indefatigable propagators of the faith were transactions apart from the action of the government, they threw a lustre on the administration of M. de Montmagny, and gave him person- ally a certain celebrity throughout Europe. This governor had sought to imitate Champlain's polity in regard to the aborigines. And if the insufficient means put at his disposal did not al- ways enable him to put a curb upon their pugnacious tendencies, he con- trived nevertheless, by a happy union of firmness with conciliation, to make his authority respected among all the tribes ; and to suspend, for a considerable time, the blow which at last fell upon the luckless Hurous, But a time came, when this interposing influence was to be of no further avai'. Louis d'Ailleboust, his successor, came to Canada, as we have seen, with colonists for the island of Montreal, the settlement in which he governed in the absence of M. de Maissonneuve. He was afterwards pro- moted to the command of Three-Rivers, a post more important than that of Montreal ; therefore with such experience as he thereby gained, he must have known all the country's needs : but he took the lead at a very criti- • DISPERSION OF THE HURONS. 155 cal time.*— The war of the Iroquois against the Huron tribes recom- menoed with unwonted fury. In 1648, the former began to press the latter with the whole weight of their superior forces ; the resistance of the Hurons not being commensurate, and their efforts were slackened while waiting for Onnontagu^ auxiliaries, who never came and never in- tended to come to their aid. The doomed Hurons, on the other hand, refused the offer of an alliance from the Audastes, who were willing and able to help them. On the 4th of July, 1648, a numerous body of the Agniers-Iroquois, who had been some time in the Huron country without manifesting any hostile intents, fell suddenly upon the flourbhing village of " St, Joseph des-Attignenonghac," then superintended by P6re Antony Daniel, who had been resident among the Hurons during fourteen years. The heathen barbarians slaughtered every human being in the place, Daniel included, to the number of about 700 souls. They then set fire to the huts, the mission-house and church ; throwing into the latter, when in full combus- tion, the hideously mangled corpse of the missionary, thus unconsciously according the most befitting funerary pile for a Christian martyr. During the rest of the year, the native villages where the Jesuit Lad stations, lived in a continual state of panic ; never knowing but that they might, at any moment, meet the fate of the murdered converts of St. Joseph. Nor were their fears groundless. — On the 16th of March, 1649, a body of Iroquois, not so numerous as the former, but nearly all provided with fire-arms, descended upon a Huron settlement, one of a cluster of six, near the shores of the Great Lake. Most of the men were absent at the time, hunting or otherwise employed ; so that only the women, the chil- dren, the helpless, fell into the power of the invaders. As it was, how- ever, about 400 human beings were slaughtered ; those who were des- patched at onoe being the most fortunate. Three persons, who escaped the vigilance of the butchers of their kin, had to run naked into the woods ; for the assault took place during the night. These fugitives fled towards one or more of the other stations, and put their people on the alert. Next day, the same band fell upon the missionary village of St. Louis, the station there taking the name of St. Ignatius : which was then in the care of P^re Jean de Brebeuf and Pdre Gabriel Lallemant, both of whom with most of the inhabitants, were put to death, in many instances by * The Ailleboust family was of Qerman descent. — Madame de la Pejrouse, wife of the great navigator of that name, was a Miss d'Ailleboust of Argenteuil| (MS. j)ene« M. de Gasp^, cw:6 of St. Eloi.) 156 HISTORY OP CANADA. 'fii prolonged tortures. The two Jesuits wore subjected to torments such as devils alone would be thought capable of inflicting; all of which their col- leagues reported, they boiu with an unfaltering reliance on their Saviour equal to that of the primitive martyrs.* These massacres were followed by open hostilities between the Ir(K|uois and the Hurons, in which, for a time, the latter had alternate successes and defeats ; but in a closing combat, the Hurons, overpressed by super- ior numbers, were totally defeated, losing all their best warriors. Utterly disheartened, the survivors agreed with one accord, to leave their country, Accordingly, by concert or by tacit consent, every one of their homea was left tenantless, within a few days after the disastrous rout. A portion of those homeless bands, the great majority of whom must have been women and children, took present shelter with such of the nearest tribes as would receive them ; others, doubtless the more active individuals, took to the farther wilds. Several Jesuit missionaries who had been domesti- cated, as it were, in Huron families, emigrated along with them. When the living wrecks of the broken nation could, in some sort, be gathered up, the question arose where a secure asylum for the whole might be found. The island of Manitoulin in Lake Huron, at that time unin- habited, and reputed to abound in game, was suggested ; but most of the Hurons thought it too distant from thfiir old country, — hoping to repos- sess it some day, perhaps, — and, in the year 1649, the Hurons took pos- ■ii! * The author's text has been departed from in this paragraph, and the follow- ing details we add, as given in the Relations of the Jesuits for the year :— After the indiscriminate slaughter was over, the persons whom the Iroquois had set aside for a more cruel death, were tied to stakes fixed in the floors of several huts, so that the victims might have no means of escape when fire was set to the dwellings. This the savages did ere they departed ; while, previously, manifesting the diabolical pleasure they felt as they left the place, on hearing the lamentable cries of the victims amid the flames that were consuming them. Mothers might be seen bound together with their children, husbands with wives, suffering a common martyrdom, — for most of them were Christians. One aged woman alone escaped. She found means to reach the village of St. Michael, where were, at that time, YOO Huron warriors. These had been on the look out for the Iroquois, but had not been able to find them. Now made aware of their nearness, partly from want of provisions, partly from a fear of not being able to cope with the enemy on equal terms (the Hurons having fewer muskets thaa the Iroquois), the latter were allowed to retire loaded with booty. Captives they did not care to be encumbered with, so far distant as they were from their own country." See Relations, &c. an. 1649, ch. iii, p. 13 et al. — B. DISPERSION OF THE HUR0N9. 157 sesalon o{ the nearer island of St. Joseph.* Hero they planted a village numbering a hundred cabins or huts, some having ten, others eight hearths or households each ; and a great number of families formed isolated habi- tations in the vicinity, for the convenience of having a larger expanse of land and water whence to procure subsistence. — But scarcely had the expelled Hurons begun to feel at home in their new holdings, when that evil fate which had hitherto dogged their steps, reached the isle of refuge, and subjected them to sufferings yet worse to endure, it may be, than those arising from the most calamitous war. The island they chose proved to be a poor hunting and fishing country. When autumn came, the Hurons found it difficult to subsist themselves, their families, and the orphans of others whom they would probably have to provide for. Winter set in, and with it came a famine. Beduced to flxtremity, they devoured the flesh of the dead, even that became putrid ; while mothers might be seen, with dying infants on their bosoms, hoping to make a meal of their bodies once before they grew cold. Contagious diseases, the usual accompaniments of extreme privation, followed in the wake of famine, and carried off many of those whom want had spared. Amid such scenes of woe, the missionaries did all they could to comfort * Tlie Great Manitoulin is the largest and most central of a chain of insular territory stretching. S. E. and N. W. across the upper region of Lake Huron. St. Joseph's Island is the most westwardly of the whole archipelago. It ia worthy of remark, perhaps, that the Manitoulia or Holy Island of the North American Indians has been selected, in our own day, as a suitable and conven- ient territorial refuge for the " broken clans " of the aborigines. Preriously occupied by the Chippewas and Ottawas, it was, along with many other isles in Lalse Huron, surrendered by them, in 1836, into the hands of Sir F. B. Head j then lieutonant-gnyernor of Canada ; who proposed to collect upon the Mani- I touiin not only the wandering bands of the north shore, but also the tribes settled inall parts of the upper province. The scheme, however, proved a failure ; the I only Indians who availed themselves of the offer, were some from the United {States, and others from the shores of Lake Superior and Huron. To aid in Itstablishing these upon the island, the village of Mahnetooahning was bnilt by Itlie government. The only other settlement then existing in the island was the iTillage of Wikwemikong, founded a short time before, chiefly by Ottawa Indians jfrom Michigan. The soil of the island ia generally good, and the waters within lind around it productive ; yet the aettlementd are not progressing so well lu they did some years ago. Nearly all the families of the island are culti- vators or artizans. The whole population, as returned in 1857-8 by Messrs. Hannipeauxand Ferrard, resident catholic missionaries, was 1227 souls, of whom p77were get down as catholics, and 104 as protestants, with 145 "pagans." «ee Oj^ictoZ Report on " Indian affairs" for 1858, pp. 61-1.— -B. « 158 mSTORY OP CANADA. si ■ J) the sufferers in life, and to prepare them fbr death when the Ruprene hour arrived. But many of the Hurons in the madness of their despair turned in wrath upon those good men whom they hitherto had rightl? r^arded as their hest friends ; maltreating or cursing them, as if they had been their worst enemies. " The Iroquois," such insensatcH would exclaim with heathenish unreason, " are foes to us and know not God and do every kind of wrong to their felIow>men ; but they prosper nem- theless. It is only since we renounced the customs of our fathers that our mortal foes have prevailed against us. What avails it that we give an ear to the Gospel, if ruin and death be the shadows that follow its footsteps ?"* Further details of the miseries endured by the unhappy refugees in the island of desolation, it would be as uninviting to read as |)ainful to write; suffice it to say, that in a few months, of the broken bands of tlie Huron tribes, which might even in their reduced state," number 800 war- riors, scarcely thirty remained in each on the average. All the other sur- viving adults were, too, either aged men or women. > While the expelled Hurons were thus dying out at St. Joseph's, their enemies were carrying on active hostilities elsewhere. The Iroquois having taken the field, at first with 300 men, the people of the countrief around were in fearful expectation, each fearing that their own would be the first to suffer. The horde of St. John was that nearest to their terri- tory since the evacuation of St. Mary's : it contained 600 families. The irruption of the Iroquois was at first regarded as a mere bravado, and war- riors of the place went forth to give chase to the invaders. The latter, feign- ing to flee before them, got out of sight of their pursuers, then making a sweep behind the latter, fell upon St. John's, thus destitute of defend- ers, and massacred or enslaved its whole remaining inhabitants. Among the murdered was Father Garnier. The Hurons of the isle St. Joseph (now reduced to 300), advertised of these atrocities, no longer thought their place of refuge safe, and set forth to seek another. The rigors of the winter were overpast when they set out, and the ice on the straits between island and continent beginning to melt. Parts of it gave way under the feet of the wanderers, and a number were crushed or drowned. Of those who succeeded in reaching terra-firma, the fate of many was yet more deplorable ; for, scattering them- selves about the country, they were mostly picked up by prowling Iroquois, thirsting for their blood. — The remnant of all, weary and worn with suffering, set out, headed by Father Bagueneau and other missionaries, * Relations des Jisuites, 1643-44. DISPERSION OP THE HimONS. 159 to seek the French governor, and solicit his protection as cultivators of the soil. The latter party chose a route by lake Nipissing and the Ottawa valley, taking devious lines to avoid their enemies j discerning on the way, however, plain marks of ravages recently committed in those regions by the Iroquoia. On reaching Montreal, the party there tarried two days of disquiet, as fearing to have been followed thither by foes on their traces. Finally, they reached Quebec in July 1650. The governor received them kindly, assigning them a location on the lands of Madame de Grandemaison ; where they were rejoined, in the following year, by several others of the tribe who had come to Quebec previously, and who had found a resting- place on the estate of the Jesuits at Beauport, in 1649. " The Hurons," says M. Ferland, " remained in the isle d'Orldans till the year 1659 ; but continuing to be harassed by the Iroquois army, ever ready to attack and kill them, even in their place of retreat, they decam- ped and set up tents on an open space within Quebec iteelf, wherein they dwelt for several years. When peace was concluded with the Iroquois, after M. Tracy's expedition, the Hurons left Quebec, and settled four or five miles distant from the city; where they founded, in 1667, the mission of Notre Dame-de-Foye, since known as Saintc-Foye. On December 29, 1693, they removed thence to Old Lorette ; and, several years afterwards, they formed the village of Jeune Lorette." The remainder of the Hurons were scattered abroad in all directions ; and those who took refuge among other tribes, became the means of embroiling their protectors with the Iroquois. Others went to establish themselves in south-western regions, now known as parts of Pennsylvania ; one band ascended beyond Lake Superior ; lastly, a good many made their peace with the victors and were absorbed in the Iroquois nation. The result of all was, that not only the Huron countries, but those about the valley of the Ottawa, all teeming with population as they had been, were become howling wildernesses. The Iroquois had taken twelve years to break down the frontiers of the Hurons, and two more to effect the scat- tering of that people over the continent. Their continued presence as a nation would have been valuable to the colonists of New France, who had relied greatly on the alliance with them as a means of keeping all other tribes under a curb when hostilely inclined. The first note-worthy event which followed in order of time, was the arrival at Quebec, in 1648, of an envoy from New England, charged with a proposal for a treaty of commerce and perpetual amity between the two colonies. An important feature of the project was an article, stipulating that the contracting parties should stand neuter in all quarreb between 160 niSTOUY OP CANADA. the respective mother-countrieH. The matter wns taken into Rcrioiis oon«in to be malcontent. There is not wherewithal in the treasury to meet the claims made upon it, or to supply public wants." 162 HISTORY OF CANADA. .» I I, I- propitious moment supervened, they would remain there posted for days together. Nevertheless, it was amidst such adverse circumstances as we have enumerated, that the two most extensive and fairest sections of the colony, the territories of Montreal and Three-Rivers, were gained for civilisation. Every laborer had to play a soldier's part as well as follow his own calling, and each furrow he ploughed was liable to be -^loistened with an enemy's blood or his own. At length, the critical state of Canada attracted the notice of parties in TTrance whose attention was turned towar'^.d the subject of colonisation ; and M. de Maisonneuve succeeded in obtaining, from the provinces of Maine, xVnjou, Poitou, and Brittany, a body of colonisis, «ho reached Montreal in 1653. They were all picked men, alike fit for the needs of peace and war. This reinforcement was of the greatest utility ; and the news of its arrival probably daunted the hostile savages yet more than it heartened the native allies of the colony. Besides, the most redou- table of the former, the Iroquois, were beginning to perceive at last, that they had much to lose and little to gain by making inveterate enemies of the French. While in this frame of mind making overtures for peace, these were favorably listened to, and a treaty was entered into by the intermediation of Father Lemoine. Upon this occasion, there was a grand assembly of the cantons. Father Lemoine, as French plenipotentiary, proffered nineteen presents. As each of these was produced, the savages uttered their usual grunts of satisfaction* He then made them an harangue, with a theatrical style of action, of two hours' duration. This over, the savages present grouped into cantons, and tribes, and a chief repeated what Father Lemoine had said. The discourse thus interpreted was followed by a loud song of gladness, in which all joined. Another chief now rose, and, addressing M. de Lauzon, said, " Onnontio, thou art a pillar of the creation ! thy spirit is a spirit of peace, and thy words soften the most rebellious natures." The ratification of the treaty, which took place in 1654, spread univer- sal joy among the savages, and opened a new field for missionary t labors in the five Iroquois cantons, and gave a fresh impetus to the colonisation of New France. The pacification, now happily concluded, had, nevertheless, its drawbacks. When the resumed trafl&c between the French traders and the Iroquois became brisk, it was still confined to the four cantons nearest • According to the writers of the Relations, this was a repetition of a ventral noise something like Ho ! — B. t Fathers Lemoine, Chaumonot, Dablon, Lemercier, Mesnard, and Fremin, were the annunciators of the faith in the Iroquois countrj. DISPERSION OF THE HURONS. 163 to Canada. The fifth canton, composed of Agniers tribes, traded solely with their European neighbors, the colonists of Williamstadt.* A jealous feeling hence arose among the Agniers, who thought their interests were compromised by the trading prosperity of their countrymen of the north. They became intractably discontented, and determined to withdraw from the alliance with the French ; into which, indeed, they had been reluctantly persuaded to enter. A pretext alone was wanting to them for asi^aming an openly hostile course, and one was soon found. At the instance of the missionaries, the Onnontaguez had petitioned M. de Lauzon to form an establishment in their country, — a thing he had long desired himself, and which he now hastened to realise. In the year following (1656), Captain Dupuis was sent thither with fifty men. The people of Quebec, while taking leave of these persons, bade them what was thought an eternal farewell, as not doubting that thoy would become vic- tims of Iroquois perfidy. The little band halted, at first, on the margin of Lake Gannentaha (Salt Lake) ; but they had scarcely begun to form a settlement there, when the Onnontaguez became jealous of their presence among them. Dislike soon rose to hate, and begot a desire in the savages to exterminate their guests. The French, forewarned bj an intimation from a dying Indian, that their perdition had been determined, prepared to flee the country. As the best way of effecting this, in March following they invited their treacherous neighbors to a banquet, plied them well with liquor, and, whea all were asleep or stupified, the whole colony em- barked on the Oswego River, in canoes secretly got together for the pur- pose. As soon as the Agniers heard of the flight, 400 of their number started in pursuit; but the fugitives had got headway enough to baffle all attempts to reach them.f The Hurons of the Isle of Orldans, under the charge of Father • " Williamstown ; " mistakenly called " Orange " by M. Garneau and others. ' Fort Orange" was a fortified outpost near by. Both places were named in honor of the prince of Orange-Nassau. When the British took the New Netherlands, Williamstadt was re-namod Albany, in compliment to James II, then, "Duke of York and Albany." ?ort Orange was erected in 1612-14. — B. \ An Iroquois tribe, the Onnontagherounons, had shown a strong desire to be allied with the French, to be christianised and to have some of the French to live among them ; but the Jesuit Peres found out that the real aim of these overtures was to obtain new fire-arms aud get French workmen to repair the bad; and this obtained, then to massac.^ them all I Pero Ragucneau escaped, with others, from the country. The Iroquois revenged themselves on the Pere's Huron captive neopbytes, (slaves of the Iroquois), male and female^ burning alive even their young children. Relations, 1657, pp. 1-6. — B. 16^4 BrSTDRT OF (JASTADfA, Ragueneau, had now become cultivators of the soil. One day, a Band of Agniers fell unexpectedly upon ninety of them, ^en, women and children, killed a number, and captured the rest. A part of these refu- gee Hurons, no longer feeling secure in their outlying asylum, quitted the island for Quebec; while another portion, distrusting French pro- tection altogether, rashly offered to throw themselves on the mercy of the Agniers. The latter made them large promises of kindness, protesting that they should be treated, every way, as brothers ; all with the inten- tion of destroying or enslaving them, which took place accordingly. The surviving Hurons had become incapable of self-government j and when a few who remained at Quebec were asked for by the Agniers, the governor was weak enough ta deliver them up to thirty delegates sent to demand them. These savages became quite insolent on the occasion, in presence of French authority ; its supreme representative humbly receiv- ing the law, as it were, from a horde of barbarians. M. de Lauzon had neither the talents nor the energy necessary for the head of a government placed in difficult circumstances. This was felt by all, and he was superseded by an order from the French ministry. The Viscount Voyer d'Argenson, then appointed Governor of New France, landed in Quebec, A. D. 1658, at a time when Canada was over- run everywhere by armed barbarians : Dupuis and his party had returned; finding it impossible to gain a peaceable footing in the wilderness. Even within the colony, it was now, as before the treaty of 1653, unsafe to lalior unarmed, or to travel without an escort. The new governor set out in pursuit of aggressive bands of Iroquois the next day after that of his arrival, but their movements were quicker than his. He ascended the river, shortly afterwards, with 200 men as a corps of observation, and succeeded in driving them as far back as the Richelieu Isles,* On his return to Quebec, such of the savage tribes as still sought to maintain amicable relations with the colonists came to pay their respects, and to crave French protection against their implacable enemies. M. d'Argenson, made aware of the increasing difficulties of thegovern- morit, through the stinted resources at its command, hastened to implore reinforcements of men, trained to war and industry ; frankly expressing his belief to the French ministry^ that, if succour were not accorded, Canada would be irretrievably lost to France. • On the 10th of July, 1658, M. d'Argeuaon, a few weeks after his arrival in Canada, ascended the St. Lawrence with an armed. flotilla, intending to go as high as Montreal ; but reaching Lake St. Peter, the wind became contrary, and BO it continued for some days. Losing patience, he turned belm^and went back Qnehec.—Relatiom des JSsuUes, sub an. 1658.— B. DISPERSION OF THE HiniONS. 165 In addition to barbarie invasions, civil and religious quarrels super vened. The archbishop of Rouen regarded the colony as a dependency of his dioeese. He had, consequently, sent letters to the governor ordaining M. de Quelus to put himself under the orders of the Jesuits, to whom he had delegated the direction of ecclesiastical affairs. M. de Quelus laid claim to have been invested himself with that duty, and refused to recognise the archbishop as his metropolitan. The governor induced M. de Quelus to retire to Montreal, and wrote to Paris intimating his opinion that an episcopal see was wanted in Canada, to maintain peace in its church estab- lishment But the pope had already supplied the want by anticipation ; for, in 1657, he had constituted Canada, ecclesiastically, a vieariatrapo^:- tolical, with M. de Laval as its first head. M. de Laval came to Canada in 1659, and almost directly there arose dissensions between him and the governor on the subject of precedence in the council and of church incen- singa (Vencens di VeglUe). But it is necessary to ascend for a moment to the sources of these troubles. From the foundation of the colony, missionaries in default of magis- trates and other functionaries, (the home government not providing such), had devolved upon them a portion of the civil duties in the parishes. Clothed thus with two great powers, they insensibly acquired, by their accomplishments and good management, an authority, which they began to exercise as if it were their Intimate possession. They thus excited the jealousy of the governors and chiefs of the laity. This feeling increased after the advent of M. de Laval, whose absolute spirit jarred with public prejudices. M. d'Argenson wrote to the minister, that M. de Laval was opinionated, and that his zeal led him to encroach ill^ally on the jurisdiction of others. In vain did the former call to his aid the coansels of Pdres Dablon and Lalemant A royal edict was passed, in 1659, for harmoniously regulating the civil government of the colony. It was ordained, inter alia, that all the inhabitants, as suitors at law, should address themselves, in first resort, to the judges already named by the Company ; with power of appeal, however, from their decisions to the governor in council, in all matters civil, criminal, or of contravention, not of importance sufficient to be carried before the Parliament (supreme court) of Paris ; or in regard of such offences as involved prompt and exemplary punishment. Another edict accompanied the foregoing, ordaining that royal lieutenants, general and particular, greffiers and sergeants (head registrars and bailiffs), should not be superseded except by a command of the king in council 'ill 166 HISTORY OF CANADA. The traflSc in peltry with the natives, owing to their continual hostili- ties against each other, had by this time greatly fallen off. For its revi- val, the governor recommended the formation of a local association of traders, in dependence doubtless upon the metropolitan company ; restrict- ing the colonists from engaging in a trade wherein interloping tended to throw all into confusion. All this while, desolating hostilities, by the Iroquois, against the colony and its Indian allies, continued unceasingly. In 1660, seventeen of the armed inhabitants, commanded by Daulac, were attacked unawares by 500 or 600 of those savages, in a palisade post, at the foot of Long-Sault. The French, aided by fifty Hurons and Algonquins, held out for ten days : but being at length deserted by most of their native auxiliaries, the besiegers forced the place and killed all its defenders. Before the Iroquois got in, four Frenchmen, who were left unhurt, along with a few faithful Hurons, seeing that all was lost, despatched their wounded com- rades, lest they should be tortured by the Iroquois* ' The selfdevotedness of Daulac and his brave men was equal to a vic- tory in its effects ; for the savages, struck by the stout resistance they now met with and by other checks they received, gave up all thought of making an attack they had planned on Quebec, a rumour of which inten- tion had already alarmed its inhabitants. Their design had been, once masters of that city, to ascend the river to Three-Rivers and Montreal, and desolate the cultivated territory around those settlements. As a pre- cautionary measure at Quebec, the convents and chief dwellings there had been put in a state of defence, and a portion of the townspeople removed into the forts j in the lower town the issues were barricaded, and guard-houses set around it. All males capable of bearing arms were embodied, mounting guard day and night ; every one being determined should the barbarians prevail, to sell his life at a dear rate. The warlike excitement soon subsided, on welcom,e news being brought by a Huron who escaped from the massacra at Long-Sault, that the Iro- quois had renounced their hostile designs on Quebec for the time. Before obtaining full assurance that the latter were in full retreat, as they really were, or that all danger was quite past, nevertheless a solemn Te Deum for the unexpected deliverance was chanted in the city churches. The fear of the inhabitants that the savages, suspending their design upon the capital, would fall vengefuUy, meantime, upon the lands of the colony, — their apprehensions, we say, were so far justified that in winter foUow- * Relations des Jisuites^ DISPERSION OP THE HURONS. 167 ing, the Iroquois, collecting forces in the upper country, killed or made prisoner several isolated colonists found at a distance from the strong- holds. When they assailed the latter, however, they experienced such loss that they grew tired of their attempts ; and, soon afterwards, depu- ties from the cantons of Onnontaguez and Goyogouins came to Montreal to treat for peace with the French. Not trusting much to their pledged word, the governor yet inclined to accept the oflFer, thinking that even a temporary pacification was preferable to unceasing hostilities with ene- mies against whom it was impossible to act otherwise than defensively, from want of force to keep the field. The people of those two nations, at the same time, among whom were several christened savages, asked that a missionary should be sent among them ; and father Lemoine having offered to go, he set out, charged with a favorable answer by the governor, and some presents for the Indian chiefs. The negotiation had arrived at this point, when the baron d' Avaugour arrived from France, 'in 1661, to succeed M. d'Argenson, whom disease, misunderstandings, and a repugnance to dissension, induced to solicit a recall before his period of service had expired. The irruptions of the Iroquois, and angry discussions with the clergy, filled up his short administration. M. de Laval complained to the governor's brother, a councillor of state at Paris, that M. d'Argenson had taken in evil part certain representations made to him. The governor, on the other hand, again accused the prelate of being opinionated, and encroaching on the jurisdiction of others. The latter retorted by asserting that a bishop could do what he liked, adding a threat of excommunicating his censor. More- over, the governor always made P6re Lalemant his mediator in these quarrels ; saying, " he is a person of surpassing merit, and consummately sound judgment." During M. d'Argenson 's administration, some progress was made in discovery : on one side, in the country beyond Lake Superior, among the Sioux ; on another, in the Esquimaux country, on Hudson's Bay. • The new governor had gained distinction in the wars of Hungary. He was of a resolute temperament and unbending character; and brought into the affairs of Canada the rigidity that he had contracted in military service. On arriving at Quebec, he determined to visit all the posts of the colony. He admired the plains loaded with growing crops, and remarked that the value of such a country was unknown in France ; that ignorance of it alone caused it to be neglected. He wrote to the court what he had seen, and solicited the despatch of troops and munitions which had been I 1 168 mSTORT OF CANADA. promised to him when he left. His demand was for 3,000 r^lars, to take possession of the Iroquois territory, or 600 colonists. Just then he received intelligence from Pdre Lemoine. At a great council of deputies from three of the Iroquois nations, Onnontaguez, Goyogouins, and Tsonnonthouans, Lemoine communicated the ex-gover- nor's answer to the overtures of these trihes, and presented the gifts he had designed for their chief men. Deliberations among the deputies followed, which lasted for several days. Lemoine was then informed that a delegation from the assembled deputies would forthwith be sent on, headed by Garakonthid, a recognized friend of the French, and a man of reputa- tion among his compatriots, as brave in war, wise and eloquent at all times. The choice of such a n^ociator was esteemed as of happy augury at Montreal ; where the party were well received by the governor, and the preliminaries quickly and satisfactorily arranged. The treaty then entered into was ratified in 1662, Still M. d'Avaugour had his doubts whethef the pacification thus concluded would be lasting; for two of the Iroquois cantons had refused to concur in it. In fact, the Iroquois bands had scarcely ceased to wage war, on one side, than they made hostile irruptions on others, upon differ- ent points, falling unawares upon their human prey, and always killing more or fewer persons.* He profited by this fresh outbreak to depict, in strong colors, the situation of the colony, for the royal consideration, and prayed His Majesty to jtake the country under his immediate protec- tion. Every other chief functionary backed this suit; and M. Bouroher, governor of Three-Rivers, was charged to proceed to Paiis to reinforce the representations made by M. d'Avaugour. The king gave a good reception to the Canadian agent, and ordered that 400 men should forth- with proceed to Quebec. M. de Monts was directed, also to repair to the colony, take an ocular view of it, and report accordantly. Such commissions as this, usually preceded a change of policy. The arrival of M. do Monts, who had taken possession of Placentia fort, in name of the king, when on his way to Newfoundland, spread great joy among the inhabitants; who began to believe that the home government surely meant to attend seriously to their interests. But at the moment when they most trusted to obtain salutary reforms and a happier future, new dissensions, which put the whole colony into commotion, and for the time made all else be forgotten, arose between the governor and the bishop. It had been remarked, that on his arrival M. d'Avaugour paid a visit * HUtoire de Montr lal^ by M. DoUier de GasBon. DISPBRSION OF THE HURONS. 169 to the Jesuits, without doing the like civility to the bishop ; while, soon thereafter, he appointed their superintendent a councillor of state, although, ever since the erection of the vioariat-general, the prelate had replaced the pires in that capacity.* The resentment caused by these preferences was deep, though for a time not overtly manifested ; but smouldering ohai^in is ever prone to burst into flame, and an open quarrel between the offending and offended parties only waited for a pretext. It found one in the vexatious question of the liquor traffic with the savages, f At all times, the sale of strong drink to the natives was prohibited, upon the interposition of the missionaries, by very severe and often renewed ordinances, as extant public documents prove. The government, in its purblind religious aeal, by thxis giving way to the clergy, opened the door to a thousand difficulties, from subordinating to each other two powers which ought to be kept severally apart. So long as the colonial population was, in a manner, of nominal amount only, the inconvenience arising was scarcely felt, because its operation was very limited ; but in proportion as the colony extended, and being governed by men jealous of their powers, and as, in any case, the savages could procure liquors from the New Netherlands and New England, — despite all prohibitions by the French authorities, the case became a perplexing one for the Canadian Government, for the opposition of the clergy to the supplying of alcoholic beverages to the natives both obstructed trade and imperilled alliances formed with them. To get out of the difficulty, some persons wished that a compromise should be made with the bishop, by offering to repress the disorders attending an unlimited liquor traffic ; but the catholic clergy, rightly jealous of infractions of religious independence, and who rarely compounded with the secular expediencies of communities under their spiritual jurisdiction, insisted upon a total prohibition of all liquor traffic with the natives. Pious governors viewed such a demand as a due exer- cise of an ecclesiastical right ; but those governors who thought that the * Journal des JituUes. This manuscript is in the hand-writing of Peres G. Lalemant, Ragueneau, and Lemercier, successively superiors of the Jesuits in Canada, during the years 164S to 1672. t Etatpriient de PEglise, etde la colonie dans la Nouvelle France, by the bishop of Quebec, (St.-Vallier) : "The people of Port Royal (Annapolis) appeared to be desirous, though against their pecuniary interest, to moderate the brandy traffic with the natives, if we thought fit ; even desiring I would procure new ordinances regarding it, and asking that those existing should be enforced, in order that the conversion of so many barbarians should not 'be impeded ; the pas- Bion for liquor among them seeming to be the only insuperable obstacle to their becoming perfect christians." :! : 1 "\ ! ■J •«• 170 HISTORY OP CANADA. civil power should be independent of the sacerdotal, regarded the inter- vention of the clergy as dangerous. M. d'Avaugour was in the latter category. The question thus presented itself under two aspects, according as it was viewed from an ecclesiastical or political stand-point. But the diffi- culty was really of easy solution ; for, from the time that the province ceased to be a missionary settlement, the civil power entered into pos- session of all its rights and due authority. The result was the same as to the point under discussion, because the liquor traffic could not be abso- lutely free among the savages : commercial no less than political interest demanded great circumspection in that regard. In Canada, as in the English colonies, where prohibitions also existed, the government was bound to relax restrictions according to the varying urgencies of each case. The more immediate cause for bringing the governor and prelate into collision at the present time, was the imprisonment of a widow for selling liquor to some savages, probably loiterers in the settlement. The woman having applied to one of the Jesuits for his intercession with the civil authorities, he not only consented, but (for reasons not apparent) actually justified what she had done.* The governor, who had, shortly before, caused three men to be shot together,f for similar violations of the law, irritated at the interposition, — uneasy in his mind also, it may be, at hav- ing inflicted a penalty so disproportioned to a law-made crime,— M. d'Avaugour exclaimed wrothfully, that " since the sale of liquors was es- teemed to be no fault in the present case, it sh( uld cease to be treated as an offence in all others ;" adding that he, at least, would not lend himsel'' in future to the execution of laws so contradictorily applied. The bishop, who was a man of inflexible temper and lofty in bearing, took this in high dudgeon. The entire clergy followed his lead ; and while their preachers thundered in the pulpits against those who ventured to continue the liquor traffic with the Indians, or dared to countenance those who did so, every priest began privately to refuse absolution to any such in the confessional. On the other hand, a great majority of the people made common cause with the governor, and clamored against the clergy. At length the bishop, mitred and stoled, crosier in hand, went in procession, with all his clergy, to the cathedral, where, after a moving discourse on the evil effect of the spirit traffic on the bodies and souls of the natives, he read a general sentence of excommunication against all who should persist in carrying it on. The anathema thus solemnly enun- • The intercessor for the offender was Pere Lallemant, says Charlevoix.— «• f Journal des JisuUes. >' DISPERSION OP THE HURONS. 171 ciated while it comprehended within its sweep the governor and chief civil functionaries, fell still-born from the episcopal chair as regarded the traffickers themselves ; but it had this undesirable effect, that it brought the power of the church into discredit, and, for a season, much dimin- ished its legitimate influence, over the minds of men in general.* As a natural consequence, protests were entered against the bishop's conduct by the chief laymen of the colony, and transmitted to the home govern- ment. These must have had some weight at court, for M. de Laval found it expedient to proceed to France and defend what he had done. There, having no counter-influence in presence at court to combat his, he not only obtained a complete justification for himself, but a royal order for the recall of M. d'Avaugour ; a proper successor for whom the proud prelate was invited to indicate, for the right direction of the king in his choice. It was while the country was agitated by these discords, that February 5, 1663, a violent earthquake-shock was felt in most regions of Canada, also in some parts of the New Netherlands and New England. The first shock was followe'l by others, of a weaker kind, in Canada, at intervals till August or September following.f Notwithstanding the duration of these perturbations, so rare in our latitudes, the damage done was small ; being confined to the fall of a few ohimney-tops, and to the dislocation of some rocks in the St. Lawrence, below Cape Torment.| The savages said that the ground- heavings were caused by the souls of their ancestors, who had taken a fancy to return to earth. To prevent this, they fired their muskets in the air to scare them, as fearing that, should they succeed in the attempt, there would not be enough game iu * It was a remark of the great Lord Clarendon, that the clergy in general are, of all men taught to read and write, those least fitted to manage properly the ordinary business of daily life. — History of the Grand Rebellion. — B. t Morton and Josselyn. — [M. Ribaud, who treats the story as "a pious fraud," denies that any earthquake occurred in the parts of America above stated, at the time; and certainly the annalists of the conterminous Dutch and English colonies make no mention of anything of the kind. — £.] t " The Shrove days of this year [the four flesh-days before Lent] were sig- nalised among others by surprising and fearful en' hquakings, which began half an hour before the close of the Salut of Monday uth February, day of the fes- tival of our Holy [Jesuit] Martyrs of Japan, namely near 5J o'clock [p.m.] and continued for the space of about two Miserere; and again in the night, and atierwards during the d«\y8 and nights following at intervals, at one time strongly, at others weakly felt ; all which did harm to certain chimneys, and caused other light loss and petty damage ; but was of great benefit to souls. . . and they continued till 16th March or thereabout pretty perceptibly." — Joumat dti Jisuiies, sub an. 1663. 172 BISTORT Of CANADA. the oonntry for both generations, the present and the departed ! The phenomena, become repetitive, absorbed public attention ; and, added to the alerts given to the colonists by the Iroquois, had the effect of produc ing an oblivion of the disaidenoes between the high functionaries, civil and ecclesiastical. It was when his disputes with the bishop were most violent, that M. d'Avaugour thought it his duty to re-constitute his council, which had been disorganised during the quarrel He then put all the oldest mem- bers on the retired list, and replaced them by men whose opinions were in harmony with his own ; and also made other changes, which cau»(] a great sensation on account of their novelty, and led him to be regardul as a very audacious person- Those who suffered by liis innovations proftsstd to think that they were of dangerous consequence to a government naturally so little variable, in all respects, as that of Canada, and which had never changed its character.* It was therefore with extreme plcai^ure that these conservatives viewed the recall of "^the reformer ;" one who had talents certainly, but whose prideful bearing wounded the self-love of his subordinates. M. de Mdsy, fort-major of Caen, in Normandy, came to replace M. d'Avaugour, in 1663. — The latter, after a short stay in France, entered the service of the Emperor of Germany, and was killed, in 1664, while bravely defending the fort of Serin, on the Croatian frontier, against the Turks under the grand-vbier Koprouli, shortly before the famous battle of St.-Gothard. The administration of M. d'Avaugour is remarkable for the changes he effected in the colony. This governor did much, by his energy and re- monstrances, to induce the king to labor seriously for the advancement of Canada, and to establish there a system more favorable to its prosperity, Had the governor, towards that end, only removed the obstacles put ia the way of amelioration by the petty oligarchy which absorbed adminis- trative influence, he would still have well earned a claim to the public gratitude. His quarrel with M. Laval, also, disclosed the grave inconve- niences attending the absence of a judicial administration ; inconveniencei which the bishop himself was the first to recognise, and which he contri- buted efficaciously to remove by sustaining, if not suggesting, the estab- lishment of a sovereign council. Having no interest in the " Company • " This mcnth a change took place in the Council : Monsieur the governor having, of his own authority, removed those who composed it, and inducted tea others, four and four for each four months of the year ; afterwards the syndici were cashiered, and several other novelties set np.— Journal des Jisuitet, April 1662. 1)ISPERSI0N OP THE HUIIONS. 173 iofaflunclred Partners," which nominal hundred had then dwindled to forty-five, M. d'Avaugour persuaded Louis XIV to break it up, and I to resume, in 1663, possession of territorial jurisdiction over the colony which ho had conceded to a trading association. As a kind of parting bequest to the colonists of Now France, its ex- [goTcmor drew up an able memoir, presented to the chief minister, in which he advised that the French nation should establish itself strongly in Canada, especially at Quebec ; that a fort, auxiliary to strengthened works round the city itself, ought to bo erected at Point Levi, and another at the river St. Charles. He recommended that 3000 selected soldiers, used to rural labor as well as inured to war, should be located on allotments of land, to be subsisted thereon for three years till they could obtain suflS- cient produce for self-support. " Plaisance, GaspiS, and Cape-Breton," he 1 remarked, " were well enough for fishermen ;" but the regions around them I were arid, and did not produce enough food for those who frequented their shores ; and the people located higher up sometimes had scarcely enough for themselves, and seldom any to spare for the wants of other parts of New France ; of which, he repeated, Quebec ever would be the foundation j Btone; adding: " When I take note of the European wars now ended, and the progress that has marked the past fifty years and may attend tho ten years next coming, not only my duty bids but impels mo to express my opinions boldly." These patriotic sentiments were not listened to so attentively as they deserved to bo. Torrents of French blood wore shed, millions of money were expended, in making petty acquisitions of European territory to extend the limits of Old France ; while, with a few thousands of such colonists as those recommended by M. d'Avaugour, with bodies of men not more numerous than those slain in the great battles of Luxembourg and Condd, she might have assured to herself, for ever, the possession of a great part of America. The wars of Louis XIV, and those succeeding the first French revolution, did they bring to the several generations of France as much profit as did immense colonisation to the people of Bri- tish race ? — How much cause have we for regretting the lost opportunity , of easily acquiring a world, merely at the cost of that brow-sweat which fertilises the soil and founds empires.* * The translator, being doubtful whether he has caught the meaning of thia cciicluding senteace of the chapter, subjoins the sentence as it stands on page I4: ; Quel regret d'avoir perdu un monde, qu'il aurait 6t6 facile d'acqu^rir, un moude qui u'aurait coiit^ que les sueurs qui fertilisent les sillons et qui fondent les empires."— B. CHAPTER II. CIVIL WAH IN ACAI>IA.-lfl32-l(M7. Franco, nf;ain bocrnno miRtroRfi of Acndin by tho treaty of Hi. (icnnnin-cn-Layo, diviilcn n into thr«« portions i conHignod, ronpectivdy.to oomtnnndcr Knzllli(j(ovoruor),t()('|i(vali(r do Itt Toiir, and to M, DoniH.— TIioho grantoon tako rcniutiiiid from tlio KiikIIhIi.— \Vii„Ji|, war anninnt each other, La Tour appllun for aid to tlio puopio of MaKnacliumttH, who, «f|,f conHultiuK tho Iliblo, to know whcttier it would bo lawlbl, Hond liim a favoriilili! unHwcr- Treaty of pcaoo and commurco signed botwcou tho govornmontR of Acndin and Xm Enghind.— La Tour left to his Ihto.— HoroiHm of Madame do la Tour, who twico n-yulfi the troops of CharniHoy, ducciissor of Kazilli.— .She is betrayed by one of hor people, ami the fort taken; ftte of the garrison.— She dies brokon-hearted,— Civil war rnginjdhriiiit'ii. ont Acadia.— Oliver Cromwell sends an expedition from Kngland; I'ort-ltoyul and lovtril other posts seized by the Knglisli (1654).— Cromwell grants tho province, us an Kii^flwii dependency, to La Tour, to Sir Thomas Temple, and William Crown.— Acuilia rcsfdrod lo France by tho treaty of Breda in 1(307. Cardinal Richelieu, while stipulating by an article of the treaty of St, Germain, that England should yield to France tho posts of Acadia, then in English possession, had no serious intention of colonising the country. It was tacitly understood that it should remain at tho disposal of the in- dividuals who held it in farm. Left to their own discretion in itswildernesri, where they reigned absolute over traders and natives, the former, from disputing about contested rights of traffic, took up arms again.st each other, somewhat in the style of the battling feudalry of the Middle Ages. Acadia was apportioned into three provinces, and put into po,s,>ies.sion of as many proprietary governors ; namely, Knight-conimandor Isaac tie Razilli, Chevalier dc La Tour (Charles de St. Etienne), and M. Dcnk To the first named was consigned Port-Royal, with all territory to the southward as far as New England ; the second had the whole country between the Port-Royal territory and Canso ; the third had the rest of Acadia, from Canso to Gaspd. Razilli was appointed governor-in-chief of all the three provinces. La Tour applied for and obtained royal letters patent in France, recog- nising the validity of a concession of lands on the river St. John, granted to his father in 1627, by Charles I, king of England; and in 1G34, he obtained, besides, the Isle de Sable, ten square leagues of seaboard terri- tory at La Htive, and ten other square leagues at Port-Royal, along with islands adjacent. But commander Razilli was so taken with the natural beauties of La H6ve, so struck with its fitness for a harbor, with " i*s ca- pacity for admitting a thousand sail of vessels," that he engaged La Tour to cede it to himself. He there fixed his residence, after taking posses- CIVIL WAR IN ACADIA. 175 gion by royal order, of the country beyond as fur as the Kennoboc river. A frisrate wliich ho had sent on, took possession of a petty fort at Peni- wiuid (Penobscot), which the New England colonists of Plymouth had erected, and therein deposited their peltries as a place of Hufety. The French placed a garrison in it. Soon afterwards Isaac Razilli died (in 1635); whereupon his brothers, one of whom, Charles de Mcnou, cheval- ier de Charnisoy, who was named chief governor of all Acadia in 1G47. The decciuted Uazilli was a knight of Malta, and commander of L'islc Bouchard. lie wa;4 also Commodore {chc/ d'cscnrdrr) of Bretagnc, and had the reputation of being one of the most' skilful navigators of his day. The first Act of Charnisey was to abandon La Ili^vc, where the late oommandcr had formed a flourishing settlement, and remove its inhabit- ants to Port-Royal. Angry discussions soon arose between liim and La Tour, arising either from trading jealousies, both having a largo stake in the peltry traffic ; or else about the debatable limits of their several terri- tories. From what source soever arising, nothing short of the arbitronient of arms, it seems, could settle the matter. In vain Louis XIII sent a royal missive to Charnisey, fixing the limits of his government at the New pjngland frontiers on one side; and at a line drawn from the centre of Fundy bay to Canso on the other; the country westward of said line being a.ssigned to his rival, — excepting, however. La llevo and Port-Royal, which Charnisey was to retain in exchange for the 8t. .lohti's river fort, held by La Tour: the king's letter, we say, produced no pacifying effect. Both parties, however, appealed to Louis against each other; and Char- nisey, having succeeded in making out the best case at court, received orders to arrest La Tour, and send him prisoner to France. But before this could be done, Charnisey had to besiege and take fort St. John ; which, accordingly, he forthwith invested. La Tour, in this extremity, applied to the Bostonians for aid. As France and England were then at peace, the governor of Massachusetts (Winthrop) hesitated t,o sustain him openly ; but he and his compatriots were not sorry to find the French in Acadia all waging intestine war. They acted so far in his behalf, as to allow him to raise and equip a small force in their province. With 80 men of Massachusetts and 140 Rochellois (French Protestants) formed into a corps. La Tour was enabled not only to raise the siege of St. John's fort, but to follow up the retreat- ing forces of Charnisey to his head-quarters. This indirect succour was not conceded without opposition : to parry which Winthrop had recourse to evangelical sanction for doing that which « * 176 HISTORY OF CANADA. worldly policy recommended ; those who demun-ed to becoming auxiliaries in French quarrels quoting texts of a directly opposite tendency in con- demnation of all such interposition. Taking up the matter in a more rational way, Winthrop observed in his own justification, that " the doubt with us in the matter was this, Whether it were more safe, just, and hon- orable io neglect a Providence, which put it in our power to succour an unfortunate neighbor, at the same time weakening a dangerous euoiuy, than f > allow that enemy to work out his purposes. We have preferred the former alternative." Charnisey protested, in turn, against the aggression thus committed by English subjects in timu of peace. The Bostonian governor met his remonstrance by proposing a treaty of amity and trade between Acadia and New England: an offer which w; v ^<^adily accepted by Charnisey- this the more as he thought it might give him a preponderance over his rival. The treaty wa« signed October 8, 1644, at Boston ; and it vm ratified afterwards by commissioners of the confederated colonios of Maisachusetts, Connecticut, New Haven, and Plymouth. La Tour's English auxiliaries having been ostensibly recalled, and Charnisey learning that he was absent from his fort, thought he could easily take it by surprise; but Madame de La Tour, an heroic woman, took charge of its defence and played her husband's part so well, that the besiegers were fain to retire, after having lost 33 of their number. The garrison was also stronger than Charnisey expected, for the Boston- ians still extended succour, underhand, to his antagonist. The former chagrined at the repulse he had received, imputed it entirely to the above- noted practical violation of the treaty lately entered into. Ditidaining to remonstrate, he threatened severe reprisals, and began by seizing a New England vessel. This act had the desired effect. All further aid to La Tour was withheld by the Bostonians. Charnisey re-invested fort St. John, and plied the siege briskly; but Madame de La Tour, with a mere handful of men, repelled his assaults three several times. He began to despair of success, when a traitor in the garrison let him into the body of the place at an unguarded entrance on Easter-day. Madame de La Tour had time to take refuge in one isolated part of the works, and stood so stoutly on her defence, that Charnisey was fain to subscribe to the terms of surrender which she demanded. When Charnisey saw the smallness jf the number to whom ho had capitulated, he regretted the concession he had made; and pretend- ing that he htid been deceived or misunderstood, he had the ineffable baseness to hang every man of the faithftd band; obliging the heroine CIVIL WAR IN ACADIA. 177 who had been their leader to be present at the execution, with a halter round her neck.* The unfortunate lady, whose mind was shattered by the excitement she had undergone, and affected by the wreck of her family's fortunes, fell into a decline, from which she did not recover. Shortly afterward, her husband became an exile from Acadia. He came to Quebec in 1646, was received with military honors, and lodged in the castle of ^t. Louis. He passed two years iii Canada; and, by the aid of some New England friends, resumed his peltry traffic in the Hudson's Bay territory. News of the death of Charnisey attracted him to Acadia, in 1651 ; where (singularly enough) he married the widow of hisdecoased enemy, and entered upon posses?;' en of all the estates of the latter, with consent of the heirs! But his oonnexion, past or present, with the New Englandcrs caused his patriotism to be doubted by Cardi- nal Mazarin ; who empowered one Le Bcgne, a creditor of Charnisey, to attach certain heritages leil by his deceased debtor in Acadia, and, if necessary, to seize them by main force. Le Borgne, giving a largo inter- pretation to his commission, determined to possess himself of the entire pro\ince; to effect which he attacked M, Denis unawares, mastered his establishment at Cape-Breton, and sent him a prisoner, manacled, to Port- Royal. He then burnt the settlement of La Hiixe, not even sparing the chapel of the place. He was preparing to attack La Tour in fort St. John, when an unforeseen antagonist appeared to stay his career of spo- liation. This was the redoubtable Cromwell, who, wishing to repossess Acadia, in 1654, sent thither an expedition for that purpose. His forces expelled those of La Tour from fort St. John, and Lc Borgne's brigands from Port-Ilojal, taking their master prisoner. At the same time, the Massachusetts men in ai».lly obedient to orders sent from Parin. If on any rare occasion, the ministry were at issue with the two chiefs, it would assuredly be on some point of selfish interest of their own : ah ' then indeed, the oligarchic body would rise up hissingly, as a serpent erect • itself to sting the foot that offers to tread upon it. t CHAPTER rv. ECCLESIASTICAL GOVERNMENT OF CANADA.-1C63. Oflho Missions established in Canada; at first by the Rocollets (Franciscans) ; afterwards Ijy tlie Jesuits.— Now Franco becomes an apostoiical vicuriat in 1667; and a bisliopric in 1074. _M. (io Laval, first bisliopof Quobec; liis cliaructer.— Oppositions to his nomination; 51. do Queyius ref\isc8 to recognise him. Establishment of the Seminary of Quebec ; nature it It.- t'lulowmont.— Arrangements regarding tiie tribes.— Tiie Kecollots olfer tlieir services ,'ratuitou^ly.— The curates (curds), their permanent status recognised up till the conquest, but not einco.- rublic education little cared for.— Character of the Canadian clergy under Froucli rule— DissidoncoB in the Galilean Church little felt in Canada. Canada was at the outset, as a French possession, a country of missions ; which were undertaken at first by Franciscan friars, who began their labors in 1015; afterwards, by members of " the Society of Jesus," who entered the field in 1625, as vicars of the see of Kouen. In time, the Jesuits were first subordinated, and finally superseded, by a regular establishment of secular clergy, forming at first an apostolic vicariat, afterwards an episcopal see.* Canada, as a province, was in 1629 brought, quoad civilia, under the jurisdiction of the parliament (supreme court) of Normandy : and hence, as is believed, it came to be considered, quoad sacra, as a dependency of the archbishopric of Rouen ; the prelates of which see were allowed to exercise episcopal supervision in the province for many years; but their supremacy in the case was long contested and at length given up. Each territorial division of the colony at first bore the name of " the mission" (of such a district) ; but when populations increased and churches arose among them in various localities, parishes and cures ,'radually came into shape, and these terms were recognised as the proper appellation in public acts. Canada was constituted an apostolic vicariat, by the pope, in 1657 ; and became an episcopal see, named " the bishopric of Quebec," circa 1674. Louis XIV, as an endowment of the new prelacy, granted the temporalities of the abbeys of Maubec and Lestric, in the diocese of Bourges; and afterwards, at the solicitation of M. de St. Vallier, second * In the articles of the convention of 1625, between the Company of the Hundred Partners and M. de Repentigny, deputy of Canada, by which the inhabitants resumed the peltry traffic, it was stipulated that the latter should be charged with the maintenance of the ecclesiastics then in the colony, and falfil all the obligations the company had contracted in favor of the religious bodies. ■m 198 HISTORY OP CANADA. i^ bishop of Quebec, added the revenue of the Augustinian abbey of B 'li empire, should be thus deter- minedly and successfully set aside, by a papal sic volo, in New France.* It was customary for missiuuaries, on setting out for distant countries, to receive their credentials from the prelate nearest to the place of embar- kation ; and, as the departures of ours from France took place, almost always, from Normandy, when bound for New France, it followed, as a thing of course, that such should apply to the archbishops of Rouen ; in • The Roman Catholic establishment in France had franchises secured to it by pragtaatic sanctions^ or special contracts, with several of the popes at different epochs. In most cases, if not all, these were extorted from the papal see when ita pontiffs were in difficulties. The Htest and most important of pacts, then first called concordats, was signed August 15, 1516, at Bologna, on the part of Leo X, and Francis I ; the iirst article in which abolished the election of bishops, abbots, and priors, theretofore vested in the clergy of cathedral chapters, the members of religious houses, &c., and accorded to the pontiff the right to fill up vacancies in French dioceses, upon nominations made by the sovereign. That contract ill answered to its name and proved to be a discordat in France, the parliament of Paris long demurring to register it, and the University (a clerical corporation) also refusing its sanction until March 22, 1517, and even then only on " the express command of the king, reiterated several times." Several objections were made in after years, the French clergy vainly trying to obtain its revocation, particularly in 1579, and again in 1585, they as a body demanding the revival of the pragmatic sanction which it superseded. Diction' mire des Dates. — The (so-called) concordat of 1801-2, sanctioned, under com» pulsion, by Pius VII, demands no notice here. — B, '< , 200 HISTORY OF CANADA. time, therefore, these prelates came to regard Canada as an outlying por- tion of their diocese. Fortuitous circumstances, operating concurrently, induced Cardinal Richelieu to placf the colony, in a civil sense, under the jurisdiction of the supreme court of the same province, by causing the parliament of Rouen, in 1626, to register the letters patent establish- ing the Company of the Hundred Partners. The episcopal supervision of Canada, tacitly assented to as a kind of prescriptive right vesting in the chief prelate of Normandy, was never formally recognized ; and was even disowned by its clergy refusing to receive M. de Queylus as vicar- general, when accredited by that metropolitan. It appeared, in fact, that two other French prelates, the bishops of Nantes and La Rochelle, equally laid claim to New France as forming part of their respective dioceses, but despite the support that M. de Queylus, received from the parliament ol Rouen, — which began to be apprehensive that its civil jurisdiction sbould be called in question, — M. de Laval was allowed to start for Canada, and on his arrival was admitted to exercise episcopal functions. M. de Queylus, who had succeeded, meanwhile, finding acceptance at Quebec as grand-vicar, and who had applied in vain for the mitre obtained by M. de Laval, refused to recognize the latter as his spiritual superior. He conceived that he had all the more right to the new prelacy, as he had now founded the seminary of St. Sulpitius of Montreal, a dependency [succursale) of the famous college of the same name in Paris.* The king issued an injunction that M. de Laval should be recognised ; and as M, de Queylus still remained recalcitrant, a sealed writ was taken out, recalling him. This not having the desired effect, he was interdicted from exercising his clerical functions. All oppositions having been overcome, the Canadian church establishment passed from the hands of the Jesuits into those of the secular priesthood in 1 659. The bishop organised his clergy as we have seen, and made provision for those parishes and mis- sions in which pastors were needed. The parochial charges (cures) were as yet too poorly sustained by the country, to be able to exist without extraneous aid, and the king had to lend them his support for several years. When M. de Laval went to France to complain against Baron d' Avaugour, he obtained permission to found a seminary in Quebec for the reception of youths in training for * The Dictionnaire des Dates seems to indicate that the Montreal Seminary owes its origin to the founder of the Company of Sulpitians (in 1641), Jean- Jacques Olier (nat. 1608, ob. 1657). "II cr6a," says the above authority, "au Canada et en France plusiers s^minaires des Sulpiciens." " In 1647, the Sul- picians of Paris acquired, by purchase, all the proprietary rights of the first possessors of the island of Montreal." M. Ribaud. — B. ECCLESIASTICAL aOVBRNMENT OP CANADA. 201 iemmary I), Jean- ity, " au the Sul- the first the ministry; with right of appropriation of tithes, levied on all the in- habitants, for its support. This impost was to affect all kinds of produce or realised means, " whether born of the labor of man, or what the soil produces of itself :" the heads of the episcopal seminary, in return, under- taking to pay the stipends of the parish clergy ; conditioned, however, that the incumbents (cur^s) should be removable at discretion by the seminarists and the biihops conjointly. The rate of tithing was fixed at a l-13th valuation, — an exorbitant tax, which, exciting general opposi- tion, was modified after four years' infliction. The sovereign council, in 1667, took upon itself the duty of reducing it to the l-26th, and to sus- pend its operation entirely for six years on lands newly cleared. This modification, which was sanctioned by the edict of 1679, has been adopted as the basis of our jurisprudence upon this matter ever since. M. Je Laval had no selfish motives, of a gross character, for demand- ing at first so heavy a contribution, as he sacrificed all his personal means for the sustentation of his clergy ; but he over-estimated the disposable resources of the inhabitants, and did not consider the crippling effect of an impost which would have swept away a thirteenth part of every pro- duct of the earth, or eight per cent, of the income of the cultivator. The RecoUets — whom an occult cause had prevented from returning to Canada before 1669, though their services were desired by the people, sanctioned in an ordinance by the pope, and approved by the " congrega- tion for the propagation of the faith," in 1635 — these members of the Franciscan confraternity, we say, coming forward when public discontent at the tithing system was ripe, offered to undertake the cure of souls with- out any extorted remuneration for their services. This liberality did but augment the alien feeling of the secular clergy for those zealous men, whose general regard for laic interests, in other respects, doubtless helped to discredit them in the eyes of the bishop and a majority of his clei^. The advantageous proffer appears to have been flatly, perhaps contume- liously rejected. Yet worse, M. de St. Vallier (afterwards bishop of Quebec), by way of ending a controversy that he had with the RecoUets of Montreal, issued a presentment (mandement) against them, and put their church under an interdict. In right of the royal sanction for the foundation of a seminary at Que- bec, the bishop continued to confer the jjarochial charges on his priests, whom he transferred or superseded at will.* His arbitrary manner of • Mimoires sur M. de Laval. This prelate ruled, that the clergy of his diocese should be directly under the superior of the ijeminary ; who, in turn, was res- pousible to himself. He continued to the parisli charges {cum) the name of " missions." ^ 202 HISTORY OF CANADA. governing the diocese at length excited the jealousy of the civil authori- ties, and the dislike of the inhabitants in general. Such of the latter and their spiritual directors as were native-born French, had brought with them into Canada, recollections of the privileges and liberties they once enjoyed in the mother country ; and in accordance with a principle recofr- nised in all nations having distant dependencies, thought they had a right to expect, after their expatriation, they should continue to enjoy the like advantages in their new homes. Their written complaints reached Paris at an auspicious moment for being attended to with respect, namely, when the French clergy were combating the pretensions of the papal court, and Bossuet was laying down bases for a renovation of the liberties of the Galilean Church.* At the demand of these suppliants, Louis XIV ordained that the curacies should be irrevocable in future ; and, more important still, by a royal edict dated May 1679, it was decreed that the reduced rate of tithing, as modified by the sovereign council, should be maintained ; also that all tithes leviable in future, as well as oblations and other church casualties, should belong to the parish priests ; and where these were found not sufficient for their support, then the seigniors and other resident parishioners were ordered to make good the deficiency.f In 1678, twenty-five perpetual curacies had been already filled with incumbents. • The " Eagle of Meaux " assumed as a postulate, that " the pope has authority in spiritual things only ; and that evec as to these, the judgments of general councils are paramount to his : while papal decisions hare the character of infallibilitT only after the [collective] church has accepted them." — B, t We quote the words of the decree textually : — " Nous ayant ^t^ rapport^, que divers seigneurs et habitants de notre pays de la Nouvelle-Prance, d^siraient avoir des cur^s fixes pour leur administrer les sacrements, au lieu de pr^tres et cur^s amovibles qu'ils avaient eu auparavant, nous aurions donn^ nos ordres et expliqu6 nos intentions sur ce sujet les ann^es dernieres, et 4tant n^cessaire a present de pourvoir ii leur subsistance et aux btltiments des ^glises et paroisses .... nous ordonnons ce qui suit : "Les dimes, outre les oblations et les droits de TEglise, appartlendront entierement a chacun des curds, dans I'dtendue de la paroisse ou il est, et ou il sera dtabli perpdtuel, au lieu du prStre amovible qui la dessc^rvait auparavant. "Le reglement du conseil souverain au sujet de la quotit6 des dimes est confirm^. " Si cette dime ne suffit pas pour I'entretien du curd, le seigneur et les habi- tants fourniront ce qui manquera. " Enfin, dans les cas de subdivision de paroisses, les dimes de la portion dis- traite appartlendront au uouveau curd, sans que I'ancien puisse prdtendre de d^dommagement." ECCLESIASTICAL GOVERNMENT OF CANADA. 203 These orders from the court being positive, were not lightly to be gain- said. The bishop, aware of this, and putting the best face he could upon the matter, agreed to a settlement made by the governor, the intendant, and chief inhabitants, that a yearly payment of 574 livres should be made to each parish priest. In 1680, the king, by special decree, ratified this arrangement, which would have given the recipients, on an average, more than the tithes could have yielded them. But in a public meeting convoked at Quebec, the governor and intendant being present, the sei- moT9 and inhabitants declared that they could not give, for the support of the clergy, more than l-26th of their yearly avails ; and if that did not reach the required amount, they trusted his Majesty would supply the remainder. This begrudging spirit in reference to the pecuniary commutation, so acceptable as it seemed to be at first, made the new tithing law difficult of execution ; an untoward result, yet more agreeable than otherwise to the bishop and his party. On the other hand, M. de St. Vallier was favorable to the irrevocability of the parish charges, as a part of the new arrangement, which made him be looked on with an evil eye by the semi- narists. M. de Laval desired, that, for the easier sustentation of the secular clergy,* and to spiritualize its members more perfectly, it would be advisable to form all churchmen into a single corps, and put it under the authority of the bishop and the guidance of the seminarists. The directory of their institution had been united, in 1676, to that of the Foreign Missions located at Paris, in terms of a royal order^ confirmed by the pope. The body thus accredited, M. de Laval intended should play a leading part in his scheme of church government were it to be realised. That great establishment had been well endowed with lands, bought for its use in the country. Five years after its foundation, M. de Laval founded a minor establishment of a kindred character, intended for students fitting themselves as entrants to the theological classes of the greater institution. The " Little Seminary," which still bears his name, has rendered eminent service to the literature of Canada since the extinction of the olden college of the Jesuits. More than 300 pupils, at the present time, receive a classical education in this valuable academy. * It may not be quite supererogatory to intimate here, that the epithet secular used above and often elsewhere, is the verbal antithesis of the counter-epithet re^ar. The " regular clergy " are the collective orders of religieux, or church- men bound by monastic rules, whether cloistered or not. By the "secular clergy " is meant the catholic priesthood in general, its prelates, &c., included. -JJ. JH 204 HISTORY OF CANADA. After returning to Canada in 1688, as its bishop, M. de Saint Vallier domiciled in the episcopal palace, instead of taking up his quarters, as his predecessor had done, in the seminary of the city. This change gave umbrage to the seminarists, which was not lessened when, soon afterwards he desired to isolate their establishment, by disconnecting it administra- tively both from the cathedral chapter and the parish of Quebec. Open dissension ensuing between the parties, the seminarists setting the bishop down for a restless and passionate man, their director made a formal com- plaint to the archbishop of Paris and the Jesuit PdreLachaise, at that time royal confessor, they twain being the usual arbiters then referred to in Canadian church perplexities ; one of the incriminating articles in the seminarist libel attributing to the bishop's arbitrary and violent tempera recent interdiction of three of his clergy, of which we shall speak anon. In fine, the seminarists prayed that he might be recalled. This was acceded to, and M. de Saint V-allier repaired to Paris. He returned to Canada in 1692, to be recalled again in 1694. It was about the time he first resided in Paris, that the royal decree of 1682 was rendered. This was founded on the Conclusions of the Archbishop of Paris and P^re Lachaise, and ruled that the Canadian hierarchy should conform to the royal declaration of 1686, which prohibited all nominations to revocable curacies. At length, after several conferences, the erection of the bish- opric of Quebec, and the reunion of the curacy with the seminary of that city, were confirmed by Louis XIV in the year 1697. In 1716, the bishop, possibly conceiving that altered times in France might be more favorable for realising views which he had long been con- strained to postpone, set about putting the church government of Canada on the same footing as that of France, where the subordination of the clergy and seminarist administrations to prelates was better understood and more practised; M. de Saint Vallier complained that the seminary did not train a sufficient number of young clerics for the wants of the colony ; although eighteen Canadians had been inducted to ecclesiastical charges during the previous five years. The directors of the seminary, on their part, accused their detractor of wishing to elude the ordinance making curacies perpetual, by proposing to entrust the Reoollets with all parochial duties. The vexed question of the extent of Gallican Church liberties having been once more mooted about this time, and a decision waited for, the attention of the home authorities was little turned to Canadian ecclesiastical affairs ; and thus it was that some infraction of the edicts of the former reign decreeing the irrevocability of the parish priests passed unrebuked, and by degrees these charges became revocable ECCLESIASTICAL GOVERNMENT OF CANADA. 205 as before : although the clergy continued to recognise, in theory at least, the edict of 1692 as still good in law. Ever since the Conquest, the rule of revocability for the parish clergy of Canada has become general, with the tacit consent both of the dis- placed individuals and their parishioners. To elude the prohibitory terms of the edict of Louis XIV, the bishops reserve to themselves, in every letter of nomination to a parochial benefice, the right of removing the priest whom they have selected to fill it. The charge being accepted after such a stipulation, the contracting parties would seem not to be chargeable with a violation of a positive law ; but it is one which our hierarchy would find become vital still, should the inhabitants of a vacant parish choose to demand its application in any given case. The chapter of the cathedral of Quebec ceased to exist shortly after British domination began. As an episcopal body, it was composed of a dean, a grand chanter, an archdeacon, a theologist, a grand penitentiary, and twelve canons.* The members of the chapter of Quebec were not elected to their oflOices, as they were in France ; for the king presented to the two leading charges, while the bishop nominated the rest of the corps. Since cathedral chapters have ceased to exist among us, the bishop administers his diocese without any gtaiF of that kind about him ; and, by means of the revocability of the parish priests, he governs with absolute sway : but the virtues and prudence which have hitherto distin- guished our Canadian prelates, have prevented their making any improper use of such unlimited authority. While thus treating of the constitution of church government in Canada, we are naturally induced to take some notice of the modes of its influence upon the religious institutions placed under the supervision of its chiefs. Christian charity, and a love for letters, have led to the foundation of all the great establishments in our midst, for public instruction and the succour or solace of suflfering and decaying humanity. As we have already seen, the college of Quebec was erected by M. Kohaut, a Jesuit ; the Hotel-Dieu (curative hospital), by the duchess d'Aiguillon, niece of Cardinal Richelieu, which lady sent nursing nuns (hospitalieres) for the * Grand-chantre, he who led in chanting or singing certain parts of the Catholic church service. Theologal, the canon who teaches theology. Grand pinitentier, a canOn employed by the bishop to grant or withhold absolution in reserved cases. The hierarchal duties of the other heads of the chapter enumer- ated above, are nearly similar to those of kindred title and rank in the Anglican establishment.— £. 206 HISTORY OF CANADA. c service of the house, in 1637, the Hotel-Dieu of Montreal was erected by Madame de Bullion and Mademoiselle Mance ; its Ursuline convent in that city was due to Madame de la Peltrie. The general hospital of Quebec, established in 1693, by M. de Saint Vallier, replaced the board of relief in that city, opened four years before, at a time when public begging was first prohibited ; and the " Congregation of Notre-Dame " was founded by Sister Bourgeois, a native of Troyes, for the education of girls of humble rank. Sister Bourgeois was a poor nun, of no worldly influence. Having once visited Canada and left it, she returned thither in 1659, and began to found that establishment, now so flourishing. It is said that she possessed only ten francs when she commenced her enter- prise ; but her zeal and devotedness soon brought to her aid in the good work some rich persons in the colony and many more in France, to which she made several voyages for contributions. The Congregation has at present, both in town and country, extensive female schools : the great utility of which is so manifest, that it is to be regretted we have no similar foundation for educating the mrJe children of the deserving poor ; the care of whose schooling was left to the clergy, the only qualified educators, indeed, along with the male religieux, in this country, through- out the era of French domination. As for the successive civil adminis- trations of those days, they paid no attention whatever to that subject, in itself so important. In 1714, there were 75 students in Quebec Seminary. In 1728, the Jesuits asked permission to found a college at Montreal, and the Fr^es Charon, of Montreal, proposed to employ schoolmasters in all the parishes, as in France. In 1737, the brotherhood of the church schools, who undertook, along with the Charon Friars, and a few scattered rural teachers, the task of popular instruction, formed themselves into an educational corps, the members of which followed one system and wore the same distinctive garb. But despite the efforts of the Jesuits and the Charon Friars, the civil authorities always considered the enlightenment of the people as more perilous than desirable for the state ; and Canada was yet more exposed to the baneful operation of such a prejudice, as it lacked the endowment of parish schools, while (a standing reproach to the colonial race of New France) there 'was not a printing-press within its bounds, till one was set up, in 1764,* fully a century-and-half aft«r the date of the colony's foundation ! • This refers to the publication of the "Quebec Gazette," printed partly in French, partly in English, by Messrs. Browu & Gilmour, the earliest typographers known to Canada. — B. Scho and ne colony, Quebec more, the relif might ECCLESIASTICAL GOVERNMENT OF CANADA. 207 #' Scholastic opportuDities for the colonists, in fine, were miserably scanty, and necessarily to be had only amidst the urban communities of the colony, wherein they were, in fact, furnished only by the seminaries of Quebec and Montreal, which had some elementary classes ; with a few more, served by the RecoUets and Charon Friars. The Jesuits, of all the religious orders being that most famed for its success in teaching, rni^ht have been expected to gain increased credit from taking the lead in the duty of instructing its proselytes in Canada ; but it appears that it8 members never had considerable public classes in any part thereof The inhabitants, content with such a measure of knowledge as was indis- pensable to enable them to run the routine of working-day life, thought they had no school-time left, they or their children, after tilling the ground, plying some handicraft, and, upon occasion, defending their persons, houses, and goods, when the Indians made their murdering or predatory incursions ; while the government, on its part, looked, before all things else, tor perfect submission from its subjects, caring not to strive at ameliorating, in any way, a state of things which renders men least exacting, quite unambitious, and consequently easy to rule. The mother country, however, suffered in the end for this culpable and impolitic neglect of her greatest colonial dependency ; as, had the Gallo-Canadians, instead of being habituated to war, the chase, and a roving life, been encouraged to addict themselves to agriculture, to commerce, and the useful arts, the prosperity thence arising would have attracted increased immigration; and when the fitful border hostilities of previous years ripened into open war in 1755, thd colonists would have been found rich in resources, and competent to hold their own against any amount of force likely to be brought against them.* Ecclesiastical organization in the colony of the time of Louis XIV was maintained in Canada, with little mutation in form or spirit, even in times succeeding that of the Conquest. Although the Canadian church held directly from the papal see, its prelates, and a part of its parish • Probably never was a struggle for empire in an extensive country carried on with such small means, as those at the disposition of the heroic few who tried to preserve Canada for France, during six eventful years ; and certainly never was so great a territorial acquisition gained with so small an amount of military force, or in so short a space of time, as that led to victory by General Wolfe, His army, which never much exceeded 8,000 men, was further reduced, by antagonistic sword and bullet work, and by guards left at outposts, to hardly 1,000 men in the field. This small band may be said, by its success on the plains of Abraham, Sept. 13, 1759, to have virtually gained Canada for Britain in the first half of onb day.— .B. .«*. 208 HISTORY OF CANADA* ministere, were selected from the clergy of France. It needs ncit u mention that the latter body, in other respects so illustrious, havint: an eminent secular as well as spiritual status in the mother country^ v-iniid inevitably, as indeed it did, take an active part in all the political revolu tions that have agitated the ancient race from which we are descended Faithful to their country's traditions, therefore, those members of th( French clergy, who were sent to Canada, strove to distinguish themselves in a kindred way as leading colonists of New France. They did \m foresee, in thus giving to the ardent Gaulish temperament, operatini: uw such elements as those of an American community, that their conduct ni aflfairs could not be prolonged beyond a certain term, — a term which tli( advent of British domination was destined to precipitate. The dissensions which arose in our mother country, from time to time regarding the franchises of the Galilean church, little interested th( minds of the scattered populations on the banks of the St. Lawrence The right principle of that vexed question, as understood by tliem through the practice of their authorised guides, sufficed all the Canadians among whom not even the shadow of any heresy ever seemed likely to darken the firmament of their religious faith. Nevertheless Jansenism with its rigid dialectics, for a moment penetrated New France, and brought into question certnm pre-established dogmata. At first, soni( theological books, infected with the doctrines of Pascal and Arnault were clandestinely brought from France ; presently a few adepts glided into the colony, having baffled the vigilance of the orthodox clergy. M Varlet, titular of Babylon, and deposed Archbishop of Utrecht, whik passing through Canada on his way to the Mississippi, left behind Inn; proselytes to the Jansenian heresy. M. de Villermaule, M. Thibaut parish priest, and M. Glandelet, dean of the chapter, began to be of the same mind as the author of the Lettres Provinciales. In 1714 a religieux of an order not ascertained, landed at Quebec, expressing the intention of erecting a hermitage in which to pass the rest of his days. Althougl) there was an air of mystery about his proceedings, he was allowed to choose a retired spot in the forests of Kamouraska, where he set up ii small cabin, formed of the branches of trees. Carefully concealing his- name and peculiar religious faith, he led the life of a recluse ; and carried his external humility so far as to kneel before any chance wayfarers whnin he met, and kissed their feet, uttering pious-sounding words the while. But a six months' winter, with snow four feet deep on the ground, will always put serious obstacles in the way of an intending anchorite who takes to regions near Quebec. Accordingly, the unknown, under the ECCLESIASTICAL GOVERNMENT OF CANADA. 209 pretext that his cabin had been accidentally consumed, returned to that city, where the hospitalities ready to be extended to him doubtless made his residence agreeable to him. He also was obtaining introductions for himself among the chief families of the place ; when a letter from Europe, addressed to the governor, unveiled the hidden antecedents of the stranger. He turned out to be Don George Franyois Paulet, a Benedictine monk, whose mind had been corrupted by the pernicious maxims of the Jansen- ists, and who, after absenting himself without leave, had been advertised for in vain by the superior of his monastery. From this moment, all doors were closed against him. It was to no purpose that the clergy of the diocese tried to persuade him to submit to the constitution Unigenitus. Firm in his beliefs, as if he had been the great Arnault himself, or Father Quesnel, whose disciple he was, he would retract nothing. The bishop was, therefore, obliged to excommunicate him, and procure his banishment from Canada, as a heretic* • Histoire de PHotel-Dieu (of Quebec). Mimoires de la Vie de M. Laval. Gazette d'Jmsterdamdu 14 avril 1719. [The epithet great, properly affixed above with whatever meaning by the author, to the name of the wise and good Arnault, will be taken in its rightful sense by all sincere Protestant readers at least. For such of them as are not well acquainted with the theological dissi- dences in the Galilean Church, commencing about the middle of the 17th century, it may be mentioned that the doctrines of " Jansenism," denounced as above, were chiefly derived from a treatise intituled " Augustinus," being an exposition of certain doctrines propounded in the works of St. Augustin, as interpreted by Jansens (latinized Jansenius) bishop of Ypres in Holland. Janseuism was after all, in substance, a reproduction of much of the theology to be found in the Institutes of Calvin ; and the Jansenists were called, by some Efitish writers, the " Protestants of Romanism." Jansenism having found much acceptance among the more independent-minded or speculative members of the several Catholic communities in Europe, but especially those of the French tiieologians and their adherents who were firmest in maintaining liberties reluctantly accorded to the Gallican church, including the truly great and pious Pascal, author of the immortal work just named by M. Garneau ; a redoubtable pbalan:, we say, of the most eminent men in the established church of France had openly or covertly adopted Jansenian sentiments, when a bull, known as the " Unigenitus " from its commencing vocable, was launched as a thunderbolt, in the year 1653, by Innoceat X, and intended to crush Jansenism for ever, at one blow. In this indignant and minatory document, drawn up in no temperate terms nor with any spirit of conciliation, sundry propositions, culled from the tinns, were denounced, not merely as heretical, but as " impious " and liemous." A great controversy ensued, obstinate on one side perhaps, and certainly bitter on the other. At times, it seemed likely to split the Oallicaa church in twain, and, during a century at least, affected the otherwise even tenor of the religious annals of France.]— .0. 210 HISTORY OF CANADA. " Amid the factious diaputings about Calvinism and the quarrels of Jansenism," says Voltaire, " there was yet one more division arose in France, known as ' Quietism.' It was an untoward result of the projrreps of the human mind in the time of this monarch, that efforts were made, in all things, to overpass those bounds which Providence has prescribed for man's inquiries ; or rather, such vain aspirings proved that sufficient progress had not been made in the paths of true knowledge."* The sect of " Quietists," as they were called, originated in the adop- tion, by its members, of the spiritual day-dreams of Madame Guyon. Without going all lengths into the beliefs of that visionary, the illustrious Fdndlon was seduced into sympathy with her mystic notions of reliirion, It appears that there were several declared Quietists, for a time [ewv] in Canada. It was asserted that Mme. d'Ailleboust, wife of the governor of that name, had vowed her body to Jesus Christ during her girllinod, under the inspiration of an inward heavenly love, and that, although slie had married, she preserved to the end of life her virginal purity ; bocrnne a widow, and again sought in marriage by a succeeding governor (M. de Courcelles), and also by M. Talon, royal intendnnt, she, like Mme. Guyon, refused all such offers. This lady, who was very rich, divided her wealth between the General Hospital and the Hotel-Dieu of Quebec, where she died most edifyingly ; " being filled," to adopt the language of her Quietist friends, " with the spirit of prophecy, the gift of tears, discern- ment of the unseen world, and many other heavenly favors." The time of the earthquakings in 1663 was a halcyon period of Canadian Quietism. The phenomena then occurring called into active play the exalted imaginations of its votaries; giving rise to accounts of numerous apparitions of a terribly startling character. Prophecies of coming judgments, to be manifested in the land, were also rife during those months of excitement. The lady superintendent of the Hotel-Dieu of Quebec, and the celebrated " Mary-of-the-Incarnation, " chief of the Ursulines Convent, in the same city, evinced strange manifestations, in their own persons, of the spiritual delirium that possessed some devotional minds, These distinguished exemplars of the Quletistic mania gave it a credit in Canada which it could not else have had ; and such pious chimeras con- tinued, for some years, to possess other persons of a romantic turn of mind, among the female colonists. The clergy, meanwhile, viewed with respectful reserve those phenomena ; not caring either to commend or to blame demonstrations born of feelings of genuine if misapprehending piety. • Siick de Louis XIV. BOOK THE FOURTH. CHAPTER I. STRUGGLES BETWEEN STATE AND CUURCU.-1663-1682. The Dovoroign council ; divisione reapocting tho Byndicato.— M. de M6ay guRponds tho oppo* tiition councillorii.— Strango means ho propoBes for replacing them.— Nuniiuation of tho new mcmlxirB.— M. do Villoray carries complaintB to France againHt tho govoruor.— Tho lattcrKuporHcdod ; hiB death.— M. de CourcolloB named as his guccoBBor.— Arrival of M. do Tracy, a8 viceroy for M. do CourcolloB, and M. Talon, lirBt inteudant.— Arrival oi a groat number of immigrantB, with men of Carignan'H regiment.— Free trade granted to tho col- ony, with certain reBervea.— War against tho Iroquoia, who are forced to sue for puaco. — M. do Tracy returna to France.— Abortive attempt to Fronohiiy tho aavagea.— Tho inton> dant proiiofcs to put rcatraintB on tho clergy.— Labors and usofulness of M. I'alou for agricultural and trading advancement.— Disbanding of tho Carignan regiment on con- ditionB.— Talon goes to Franco.- The governor appoasoB tho irritated Iroquois, and secures the colonial peltry trade.— Frightful mortality among these savages.— Talon, returned to Canada, opens up a vast plan for extending New France to tho far south-west.— Treaty of 8ault Sainte-Mario; the western aborigines recognise French supremacy. — Foundation of Cataraiiui (Kingston).— Count do Frontonao replaces M. de CourcolloB : chaructor of tho former.— Numerous administrative ordinancoB passed.— Suppression of tho P'rench West India Company.— MisundorBtanding between M. do Frontenac and M. I'crrot, governor of Montreal ; the latter put in prison. —Forrot is backed by tho clergy.— Tho council takes up the case; tho king Anally appealed to. — M. Duchesneau replaces M. Talon.— His quarrels with M. de Laval about tlie liquor traffic— Dissensions between the governor and M. Duchesneau ; both recalled.- Rivalry between the clergy and civil fuuctiouarios.- Arrival of M. do la Barre, to replace M. do Frontonao. The opposition which Messrs. de Charny, de la Fert^, and d'Auteuil, made to the election of a " deacon of habitations," caused the governor to break with the bishop entirely. The opposition was sustained by M. de Villeray, the attorney general Bourdon, and a large majority of the council; wherein the governor had but two partisans, namely Messrs. d'Amours and Legardeur. The people, indeed, were generally on the governor's side, but they had no influence over the council ; therefore M. de M^sy had either to submit to his triumphant adversary, or to create a majority for himself by a forced recomposition of the sovereign council. He chose the latter alternative, and secluded all the partisans of the bishop from their places, under the double pretext that they had been arbitrarily chosen, and were in fact the prelate's creatures; and that thej had, in office, " willed to become absolute masters, and sacrificed the interests of king and people alike, to subserve those of certain favorites of their own." 212 IIISTORY OP CANADA. Wo have already scon that his majesty had empowered the governor and the bishop, for the time being, to nominate conjointly, every year. the members of council. This arrangement put each of these potential! ties on a level, so far ; by which, however, the present bishop hud beconn; the rival and the censor of the governor in the exercise of one of the most important royal prerogatives. Such a system of critical observation as that thus followed was sure to cause, as in fact it did, a hoHt of obstructions to the regular action of the government. M. do Mdsy, on his side, in suspending a majority of the councillors by his single authority, certainly violated the law ; it being plain, tliat if he could not rightfully place councillors by his own act, neither could he legally displace them. The bishop, indeed, was formally applied to for his previous assent to substitutions proposed to be arbitrarily made; and twice did ho flatly refuse to give it, as might have been expected. M. de Laval intimated, at tho same time, that ho was informed by M. Colbert that M. de Tracy was coming to Canada in tho following year, and that he could say nothing positive in tho matter till his arrival. Delay scenij to have been oven less to the governor's taste than denial : for he at once published his ordinance of interdiction, by beat of drum in the public streets, and replaced the vacant seats with now occupants ; using a means to oiFect the change which must have appeared strange on account of the constitution of tho government, but which showed that M. de Mesy strongly desired to obtain the countenance of the people for his actiou in the case. Ho proposed to convoke a public meeting of the inhabitants, and leave to them tho choice of the new councillors. His intent also was, by the manner of his present recurrence to a popular election, to intimate that he had boon led unwittingly, by want of personal experi- ence of the colony into an improper choice of parties in the first instance, and that he wished it to be rectified by the citizens themselves. But the proposed assembly was never holden, as the bishop interposed, and found effective means to stop tho proceeding ; he entering a protest, with cause assigned against it, in tho council register.^ Matters were left in abeyance till tho regular day of election of coun- cillors for the year came round. Then the governor, after calling on the * " Monseigneur the bishop objects to the nomination of a procurator>generaI and of the councillors in place of those the governor pretends to be interdicted. Monseigneur further observes, that neither his conscience nor his honor, nor bis fidelity to the royal authority, could permit him to approve of the functionaries of the said council being convicted of the crimes laid to their charge in the accusatory interdiction."— JSe^is/er of the Sovereign Council. » STRUGGLES BETWEEN STATE AND CIIURCH. 218 bishop, but in vain, to appear at the council board, replaced the Huspendcd members by Mcssra. Denis, do la Tesserie, and Pt'rone-D<5uiaz«'>. At the Hamo time he expelled the procurator-general, M. Bourdon, from his seat in council ; although that high functionary entered his protest against the right to displace him, as he occupied his seat ex officio. This was negatively inferrible, ho urged, from the act of creation, when prescribing the annual nomination of members, being silent altogether aa to the procurator-general. Tho governor then appointed M. Chartier do Lotbi- nii^re to fill the vacant scat. The chief registrar (M. Peuvret) was next superseded, and his place taken by M. Fillion, a notary. M. do Mesy further strained his authority by compelling Messrs. Bourdon and Villeray to embark for France. Thus was ended, for the present at least, the contestation which began, between governor and bishop, about the " deaconship of habitations." This quarrel and its results ncccssar' ,' made a great sensation in the community. The public, while blaming, he violenco and doubtfully legal action of M. do Mdsy, took part with him in tho matter, aa a whole, rather than with M. do Laval, whom the tithing question had made very unpopular. The clergy, making common cause with their chief, made the walls of their churches resound with partisan harangues and political disputations. The Jesuits, in particular, became very prominent in the unseemly controversy. They were reputed, in fact, to be at tho bottom of the whole quarrel. They brought charges against the governor, of being a violent tempered and avaricious man. Moved by these and other reproaches or insinuations, M. de Mdsy addressed some of his pulpit detractors personally, vindicating his good faith in performing his public duties, and plainly asking them in writing to define, conscientiously, what were really his alleged offences against king and country. Messrs. Chartier, de Repcntigny, and Charron, took the remonstratory missive to the supe- rior of the Jesuits, father J«5rome Lallemant, who answered, that " tho confessor was the sole judge of the governor's conscience, and that in (worldly) debatings it was not for men of the sacred profession to deter- mine who is right or who is wrong." By this time, M. de Villeray had reached Paris. The bishop and the ejected councillors, resolving to accuse the governor at court, had charged Villeray to present their accusations to the king in person. They were at once listened to, his Majesty being particularly dissatisfied with M. de Mdsy for having appealed to the inhabitants, and invited them to exercise free suffrage on a question of government. It was determined to make an example of tbis rash governor, as a warning to all others. ■A- 214 HISTORY OF CANADA. M. de Mdsy's recall had already been agreed on, and M. de Tracy selec- ted to be his successor. It was even resolved to send out orders to arrest the former, put him on his trial, and send him to France ; if only to satisfy royal justice, and secure the political quiet of the Canadians in all comin«' time. In the eyes of the latter, nevertheless, M. de Me the while, and massacred three officers, one of them a nephew of M. de Tracy. The negociation would have probably succeeded, nevertheless, but for a truculent boast of one of the Agniers chiefs, while sitting at dinner with the viceroy, that his was the hand which had killed the relative of his entertainer. This brutal avowal raised the indignation of all present ; and the viceroy, say- ing that he would effectually prevent the savage from doing any more murder, caused him to be seized on the instant, and strangled by the hangman. This summary execution, justifiable under the circumstances and well fitted to inspire fear in times coming of French power, had the untoward effect, for the moment, of breaking off a negociation hopefully commenced. ' While matters were in this critical state at head-quarters, M. de Cour- celles, unconscious of what was there going on, penetrated to the Agniers country, after an arduous march of 700 miles of forest field with snow, the governor leading on his men, shod with rackets, bearing a slung musket and knapsack on his back, like a common soldier. The Canadian militia, since so distinguished for bravery, for its patience under priva- tions and fatigues, but above all for its daring spirit of enterprise, — the citizen soldiery of Canada, we say, now began to appear with advantage in the field of war. They were commanded, upon the present occasion, by Messrs. La Valli6re, St. Denis, Giffard, and Le Gardeur, — all courage- ous men of good family. M. de Courcelles found all the hordes of the Agniers unoccupied by their owners. Most of the warriors, not expecting an invasion dur- ing mid-winter, had either gone a-hunting, or on an expedition against savages of other tribes ; while the women and children they left behind fled at first sight of the French, who otherwise found the country com- pletely deserted, and no victory could of course be gained where no enemy appeared : but the daringness of the present invasion of the Agniers country during the most rigorous season of the year, struck terror on be- coming known to all the Iroquois, and tended to their defeat in the following summer. 220 HISTOEY OF CANADA. The marquis ile Tracy, although now a sexagenarian, commanded tho expedition just iidicated. It was composed of 600 men of the Carignan regiment, with almost all the colonists capable of bearing arms (for there were 600 of them enrolled) and 100 savages. But its progress towards the scene of action was much impeded by streams to be crossed, and forest wilds to be traversed, before a foe could be reached. The provisions taken were soon exhausted ; and had not a tract of woodland yielding chesnuts fallen in the way of the troops, they would have had to disperse in search of individual subsistence. The Agniers had no mind, however, to face the French, half famished though the latter were, who now marched defyingly through their hordes. Having reached the last of these indeed, tho fleeing savages showed signs of 'making a stand against the invaders ; but as soon as battle was offered, the Iroquois took to flight again. The French found good store of maize and other provisions in their cabins and hiding-places near by. They took as much of these as they could conveniently carry, and burnt the rest, as well as the Indian dwellings. This heavy stroke abated the confidence of a barbaric people, which had been long victorious over all others. It was not long, therefore, be- fore they s0nt envoys to Quebec, to sue for peace. This was readily granted, as it was for the interest of the colonists that they should live on amicable terms with all the aborigines of the country. A treaty with the Iroquois was signed in 1666, which, subsisted for eighteen years ;* during which halcyon time, the most interesting explorations were made in the interior of the country. M. de Tracy returned to France in 1667, after putting the We^' India Company in possession of its reserved rights. On his arrival, Colbert entered into a conference with him on the feasibility of a project, often proposed at court, of francising the aborigines ; that is, of engaging the missionaries resident among them to impart the French language to their children, and to allure the parents into civilised modes of living. M. Talon, who had been charged with this office, made some attempts to • " In 1665, a party of French under Courcelles, marching into the Iroquois country, lost their way, and arrived in the greatest distress at Schenectady, where Gorlaer, a Dutchman of some consideration, had founded a colony. This mp •. " <. tjimple artifice, saved them from the Indians, who were met at that V'ii tr :-. Milfieient numbers to have destroyed their invaders. He gave them r ' ■. .' "jn;?, and sent them away. This circumstance was gratefully remem- ber^'ii by Coarcelles j and, in 1667,a treaty of peace was signed between the Five Nations aad the French, which lasted many years." F&oar'a Hut. of the U. States, p. 96, edit. 1838.— J3. STRUGGLES BET TEEN STATE AND CHURCH. 221 realize what was desiderated, but without success ; and now the great minister, at the recommendation of De Tracy, on whose sagacity he placed great reliance, gave up the plan as hopeless. Notwithstanding the reorganisation of the sovereign council, wherein were reinstalled all those members suspended by M. de M prompt thorn for the peltry their ooantrymen had been robbed of. reparation had the desired effect. Tlie governor had other affairs, at this time, to regulate witli tl,> friendly tribes ; his invariable policy being to keep them at peace with oacli other as well as with the colonists. Then he persuaded the Troquois ami Ottuouais, who were used to make hostile reward on each other's territories to live in harmony ; he also pacified the Tsonnonthouans and the Poutco- iiatamis, who, in the year 1G71, were on the point of going to war. JIupIi of his time was usefully spent in a similar way, so long as his adminis. tration lasted. Those among the Iroquois who had been christoned by the ruissionarics, and attended their ministrations, being exposed to annoyance from their pagan neighbors, asked and obtained leave to settle among the colonists ; and this was granted all the more readily as it wns thought, that, in time, these converts would become valuable auxiliaries in future wars against their idolatrous compatriots. They were located, first, at La Prairie de la Magdaleino, but afterwards transported to Siiulf 8t. Louis, where some few of their descendants may still bo found. The tiu\cs were indeed propitious for exerting a salutary infliioiice over the native populations. The prevalence of small-pox, of a virulent type was decimating their hordes, and bending their stern natures more readily to the will of those who wished to curb their predatory and war like propensities). In that season of mortality and mourninf' for tlieiii. the year 1G70, the above destructive malady annihilated entire tribes, in the uortliern regions of the Canadian wilderness. The Attikaiiie<>-ues. :i- a nation, ceased to exist. Tadousac, thitherto regularly frequented, as a seat of traffic in peltry, by from 1000 to 1200 natives, was for a time almost entirely deserted. Nor did the ravages of this plague among tin; aborigines soon cease. Some years afterwads, small-pox broke out in tlio horde of Sillery, and ended mortally for most, if not all its people. Fit- teen hundred persons, says Charlcvois, were smitten upon this occasion; "and not one of all these savages," he adds (exaggeratingly, of couraj, "escaped death therefrom." ]M. Talon diligently strove, the while, to realise a project he had formal ever since he had become intendant of the colony, and to which we Inive made incidental allusion already, — to bring the as yet imperfectly kriowii regions of the farther west under the supremacy of Franco ; with an after intent of extending French influence to the whole intcriiiediate expanse of the North American continent. The very conception 'I so great an enterprise, whether feasible or not, testified the patrioti«ui of an aspiring mind. Louis XIV, to whom Talon communicated iii- STRUGGLES BETWEEN STATE ANP CUUllCD. i(Ii'!is on tlio subject when last in Franco, listened to them with much interest; and, as a preliminary step, he offercil a handsome reward to the aJvi'iiturcr wlio should first traverse tlie continent and reach the north- eastern scahoard of the Pacific. Taklnj^ the welcome hint, M. Talon, fflieii lie returned to Quebec, engaged La Salle to follow a southern line ill the lake country, and M. do St. Lusson to take a north-westerly route of exploration, in hopes of attaining the desired end. ■\Yc have stated in a preceding chapter, that the various tribes of the irreat Algoncjuin family of aborigines occupied, along with the Hurons, a lar"-c part of the continent cast of the jMississippi, and that both these races wore partial to the French. This friendly feeling, in fact, was inviiluablo as a counterpoise to the opposite dispositions of other native races, and had been the efficient if not immediate means of maintain iiig the existing tranquillity enforced upon the latter. Talon, therefore, pro- fiting by the favorable dispositions of the Ilurons and the Algon(|uins, invited their chiefs to acknowledge the sovereignty of Louis XIV, and bring their people under the protection of his colonial subjects. The missionaries who already labored among them, and some of whom had gone far into the wilderness, were adjured to lend their aid in obtaining acceptance for this invitation. But a secular Intermediator, of skill and tact, was wanted to open the nogociation with the native chiefs, to bring about a sure realization of tlic project. Such a party was found in Nicholas Perrot, a travelling merchant in the western regions ; who was withal a man well skilled in the native tongues, and personally acceptable to the natives thoniselvcs. Provided with cn^dentials from the authorities, Perrot set forth, with the general direction to make as far and as complete an exploration of the regions of the further west as lie possibly could. Accordingly, he traversed a number of extensive countries, visiting many native hordes; but found it impracticable to advance ir^ tne desiderated direction, further than Chicago, at the wcste>-r sid n..J towards the lowercnd of lake Michigan. Here ho was rt;'"^iVed, among the Miamis, as the honored envoy of a great king. On hh iioi.iewiird route, he invited the heads of tribes he fell in with, to send dopuliiiS, iu spring following, to Suult Sainte Marie, at the foot of Lake Super or, — the usual place for general assemblings of the aborigines of the countries around the j.'reat lakes,— whither envoys would be sent fron» the colony to treat of matters of importance then to be subniitted for their consideration. A rende,'.- vous was promised, by all those to whom it was proposed. It was not, however, Lill late in May, 1G71, that M. de St. Lusson, charged wilh lull powers from the king, was able to keep Uie appointment thus mide. *jn 1 ai 230 HISTORY OF CANADA. vance, before monarchy itself; and the kings of all the dynastic races were ever jealous of the powers of the states-general, and convoked them only ia times of dire extremity. The notables were composed, to use the words of their chronicler of the 14th century, of " the prelates, barons, and persons of know- ledge then in Paris, and of certain notables," selected from the presidents of parliament (supreme tribunals), before whom parties had to state facts. Latter- ly, at least, all deputies to the assemblies of notables were nominted by the king in council, whereas those to the states-general were sent by electoral colleges of the three orders. Of the assemblies of notables — far less redoubtable to royalty — the first took place in 1380 ; the others, successively, in 1463, 1470, 1526, 1596, 1626-'7 and I78t (opening day, Feb. 13). This last assembly of the notables, after manifesting its impotency to cure the ailments of the state, ended by recommending a convocation of the states-general. The most remarkable assemblies of the latter were those of 1614' and 1T89. In that of 1614, the deputies of the third estate were very few ; and they were treated with open contempt by the nobles. The states-general which met at Versailles May 8, 1789, in a few days became the " national assembly of France." STRUGGLES BET'^^EEN STATE AND CHURCH. 235 appellation or recognition df an assembly of the collective orders of the inhabitants. And it will become desirable, after a while, and when the colony shall have become stronger than it is now, to suppress gradually the office of syndic, whose function it is to present requests in names of the inhabitants ; it being proper that each should apply for himself, and that no individual should ever speak for all others." Tho count de Frontenao found the colony at peace with the aborigines ; and this tranquillity continued for several years afterwards. The decla- ration of war against Holland, which the governor announced in his inauguratory discourse, little affected Canadian interests ; and as there were no other exterior relations of a disquieting character at the time, the new governor-general had full leisure to attend to the interior interestti of the colon}'. The administration of justice was the great object of his fir3t solicitudes; but in that particular he only followed the example recently set of law-reforming in France. Louis XIV, a skilful ruler, who had taken into his own hands all the hitherto divided powers of soverflflgnty, and who had crushed pontifical potency and protestant opposition alike, sought to compensate his usurpations by a more regular and enlightened system of jurisprudence. M. de Frontenac, acting upon the ministerial advice that had been given him, in the above important regard took the king for his exemplar; but, in effecting such ameliorations as had been acceptable, or safe to effect at least in France, he raised opposition and excited implacable enmity against himself in Canada. On the other hand, while his polity was violently assailed by many, it was zealously defended by others. His most redoutable opponents were the Jesuits, whom he strove at the outset to deprive of all their accustomed action upon the civil government. In an explanatory passage regarding that confraternity, of a letter sent to Colbert in 1672, he puts his case thus : " After all the pains taken to remove them from the direction of affairs, is it befitting that we should let them in at another door, after closing the first against them ? Besides, the Seminarists of Quebec, and the grand vioar of the chapter, are under tlieir guidance. These ecclesiastics doing all things by their order, the result is, that the Jesuits have virtually, if only indirectly, the entire management of spiritual government here ; >vuich, I need not tell you, is a machine potent enough to move or to obstruct every other." The oppositions and intrigues of the count's enemies however do not appear to have slackened his efforts to ameliorate the material interests of the colony, the leading interests of which he had carefully studied, and soon well understood. — After having obtained good assurance of the eon- f u '■■ 236 HISTORY OF CANADA. tinucd favorable dispositions of the natives, whom ho had the ait of attaching by his polity, he decided to signalise the commencement (if Iii:^ administration, following the example of his several preceding goviM'tior.-!. by a series of ordinances, which were called " rules of police" shiiiilv, but were measures of extended administrative operation. Ignoring;, for the time, the spirit of forwarded deprecations, from high quarters, of any movement, even the slightest, towards the establishment of pdjtular or municipal franchises in the colony, he had the liardihood to decree, in one of those ordinances, that three aldermen should be elected to office by a plurality of votes of the inhabitants, to exercise the functions of police magistrates in Quebec and to make vigilant observation for tlu; due execution of the laws generally. Three years afterwards, the colkctiv police rules were revised, and their operation extended to the nciulilior- ing savage tribes ; who were now rendered liable to be tried before the ordinary tribunals and subjected to French penality for grave criiniiKil offences. They were also justiciable, in like manner, for infractions of the law against trading with aliens, in any way. One of the reguliitini,' decrees ordained that the lieutenant-general (of police) should hold, twice a year, an " assembly of public polity," composed of the chief citizen.-, to confer on the best and readiest mei is for improving the co]oni:il interests in general ; and thus to supply a convenient opportunity for mutual enlightenment as to the actual state of agriculture, trade, and public works of the country. In 1674, the king, yielding at last to the often expressed wishes of the Canadians, totally suppressed the West India Company, which had not fulfilled any of its obligations ; the home government refunding to tlie shareholders the money they had paid. We learn, from the edict of revocation, that the total population of the French colonies, at its date, amounted to 45,000 souls ; and that their trade employed 100 sail of vessels, not reckoning those engaged in the cod and whale fisheries, the number of which was yet more considerable. — The king recommended at the same time to cultivate, in Canada, the grounds that lay nearest to the St. Lawrence, which great water-way presented the sole reliable means of communication with France. As the want of a tribunal of first resort for matters civil and criminal was much felt, that of the provostry was re-erected at Quebec, as already mentioned, in 1677. This improvement was followed, in 1678, by the introduction of the famous "royal ordinance of 1677, touching tlio administration of justice." That law, one of the greatest boiiefit:^ received under the auoieat regiino. was for Canadian civil process wliut STRUGGLES BETWEEN STATE AND CIIURCn. 237 flio criminal jurisprudonce of Britain since has been, Finally, in 1670 appeared the important edict regarding tithes and perpetual cura- cies ; ali^o an ordinance, no less salutary, for the personal liberty of the iiilr.ibitants; namely, that which forbade governors of subordinate locu- lilics to imprison any one at their own hands, — that right being restricted to the governor-general, the lieutenant-general civil, and the sovereign council. This measure had probably been suggested by \\hat had just taken place between M. do Frontenac and M, I'errot, governor of Blontreal. In 1673 and afterwards, these two personages had been in constant dissension. The cynical La Ilontan was used to say of Perrot, that he cleverly multiplied a yearly salary of 1000 crowns by fifty, through unofficial traffic with the Indians, liightly or wrongly, the governor-general was persuaded that M. Porrot observed neither the ordinances nor Lis iastructions, and sent a lieutenant of his body guard ordering him to amend his defaults. The messenger was ill received and even thrown into prison. Upon this outrage coming to his knowledge, the goverjior- g'.'neral called a special meeting of the sovereign council, to advise in the case, he regarding the conduct of Perrot as treasonable. It was now or- dained, that the sub-procurator-gcucral should draw up a criminal accusa- tion without delay, and send orders to Montreal to bring the governor to Quebec to answer it, — even by force if necessary. The la Her, alarmed at the turn affairs had taken, hastened to reply to the citation ; and having reached Quebec, hoping to evade the blow aimed at him, was ai'rested, and, without form of process, incarcerated in the castle of St. Louis, where he remained prisoner fully a year. Irritated, doubtless, at being thus arbitrarily treated, he declined to sue for pardon, set the governor-general at defiance, and denied his right, with or without the concurrence of the sovereign council, to try or to pass judgment upon him. This difficulty, grave enough before, became yet more complicated during the winter, through the part taken in it by some seminarists of St. Sulpitius of Montreal ; one of whom, the Abbd do Saliguac-Fenelon was parish priest of that city. This ecclesiastic, in his Easter-day sermoa next spring, severely blamed the conduct of the goveruor-geueral, which he denounced as violent and tyrannical. Not satisfied with thus deliver- ing himself of his dissatisfaction in spoken words, he drew up a remon- strance in writing against the count, and passed it round the city for signatures, in view of sending it to the king. This proceeding was treated as a species of 16se-majest^, by the governor-general and council. 238 HISTORY OP CANADA. The abbd was cited before the latter as an accused party ; and Rovcral other ecclesiastics were summoned, at the same time, to bear evidence against him. After several times making default, they did compear, but only to decline the council's lawful jurisdiction over clerics. They asserted, tliht whether as accused or witnesses, they could be cited only before the tribunal of their bishop. The abbd Fdnelon deported himself most arrogantly upon the occasion : claiming the right, possessed by ecclesias- tics in old France, of speaking, seated and covered, in presence of a secular council ; then, adding act to word, he stalked up to the council- board, and put on his hat in a defiant manner, as if to brave the count himself, in his presidential chair. The latter, after remarking upon this impropriety, caused an usher to lead Fdnelon into an anti-chamber, there to remain until it could be debated, in council, what next was to be done. It was soon decided, unanimously, that such unceremonial pretensions were unsustainable; and this the rather, that the abbd stood, not as equal or superior before the members of council, but as a culprit. Being brought into the council-room, and refusing to apologize, or answer further interrogations, he was forthwith put under arrest. Perrot still persisted with equal obstinacy, though on diflfering grounds, in denying the right of the governor-general to arrest or the council to try him. The first of his pleas in bar was reasonable enough ; others were plausible at least, and had due influence, at a later time, in bringing about an alteration of the law or usages of accusation and arrest. He urged, for instance, that being accused directly by the governor-general, who was his personal enemy, he must decline to trust his cause in the hands of a body presided by that enemy as judge ; that several of the councillors had an interest in superseding him (Perrot), the party now replacing him in "Montreal being a near relation of theirs, which suffi- ciently explained (he insinuated) their violent hostility to one who had done them no wrong. For these (and probably other) reasons, he challenged the competency of the governor-general by name, and all the other councillors indicated above, to try or to condemn him ; finally, he appealed, in advance, against any judgment they might pass against him, to the royal council of state. The abb6 Fdnelon adopted a similar line of defence ; and thus made common cause with Perrot, to whom clerical influence, now become general in his favor, was of great utility. The members of council, challenged as unfit to try the canse^ expressed a wish io be excused from attending. The governor-general justified his own presence, so strongly STRUGGLES BETWEEN STATE AND CHURCH. 239 excepted against, by declaring that he was no more interested in the process than the king himself, whose representative he was. The presidency of the council now raised many disputes. M. Duches- neau was chaiged, by his official instructions, to preside; and when absent, the oldest councillor w?s to replace him pro tern. Amidst the confusion then reigning in the council, — which the perplexed minutes of the council, still extant, plainly she w, — the governor and the intendant were requested to take neither of them the title of president, till the king could be referred to. This renunciation De Frontenao peremptorily refused to make. Discord increasing, the count set about intimidating those councillors who had become unconformable to his views. Messrs. d'Auteuil, de Viileray, and de Tilly, received orders to retire to their country-houses. These intemperate acts of the count drew upon him the censure of Colbert. It was his unfounded pretensions, the minister wrote, which caused the troubles of the preceding year, with respect to church ceremonials ; and the existing public discontent was mainly due, the minister alleged, to the abuse of his authority by exiling the procurator-general and two other councillors. The king, he added, was astounded at what had happened ; for no governor in France would have insisted on filling the double functions of both the governorship and the presidency of the council at once. The number of the members of council being now reduced below the quorum needed to form a court, it was necessary to nominate others, if the cause were to be proceeded with; and after several sittings, the remanent members, who were glad to avail themselves of any fair occasion to be rid of the business, recognised the legality of the causes of recusa- tion, and voted that the notes of the process, so far as it had gone, should be referred to the king, with a request that his Majesty would decide whether the presidency of council of right belonged to the governor- general. The year following Louis included a response, as to the latter moot point, in a declaration which regulated the rights of precedency. In terms of that royal missive, the first and second places in council were reserved for the governor-general and bishop ; to the intendant belonged the third place, and along therewith the presidency, — which, in fact, the latter had already b^an to fill without contestation, taking care, however, not to assume the title of president, in order to give no umbrage to the count. From this time M. de Laval, who long had discontinued atten- digiee, began to resume his seat at the council-board; for, whenever 240 HISTORY OF CANADA. di^isGnsion nrnsc between liiiu ami the cdUiit, liis policy was tu rccluiiu tliorcby tlie ri^'ht of substitution, by senJinj,', in his place, on occaHi'tn sonic trusty and vigilant ecclesiastic. As for .M. I'crrot and the abbe Fonelon, the govonior-ji;eueral .sout thcni, under duress, to ]*'rance. Upon their arrival ut Paris, tho I'urniLr was imprisoned in the Bastile, by way of example, and to viudicatt; the autliority of the king, defied in the person of his deputy ; wliilo the ubbc was inliibii(!d from ever visiting Canada, Perrot, notwithstaudiii;j|', suuu regained the royal favor; for it was not long before ho obtained periuifisiou to return, Louis sending on this billet to the count, in his behalf; • I'cnoi will wait on you ; he will make his excuses to you j which done, you. arc to treat liim according to the powera whicli I have accordcj him." Perrot was a nephew of Talon, one of the first valets-de-chambrc ol" the king, — a circumstance which accounts for the pardon ho so ruuJily obtained. Scarcely had matters been arrungisd as we have just seen, when troublus of a yet more serious nature arose; which ended in the recall u' M. do Fronteiuic and the intendant, as will presently appear. A spirit I'f quar- relsomeness, un forbearance, and rancour now seemed *o possess evcrj high functionary in the colony."'' In 1G80, the choleric Perrot, once more engaged in the peltry traffic, dealt a fur dealer who oflcnded him a blow, He was cited to answer for this outrtige Ijcfore the governor and iutouJaiit, who reported the affair to the king. His Majesty replied persouull} to 3)c Frontenac: " Cease to vex yourself with those miserable tiuublo!>, whicb you have yourself too easily allowed to gather about your aJuiiuis- tration. Estimate the nature of the high functions which I have put in your charge, and think not lightly of the credit you enjoy by represeiitiug iny person ; an honor which, of itself, should lift you far above potty considerations, and ought to enable you to bear with complacency luaiiy little oppositions from parties entirely obedient, in more important respects, to your will. The great point of general subjection once establisliuJ, us it is, with you, it is befitting to rule with moderation, and learn to wink at shortcomings of small consequence, in order to attain to that result which ought to be your chief, nay, your only aim : namely, the augmou- tation of the strength and of the general well-being cf the colony ; the attractions of which to immigrants are chiefly dependent on the protec- tion and the kind treatment its present inhabitants may report that they receive at your hands. You must be aware that these maxims of • The usual and also the natural result of a forced conciliation of clasiiing interests and pretensions, by the strong haud of authority. — B. STRUGOLES BETWEEN STATE AND CHURCH. S41 goTernment differ greatly from those you have followed lately, while driving away some of the chief inhabitants, and constraining many others, from personal discontent at governmental acts, to return to FranM. It is indispensable that no undue preference or passionate dislike should be manifested for or against any one." These severe reprimands, addressed to the governor-general by the king, -evidently pointing at the dissensions between him, the council, the clergy, tV ^ <*>tendant, and private individuals,— had very little effect upon his conduct uquor traffic, which all now exercised who thought fit, was a subject ever agitated, more or less, so long as the administration of M. dc Courcelles lasted. The latter, and M. Talon, were not opposed to it, if limited to supplying the colonists only ; and that intendant had even obtain- ed a letter from the minister which sanctioned the trade to that extent. But the bishop had never abated one jot of his opposition to it in any shape; and discontinued not to denounce it in his pastoral charges, or ceased issuing his threatened excommunications against those who con- tinued to deal in ardent spirits ; occasionally making complaints, also, to the count of the qualified count^cnanco the dealers received from the civil authorities. Latterly, M. Duchesneau, becoming more embroiled with the count, sustained the representations of the bishop and clergy on the subject. The I who had got the start of Laval in representations at head- quarters, iwvimated that the bishop's complaints were ill founded ; that the liquor traffic, kept withiu due bounds, was necessary as a means of attaching the aborigines to French interests : finally, that the horror the ecclesiastics expressed against it was not always genuine, "and was a mere pretext with some, to be used as a handle to persecute those who opposed their own domination, in order to drive the latter from office. " This allusion referred to governors already recalled^and to the count's own position, which he judged to be in jeopardy through priestly influences. Colbert, utterly tired at last of the mutual accusations and recriminations of the parties, lay and clerical, on the subject, concluded to settle the footing upon which it should be put, by direct authority of the king. As a preliminary step, he directed M. de Frontenac to cause twenty of the chief colonists to meet and give him their opinion oa the liquor traffic, its particular tendencies, and its effects on the gener J well-being of the country. Accordingly the assembly was holden; and the parties convoked having expressed opinions favorable to the traffic, as it then existed, a report to that effect was drawn up, and transmitted to Paris. M. de Laval, who had set his heart upon abolishing the liquor traffic, went to 242 HISTORY OF CANADA. France for that purpose, in 1678, being ir. hopes of arresting any legislation vhich might be founded upon the reports sanctioning the sale of spirits. According to Charlevoix, the king referred the matter to the archbishop of Paris and P^re Lachaise, to pass a definitive judgment thereupon. He says these referees, after a conference with the bishop of Quebec, declared that the sale of brandy ought to be prohibited, under severe penalties among the native tribes ; and that an ordinance to that effect was pro- mulgated. But if we may trust the author of " Memoirs of M. de Laval," the court, desirous of terminating the struggle between the civil and ecclesiastical authorities of Canada, gave the bishop a very cold recep- tion ; the same author asserting, that the bishop, after two years' solicitations was obliged to return without having sped in his errand. The fact seems to be, that Laval had a part of his demand complied with, and that such an inhibition as Charlevoix speaks of really was issued. But a compro- mise of this kind would be regarded by the bishop and his partisans as a defeat rather than as a triumph. Add to all this, that the king, with his accustomed finesse, observing that the bishop set up independent preten- sions trenching ot the royal prerogative, In the year 1677 charged Duches- neau to cause the bishop's attendance at sittings of council to be made as unwelcome as pot aible, in view of causing them to be quite discontinued. " But in carryi.n^ out his Majesty's wishes," intimated the minister, "you are to manage this matter with secrecy and reservedly ; above all let no one know that I have written to you on this subject at all."* Nevertheless the bishop had his suspicions that some such occult opposition to him, authorised but not acknowledged by the court, was in operation. The result of all was, that the governor-general became more than ever idienated in spirit from the intendant. The latter, as we have seen, upheld the sentiments of the bishop in the vexed question of the liquor traffic : and he wrote to Paris, besides, that the country was in a deplorable state ; that unceasing intrigues kept up a constant agitation in it ; that every artifice was employed to prevent the complaints of the people from reaching France ; also that the governor-general trafficked in peltries, which he sold to the English, despite the royal ordinances forbidding traffic with aliens. The intendant farther accused, by name, Messrs. Perrot, La Sale, Du Luth, Boisseau, and others, as being implicated in acts he thus denounced. M. de Frontenac, who suspected what was going on, treated the intendant yet more haughtily than before, — his accustomed mode of overtly setting his enemies at defiance. Upon one occasion, in open council, the count rated him as an audacious man who ought to be arrested. * Document in M. Ferland's collection of papers. STRUOGLES BETWEEN STATE AND CHURCH. 243 ^o^^Hstanding repeated monitions from court, the clissensions between t^'e twain rose to such a pit<;h, that it became needful to recall both, in 1682.. "irtie governor left the colony at a time when his presence would haVe been especially useful to it. A conflagration, on the 5th of August that year, reduced most of Quebec to ashes, put a stop to trade, and occasion- ed immense loss to the country. Worse still, at that moment a new (7ar with the Iroquois Was imminent. Day by day, the contact of English colonisation was becoming more and more close with the French outlying posts and eaats of traffic. Colonel Dongan* was unceasing in his efforts to attach the Iroquois to English interests, and means were nOt wanting to enable him to attain this end. Thus the increase of the trade of the English colonists enabled them to sell their merchandise at lower rates than the Canadian traders ; while, on the other hand, the former paid the Indians more than double prices for their peltries. With such a discrepancy, both ways, to the disadvantage of the French, it was plain that the traffic of the latter with the Five Nations must of necessity soon be annihilated. Besides these commercial advantages, which the English were not slow in turning to account in trafficking with the aborigines, an untoward scoffle between one or more of the French parties at Michilimakinae and savages in the vicinity, in which some of the former were killed, followed up by reprisals against the latter, had detached almost all the tribes of that region from our cause. At such a crisis of affairs, skilful management was needful, not only to preserve trading relations with the various tribes, but even to avoid a total rupture with several of them. Frontenac was constantly careful to maintain unbroken colonial alliances with the natives, which was chiefly effected by sending presents to their head men : but after his departure, the same p'-ecautions not being taken, troubles soon ran to an alarming height, especially with the Iroquois ; and every thing among the five cantons bore the aspect of open hostility to the French. Courted by the people of both colonies, New York and Canada, these barbarians, naturally proud and ambitious, became unwon- tedly insolent and exacting. Furthermore, the New Yorkers plied them with flattery, sounding their praises as the conquerors of all the other tribes, and promising the chief men the support of England in their war* rings. The recent conferences the departed governor-general had invited with envoys of the Five Nations, also the Hurons, the Kikapous, and the * Colonel Thomas Dongan was named governor of the province of New York in 1682. His admiaistration became memurable as the era of the commence* ment of representative government in that colony. — B. 244 HISTORY OF CANADA. Mifimis, had no Batisfaotoiy result. He therefore left the ooontrj tt « time when a continaation oi' saoh oonoUiatory polity as his was most need- ed; for shortly thereafter, breathings of war against the French arrived not merely from the southern frontier lines, but also from most r^ong of the west. In a word, it seemed as if the alliances formed with the aborigines, as important for the progress as ibr the security of Canada were about to be renounced in all quarters simultaneously. In this year of evil augury, M. de Frontenao set sail for France. His departure was a triumph for the Laval party, but it was destined to be the last. The recall of three governors, ahnost successively, sufficient- ly manifested the power and the pretensions of the bishop. The reign of the first two of those* chiefe lasted in all but four years. That ^e count's sway lasted ten years, was due, not so much to his great talents as to the overcoming credit he enjoyed at court throughout all that space of time. He was a relative of Madame de Maintenon : who was then engaged in educating the ill^itimate children Louis had through his oonnexion with Madame de Montespan. The countess de Frontenao, who never set foot in Canada, passed for being one of the greatest orna- ments of high life in Paris, in right of her beauty and graces. She was on an intimate footing with De Maintenon, — just banning to exert ai influence at court, which ultimately became supreme. Madame de Fron- t^mao also frequented the distinguished circle which Madame de S^vign^ drew around herself. These connexions proved eminently useful to the oount ; for it was as much to the influence of his wife that he owed his re-appointment to the yiceroyalty of New France in 1689, as to that of his family, which yet had always been especially faithful to the Bourhons. HiB intermediate successors showing few or no requisites equal to his for rightly governing and extending the power of so important a possession, it was ultimately determined that he should resume his functions, and be better sustained than before, in resisting all undue ecclesiastical preten- sions. — But before entering upon the annals of the second Frontenae administration, we shall retrace our steps somewhat to resume the aoeoant, suspended for a time, of some important explorations, entered upon by the French of those days, of the interior regions of the North American continent. These illustrious labors of devoted men had been continued, and taken a wide extension, during the whole time of the first Frontenae vioeroyalty ; and, in imitation of M. Talon, the oount had encouraged the explorers to the utmost of his power. He especially patronised La Sale, whose bold and enterprising spirit he greatly admired. To M. de Frontenao was due also the foundation, on a itable basb, of the factory and stronghold of Gataraqw, already adverted to. STRUGQLES BETWEEN STATE AND CHURCH. 245 Unfortonately those brilliant explorations, while they were the means of patting oar French ancestors in possession, real or nominal, of a irast traet of country, and bringing the colonists into close relation with the aborigines ; these great extensions of the limits of New France, we my, of necessity broadened the surface already constantly exposed to the ba»- irds and the mischances of hostilities, active or passive, with the eon- ttrminoos colonists of alien races. .'"■/•' CHAPTER II. DI3C0V£BY QF THE UI8SISSIFFI-167a. * EzplontionB,by the Frenob, of the interior of North America.— Travellers and MiBoionariet. —The Jeeuitfl, their activity and courage.— Travels in a northern direction : P6re de Qmd diMSOvers lake St. Jean (Saguenay), 1647; St. Simon and La Couture penetrate, by this routo, to Hudson's Bay (1672).— Travels eastward and westward: P6re Druillottes piatet Drom the St. Lawrence to the sea, by the rivers Chaudi^re and Kennebec— Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan visited in succession.— Two young traders, in 1669, reach the headot Lake Superior; the Sioux and other tribes.— Apostolic excursions of Fires Raimbaolt, Jogues, and Hesnard.- Fdres Allouez and Dablon penetrate to the Mississippi valley, tni*. obtain information from the natives regarding the great river.— Fires Marquette rM -Joliet, upon this report, search for and discover the Mississippi, and descend to its coifla- once with the Arkansas river.— La Sale proposes to take up from that point and follow :hc course of the Mississippi to the sea ;— but first he builds a vessel at Niagara ; constructs the fort of the Mi&mis; also that of Crdvecoeur on the Illinois river.— F6re Hennepin ascends the Mississippi to Sault St. Antoine, and is taken by the Sioux.— Great obstacles met and surmounted by La Sale, who finally traces the whole course of the Mississippi ; he gives the name of Louisiana to its valley and neighboring regions.- He sails to France, and fives an account of his proceedings to the king, who receives him graciously. Were we to express, in the briefest of terms, the motives which indu- -oed the leading European races of the 15th and 16th centuries who came to the Americas, we should say that the Spaniards went thither in quest of gold, the English for the sake of enjoying civil and religious freedom, the French in view of propagating the gospel among the aborigines. Accordingly we find, from the beginning, in the annals of New France, religious interests overlying all others. The members of the ** Society of Jesus," becoming discredited among the nations of Europe for their sub- serviency to power — usually exalting the rights of kings, but at all times inculcating submission, both by kings and their subjects, to the Roman Pontiffs — individualJesuits, we say, whatever may have been their demer- its as members of the confraternity in Europe or in South America, did much to redeem these by their apostolic labors in the wilderness of the northern contin. nt ; cheerfully encountering, as they did, every form of suffering, braving the crudest tortures, and even welcoming death as the expected seal of their martyrdom for the cause of Christ, and for the advancement of civilization among barbarous nations. From Q- "ibeo as a centre-point, the missionary lines of the Jesuit fathers radiated i .11 directions through every region inhabited by our savages, from the Laurentian valley to the Hudson's Bay territory, along the great lake countries, and down the valley of the Mississippi. Soantil; equipped, as it seemed to the worldly eye, with a breviary around the DISCOVERY OP THE MISSISSIPPI. 247 oeok and a oruoifiz in hand, the missionary set forth, and became a pion- eer for the most adventurous secular explorers of the desert. To saoh our forefathers owed their best earliest knowledge of vast regions, to whose savage inhabitants they imparted the glad tidings of the gospel ; and smoothed the way for native alliances with their compatriots of the laity, of the greatest after import to the colony. The Society of Jesus, or confraternity of Jesuits, was founded at the epoch of the Reformation ; in the double view : first, of building up a fiving dyke against the disorderly tide rushing onward and threatening to overwhelm the established landmarks of authority, spiritual and tem- poral; secondly, of giving a great extension to religious proselytism, especially in the regions of Heathendom, near and remote. The rules of the Society permitted the admission of no candidates but those supposed to be endowed with great moral energy ; of natures willing to submit im- plicitly to the will of the spiritual " powers that be," whether the general of the order, the reigning pope, or their own immediate superiors. They were sworn above all, to devote themselves, body and soul, to the cause of catholicity ; of which they were recognised for the especial defenders against all heretical assailants. Yet the absolute obedience pledged by them, upon every occasion and under all circumstances, to an alien domination, caused the order to be distrusted, and finally suppressed in most catholic states. Meantime, devoted to the duties of the academy, the pulpit, and the confessional — with such potent instruments, moral and religious, as these, they were enabled to make a strong and constant impression on the general spirit of the communities they dwelt among. Within the first century after their foundation, they had organised the best schools known to Europe. Their educational manuals became models for all others of that time, and thdr merit is recognised by partial imitations even yet. Isolated from tlie working-day world, the ilite of the Jesuits formed, in every sovereignty of Europe, a species of intellectual republic, submitted to the severest self-imposed discipline; one whose every pass- word, authoritatively issued, found an obedient response in all regions of the world. Jesuitic influence soon extended to the most potent and most learned of the civilized e&rth, as well as to the lowly and the ignorant ; while overstepping the bounds of Christendom, troops of Jesuit fathers, inspired by spiritual heroisiii, penetrated to the extremities of the globe, to convert Pagans and infi- iehf — not as did the crusaders, by fire and sword, but rather, like (|ie Saviour and his apostles, by the more genial means of reasoning and per- susion. They bore aloft, in the sight of admiring multitudes of their 24a HISTORY OF CANADA. . uncivilized fellow-men, the Oruclfiz, that symbol of human redemption , ftom the shores of Japan to the furthest capes of America, from the froieD r^ons of Iceland to the Temotest isles of Oceania. Such devotedness, at once heroic and humble, could not but coDfound worldly philosophy, while it has gained for the members of the order the admiration of many Protestants. Thus we have the candid testimony of Bancroft, the able historian of the English plantations in this oontinent, that " The annals of missionary labors are inseparably connected with the origin of all the establishments of French America. Not a cape ms doubled, nor a stream discovered, thai a Jesuit did not show the way,"* On the other hand, there were instances where secular explorers, seek- ing to illustrate their names by great discoveries, or to enrich themselves by traffic, opened a way for the after labors [of the missionary. The most celebrated of such were CLamplain, Nicolet, Perrot, Joliet, La Sale, and La Verendrye. We have seen that the first-named, and also greatest of these discover- ers, brought to the knowle^ige of his contemporaries, lakep Ghamplain, Ontario, and Nipissing (to the north of Lake Huron) ; he also risited » great part of the Ottawa. While he was extending geographical know- ledge in the west, Pdre Dolbeau, then on a mission to the Montagnais Indians of Tadousac, was making excursions of observation among the * It may be conrenient to mention here, for memory's sake, that the Jesnitg were founded, in 1534, by Ignatius of Loyola, a Spanish layman, born in 1491 ; that he, taking holy orders, was elected their first general by the enrolled mem- bers in 1541. The Society baring been fully recognized, as a religions confrt- temity, by Pope Paul IV, during the prerious year, Henry II gave the Jesnits ingress to France in 1551 ; and soon afterwards they had the chief charge of the scholastic instruction of French youth. They were banished from France in 1596, but restored in 1603. They remained in great credit, with sncceuiTe rulers of France, till the year 1764, when they were banished. Soon partially recalled, they were finally excluded from France in 1767. A brief of Clement XIV, dated July 21, 1773, suppressed the society, nominally at least, in erery part of Christendom. But by t. brief of Pius VII, dated 25th April, 1801, the society was re spired the upper Saguenay tribes with dread, pretended that they (the guides) no longer knew the road ; and even the French adventurers, dread- ing to meet any of those redoubtable savages on the rugged way, were not lony to call a halt, and to return by the same route they came. The search for a north-west passage to India had been the means of dis- oovering Hudson's Bay. Cabot led the way in that quest, and he discover- ed Labrador. Alphonse de Xaintonge, the navigator who accompanied Bobenral to Canada, followed in the traces of Cabot. Sir Martin Frobisher came next. Another English adventurer, captain John Davis, reached the entry of Baffin's Bay. At length Henry Hudson, a skilful mariner, employed by an English company, profiting from the experience of his pre- decessors, in mid-summer, 1610, penetrated the landlocked sea which still bears his name, and coasted much of its solitary shores. It was on his return, thronghthe straits, that the major number of his mutinous crew put their captain and eight of his staunchest followers into a boat which was never afterwards heard of. Finally, Jean Bourdon, in a vessel of 30 tons burden only, sailed to the farther end of the bay in 1656, to traffic with the people near its seaboard. In 1671, governor d'Avaugour, and his intendant Talon, equipped a second expedition to seek a way to Hudson's Bay by the Saguenay river. The names of its leaders were St. Simon and La Couture ; P^re Charles Albanel too, was of the party, which left Quebec on the 6th of August, 1671, but did not reach its destination until June 28, 1672. It proved a region of desolation ; of which they took ceremonial possession, in name of the king, in token of which they buried a plate of brass, graven with the royal armorials. M 250 HISTORY OF CANADA. As the territory around the entry of the Saguenay was the seat of a consi- derable traffic in peltry, it had long been wished to open up relations with the tribes of its upper wilderness, as also with the tribes nearer to the hay. Here, then, was a step gained, which might lead to the realisation of that wish. But the English, as we shall see by and by, led by two huguenot exiles, were the first to profit by these explorations made at French cost, or by the relations already formed with the natives to found trading estahlish- ments in the Hudson's Bay territories. The huguenot guides, howeyer played a double part afterwards, between French and English employers of their services. In regions south of the St. Lawrence, P6re Druillettes was the first European who passed overland from that river to the eastern Atlantic seaboard, ascending the Chaudi^re and descending the Kennebec in 1646. He was the first missionary among the Abenaquis, who held him in hl^ esteem. He did good service to the colony by preserving for it the amity of that brave nation, the only one which the Iroquois were slow to attack. In another direction, the traffickers and missionaries, constantly moving onward, toward the sources of the St. Lawrence, had reached the upper extremity of Lake Huron. F^res Br^beuf, Daniel, Lalemant, Joguen, and Baimbault, founded in the regions around its waters the Christianised settlements of St. Joseph, St. Michel, St. Ignace, Sainte-Marie, &c. The last-named, seated at the point where Lake Huron communicates with Lake Erie, was long the central point of the north-western missions. In 1639, Jean Nicholet, following the course of a river flowing out of Lake Michigan at Green Bay, was led within three days' navigation of "the great water," such was the distinctive name the aborigines gave to the Mississippi.* In 1671, the relics of the Huron tribes, tired of wandering from forest to forest, settled down in Michilimackinao, at the end of Lake Superior, under the care of P6re Marquette, who thus became the earliest founder of a European settlement in Michigan. The natives of the vicinity were of the Algonquin race, but the French called them Sauteurs from their being near to Sault Sainte-Marie. Between the years 1635-1647, these countries were visited by eighteen Jesuit missionaries, besides several laics attached to their ministry. Direct communication with the r^on was then little attempted, the hostile feeling of the Iroquois making the navigation of Lake Ontario perilous to adventurers ; and obliging them to pass to and from the western mission field by the valley of the Ottawa. The Neuters' territory, visited by Ghamplain, and the southern lakebpard of Erie beyond Buffalo, being as yet almost unknown, about 1640 it was * Pere Vimont, superior of the Jesuits ; Relatioru, ftc, a. d. 1639'1643. DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 251 fesolved to send thither Pdres Chauniont and Br^beuf, whose exploration tjios completed the first survey of the Laurentian basin, from the opean to the farthest nook of Lake Superior. Two Jesuits, Charles Raimbault and Isaac Jogues, sent towards that fresh-water sea, after a navigation of seventeen days, and losing their way in tiie archipelago of Lake Huron, reached the Sault Sainto-Maiie ; an^ there found assembled about 2000 savages, who received them with signs of great good-will. Far as French adventurers had advanced, the limits of the continent seemed to be never the nearer; for they learned, at Sault Sainte-Marie, the names of a great number of nations, located beyond to the west and south, whose existence they had never heard of before. Among them were said to be warlike tribes, yet living by culture of the 8oiJ; but whose race and language were unknown. " Thus it was," says nn American author, " that the religious zeal of the French had trans- ported the Cross to the banks of Sault Sainte-Marie and the confines of Lake Superior ; whence it overshadowed already the territory of the Sioux in Mississippi vajley, five years before Elliot, the famous missionary of New England, had addressed a word to the savages located within six jniies of Boston harbor." It may fairly be said that the hold Canada had upon the aborigines, far and near, was due to the relations our people owed to the missionaries and fur traders. Both were to be met with, at intervals, everywhere; on the shores of Hudson's Bay, on the margin of the Laurentian Gulf, at the forest outskirts of Lake Superior, and in all places wheresoever found, they tended to give a high, or, yet better, a favorable idea of France and her people. The savages admired the hardihood of individual Frenchmen who trusted themselves in all confidence amid entire populations of natives, not always of friendly disposition ; and, even passing beyond, visited wil- dernesses reputed to be full of ferocious men and wild beasts, and conse- quently shunned by themselves. It seemed to these naturally supersti- tious people, that the European bore a charmed life. Their superiority in the art of war, and their knowledge, of which the natives made an exaggerating estimate, made most of the tribes anxious to enter into alliances with the colonists ; who, on their part, found such of the natives V most dreaded the Iroquois, valuable auxiliaries against these intractable barbarians. " In 1659, two young traders,* led on by personal curiosity and a spirit of adventure, joined some roving bands of Algonquins, and coasted with them the shores of lake Superior, upon which they passed the succeeding * Relationt, ifc, A. J). 16G0. • * )i~,"'- 262 HISTOBT or CANADA. winter. Here they first learned the existence of the Sioux race, of whom thitherto little was known even by their compatriots of the nearer wilds. Oar two young Frenchmen determined to visit the Sioux in their own country. On the way, they met with broken and dispirited bands of savages, the survivors of nations vanquished and dispersed by the Iroquois. The Sioux, among whom they at length arrived, appeared to them, on the contrary, to be a potent race, yet of gentler manners than the people of the eastern tribes. They ascertained that there were forty popolona hordes of the Sioux, the people in which exercised no such cruelties on prisoners as other native races gloried in ; that they had a pretty distinct belief in a Supreme Being ; but that their religious notions, in other particulars, were akin to those of the nomade races of Asia. The two intrepid adventurers returned to Quebec, in 1660, escorted by sixty Algonquin canoes, laden with furs. They confirmed the report ^ two other Frenchmen who visited lake Michigan four years previously, as to the multitudinous tribes wandering about those regions ; among others the Kristinots, whose wigwams, it was averred, might be found in high latitudes, even as far as the polar seas. It was during the same year that Pdre Mesnard set out, along with some Algonquins, to preach the Gospel to the Ottawas and other tribes located near the shores of Lake Superior. He remained eight months in a bay which he named after Sainte-Th^r^se (perhaps that of Kiwina), on the southern side of the lake, where his only food was acorns (or other mast) and pounded bark. At an invitation from the Hurons, he left this inhospitable place for the bay of Chagouimigong (bay of St. Esprit) at the western end of Lake Huron ; a country poor in game, but remote, and for both reasons free from the Hurons, implacable enemies of the Iroquois. One day, while his travelling comrade was busy about their canoe, Pdre Mesnard went into the woods, but returned not again and was never more seen. This venerable missionary had a great repu- tation for sanctity among the savages, whose rude natures had been almost softened to meekness by his virtuous example, and by the unction of his evangelical discourses. Some years afterwards, his breviary and cassock were found among the Sioux, who paid them a kind of worship, as saintlj relics. The savages, we may mention here, had a great respect (probablj not unmingled with fear) for books, which they looked upon as imbued with spiritual life. Four or five years after the murder of Pdres Br^beuf and Garnier by the Iroquois, a missionary among them found a Testament and a prayer-book that had belonged to these martyrs, and which were preserved with care as things sacred. DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 253 {Iven in those days, the traders and missionaries Ictiew that North America was separated from the Old World by a sea. The " Relations of the Jesuits" of 1659-1660 contain these words: " Towards the east, the wtttb, the west, and the north, this continent being surrounded with water, must be disjoined from Greenland by a narrow space (trajet), a good portion of which has been discovered ; and all that is wanted is to pene< trato a few degrees farther, in order to reach the Japanese seas." P^re AlloueE set out for Lake Superior in 1665. He coasted the heaps of sand which wind and water have raised along its shores, and rounded I bond of twelve miles, the bat>o of a cape 300 feet in height, forming the western end of the Laurentides. In this region, the waters of the lake rubbing out by their constant attrition the softer from the hard materials in composite rocks, have produced the most striking forms in some heights rising from the borders of the lake. Pere Allouez must have seen and admired these fantastic works of nature, many of them resembling ruined piles of art, to which after- travellers assigned the name of Portail and Rocher's Point. He reached Chagouiamigong in due course, where he found a considerable village of Chippeways, which the Jesuits named Outchibouec. He there erected a chapel and preached in Algonquin to a dozen or more tribes, who understood that language. His reputation spread far. Men of many tribes of the regions around came to see the vhite man : Poutouatamis, from the depths of Michigan ; Outagamis and S&iks, from territories intermediate to Lake Michigan and the Mississippi ; the Kristinoles (Creek Indians), from the marshy north ; the Illinois, from the prairies, then uncultivated, now covered with crops ; and lastly, the Sioux. All these men of many races admired the eloquence of th« cealoQS missionary, and gave him information as to the numbers, power, and the situation of their several countries. The Sioux, armed with bows and arrows, told him that they roofed their huts with deer-skins, «nd that they occupied vast prairies on the margin of a great river they called the Mississippi. During his sojourn in that country, Allouez, who made a voyage of more than 2000 leagues, penetrated to countries far north, where he met some of the Nippissings, whom their fear of the Iroquois had driven into a snow-covered region. He strove to console those sufferers, who were then in a very wretched state. At this time, peace prevailing among the Indian tribes, the traders were able to extend their operations, and the missionaries to spread them- selves abroad, in the fertile plains west of Lake Michigan. Pdre Dablon, who labored in that region, learnt also from the natives the existence of " the great river," and he intended to set out, in hopes of reaching it, in m HISTORY OF CANADA. 1669,^ but his spiritual duties prevented him from quite realising bu desire: yet he made, it seems, a near approach to the MissiHsippi, after tUt Along with P<^re AUouez, from 1670 to 1672, he reached the Wisconsin and Illinois territories, visiting on his route the tribes culled Mascontins, the Kiknpous, and the Outagamies, on the river Rcnard which takes rise beside the upper Mississippi, and disembogues in Lake Michigan. The indefatigable missionary had even resolved to penetrate at a future time, to the Polar Sea, to assure himself of the possibility or not of finding a passage that way to the sea of Japan. f The new impulsions which had been given to Canada by Colbert and Talon, began to bear their fruits. Commerce revived, in»migrutlon in- creased, and the aborigines, dominated by the genius of civilization, feared and respected everywhere the power of France. We have already reported what were the motives which prompted the government to send Perrot among the western tribes ; we have seen that this famous explorer was the first European who reached the end of Lake Michigan and the Miiiniig country, and that deputies from all the native tribes of the regions irrigated by the head waters of the Mississippi, the sources of the Red River and the St. Lawrence, responded to his call to meet him at the Sault Saintc-Marie. From one discovery to another, as so many successive stages in a journey, the French attained a certainty that " thegrcat water" did exist, and they could, in advance, trace its probable course. It appeared certain, from the recent search made for it in northerly and eastern directions, that its waters, so voluminous as the natives asserted, must at last find their sea-vent either in the bay of Mexico or in the Pacific Ocean. Talon, who took a strong interest in the subject, during his intendancy recommended Captain Poulet, a skilful mariner of Dieppe, to verify the passage from sea to sea, through the Straits of Magellan. He induced M. de Frontenac to send M. Joliet J into the region where the great stream, yet unseen, must take its rise ; and follow its course, if found, till its waters reached the sea. The person thus employed on a mission which interested every one at the time, was a man of talent, educated in the Jesuits' College of Quebec, probably in view of entering the church ; but who had gone into the peltry trade. He had travelled much in the countries around Lake Superior, and gained great experience of the natives, especially those of the Ottawa tribes. M. Joliet and Pere Marquette set out together, in the year 1673. The latter, who had lived * Relution of the Missions to the Outadouaks during the years 1665 and l(i70. t Letters from Peres Allouez and Dahlon. t Official memorial of M. de Frontenac, dated Nov. 14, 1674. I DISCOVERY OF THE MlSSISSIt'l'I. 255 UBODg the Poutowatami Indians as a missionary, and gained thoir aifcc- tioDS was forewarned by them of the perils, they alleged, which would ImkI his steps in so daring an enterprise, admonishing him and his com- paoion, that the people of the farther countries would allow no stranger to pass through them ; that travellers were always pillaged at the least ; that the great river swarmed with monsters who devoured mcn,^ and that the climate was so hot that human flesh could not endure it. Having progressed to the farthest horde (over the Fox river), where P6re Allouez was known, and the cxtremest point yet touched by any European, the adventurers found the people of the divers tribes living together in harmony; viz., the Kikapous, Ma.scoutins, and Miumis. They accorded the strangers a kind reception, and furnished guides to direct the party, which was composed of nine persons in all,— Joliet, Marquette, with five other whites, and two natives. On the 10th of June they set out, bearing two light canoes on their shoulders for crossing the narrow portage which separates the Fox river from that of Wisconsin, where the latter, after following a southerly takes a western course. Here their Indian guides left them, fearing to go farther. Arrived at the lower Wisconsin, they embarked and glided down the stream, which led the travellers through a solitude ; the latter remarking, that the levels around them presented an unbroken expanse of luxuriant herbage, or forests of lofty trees. Their progress was slow, for it was not till the tenth day that they attained the confluence of the Wisconsin and Missis- sippi. But the goal was surely, if tardily, attained. They were now floating on the bosom of the " Father of Waters," a fact they at once felt assured of, and fairly committed themselves to the course of the doubled current. Thb event constituted an epoch in American annals. " The two canoes," says Bancroft, " with sails outspread under a new sky, sped their way, impelled by favoring breezes, along the surface of the calm and majestic ocean tributary. At one time the French adventurers glided along sand-banks, the resting-places of innumerable aquatic birds ; atotb il ^sed around wooded islands in mid-flood; and other- ^' again, their course lay through the vast plains of Illinois and a, covered v i magnificent woods, or dotted with clumps of bush cattered about umitless prairie lands." It w us not till the voyagers had descended sixty leagues of the great stream, ihat they discovered any signs of the presence of man ; but at length, observing on the righ )ank of the river a foot-track, they followed * There was some foundatioQ for this report, as alligators abounded, at that time, in the lower waters of the river.— JB. 256 HISTORY OF CANADA. it for six miles, and arrived at a horde, situated on a river called by thi natives Moi'ngona ; an appellation afterwards corrupted into " rividre dei BToines." Seing no one, the visitors hollowed lustily, snd four, old men answered the call, bearing in hand the calumet of peace. " We ut Illinois," said the Indians : "you are our fellow-men ; we bid yon wel- come." They had never before seen any whites : but had heard mentioa of the French, and long wished to form an alliance with them against the Iroquois, whose hostile excursions extended even to their country. They were glad to hear from Joliet, that the colouists had lately 'ilmtim those whom no others could vanquish ; and feasted the visitors, to msni- fest their gratitude as well as respect. The chief of the tribe, with some hundreds of hb warriors, escorted the p.'urty to their canoes ; and, mark of parting esteem, he presented a calumet, ornamented with as a featliers of various colors; a safe-conduct this, held inviolable among the aborigines. The voyagers, again on their way, were forewarned of the confluence of the Missouri with the main streatu, by the noise of its discharging waters. Forty leagues lower, they reached the influx of the Ohio, in the territory of the Chowanows. By degrees the r^on they traversed changed its aspect. Instead of vast prairies, the voyagers only saw thick forests around them, inhabited by savages whose language was to them unknown. In quitting the southern line of the Ohio, they left the Algonquin family of aborigines behind, and had come upon a region of nomades, the GUckasaw nation being here denizens of the forest. The Dahcotas, or Sioux, frequented the riverain lands, in the southern r^oi watered by the great flood. Thus interpreters were needed by the natives, who wished to parley from either bank of the Mississippi ; each speaking one of two mother-tongues, both distinct from those of the Hurons and Algonquins, much of the latter being familiar to Joliet and others of the party. Continuing their descent, the confluence of the Arkansas with the Mississippi was attained. The voyagers were now under the 33rd paral lei of north latitude, at a point of the river course reported to have beei previously reached, from the opposite direction, by the celebrated Spanish mariner, De Soto.* Here the Illinois chief's present stood the party io good stead; for on exhibiting his ornate calumet, they were treated with profuse kindness. Bread, made of maize, was offered by the chief of • This famous, or rather infamous personage, who is called hj M. Garaeii <' le cilibre rojageur eapagnol," was the conqueror of Florida ; and haa th« credit of having been the discoverer of the embouchure of the Misiiaiippi ia tk* year 1541.— B. DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 257 the horde located at the mouth of the Arkansas river. Hutchet-hoads of steel, in use by the natives, gave intimation that they traded with Euro- peans, and that the Spanish settlements on the bay of Mexico were pro- bably not far off. The waxing summer heats, too, gave natural corrobo- ration to the same inferences. The party had now, in fact, attained to a region without a winter, unless as such be reckoned that part of its year known as " the rainy season." It DOW became expedient to call a halt, for the stored provisions were beginning to fail, and change supplies could not be depended upon in such a wilderness as the bold adventurers had already traversed ; and they were still more uncertain as to what treatment they might receive from savage populations, if they proceeded further. One thing was made plain to their perceptions : the Mississippi afforded no passage to the East Indian seas. They rightly concluded, also, that it found its sea-outlet in the Bay of Mexico, not the Pacific Ocean. They had therefore now done enough to entitle them to the grateful thanks of their compatriots, and for the names of their two leaders to take a permanent place in the annals of geographical discovery. The task of ascending the great river must have been arduous, and the return voyage protracted. Arrived at the point where it is joined by the Illinois, they left it for that stream, which, ascending for a part of its lower course, V^tq Marquette elected to remain with the natives of tribes located near to its banks ; while M. Joliet, with the rest of the party, passed overland to Chicago. Thence he proceeded to Quebec, and reported his proceedings to the governor, M. Talon at that time being in France. This duty he had to perform orally, having lost all his papcre when shooting the rapids of the St. Lawrence, above Montreal. Uo afterwards drew up a written report, with a tracing of his route, from memory. The encouragement the intendant procured for the enterprise, fairly entitles him to share i'^ glory with those who so ably carried it out ; for we cannot attach too much honor to the memory of statesmen who turn to account their opportunities of patronising useful adventure M. Joliet received in property the island of Anticosti, as a reward for his western discoveries, and for an exploratory voyage he made to Hudson's Bay. He was also nominated hydrographer-royal, and got enfeoffed in a sei- gniory near Montreal. Expecting to reap great advantage from Anticosti as a fishing and fur-trading station, he built a fort thereon , lut after living wme time on the island with his family, he was obliged t-o abandon it. His patronymic was adopted as the name of a mountain situated near the k 258 HISTORY OF CANADA. river des Plaines, a tributary of the Illinois ; and Joliet is also the appel- lation, given in his honor, of a town near Chicago. P6re Marquette proceeded to Green Bay, by lake Michigan, in 1673; but he returned soon afterwards, and resumed his missionary labors among the Illinois Indians. Being then at war with the Mianiis, they came to him asking for gunpowder : " I have come among you," said the apostolic priest, " not to aid you to destroy your enemies' bodies, but to help you to save your own souls. Gunpowder I cannot give you, but my prayers you can have for your conversion to that religion which gives glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to all men." Upon one occasion, he preached before two thousand warriors of their nation, besides the women and children present. His bodily powers, however, were now well-nigh exhausted. He decided to return to Mackinac ; but while coasting the lower shores of lake Michigan, feeling that his supreme hour was nigh, he caused the people in his canoe to set him ashore. Havinfr obtained for him the shelter of a hut formed of branches, he there died the death of the righteous. His companions interred his remains near the river which yet bears his name, and set up a crucifix to mark the spot. Thus ended, amid the solitudes of the western wilderness, the valuable existence of one whose name, too little known to his own age, will be remembered when hundreds of those which, however loudly sounded in the present, shall have passed into utter oblivion.* The news of the discovery of the Mississippi made a great sensation in Canada ; and eclipsed, for a time, the interest attaching to other explora- tions of the age, which were becoming more and more rife every year. Every speculative mind was set to work, as was usual on such occasions, to calculate the material advantages which might result, first to the colonists, and next to their mother country, from access being obtained to a second gigantic water-way through the territories' of New France: serving as it virtually might in times to come, as a complement, or completing moiety for tlie former, enabling the colonists to have the command of two seas. Still, as the gulf of Mexico had not been reached by the adventurers upon the present occasion, some persons had their doubts about the real course of the lower flood. There was therefore, however, still in store credit for those who should succeed in clearing up whatever uncertainty there might be about a matter so important. • Qudrin observes that, according to some authorities, La Sale, some time between the years 16G0 and 1671, descended the Mississippi, as far as the Ar- kansas, by the river Ohio, There can be no doubt that the story is a mere figment. DISCOVERT OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 259 " New France," says Raynal, " had among its people a Norman named Robert Cavalier de la Sale, a man inspired with the double passion of amass- inf a large fortune and gaining an illustrious name. This person had ac- quired under the training of the Jesuits, among whom his youth was passed, activity, enthusiasm, firmness of character, and high-heartedness ; qualities vhieh that celebrated confraternity knew so well to discern and cultivate in promising natures committed to their care. Their most audacious and enterprising pupil. La Sale, was especially impatient to seize every occasion that chance presented for distinguishing himself, and ready to create such opportunities if none occurred," He had been resident some years in Canada, when Joliet returned from his expedition to the Mississippi. The effect of so promising a discovfery, upon such a mind as La Sale's, was of the most awakening kind. Joliet's report of what he experienced, and his shrewd conjectures as to what he did not see, but which doubt- less existed, well meditated upon by his fellow-genius, inspired the latter to form a vast design of exploration and traffic conjoined, in realising which he determined to hazard both his fortune and reputation. Cavalier, sieur de la Sale, was born in Rouen, and the son of respect, able parents. While yet a young man, he came to Canada full of a project he had conceived, of seeking a road to Japan and China, by a northern or western passage; but did not bring with him the pecuniary means needful even to make the attempt. He set about making friends for himself in the colony, and succeeded in finding favor with the Count de Frontenac, who discerned in him qualities somewhat akin to his own. With the aid of M. de Courcelles and Talon, he opened a factory for the fur traffic at Lachine near Montreal, a name which he gave to the place, in allusion to the oriental goal towards which his hopes tended as an explorer.* In the way of uadc, ho visited lakes Ontario and Erie. While the Canadians were yet excited about the dl.scnvery of the Mississippi, he imparted hia aspiration regarding it to the governor-general. He said that, by ascending instead of descending that great stream, a moans might be found for reaching the Pacific Ocean ; but that the outlay attending the enterprise could only be defrayed by combining with it an extended traffic with the nations of the west; that he would gladly make the attempt himself if a trading post were erected for his use at the foot of lake Ontario, as a basis for his operations, with an exclusive license to traffic in the western countries. • Others say that the place owed its name to a spirit of mockery in some of La Sale's enemies orenviers, who spoke of the locality as being his " first stage on the road to China;" a country which, they predicted, he was doomed neyer to reach. — Wauburton : Conqueit of Canada. — B. 3 260 HISTORY OP CANADA. The governor gave him the command of Fort Frontenac, to begin with. Obtaining, also, his recommendations to the court, La Sale sailed for France in 1675, and gained all he wanted from the Marquis de Seignelai, son and successor of the great Colbert as minister of marine. The king bestowed on La Sale the seigniory of Cataraqui and ennobled him. This seigniory included Fort Frontenac, of which he was made the proprietor, as well as of lake Ontario; conditioned, however, that he was to re-construct the fort in stone. His Majesty also invested him with all needful credentials for beginning and continuing his discoveries. La Sale, on his return to Canada, actively set about aggrandising his new possession. Several colonists and some of the natives repaired to the locality, and settled under protection of his fort. He built in its vicinity three decked vessels — the first ever seen upon lake Ontario. 1677, he visited France again, in quest of aid to carry out his plans. Colbert and Seignelai got him a royal commission as recognteed explorer of north-west America, with permission to erect fortified posts therein at his discretion. He found a potent protector, also, in the Prince de Conti. La Sale, full of hope, sailed from La Rochelle in summer 1678, with thirty seamen and artisans, his vessel freighted with equipments for his lake craft, and merchandise for barter with *he aborigines. A brave officer, (Jhevalier de Tonti, went with him, proposing to share his fortunes. Arrived at Cataraqui, his energy put all his work people in activity. By the 18th of November, he set sail from Fort Frontenac in one of his barks, loaded with goods and materials for constructing a second fort and a brigantine at Niagara. When he reached the head of lake Ontario, his vessel excited the admiration of the savages ; while the falls of Niagara no less raised the wonder of the French. Neither had the former before seen so great a triumph of human art; nor the latter, so over-powering a spectacle of mvture. La Sale set about founding his proposed stronghold at Niagara ; but the natives, as soon as the defensive works began to take shape, demurred to their being continued. Not caring to dispute the matter with them, he gave his erections the form of a palisaded store-house merely. During winter following, he laid the keel of a vessel on the stocks, at a place some six miles above the Falls. His activity redoubled as his operations pro- gressed. He sent on his friend Tonti with the famous RecoUet, Pt^re Hennepin, to seek out several men whom he had despatched as forerunners, in autumn preceding, to open up a traffic he intended to carry on with the aborigines of the west. In person he visited the Iroquois and several other nations, with whom he wished to form trading relations. He has DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 261 the honor of founding the town of Niagara. The vessel he there built he called " the Griffin," because, said he," the griffin has right of mastery over the ravens :" an allusion, as was said, to his hope of overcoming all his ill- wilicrs, who were numerous.* Be this as it may, the Griffin was launched in midsummer 1679, under a salute of cannon, with chanting of Te Deum, and shouts from the colonists ; the natives present setting up yells of won- der, hailing the French as so many OtJcoti, or " men of a contriving mind." On the 7th of August the Griffon, equipped with seven guns and loaded with small arms and goods, entered lake Erie ; when La Sale started for Detroit, which he reached in safety after a few days' sail. He gave to the expansion of the channel between lakes Erie and Huron, the name of lake Ste. Claire ; traversing which, he, on the 23rd August, entered lake Huron. Five days later, he reached Michilimackinac, after having encountered a yiolent storm, such as are not unfrequent in that locality. The aborigines of the country were not less moved than those of Niagara had been, at the appearance of the Griffon; an apparition rendered terrible as well as puzz- ling, when the sound of her cannon boomed along the lake and reverberated from its shores. On attaining to the Chapel of the Ottawa tribe, at the mission station, he landed and attended mass. Continuing his voyage some time in September, he reached the bay des Puants, on the western lake-board of Michigan, where he cast anchor. So far, the first ship navigation of the great Cana- dian lakes had been a triumph ; but the 'md was not yet, and it proved to be disastrous ; for La Sale, hearing that his creditors had in his absence confiscated his possessions, despatched the Griffon, loaded with peltry, to Niagara, probably in view of redeeming them ; but his vessel and goods were totally lost on the way. Meanwhile, he started, with a trading party of thirty men of different callings, bearing arms and merchandise. Passing to St. Joseph's, at the lower end of lake Michigan, whither he had ordered that the Griffon should proceed on her proposed second voyage from Niagara, he laid the founda- tions of a fort on the crest of a steep height, washed on two sides by the river of the Miiimis, and defended on another side by a deep ravine. He set buoys at the entrance of the stream for the direction of the crew of the * Some authors say that he named his vessel the Griffon in honor of the Frontenacs, the supporters in whose family coat-of-arms were two Griffons. [Where all is so uncertain in an important matter, a third suggestion may be as near the mark as the first two. As the Norse or Norman sea-kings bore the raven for a standard, perhaps La Sale adopted the ravens'-master symbol, in right of a hoped for sovereignty over the American lakes. — B.} 262 HISTORY OF CANADA. anxiously expected vessel, upon whose safety depended in part the continua- tion of his enterprises; sending on some skilful hands to Michilimackinac to pilot her on the lake. The vessel not appearing, and winter being near, he set out for the country of the Illinois Indians, leaving a few men in charge of the fort, and taking with him the missionaries Gabriel, Hennepin, and Zdnobe, also some private men ; Tonti, who was likewise of the party, hav- ing rejoined his principal, but without the men he was sent to seek, as he could not find them. The expedition, thus constituted, arrived towards the close of December at a deserted native village situated near the source of the Illinois river, in the canton which still bears La Sale's name. Without stop- ping here, he descended that stream as far as lake Peoria, (called by Henne- pin, Pimiteoui), on the margin of which he found encamped a numerous body of the Illinois. These Indians, though naturally gentle, yet turned unfriendly regards at first on the party ; but soon recovering from surprise at the appearance of the French, treated them with great hospitaUty ; one of their attentions to the supposed wants of the visitors being to rub their wearied legs with bears' grease and buffalo fat. These friendly people were glad to learn that La Sale meant to form establishments in their country. Like the Huron savages of Champlain's time, the Illinois, harassed as they were by the Iroquois, trusted that the French would protect them in future. The visitors remarked that the Illinois formed the sides of their huts with mats of flat reeds, lined and sewed together. All those the party saw were tall, robust in body, and dexterous with the bow. But the nation has been stig- matised by some early reporters as cowardly, lazy, debauched, and without respect for their chiefs. La Sale's people, hearing no mention of his ship all this while, began first to murmur, and then to leave him: six of them deserted in one night. In other respects, events occurred, ominous of evil for the termination of the enterprise. To occupy the attention of hiseom- panions, and prevent them from brooding on apprehended ills, as well as to guard them against a surprise by any hostile natives, he set them on erecting a fort upon an eminence, at a place four days' journey distant from lake Peoria ; which when finished he named Breakheart {Creveaxur), in allusion to the mental suffering he then endured. To put an end to an intolerable state of suspense, in his own case, he resolved to set out on foot for Frontenac, 400 or 500 leagues distant— hoping there to obtain good news about the Griffon; also in order to obtain equipments for a new bark, then in course of construction at Cr6vecoour, in which he meant to embark upon his return thither, intending to descend the Mississippi to its em bouchure. He charged P6re Hennepin to trace the downward course of the Illinois to its junction with the Mississippi, then to ascend the former a» DISCOVERT OP THE MISSISSIPPI. 263 hi^h as possible, and examine the territories through which its upper waters flow. After making Tonti captain of the fort in his absence, he set out, March 2, 1680, armed with a musket, and accompanied by three or four whites and one Indian.* Pi^re Hennepin, who left two days before, descended the Illinois to the Mississippi, made several excursions in the region around their confluence ; then ascended the latter to a point beyond the Sault St. Antony, where he was detained for some months by Sioux Indians, who only let him go on his promise to return to them next year. One of the chiefs traced on a scrap of paper the route he desired to follow ; and this rude but correct chart, says Hennepin, " served us truly as a compass. " By following the Wisconsin, which falls into the Mississippi, and Fox River, when running \a the opposite direction, he reached lake Michigan mission station, pas- sing through, intermediately, vast and interesting countries. Such was the famous expedition of Hennepin ; who, on his return, was not a little surprised to find a company of fur traders near the Wisconsin river led by one De Luth, who had probably preceded him in visiting that remote region. While Hennepin was exploring the upper valley of the Mississippi, La Sale's interests were getting from bad to worse at Crtivetoeur. But, for rightly understanding the events which at last obliged him to abandon that post, it is necessary to explain the state of his affairs in Canada ; and to advert to the jealousies which other traffickers cherished regarding his monopolising projects in the western regions of the continent. He came to the colony, as we have seen, a fortuncluas adventurer — highly recom- mended indeed ; while the special protection he obtained from the governor with the titular and more solid favors he obtained at court, made him a competitor to all other coramercialists, whom it was impossible to contend with directly. Underhand means of opposition, therefore, and these not always the fairest, were put in play to damage his interests, and, if possible, effect his ruin. For instance, feuds were stirred up against him among the savage tribes ; and inducements held out to his own people to desert him.f They even induced the Iroquois and the Midmis to take up arms • Charlevoix, by following the relation attributed to Tonti, has fallen into some obvious errors respecting La Sale's expedition to the Illinois river. Hennepin, an ocular witness, is assuredly the best authority ; corroborated, as his narration is, by the relation and letters of Pcre Z6nobe Membr^. See Pre- mier itablissement de la Foi dans la Nouvelle-France. t " The enterprise, which ought to have been supported by all w^U-disposed persons, for the glory of God and the service of the king, awakened dispositions 264 raSTORY OF CANADA. against the Illinois, his allies. Besides this hostility to him within New France, he had to face the opposition of the Anglo-American colonists, who resisted the realisation of his projects, for nationally selfish reasons. Thus they encouraged the Iroquois to attack La Sale's Indian allied connexions of the Mississippi valley ; a measure which greatly increased the difficultio<> of a position already almost untenable. In a word, the odds af^ainst him became too great ; and he was constrained to retire from the high game he wished to play out, which, indeed, was certainly to the disadvantage of individuals, if tending to enhance the importance of the colony as a possession of France. La Sale's ever trusty lieutenant, the chevalier de Tonti, meanwhile did all he could, at Cr^vecoeur, to engage the Illinois to stand firm to their engagements with his principal. Having learned that the Miamis intended to join the Iroquois in opposition to thom, he hastened to teach the use of fire-arms to those who remained faithful, to put the latter on a footing of equality with these two nations, who were now furnished with the like implements of war. He also showed them how to fortify their hordes with palisades. But while in the act of erecting Fort Louis, near the source of the river Illinois, most of the garrison at Crtivecoeur mutinied and deserted, after pillaging the stores of provision and ammunition there laid up. At this crisis of La Sale's affairs (1680), armed bands of the Iroquois ■ suddenly appeared in the Illinois territory, and produced a panic among its timid inhabitants. Tonti, acting with spirit and decision as their ally, now intervened, and enforced upon the Iroquois a truce for the Illinois ; but the former, on ascertaining the paucity of his means, recommenced hostilities. Attacking the fort, they murdered P6re Gabriel, disinterred the dead, wasted the cultivated land, &c., of the French residents. The Illinois dispersed in all directions, leaving the latter isolated among their enemies. Tonti, who had at last but five men under his orders, also fled the country. While the chevalier, in his passage from Cr^vecceur, was descending the north side of lake Michigan, La Sale was moving along its southern side and produced effects of a contrary kind. Thus adverse feelings to bim were urovised in the breasts of the IIuious, the Ottawas of the Isle, and other native natioD&; while, among these tribes, the sieur de La Sale found fifteen men, whom be had sent oat to trade for him, engaged, after misappropriating part of bis goods, in serving others, instead of pushing onwards to the Illinois country, as they bad been directed ; and setting at nought the efforts of the sieur de Tonti, their cbie^ to persuade them to act faithfully." LecUre and Zimbt Mambri. DISCOVERT OP THE MISSISSIPPI. 265 with a reinforcement of men, and rigging for the bark he left in course of construction at the above-named post ; where having arrived, ho had the mortification to find it devastated and deserted. He made no attempt to rcfottnd it, but passed the rest of the year in excursions over the neigh- borini; territories, in which he visited a great number of tribes ; among tkni the Outagamis and Mifimis, whom he persuaded to renounce an alliiince they had formed with the Iroquois. — Soon afterwards, he r'^tumed to Montreal, taking Frontenac on his way. Although his pecuniary losses had been groat, he was still able to compound with his creditors, to whom he conceded his own sole rights of trade in the western co'intries, they in return advancing moneys to enable him to prosecute his future explorations. Havin,2 got all things ready for the crowning expedition he had long meditated, he set out with Tonti, Pn HCiit.— foloncl Don^nn cxcitcn the IroiinoiH ntiBini't tli(> Krcnch.-U Unrro lidlcil into ncciirity by ttioso kiiviikch for a tinus tlie IroquoiH afluck CruNccn-ur- Donjjnn'H hontiIity to tlie French thwiirtttl.— La HurretukcH the field iiK»inst tlic lni(|tii}jy I'undne in Idn cHm|) ; niiiken a Nhamel^il pence with tho Havn^eN.— lie in rcciilled ; nnil i Denoiiville.— L'niiicky ndininlHtration of Deiinnvllli'; hit atteni[itt'( thtrlanils (now New York), in view of luonopolising the fur traffio, cuDstantly excited the Irofjuois to war ngaiunt tho Tronch and their native allies; that, in particular, the IroquoiH (incited, of course by tho New y.irkcrs) had lately, during a hoHtile raid in the IllinoiH territory, killed 300 or 400 of its people, and taken priHonera DOO otliers. The report iatimatcJ, that, while it was expedient the Illinois tribes should bo sus- tained, yet the amount of disposable colonial force wliich could be spared for distant expeditions was small, owing to the exigencies of urgent duties, in hout*o and field. No mero corps of observation, it was said, would now .suffice to bring tho Iro({Uois to reason : their pretensions must be Ji,sposud of, and onco for all, by main force. And as a preliminary to commencing offensive operations, the fort of Cataraqui ought to bo strongly manned and well stored with arms and munitions of war ; it being a post whence, in forty-eight hours' time, a force could be directed on the canton of tho Tsonuonthouana, a jiation which had 1500 warriors, and which, it was important, should be tho first to succumb to Freneli superiority. But in order to carry out this enterprise, from 200 to 300 additional regular soldiers would be wanted, part of them to remain iu garrison at Cataracjui, part at La Galette (Prescott), for tho protectiou of the colonial frontier on the west side, while tho remaining forces, regulars and militia, marched against tho foe. An immigration of a thousand or more farm laborers was requested, to till the lands of such colonists as were summoned to serve iu tho proposed expedition. And as there wore no public funds in Canada for defraying the cost of what was a necessary war, it was intimated that tho mother country should supply means for victualling and equipping the troops, also for building three or four barks, to be employed on lake Ontario in transporting tho men and military stores. Lastly, it was hinted that, through past neglect of the colony by the home authorities, the savjiges had learned to make light of its resources ; whereas, if once a body of troops were sent from France, not only would the Iroquois hesitate to attack the colony, but others of the savage nations, seeing that the colonists were thus reinforced, would incline to put themselves under French protection. The call for a rural immigration, abruptly made as above, received no practical response ; yet it came at a time when numbers of the king's 270 HISTORY OF CANADA. huguenot subjects were soliciting leave to settle in French Amcica and had protniscd to live peaceably under the protection of a fla" which thev wished should ever be theirs. But the death of their protector Colbert in 1G84,* left these religionists at the mercy of chancellor Le Tellier and the harsh Louvois; who advised the king to reject their suit. Soon atTterwards the dragooniyns of the Protestant cantons took place as an ominous prelude to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.f The king gloried, it is said, in n^anifesting his power in opposite directions by abasing papal pretensions and crushing the huguenots. Madame de Maintenon, — once a calvinist, now a zealous catholic, — who was secretly married to Louis, encouraged the persecution of the sect whose creed she had renounced ; and in particular, suggested the unworthy dcvioe of tearing the children of huguenots from their parents' avii >. ♦o brinir them up in the llomish faith : a measure which could be propodcd only by a childless woman, such as she was. Other means, of th*^ harshest kind, even torture and death, were employed, but generally ia vain, to cause a renunciation of what was believed to be apostacy, on the unfortunate Protestants. They saw at last that their total perdition was iniendod, and they sought only where best they could find, abroad, a home. But prohibitory decrees, with severe penalty attached for infraction, sternly forbade their self-cxpatria- tion. Nevertheless several hundred thousands of French Protestants [a recent authority reduces that total to 80,000] contrived to leave their native country, though the punishment of the galleys was tlie infliction prepared for all other persona assisting them in their flight. J They • Sic in orig., but an hicorrcct date. Sec note p. 277 supra. — li. t The iniquitous decice for its revocation was signed October 22, 1C85.— B. i Two plans for converting the Protestants wsro discussed in the council of state ; one jroposed ways of gentleness and persuasion in dealing with them: the other advocated prompt and violent means. The latter was that of the Jesuits ; it was preferred. The Jetuits, though clever rogues (fourbcs), lid very narrow views. They could plan acts of destruction and crimes, but lincw not how to consolidate what they did. Hence it is that they never succeeded in permanently establishing anything: the usual late of the authors of projects based on immorality and imposture." Di'lauub : Hist.de Paris, pdriode xiii, § 6. The pious F6nelou opposed, as much as he could, the iniquitous means taken to convert the Protestants. He wrote to Madame de Maintenon to persuade the king to use them less harshly. The Jesuit Lachaise, royal confessor, answered the call by erasing his name from the register where it was inscribed as the future bishop of Poitiers. D'Aguesseau, intendant of Languedoc, demanded his own .ecall. to avoid persecuting the Protestants abounding in that jurisdic- tioQ. lie wrote a memoir, also, in their favor; demonstrating that the ecu- TUE MASSACRE OF LACHINE. 271 chiefly passed into Holland and Gerraany, in the first instance ; but many of them afterwards took refuge in England or the English plantations of Americii where they were received with open arms ; * as they carried with them their riches, their skill in the useful arts, and their conniuTcial experience: not to mention that a stinging sense of the wrongs they endured, led many to turn a vengeful arm against their compatriots in the fields of war. William III, the ultra Protestant stadtholder of Holland and king of England, more t'»'m once charged French regiments, and corps of the allies of France, at the head of brigaded huguenots : the antagonistic ranks of one and the same race, but of diverse religions, fizhtinir against each other with a savage enmity unknown to alien com- batants in other parts of the field of action. What a mighty advantage would have accrued to New France, if a striiint put upon them to renounce their faith was impious. Marshal de Vauban, the most scientific of soldiers and the mo.st enlightened statesman of his time, had the courage to present a memoir to Louvois, in which he propcsed to abro- gate pH the persecuting ordinances that had been issued against the i'rotestanta during nine years before ; advising that their demolished or devastated temples should be restored, and their ministers recalled from banishment ; likewise to oflfer to all those Protestants who had not abjured their religion under compres- sion, as some had done, full I'berty of choice between the two religions of their countrj'. In this memoir, he deplores the loss to Franco of one hundred thou- satiu of her people, and sixty millions of specie they had taiten abroad ; as also the ruin of French .joraraerce, which had been mostly in Protestant hands. Add to all, the double loss of thousands of hardy mariners and brave tioldiers, who bad pas.si'd into the fleets and armies of France's most redoubtable enemies. As fertile conversions, rei\l or pretended, made with much trouble, and great cost in bribes, &c., he said, that " the con?traint employed in bringing about these conversions had inspired a general horror against the conduct of some ecclesi- astics, who surely put no faith themselves in tho- ' sacraments which they thus played with (sefont unjeu de profaner ;) that Lhe pi'oject of converting by vio- lent means was execrable, opposed ip its hivture to every Christian grace, contrary to jniblic morality and sound civil polity, yea, even perilous to the fstablislied religion itself." For a proof that sectarianism is always strengthened by persecution, the marshal cited the fact, that, in a few years from the mas- sacres of St. Bartholomew, begun Aug. 24, 1572, on a ncv.- estimation being made of the total population of France, it was found that the number of Protestants in that kingdom had increased by 110,000 souls. — Echtirrixmnents histnritiues nur les Causes de la Rivucation de VEdit ae Nantes, tome premier, pp. 180, 308, 3G!), 37.3.— i?. • "1G81, Sept. 7, Charles II publishes an order in council for the entcrUin- ment and assistance of the French Protestants, who have fled hither for shelter; for which the French church in Loadoa return him their -thanks." Wauk ; British. History, m 272 HISTORY OF CANADA. licensed emigration of the Protestant population of Old France had tiiktn place, at tliis time, to Canada and the newly explored regions of the West! Other inimical and rival countries had not then been enriched and strengthened by what the French nation thus lost, both in contem- porary and ccmiing times; nor had WE, GtUlo-Canadians, been reduced to defend foot to foot, against an alien race, our language, our laws aud our nati niality. Louis XIV, the dominator of Europe, who lost through his own fault half a million of his best subjects, could spare only the 200 soldiers sent to Quebec to aid in protecting a country (juadruple the size of his own kingdom ; a vast region, embracing within its limits the Hudson's Bay territory, Acadia, Canada, great part of Maine, portions of the States of Vermont and New York, with the whole valley of the Mississippi ! To be sure, he advertised M. de la Barre that he applied to the English home government to prevent its American colonists from violating the conditions of the treaties then existing between the two nations, and bid them cease to excite their savage neighbors against the Canadians; he assured La Barre that the king of Great Britain had in conse((uencc given strict orders to the governor of New York, Colonel Dongan, to be careful in maintaining amicable relations between his people and French colonists; and therefore he (Louis) did not doubt that the British king's desire, in that regard, would be respected. But Dongan, whose people had determined to share with the Canadians the full advantages of tlio peltry traffic, paid no attention to the orders he received from Lundoii.-^^ Nay more, he redoubled his former efforts to stir up in the Iro(iuois hos- tile feelings, and had persuaded the former to lift the war-hatchet against allies of the French, viz. the Miamis and Ottawas; news of which Laving reached M. de la Barre, he despatched a trusty envoy to ward off the blow if possible, who arrived amongst the Onnontaguez on the eve of the day appointed for the departure of the Iroquois warrioi-s for the intended scene of action. The governor's envoy was well received. The Iroquois, who had no int^n- • It is probable the New Yorkerg were perfectly aware that Charles was the bond-slave of the French king, and, as such, not to be blindly obeyed. With the aid of the latter, he was enabled to dispense with parliamentary grants altogether; in other words, to reign despotically, and bring humiliations upon the British emi»irc simultaneously. liis latest recorded private agreement witli Louis XIV, before tlie time we have now arrived at, bore date March 14, 1081; by which he agreed, on receiving 200,000 crowns for that year, and 500,000 in the two following, to withdraw gradually from the Spanish alliance, which be had taken a pledge to maiutain. — Ji. THE MASSACIS OF LAOHIKfi. 278 tion to keep their promises, agreed (In words) to exercise Uk forbearamoe that was asked of them ; and even bou«d thenaselTes to aami a deputation to Montreal in June following. But the month of Ma^y, three out of the five nations (cantons) sent 800 warriors, wf«o fell suddenly upon the Hurons, the MiSmis, and the Ottawas : while, »ot long afterwards, news wrived that the other two Iroquois nations, in anas, were about to invade Montreal itself. La Barre wrote to Paris an account of the critical state oi affairs. He said that Dongan employed French fugitives to oonduct his intrigues with the Iroquois; he intimated that if Canada were to be preserved, a grand effort must be made to destroy the Tson> nonthouans and the Goyogouins, who were the most inimical of all the tribes to the French, and that for their extirpation a reinforcement of 400 French troops would be wanted early in spring following. Yet whilst his despatches to the court thus breathed unsparing war, his deal- ings with hostile natives, whose real character he did not comprehend, were calculated to makj them conclude that he feared to encounter theitt. By courting their friendship or neutrality with undisguised eagerness, he only exalted their self-sufficiency while he drew upon himself iUeij con- tempt The ■'^'"srates who were to have come to Montreal in June (now past) n i', jaring, he applied to the chief men of the Iroquois cantons to redeem their pledge to that effect. They affected ignorance of having ever promised such a thing ; adding, than if he had anj thing important to say, he had better put himself to the trouble of cominji; or sending to tJieai, and they would give it due consideration. Tlie New Yorkers, in order to secure the feelings of preference the Iroquois already had for trading with them rather than with the French colonists, resorted to a polity, — not unusual in competitive commerce, — that of si'iling goods under prime cost for a timC; in order to ruin or discredit their Canadian rivals : thus practically intimating that the latter charired an exorbitant rate in bartering for peltry. It was known also, that the New York fur traders were instigating the Iroquois to extermi- fiate all the native allies of the French : and that the former were ready, at any time, to commence deadly hostilities against the French them- selves. The love of lucre seemed to petrify all human feeling in the hearts of people come of two civilised nations : who were thus inviting, wverally, hordes of cruel barbarians to take part for or against French or English colonists, as the case might be. After all, it was natural to expect that trading rivalry would take such a form as that most denoun- ced by the Canadians, — the giving a factitious value, temporarily, to stock in trade, with a view to ousting competitors; and it would hava S 274 mSTORT OF CANADA. been easy to combat commercial {?uile with its own weapons, by dninf the like ; but this seemed to be the last thing thought of by tho tsoni plaining fur dealers of Canada. Although the Iroquois were led on to quarrel with the French by their natural instincts for war, quickened by the incitements of tho New Yorkers, who praised, bribed, and menaced them in turn, there were moments of reflection in which they showed evidences of fear if not respect for the growing power of the French in the country. They thought fit at last to send deputies to Montreal to renew professions of amity, but in reulity to lull suspicion, and hoodwink the govomorns to their intents, which all others already distrusted. The missionaries, and those who knew the Iroquois nature best, advised La Barretobeon hisfrnnrd; for some scouts had been seen near Cataraqui, as if watching for a f;ivora- ble moment to attack the fort and carry it by surprise. But he wns not to be awakened from his illusions : he received the deceptions do| ntien with undu<> respect, actually caressed and dismissed them with presents! This high functionary, who aflFected to discountenance the trading monopoly of others, — even seizing on Forts Frontenac and St. lionis by way of vindicating the principles of free trade, — abused his position to peddle with advantage in the peltry traffic, by his agents. His iirnoble trading instincts were not compensated, cither, for public woll-bcini.'. bj any of the qualities now wanted in the chief of a colony on the brink of war : and the want of a man equal to the occnsion was soon sevcrolj felt ; for the Iroquois were not slow to drop the pacific-seeming niaslv they had lately worn. As soon as their hostilities commenced,thc whole colony set up a cry apinst the ineptitude of its governor-general. Those who wo»a gentlest in tlicir censures of his paltcrings with the Iroquois savages, while he was urdnj: the home authorities to enable him to cut them up root and branch, snid that bis advanced age made him blindly confiding on one hand, and absurd ly distrustful of sound advice tendered him on the other. The intcn dant wrote to Paris, that the people were discontented at oftici;il tnrdi ness in making preparations agiinst a war evidently injpendint:; that but for his own efforts to allay public discontent, there would have been a sedition, perhaps a revolt in the colony; adding that if the motives nf the people were good, in giving vent to complaints against constituted authority, such were to be respected, although it was better that they should be prevented by giving no good cause for them. The Iroquois, meanwhile, were now fairly in the field or afloat, for they started with 7U0 canoes to assault Fort St. Louis, then coiuniuudcd THE MASSACRE OF LACHINE. 275 by M. de Baugy, lieutenant of the governor's body-guard, and evir eincc the post was taken out of the hands of La Sale. The attack was made and repelled. It was incumbent on the governor-general, now, to (leal the savuges a heavy and sudden blow ; for it was understood that the native enemies of the colony had sent to the tribes of Virginia to renew guspoiidcd relations with them, so that an inroad could be made from that side without danger to the assailants froni behind. For a moment, he showed some signs of acting with vigor, setting out for Montreal, to be nearer the seat of war ; but his accustomed indecision pot the hctU)T (tf him. The colonists grew impat* nt, for they had decided in a general assembly, to run the hazards of war, whatever might betidej yet they found the governor wasting time, as it seemed to them, in ncgo- ciatin;^' with the lake tribes to join their forces with those of the colony. In this, however, he practically succeeded, thanks to the influence of M. Perrot over the aborigines ; for Durantaye, who was sent, along with De Lutli,to propose a treaty offensive and defensive, Wiis enabled to start from Michigan with two hundred Canadians and five hundred warriors of a motley kind, including ITurons, Ottawas, Outagamis, &c., for Niagara, where the governor promised to rendezvous with the forces from Quebec and Montreal. Great was the di8:\ppointment of the savages, who had been norsuuded with muc!» difiiculty to come to the aid of their frienda tlie French — represented to them as being in great straits, when they t'liund no one to meet them at Niagara, and learned some days afterwards, that a peace had been made with the common enemy, the Iroquois. They now returned to their own country with a discontent while they cired not to conceal, albeit they were assured that their peculiar interests liad been well provided for by their French allies in the treaty just con- cluded. Tlie colonial forces were to assemble, as had been intimated, at Mont- real; but when they rendezvoused there, .M. do la Barre, iiisie id of direct- in;; ihem at once on the nearest vulnerable point of the five cantons, or repairing to Niagara to join his forces to the expected auxiliaries, and ad- vancinj; togothtT with iui overwiiclniitig foiee into the Iro(|Uois territory, amusii.l liiinsjlf t>y corresponding with (yoloin-l Dongati, in hopes of the latter sendin.^ the armed tore of his province to join the Freneli, tlie two to^ftdier to bring the Iro(|uois to reason once for all. Evading the in- junctions of the Duke of York (brother and successor of Charles 11) to that effect, Dongan iid his best to baffle, rather than aHsist, the French in their eunpaign a;;ainst the Iro(|Uois. He even offered the latter con- tiderabU' aid, but with cer* lin conditions attached : yet these caused th«» 276 HISTORY OP CANADA. negociation to miscarry ; for the chiefs of the cantons, thinkinj; they would have a formidable French and native force to encounter witliout direct English aid, sent envoys to treat for peace. The French amiy was com- posed of 700 armed Canadians, 130 regulars, and 200 savages- besides the mixed corps, 700 strong, expected from the west. The division of Montreal had passed ten or twelve days there, waiting the result of the negociation with Dongan ; while two weeks more were wasted at Catara- qui. At length, all delays over, the French were able to cross the lake. All Canada murmured at this tardiness, which might have become fatal to the expedition, had not the Iroquois come to terms. The provisions the army carried were spoiling, and at last failed entirely. Epidemic dis- eases, the usual concomitant of starvation, broke out, and thinned the ranks of the French. Privations would soon have broken them up entire- ly, had not the envoys from the Iroquois confederation been met with, on the margin of Lake Ontario, four or five leagues above the river Oswego, near a cave which has since borne the name of Anse de la Famine. The governor-general was overjoyed on seeing these messengers of [K-'uce : but the wily .savages wore ehrev/d enough to perceive, by the marks of satis- faction which La Barre had not tact enough to conceal, and by the wretched appearance of his army, that the chances in the game of war were not now on the French side ; so tbey hesitated to proffer the absi> lute submission which, it is probable, they were previously prepared to render. " Nevertheless, two of the principal chiefs of the deputation, named Garakonthii? and OureonatI, spoke with much good sense and modera- tion : but the Tsonnonthouan envoy delivered an arrogant harangue ; and on the proposition being made to him, for one of the bases of tho treaty, that the Illinois tribes, as allies of the French, were to be compre- h.eiided in the pacification, the orator replied, that, so far from leaving the latter in peace, war against them was meant, till either their tribes or his should be exterminat<3d. The whole army was indignant at this insolence ; but what was the surprise of all on hearing the governor-gene- ral suggest a condition, that, whensoever the Iroquois should carry on the hostilities thus threatened, the French in their territories should at least be saved from harm I This was promised, and the peaxje concluded on that sole condition."* M. de La Barre, whom the Jesuit missionaries, especially Pt^rc Jean • The above passage ia taken from M. Bibaud's relation of the circumstances attSBiding a remarkable rend«z-vous. It has been substituted as telling a plainer story.— B. THE MASSACRE OF LACHINB. 277 de Lambertini, confirmed in his opposition to the war, promised the javap'S, on his part, that the forces should he marched off next day. Leavinp; orders to that effect, he at once disappeared himself. Thus igno- mininusly ended an expedition which ought to have had very different rcsulta. The Five Nations had the double advantage of at once manifest- in" their independence of English and vindicating Irocjuois pretensions, and to hccomb the virtual dictators of peace to the French, instead of receiving terms from them. Scarcely had La Barre reached Quebec, when a corps of soldiers, sent from France, entered the port. This reinforcement was still most dosir- able, for few persons believed that a pjicification, such as that just conclu- ded, would long endure ; for the colonists with almost one accord (the governor being the exception) came to the conclusion that their Illinois allies must be defended, at all hazards, against the Troquois, who might attack them at any moment. The danger was indeed imminent, for it soon appeared that the latter were about to take the field once more. The first accounts of the storm that was brewing came from the Jesuit missionaries resident in the five cantons. They wrote that the Tsonnon- tbouans, though prepared for war, had not yet set out, from fearof a sur- prise. These savages complained that they bar! been attacked by the Mascoutins and Miamis, tribes who had gloried in French protection ; that all the Iroquois, of every tribe, had lately drawn closer together, for offence and defence ; that the^Mahingans had promised the confederation the aid of 1200 warriors : above all, that the English were to supply the Iroquois and their allies with arms and ammunition. It appeared even that the Iroquois had already attacked the Miamis ; that the Tsonnon- thouans were refusing, under divers pretexts, to deliver 1000 beaver skins, the first instalment of a large number which they had agreed to give the French, by an article of the late treaty : finally, that they inven- ted frivolous excuses for not sending deputies of their nation to Quebec, to regulate; debataable points with the colonial authorities. While the governor-general was chewing thecud of reflection upon those sinister yet natural results of his tardiness in war, and eagerness for peace, — (jualitics well befitting a trader, but not the chief of a high-spirited race of colonists, — M. de La Barre, we say, before he could come to a decision in a very perplexed matter, was superseded in oflBce by the arrival (.\. D. 1685) of the Msrtjuis de Denonville, as governor-general of New France. The manjuis, who was also a colonel of dragoons, brought witli him GOO regu- W troops. This significant interposition of the home government suflB- ciently showed how much it disapproved of the polity of his predecessor. :%7 $78 HISTORY OP CA)7ADA. The intendant had first written to Paris, in general terms, that M. dcLa Barre nmde the reociit peace without necessity, and to the great chagrin of the army he had equipped ; the officers and soldiers in which, he added now heartily despised their pusillanimous chief. But when the precise conditions of the Famine Cove patohed-up treaty became known to the council of state, it was determined at once to recall La Barre, and with- hold his Majesty's ratification of a " shameful peace," — to use tlic official terras of its doriunciation, — by which the Illinois tribes were handed over to the untender mercies of their bitterest enemies. M. de Denonville, now head of the colony, was at once a brave officer, and a man of a religious turn of mind ; also indued with a lofty .sense of honor, and polished in his manners. But, as we shall have soonoecusion to see, he was often liable to receive wrc»ng impressions of thin<;s; and his imperfect knowledge of the relations subsisting between the French •nd the savage races, caused him to commit acts which violated every principle of equity ; and brought about that retribution which nevcrfails to follow, soon or late, all violations of the laws of nature or of nations. The marquis brought with him to Canad.v, like all his predecessors, detailed instructions for his guidance in office. Among the points to which his attention was particularly called, he was informed that dissidcn ces, damaging to the public well-being, had thitherto existed between the governors-general and intendants-royal ; and he was admonished to tub a conciliatory course in that regard. With respect to the aborij^ines, ho was directed to sustain the cause of the Illinois and other tribes, allies of the French, who had been left to their fate, unaided, by La Barre. The latter's late polity was to be disowned, and a vigorous course to bo pursued with their common enemy, the Iroquois confederation, whose pre- tensions were to be beaten down, and no peace granted to those tribea till they gave pledges to live in peace with the colony and all its native allies. Tiie governor-general was fain to pass a few tranquil days at Quebec after his arrival, having undergone much bodily fatigue in a stormypasa- age across the ocean. As soon as he was recovered, he set out for Cata raqui, to watch the movements of the Iroquois. He first tried his powers of pei*3uasion on their chiefs, to get them to respect the rights of the Illi- nois and other tribes ; who only wished to live, he observed, on terms of equality with their neighbors. His overtures were treated with insolenco or silent disdain. He saw plainly, therefore, that to make these barbar ians listen to reason, it was necessary first to humble them eifectually. A manifestation of the potency of France was doubly needed, because of the THB MASSACRE OF LACHINB. 279 feeent discredit brought upon tho colony, in tho eyes of all the savage tribcH by the trimming and dishonorublc conduct of M. de Lu Barre. But available force was wanting in the country to act on a Huddeii, with toy cliunce of success, against tho Iro(fUoi8, flushed as they were with triumphs gained in negociations, without the cost or losses attendant even on successful war. M. Dijiionville, noting tho sparseness of population in the colony itself, and that, in many of its oldest seigniories, not more than thirty to Cortj inhabi^ints could be brought together at any given point, either to repel attack on themselves, or for the protection of their Indian allies, when the Iroquois made their ceaseless iproads — this governor came to the oonclusion that he must make up his mind to take the chances of a two jeais war against the Five Nations, before a permanent peace could be iniposod upon thein; and that, before commencing it, yet moie reinforce- ments must be had. He therefore wrote at once to Paris, requesting that they should be sent, with all possible despatch; assigning various reasons, each more cogent than the other, that they were indispensable, and ought not to be delayed. The perplexities of the situation were greatly aggravated by the trad- ing relations of the Iroquois with the neighboring English colonies. Coiiiiiicrclal interests, the strongest of all bonds, naturally bound the two parties together; and the Five Nations were unjustly and selfishly coun- tenuiiccd, at this very time, even in their most exorbitant pretensions, by the New Yorkers, — despite the orders for the observation of strict neutrality sent by the home government, founded on the remonstrances of M. Birillon, resident French ambassador at the English court.-'^ The Anjilo colonial traders, plying their calling as far as Niagara, and even at Michiliniakinac, in regions between Montreal and the near west, did their best and worst, defying all inhibitions from the mother country, to detach the various tribes they fell in with, from their relations with the French. The governor-general, in order to put a material curb upon immediate alien :i ig^rcssiveness, and to furnish points of support in view of coming * Tliis alleged disobedience of the New York colonists, to orders from court, is eitluT untrue, or greatly exaggerated : — "A measure of James II (passed in 1685, as soon as lie succeeded to the throne), highly injurious to the interests of tiie province of New York, was a treaty of (colonial) neutrality with P'runce bjr which it was stipulated that neither party should give assistance to the Indiun tribes in their wars with each other. This did not prevent the French from exciting hostilities between their Indian allies and the Five Nutio ;s, bnt proliibited the English from assisting their aacieut friends." Frost's Hhtory of the U. Statei, p. 97, edit. 1838.— 5. 280 HISTORY OP CANADA. hostilitios with the Iroquois, caused Montreal to be walled ; and propn.<»od that a stone fort should bo erected at Niagara,* capable of slielterin;,' a garrison of 400 to 500 men. This new stronghold at the head (if Luke Ontario, and that of Frontenac at the foot of the same lake, facini: the Iro(juois northern ttirritories, would enable the French to maintain thtir supremacy in the lake countries during peace as well as war time, and occasionally place the Iroquois at the discretion of the colonists t-von for their daily subsistence in seasons when game was scarce with tlium- selves ; their practice being, at such times, to cross the valley of the St. Lawrence, and hunt in the regions beyond. As the provisions of the marquis tended to nothing less than the ex- pulsion of the Iroquois entirely out of the intermediate wiklemosg separating Now France from the north-eastern English plantations, Colonel Dongan, fearing for the ultimate loss thereby of a traffic in peltry vahiud at 400,000 francs a year, carried on by his people, began to reuion.strate with the French authorities, on the evident preparations for hostiliticB making by their orders ; demanding to know the purpose of lodging ad- ditional troops and laying up munitions of war at Cataraqui ; finally, making a formal protest against the erection of a fort at Niuj^'ara, on territory which, he all(^ed, was within the limits of the province of New York. The marquis replied, in a despatch addressed to the colonel, in which he disposed severally of all the proflFered protests : observing, first, that England had no just pretensions to the suzerainty of Iroquois territories, since its government ought to know that the French had taken possession of that region, long before any of the English had obtained a foothold in the province now called New York ; which was true enough.f Not content with this, Dongan convoked an assembly of deputies from all the Iroquois confederation at Albany, and informed them that the French Avere about to wage war against all their tribes ; told them they ought to get the start in hostilities, and attack both them and their allies at once when oflF their guard ; promising, that if they would do so, they would be sure of his countenance. P6re Lamberville, a missionary * In a letter to the marquis de Seignelai (son of Colbert, and minister for tb« colonics of France), dated May 8, 1686. — B. f True words in sound, but perhaps unsoothful in signification. If the ground on which stands the French fort of Niagara, formed part of a colony conquered by the English, surely the rights of its former possessors devolved on them, even to its farthest limits ? It is upon this principle that Canada assorts iu •laim to the Hudson's Bay territory, and the western regions ending in British Columbia, as the nationally territorial heir of New France. — B. THB MASSACRE OF LACHINB. 281 amone the Onnontap^uez, did all he could to persuade the chiefs of that tribe to reject the advice of Donj!;an ; and, plcdf^ing them not to march apninst the French till they heard from him, set out to inform the mar- quis (le Dcnonville of what was passing. Dongan, divining the aim of Lambervillo, pressed the leaders of the canton yet more strongly to com- mence a war. He even tried to engage the christened Iroquois of Sault St. Louis, and those of the Lake of Two Mountains, to tjike up arms jfjiiinst their French protectors. lie endeavored to get delivered up to him ii brother of Viirc -jamberville, then detained as a hostage by the Onnontaguez. He succeeded imperfectly, or not at all, in most of these attempts ; for, after some faint demonstrations of hostility instigated by him, the invading Iroquois retired without doing much harm.* * There seems to bo a black case made out here against the English governor of Now York. Let us throw some light upon the subject from other and neutral authorities : — " The administration of Colonel Dongan was chiefly distinguished by the attention he bestowed on Indian affairs. The confederation of the Five Naiiuns liad long existed in the neighborhood of the colony ; and, by a system of wise and politic measures, it had succeeded in acquiring a degree of power and importance never attained by any other association of the Nuilh American tribes. They had adopted, among other practices, that of incorporating num- bers of their enemies among themselves, and the consequence was the acquisition of many hardy warriors, and even distinguished sachems and chiefs. When, lubscquently, the Tuscarora tribe was vanquished by the South Carolina troops, it was Adopted in entirety by the Iroquois, and thenceforward the confederation was called the Six Nations. Before the arrival of Cham|>lain in Canada, they had driven the Adirondacs to a position near Quebec ; but the aid rendered by that adventurer, and the use of fire-arms in several battles, turned the tide of war, and compelled the Five Nations to retreat into their own country in the greatest distress. The arrival of the Dutch in the Hudson river, at this critical juncture, affording them a supply of fire-arms, to which their enemies had been indebted for success, they revived the war with such impetuosity and determin- ation, that the tribe of Adirondacs were completely annihilated. Hence originated their hatred to the French, and their grateful attachment to the people of the New Netherlands, which was inherited by those of the province of New York. "The French hnd advanced their settlements along the St. Lawrence, and in 1672 built Fort Frontenac on its north-west bank, near lake Ontario: the Jesuits were then conciliating the neighboring Indians, and converting many of them to Christianity, — Colonel Dongan, perceiving the danger of these encroachments to the interests of the colonies, entered, in conjunction with Lord Effingham, governor of Virginia, into a definitive treaty with the Five Nations, embracing all the English settlements, and all the tribes in alliance with them. This treaty took place in 1G84. It was long and inviolably adhered to."— Fuost'8 Hist, of the U. States, pp. 96-7. Edit, of 1838.— £. I ''ti IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1 1.0 I.I 1.25 iiiM m IM 12.2 IM ^ S:« 111112.0 mm U. IIIII.6 ^m^ m A "el c^. W W3 /A / &. o / Photographic Sciences Corporation ^ iV \\ % v ^\. #^ 6^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET Wf:3STFi?,N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 (\?^ m> S" €p. tf '& w- io i/x 282 HISTORY OP CANADA. M. Denonville, on learning that the Iroquois were making new irrup. lions, resolved to attack the tribe of Tsonnonthouans, the piomoters of these troubles, and the worst disposed of the five cantons. To cloak his hostile intents, he sent Piire Laniberville back to the Onnontagucz, with presents for the chiefs whom he should be able to secure as friends of the French ; and directed the missionary to make an engagement for a depu- tation from the whole confederation, to meet him (the governor-general) at Cataraqui in spring following. The messenger being a venerable man, in whom the tribe put unbounded confidence, doubted not, for a uiouient, that in all which had been done and proposed, good faith was intended to be kept: and then it was, they drew off the warriors who had taken the field, as intimated above. Simultaneously, French agents endeavored to gain the friendship of the lake tribes, scattered as these had been through the intrigues of the New Yorkers. The summer of 1086 passed in preparations for war, and in (fraudful) negociations for peace. The Iroquois, who could never be long tranquil, resumed their inroads; bands of them attacked the allies of the French, and facilitated the efforts which they made to engage the Miamis, the Hurons, and the Ottawas to take up arms again. " The five cantons,** wrote Denonville to M. de Seignelai, " who like the English only for the low prices they fix on their merchandise in barter for peltry, — otherwise, preferring us to them, — aim at the perdition of all other native nations, intending after- wards to overwhelm the colony and become undisputed masters of the country. Colonel Dongan, who wishes to extend his authority to Niagara, receives our deserters kindly,* whom he finds useful for ruining our commerce, and extending his own ; and I am obliged to keep measures with them till I be ready to fall on. I learn that the five cantons have marched against the Miamis, and the savages of the Bale des Puants, and that they ruined one village of those parts; but the hunters of the bay having turned upon the devastators and defeated them, the latter determined to be avenged. They have therefore, since then, killed many • In a long Report addressed to the Board of Trade at London, in 1687, Dongan, after characterising tlie Five Nations as the most warlike people of America, and serving as a bulwark for the English against the French, added, that he disallowed all parley between the christened savages and the Iioquoii except at Albany ; that he had recalled several hundred savages who hud jiassed into Canada, and given them larids on the iludson ; that it was needful to erect forts to secure the country as far as to the bay of Mexico, bee luse the Frciir.li now laid claim to it, without other right than twenty years' of (uominal) posscssiun, *c. THB MASSACRE OF LACUINE. 283 of the Illinois. They now keep no terms with us, and pillage our canoes " vbenever they fall in with them." The commanders of forts Michilimackinac and Detroit had received orders to put them in a state of defence, to prevent the approaches of the English towards Michilimackinac. Those officers were to collect abundance of provisions, and store them for the use of the army in the ensuing campaign, and to descend afterwards to Niagara with as many Canadians and native warriors as remained at their disposal. They were enjoined, at the same time, to do all with secrecy, as well as diligence. Meanwhile, the king charged his ambassador at the English court to prefer new complaints against the proceedings of Dongan, and to press for the nomination of commissioners to settle the respective boundaries of the American colonies of the two nations. His Majesty also sent the reinforcements demanded by the governor-general, with orders to act vigorously, so as to finish the war before the year were out. They arrived at Quebec early in 1687 ; and were composed of 800 men of a bad class, headed by chevalier de Vaudreuil, who gained distinction at the taking of Valenciennes in 1677; and several descendants of whom afterwards governed the colony. Vaudreuil entered the corps of the Mousquetaires when 14 years old ; he made several campaijtns in Flanders, and had reached the grade of quarter-master. Part of his regiment was forthwith sent on to Montreal, to join a corps then forming in the island of St. Helen's, opposite that place, under the order of M. de Callieres, a veteran who had served for twenty years in the French armies. The corps thus assembled now amounted to 832 regulars, 800 militia, and 400 savages. " With all this superiority of force," siys one author, " Denonville was injudicious enough to begin hostilities by an act which dishonored the French name in the eyes of the aborigines ; that name which, amid all their savageries, they had hitherto learned to respect as well as fear." In plainer words, the marquis, desiring to strike the Iroquois with terror, caused the chiefs sent as deputies by the intermediation of Ptire Lamber- ville, acting by his own directions, to be seized at Cataraqui, and shipped in chains to France! The news of this violent and treacherous act, which was loudly disapproved by the colonists, naturally inflamed the minds of the Iroquois, and incited them to vow vengeance against the French. The life of P6re Lamberville was now in imminent peril, to' begin with. [Happily, it was safe ; thanks, not to " pious " faith, but to heathen magnanimity.] The elders of the Onnontaguez summoned the missionary who had been the unwilling instrument for the betrayal of the flower of the Five Nations into the hands of their oppressor, and thus 284 HISTORY OP CANADA. addressed him ; — " "We have every right to treat thee as our foe, but we have not the inclination to do so. We know thy nature too well ; thine heart has had no share in causing the wrong that has been done to us. We are not so unjust as to punish thee for a crime that thou abhorrest as much as we, and in committing which thou wast made an unconscious instrument. But thou must, perforce, leave us. Every one of our people may not see matters in the same light as we do, and some might wish thee harm. When our young men chant the song of war, they may haply regard thee as a traitor, who has been the means of consigning their chiefs into hard and degrading bondage ; they may listen only to the suggestions of their own just indignation ; they may take counsel only of their fury ; and we, aged and feeble as we are, shall not have the power to snatch thee, in such an hour, from their vengeful grasp." Having thus spoken, these great-hearted " savages" furnished the worthy missionary with guides to lead him, by devious paths, out of the coun- try, with orders not to quit him till assured of his safety. — Another Jesuit, P6re Millet, when in extremity, was by a (really pious) native woman, saved from being burnt aliv3, by adopting him as her son. Louis XIV had the grace to be ashamed of the violation of the law of nations by his deputy, and censured his conduct. Nevertheless, certain oflScial orders, sent over during the colonial administration of M. do La Barre, and, more recently, to Denonville himself and M. de Champigny, gave a color of authority for sending the Iroquois to the galleys, as revolted subjects of " the great monarch."* But here the sacrcdncss of the ambassadorial character had been most grossly outraged, as was remarked at that time. The act was too bad to be justified, and was of course dis- claimed, even for polity's sake, if for no higher reason. The Iroquois then in France, were unchained,f and hurried back to Canada, so that • " For a considerable time back, Louis XIV had given orders, that the Iroquois prisoners of war should be sent to France, and chained to the oar in the state penal galleys ; because, to use the exact words of the royal missive, ' these savages being strong and robust, will be most useful in our convict vessels.' " M. BiBADD : Hist, du Canada, i. 132. Une would be tempted to think that the four copper colored male colossi, or chained human figures, now preserved at the Hotel-des-Invalides, Paris, were cast to commemorate the capture of the Iroquois chiefs by M. Denonville, did we not know that they long ornamented the pedestal of the original equestrian statue of Louis XIV in the Place- des- Victoires of that city ; and that they symbolised captives of European popula- tions really or pretendedly conquered by that vain glorious king. — B. t Smith, in his History of New York, pretends that this capture was an infrac- tion of the treaty of Whitehall, signed in 1686, on the part of Louis XIV, and James II, in which it was stipulated that " the fur trade with the natives should THE MASSACRE OF LACHINE. 285 their restoration might lessen, if it did not quite prevent the commission of such vengeful reprisals as their compatriots were likely to make, on their account, upon the persons of the colonists. Meanwhile the gover- nor-general, repeating his abominable stroke of kidnapping, got together as many of the Iroquois as his emissaries could lay hands on, intending to send them to the galleys at Marseilles; while John Bochart, sieur de Champigny, the intendant, in imitation of his principal, cleverly allured a number of the obnoxious nation to Frontenac, by inviting them to a banquet, and when arrived there, put them, ironed, into the prison of the fort. A royal order for the release Oi these and the other victims, saved them from the suffering endured by their chiefs in the hold of the trans- port which bore the latter to and from France. The corps collected in St. Helen's island, ombarked in 400 boats or canoes, ascended the St. Lawrence to the appointed scene of action. The Canadians, divided into four battalions, had for chiefs, Messrs. Lavaltrie, Bei thier, Grandville, and Longueuil. To avoid the blame which fell afore- time upon M. de Meules, for his not having followed the expedition of M. de La Barre, the intendant accompanied the troops, who disembarked at the Riviere des Sables, on the margin of Lake Ontario, at the axial point of the territory meant to be invaded, near where the Iroquois in arms were intrenched. The same day the little army was strengthened by an additional force of 600 men, led from Detroit by Messrs. La Durantaye, Tonti and De Luth. These oflGicers had taken prisoner seventeen Englishmen whom they found crossing Lake Huron on their way to Michilimackinac for trafficking purposes, la contravention of the treaty between the two crowns.* After some days' rest, Denonville set out in search of foemen. His men suffered much from the summer heat. The country they had to cross being hiily and marshy, was favorable to ambuscades, and had therefore to be traversed with precaution. The Iroquois had been infor- med that the French were approaching, by one of their own people, who, be free to French and English alike." The document itself proves the direct contrary. The Frenchman who served the English traders as a guide was shot by order of Denonville, without form of process j an arbitrary proceeding con- demned by Lahontan, but justified by Charlevoix. — B. * It would appear that the Iroquois were more advanced in material civilisa- tion, as well as more brave than the people of other nations of the aborigines. The habit of raising grain and storing it, and keeping domestic animals, which in their case, according to M. Bibaud, were " une quantity immense de pour- ceaux, " put them at the head of all the contemporary native races of the central wilderness of the North American contiaent.— £. i 286 HISTORY OF CANADA. after having been captured, had escaped, and hastened to sound the alarm. The Tsonnonthouans set fire to the horde (village) and retreat- ed ; but recovering their confidence, they returned, and watched an opportunity to trip up the heels of the invaders. Three hundred of them took post on a brook, which ran between two wooded hills, in front of their town (bourgude) ; and 500 more ensconced themselves in a reedy moniss, at some distance. In this position, they waited the advance of the French. The vanguard of the latter, induced to quicken its march on observing certain indications purposely put in their wav to urge them on, got a considerable way ahe id of the main body, and soon neured the guarded brook. The 300 Iroquois, had they acted with pruilence, ^»ould have allowed the French vanguard to pass, got into its rear, and driven the men upon the second ambuscade ; but dealing with the van as if it had been the entire army, and observing that it was chiefly composed of natives, they uttered the war-whoop, and discharged their pieces. At this fire from an unseen enemy, most of the savages took to fliiiht, and the panic spread for a moment among the soldiers who were coming behind, who happened to be men unaccustomed to bush fighting. The christened savages present, and the Abenaquis, on the contrary, held their ground. A few minutes more, and Lavaltrie came up, at the head • of some battalions of militia, marching quick step, the drums beating a charge. Fear now passed to the enemy's men, who fled to the marsh, and commmunicated their own panic to those there posted, when all flod together pell-mell, throwing away their arms as they ran. The loss of the French was small in this skirmish; that of the Iroquois was 45 killed and 00 wounded. The conquerors bivouacked on the spot, fearing a surprise. The native allies took possession of the dead bodies, and, as was their usage, got up a cannib A feast with the human remains. Nj.^t mf)rning, the army advance I to the burnt village of the Tson- nonthouans, seated on a hill, the summit of which was crowned with several towers, the contour of which stood out picturesquely from the sky bjhind. These were the granaries of the tribe; and therein were found 4 JJjOOO bushels of m lize, which the owners had not had the time to destroy. The dwellings were aire idy destroyed ; only the tombs of the depirted remained erect. The interior of the country was ravaged during ten days; the standing crops were destroyed, and live stock shiuiih- tercd. No opponent appeared, the whole population, in i'act, having quitted the country : some of the people took refuge with the Goyogouins, Others crossed the mountain for Virginia, lowing stragglers to die behind THE MASSACRE OP LACIIINE. 287 them. This flight reduced the numbers of the Tsonnonthouans by a moiety, and greatly humbled the whole Iroquois confederation.* Denonville took formal possession of the country ; but instead of inarching aguinst the other cantons, as was expected by all, the allied savages included, the moment being propitious to strike at the heart of the Iroquois confederation, panic-struck for the time — instead of follow- in;^ up the success his soldiers had gained for hini, the marquis sent away apart of his forces, and with the rest retired towards the river Niagara, there erecting a fort, in which he placed a garrison of 100 men, who all perished by an epidemic disease which broke out among them. The results of this campaign were not proportionately important to the cost incurred in its preparation, nor to the expectations it had raised. A skilful leader, with such a force as Denonville had in hand, would assuredly have finished, in a year's time, the war thus happily commenced ; but the governor tarried too long in the country he overran when there remained others beyond to conquer ; and he staid, in mid-course, to found a stronghold, not immediately useful. He certainly had sound ideas on many points; but he had a speculative rather than an energetic mind, and was not prompt in action. Few governors of Canada ever set down on paper more sage maxims for its proper administration, yet fewer still left it in a sadder plight than he did. It was he who, with the intendant, advised the minister for the colonies " to send sturdy peasants as colonists, men used to handle hatchet and pick-axe," to clear the bush. It was he too wIk) complained of the over abundance of nobles in the colony. "While upon this subject," wrote he in lG8t), "I ought to give an account to Monseigneur of the penury of several many-childed families on the brink of beggary, yet all of noble blood, or reputed such. The family of St. Ours I may first mention. He is a worthy esquire of Dau- phiny (a relation of Marshal d'Estrades), encumbered with a wife and ten children. The parents seem quite depressed with a sense of their poverty. Yet the children disdain no honest means for lessening this evil, for I have seen two of their grown daughters cutting corn and hold- ing the plough." Other good families indicated as in poor circumstances by the governor were the Linctots, the Aillebousts, the Dugues, the Bou- chers, the d'Arpentignys, the Tillys. The wife and daughter of M. Tilly cultivated the family farm. Djnonville expressed his fears lost the sons of such needy parents might pass over to the English, whose traders he • M. Bibaiid says, " The humiliation of the tribe was almost the only fruit of the exiteilition. The savages returned to their country as soon as the Fernch retired from it." Hist, du Canada, i. 138.— JB. 288 HIFrORY OP CANADA. I! - 4 added " spared no pains to allure our hunters to regions where tlicy pur- sue their traflSc north of the St. Lawrence, and towards the frontiers of New England." 1 1 the same dispatch he recommended that none but the rich should be ennobled ; for, wrote he sagely, " to make a noble in this country of one apt neither at trade nor any other useful occupation, is merely adding to the number of idlers. He applied for pilots and mariners, also; and pro- posed to open up a way of communication overland between Canada and Acadia. The retreat of Denonville from the promising scene of action, was a signal for the Iroquois to recommence their invasions, which now attained a more sanguinary and devastating character than ever before. Their reprisals on the frontier were terrible, and put the whole colony in a state of consternation. With unappeasable rage in their hearts, these barbar- ians desolated all western Canada with fire and hatchet. Colonel Dongan, who wrote to London that the French had invaded the English territory, fomented their hostile feelings with much skill, treating them as brotherly allies rather than as savage partisans ; he excited their patriotic feelings, and inspired them to defend their country with ail the energy of their fiery natures. He promised to succour them, provided they received no French missionary and would not repair to Cataraqui. He made an offer to the residents at the Sault St. Louis, to send them an English Jesuit priest ; and strove to bring them nearer to New York by assigning to them lands they would find, he said, superior to those he wanted them to leave. He tried to play the mediator's part between the French and the Iroquois ; proposing conditions, however, to the former, which, he knew, they would not accept. He affected the tone of a dictator in name of the Five Nations. He said to P^re Fran§ois Vaillant that no peace could be had with the Iroquois till their kidnapped chiefs were sent back from France ; that the christened Iroquois of Sault St. Louis, and of the Mountain, must needs return to their compatriots ; that the Frenoh ought to raze their forts at Cataraqui and Niagara ; finally, that it was their duty to compensate the Tsonnonthouans for the damage they had done them. Dongan afterwards assembled the elders of the Five Nations to inform them that the French governor-general was anxious for a pacifica- tion, and advised them to insist on obtaining certain conditions which he enumerated for their direction. He added, " I wish you to quit the war- hatchet, it is true, but I desire not that you bury it; content yourself with hiding it under the grass. The king, my master, has forbidden me to supply you with arms or ammunition should you continue the war ; but if ■% THE MASSACRE OF LACHINE. 289 ihc French refuse my conditions, you shall want for nothing, even if I pay the cost myself, rather than you should renounce so good a cause. Stand on your guard ever, lest some new snare of the enemies should be ipread for you, and make all ready to fall upon them unawares, either by way of lake Ontario or of lake Champlain, as soon as you find it expedient fo recommence the war." On their part the aborigines of the lake countries were much cooled iu their wonted attachment to French interests, especially the Ilurons of Michilimackinac, who kept up underhand relations with the Iroquois, although they had fought against them in the late campaign. These news, conjoined to the epidemic which broke out in Canada after the army's return to quarters, and made great ravages, induced the governor to renounce the project of a second expedition, and gave the Iroquois an opportunity to menace the fort of Frontenac and even that of CLambly. The latter was invested all of a sudden, by the Agniers and Mahinijans, and owed its safety to the promptitude with which the people of the country flew to the rescue. The savage bands glided as far as the island of Montreal, where one of them assaulted a block-house, strove to raise its palisades, and were driven off with difficulty ; a second band, 200 strong, fell upon another place, killed several people, and burnt some houses, but at last were defeated. These petty attacks, however, were but the fore- runners of more terrible irruptions during the following years. The situation of the colonists at this time was certainly anything but enviable. They literally " dwelt in the midst of alarms," yet their steady courage in facing perils, and their endurance of privations when unavoidable, were worthy of admiration. A lively idea of what they had to resist or to suffer, may be found by reading the more particular parts of the governor's despatches to Paris. For instance, in one of these, he wrote, in reference to the raids of the Iroquois : " The savages are just 80 many animals of prey, scattered through a vast forest, whence they are ever ready to issue, to raven and kill in the adjoining countries. After their ravages, to go in pursuit of them is a constant but almost bootless task. They have no settled place, whither they can be traced with any certainty ; they must be watched everywhere, and long waited for, with fire-arms ready primed. Many of their lurking places could be reached only by bloodhounds, or by other savages as our trackers : but those in onr service are few, and native allies we have are seldom trustworthy j they fear the enemy more than they love us ; and they dread, on their own selfish account, to drive the Iroquois to extremity. It has been wsolved, in the present strait, to erect a fortress in every seigniory, as a 290 HISTORY OP CANADA. place of shelter for helpless people and live stock, at times when the open country is overrun with ravagers. Ah matters now stand, the arable grounds lie wide apart, and are so begirt with bush that every tliicket around serves as a point for attack by a savage foe ; in so much that an array, broken up into scattered posts, would be needful, to protect the cultivat-ors of our cleared lands."* Nevertheless, at one time, hopes were entertained that more peaceful times were coming. In effect, negoeiations with the Five Nations were recommenced ; and the winter of 1687-8 was passed in goings to and fro between the colonial authorities and the leaders of the Iroquois with whom several conferences were holden. A correspondence, too, was main- tained by the governor with Colonel Dongan ; the latter intimating, in «ne of his letters, that he had formed a league of all the Iroquois tribes and put arms in their hands, to enable them to defend British colonial territory against all comers.f The Iroquois coniederation itself sent a deputation to Canada, which was escorted as far as lake St. Frangois by 1200 warriors, — a significant demonstration enough. The envoys, after having'put forward their pre- tensions with much stateliness and yet more address, said that, neverthe- less, their people did not mean to press for all the advantages they had the light and the power to demand. They intimated, that they were per- fectly aware of the comparative weakness of the colony ; that the Iroquois could at any time burn the houses of the inhabitants, pillage their stores, waste their crops, and afterwards easily raze the forts. The governor- general in reply to these (not quite unfounded) boastings and arrogant assumptions, said that Colonel Dongan claimed the Iroquois as English Bubjects ; and admonished the deputies that, if such were the case, then they must act according to his orders, which would necessarily be pacific, France and England not now being at war : whereupon the deputies res- ponded, as others had done before, that the confederation formed an inde- pendent power, that it had always resisted French as well as English supremacy over its subjects ; and that the coalesced Iroquois would be neutral or friends or else enemies to one or both, at discretion, " for we have never been conquered by either of you," they said ; adding, that, '* as they held their country immediately from God, they acknowledged no other master." It did not appear, however, that there was a perfect accordance amongst * Letter to M. Seignelai, August 10, 1688. t Documents de Paris et de Londres, Documentary History of New York^ bj M. B. O'Callaghan, vol. i. THE MASSACRE OF LACHINE. 291 the envoys on all points, for the deputies from Onnontagncz, the On- neyouths, and Goyogouins agreed to a truce, on conditions proposed bj M. Denonville ; namely, that all the native allies of the French should be comprehended in the treaty. They undertook that deputies [othen than some of those present ?] should be sent from the Agniers and Tsonnonthouan cantons, who were then to take part in concluding a treaty : that all hostilities should cease on every side, and that the French should be allowed to re- victual, undisturbed, the fort of Cutaraqui The truce ha"'ng been agreed to on those bases, five of the Iroquois remained (one for each canton), as hostages for its terms being observed faithfully. Notwithstanding this precaution, several roving bands of Iroquois, not advertised, possibly, of what was pending, continued to kill our peoplei, burn their dwellings and slaughter live stock, in different parts of the colony; for example, at St. Francois, at Sorel, at Contreccour, and St, Ours. These outrages however, it must be owned, did not long continue ; and roving corps of savages, either singly or by concert, drew oflF from tlie invaded country and allowed its harassed people a short breathing time at least. The native allies of the French, on the other hand, respected the truoe little more than the Iroquois. The Abenaquis invaded the Agniers canton, and even penetrated to the English settlements, scalping several ' persons. The Iroquois of the Sault and of Lamontagne did the like; but the Hurons of M achilimackinac, supposed to be those most averse to the war, did all they could, and most successfully too, to prevent a peaoe being signed. While the negociationa were in progress, the " Machiavel of the wil- derness," as Raynal designates a Huron chief, bearing the native name of Kondiarak, but better known as Le Rat in the colonial annals, arrived at Frontcnac, with a chosen band of his tribe, and became a means of complicating yet more the difficulties of the crisis. He was the most enterprising, brave, and best informed chief in all North America ; and, as such, was one courted by the governor in hopes of his becoming a valuable auxiliary to the French, although at first one of their most for- midable enemies. He now came prepared to battle in their favor, and eager to signalize himself in the service of his new masters. The time^ however, as we may well suppose, was not opportune, and he was informed that a treaty with the Iroquois being far advanced, and their deputies ob the way to Montreal to conclude it, he would give umbrage to the gover- nor-general of Canada should he persevere in the hostilities he had beea already carrying on. 292 HISTORY OP CANADA. Tho Rat was taken aback on hearing this (to him) unwelcome new!< but took care to hide his surprise and uttered no complaint. Yet was be mortally offended that the French should have gone so far in the matter without the concert of their native allies ; and ho at once resolved to punish them, in his own case, for such a marked slight. He 8ct out •ecrctiy with his braves, laid an ambuscade near Famine Cove for the approaching deputation of Iroquois, murdered several and made the others his prisoners. Having so done, he secretly gloried in the act, afterwards saying that ho had " killed the peace." Yet in dealing with the captives he put another and a deceptive face on the matter ; for, on courteouHlj questioning them as to. the object of their journey, being told that they were peaceful envoys, he affected great wonder, seeing that it was Dcnon- ville himself who had sent him on purpose to waylay them I To give seeming corroborations to his astounding assertions, he set the survivors at liberty, retaining one only to replace one of his men who was killed by the Iroquois in resisting the Hurons' attack. Leaving the deputies to follow what course they thought fit, he hastened with his men to Micbi- limackinac, where he presented his prisoner to M. Durantaye, who, not as yet officially informed, perhaps, that a truce existed with the Iroquois, consigned him to death, though he gave Durantaye assurance of who he really was ; but when the victim appealed to the Rat for confirmation of his being an accredited envoy, that unscrupulous personage told him be must be out of his mind to imagine such a thing 1 This human sacrifice offered up, the Rat called upon an aged Iroquois, then and long previously a Huron captive, to return to his compatriots and inform them, from him, that while the French were making a show of peace-seeking, they were, underhand, killing and making prisoners of their native antagonists. This artifice, a manifestation of the diabolic nature of its author, had too much of the success intended by it ; for, although the governor ma- naged to disculpate himself in the eyes of the more candid-minded Iroquois leaders, yet there were great numbers of the people who could not be disabused ; as is usual, in such cases, even among civilized races. Never- theless the enlightened few, who really were tired of the war, agreed to send a second deputation to Canada; but when it was about to set out, a special messenger arrived, sent by Andros, successor of Dongan, enjoining the chiefs of the Iroquois confederation not to treat with the French without the participation of his master ; and announcing, at the same time, that the King of Great Britain had taken the Iroquois nations un- der his protection. Concurrently with this step, Andros wrote to Denon- yille that the Iroquois territory was a dependency holden of the British, THE MASSACRE OP LACHINE. 298 snd that he would not permit its people to treat upon those conditions already proposed by Don<^an. This transaction took place in 1G88; but before that year concluded, Andres' " royal master" was himself Hupcrsodcd, and livinji an exile in France.* ^V'hethcr instructions sent from England previ(msly warranted the polity pursued by Andros or not, bis injunctions had the effect of instantly stopping the negociations with the Ir^cjuois, and prompting them to recommence their vengeful hostilities. War between Fra'ice and Britiiin being proclaimed next year, the American colonists of the latter adopted the Iroquois as their especial allies, in the following contests with the people of New France. f Andros, meanwhile, who adopted the policy of his predecessor so far as regarded the aborigines if in no other respect, im* only fomented the deadly enmity of the Iroquois for the Canadians, but !' d to detach the Abenaquis from their alliance with the French, but without effect in their case; for this people honored the countrymen j' the uussionii'-; d who had made the gospel known to them, and thfir nation l)ec;.iiie a living barrici ., .*Jew Frmoe on that side, which no force -cnt from New England could surmount; insomuch that the Abona(nii>, some; time after- wards, having crossed the borders of the English possessi'^'.s, and harassed the remoter colonists, the latter were fain to apply to the Iroqu'ls to enable them to hold their own. The declaration of Andros, and the armings of the Iroquois, now let loose on many parts of Canada, gave rise to a project as politic, pcrhapfl, as it was daring, and such as communities, when in extremity, have adopted with good effect ; namely, to divert invasion by directly attack- ing the enemies' neighboring territories. The Chevalier de Calliiirefl, with whom the idea originated, after having suggested to Denonville a plan for making a conquest of the province of New York, set out for France, to bring it under the consideration of the home government, believing that it was the only means left to save Canada to the mother country. I * " In 1688, Andros was appointed governor of New York and New England. The appointment of this tyrant, and the annexation of the colony to th« neighboring ones, were measures particularly odious to the people." Frost'i Hist, of U. States, p. 91. —B. f'May 12, 1689. An alliance against France between the Emperor of Ger- many, William III of England, and the Dutch States-general, concluded at '^'tnna." Wadb's British History, p. 272.— B. ft Such an attempt, successful or not, would have been founded on aggressive, ki defensive policy ; yet by an inattention to dates, and not reciting events ia 294 BISTORT OF CANADA. In an interview he obtained with the king, he represented, that, judg- ing by the past, it was to be expected that the English, who could supply their merchandise at almost 50 per cent, less price than the Cana- dians, would, by attracting to themselves the whole fur traffic, ruin the traders of New France ; that having secured the whole trade with the aborigines, they would have the latter at their disposal, and, by their means, in conjunction with the English soldiery and militia, they would be able, at any time, to destroy all the French establishments on both sides of the St. Lawrence as far down as Quebec ; that the New Yorkers would ever sustain the pretensions of the Iroquois, who would never ) at peace with the French colonists so long as they were thus backed : finally, that the only means, therefore, of preventing the perdition of Oanada was to take possession of the province of New York. Then as to the means of effecting this desirable or rather indispensable enterprise, M. de Calli^res said : " Put at my disposition 1400 French regulars and 600 picked Canadian militia, hunters, &c., and I will penetrate the enemy's territory, by the line of the Richelieu river and Lake Chaniplain. Orange (Albany) is poorly fortified : the town, with its 300 people, is merely palisaded, with no terraces for great guns ; the sole regular defensive work is a petty fort of four bastions, the whole gar- rison being only 150 men; Manhattan (New York) town has eight com- panies of soldiers, each of cO men, — 400 in all. There, indeed, is a fort, built of stone, with some few cannons. Once in possession of the pro- vince, we should be masters of one of the finest ports in America, open at all seasons of the year ; and of a fertile country, with a fine climate." His Majesty thought well of the project on first hearing it, but adjourned its further consideration, preferring a solid peace, if it could be obtrined; yet if the enterprise were to be undertaken, as he afterwards thought it ahould be, he doubtless thought that the Marquis de Denonville was not the person to see it carried out, his campaign against the Tsonnonthouans having manifested his incapacity as a military leader. For this and other reasons, therefore, his recall was determined on. It was high time, indeed, that the destinies of Canada were confided the order of their occurrence, tbe text of the original impresses its readers witb the mistaken idea that Britain and France were at war, when Des Callieres pro- posed to turn the tide of battle into the plantations of British America. Now James II. the creature of Louis XIV, as bis brother had ever been before, was •till on tbe throne. He did not quit England till Dec. 23, 1688, and war was ■ot proclaimed till nearly five months afterwards j while an allowance of nearly two more may be made, before official aotificatioa of it could reach the colonial authorities of either nation. — B. THE MASSACRE OF LACHINE. 295 to other directors than the late and present; left as the colony had been, lince the departure of M. de Frontenac, in the hands of superannuated or incapable chiefs. Any longer persistency in the policy of its two most recent governors, might have irreparably compromised the future existence of the colony. But worse evils were in store for the latter days of the Denonville administration ; a period which, take it altogether, was one of the most calamitous which our forefathers passed through. At the time we have now reached in this history, an unexpected as well as unwonted calm pervaded the country : yet the governor had been positively informed, that a desolating inroad by the collective Iroquois had been arranged, and that its advent was imminent ; but as no prccur- Mve signs of it appeared any where to the general eye, it was hoped that the storm, said to be ready to burst, might yet be evaded. None being able to account for the seeming inaction of the Iroquois, the governor applied to the Jesuits for their opinion on the subject. The latter expressed their belief that those who had brought intelligence of the evil intention of the confederacy had been misinformed as to facts, or else exaggerated sinister probabilities. The prevailing calm was therefore dangerous as well as deceitful, for it tended to slacken preparations which ought to have been made to lessen the apprehensions of coming events which threw no shadow before. The winter and the spring of the year 1688-9 had been passed in an unusually tram^uil manner, and the summer was pretty well advanced, when the storm, long pent up, suddenly fell on the beautiful Island of Montreal, tl garden of Canada. During the night of the 5th day of August, amid a storm of hail and rain, 1400 Iroquois traversed the Lake St. Louis, and disembarked silently on the upper strand of that Island. Before daybreak next morning, the invaders had taken their station at Lachine, in platoons around every considerable house within a radius of several leagues. The inmates were buried in sleep, — soon to be the dreamless sleep that knows no waking, for too many of them. The Iroquois only waited for the signal from their leaders to fall on. It is given. In short space the doors and the windows of the dwellings are driven in; the sleepers dragged from their beds; men, women, children, all stru^^ling in the hands of their butchers. Such houses as the savages oannot force their way into, they fire ; and as the flames reach the perst)na of those within, intolerable pain drives them forth to meet death beyond the threshhold, from beings who know no pity. The more fiendish mur- derers tore the unborn infants from their mothers' wombs; they even forced parents to throw their children into the flames. Two hundred persons 296 HISTORY OF CANADA. were burnt alive; others died under prolonged tortures. Many were reserved to perish similarly, at a future time. The fair island upon which the sun shone brightly erewhile, was lighted up by fires of woe ; houseb plantations and crops were reduced to ashes, while the ground reeked with blood up to a line a short league apart from Montreal city. The ravacerg crossed to the opposite shore, the desolation behind them being complete and forthwith the parish of La Chenaie was wasted by fire, and many of its people massacred. The colonists, for many leagues around the devoted region, seem to have been actually paralysed by the brain-blow thus dealt their compatriota by the relentless savages, as no one seems to have moved a step to arrest their course ; for they were left in undisturbed possession of the country during several weeks. On hearing of the invasion, Denonville lost his self-possession altogether. When numbers of the colon'sts, recovering from their stupor, came up armed desiring to be led against the murderers of their country-folks, he sent them back, or forbade them to stir ! Several •pportunities presented themselves for disposing of parties of the barba- rians, when reckless from drink after their orgies, or when roving about in scattered parties feeble in number ; but the governor-general's positive ©rders to refrain from attacking them, withheld the uplifted hand from striking. In face of a prohibition so authoritative, the soldiers and the inhabitants alike could only look on, and wait till the savages should find it convenient to retire. Some small skirmishing, indeed, there was at a few distant points, between the people and their invaders. Thus a party of men, partly French and partly natives, led by Larobeyre, an ex-lieu- tenant, on the way to reinforce fort Roland, where Chevalier de Vaudreuil commanded, were set upon and all killed or dispersed. More than half of the prisoners taken were burnt by their conquerors. Larobeyre being wounded and not able to flee, was led captive by the Iroquois to their country, and roasted at a slow fire in presence of the assembled tribe of his captors. Meantime the resistance to the barbarians being little or none in the regions they overran, they slew most of the inhabitants they met in their passage; while their course was marked, wherever they went, by lines of flame. Their bands moved rapidly from one devoted tract to another ; yet wherever they had to face concerted resistance, which in some cases, at last, put a setting obstacle in the way of their intended ravagings, they turned aside, and sought an easier prey elsewhere. In brief, during ten •ntire weeks or more, did they wreak their wrath, almost unchecked, upon the fairest region of Canada, and did not retire thence till about mid-October. THE MASSACRE OF LACHINE. 297 The governor-general having sent a party of observation to assure himself of the enemy having decamped, this detachment observed a oanoe on the lake of the Two Mountains, bearing 22 of the retiring Iroquois. The Canadians, who were of about the same number, embark- ed in two boats, and, nearing the savages, coolly received their fire ; but la returning the discharge, each singled out his man, when eighteen of the Iroquois were at once laid low. However difficult it may have been to put the people of a partially deared country, surrounded with forests, on their guard against such an irruption as the foregoing, it is difficult to account for their total unpre" paredness without imputing serious blame to Denonville and his subalterns in office. That he exercised no proper influence, in the first place, was evident ; and the small use he made of the means he had at his disposal when the crisis arrived, was really something to marvel at. He was plainly unequal to the occasion ; and his incapacity, in every particular, made it quite impossible for his presence, as chief of the colony, to be endured any longer. There is little doubt, that had he not been soon recalled, by royal order, the colonists themselves would have set him aside. — The latter season of his inglorious administration took the lujjubrious name, " The year of the Massacre."* The man appointed, through a happy inspiration, to supersede M. de Denonville, had now reached the lower Canadian waters. He was no other than the count de Frontenac. It appears that the king, willing to cover, with a handsome pretext, the recall of Denonville, in a letter dated May 31, advertised him, that war having been re-kindled in Europe, his military talents would be of the greatest use in home service. By this time, De Frontenac was called to give counsel regarding the projects of the Chevalier de Callidres, and assist in preparing the way for their realisation, if considered feasible. Meanwhile, he undertook to resume his duties as governor-general of New France ; but a series of events, to be detailed hereafter, delayed his arrival in Canada till the autumn of 1689. He landed at Quebec on the 18th of October, at 8 o'clock, p. m., wcompanied by De Calli^res; amidst the heartiest demonstrations of • " The Five Nations, being at war with the French, made a sudden descent on Montreal, burned and sacked the town, (?) killed 100 of the inhabitants, tarrying away a number of prisoners, whom they burnt alive, and then return- •d to their own country, with the loss of only two of their number. Had tb« Snglish followed up the success of their allies, all Canada might have been •»8ily conquered." Frost's Hist, of U. States, p. 97.-5. ■:i? HtT 298 HISTORY OF CANADA. popular welcome. The public funoiionariea and armed citizens in wait. ing, with torch-bearers, escorted him through the city which was sponta- neously illuminated, to his quarters. His return was hailed by all ; but by none more than the Jesuits, who had, in fact, for years before, labored to obtain his recall. The nobles, the merchants, the business class, gave him so hearty a reception as to convince him that real talent such as his must in the end rise superior to all the conjoined efforts of faction, public prejudices, and the evil passions of inferior minds. War was declared against Britain in the month of June. M. de Fron- tenac, on resuming the reins of the government, had to contend both against the Anglo-American colonies and the Five Nations. We shall see that his energy and gkill overcame all obstacles ; that the war was most glorious for the Canadians, so few in number compared with their adversaries ; and that, far from succumbing to their enemies, they carried the war into the adversaries' camp, and struck at the heart of their most remote possessions. But, before proceeding further, it is fit we should give a sketch of the British Colonies, with some notices regarding their people, — that race with whom ours contended so long on the battle field, and whose history became daily more and more "intermingled with our own. The following summary of their origin, their progress, their insti- tutions, and their resources, will manifest to every one the strength of the enemy we had to encounter, and the peculiar temper of the populations which were growing up at our side ; and form at this day, for numerical strength and industry, one of the greatest nations in the world. BOOK THE FIFTH. CHAPTER I. THE ANGLO-AMBBICAN COLONIES.— 1890. Preliminary notices.— To persecutions in the mother country must bo attributed the rapid incretue of population in the English colonies of America.— Foundation of Virginia, as a ro;ai colony. -The London and Bristol Companies.- Captain John Smith and other oarljr gorernors of Virginia.— Vicissitudes of that colony ; first introduction of female emigrants Md how disposed of, with observations thereon.— Foundation of Maryland, as a proprie- tary colony, by Roman Catholics,- Fair character ot its founder. Lord Baltimore.— Colon- iMtion of Now England.- A few notices of the Puritans.- The " Tilgrim Fathers," and tlieir expedition ; they iand on the " Rock," and found the colony of New JPlymouth.— Settlement of Massachusetts Bay.— The ex-persecuted become persecutors in their turn. — Naturt) of the three forms of government established in the different English colonies.— Account of the early commerce of British America.— The New England plantations lose their chartered rights for a time ; but these are renewed, soon after the Revolution of 1688. Concluding reflections. The treaty between France and Great Britain signed at St. Oermain- eD-Laye, restored peace to the colonies of both nations in America ; and there was little open war between the colonistsof either, even during times when amicable relations of the respective mother countries ceased, once or twice for a few months, till the period of time we have marked at the heading of this chapter. In 1632, our present starting-point, the Ameri- can dependencies of France and Britain were merely in a nascent state, and almost equally poor in material means, but by the year 1690, a change indeed had taken place in the relative circumstances of their respective colonies I — We have traced the history of New France, and noted its slower progress during the intermediate fifty-eight years ; but in order that the reader may better appreciate the differences, existing and past, between the position of the two parties about to engage in a life-and-death itniggle for supremacy on this continent, we shall now give a concise Mcount of the rise and progress of the " American plantations" (as they were long called) of Old England. Afler the bootless attempts at colonisation in the regions of the conti- nent near to or forming part of New France on its eastern sides,— as we have mentioned in their place, — the English, as a nation, ceased to covet icoretions to their empire in America. Their fishing vessels and whalers, indeed, continued to frequent the waters of those regions, along with the 800 HISTORY OP CANADA. mariners of other nations of Europe, by whom piscatory industry wag pursued; but the French, more persistent, constantly endeavored to establish themselves in Acadia, and secure a firm footing in Canada, A chief, perhaps the sole, reason why the latter had no English rivalry to contend with in solidly founding New France, arose from the attention of the British races being occupied, during much of the space of time refei red to, with civil and religious dissensions, ripening into intestine wars, which troubles must also have absorbed such state resources, in men and money, as might have been else disposable for extended colonisation. On the other hand, those civil broils, with a compensatory action, became favorable to English self-expatriation ; for to that was due the increase if not the foundation of Virginia, Maryland, &c., and yet more especially the settlement of the provinces of New England. The causes of individual renunciations of the parent country still continuing to operate up to the Revolution of 1688-9, the Anglo-American colonies at that time, if far less extensive than the territories possessed or claimed by France on this continent, were much more solidly established ; they exceeded the latter for intrinsic value, and were daily increasing in relative importance. One great cause, too, even of the material prosperity of the British colonists, was the love of civil freedom the latter immigrants brought along with them. The political and municipal franchises which they could not fully exercise at home, they claimed and secured for themselves in the land of their adoption. In the year 1 606, king James (first of that name as sovereign of England, and the earliest king of Great Britain and Ireland), granted letters patent, under the great seal, dated April 10, to Sir Thomas Gates and others, assigning to them the lordship of territories on the continent of America, forming the northern seaboard of the Atlantic, between the 34th and 45th degrees of N. latitude ; all which were either recognispd for British pos- sessions, by right of discovery or otherwise ; or else, were unclaimed by the people of any other European nation. The grant also comprehended all the islands appurtenant to the mainland shores, or within 100 miles thereof; and, consequently, ranged from Cape Fear to Halifax : but did not include the French establishment, previously formed, at Port-Royal, Acadia, in 1603. — The patentees were divided, at their own request, into two associations: the "London," or premier Company, and the othe;, known as the second, or " Bristol " Company. The former was required to locate itself between the 34th and 41st degrees of north latitude; the latter, to form its settlements between lat. 38° and 45° N. The mid-space, from 38° to 41°, was to be held in common. THE ANGLO-AMERICAN COLONIES. 301 These companies were, in right of their patent, free to send out as many native-bom British people as they chose, who and with their des- cendants could reclaim, at all times, the rights enjoyed by the resident gubjects of Britain itself. No restrictions were laid on whatever trade they might obtain with foreign nations. The lands of the plantations to be formed were to hold of the crown ; and were subject to a regality of one fifth in valuation of the gold, silver, and copper mined in the country. The right of coining all three, for the uses of the colonists, was conceded to the associators of the two companies. — The administration of affairs in each future colony was to be vested in a local council, the members of which were or might be nominated by the king ; but the supervision of the whole colonial system was to belong to a supreme council for the affairs of the American plantations, sitting in London, and being, in effect, a department of the general government of the British empire ; while, as originally constituted, its own members, nominated of course by the crown^ had the right to suggest, for royal guidance, the names of parties whom they thought suitable members of the colonial councils : so that, in fact, there was not a shadow of English representative liberty, imperfect as that then was, in the government allowed by James I to the earliest colonists of British North America. Nor wero the rights of religious freedom any better respected in laying the foundations of the new colonies ; for the religion of the Anglican church alone being accredited as that of the state, it followed that no other had a right to any endowment. Laws, civil and criminal, were to be generally, those of England. The patentees fitted out three vessels of small capacity, none of them exceeding 100 tons burden, and together having only 105 men besides the crews. The former were mostly gentlemen adventurers, a class badly fitted for the toils, and little able to undergo the privations, sure to attend those who become the pioneers of a new settlement. This ill-composed company left England Dec. 19, 1606 ; but they did not effect a landing till May 13, 1607, on the banks of a stream called Powhattan by the natives, but which the English named James River in honor of their king; and having chosen the site of a settlement, about fifty miles from it8 sea-outlet, they called the place Jamestown. Here a few huts were set up, and a stockaded house, called a fort, raised for protection against apprehended, because, provoked attacks of the natives; yet whose chief was favorably disposed to the strangers. Captain John Smith, one of the patentees, a man of humble birth but of heroic mind, was the soul of the eipedition, but from the governing council of which he was excluded. '1 802 mSTORT OF CANADA. through the jealousy of the aristocratic scions who encumbered the party In a short time the provisions brought from England were exhausted or became spoiled ; before the summer closed most of the party fell ill, and ere the winter set in, about fifty of them died. John Smith, whom the straits of the colonists obliged to put at the head of their affairs set out with a party of exploration ; but before he had proceeded [ar, the Indians beset them, and all were killed but their leader, who was saved at the intercession of the daughter of the chief, a girl aged 12, called afterwards " the princess Pocahontas." — He returned in safety to his charge ; but found that the survivors at Jamestown were only forty in all ; while even these were in the act to desert it and set out in the pinnace. This he firmly opposed, at the risk of his life. Soon afterwards, the Company sent a second party of colonists, about 100 in number, and composed of as unsuitable subjects as the preceding' namely gentlemen, and a very few laborers ; but there was a number of goldsmiths and refiners, it being understood that the country abounded in the precious metals ; there having been discovered, by ill luck, in the bed of a small stream near Jamestown, some shining earth which the ignorance of the observers caused them to mistake for gold dust ; in gathering which several months labor was lost, of course to no purpose. In 1608-9, seventy more immigrants arrived, but mostly of the like good- for-little classes as before. Among them were two females, the first who had come; and no children had been sent as yet. Smith, piqued at the want of judgment of the Company in selecting their recruits, asked for " but thirty carpenters, husbandmen, gardeners, fishermen, blacksmiths, masons, and diggers up of tree roots, rather than a thousand such as they had." Meantime, with such human material as had been put at his disposition, he set all that were fit for it to useful labor. Instruments of husbandry had been sent, but few could use them properly ; and the daily subsistence of the colony now chiefly depended ( n such supplies as the natives furnished j wit'a whom Smith ever carefully maintained amicable relations. The colony was now 200 strong, and thv> people in a healthy titate. The London Company, somewhat discouraged by the frustration of the hopes they had of obtaining gold, but determined to persevere in their enterprise, obtained a new charter, bearing date May 23, 1609. It was of a singular character, and still less favorable to colonial liberty than its predecessor, though it vested in the company powers which the king bad denied to himself. The local council was abolished, and a board of abso- lute control constituted, its members to be always resident in London. THB ANGLO-AMERICAN COLONIES. 303 The company's territorial possessionB, in terms of the same document, were lar<»ely extended. The proprietary, also, took a proportional cxpan- lion, by the addition of some nobles, many landed gentlemen, merchants, tradesmen, &c., and most of the industrial corporations of London had ihares in it. The association now wrote itself " The Treasurer and Company of Adventurers of the city of London, for the first colony in Vir'^inia." — Lord Delaware was constituted governor and captain-general for life, with provision for a body-guard. As the enterprise, under such auspices, became popular, nine more ihips which the company fitted out were soon supplied with 500 willing emigrants ; who were placed under the direction of Captain Newport, Sir Thomas Gates, and Sir George Somers. These gentlemen, as a governing triumvirate, were to rule the colony till Lord Delaware should supersede them; but the vessel in which the leaders embarked, with 150 colonists, and most of the colonial stores, &c., being cast on the shore of Bermuda, was lost. The other vessels reached their destination : but the people in them, ill selected as before, turned out to be an idle and disor- derly band, many of them ** unruly sparks, packed off by their friends, to escape worse destinies at home, " to use the words of a contemporary narrator. The new governors of the colony not having arrived, and the reason of their absence not being known, the " sparks " aforesaid, and their compan ions the " poor gentlemen, broken tradesmen, footmen," &c., assumed the powers of government, setting up a " captain " of their own number one day, and replacing him next day with another. When Smith tried to vindicate his authority, he was treated with contempt. He seized their ringleaders and imprisoned them ; he also rid the colony of 200 of its most turbulent members, by sending them into the wilderness to found other settlements if they could ; but their bad conduct irritated the natives, and little good came of such attempts. Having gone to their succour, in returning Smith was so seriously hurt that he was obliged to repair to England to get cured. He left the colony in a promising state. There were about 500 residents, including 100 soldiers. They had three ships and seven boats, 24 cannons, with small arms and ammunition ; much live stock, farming tools, fishing implements, goods for Indian barter, Ac. But the colony, left without a capable successor to Smith, fell into a state of anarchy ; its resources were soon wasted, and the season of their privations was long afterwards known as the " starving time." In sii. months after Smith's departure, the colony was reduced, from various malign influences, to sixty persons ; who would soon have perish- & 304 HISTORY OP CANADA. cd, but for the arrival (May 24, 1610) of Gates, Somcrs, and Newport from Bermuda ; and, simultaneously, came Lord Delaware, with a body of emigrants, and abundant supplies. He proved to be a good administra- tor, and the colonials were induced to apply sedulously to the useful arts the Indians learned to respect the English character, and the colony really began to thrive ; but ill-health forced the governor to seek a war- mer climate, leaving one Mr. Percy in charge, under whom the settlement again fell into disorder and want. May 10, 1611, Sir Thomas Dale came as governor from England, with more immigrants and stores; but was fain, at the outset of his rule, to put the people under martial law to save the colony from utter ruin. Three months afterwards, Sir Thoraas Gates, nominated to supersede Dale, arrived with six ships, 300 immi- grants, and large supplies. The number of the people was now 700 in all ; detachments of whom were again sent up the James River, and several subordinate settlements founded. A radical vice in the social relations of the colonists was now corrected. Under the first administrations, the lands laid out for clearing were held in commonty. Captain Smith and other rulers insiisting that each culti- vator should work six hours a day, not for his own benefit, but the state, which charged itself with his support. The natural effect was to induce listlessness in the willing, and to encour? ge idlers to skulk and play. Now, a few acres of ground were allotted to each man as his own, to be turned to the best advantage, he taking the produce, all but a small deduc- tion made, for laying up a reserve in the public store-houses. The good effect of the new system soon appeared, in making the colony self- dependent for its whole food. ' In 1613, Captain Argall, with a body of Virginian colonists, made that raid into Acadia, already narrated, which indicated a seeming intent of the companies to assert practically a claim to the whole of the American coasts northward of Virginia. As a further evidence of this, we may mention that Argall, on his return, called at New Amsterdam (New York city), where the Dutch had a small settlement, and compelled the gover- nor to submit himself and people to the British king and his governor, in Virginia, with a promise to pay tribute. But both impositions were afterwards disclaimed, and no attempt was made to enforce either at the time. The regular culture of tobacco began this year in Virginia. In 1614, Sir Thomas Dale succeeded to Sir Thomas Gates; and he, in turn, was (1616) succeeded by Mr. George Yeardly ; who held the reins of power only one year from that time, when Argall took them up; a man who rode rough-shod over all the righta of the colonists. He wai THE ANGLO-AMfiUICAN COLONIES. 305 certainly a brave officer and an able administrator, but avaricious and tyrannical. His sway at length became intolerable.* Upon the com- plaints of the colonists reaching the company, Mr. Ycardly was sent out again, as captain-general, to redress their grievances. By order of the London Company, the potency of the governor was limited by a council, with power to redress any wrongs he might commit. Nay more, the people were authorised to send deputies to a free legislative aaseinbly, which first met at Jamestown, June 19, 1619. This event formed an epoch in British colonial history. Hitherto but a small number of females had emigrated to Virginia from England: but in 1620, ninety women and girls, of good character, were sent out as colonists, and sixty more next year.f Shortly, thereaf- ter, 100 convicts were transported to the colony, being the first persons of that class transported, as many thousands were afterwards, to the American plantations. Obliged to labor, they ate honest bread ; and bj degrees, living away from the haunts of vice, many of them, when their time of service was expired, or shortened, became respectable free colonists. But the settlement of Virginia as a British dependency, [whose primeval rank is intimated in its familiar name, the " Old Domi- nion, "] it needs not that we follow its annals any further. The foundation of Maryland forms but an episode in the history of Virginia; for, by the London Company's second charter, the latter • One of Argall's despotic decrees ordained, that every person should go to Church (the Anglican, of course,) on Sundays and holidays, under the penalty of slavery during the following week for the first offence, during a month for the second, a year and day for the third. — Judge Marshall's History of the United States.— B. t In the text of the original — which has only been partially followed in the translation of this chapter on the Anglo-American colonies, on account of its inexactness — it is stated that, in 1613, most of the Virginian colonists received » wife each from the company, whose directors, " faithful to the spirit of spe- calation which now characterises so profoundly this people [English or Ameri- can?], sold these women for a weight of tobacco, varying between 100 and 150 lbs." Upon this it is to be observed, that tobacco was not then grown in the colony as an article of trade ; while it must be owned that it became afterwards its staple commodity, and represented money in many of the early trading transactions of the Virginian planters. When some marriageable women were Bent, at the real time not indicated above, as those females were poor for the most part, and paid no passage money, it was natural that the company's agents, in exchange for the outlay incurred, should hire them oat to the colonists for a term, taking in advance for their services so many pounds of tobacco ; which was Mrtftinly not money, but good money's worth.— £. . li 30G HISTORY OP CANADA. colony included the whole territory which now forms the state of Mary- land. It was HO called in honor of Henriotta-Maria, daughter of Ik'nry [V of Franco, queen-consort of CMiarles I, kin<^ of Enj^land ; and it waa founded in IGJJS by Sir Goor<;c Calvert, Lord Baltimore, a Uoman Catholic nobleman ; whose brother, Leonard Calvert, wiiilod from Kn^'land ia November that year, with about two hundred persons of Ins owd creed, who desired to escape the operation of intolerant laws passed to sustain the exclusive domination of the Anglican church in their nativo country. The cliartcr granted to their patron, vested the suzerainty of the country, holding of the English crown, ia Lord Baltiiuorti as absolute proprietor, on feudal payment of a nominal rent, and one fifth of such precious metals as should be mined. The general course of the following annals of Maryland the future capital of which was named after the founder, are well indicated in the following adnnrablc passage, taken from the work of one of the most eminent of American histo- rians: — "Calvert deserves," says Mr. Bancroft, "to bo ranked among the most wise and benevolent lawgivers of all ages. He was the first in the history of the Christian world to seek for religious security and peace by the practice of justice, and not by the exercise of power ; to plan the establishment of popular institutions, with the enjoyment of liberty of conscience; to advance the career of civilisation, by recognisin;,' the rightful equality of all Christian sects. The asylum of papists was the spot, where, in a remote corner of the world, on the banks of rivers which as yet had hardly been explored, the mild forbearance of a proprietary adopted religious freedom as the basis of state polity. The first steps towards British colonisation of New England proper, were almost coeval with the settlement of Virginia. In 1627, two ships, with a body of emigrants, under the presidency of Sir George Popham, landed at a place called Sagahadoc, near the }tnouth of the Kennebec river, on the seaboard of what is now the state of Maine, and there began a settlement, which they called St. George, probably in honor of the patron saint of England, or of their president. Forty-five persons were left here by the ships, which returned to England in December. During the winter these adventurers suffered greatly from the cold and scanty means of existe ce. Their patron died; and next year, the survivors abandoned the place. In 1614, Captain John Smith (the Virginian hero) explored the whole range of seaboard, from the Penobscot to Cape Cod, and called the region " New England," in his chart of the country, with a printed description annexed. He persuaded the second or West of England Company of THE ANOLO-AMRRIOAN COLONIES. 307 Virfjiniii to solicit u churtor for 80ttlinj» ilic country ho had tlms Hurvcycd. This wati obtainod, and the association it reconstituted took tho name of " tho council cstubli.shod ut Plymouth, (Dovonshire), for the planting, rulin.i.', orderitif^, and govcrninj^ Now Enj^land, in Anieriou." Tlu; royal letters-patent t;uve the company th —Destruction of Seinontols.— Fort Casoo taken and razed.— Wavering polity of tlio wcsten tribe." of Indians.— Uaids in Canada by tlio Iroquois; tlicyarc well resisted by tho French colonists.— Kctrospectivo Noticosof Acadia.- Sir William I'hipps captures rort-Koyal ; he «tack.i yuebcc, but is repulsed, and retires.— Uonoral Winthrop advancing simultiincously by LukoCicorgo to join I'liipps, has to retreat also.— Disasters befall tlio fleet of I'liipps.— Humiliation of the Anglo-American colonics; tlicir e.\liaustion, as well ns that of New France, it this time.- Tho Iroquois and tho Abenaquis; their depredations.— Major Schuyler defeated by M. do Varonnos.- Now project of tlio Britisli for taking (Quebec; it provc:< abortive.— Expeditions of tho B'renoh (in 1693 and 1696) into the Five Cantons.— The Milrais and tho Iroquois at war.— Canada, now secure within its own limits, tho col- onists prepare to wage war in their enemy's tcrritorios.— Credit for tho favorable state of (fTuirs in Canada chiefly due to tho wise measures of Do Frontcnac— Intrigues of his ene- mies in France. France had now been at war with parts of Europe for two or three years. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes had raised against her the Protestant nations, who made it a pretext for arming, in order to avenge their recent defeats. The prince of Orange, the most inveterate enemy of the French, was the chief promoter of the league of Augsburgh, into which most of the continental powers entered against France. James II, king of England, himself a fervent catholic, receiving subsidies from Louis XIV, to make him independent of the .English parliament, remained an ally to France : but he had great difficulty to hold his subjects in leash during a reign of little more than three years' duration;* and that finished, France had a redoubtable enemy the more. When dethroned, he was received by Louis with open arms, and a promise given that every eflfort should be made for his restoration. * Scarcely had James ascended the throne, than he claimed the arrears of a pension Louis had long allowed his deceased brother to enable him [Charles IIj to govern despotically, without a parliament. 200,000 livres were forthwith «ttt to London, and paid to His Majesty by Barillon, the French envoy. Yet WM James always indignant at the idea of his kingdom being considered a dependent state. Louis sarcastically observed, " My royal brother is proud, k«t he is very fond of our French pistoleB." LinaABD'a History of England, xiv, 16.-5. 81^0 HISTORY OP CANADA. Franco hud now to combat five powers at once; namely, (Ircat Britain the German Empire, Holland, Spain, and Savoy. Ilor colonists who had no personal interest in the contest, were yet expected to aid in carrying it on, at least against their British neighbors ; who, on tluir part, were nothing loath to seize the occasion for making uggreshioms on Now France. We have seen what headway the Anglo-Ainoriciins) had now gained in the race of colonisation on this continent, how considerable was their trade, how numerous their populations ;* that they enjoyed free institutions, and possessed some of the most fertile regions of the globe. Such were the adversaries a Canadian population of 11, 000 hiuIh had to encounter in a mortal struggle, their numbers kept down by constantly recurring losses through the hostilities of the aborigines ; and the colonial trade reduced almost to nothing. It seemed to their self sufficient neighbors that Canada would now bo so easy a prey, that they had only to reach out the hand and secure it. The French, however, were no way afraid to join issue. In conformity with their olden usages, they determined to seek the coming foe, rather Uian await his assaults, without any regard* to the superior forces he might have at his disposition. Accordingly, an agreement was come to, that British posts in and near the Hudson's Bay territory should be as Bailed at once ; while the frontier lines of New York and of other British provinces, should be crossed simultaneously. The minister of marine at Paris concerted with M. de Frontenao before leaving for Canada, that each should exert himself to the utmost (the latter secretly) to prepare for the most active hostilities. The king charged the governor-general, on his arrival, to furnish the Northern trading Company with warlike means to drive the English out of the Hudson Bay territory .f He was also ordered to communicate with M. de Man- neval, governor of Acadia, and aid him to put that province, the most exposed member of New France, in a fit state, to resist any attack that might be made upon it. The plan of De Cai'idres, hitherto in abeyance, was now practically taken up, but with the intent to extend its mode of operation, as suggest- ed by other projectors. Admiral de la CaffiniSre was, with two ships of war, to scour the Atlantic seaboard from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Bay of New York ; then to blockade that port, and there wait the results • In 1701, our total population was 262,000 ; in 1749, it was 986,000. Frobt's HUt. of U. States, p. 371.— B t These instructions bore date Jane 1. War was not declared against Bngland till twenty days afterwards.— ^^. THB SIEQE OF QUEBEC. 821 of an invasion of the province, on the land side, by the Canadians. If, u irafl expected, the province of New York fell into French hands, its eatholio inhabitants were to be allowed to remain, after having sworn fidelity to their new masters ; but the chief functionaries and principal colonists were to be kept prisoners till they wore ransomed. As for the commonalty, they were to be transported to New England and Pennsylva- nia. Po Calli^res wan then to be installed as governor of the province. As it was considered probable that an attempt would, soon thereafter, be made by the English to repossess themselves of the prize thus made by the French, an order was drawn up and signed (by anticipation) to burn all the dwellings for a certain distance around New York city ; as also to levy a heavy contribution on the rural proprietors, to redeem their build- ings from sharing the same fate. We may recognise in these directions, the harsh and relentless nature of M. Louvois ; but they were, after all,* in keeping with the habitudes of war, as then waged in America. The simultaneous invasions of British territory, on other sides than the New York frontiers, were merely designed for feints, to divide the enemy's forces, and divert the attention of his savage allies. The first blow was struck in the Hudson's Bay territory; where M. de Fert<5 captured the fort of New-Severn. Captain d'Iberville, a distinguish- ed naval officer, had reached Ste. Anne's, another post in the same region, when two English war vessels, one carrying 22, the other 14 guns, neared the fort there. Their mission was to proclaim TVilliam III, and take possession of the country in his name. Their men having landed, were drawn into ambuscades, many of them killed, and the ships taken by D'Iberville and his people. A third English vessel, which became ioe- locked, was cleverly captured by two Canadians whom the crew had taken prisoners. After these master-strokes, D'Iberville left the country in charge of M. de Maricourt, and set sail for Quebec with his prizes. The vessels appointed for the maritime part of the expedition against * The armies of Louis XIV were not unused to indulge in hostilities of the most barbarous character, especially in Protestant countries. Witness his two deliberate and premeditated ravagings of the Palatinate ; that of 1674 in par- ticular, where a district of more than 30 English miles in length, with the cities of Heidelberg and Mannheim ; the towns of Speyer, Oppenheim, Creutznach, Frankenthal, Ingelheim, Bacharach, Sinzheim, and other places of inferior note ; all which were plundered and burnt ; under the pretence of forming a barrier between the French and their enemies. Another pretext, assigned by Turenne, was that, the year before, a few peasants of the eoantrj had outraged a party of his soldiers I Diet. de$ DateB.—B. i V ■ 322 HISTORY OF CANADA. 11 , i the province of New York, and in one of which was M. de Frontenac lost a month at La Rochelle, getting repaired ; afterwards, becoming a ooavoy for slow-sailing merchant vessels to America, they did not reach Acadia till mid-September, and De Frontenac remained there some days more. Before sailing for Quebec, he left orders to M. de la Caflfiniiire to cruise before New York bay till December 10, holding himself ready to disembark ; and if, by that time, he received no ne,vs of what was doing on the land side, then to return to France. He did remain so posted till beyond the time specified, and made several prizes ; when no iateili- gence yet arriving, he stood out to sea. M. de Frontenac, on his arrival, found Canada in mourning, and the Iroquois at the gates of Montreal. They defeated a corps he sent against them, and burnt alive a number of the prisoners they took. Both sides of the St. Lawrence had they ravaged, gliding along rapidly in their bark canoes. To crown all, M. de Varennes arrived, to let him know that he had, by order of Denonville, just blown up the works of fort Cataraqui, and deserted the place which De Frontenac was about to succour. Despite these mischances, the governor, with his wonted saga- city, saw that it was only by daring action that Canada could be saved, or the courage of its people raised from present depression, to begin with. If he could not capture a province, he could at least cause much disquiet to its people, by making raids into it with flying parties : the great point was to strike at once. His mere presence had already acted like magic on the public mind, such was its confidence in him, a feeling which extend- ed also to the friendly tribes. The Abenaquis, previously excited in the colonists' favor by Denonville, took up the war-hatchet ; and making a descent on fort Pemaquid, on the sea-margin between Penobscot and Kennebec rivers, killed most of the garrison, and razed the works. They took also two sloops, in which they returned themselves, after murdering the crews. Flushed by this first success, they directly undertook a second and more important expedition. The English had erected on the Abenaquis frontiers a dozen of small forts, to protect the trading posts ; these they fell upon suddenly, took them all in succession, renewing upon each occar gion the horrors of Lachine, 200 persons in all were thus slaughtered by these savages ; who returned loaded with booty. This blow struck terror into the heart of New England, and deprived it of all hope of the Abe- naquis adopUng its cause. Meanwhile, M. de Frontenac advertised M. de la Durantaye, in com- mand at Michilimackinac, that as war would soon be carried into the THE SIEGE OF QUEBEC. 323 Enslish provinces, it was expedient he should inform the Outaouais und the Hurons that they would be wanted, as France was about to take up a position worthy of herself in Canada. Not waiting till spring, he set afoot three expeditions in the winter of 1689-90, in or-^er to fall upon the enemy at three points simultaneously. The first, led by Messrs. d'Ailleboust de Mantet and Lemoine de Sainte-H^l^ne, composed of fully 200 Canadians and savages, was sent against the province of New York. Several gentlemen were in the ranks, including Messrs. d'Iberville and Le Ber Duch^ne, the hero of one of the romances of Le Sage. These intrepid chiefs intended to attack Albany ; but the savages, thinking the attempt rash, refused to join in it. It was then agreed to fall on Corlaer (Schenectady), 17 miles west of Albany. This place, which contained 80 houses, they reached Feb. 8, in the evening. The people were found asleep, not having posted any sentinels, though advised to be on tht watch previously. They did not believe that Caradians, loaded with arms and provisions, would traverse for hundreds of miles the snowy wilds at such a time, an incredulity which cost them dear ! The French, after having recognised the place, which had a four-sided enclosure, with two gates, entered the latter noiselessly, amid a snow-fall, about 11 p.m., and invested all the houses. These men, with frozen locks, burning eye, and vengeance in their hearts, resembled the terrible phantoms described by the Scandinavian bards. A more grisly phantom, the king of terrors himself, it was who now entered at the portals of those silent streets of Schenectady, the indwelLrs of which were about to be awakened from their last sleep. Orders were given underbreath, and, each soldier muf- fling the rattle of his arms as agreed ou. the fatal signal was given, and every door forced with hatchets, '"ho unfortunate inhabitants, thus taken by surprise, had no ti^ough Ci itsistance. There was indeed a petty fort, with a few soMi'jxsj i i it, which made a stout defence; but it was taken at length, and jvI, d'Ailleboust de Mantet put all to the hword who survived the assault, 'i^lie town was then consumed, J' ' • two houses: one, because a wounied French offioor, M. de Montigny, lay there; the other, the governcv's dwelling, was spared, out of legard to Mr, Sander, whose wife bad in past times kindly treated som3 French prisoners. A great number perished in this massacre. dor;e in reprisal for that of Lachine, which was attributed to English ins-tigations.* * Several of these deti.'ls were furnished to me by iu, l/Dallcgban, author of M excellent Historj of New York under the I/utch d.'r.in8,tion. They were takea from archives -eposited in the localitv. [Ihr above account, began Mpoetically, maybe contraated Rdvaaiageoual.? fjr vi . -cade/ '/ith the following. 324 mSTORT OF CANADA. Quarter was granted to sixty old men, women, and children, who ^scaped the first fury of the savages ; 27 persons were made captive. The rest of the population (of the neighborhood) fled towards Albany, unclothed amid snow blown about by a violent wind. Of these fugitives 25 lost their limbs by the frost. News of this frightful tragedy reached the capital of the province at daybreak next morning.* It was carried thither by a fugitive who was nimble enough to mount a horse and start, but was struck by a ball as he rode on, which fractured his knee. The account he gave threw the place into consternation. Some said that the French, to the numbf r of 1400, were on the way. The alarm gun was fired ; Albany was put in a state of defence, and the militia were set afoot for many miles around. This expedition made an extraordinary sensation among the aborigines; and it is still spoken of among the old people of the locality with a feel- ing of terror. The retreat of the French was accompanied by several accidents : provisions failing them, they broke up ; several of the were account of the truly atrocious proceeding, in the plain prose of an A-iieiicnn historian of good credit: — "The French governor, old Count de Frontenic, collected a body of French and Indians, and despatched them, in the depth of winter, against New- York. This party having "wandered for twenty days through deserts, rendered trackless through the snow, approached the villnge of Schenectady in so exhausted a state, that they had determined to surrender themselves as prisoners of war. But arriving at a late hour on a stormy night, and finding by means of their spies, that the inhabitants were asleep, without a guard, they suddenly resolved to refuse the mercy which they had been just on the point of imploring : and dividing themselves in several parties, they set fire to the village in several places, and attacked the inhabitants as they fled from the flames. Men, women, and children, shared the same fate. Sixty persons were massacred, and 27 carried into captivity. Of the fugitives, who escaped, &c. (a« above). "The French retired loaded with plunder. This atrocious proceeding roused the indignation of all the colonies." Frost's Hist, U. States, p. 99, edit. 1838. M. Boucher owns that the minister of the place was butch- ered, along with a number of women and childreii.— Ws^ Can, i. 151.]— B. * Albany must be meant ; New York city is distant from Schenectady (per New York Central Railroad) 161 miles. — B. According to Colden, " The Indians whom the French took prisoners in the battle (butchery) of Schenectady were cut in pieces and boiled, to make soups for the Indian allies who accompanied them upon the occasion." P. 78.— Elsewhere, he says, for every human scalp delivered into the Canadian depart- ment, forty livres were paid ; adding, " to our credit be it said, such barbr.rism was not pursued by the New Englanders.''— -B. THB SIEQE OF QUEBEC. 325 m killed or taken, but the rest reached Montreal, exhausted with fatigue and hunger* The second party, formed at Three-Rivers, was composed of 52 Cana- dians and savages. Hertel, a resolute and able man, led them on. After a two months' march, they arrived, late in March, at the post of Salmon Falls, on the river Piscataqua, in New England. This place was defended by a block-house and two palisaded works. Hertel's men fell upon all three, and took them at the sword's point. Part of the people he carried of, and burnt the town. The country, however, was now up : and, the same evening, a corps, 200 strong, gathered to oppose the Canadians. Hertel ranged his men in order, along a stream, over which w.is a bridge, which had to be crossed before he could be got at. The English, noting his small numbers, advanced to the attack. When Hertel thought they had come far enough in the pass, he charged them in the rearward space, and 18 of the enemy fell, killed or wounded, on the bridge : the rest retreated. The Canadians were thus enabled to retire without further molestation. The third party was organised at Quebec, under the direction of M. de Portneuf, and was composed of Canadians, a troop of regulars from Acadia, and some Abenaquis. It had as much success in its operations as the two others. It captured Casco, a seaward town, at the mouth of the Kennebec, defended by a fort of 8 guns, which had to be reached in r^ular form by trenching. The garrison did not hold out long, most of Its best men having been killed in a sortie which was repulsed. The worb were razed, and the houses of the locality burned, for two leagues around. These intrepid bands did not merely ravage the open country, as they .■jre directed : they attacked fortified posts also. Heedless of distances, ^iiitt rigors, fatigues, and perils of every kind, they made the English Ci'.onist practically cognisant of the fact, that a superior genius guided the dostinies of New France, and that her military prospects were in the a!>con(iau'. In truth, these excursions had the effect of keeping our enemies within their own lines, and caused the Iroquois to break off a negociation they bad entered into with the native allies of the French, to induce the latter to adopt the English side ; a junction which might have been, if effected, perilous to Canada. * M. Boucher, who reports that two of the party were killed, and one wounded, in assaulting the fort at Schenectady ; adds also, that the commander of that place having passed to the other side of the river, with some soldiers and sava^ i^Qs, laid down bis arms (surrendered to the Frenoo) next day.— £, 326 HISTORY OP CANADA. In order to show tho western aborigines that these victories were not without solid results, and to enable them to dispense with sucli supplies as English traders offered them, the Count de Frontenac sent, in sprine a great load of merchandise to Michilimackinac, along with presents. Parrot, always esteemed by the natives, delivered these gifts at the mo- ment their envoys were about to set out for the five cantons to conclude the treaty above mentioned. The news of Canadian exploits, and the sifht of the presents, together had a great effect ; and the presence of an imposlne force, flushed with success, gave them assurance that the French were now on the winning side, to which of course they at once passed over. Soon afterwards, 110 canoes, charged with 1000 crowns' worth of peltry manned by 300 savages at least, of various tribes, set out for Montreal • where hnving arrived, they were received with acclamations by the inha- bitants, flere they met the go tremor-general ; who might exult at the visible rt. '..is successful policy, which aad been the means of thus making frien!, < '' those tribes who were about to pass into the enemy's camp. But this change was not brought about without some opposition, as we shall now see. The celebrated Le Rat, who had succeeded, swith perverse sagacity, in " killing" Denonville's treaty with the Iroquois, had changed his polity. He sought now to form a grand alliance of all the savage tribes, com- prehending even those of the Five Nations, the implacable enemies of his race. To attain this end, he was not averse to ally himself to the English against the French, if that were expedient ; and the Ottawas, who were a cloddish race, and easy to deceive, became helpful to his designs. Thus the shrewd Le Rat put into their mouth this insolent speech, uttered when the French would have hindered them from sending the Tsounon- thouan prisoners : — " We always thought the French were a warlike race, but we find they are far less so than the Iroquois. We are therefore no longer surprised that they have been so long in undertaking any thing; it is because they are conscious of their impotence. After seeing how they let themselves be slaughtered in the island of Montreal, it is plain to us that there is no help in them. Their protection is become not only nselesa to us, but hurtful, because of the relations they have induced us to form, to our own detriment ; the alliance with them has been contrary to our interests in trade as well as war ; it has deprived us of the benefits of traffic with the English, which is far more profitable than that with the French: and the French system is contrary to the laws of protection, which consists in respecting trading rights. The weight of the war is made to fall upon us; whilst our pretended protectors, by a conduct full of duplicity, seek THE SIEQE OF QUEBEC. 327 to secure themselves, by suing for peace as needy suppliants ; and prefer to subscribe a shameful treaty, and endure the arrogance of an insolent enemy, rather than return to the combat. In brief, we ought to be look- ed on rather as the protecting than the protected party." — Nothing could more plainly manifest the discredit which Denonville had brought upon the French, in the eyes of the aborigines, than did this discourse. The Five Nations, who thought they were on the point of taking the lead in a confederation of the tribes, potent enough to avenge all the wrongs the Europeans had done their race, became furious when they saw their cherished hopes frustrated. They promised to lend their aid to the New Yorkers, to make reprisals for the destruction of Schenectady, seized the chevalier d'Eau, then on a mission to the Onnontaguez, burnt alive two persons of his following, and let loose their warriors on the colony : in a word, they breathed fire and slaughter against the French and their allies. But their incursions were now repulsed everywhere. The country, so long the arena of their sanguinary operations, began to be studded with palisaded fastnesses, mounted with cannon, and usually inclosing the manor- house and church of the seigniory. On the first alarm, the whole inha- bitants took refuge therein. Many a Canadian village was now set in order for combat. Thus the precautions for public defence needful during the middle ages in Europe, were revived in America. Canadian annals have preserved the remembrance of several heroic defences of these petty forts, before the outworks of which the indisciplined courage of the savages fell powerless. The most celebrated of these beleaguerings were those of Madame de Verch^res in 1690, and that of her daughter in 1692. Taken unawares both, when alone or almost so, they had barely time to close the gates of their blockhouses. Without losing their presence of mind or courage, they fired the cannon, and handled muskets to such purpose, and seemed 80 to multiply themselves by shifting from one post to another, that the savages thought they had to do with a numerous garrison, and were fain to draw off, two several times, after investing the place for some hours. The constant presence of danger had inured the population to war ; women and children fought as well as men. In one combat, where a party of savages had taken refuge in a house, and defended themselves with des- peration, the assailants were seen to rush to the windows and strive to drag the inmates out by the hair of the head. — The worst concomitant of this state of things was, that it was unsafe to venture into the open country to sow, plant, or reap, so that most of the cleared lands lay fal- low j and absolute famine became imminent, for a dearth had already set in. 828 HISTORY OP CANADA. The people of Canada fully expected that the project for invading New York province, hy land and sea, would be resumed in early summer 1691. In this they were disappointed ; for the king had too many enemies in Europe to contend against. Accordingly, M. de Seignelai advertised the governor, that for the time no such attempt must be made, as his Majes- ty could not spare the needful forces. He advised, rather, that M. de Frontenac should endeavor to come to an understanding with the Iroquois; and, above all, to concentrate the scattered colonists by forming towns and villages, for the more easily defending themselves against irruptions of the savages. The former of these requisitions was at once obeyed. The oonnt had gained the friendship of the Iroquois chiefs who had been sent in bonds to France and restored to their own country. The most important of those was Our^uhard, by whose advice four other Iroquois returned chiefs were sent into the cantons with Qaignegaton, sent a? an envoy to Denor ' le, whom De Frontenac found at Quebec on his arrival. Our roic fortitude ; and after enduring, for some hours, a series of barbarities too at.ocious to be recited, his suflerings were terminated by the intercession of a French lady, who prevailed with the governor to order the infliction of that mortal blow, to which human cruelty has given the name of coup de grdce, or stroke of favor." Frost's Hist. U. States, p. 101. — B. t Fought May 19, 1692, and two following days. The French fleet consisted of 63 ships. 23 of the largest of these were destroyed and others taken. The British did not lose one vessel of any kind. There was a considerable body of troops 01^ board the French ships, for the invasion of England ; a project which was of course adjourned sine die. That great victory also dealt a brainblow to Louis' intention of restoring James Stuart to the throne whence he was expelled righteously, if only for his unpatriotic subserviency to alien interests. — B. THE SIEGE OF QUEBEC. 343 (and this reflection brings us back to our immediate subject), the mari- time power of France was so abased, that it became difficult, if not impossible, for Louis XIV to spare any of his ships for expeditions against the Anglo-American colonies. At this time the New Englanders were too much occupied in re-found- ing their governments, and in contention with the home authorities as to the extent of the franchises to be accorded and accepted, to engage in any new invasion, on their own account, of New France. But a corps of the New York militia was sent to act as auxiliaries, in a hostile expe- dition of the tribes of the Five Nations against the Canadians, in 1693. Previously, information having reached the French ministry, that a secret expedition was in progress in the marine depots of England, for invading the French insular possessions in the West Indies, and making afterwards a descent on Canada, the king of France wrote to M. de Frontenac that if the latter demonstration took place, all needful aid would be sent to resist it. Meantime, the defensive works of Quebec* and Montreal were strengthened ; and the Count sent a request to the chiefs of the Abenaquis tribes to be in readiness to come to the relief of Canada at a given signal, with directions to keep a good look out till then , on the movements of the Bostonians and their Iroquois allies. The lead- ers of the colonial militia were also adjured to be on the alert, in case the capital should be assailed. He, likewise, went himself among the inhabitants of the region below Quebec, and arranged witb them that as soon as any invaders came nigh, they were to transport their families, their movables, provisions, and live stock, into the contiguous woods. The English fleet, commanded by Sir Francis Wheeler, after captur- * A redoubt was erected oa Cape Diamond, and an out-work added to the castle of St. Louis, also the two embattled gates of St. Louis and St. John. In the year 1854, when demolishing the old wall which separated the outwork above mentioned from its dependent garden, a brass plate was found, bearing a Latin inscription, of which the following is a translation : " In the year of human redemption 1693, under the reign of the very august, most invincible, and very Christian king of France, Louis the Great, fourteenth of the name, the very excellent Louis de Buade, Count de Frontenac, for the second time governor of New France — the rebellious inhabitants of New England, three years before, having been repulsed, put to rout, and completely vanquished by him, when they besieged this city of Quebec, (the same parties) threatening to renew the siege of it this year, (the Count) caused to be constructed, at cpst of the king, this citadel with the fortifications appurtenant, for the defence of the entire country, for the safety of its people, and to the renewed confusion of that perfidious nation, as untrue to God as to its legitimate king.— Therefore he (Frontenac) has laid this foundation stone." 344 HISTORY OF CANADA. * ing Martinique, was to repair to Boston for reinforcements, and then proceed to Quebec. It set sail for the Antilles early in 1693. Instead of taking Martinique, the troops landed for that purpose were repulsed with the loss of 900 of their number. Worse evils followed : — On the way to New England, the yellow fever broke out in the vessels of the squadron; and before they reached Boston, 1,300 out :'f 2,000 .seamen, with 1,800 out of 2,500 soldiers, re-embarked at Martinique, died of the malady. Worst of all, the diseased carried infection on shore, and num- bers of the Bostonians perished also. Wheeler gave up the project of attacking Quebec, and set out for England ; firing some cannon-balls into Plaisance as he passed on. The British colonists, who had expended large sums in aid of the abortive expedition, now implored the home authorities to bring about a pacification with France.* In 1696, the French ministry, on the suj:^estion of M. de Villebon, resolved to blow up the town of Pemaquid, and drive the English out of all the ports they occupied in Newfoundland and in the Hudson's Bay territory. At the same time, De Frontenac was directed to abase the Iroquois confederation, whose tribes were stiU continuing their inroads, in spite of the checks they were always receiving, — the latest being a signal defeat of their best warriors in the island of Montreal ; another repulse they had in the west, from the Midmis, who annihilated the forces they had upon the shores of lake Huron. Profiting by the depression in the Iroquois' mind raised bj these repeated defeats, the governor prepared to dispose the force at his command to strike a blow at the heart of the confederation ; and, as a preliminary step, he caused Fort Frontenac to be rebuilt, despite the protestation of Governor Fletcher, who offered rich presents to the Iroquois if they would capture it, and ra^e the place, if it were re-established. The count persevered in his design, and the work was completed, against the wishes, however, of the French ministry, who in 1695, sent a countermanding order, but it arrived too late. The struggle France had to maintain in Europe was now rapidly ex- hausting her resources. The colonial minister, while he adhered to the meditated designs on Newfoundland and the Hudson's Bay territory, and still advising that the Iroquois should be vigorously repressed, yet recom- * Letter from Colonel Fletcher, governor of New York, to the Secretary of State, in the Broadhead collection. [The chief reason for this request probably was that the Atlantic coast might be freed from the presence of French priva- teers, which then swarmed in North American waters. " During the year 1693 the French had captured 300 sail of English vessels, while we had only taken from France 69 merchant ships."] Wadb. — B. THE SIEOE OF QUEBEC. 345 mended the most sparing economy in outlay. He notified his opinion, also, that the king could not much longer bear war charges for maintaining the debateable frontier-lines on the southern side. His Majesty desired further, it was announced, that " the colonists should dwell within the limits of their existing settlements;" in other words, that every outlying post, towards the western wilderness, should be abandoned : that the sav- ages of that outer region should bring their peltry to Montreal and Quebec ; this being the only way, it was urged, for putting a stop to the costly wars then maintained against the English and Iroquois. But next year, as we shall see, the home government changed its opinion upon this head. The aim of the Anglo-American colonists was to possess themselvea of the western fur traffic at least, if they failed in conquering New France. The home authorities did not at first perceive that the renunciation they thus desiderated was the very thing the enemy wished should be realised for his own especial profit. The abandonment, so injudiciously proposed, would, of course, have included all the posts on the Mississippi and the lakes, to which the Canadian merchants attached so much importance that they had advanced funds when the war began to defray the cost of maintaining them. The governor-general manifested, upon this occasion, that firmness of character which had always distinguished him. Aware of the dangers of such retrogression, he ventured to disobey the royal order, and to take all risk. " In truth, (says Charlevoix), no sooner would the French have left those posts, than the English would have stepped into them ; and then we should have had on our hands, as enemies, all t tribes of the west, which, once in triple alliance with the Iroquois and the English, would, after one successful campaign, have driven the French out of Canada." Do Frontenac, having made up his mind on the subject, now prepared for vigorous repression of the Iroquois, and assembled a corps of 2,3v.O men at Lachine. This force was sent up the St. Lawrence to Cataraciui, where it was to remain till an expected reinforcement came from Michi- limackinac. None arriving, the corps crossed Lake Ontario, and reached the nioutli of the small river Oswego. There they divided, forming two divisions, one taking the right, the other the left bank of the stream, which they then ascended. As they approached a horde of the Onnon- taguez, tliey observed a great blaze to the westward. This arose from a conflagration of the tribe's dwellings previous to the inmates taking flight. The Onneyouths, another tribe of the Five Nations, now came and craved peace. The governor said they should have it if they would settle in Canada. They retired, and, next morning, M. de Vaudreuil was sent to 346 HISTORY OF CANADA. ravage their lands. All the people had left them but one aged man,* who was either too feeble, or disdained to flee ; and who, to use the words of Charlevoix, awaited his coming fate with the same intrepidity as the Roman senators when their city was taken by the barbarians of Gaul. " It was a strange sight," continues the same historian, " to see more than four hundred men forming a circle of savage tormentors round a decrepit object from whose agony they could not extort a single cry ; and who ceased not, while life remained, to taunt them with being the bond-slaves of the French ; of whom he aiFectedly spoke in terms of profound contempt. The only complaint he uttered was when, either from anger or compassion one of his butchers dealt him two or three finishing stabs : then, indeed, he said, reproachfully : ' Thou shouldsthave rather waited till others had done their worst, and then thou wouldst have learned how to die as a man should. " Throughout the two cantons, now overrun by the French, all was left in ruin. It was next proposed to chastise the Goyogouins ; some expected even that fortified posts should be founded in their country ; but when it was believed that the governor was thus about to follow up what lie had already done to others, he gave orders for a retreat : whether it were that he could not have subsisted his men in a desolated country ; or whether it was, that he acted in obedience to inspirations from the ministry in Paris, as already mentioned ; he might also have thought it impolitic to keep hold upon a tract of Iroquois territory, which would have made the confederation the implacable enemy of New France. Besides, his approach to the confines of the province of New York had created a panic in Albany and Schenectady. The colonists, in these two settlements, fearing to be assaulted next, had demanded aid from the people of New Jersey and Connecticut. This campaign resulted in the French regaining all the influence they had lately lost over the other aborigines. A Sioux chief from the Upper Mississippi valley put his tribe under the protection of the great Ononthio of the French. He clasped hands between the governor's knees, and ranged twenty-two arrows on a beaver-skin, to intimate that as many hordes were his allies.f Never, since the war began, did Canada stand so well in native estimation. The Iroquois, indeed, still harassed the colonists at various points, but the damage done by them was nowhere serious. * M. Boucher says he was nearly 100 years old. — B. t This mode of doing homage to a suzerain was an imitation of the like usage in European feudalism. Doubtless the Sioux was previously instructed how to behave on the occasion. — B. THE SIEGE OF QUEBEC. 347 The credit of this ameliorated condition of the colony was fairly due to M. Frontenac, whose vigilance and energy were exerted in its behalf to the utmost. The superiority he had found means to maintain only with such means as Canada itself, unaided, could afford, made its savage allies more conformable, and struck fear into the hearts of the people of the British conterminous colonies. Not only had he successfully resisted invasion, but he was now in a way of becoming able to second the enter- prises of his royal master, and turn the tide of aggressive war upon the invaders' own territories. The security which he ensured for the colony did not disarm the envy of those subaltern functionaries and notabilities among the colonists, to whom his superiority in mind and independent bearing gave umbrage. Such persons, who had learned to tremble at the very name of the Irquois confederation previous to his resumption of the reins of power, now sought to tarnish the lustre of his actions, which had been the means of removing danger from their hearths. The invidious feeling excited by his trading transactions, added to dislike at his lofty bearing and fear of his vindictive nature, operating against him conjointly, gave liis enemies a ready handle for accusers to work with to his prejudice. But it was impolitic, even in a selfish point of view, to nim at paralysing the hands of the colony's champion. Among the specific charges brought against him, one was, that he caused the militia to bear the brunt of the operations of war, and let the regulars lie by while others did their appointed work ; that he loaded the inhabitants with intolerable burdens which pressed upon the springs of industry and impeded the material progress of the colony. Others of his detractors charged him with openly protecting the pernicious brandy traffic with the aborigines. These accusations, well or ill founded, were not without their effect at head-quarters ; still no intention was entertained of taking from him a charge which, in the order of nature, considering his advance, must needs drop from his hands. On the contrary, in recognition of the merits of his late campaign, he was decorated with the order of St. Louis, — a distinction accorded, at that time, only to unusual desert. f: CHAPTER III. NEWFOUNDLAND AND HUDSON'S BAY.-IWH, 1701. Continuation of the war: Tho Frenoli roHunio tho oflbiiHivu.— D'lbcivillcciipturcii IVinmiuid. — Description of NowfouncUand; earlicnt Kroncli I'stnbliHlnnontH lluri'.— TlHMioviriKiriiinl D'Iborvlllo combine their forces.— Mi8undor»tantlinnH and rooonciliiitioii ot'tliecc timptlun- aricK.— Tliey tnlte Ht. Jolin'H, and ravage otiier EnKlinli HOttlonientH.— Wiutir cuiniJiiidii- NoticeH of the lIudHon'H Uay Territory.— Departure of D'Ibcrville; vurloiiH nin' n on Ajuorican affairs was much respected, determined to empl rt of it in t':'», too few for resistunee, to the upper waters of tho river, both lor safety Aud in order to be in close communication with the friendly native tribes. Learning this, D' Iberville took fifty savages on board his vessels to Htrengthen his land force, and stood for the mouth of the St. John's, where ho found the three vessels in the position ii.dicuted. The first which cuiue in sight was the Newport, curryinj^ 24 gunt. It was attacked and taken, after an obstinate resistance. The two ot'aers, thanks to a fog which enshrouded them durinjj; the action, probably caeuped capture. Iluving repaired and manned his prize, M. d'Iberville embarked fifty men put at his disposal by M. do Villebon, and departed for Penta^oet j where he was further reinforced by a body of 200 savages and a few (ioldiers, led by the baron de St. Castin, who, having married an Abena- (|ui8 female, was become a chief, and respected as much by his compatriots of both races, as his power was feared by the British coloiUHts. These preliminary measures having been taken, the expedition was directed on Pemaquid, the strongest fastness of tho British in North America. This settlement was located on the outer seaboard of the Bay of Fundy. The defensive wall of the town was 22 feet high, and flanked by a tower. The garrison was commanded by Colonel Chubb ; "who defended his post pretty well for some days ; but, as soon as a few bombs were thrown in, he capitulated. This fortress, which had cost New England great sums to erect, was now demolished, in conformity with previous instructions from the home government. While this operation was in progress, the British also resumed the offensive. Colonel Church, with 500 men, captured and burnt Beaubassin, although Sir W. Phipps had promised to respect its neutrality during the war. After this exploit, on his return to Boston loaded with spoil, he was met by three vessels, having 200 militiamen on board, as a rein- forcement, with orders for him to attack the fort of Villebon. Accord- ingly he turned helm, and steered for Naxoat, where he arrived in October. Villebon, made prisoner while returning from Pemaquid but afterwards released, had just re-entered the fort, and, quickly putting it into a defensive state, successfully resisted the enemy, who were fain to re-embark and leave the place. D'Iberville, after the reduction of Pemaquid, took the direction of Plaisance, in order to commence hostilities against the British possessions in Newfoundland. This island, situated to the north-east of the Lau- rentian gulf, is separated from Labrador by Belleisle straits.* To the I * This sea-pasiagtia 60 milei long, and has 12 of medium breadth.— £. 350 HISTORY OF CANADA. southward of the island are those shallows well known as the fishing-banks of Newfoundland, and i'l %mcd for the fogs which usually cover tlipm occasioning obstruction to navigation and peril to shipping, in the rou<'h weather there too prevalent. The island itself is of triangular confi'u- ration ; it is 140 leagues long, and about 100 broad ; and has a superficial area of nearly 12,000 square leagues. The climate is cold, the atmosphere often vapory. The soil is generally sandy or gravelly ; but the country is watered by sercr^'l fine streams, flooring from numerous hills in the interior — there covered with stunted forest — and winding through moor- land tracts. Such a territory was not likely to attract early colonisation : accordingly, the seaboard alone was at first frequented by Europeans and even that merely because of its proximity to their fishing-grounds.* The first French station for drying fish was near Cape llace. The British were the first who attempted to colonise the country; but nd success attended their attempts till Lord Baltimore in 1623, Lord Falk- land in 1633, and Sir David Kertk in 1654, formed settlements. Although the French had important fisheries in the Newfoundland waters, they turned little of their attention 4andward till the year 1660, At that time, Louis XIV granted the port of Plaisance to a person named Gargot, with the title of governor ; and who, as soon as installed, set about subjecting the fishermen who frequented the place to a mono- poly, obliging them to take in barter, for portions of their fish, provision? and merchandise taken from the royal stores. The fishermen appealed against this arrangement to the king, who recalled Gargot, and sent M, de la Poype as his successor. Plaisance was then the chief French factory in Newfoundland. Situated at the bottom of a bay running 60 leagues inland, its port was one of the finest in America, and the town was defended by Fort St. Louis, erected on the crest of a rock at the entry of the bay, about five miles from the sea. The French had some habitations, also, in the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, likewise at Chapeau-Rouge, Pctit-Nord, and other points, on the hither seaboard ot the gulf of St. Lawrence. The French Newfoundlanders, a free as well as hardy race, chafed under the domination of La Poype ; but who, nevertheless, kept his charge, though with diflficulty, till 1685, when he was superseded by M. de Brouillon. Five several times, during the first few years, was Plaisance captured by buccaneers, and the residents stripped of all their movables. • " As early as the year 1500, fishermen reached as far as Newfoundland from Europe ; but no attempts were made to lorm a settlement till 1536." Nat. Cyel. viii, 942.— ^. . NEWFOUNDLAND AND HUDSON'S BAY. 351 In 1692 the post was again assailed, this time by an English fleet, or five ships of war, under admiral Williams. M. de Brouillon hastened to throw up a redoubt, and other defensive works ; which he used to such purpose, with only fifty men, that, after a cannonade of six hours, Wiliiame retired discomfited. Thence he proceeded to Pointe-Verte, distant one league, and burnt the habitations there. — Such are the brief annals of Newfoundland, anterior to the year 1696. At that date the British occupied its best portions ; and their colonial preponderance in the island was as great as elsewhere in North America. Their Newfoundland trade was then valued at 17 million francs per annum. To deprive Great Britain of so valuable a possession, a great effort was worth making ; and while its posts were to be attacked both by land and sea, to do this with the more effect, D' Iberville was ordered to act in conjunction with the governor, M. de Brouillon. The latter, how- ever, wishing to secure for himself all the credit attending the enterprise if successful, without waiting the tardy coming of M. d'Iberville, set sail from Plaisance with a flotilla of nine vessels, several of which were St. Malo privateers, intending to lay siege to St. John's. Contrary winds caused him to return ; but not till he had taken and sacked several minor British posts, and captured 30 vessels. Having reached Plaisance with his spoil, he there found D'Iberville whose arrival had been delayed from want of provisions, but who had just been reinforced by a corps of Canadians, sent from Quebec. The question now arose. Should the expedition against St. John's be resumed the chances of its success being now much greater 'i D'Iberville inclined to postpone it, and to reduce the northern settlements of the British who must now be less on their guard at those distant points. Brouillon on the other hand, from jealousy of D'Iberville, who was very popular while he was the very reverse, opined that St. John's ought to be attacked at once; and to this proposal D'Iberville, from patriotic motives acceded with a good grace. It was then arranged that the latter should command the land force, and Brouillon direct the offensive operations by sea. Th" forces, having disembarked, advanced toward the town, cutting down or dispersing all opposers on the way. Arrived under the walls of the fort, the van, led by D'Iberville himself, charged a party of defenders ensconced in the rocks, and put them to flight after a stout resistance • and the victors, closely following them up, entered two of the works along with them, made thexr footing good. There remained a third fort- let to take : but, being in bad condition, it was yielded on summons made • the defenders stipulating that they and the population of the place should 852 HISTORY OF CANADA. have leave to retire in safety to Bonavista or to Britain. This being granted the town was burnt, and its fortifications aemolished. The division of the booty taken occasioned contentions between the two commanders which brought those disputants almost to daggers-drawn. After this conquest, the French governor returned to Plaisance ; and D' Iberville continued the war with 125 Canadians, who adopted him as a leader. With these devoted followers,— each provided with a musket a battle-axe, a dagger-knife, and a pair of snow-shoes,* — they employed part of mid-winter in the conquest of the island ; triumphimg over all obstacles presented by the climate, privations, and resistance of enemies. In two months they captured all the British posts except Bonavista and the island of Carbonni^re (both unattainable in winter) ; killed 200 men, and made prisoners of 600 or 700 others, whom they sent to Plai- D' Iberville was preparing to attack the two remaining British sance. posts, in May, 1697, when a fleet of five ships from France, under the charge of M. de S^rigny, cast anchor in Plaisance bay. M. d'Iberville took command of these vessels, being directed by the minister to execute the second part of the plan projected, by attacking the British posts in the Hudson's Bay territory. This region, extending to the north pole, and scarcely habitable by man, was coveted both by the French and the English on account of the rich furs of its quadrupeds. Their traders hau made it the arena of a con- stant struggle for supremacy. The British, conducted by two French protestant refugees, in 1677, erected, near the mouth of the river Nemis- can, in the bottom of the bay, a post called fort Rupert ; they had also two factories, one on the Monsonis river, the other on the St. Anne's Colbert, having learnt this, wrote in 1678 to M. Duchesneau, river. intcndant of Canada, to take measures for contesting the ri-ht of the British to form these establishments. The two Huguenots, named Des- grozeliers and Radisson, fearing for themselves, returned to France to crave pardon, and off"ering their services in the territory by way of amends for serving aliens, to the detriment of their own country, The.se were accepted : and they were sent to Canada, there to form a company for founding a great trading establishment at Hudson's Bay. This association, called the Northern Company, in 1681, gave them two small armed vessels wherewith to capture the British post they had been the means of erecting. Arrived at the place, they either feared or were ashamed to attack it ; and avoiding the locality, after coasting the western shores of the bay, as far as the mouth of the river St. Th^r^se, they halt- * La Potherie. NEWFOUNDLAND AND IIUDSON*S BAY. 353 there and erected a post which they called Fort Bourbon. Returning to Quebec, these men quarrelled with the directors of the Northern Company ; and set out for France, the year following, under pretext of demanding justice. Lord Preston, British ambassador at Paris, hearing that they had not succeeded, made overtures to them so advantageous, that they agreed to betray their country a second time, by delivering Fort Bourbon to the British, with the furs in store, to the value of 400,000 francs. The latter, knowing the importance of the site, constructed thereon a rctnilar four-bastioned fort, with a wet-ditch ten feet broad. They also manned it strongly, and stored it with abundant munitions of war.* The French court, informed of this new treason, complained to the British home government, and were promised that the fort should be yielded up ; but the English king, then in trouble with his subjects, was not able to keep his word ; the company, therefore, had to take the matter into their own hands. Accordingly, the directors obtained from M. de Denon- ville a body of Canadians and regulars, under M. de Troyes, who had orders to dispossess the British of Fort Rupert and their two other forti- fied posts, already named, on Hudson's Bay. M. de Troyes set out over- land, with Messrs. d'Iberville, Ste. Hdldne, and Maricourt, in March, 1685, for the Hudson's Bay lower coast, and arrived there June 20, after trav- ersing many streams and heights, and enduring great fatigues. D'Iber- ville was nearly lost while crossing a river, in a canoe with three others : he saved himself and one man, but two more were drowned in a rapid. The first fort invested was that of the Monsonis, situated about thirty paces from the river, on a gentle eminence. It was a regular four-bas- tioned work, mounting fourteen guns. The place was taken by assault, but the lives of the garrison were spared. — Fort Rupert, which lay at a distance, was not invested till June, but was also taken, and the works dismantled. While the army was occupied at the latter place, D'Iberville and his brother Maricourt, with nine others, in two bark canoes, assault- ed and captured a British vessel in the bay. The British governor- general of the territory was one of the prisoners then taken. M. de Troyes and his men, leaving the site of Fort Rupert, set out in quest of fort Ste. Anne, the exact locality of which he did not know. Arrived there, he found that it was situated amidst a marshy country, was a regular four bastioned work, and mounted with at least 43 pieces of cannon ; the settlement it defended being the greatest British factory in the country. Notwithstanding, the governor, — a being unfit for hia charge, — after a show of resistance, capitulated, and was sent with his suite • Gcibw'b Maritimt History of France, vol. iii. X i 354 HISTORY OF CANADA. to Charleston. The rest of the garrison were kept as prisoners of war The victors found peltry valued at 50,000 crowns stored at Ste. Anne— The British had now lost every one of their posts on Hudson's Bay but Fort Bourbon. When news of these losses arrived in London, the people cried out against the king (James II, an unpopular monarch); and thus the expedi- tion of a handful of Canadians against some trading posts, at the world's end, shook the foundations of the throne of a king of Great Britain!* The two courts of France and Britain, feeling the necessity of ter- minating a state of things which was opposed to the dictates of interna- tional law, as the two peoples were not otherwise at war, in 1687 sijrned a pacificatory act, to last for two years, in which it was stipulated that privateers, British or French, not being licensed by either king, were to be treated as pirates, when found cruising in American waters. D' Iberville returned to Quebec in autumn, 1687, in the prize he had taken, which was loaded with the peltry found in the British factories of Hudson's Bay. He returned thither in the following year. He expected that, in terms of the pact lately signed, hostilities were to cease in that region ; yet the British sent three ships to expel the French from the territory. But nothing could be done by them before the winter set in. D'Iberville who had sent his vessel, loaded with peltries, to Quebec, not knowing the intents of the British, as soon as he was made aware of them, stood upon his guard. Although he had but 14 men in garrison, he turned a bol4 front towards the enemy. When he learned that tlie British had pointed two cannon grape-shotted to the spot where be was to have an interview with them, and that they were to be fired at him and his suite as soon as they reached the place, he made open war against them, and, with the exception of those who died of scurvy, killed every one of the British, and took their ships.f In 1689, the British having returned and attacked fort St. Anne, D'Iberville repulsed them and took one of their ships. As his prisoners were now numerous, he embarked them in one of his prizes, with leave to return home ; while he returned to Quebec in the largest of theui, • A fond imagination of the author. Certainly the English people, if the affair reached their knowledge at all, knowing their king was the bond»8laveof the French monarch, could have no hope of obtaining redress for it tLrougb him.— J5. f No place is named, nor any date given, in the original paragraph; all which is rather unsatisfactory, the narrative involving a charge of treachery against men who, having been thus exterminated, could not, of course, repel any thing that might be asserted to their disadvantage. — B. NEWFOUNDLAND AND HUDSON S BAY. 355 carrying 24 guns, and loaded with peltry. He returned to Hudson's Bay in 1690. Daring the war which followed the dethronement of James II, the British re-took fort Ste. Anne, then guarded by five Canadians only, who yet withstood the enemy's first assault. The year following, it fell into French hands again ; but, two years afterwards, the British, by means of a large force, possessed themselves of it once more. D'Iberville passed into France in 1691 and was appointed captain of a' frigate. He was employed, that year, to convoy a fleet of merchant ships to America ; and directed afterwards to besiege fort Bourbon. Hudson's Bay ; but he could not do so till 1694 ; in which year, with two frigates, he reduced the place. While attacking it, his brother, M. de Chateauguay, was killed. Such is a brief account of the hostilities between the French and British races, in our remoter regions, up till the time when M. d'lber- TJlle took command of the squadron which was brought out for him by M. de Serigny, in view of bringing the Hudson's Bay territory under the domination of France. M. d'Iberville set sail for Newfoundland in the month of July. He found the entrance of Hudson's Bay obstructed with ice-floes, amidst which all his vessels, separated from each other, and driven away, were in perilous plight ft r several days. At length one of the three got crushed 80 as to be untenable, and the crc^ had some difficulty to find their way over the ice into one of the others. It was not till the 20th of August that D'Iberville got into the open sea ; having, even then, lost sight of his con- wrts. Sept. 4, he arrived, still alone, in front of fort Nelson. Next morn- ing he perceived, some leagues to windward, -three sail, standing off and on in the roads. Thinking at first they were his consorts, he made signals ; but these not being answered, he concluded they must bo British vessels, and that it was intended to place him betwixt two fires, by manoeuvring w as to force him to take a position between them and the fort he intend- ed to besiege. They were British ships of war, one carrying 56 guns, the second 36, and the other 32. When entering the Bay, they had fallen upon one of D'Iberville's ships, and had cannonaded her during ten hours. The latter, fixed in the ice as she was, could only return the fire with two stern-chasers. The enemy, thinking she could not swim much longer, left her and stood towards fort Nelson ; before which, as we have seen, D'Iberville had already arrived. Flight, for the latter, was now impossible ; he had to fight, or surren- der at once. His ship carried 60 guns ; but it was both under-manned 356 HISTORY OP CANADA. (a part of his men being ashore) and several of the people on board were ill. He, nevertheless, put a bold face on the matter, and stood out to meet the enemy half-way. The combat commenced. The three British shipg named the Hampshire, the Dehring, and the Hudson's Bay, opened fire on the Pilican, D'Iberville's vessel ; but, after a hot action, the llamp- shire was sent to the bottom, all sails standing, by a broadside from the Pilican, and every soul perished. The Hudson's Bay, to avoid beini' boarded, struck her flagj and the i?e^nny, though pursued by the Pilican contrived to escape. This splendid victory ensured the mastery on Hudson's Bay to the French. D' Iberville returned to his position before Fort Nelson ; but, during the succeeding night, a tempest, accompanied by a heavy snow-fall so maltreated his ship, crippled as she already was, that he found it impossi- ble to keep her much longer afloat. When morning came, and with it improved weather, he was able to get most of his people ashore ; but, their passage thither being difficult and prolonged, twenty of them died of cold. As no provisions were saved from the wreck, and as the fate of the other ships was not known, it was resolved to assault the fort at once ; but when preparations were making for this purpose, the missing vessels came in sight. M. d'Iberville, not liking to risk the loss of his men in a possibly unsuccessful assault, waited till he obtained reinforcements from his consorts, and then invested the place in regular form. After sustaining a bombardment for some time, the garrison surrendered, on condition of being transported to Britain. M. de Martigny was put in charge of the place ; and its reduction put France in possession of the whole of Hudson's Bay territory. Meanwhile, the fleet equipped to take possession of the New England colonies, and that of New York, was making a bootless demonstration in the neighboring waters. It was commanded by the Marquis de Nesmond, a distinguished officer, and was composed of thirteen ships of war. He had received orders to repair first to Plaisance, assure himself of the conquests made, the year preceding, by the French in Newfoundland, and give battle to the British fleet understood to have bectn sent to take pos- session of all that island. M. de Nesmond was to inform the count de Frontenac of his progress, in order that the latter should lead 1500 troops to Fentagoet, there to embark in the fleet and be transported to Boston. This city taken, the conquerors were to ravage the seaboard of New England as far as Pesoadou^ ; and, if the season allowed, do the like on the coast of New York; it being arranged that the Canadian troops, in returning through that province to their homes, were to devastate th«t province by the way. NEWFOUNDLAND AND HUDSON'S BAY. 357 News of this armament reached the British colonies simultaneously through several channels, despite the secrecy which had been prescribed and the spreading abroad of a counter rumor in Canada, to account for the levying of forces there, that its invasion by the British was imminent. The New England authorities, not so easily duped, issued orders for the militia to be embodied ; Boston citadel was put into a state of defence, and 500 men were sent to the eastern frontiers, to resist any invasion by the Abenaquis. " The state of affairs, at this time," says Hutchinson, " was really critical ; perhaps as critical as when the duke d' Anville with his squadron was at Chibuctou." The enterprise thus meditated failed, either through lack of prompt- ness in the movements of those who were to have superiutended its execution, or else for want of money ; for the pecuniary exigencies of European wars were exhausting more and more the resources of the king- dom of France. The Marquis did not sail from La Rochelle till the close of May, 1697, and two months more elapsed before he reached Newfound- land. Arrived at last, he called a council of war ; when it was decided that the season was too far advanced to attack Boston, seeing the Canadian forces could not reach Pentagoet before September 10, and the fleet itself had but fifty days' provisions left. An aviso to this effect was forth- with sent to the governor at Quebec, M. de Nesmond, after having made researches, for some time, regarding the whereabouts of the British fleet said to be at sea, but with no result, he returned to France the baffled commander of a luckless expedition. A general pacification in Europe was now on the tapis. The powers in alliance against Louis XIV were far more willing to listen to his terms than in 1694, when they refused to treat with him on the conditions then offered ; namely, that he would surrender all his conquests. These were not gained without an enormous expenditure of blood and treasure. The pecuniary demands of the last five campaigns of the French had absorbed more than 200 millions in subsidies. Britain had greatly suffered in her commerce, then expanding on all sides ; [but chiefly through the system of marine robbery called " privateering" ; which was largely patronised by the government of France.] The quadruple treaty of Ryswick was signed, Sept. 11, in the village of Ryswick near the Hague, by the plenipotentiaries of France, Great Britain, Spain and Holland. By this treaty, the French were to restore all the territories they had seized in the Low Countries, including Mons, Charleroy, &c., also the parts of Spain they had taken into keeping, with other ren\;n3iat'on8; including (what is most to our present purpose) 358 HISTORY OF CANADA. ■■'*;■•• the restitution of all places the French had taken from the British in America. Lastly, Louis, in a separate document, agreed not to disturb Williani in the possession of his British dominions ; including, of course all the existent North American plantations. With respect to their ri"hiful limits, and those of New France, it was stipulated that commissioners, of both nations, should bo appointed, and endeavor to como to an amicablt; arrangement on the vexed question of boundaries. When news of this pacification reached Quebec, public rejoicings took place. Numbers of the colonists, who had taken refuge in the towns anJ ceased to cultivate their lands, — devastated as these often were by incur- sions of savages, — now returned to their holdings. The Canadian seigniors were able to turn to profitable account the chances of the war now ended, by making over to new censitaircs lands which had been aforetime rented to parties who had been killed in recent times of hosti- lity, leaving no heirs. Messrs. de Tallard and d'llerbault, the French commissaries, met then nominated on the part of Britain in 1G98; and an arrangement was inado, that the subjects of France should retain the western coast [in wliole ov in part] of Newfoundland ; all the eastern nminland seaboard, from Hudson's Bay to New England, with the islands adjacent ; the valloy ot the St. Lawrence and the connecting lakes beyond ; lastly, the vast basin of the Mississippi.* No definitive limitation of the relative bounds of the region since known as New Brunswick took place at this time ; for a separate solution of this difficulty was needed ; when it was recogniseil that, the British being already in possession of the banks of the Kennc bee, the river St. George should be the limit, on that side, between Now France and New England. No proper conclusion was come to, during the five years the peace of Ryswick lasted, regarding the relative rights of the French and British fishermen frequenting the banks and coasts of Newfoundland. • No provision was made, or perliaps even mentioned, by the British diplo- matists in favor of tlie Iroquois confederation, whose tribes would have been thus left at French discretion entirely, but for the interest taken in them bythi conterminous British colonists. " The pence of Ryswick gave repose to the colonies, but left the Five Nations exposed to the hostilities of the French Count Frontenac prepared to direct his whole force against them; and was only prevented from executing his purpose by the energy and decision of Lore Bellam«nt, governor of New York. He not only supplied the Iroquois confed- eration with munitions of war, but notified that if the French should presume to attack them, he would march the whole disposable force of the colony to their aid. This threat was eflFectual." Frost's Hist. U. Stales, p. 103.— 5. NEWFOUNDLAND AND IIUDSON's DAY. 359 As for the Iroquoia country, no present attempt at disposinj^ of it was iJvcnturcd, from fear of irritating a confederation the friendship of which wus sought both by the French and British colonists ; but their govern- ments strove, by all sorts of subtleties, the former to induce the Five Nations to recognise European supremacy over them, the latter to prevent them from falling into that snare, by advising them to maintain their independence. Earl Bellamont liaving sent Colonel Schuyler and M. Deiius on a mission to M. de Frontenac, to inform him of peace being concluded, also to treat for an exchange of prisoners, and other matters of mutual interest, these envoys M'cre graciously received by the count. They had been charged to claim British supremacy over the Iroquois territories and the regions to the west of them, likewise Michilimackinac, with the wilds to the southward of that post ; under the pretext that all these formed part of the colony of tlic New Netherlands, before it became thcprovince of New York. Thi.s pretension being scouted, at a conference with the French colonial authorities, the envoys asked what were the legal grounds for such resistance, when M. de Calli^res replied, '• The rights of discovery and possession arc those we hold over the Ottawas and Iroquoia countries : our people possessed them before any Dutchman set foot therein ; and this right, established by several titles in divers places of the t;antons, has never been interrupted but by the war wo have been oblij>;ed to wage. against that nation, on account of its revolts and insults."* When the question of exchanging prisoners came up, Lord Bellamont tried again to have the captived Iroquois recognised for British subjects ; but M. de Frontenac replied that he was about to have a conference with the tribes, who had left a hostage in his hands as a pledge for their good faith, and that he would treat directly with them. Despite these diver- gencies in the views of the two governments, a correspondence between them upon the points in debate, was still kept up after the departure of the envoys for New York. At an after-time, it was known in Canada that his lordship had holden a grand council, whereat the elders of the cantons had disclaimed all foreign supremacy over their tribes ; loudly asserting a savage indepen- dence in which they gloried. The details of what passed on the occasion show that the British governor and the Iroquois chiefs were on their guard * The adoption of the significant term " revoltes" of course begged the whole question as regarded the Iroquois. Tlio " titres" put forward must have been verbal recognitions of French suzerainty, the bearing of which even Iroquois sagacity could not comprehend ; such concessions being attested, probably, by crosses set up, or copperplate inscriptions buried in certain localities. — B. f 360 HISTORY OP CANADA. against reftognising the pretensions of each other respectively : the f'ornior intending to turn the opportunity to account by obtaining a rocognitioa from the latter of the British as their liege lords; while ail that tlie Iroquois expected, or desired at the time, was that Bellamont would exert his influence to obtain better conditions from the French than they were willing to grant. We cannot help compassionating the fate which menaced the five cantons, the guidance of whose destiny was so ardently coveted by two potent and ambitious nations ; nor refrain from admiring at the same time, the prudence and patriotism of the savage people whom France and Britain claimed for subjects. The governor-general profited skilfully by the opportunity presented to induce the confederation to treat with him on his own terms, llecent British impolity greatly contributed to bring about this favorable decision for the colony, despite the trading interests of the Iroquois; which hitherto inclined them to be friendly with the enemy; whereas the religious sympathies of a part of the tribes naturally inclined them to adopt the French side. Now the legislature of New York passed a bill, in 1700, in view of nullifying the religious influence which France exerted by means of the Jesuits, prohibiting any catholic priest to enter the cantons voluntarily, on pain of death. These legislators forgot that such a Draconian law, besides its barbarity, shocked the spiritual sentiment of a portion of the native population, and, in principle, violated the natural rights of all the tribes. The French envoys to the confederation did not fail to take advantage of this judicial blindness ; aggravated as a bad case was, by an arbitrary order from king William, to Lord Bellamont, to demand a cessation of hostilities between the belligerents, and to constrain the cantons to disarm. The royal letter was sent by De Cal- li6res to the Onnontaguez canton, in proof that the English king claimed the Iroquois for his subjects ; and that, after orders so positive to disarm, they had no further aid to expect in carrying on the war. Thus, aban- doned by one party, and threatened by the other, they began to have Bcrious thoughts of "burying the war-hatchet." Accordingly, they sent, during the summer of 1700, ten chiefs "to mourn over the French killed during the war." These envoys were received at Montreal vnth great ccr 'mony in a grand council, whereat also attended deputations from most of the native allies of the French. The orator of the cantons, while he spoke with a sage reserve, himself cunningly tried to cause M. de Callidres to pronounce what he would do, in case war broke out between the tribes and the British. Ho made known the indignation the menaces and orders from New York had NEWFOUNDLAND AND HUDSON'S BAY. 861 tscited ; and said, that as the refusal of the Iroquois to submit to Huch dictation should draw war upon their country, ho hoped that those of his compatriots who repaired to Cataraqui, besides purchasing such goods as they could not find at Albany, would buy ammunition also, for they might have need of it. The famous Huron chief, Le Rat, who doubtless had long lost hope of combining all the tribes in a general confederation, ipoke afterwards, but briefly ; the import of his discourse being, " I have always obeyed my Father, and I place my hatchet at his feet ; I doubt not that the other westerns will do the like. Iroquois, follow our example." The preliminary articles of the peace between the French together with their allies, on one part, and the Iroquois confederation on the other, were signed Sept. 18th. M. de Calliiires (now governor-general), the intendant, the governor of Montreal, the military commandant, and the chief ecclesiastics present, attested the treaty by their signatures ; as did the chiefs in their way, by tracing on the paper the heraldic symbols of the several tribes represented. Thus a spider stood for the Onnonta- gue« and the Tsonnonthouans ; for the Ooyogouins, a calumet; the Onneyouths, a forked stick; the Agniers, a hear ; the Hurons, a beaver ; the Abcnaquis, a roebuck ; the Ottawas, a hare. The whole proceedings were conducted with much gravity, and, as we shall see by and by, the ratification of the treaty was yet more ceremoniously honored. The success of the long negociation with the Iroquois was due to the war polity of Count de Frontenac, and the high tone he was able to assume when proposing terms of peace. Although he had now been dead two years, the influence he gained over the natives survived for the colony's benefit, as the savages seemed still to fear him, though the tenant of a tomb. The deceased governor of New France, of whom his contemporaries reported as much evil as good, died Nov. 28, 1698, aged 77 years. He preserved to the last the vigor of temperament he had in his youth ; latterly, as much firmness, energy, and talent were manifested in his acta and counsels, as in his first years of manhood. What he did during his latter career (the most critical period of the colony's annals) to raise the country from its depression under the sway of his predecessor, endeared him in remembrance to the Canadians. He found their country vulner- able on all sides, attacked at many points, and on the brink of ruin: he left it more extended than he found it, its security provided for, and its future tranquillity assured, if not quite complete. But, as we have intimated above, his acts and character were diversely estimated, by the ■f 802 lUSTOUY OF CANADA. r- different parties wliicli tlicn influenced the gonoral mind of Canada. Tlie clerical body, whom he wished to eontine entirely to their spiritual ministrations, and whose interference in secular government ho rcsuiitcd reported most unfavorably some of liis acts, and censured his civil polity generally. Two of the charges they brought against him will be jud.rcd variously : namely, a tendency towards Jansenism in his religious belief: and his being an encourager of the pernicious liijuor traffic with the Indian tribes. Now-a-days, when Pascal is claimed as one of the gloritv of (tur catholicity, we ought to treat liglitly such a stignui as the first; the other charge is of a more grave complexion. It was probably the primary cause of his recall, in 1G82; as well as that of M. Duchosncau. We have stated, in their place, the particulars of the controversy, not tCo creditable to De Froi»tenac, which took place between these two chief civil functionaries of the colony : tlio former acting for his own gross material interest, and those who profited by an evil trade, on the one hand ; anij the intendant, properly backed by the clergy, engaged in denouncing die evils attendant on the certain abuse of alcoholic drinks by the savage races. In maintaining a bad cause, too, De Frontcnac showed little command of temper; for Ins intendant related of him to the ministry in one of liis official reports, that upon one occasion lie was obliged to quit the cabinet, to avoid the injurious language of his principal. Even during his second administration, the Count soiled his hand.s by intermingling in the operations of traffic, which every high colonial functionary of olden Canada ought carefully to have eschewed.* It is to be urged, however, in abatement of just reprobation, that ho was a scion of an impoverished though illustrious house; and that the king liad doubtless sent him to Canada for the double purpose of secluding his penury from the observation of his compeers, and enabling him h return among them with improved fortunes. f * The difficulty the Count would have had in maintaining a liberal domestic establishment as governor-general, was probably the cause why his couute33, an undowered lady, never came to Canada, although, as appears from data adduced by M. Garneau, t'., couple lived ou friendly terms when l)oth were in France together. They had one child only, who lived till early manhood; he entered the service of the sovereign-bishop of Munster, and was killed at the head of his regiment, while fighting for that ally of France. Madame dc Frontenac died very aged, in 1707. — B. t We cannot see that any of the governors-general of Now France could fairly bo censured for having recourse to every expedient not dishonorable, if even conventionally degrading, to eke out their miserably scanty appointments. We know not exactly what those of De Frontenac were ; but " the yearly salarj of the Marquis of Vaudreuil in 1758, was no more than £212 Is. 8d. sterling, out of which he was expected to clothe, maintain, and pay a guard for himselt. NEWFUUNDLAND AND Ul'DriOxN S HAY. m-i Do Fronlennc iiiaJc enemies, UkcwiHc, tlirouj,'h a haughty doportmcnt, nml hin jcalouHiefl of those around him ; two very u'reat defects in the ohaructcrof ft j^overiunental chief. They were the cause of iiumy of his troubles and niortilications when in ofiicc. We need not recapitulate here the particulars of his twtj administrations of New France : Hufficc it to 8uy, that ho had enlarged and sound ideas of what was needful for tlie acgnuulizenicnt of the colony he undertook to rule ; hut the state of the mother country in his day, and the small attention paid to other than Huropeun politics by its monarch and his ministers, ])revented their all- cdinpctent representative in America from earryiiij^ out views, nobly conceived, for the development of the resources of the vast but scattered rt'friousof a forest empire, not too uiagniIo((uently perhaps, but yet rather inappropriately, styled New Krance. The chevalier de C'allieres, for a considerable time back, governor of Montreal, was nominated successor of the count de Frontenac. lie was a mail well experienced in the colony's affairs, and liked by the soldiery fur his intrepidity. [lis sound judgment, penetrating spirit, and disin- terestedness of character, with a ctiolncss of temperament enabling him to master liis passions and temper his prejudices, had long nnido him acceptable to the Canadians, and the .savages pliant to liis will. The chevalier do Vaudreuil succeeded him in the government of IMontreal: a subordinate post indeed, yet still importain : wherein his activity, his engaging mien, his noble bearing and ami;ibic I'lanners, made him popular with all. Convinced at length of the importance of Cataraqui, the king recommended that a capable and intelligent officer should take charge of that outpost, ready to act, with decision and discretion, if a crisis arose. I)e Callieres, with respect to the Irocjuois, followed up the policy of liis predecessor. The treaty with them— which the British colonist.s counterworked from first to last — signed Sept. 18, as we have related, was solemnly confirmed Aug. 4, 1701, in a general assembly holden under the walls of Montreal. A spacious enclosure had been fitted up, with benches for the deputies consiating of two sergeants and 25 soldiers, furnishing them with firing in win- ter, and other necessary articles." W. 11. S.mith. — In France, any noblo or i'cntilhomine who engaged in trade, or occupied liis time in any form of industry for profit, soiled his escutcheon for ever; but, "upon a representation made of the narrow circumstances to wliich many of the noblesse of the colony were reduced, Louis XIV was induced to permit them to carry on commerce by sea and land without being subject to any inquiry on this account, or the imputation of their having derogated from their rank in society." — Canada ; past, present and future, vol. 1, pp. Ixv, Ixii. — De Frontenac merely availed himself of the liccnije thus accorded, and no wonder he did so. — B. 364 HISTORY OF CANADA. of the confederation, the public functionaries, and the chief inhabitants, male and female, of the locality ; a guard of Boldiers encircled the whole. Thirteen hundred savages, of many races, entered, and took their places in prescribed order. Never had so mnny representatives of native tribes been got together before. Here were assembled Abenaquis, Irofjuois, Jtiurons, Ottawas, Miamis, Algonquins, Pouteouatamis, Outagamis, Leapers, (Sautcurs), Illinois ; in a word, representatives of every native ivice, from thr gulf of the St. Lawrence to the lower course of the Mississippi. This numerous assemblage presented a curious aspect, from the variety of the costumes, and fantastic ornaments worn by those pres- ent. The governor-general occupied a raised scat, where he could a-c and bo seen by all. Thirty-eiojht deputies advanced and made tlieir symbolic marks on the documcii Ui^y ciime to ratify. A Te Dcuin wiis then chanted. A banquet, salvos of artillery, and discharges of suuil! arms terminated a solemnity which gave assurance of peace to Nurth Araerica ; hitherto banished for years, from all its wide-sproad regions, betweeu Hudson's Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The consummp don of this great act wag accompanied by an evont which made a deep impression on the public mind, "nd proved the rov pect in which a true patriot is ever held even by his country's enciuies. During a public conference, while one of the Huron chiefs was harang- uing, the celebrated chief Le Rat fainted away. Those nearest flew ♦o his assistance with the greater anxiety, as all knew that his potent influ- enoe had been employed to bring into such admirable concert tlie representatives of so many rival races and lately contending nations, all met to sanction a universal pacification. As soon as he recovered liis self-possession, ha intimated a desire to express his sentiments to tlie iissembly. An arm-chair was set for him in the midst, and every one pressed near to hear him speak. He rose, and all was silence, while lie recited the efforts he had made to bring about a general and stable peace. He dwelt much upon the necessity as well as desirability of maintaining that peace, now that it liad been effected ; dilating upon its expediency for the behoof of each nation in particular, and manifesting, with superior address, a wonderful knowledge of the special interests of every one. Then turning towards the governor-general, he adjured him to justify, by the fairness of his future policy, the confidence which the heads of tribes reposed in him. Voice and strength now failed him, and he had to sit down. Applause usually followed the oratorical displays of this Demos- thenes of the woods; but never on any previous occasion were the plaudit.^ he received so vehement or prolonged as now. Before the proceedings terminated, the chief became seriously ill : his supreme hour was near. NEWFOUNDLAND AND HUDSON'S BAY. 365 He was borne to the IIotel-Dieu (public hospital) of the city, where he brciithed his last about two o'clock next morning. The Hurons were inconsolable for hia loss. Never did any denizen of the American wilds evince greater genius, more valor, greater prudence, or a deeper knowledge of the human heart, than he did during an eventful career ; in which his successes were constant, from the right adaptation of his means to eflfect any given end, and the inexhaustible resource: of his mind in seasons of difficulty. Enthusiastically devoted to the well-being and glory of his nation, he looked upon all means as fair which tended thereto ; an instance of which we have already given in his truculent and cuutelous dealings with Denonville and the Iroquois ev ,'>'?. Kondiaronk (such was this great Huron chief's native name) shone aa much in private society as in public assemblies. He was quick at repartee, and his quaint conceits left any rival wit without the ability to return the like. In this respect he was the only man in Canada that could cope with De Frontenac, who often invited him to his table. He used to say that he knew but two Frenchmen surpassingly gifted in mind, — the governor-general and P(^re Carheil. The esteem which he had for this Jc8uit, induced him, it was asserted, to become a ChriHtiau.* His death caused a general mourning. His body lay in stato; and his interment was attended by the new governor-general, the coloni.vl head functionaries, the clergy, and all the native envoys the*! in Montreal. Military honors were rendered by the soldiery to his remains, which were entombed in the parish church of the city. The influence of this chief over the Hurons, paramount during life, lost little of its force after bis decease ; for the promises, mutually pledged before him during his dying moments hctrtOt' De Calli«ires and the other Huron representative chiefs, that tha Fren* h and their tribes should be ever allied, were maintained unbroii u. io the last. * This baptized barbarian was quite as respectable a " representative man" a« King Clovis, who figures in early French history as " lo grand," and in the Middle-Ages church calendars of Frenchified Gaul, as " le saint" likewiae. Like Clovis, " Le Rat " "A very hoathon in the carnal part," was still, it seems, like one of Po^'a heroinds, " aright good cliriDtif.n in Ai« heart." Both the groat Clovis of Gaul, and the potty Clovis of Huronia, were mon- sters of craft and cruelty; while both died, as wo read above, (and of Olorig in the Annals of Gregory of Toura,) in all the odor of sanctity. There was, in fact, much resemblance between the aetions and the polity of the twain ; one on a large scale, the other in a small way, of wrong-doing and evil-designing. -J. BOOK SIXTH. CHAPTER I. ESTABLISHMI^NT OF LOUISIANA.-1G83-1712. Province of Loui»iana.— Louis XIV puts gcvoral vocnoln at the dinpopal of La Sale to f'outi(i a ecttlcmont thoro.— ilin departure with a Miuadron : uiul niiBunderstaudingg with hin col- k'aguc, M. do IJoaujcu.— Ho niisHes tlio Hoa-eiitry of the Mi^HixBippi, aud in laiidi'd in Matagorda bay, Texas. —Hhanipful conduct of IJcaujcu, who loavcH La Sain and tlie colon- 'u>U to their fate.— La Sale builds two fortletn, and calls one St. Louis.— Ho explores Severn: parts of the country, to no good purpose, during several months, and loses many of by men. — Despairing of finding the MisHissippi, he sets out for the Illinois, in view of obtain- ing succor from France.— Tart of his companions murder liim and his nephew.— Hi,< assassins fall out; and two of their number killed by the others. — Joutel and «i.\ ol tlis party, leaving tlie conspirators behind, reach the Illinois.- Sad fate of most of tlio party left in the Texas territory .—l>'Ibervillo undertakes to re-coloniso Louisiana, and settl, n » colony at Biloxi (l(!98-'.t).— Appearance of the liritish 6n the Mississippi.— The lluguc""-' ask leave to settle in Louisiana, but are refused.— D'lberville demands free trade fc ': colony.— Illusive metallic richesof the country .—The Biloxiu!iflremove in i, —The colony progresses apace.— Death of M. d'lberville.- Aa inteudancy appointed, au'l its evil results.— I/ouisiana ceded to M. dc Crozat. (1712). The name Louisiana was given, in daya past, to all the countries si- tuated on tlie Gulf of Mexico, and which extends from the bay of Mobile: i. e. eastward, up to the sources of the rivers which fall into the Mississ;ippi; to the westward, an far as to New Mexico and to the ancient kingdom of Leon. Now-a-days, this vast territory is divided into several States: viz.. Texas ; to the west, from the llio del Norte up to the Sabine ; Louisiana, properly so called, in the centre, from the latter stream as far as Pearl river; and the Mississippi, at the east, from i'earl river till sonic distance from the bay oi Mobile ; the interspace reniaininf;, as far as that bay, forms a part of Alabama. To the north of these States, there are besides those ol" Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, &c. At the epoch we have now reached in this History, all thesccountries were almost unknown. Ferdinand dc Soto, a Spanish voyager, once a companion of Pizarro, traversed, but did not explore this region in 1539-iO, when in searcli of a new Pcrou. Having set out from Holy-Spirit bay in Florida, with fully 1000 soldiers, he proceeded northward as far as the Apalachians ; thence turning wef't- ward, he followed the lower line of that mountain range in a southerly direction, and arrived at and crossed the river Tombeckbec, near its junc- tion with the Alabama. Afterwards he turned to the north-west, and ESTABLI.^miENT OP LOUISIANA. 3»)7 croeseii nie Misi-issippi above the Arkansas. Turning again to th(^ south, he (m)S8ed the Red River ; which l^came the term of his o«»ursi:, as he died in 154:i near thereto, without having found what he sought. Moscosa, his lieutenant, heading tlie expedition, directed it towards Mexico, but, stopped by the intervening heights, he retraced his steps, and proceclod to the sea, on which he re-embarked with about 350 men, all that rem; in- ed alive.''- Of this enterprise, and of other voyages undertaken at wide intervals, by Spanish adventurers, to the northern coast of the Gulf, only vague accounts have reached us. (- We have already noticed the gracious reception of La Sale by Louis XIV in 1683, when he returned to France and reported his discovery of the embouchure of the Mississippi. La Sale proposed to the king that the territory through which that great river flows, should be appropriated ai* a part of New France ; the suggestion was adopted, and La Sale himself commissioned to begin a colonization of Louisiana. To effect this design, four vessels were put at his disposition : two ships of war, one of 40 and one of 6 guns ; with a hired privateer ship and a trading vessel. The number of persons embarked did not reach 500 in all, including the crews ; and among the passengers were eight missionaries and several gentlemen. The squadron, which was commanded by M. de Beaujcu, sailed from La Rochclle, July 24, 1684 As it proceeded, quarrels began between the commodore and La Sale, subsiding into a mutual aversion, perilous to the expedition. One of the ships was captured by the Spaniards of San Domingo. The others, led away by uncomprohended currents, and having faulty nautical instruments on board, ovrpasscd their destination by many leagues. La Sale, suspecting Miat the omboucliurc of tlie Mississippi was some way behind, woulJ have turned lielm ; but J3eaujeu, a vain ai.d jealous man, impatient of La Sale's authority over him, refused to obey ; and continued his western course, as blindly as obstinately. On the 14th February the squadron i-eached Matagorda bay, Texas ; when La Sale, who knew not that he was 120 leagues distant from the Mississippi, ordered the captain of the privateer to disembark the people under his charge. Pretending to do so, he ran his vessel upon reefs, |' where it was wrecked, and part of the cargo lost, including the warlike and other stores of the expedition. * Jared Sparks ; Amer. Biog. xi. t Carte de la Louisiana, Ac, 1782, by G. Delisle, in the Itiniraire de la Louin- mnt; Garcilasso dk la Vkoa ; History of the Conquest of Florida^ by Ferdinand de Soto. t Joutel (one of !.he colonists) : Journal Historiquc. 368 HISTORY OF CANADA. Instead of censuring the privatcor's-man, Beaujeu took him on board his own vessel, to screen him from La Sale's vengeance ; and when asked to supply as many stores as he had on board, for partially replacing thoee lost, he refused to do so under frivolous pretexts ; finally, on the Uth of March, he stood out to sea, leaving the colonists to their fate on an unknown and desert shore. La Sale, thus put to his shifts, set some of his people to cultivate the ground to obtain subsistence for allj and, along with a few artisans, began to construct a fortlet for defence against the savages. When near completion, he began to form anjtber, on a height, two leagues higher up a stream afterwards known as the riviere des VacUes. This fastness he called fort St. Louis. But his handicraftsmen, being ill selected in France, proved inferior to their pretensions, and the work proceeded slowly. Worse still, the seed sown by his men, was, as it came up, trodden down by wild animals, or perished in the ground. Other mischances occurred ; a mutinous spirit arose, and when this was severely checked by La Sale, his people desponded. Illness followed, under which 30 victims sank. The aboriginoe also manifested hostile intentions towards the luckless party, to whom they became all the more formidable as many of them rode bitted horses, and of course could not be followed across the prairies when their attacks were repulsed. The country itself was agreeable enough, being free from bush, perfectlj level, and well watered: the air was dry and pure, the temperature mild, But riavage and venomous animals formed a considerable part of animated nature in this wilderness ; including tiger-catfe ; caimans (alligators), rattlesnakes, &c. La Sale, despairing of forming a proper settlement, set out in search of the Mississippi ; wandering, for some months, in the direction of the Colorado. At one place, the party was assailed by the savages and several persons killed. La Belle, a vessel of 6 guns, the only one remaining to him, was wrecked, and the people in her drowned. A second exploration which he made, was as bootless as the first. Of a score of men composing it, but eight returned. Meanwhile thoso left at the bay of St. Bernard (Matagorda, in Texas) were dwindling away from illness and privation. La Sale's case was bad indeed. He had intended to despatch tho Tcesel lately lost to tho French Antilles, for succor; and that obtained, she wai afterwards to coast the Gulf seaboard in search of the Mississippian embouchure. The means of effecting this being now lost, it was needful to look » other quarters for aid, as the provisions of the party were now abm^t all ESTABLISHMENT OF LOUISIANA. 369 consumed. La Sale determined to seek assistance from France ; but to make his situation known it was needful to go to Canada. He was a man of decision, and he resolved to go thither himself. By this time his people were reduced from 80 to 37 men ; twenty of whom he left at St. Louis, under M. le Barbicr ; and, with the seventeen others, he set out for the Illinois country in January, 1687. The journey was painful, and its progression slow. Mid-March was over, and as yet only one of the tributaries of Trinity river * reached, when some of the men mutinied, murdered M. Mjraguet, La Sale's nephew, and soug>'^ to kill him also. The latter hid himself, but was sought out and mortally wounded, in presence of Pcire Anastasius, a missionary, who was of the party. A few handfuls of earth, with a rude cross to mark the place, set up by the missionary, amid a vast wilderness, now covered all that could die of the discoverer of Louisiana. The murderers, after despoiling the dead, resumed their march, but a dispute soon arose about their several shares of the booty; when they rose upon two of their own number, who had been their leaders in the mutiny, and shot them both. The surviving conspirators then took to the woods ; while the rest, seven in number, including a brother of La Sale, Joutel, and P6re Anastasius, continued their way towards the Illinois, and reached St. Louis in mid-September. The remanent party at Matagorda Bay, meanwhile, had sped yet worse. Shortly after La Sale left, the savages suddenly attacked them, and killed all but five, who being delivered to the Spaniards, then jealous of French intrusion, they inhumanly sent three of these captives to slave iu the mines of New Mexico; two more, sons of a Canadian named Talon, were taken care of by the Mexican viceroy, and finally entered the Spanish marine service.f Such was the unprospcrous issue of a hopeful expedition, and which would have probably been even fortuitously successful, if the French had but remained in the locality where they first pitched their tent, for Texas is one of the finest and most fertile countries in the world. But La Sale then committed the same error whicr znarkcd and marred his Canadian explorations : he took too many men witi him to the interior. Being, besides, of a restless temperament, he was always for going * Mr. Jared Sparks fixes this tragedy at the river Brazos : moat others place it as above, ♦ Universal History^ xl, 278. 370 HISTORY OP CANADA. ahead; while he ought to have stuck to the foundations he laid in Texas aJid attended to agricultural pursuits.* During the years of war innncdiatcly preceding the peace of Ryswick Louisianian colonisation was quite lost sight of by tho French miniHtry but, the country being attractive, several of the Canadians, who visited it at intervals on thnir own account, were induced to stay ; and by de},'rees they formed two trading settlements; one near the cmbouchirc of the Mississippi, the other on the Mobile • thence they commerced with the French Antilles. Probably the reports reaching France that these settlers were thrivin" now induced the court to ^ake up the dropped project of systematically colonising tho country. The Spaniards, who had exulted over the faiinrc of La Sale, and assuming that the whole southern territory of North America was theirs, got the start of the French authorities ; and, after taking or re-taking possession of it, with tho accustomed ceremonials in their king's name, practically vindicated their claim by founding a colony on the Bay of Pensacola, at the v jstern extremity of Florida. But tliey had not long settled in that locality, when ^I. d'Ibervillc appeared upon the scene. After his return from Hudson's Bay, in 1G97, this navigator earnestly applied to the French ministry to be employed in an expedition to Louis- iant! ; upon which two ships were put at his disposition, with orders to search for and chart the sea-outlets of the Mississippi. Accompanied by Messrs. d3 Sauvole and de Bienville, he sailed from La Rochelle, in September, 1698 ; driven into Brest by contrary winds, he set out again late in October, and reached San Domingo early in December. Leaving that island, January 1, 1699, lie reached the chores of Florida in 20 days. He essayed to anchor at Pensacola, but, being repelled, he passed on to Mobile bay. Returning to San Domingo again (why, docs not appear, unless it were to obtain information to direct him in lis researches), he coasted the seaboard of the Mississippi territory, till he found the • " For force of will, and vast conceptions ; for various knowledge, and quiet adaptation of his genius to untried circumstances ; for a sublime magaau- imity, that resigned itself to tho v/ill of Heaven, and yet triumphed over affliction by energy of purpose and unfaltering hope, ho had no superior among his countrymen. He had won the affection of the governor of Canada, the esteem of Colbert, the confidence of his son (marquis de Seignelai) the favor of Louis tho Fourteenth. After beginning the colonization of Upper Canada, he perfected tho discovery of the Mississippi, from the Falls of St. Anthony lu its mouth; and he will be remembered, through all time, as the Father of Colonization in the great central Valley of the West.'— Banchoft : History oj thp. United States, iii, 173-4.— B. ESTABLISHMENT OF LOUISIANA. 371 embouchure of its great river, which he ascended for some distance, and landed at one or more native villages near either of its banks. After descending the stream, erecting a fort at Biloxi Bay, between the Missis- sippi and the Mobile rivor, and leaving M. de Sauvole in command there, he set sail for France, He was well received at court, being created a knight of St. Louis, and soon afterwards nominated governor-general of Louisiana. Late in 1699 he set out with a body of colonials, almost all Canadians, and arrived at Biloxi in January, 1700. The site of this post was ill adapted for a settlement, except in view of a trade with the isles and Europe, the country being arid, and the heat of the climate intense. It was never- theless well peopled with aborigines of various tribes. Numbers of these people came to welcome D'Ibcrville, whose face they rubbed with white flay, in token of their esteem ; they also presented him with the calumet uf peace, and feasted the French for several days. Upon his return to Europe, D'Ibcrville learned that a British vessel had been seen on the Mississippi; and that a number of Carolinian colonists had advanced to the river Yasous, in the Chickasaw territory. English attention had been drawn towards Ihis country by P6re Ilen- iippin,* who. to a new edition of his " Description of Louisiana," prefixed ;t dedication co William III, inviting him to appropriate the country, and cause the gospel to be preached to its heathen people. That king, accepting the proposal, sent three vessels, with a body of Huguenots '■mbarked in them, to found a protestant colony on the Mississippi. These people proceeded as far as the province of Panuco, intending to form an alliance with the Spaniards, and induce them to expel *he French catholics from Biloxi : f but their project was not rclislied, or likely to be, jealous as the Spaniards were of all the French as colonists. Still the court of the Escurial made complaints to that of Versailles against the colonisation of any part of what was called the " Spanish Indies; " but the family relations between the two royal families becoming closer, no further notice was taken of the alleged encroachments. A great number of Huguenots (so were the French protestants nick- named by their catholic fellow-countrymen) had settled in Virginia, Carolina, &c., after their expulsion or flight from France. They were received, as they deserved to be, for valuable colonists. lu Massachusetts, they were allowed to send members to assembly. They founded several cities, now flourishing. Others of them, preferring to live among their • Louig XIV gave orders to arrest this monk if he ever came to Canada. Official Correspondence. t Universal History, xi, n. 78. » 372 HISTORY OF CANADA. compatriots, even in enforced exile, petitioned Louis XIV to let them settle in Louisiana, intimating that they would be submissive to lus will in all things else, if their religious rights were not interfered with but his Majesty, in answer to M. de Pontchar train, said, he " had not driven the protestants out of his kingdom with an intent that they should form a republic in America." They renewed their request, during the Orleans regency, and the refusal was repeated. Meanwhile, D' Iberville ascended the Mississippi as far as the Natchez country, where he intended to build a town. While ho was with the Tinssas tribe (neighbors of the Natchez) a violent storm arose. A thunderbolt struck the idol temple of the Tinssas and set it on fire. Forthwith the savages howled dismally, tore their hair, rubbed their faces and bodies with clay, invoking the Great Spirit the wiiiie. Mothers brought their babes, strangled them, and threw the bodies into thi flames. Seventeen of those innocents wore thus saorificed, despite the efforts of the French to prevent it.* After a short stay in the country, D'Ibervillc returned to Biloxi, where he fixed his head-quarters. He wrote to Paris, to ask that freedom of trade should prevail in the colony. The country was reported to abound in the precious metals, which turned out to be an illusion. A vein of copper was discovered, but it was found too far off to be profitably worked. Parties ascended the Red River, the Arkansas, and the Mis- souri, nearly to the Rocky Mountains, in search of gold, but found no sure signs of any. D'Iberville, having revisited France late in 1701, got command of three ships of war, in which he returned to Biloxi, with orders to strengthen and extend the settlements already formed, and labor to prevent the British from entering the country. A four-bastioned fort was erected at Mobile. After a survey of the territory, D'Iberville sent a report to Paris, and recommended that emigrants should be sent in numbers, husbandmen especially. Finding that he had made a bad choice for his trading capital, he caused the settlers at Biloxi to remove to Mobile. By degrees the French population increased, under the fostering care of D'Iberville; but their protector's career was now near its close. A life of incessant toils, in peace and war, had worn out his constitution. Ho fell ill of yellow fever in 1702; and, when convalescing, had to return to Europe. Ever restless, he proposed to the king to attack the • Relation, oujSnnde viritable, ttc, 1699-1721, by Penicaut : Paris Docomeuts, series 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF LOUISIANA. 373 fle(vi of Virginia and Newfoundland. The means of doing so were assigned to him at first, and then diverted to other purposes. He fell seriously ill again, and had not quite recovered when he oflPcred to capture Barbadoes, with other West India Islands, and sweep from the American waters all British trade. M. Ducapc had previously offered to take Jamaica : the plans of the two were now conjoined. They were tried in 1706, but proved abortive. D' Iberville, indeed, captured Nevis, took prisoner and carried away the governor and the colonists, 7000 negroes, and a great booty, landing the whole in Martinique, to tlie great enrich- ment of that French island. When about to seek out the British convoys, according to promise, he was smitten a second time with yellow fever and died, July 9, 170G, aged 44 years. This hero, as redoubtable a captain on sea as on land, was born at Montreal in 1 6G2, being one of several sons, all more or less distinguished, of Charles le Moync, Seignior of Longueuil, near that city. The family was of Nornrnn extraction. Two years after D'Iborville's death, M. Dion d'Artaguette came to Louisiana as a kind of royal intendant, his prescribed duty being to labor for the advancement of the industry of the colony. Under his superintendence all things retrograded ; yet, all the while, the people of France were wished to believe that the colony was in the most flourishing state. In 1711, the Isle Dauphine yraa ravaged by corsairs; causing a loss to the crown of property valued at 80,000 francs. The colony was founded on unsound bases, observes Raynal, and could not long prosper. "Going on from bad to worse," says he, " there remained in it but 28 impoverished families; when the public was surprised to learn, in 1712, that M. Crozat* had asked and obtained for himself a 16 years' lease of the whole trade of Louisiana." — But, before proceeding with the annals of this colony, it is time to return to the affairs of Canada, our more immediate subject. * In the original printed 1742, by mistake. Antoine Crozat, marquis dii Chatel, was a rich financier, probably one of tlie farmers-general. — B. i CHAPTER II. TllEATY OF LTUECI1T.-1711-171.'5. A French colony nottleil nt Detroit.— Four years' iieiice.— " Wiir of tlie Surces.iioii."— Oper- atioiiH in America.— Neutrality in tlie western region: licstilities condueil to the maritime provinces,— Triinil statu of Acadia.— (^unrreis uinonji liie weKtern savages.— Ikai(l> in Nnv Kngland by the Freiicli and tlie Abena(iuis.— L»(.'struction<)l'J)(.'erfleldand llaverJiill.ilTO^i. —Colonel Schuyler's remonstrance's on these acts, and >I. de Vaudrcuil's dctiucrof tlifni. — ('a|>lain (y'hurch ravages Acadia (1704).— Colonel Slarck's two sie'gcH of rort-lioyal; i* repulsed in both (1707). —Nolicesof Newfoundland : hostilities in that island: M.dr Suber- CU80 tails to take Fort St. John (1705).— M. do St. (^vide captures St. .John (170*,)),— Furthor hostilities in Newl'oundland.—'riio Anglo-American colonists call on the Itritish goveriimoiit to aid them to contjuer Canada; promises nnnle in 1700, and again in 1710, to ^ell(l ibi' required aid, but none arrives.-Cieiieral Nicholson besieges and lakes I'ort-Koynl.— Thi- article.s of its capitulation diversely interpreted.— Resumption and ternnmitiou of hostil- ities in Acadia.— Third Httack meditated on (Quebec, and double iiiva.-iion of Caimila; tlic Iroquois arm again.- l>isasters of the ISritish maritime e.\pedition.— The Outaj.'iiini.'i at Detroit; savages' intents against that settlement ; their defeat and de.struction.— Kt-fsfal). lishmont of Michilimackinac— Sudden change of ministry in Kngland; its conHi(|Uiiici'.< —Treaty of Utrecht; stipulations in it regarding New France.— Kellectious on the com- parative btrougth of France at this time and ut the death of Louis XIll. M. do Calli6rc3, forecasting the advantages which would attend the possession of a fortified port on the shore of the ditroit, or strait between the farthest great lakes, sent one of his officers, named la Mothc-Cadillac. with 100 Canadians and a Jesuit missionary, to form a settlement, in June, 1701, near the lower end of Lake St. Clair, where its waters pass into Lake Eric. Tiie important American city of Detroit, which has. for part of its site, that of the posts cstahlished in the first year of the 18th century, now contains at least 40,000 inhabitants, many of whom arc of French descent. It was taken by the British in 17G0, by the Americans in 1812. Its early annals, like those of all the frontier towns of North America during past ages, arc replete with the incident-' of w^ar. It was harassed, in turn, by the aborigines and by the British. and sometimes attacked by both. But its earliest and worst enemies ■were famine and disease,* which stunted tlie early growth of a settle- ment located in one of the finest regions of America, enjoying a po.sitioii inferior to none for all the purposes of internal trade. The intriguers for Louis XIV in Spain, having, Oct. 2, 1700, persuad- ed its moribund king, Charles II, to appoint Philip duke of Aiijou. second son of the dauphin of France, as his successor, shortly thereafter • This was the small-pox, which ravaged Canada in 1703, and reduced the population of Quebec 25 per cent. TUEATY OP UTRIX'HT. 375 the young prince ascended the SpaniMli throne as Philip II, whereupon great umbrage was taken by pf)litie sticklers for the " balance of power" in Europe. Alien discontents increasing, a treaty, offensive as against France and Spain, was signed Sept. 7, 1701, by the pleni[)otentiaries of Great Britain, the Emperor of Germany, and the Dutch States; in wliich afterwards conjoined Portugal, Savoy, and the kingdom of Prussia, — [the latter a regality tlicn only a. few months old.] Hostilities imme- diately followed, taking the name of " The Wiir of Succession." With these European troubles Canada had no earthly concern ; but the exten- sion of the war thither cannot liave been unwelcome, since its people forthwith proposed to essay the concpiest of New I'^iigland. They were admonished by the Frencli ministry to lie quiet : that, for the present at least, their neutrality was desirable, and even necessary ; and that their governor-general ought to do his best to maintain it intact. D" Iberville asked only 400 French regulars and 1000 Canadians and militia for the capture of New York and Boston, wliieh lie proposed to reach, in winter, by the river Chaudit^rc ; but he was told that such a force, small as it was, could not be spared, referring, for the present, an attempt to obtain a portion of the coveted Atlantic seaboard by force, the Canadian authorities set about strengthening their positions in tlie interior. The lately-formed settlement at Detroit, could it be njaintained. was a great acquisition ; but it was viewed with a jealous eye by the British. With respect to the native populations, there was little cause for imiuietudc. By the treaty of Montreal, the neutrality at least, of the most formida- ble tribes, — those of the Iroquois, — was assured. The Canadian authori- ties had obtained a moral liold upon numbers of that people, tlirough the conversions made by the missionaries they sent among them. Envoys from New York had tried, but in vain, to obtain their expulsion. The first hostilities between the French and English colonists took place in Newfoundland and Acadia: they were unimportant. Before any operation of consequence was entered upon, New France lost its governor-general; M. de Callieres dying May 2G, 1703, after administer- ing the colony four years and a half. The man^uis de Vaudreuil, governor of Montreal, was nominated liis successor, at the instance of the people of the province ; but this appointment was conceded with some hesitation, because his countess was a native-born Canadian ! * The leaders of the Iroquois confederation, not understanding what • This intimation was given incidentally to M. de Vaudreuil in 1706, in a letter from the minister reproving him for licensing, in favor of bis connexions, traffic prohibited by royal ordinances. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // {■/ Y z ^/ V. <'' C^. Boyale.— Abortive attempt, in 1619, to colonize St. John's (Prince Edwai4's) Island.— A fisw notices of that isle. The treaty of Utrecht tore from the failing hands of the moribtad Louis XIV the two portals of Canada : Acadia and Newfoandlaid. That too-famous treaty marked the commencing decline of the Frenck monarchy, ending in its fall in fourscore years thereafter. The nation, which it humiliated, appeared, however, inclined to make a last effort to resume in America the advantageous position lately lost ; and in this view a greater colonial system than ever was projected, the seat of which wm to be in the region of the Mississippi, — a country made known entirely by Frenchmen. But the power or inclination of the government was not oqual to the adventurous spirit of the people. Besides, had not the king, by the treaty of Utrecht, bought the throne of Spain for his descendant, the price being the sacrifice of the colonies ; that is, at the coat of dismembering the French Empire? By the cession of the two provinces* of the Laurentian Gulf, Canada was laid bare on its seaboard sides ; and the alien power whose prssessiomi were closely contiguous, could thereby, at any hostile moment, hinder succours from reaching the province, and cut off Quebec entirely from access to the sea. It became, therefore, essential for the protection of the colony, and the safety of the fisheries, that a new bulwark should be substituted, for the outer defences, now lost, in the north-eastern Ameri- can waters. There still remained in French hands Cape Breton and St. John's, situated between Acadia and Newfoundland ; and the former y)f these, if properly turned to account, might become a double-pointed thorn in the flanks of the latter possessions, newly acquired by Britaia. ♦ It waa provided, in article 13 of the treaty of Utrecht, that "the whole of Kova Scotia, otherwise called Acadia, with its ancient limits, and all its depea- dencies, is hereby ceded to the crown of Great Britain." We shall see bj aad by how the French interpreted this article as regards Acadia, peninsular aad continental. — B. COLONIZATION OF CAPB BRBTON. 891 AMordinglj, the flag of France was planted on the shores of an insular posBOBsion hitherto unregarded, and the construction of fortifications vtf b^n on a site in Cape Breton, afterwards known to fame as LouiflBonBa. This proceeding manifested an intent to protect effioa- oionsly the entry of the St. Lawrence ; and the posts, simultaneously ibrmed in the Mississippi valley, equally signified that the security of Ae opposite region of New France was being anxiously cared for. The works in progress on Cape Breton, and the importance ascribed to that iBland in Old France, soon drew the alarmed attention of the Anglo- American colonists, who had thought, through wrenching from the French Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, that a mortal blow had been dealt to their rival s.They now saw, with astonishment, rising around them, from the rocks of Cape Breton, to the sands of Biloxi in Louisiana, a girdle of forts, the cannon of which menaced every point of their own frontiers. France, mistress of the two greatest floods of North America, the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence, possessed also two fertile valleys of a thousand leagues' extent, in which the productions of all climates grew. With 80 great a territory, commanding such water-ways, she might, in a few years, acquire inexpugnable force on the American continent ! But, to realize this, an energy and a management were needed, which it would have been vain to expect from the government. To begin with, an abundant immigration was wanted, both in Canada and Louisiana ; but Louis XV sent no colonists. He thought that high walls, raised on a desert strand at the entry of the Laurentian Gulf, within cannon-shot of hostile ships, would be sufficient for all purposes. This was repeating the faults of the preceding century ; viz. first inviting Britain and her eolonies to unite their efforts against the new outpost, and, that once taken, they would be sure to use it as a stepping-stone for the conquest of all the other possessions of France in North America. Cape Breton [the island thus inappropriately named] is situated N. E. of Nova Scotia, from which it is separated for 20 miles by a strait about a mile wide, called the Gut of Canso. To the N. W. lies Prince Edward's Island * (Isle de St. Jean) ; to the N. E. Newfoundland ; the former 30, the latter about 50 miles distant. Cape Breton is of no definable configuration, but its nearest approach to any regular form is that of a triangle; which, from base to apex, or S. to N., is about 100 miles in a direct line, and a line, run across the broadest part, S. to W., would measure 85 miles. Superficial area of land, about two million * Thus first named ia 1T79, ia honor of Edward, duke of Kent, father of Qteen Victoria.—J. 1 ' I III 11' m !l *■ ' 392 HISTORY OP CANADA. * > . acres. The island, strangely indented in many places, is almost cut in two by an inlet of the N. E. seaboard called the Bras d'Or, ^rhich b separated from St. Peter's Bay, another inlet, entering from the opposite seaboard, by an isthmus only 850 yards across. The Bras d'Or is entered by two channels, formed by Boulardin island, which lies between the harbors of St. Anne and Sidney (Port des Espagnols). Two other harbors, are those of Miroy and Louisbourg. The latter (once important but now deserted) has a circuit of 12 miles, and is entered by a very narrow strait. St. Peter's is situated on Toulouse bay ; Sidney, on the N. E. coast, is the seat of the government, and had about 500 inhabitants at a recent date. The climate is milder than that of Lower Canada, and not loss salu- brious, though the air is more humid. The soil is moderately fertile, and the farming produce raised includes the common cereals. Most of the population is agricultural. The southern slopes of tlie highland regions are tillable to the summit.* The natural wood found on the island, in early times, comprised oak, pine, maple, plane-tree, cedar, aspen — growths all yielding constructive material ; and, at present, ship- building is much carried on. There are several coal-mines, with gypsum and iron-stone quarries. Some salt-springs exist near the Bras d'Or, the most considerable of several sea-lakes in the island, but which contains no navigable stream. Most of the urban settlements lie along the shores of the Bras d'Or, which affords great facilities for trade. At a recent date the population of the island was about 30,000 ; and the people arc under the jurisdiction of the authorities of Nova Scotia, their territory forming a county in itself Cape Breton, anterior to the 18th century, was frequented only by fur-traders and fishermen. Towards the year 1706, Messrs. Baudot, father and son, the former being then intendant of New France, sent to Paris a memorial proposing to make the island a commercial entrepot for all French America. In this document, which manifested the sagacity of its writers, it was urged that the fur-trade, almost the only commerce Canada possessed, was becoming less and less important yearly ; and that, whilst it had become liltle profitable, it had vicious tendencies about it, as leading the population to trust to gambler-like chances of uncertain gain ; invited men to lead a loiteriii ;, vagabond life ; inspired dislike of tillage, and an aversion to eontinuo.i^ employment of any kind. " The * " Let the poor emigrant pass not by neglected Cape Breton, where God haj given him good soil to cultivate ; coal for bis fuel ; fish for his food, and salt to cure it." Judge Halibobton. — B. COLONIZATION OF CAPE BRETON. 393 Anglo- Americans," they said, "not leaving their homes as most of our people do, till their ground, establish manufactories, open mines, build ships, &c., and have never yet looked upon the peltry traffic but as a subordinate branch of their trade. Let us take an example from them, and encourage the exportation of salted provisions, lumber, pitch, tar, oils, fish, hemp, flax, iron, copper, &c. In proportion as exports increase, so will imports augment. Everybody will find employment ; provisions and foreign commodities will come in abundantly, and consequently fall in price : a busy commerce will attract immigration, will hasten land- clearing, extend the fisheries, and, in a word, give new life to the enterprise of this country, now so languishing." In many other passages, the Raudots pointed out, in particular, what ought to be done to make Cape Breton the emporium they said it might be, placed as it was between France and French settlements in Canada, Acadia, and Newfoundland ; but, above all, they urged the necessity, if any thing effectual were to be done, to encourage a large immigration to it ; and this, not by any com- pany or association of individuals, who always held monopolies which they worked for their own narrow purposes, but directly by the home government. Little or no notice seems to have been taken of this patriotic project, though most ably developed; but it was taken into serious consideration, at least, about the period now under our review. The ministry to mark the estimation in which France now held Cape Breton, re-named it Royal Island (I'lsle-Royale), by whicli appellation it was known as long afterward as French domination lasted in North Amer- ica. The seat of government was fixed at English-haven, which was re- named " Louisbourg," in honor of the king. Its port could be fortified only at great cost, the needful materials of construction being far off. The harbor of St. Anne would have been far preferable in that respect and most others. M. de Costebelle, who had been ousted from his gov- ernorship at Plaisance by the place passing under British rule, was charged to superintend the colony, and lay the foundations of Louisbourg. Instead of sending colonists from France, the inhabitants of the ceded settlements in Acadia and Newfoundland were invited to repair to Cape Breton, it being understood that they were impatient of British sway, and yearning to join their compatriots, even if they lost, in a material point of view, by the exchange. But in this the home authorities reckon- ed without their host ; for the French settlers, who at first threatened to emigrate to other parts of New France, were getting reconciled to their new masters, who for the time treated them well ; just as the Canadians were cajoled to repel the advances of the revolted Anglo-American provin- '« ! If. I.,, !■■ 394 HISTORY OF CANADA. mala in 1774. \7hat we have said now, refere to the majority ; bit a few did emigrate, not having any property to lose thereby, to Isle-Royafe, wherein they formed some petty villages. In default of more eligible in- habitants, the government invited some of the Abenaquis savages to take np their abode in the island. The town of Lonisbourg was built on a tongue of land jutting into Ihe sea, and in its palmiest days was fully a mile long. The houses were nearly all of wood, the chief state edifices being the only exceptions. Wharves were constructed on the searfrontage, at which vessels loaded and unloaded. As the great object of the government was to make the place a maritime arsenal, a series of fortifications, intended to be impr^able, were commenced in 1720. Before they were finished, more than 30 mil- lions were expended upon them. Fishing was the chief employment of the Cape-Bretons, whose nomben gradually increased to a total of 4,000 souls ; and these were mostly oon- gr^ated at Louisbourg. The island being little more than one great fishing-station, this amount might be doubled, perhaps, in summer by the arrival of fishers from all parts of Europe, who repaired to the coasts of the island to dry their produce. The islanders trusted to the mother country and the French Antilles for the chief neceasaries and all the luxuries of life. They imported, from France, provisions, beverages, tissues, and even furniture ; for which they exchanged cod-fish. They sent annually to the West-Indies from twenty to twenty-five vessels, each of 70 to 140 tons burden, laden with lumber, staves, pit-coal, salmon, cod, mackerel, and fish-oil ; thence import- ing sugar, cofiiee, rum, &c. There was a considerable excess of imports from the Antilles beyond the wants of the islanders; these were taken up in part by the Canadians, and the rest bartered for other commodities with the New-Englanders. From the details thus given of the ordinary traffic of Isle-Royale, it may be imagined that the people enjoyed a consi- derable amount of material comfort : such was not the case. Most of ihem lived a life of constant penury. Those of them who strove to bet- ter their condition by plying extended industry, became the victims of usury, owing to the advances made to them in bad seasons, or when their floating ventures suffered wreck or other miscarriages, or salt was scarce, as well as dear. Industrials who have to pay ordinarily from 20 to 25 per cent, a year for advances, must ever be on the verge of absolute in- solvency ; and thus he who loans as well as he who borrows, may be in- volved at last in common ruin. The civil government of Isle-Royale and of St. John's Idland (Prince Bdward's) was modelled on that of Canada. The commandant, like the . > COLONIZATION OF CAPB BRBTON. 396 goreroor of Lomaiana, was subordinate to the gorernor-general resideat at Qaebeo. Feudality waa never introduced to Isle-Royale, aa the king refdied to constitute any seigniories there. The re-founder of Isle-Royale was succeeded as commandant by M. Si Ovide. In 1620, Mr. Richard was nominated British governor of Aoadia and Newfoundland. Jealous of the intercourse of his subjecfai with the people of Isle-Royale, he issued an arbitrary edict against it. He also required the men of French race under his jurisdiction to take an oath of allegiance to the British king within four months. M. St. Ovide interposed, and admonished the parties thus put under compulsion, that if they conformed, they would soon be obliged to forego their religion, and that their children would be taught to renounce it. The British, he farther told them, would enslave those who yielded ; adding, that evem French huguenots were shunned by British protestants, &c. The inha- bitants (wiser than their adviser) contented themselves with reminding Mr. Richard, that they had decided to remain in the country only om «ondition of having their nationality respected ; that their presence in the island was advantageous to its new masters, in this respect, if for no other, that it was out of regard for the French residents th&t the Mic-Macs and other aborigines let the English live in repose, they being all?.es of the French only and averse to English ways : finally, that if these two antipathies, civilized and savage, conjoined against Bri- tish domination, it might be imperilled by them some day. Mr. Richard, moved or not by these considerations, took alarm on hearing that M. de St. Ovide had made arrangements to receive all deserters from Acadia &nd Newfoundland in St. John's Isle, and gave up his project of enforced Aoglification. The island just named, discovered in 1497 by Cabot, lies in the gulf of St. Lawrence; it extends, from E. to W. in a somewhat curvilinear shape and is about 134 miles long ; its area 2160 square miles ; in breadth it varies, from 1 mile only to 34 miles. It is separated from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick by Northumberland Strait, which in the narrowest parts is hardly more than ten miles wide. Its soil is fertile, and there are good pasture-lands in it. Till times posterior to that of the treaty of Utrecht, its merits had been overlooked. In 1719, a company was formed in France, in view of clearing the interior and estab- lishing fisheries on the coasts. This project was bom of John Law's speculations, when the Mississippi bubble was blown so disastrously for France. The count de St. Pierre, premier groom of the chamber to the duchess of Orleans, was at the head of the enterprise. The 396 HISTORY OF CANADA. king conceded to him, along with the isle of St. John, the Magda len group, and Miscou. Unhappily, personal interest, which had first brought the associates together, getting misdirected, all the parties wanting to be directors without needful experience in business, a fall out took place, and the project fell to the ground. St. John's Isle then fell into the oblivion whence it had been drawn momentarily ; and therein remained till the year 1749, when a number of Acadians, evading the British yoke, began to settle there.* * This island contains 965,000 acres of excellent land, so free from stone &3 not to yield sufficient for building purposes. It contains 67 townships, with about 70,000 inhabitants. It forms a separate government. The whole area of the island exceeds 1,000,000 acres ; and as there are no very lofty mountains, there are abundance of wood and many little lakes and streams , it is fertile and inhabitable throughout. The climate is softer and milder than that of Canada, without the fogs of Newfoundland and Nava Scotia ; and the health and lon- gevity of the inhabitants are remarkable." Judge Hamborton. — B. .. .* BOOK SEVENTH. CHAPTER I. LAWS SYSTEM-CONSPIRACY OF THE NATCHEZ-in2-n31 . ^otiee« of Louisiana and its inhabitants.— M. Crozat's monopoly.— CiviJ govommont roMSon- rtitttted.— LaCoutume de Paris introduced as a legal code— Abortive attempts to originate t trade with New Mexico.— Traffic among the aboriginal tribes, shared with the British colonists.- The Natchez tribe exterminated by the French.— M. Crozat throws up his tra- ding privileges in disgust; they are transferred to the Western Company, as re-instituted in fkvor of John Law and others.— Notices of this adventurer ; rise, progress, and fall oi big banking and colonizing schemes, known as the Mississippi system.— Personal changes in the colonial administration,— New Orleans founded, in 1718, by M. de Bienville.— New organization of the provincial government.— Immigration of the West India Company'n colonists ; the miserable fate of most of them.— Notices of divers French settlements.— War between France and Spain; its origin and course.- Capture and re-capture of Pon- tiicola.- At the peace, the latter restored to Spain.— Recompenses to the Louisianian mili- tary and naval officers.- Treaties with the Chickasaws and Natchez.— Hurricane of Sept. 12, 1723.— Charlevoix recommends missions, and his advice is adopted.— Louisianian trade transferred to the Company of the Indies, after the collapse of Law's company.— M, Terrier, a naval lieutenant, appointed governor of the province.— Most of the aboriginal tribes conspire to exterminate all the French colonists.— The Natchez perform the first act of this tragedy, with savage dissimulation and barbarity, but too precipitately, happily for the remainder of the intended victims.- Stern reprisals of the French.— A few concluding words on the polity of the West India Company in Louisiana ; which is fain to render up its modern privileges therein to the king. Whilst France was engaged in fortifying Cape-Breton, the most adven- turous of her people were extending the colonization of those immense regions through which the lower Mississippi flows. As the fame of her name was first sounded in the far west of New France by born Canadians, the most conspicuous personages who now figured on the scene in Louisiana were also natives of the Laurentian provinces. The second site chosen for a head settlement of Louisiana, served its purpose no better than the first. Mobile was soon found to be as unsuit- able as Biloxi ; and the colonists were removed from the latter to the Isle Dauphine, which D'Iberville had named Massacre Island, owing to the number of human bones he found there, scattered about. This hapless island is little more than a large sand-bank, but it was selected for its seaward position, and from its containing a good haven. We had occasion to mention, incidentally, in one of our preceding pages, the name of Antoine Crozat.* He had been a successful merchant, * This millionnaire was ennobled afterwards, as Marquis du Ghitel. There is an elementary work on geography, compilctd expressly for the use of a daughter of that financier, by the abb^ Le Francois, and known to most French academies, in former times, as the " Geographic de Crozat." Diet, des D«/es.— B. ■f *!*•. I ' 398 BISTORT OF CAKADA. and now held a high office in the department of finances at Paris. Id 1712, he obtained from the court a patent for exclusive mining in Louisiana, with a monopoly for sixteen years of the whole trade of that •olony, the king reserving to himself its civil and military government. M. de la Mothe had just been nominated governor, in place of the deceased M . de Mays ; M. Dudos, present commi$iaire-ordonnateur, replacing M. d'Arteguette, who had returned to France. A superior council, of two members and a recorder, with power to add to its numbers, was con- ttituted for three years, with jurisdiction civil and criminal. Its jurispra- dence was to be that known as the Coutume de Paris, no other being Uien recognised in New France. M. de la Mothe-Cadillac, whom M. Crozat had conjoined with him in •arrying out his trading enterprises, did not reach the colony till 1713. The double duties he had undertaken to perform were inconsistent in nature with each other ; and their conjunction was of evil augury for the colony. On his arrival he found the inhabitants leading a wretched existence in one of the finest countries in the world, for want of a circola- ting medium, and means for disposing of their produce. The governor turned his first attention to the formation of commercial relations with the neighboring American settlements, especially those belonging to Spain. With this view, he despatched a vessel, ladei with merchandize, to Vera Cruz. The viceroy of Mexico, faithful to the exclusive system of his nation and the times, ordered the vessel away. Cadillac, not discouraged, made a second attempt by means of M. Juchereau de St. Denis, one •f the hardiest Canadian adventurers of the day, and a resident of Louisiana during fourteen previous years. While thus seeking a trade with Mexico, the governor courted a traffic in peltry with the Natchez and other tribes of the Mississippi, among whom his agents found Virginians already resorting, partly for the same purpose, partly for courting alliances of the savages for British interests. The French, on their side, pursued the like policy ; and a perilous rivalry •f the two races of colonists, temporarily convenient but permanently hurtful, forthwith arose in the southern colonies of France and Britain, such as had long existed in other parts of the continent. Thus the Alabamians, the Choctas, and other tribes, become inimical to the Carolinians, fell upon their settlements and committed great ravages; while the Natchez, in 1716, spirited against the French, were on the point of exterminating them by a suddenly inflicted blow. Detected in their plot, M. de Bienville entered their country and forced them to be so sab- miflsive as to build, under his orders, a fortress for a French garrison, law's system — CONSPIRAOT OF THB NATCHEZ. 89» intended as a post of observation. This post, called Fort Rosalie, in tonpliment to Madame PontchartraiD, was erected on a bluff of the Mii^ppi' In 1715, M. de Tisn^ laid the foundations of Nachitoohes, on the right bank of the Red River. At this time, Louisianian trade was anj- thing but flourishing in the hands of Crosat and his agents. Before his BOBopoly began, the inhabitants of Mobile and Isle-Dauphine ezportt d provisions, wood, and peltry, to Franco, Pensacola, Martinique, and St. Domingo ; receiving in return articles, for barter with the natives, with other needful commodities and luxuries. Crocat's monopoly put a stop to his unshackled intercourse. Ships from the Antilles ceased to frequent the port. Private ships were prohibited from going to Pensacola, whence the colonists had derived all their specie : whatever overplus produce they had, they were obliged to sell to Crozat's agents at such prices as the latter chose to put upon them. The rates of their tariff for peltry were fixed so low, that the hunters preferred to send them to Canada, or to the British colonies. Instead of imputing the evil plight of his affairs, the necessary result of such injustice, to his own purblind policy, M. Croiat complained to the ministry against other parties, as the cause of it all ; bnt finding that no attention was paid to him, and that he was not able to form an arrangement with the Mexicans to take his goods for supplies of the precious metals, he threw up his patent in disgust, and it was soon afterwards handed over to the chief director of the renovated company •f the French West Indies. [This was the famous John Law, of Lauriston.* ] From the time of Ferdinand de Soto, who visited the Mississippian region in 1539, it had become a fond tradition that its subsoil abounded in gold and silver. D'Iberville's reports had latterly tended to confirm these time-honoured illusions. Law, confiding in the reality of Louisianian vealth or not, now determined to turn the popular belief to account. He began by forming a bank of circulation in Paris (the first known to France), with a capital of forty million livres. Having ingratiated him- •elf with the regent duke of Orleans (being an accomplished man, of * In much of this chapter, the editor has had recourse to yarious authorities for most of the particulars in it regarding Law's Bank and the IfisBissippi scheme. This is stated, if only in justice to M. Garnean. Law, who was one of the most able, and not the least honest financiers of his time, aspired to the honor of fonnding a national bank in France ■, thus rivalling bis countryman, William Pateraon, the projector of the Bank of England and the Bank of Scotland. Uw, bcrm in 1681, wai son of a goldajnith in Edinborgb. He died poor, at Tnice, in 1728.— B. P' I ' m 400 HISTORY OF CANADA. 't' iiif; »■ > , > courtly manners), ho obtained the privilege, for twenty years, by cdictn dated May 2nd and 10th, 1716, of issuing notes to bo cashed at Night with speoio. A sound system of credit, much wanted in France, would have resulted from this enterprise, had its operations been kept within the prescribed bounds ; but this docs not seem to have been the intention of its projector or of his patrons at court. It was but a pilot-balloon foi- what was to follow. At this time the finances of France were in a deplorable state. Billx on the royal treasury were negotiable at only half their nominal value. The regent, by way of raising funds, created, in an edict dated March 12, 1716, a chamber of inquest for the prosecution of peculating farmers- general and others suspected of having become too rich at the expense of the state. Several of these were condemned, arbitrarily, to make restitu tions ; but, by dexterous evasions or collusions with their prosecutors, only a small sum was realized from an act of. extra-legal procedure, bearing the discredit of being totally opposed to legitimate jurisprudence. This odious device having thus practically failed, the regent was well disposed to fur- ther Law's projects, as part of his plan was to take in exchange for the actions of his bank when extended, the government *' promises to pay," not depreciated by 50 per cent., but at par. Next year, Law obtained, as we have intimated above, titles to the trading and mining monopoly in Louisiana renounced by Crozat, also the dormant privileges of the " Castor" or Canada Company, formed in 1710, of the St. Domingo asso- ciation (1698), of the Senegal and Guinea Companies, of the Chinese Company (1700), and of the old West India Company. Whatever advan tages might accrue from a monopoly of trade with those countries were hypothecated for the security of those who took shares in an association called the" Mississippi Company," with a capital of one hundred million:5 of livrcs, which was made an adjunct of the bank. By an edict dated Dec. 4, 1718, the regent erected his two-fold esta- blishment as the Banque Royale, or State Bank of France. Dec. 27, an edict prohibited any re-payment of more than 600 livres in silver. This made^ paper that was out all the more needful for circulation, and occasioned further emissions. Yet people were so infatuated as to con- tinue depositing their coined money, receiving shares and bank-paper in exchange. By Dec. 1, 1719, there were 640 million livres of the latter in the hands of the public. Dec. 11, an edict was issued, prohibiting the bank officers from re-paying more than 300 livres in gold, or ten in silver, at one time. Public confidence now began to give way. Bywayofree- toring it, the chief director. Law, was nominated controller-general of the royal finances : he having been naturalized on renouncing protestantism. law's system — CONSPIRACY OP THE NATCHEZ. 401 At one time, when public madness was at the highest, the stock of the MisHissippi Company rose in price to 2050 per cent.; and 150 million livros were added to its capital. But, when the tide turned, their nomi- nal value sank almost as rapidly as it rose. Ill 1719-20 several foreign merchants having obtained largo quantities of the royal bank paper, at a depreciated rate, contrived to obtain specie for tlum at the institution, and thus stripped Franco of a largo amount of its coin. Public discontent wa.s now rife, and the regent, to appease it, deprived Law of his post in the finances, but continued him in his situation as head of the Bank and West India Company. The device was now resorted to, of selling parcels of land in Louisiana, delivery gua- ranteed by the company. A tract of one square league was rated at 3000 livres. A few French capitalists thus acquired illusory right to enormous expanses of wilderness. To people these, all the vagabonds who then infested Paris wer : ; ken up and placed in ward; the streets were also cleared of public w^aien, who were put in prison ; both species of colonists were thus detained till they could be shipped. By and by the archers (armed police) began to impress honest burgesses and respectable artisans, ill view of obtaining ransoms for their release. Their friends rose upon the archers, killed some, and maltreated others. Impressment of the citizens thereupon ceased. An edict of May 21, 1720, ordained that a monthly reduction should take place of the shares and notes of the West India Company and Royal Bank. This edict was recalled twenty-four hours afterwards, but too late to prevent a panic and a run. The regent dismissed Law, and put the bank under the direction of the duke d' Antin and some councillors of the parliament of Paris. This transference did not still the storm of public indi<;aation against Law, who took refuge in the Palais-Royal, where the regent resided. Crowds broke into its courts, demanding the death of " the impostor who had ruined France." The people being driven out by force, three persons were crushed in the passages. Those in the streets, seeing Law's carriage pass by, rushed upon it, thinking he might be with- in; but finding it empty, they demolished the innocent vehicle.* ' The premier president of parliament was the first to announce this act of popular vengeance in bis court, which he did in the following impromptu couplet :— " Messieurs, mossiours ! bonno nouvolle ; Lo caroBse de Law est r<^duito en cannoUo." (Good news, my friends ! Law's cozening tricka Have made bis ooacb bo smashed in sticlu.) Whereupon all the members rose, in great joy ; one of them asking, " Have the/ indeed torn Law in pieces? J.-A, Dulaurb : Histoire de Farw.— B. AA 402 HISTORY OP CANADA. W^ KiljliS; »• > .4 The regent rightly thinking Law's life not safe if he remained any longer in Paris, sent him to one of the royal seats in the country. Some of the many courtiers who were enriched by obtaining bank shares from him and selling out in time, were grateful enough to find means for getting him across the eastern frontiers, whereupon he found an asy- lum at Brussels, leaving a nation beggared which he had pretended to enrich. Shortly thereafter, a council of regency was holden, in which it was ascertained, that 2,700,000,000 livres in bank-bills had been issued 1,200,000,000 of which amount were unsanctioned by any royal ordi- nance ; but which the regent had privately empowered Law to issue, (ostensibly,) to retrieve the credit of the state.* While these disastrous speculations, for which Louisiana was made a nominal handle, were going on, a change of administration took place in the colony ; M. de la Mothe-Cadillac being superseded by M. de Bien- yille, now appointed commandant-general of the province; while M. Hubert superseded M. Duclos as commissaire-ordonnateur. The settle- ments now established were Biloxi (once more the capital), Mobile, Nat- chez, and Nachitoches. The Isle-Dauphine was abandoned perforce, its haven having been silted up by the action of the waves, for I'lsie-aux- Vaisseaux. It now began to be thought that a site for a river-port, rather than a sea-haven, would be advantageous ; and M. de Bienville found what he considered a suitable place about 100 miles up the Mississippi. In 1718, he went thither with some carpenters and smu^ling salters, and laid the first planks of a village in marshy ground, — a Canadian thus founding the western capital of the United States. He named the place New Orleans, in honor of the regent of France, and appointed M. de Pailloux to take charge of it ; but the seat of government was not trans- ferred thither till the year 1723. When the re-constituted West India Company (Law's) took possession of the colony, Bienville was continued in office, and constituted the com- pany's resident director ; and other appointments were made. In spring, 1718, eight hundred persons, including the impressed colonists mention- ed above, were embarked in three ships at La Rochelle, and despatched to Louisiana. Several gentlemen and retired military officers came along with this rabble ; the regent having promised to invest them with colonial dukedoms, marquisates, countships, &c. To Law himself was assigned an estate, four square leagues in extent, at Arkansas, which was consti- * The above account of the Mississippi scheme, which preluded the South Sea bubble, blown in England nearly at the same time, is taken partly from DoLACBi's History of Paris, and other well-accredited French sources.— -B. LAW S SYSTEM — CONSPIRACY OP THE NATCHEZ. 403J tated as a duchy, for peopling which he gathered 1,500 Germans and ProvenQals as his vassals. He intended to send 6,000 more, but was prevented by the sudden collapse of his system. Of the first-mentioned band, numbers dispersed before the time of embarkation at Lorient ; and Ihe rest were not shipped till the year 1721, when they were despatched bj the other directors of the West India Company. Packed in the transports pell-mel!, they were disgorged from them on the strand at Biloxi, where no preparation had been made to receive them. There were no proper means of transport there, to convey them up the river or elsewhere ; provisions failed ; some found means to support life by gather- ing shell-fish, but in the end, more than 500 perished of hunger. A eoiapany of Swiss soldiers, with its officers, escaped the general calamity by marching off bodily to Carolina. Although the West India Company had exerted a disturbing, not a> quickening influence on the colony, it still used the exorbitant powers' granted to its expelled chief The monopoly had already cost 25 millions. '• The company's administrators," says Raynal, "who made those enor- mous advances, had the silly pretension to direct in Paris enterprises which could rightly be shaped in the New World only. From their bureaus they laid out the course to be followed by every colonist, in a way subservient to their own monopoly, and to that only. To hide the deplorable state of the settlements from the public eye, they made no Kruple to intercept letters sent home by the sufferers." The resident authorities had demanded a large immigration of agricul- tural settlers; but besides that France was not over populated after the exhausting wars it had gone through, its feudal system put obstacles in the way of such a transfer of human muscles and sinews. The nobility, landed gentry, and clergy, whose hierarchs were chiefs in the government,, and principal lords of the soil, were noways inclined to make a present to the New Worlc"! of those rural vassals who made -heir poissessions worth the having. Neither, at any time, were the peasantry of France inclined to leave their native country lor America. Nevertheless, the ill-directed attempts at extended colonization in recent years weie not entirely without some favorable results; and from this time forward, the possession of Louisiana was secured to the mother eountry. Besides the five chief settlements already enumerated, the foundations of others were laid at Yasous, Bdton-Rouge, Bayagalous, Boores-Blanos, Pointe-Coup^e, Rivitire-Noire, Paska-Ogoulaa, and some evefl towards the Illinois. These nuclei of as many colonies were widely ipread, but most of them attained prosperity. J 404 HISTORY OF CANADA. % * > While the projects of Law were draining France of the " sinews of war," hostilities suddenly broke out with Spain in an unexpected manner. This was occasioned through a conspiracy, got up by Cardinal Alberoni, prime-minister of Spain, the ahh6 Porto-Carrero, and some French intriguers, including the Cardinal de Polignao and the Due do Maine, a bastard son of Louis XIV. The object in view was to deprive the duke of Orleans of the regency of France, and confer it on Philip V Bourbon king of Spain. Its detection was follow,ed by a revolt of some of the nobles in Brittany ; five of whom were capitally punished, and others exiled. The regent, early in 1719, declared war against Spain, which had not a single ally, and had both France and Britain to encounter as ene- mies, on land and sea. Marshal Berwick (illegitimate son of James II) invaded Spain with a French army; the British beat the Spanish fleets at sea; and an expedition, commanded by M. de Chateauguay, with a land-force of French soldiers, Canadians and savages, aided by three ships of war, under M. de S^rigny invested and took Pensacola, after an obstinate resistance^ But in June, the same year, the Spaniards sent sufficient forces to re-take the place, and M. de Chateauguay had to deliver it up. The viceroy of Mexico, encouraged by this re-capture, resolved to expel the French from the seaboard of the Gulf. Accordingly, he des- patched Don Carascora, who had re-taken Pensacola, to attack the French at risle-Dauphine and Mobile ; but he was repulsed in botlx places by Messrs. Vilinville and Sdrigny. The colonists once more turned their eyes on Pensacola, the perma- nent possession of which they had long coveted. Commodore Desaots arriving with five ships of war at the Isle-Dauphine, a council of war was called, and it was decided to attack that settlement by sea and land. September 17, 1719, Desnots forced a passage into ,the harbor, and captured the Spanish vessels moered inside. 31. de Bienville, with a land-force, assailing the defensive works of the town, it was surrendered next day. The French took 1200 to 1500 prisoners, and dismantled the works all but the chief fort, leaving in it a small garrison. After this exploit, the ministry accorded honors and promotions to •those who had distinguished themselves (chiefly Canadians) in the wars of the colony. As Louisiana owed its foundation to them at first, so to them was its conservation due. Messrs. Bienville, S^rigny, Saint-Denis, Vilinville, and Chfiteauguay, were the chief parties whose merits were thus practioally aoknowledged. law's system — CONSPIRACY OF THE NATCHEZ. 406 The Spanish government soon grew tired of causeless hostilities, by which the nation gained no credit and reaped no advantage. As peace was signed February 17, 1720, and France declared war January 2, 1719, it was well that what ought to have had no beginning, had so prompt an ending. Alberoni, the causer of all the mischief, was expelled from Spain. In terms of a stipulation in the treaty, Pensacola was restored to the Spaniards. Shortly thereafter, the colonists constrained the Chickasaws and the Natchez, who had taken advantage of the armed force being absent to commit depredations, into terms of peace. « On the 12th September, 1722, a hurricane passed over the colonj', leaving death and desolation behind it. The waves of the seaboard, driven inland to an immense distance, flooded the country and washed away most of Biloxi and New Orleans. Up to this time, no proper provision had been made for the cure of souls in Louisiana. The pious Charlevoix, after visiting the colony, and remarking this want, called the attention of the court to it in 1723; urging upon the ministry, that " the conversion of the American aborigines was always the chief motive of the kings of France, for extending their domination in the New World ; while the experience of nearly two centu- ries had proved, that the surest means of securing native attachment to the French was to impart to the savages with whom they had to do the Gospel of Christ. Independent of the spiritual fruit thence resulting, it was important for worldly polity's sake that the presence of a missionary among each of the tribes, whose character the natives must needs respect, to watch and report any intrigues against the French going on, was as effective as a garrison of observation, and far cheaper to the state." This last consideration was doubtless that which had most weight with the irreligious majority of the Regent's cabinet, which responded forthwith to the call made upon it, by sending out a number of Capucins and Jesuits to " evangelize the savages," (and dispose them to be regardful of French interests.) M. Perrier, nominated to supersede M. de Bienville, arrived in Octo- ber, 1726. The colony was then in a tranquil state, both as to its inter- ior and exterior relations ; but in the latter regard a storm against it was arising. The aborigines of the Mississippi valley, who in general received the first visit of the Europeans with favor or in a neutral spirit, finding that in proportion as they extended their settlement the former paid less and less regard to native rights or pretensions — the tribes of the regions between the Ohio and the Gulf of Mexico were now all ready, we say, at 1 ' ■ Ill .1 II .1 uil, ' ^"' ' , • '■ 'I 'ii'r 'V ■ . 406 HISTORY OF CANADA. I. »■ > * ' -< % :■ «hort notice or none, to take up aims against those whom they looked upon as interloping usurpers. Add to this feeling of enmity to Euro peans in general among the several tribes, the chances presented of finally overcoming in detail the common enemy, with present advantages super- added, through the political and trading rivalries of the men of British and French race settled in or frequenting a country which was not theirs by natural right. For reasons good or bad, we repeat, the Chickasaws had become in the south-west, relatively to the French and British colon- ists, what the Iroquois were in the north-east of the upper continent of America. The result was, at the present time, a conspiracy to fall una- wares upon the French, and massacre them all at a preconcerted signal given. The Chickasaws, the only people of the Louisianian tribes whom the French had not been able to render favorable, if prime movers in the plot, were not to be alone in carrying it out, for all the other tribes, with the exception of the Arkansas, the Illinois, and the Tonicas, (friends of the French and not let into the secret) were in league with the Chicka- «aws, to compass the perdition of the province. The colonists were felicitating themselves on the calm that reigned around them, when a selfish demonstration of the Natchez, in rash anti- cipation of the intended catastrophe, became the means of averting it, but only to a limited extent. A barge, filled with provisions and merchand- ize for the use of the people at the principal colonial establishment among these savages, was eagerly coveted by them on its arrival. To pave the way to its seizure, they got up a hunting party pretending that they wanted to procure game for M. de Chepar, the governor, to feast the party who had come with the stores for his people. Having procured from the latter guns and ammunition for the use alleged, early in the morn- ing of the 28th day of November, 1729, they were swarming about the place, preparing as they said to take to the woods ; but previously sound- ing a chaunt, in affected honor of the governor's guests, which proved to be a song of death. At a signal given by the chief of the Natchez, who •called himself a descendant of the Sun, three shots were fired, as a preli- minary ; and then his men scattered about the town, fell upon the French nearest to them, and in a few minutes' time two hundred men were butchered in the fort or near their dwellings. Only about a score of the male colonists, with a few of their negroes, several of the former more or less seriously hurt, contrived to escape. Sixty women, 150 children, and most of the blacks, were made captive. Several of the prisoners were afterwards tortured to death. While the slaughter was in progress, the Natchez chief was seated under the Company's tobacco-shed, taking things very coolly. The head law's system — CONSPIRACY OF THE NATCHEZ. 407 of M. de Chepar — who during life reposed unlimited faith in his mur- derers — was brought in ; also, in succession, those of his oflBcers, and Bet in a ghastly row. The heads of the commonalty were pitched into a pile indiscriminately. The first onslaught over, refugees were sought out from their hiding-places. Pregnant women were ripped up; and the cries of children stilled with the hatchet, as being importunate and trouble- some to the slayers of their parents. The persons of some of the female victims were abused pr'-'iously to their immolation. The Natchez butchers were encouraged tc oceed with predictions that the victims would not be avenged by their compatriots, the chief assuring his men that the French in all parts of the country where they were settled, had been sub- jected to the same treatment already ; and that the British were about to take their place.* • The foregoing narration of the " plot of the Natchez," is translated teit- uallj. M. Garneau, in summing up his statements, makes the following strictures, which, even if deserved, are certainly out of place, as there were no " English colonists " located within several hundred miles of the Louisianian French or of the aborigines of the Mississippi, so early as the year 1729 : " We hare seen with what jealousy the English colonists saw the French settlements extending along the St. Lawrence to the great lakes ; this jealousy had no bounds when they saw the French take possession of the great Mississippi valley. They infused distrust and hatred of the French in the savage mind ; they depicted them as greedy traders, who would soon seize the whole territory, and expel the natives. By degrees, fear and wrath entered the hearts of the natives, naturally proud and ferocious; and tliey resolved to rid themselves of encroaching aliens, who were daily extending their settlements." M. Garneau has omitted to state what were the colonies which indulged in the above nefarious diplomacy ; also who were the agents employed m it on the present occasion. He has also overlooked a passage germane to the subject in the inaugural discourse delir- ered before the " Historical Society " of Louisiana by the President, H. A. BuUard, Esq., Jan. 13, 1836 : which was couched in these few pregnant words : "The massacre of the French by the Natchez, which led to the cxterminatiot) of that tribe, was provoked by the atrocious attempt, by the commandant, to destroy their village at St. Catlierines, in order to annex the land to his own plantation." Mr. BuUard added, that " Neither the French nor the Spanish government recognised in the Indians any primitive title to the land over which they hunted, nor even to the spot on which their permanent dwellings were fued. They were often grantees of land for very limited extents, not exceeding a league square, covering their village'. They were sometimes permitted to sell out their ancient possessions, and had a new locality assigned them. Many titles of that kind exist at the present time, and have been subjects of judicial decision ; but the policy of extinguishing the primitive Indian title, as it > called, by purchase, which prevailed universally among the English colonists, appears to have been wholly unknown to the French and Spaniards in Louis- iftna." Historicil Collections of Louisiana, Part I, p. 20, New York, 1846. — B. M 408 HISTORY OF CANADA. -■^IJ »• i The news of this massacre reached New Orleans, December 2nd. The governor, M. Perrier, immediately sent an officer to warn the colonists on both sides of the Mississippi of their danger ; and to observe the move- ments of the natives in the surrounding country. But the precipitation of the Natchez had probably retarded rather than hastened the consum- mation of the general massacre. The Chactas, who had joined in the plot only for the sake of the spoil expected to accrue by pillaging the colonial establishments, would not come forward ; or, rather, they inclined to join the French in avenging it on their common enemies, the Natchez. Other tribes implicated, finding the colonists on their guard, also held back. The Yasous, not so prudent, attacked the fort erected in their territory, and killed all within, 17 persons. The entire tribe was, in consequence, exterminated. The Arkansas, a potent nation, always attached to the French, fell upon the Corrois and the Sioux, both parties to the conspiracy, and massacred them to the last man. Those reprisals, the presence of a corps of armed men, and the intrenchment of tlic con- cessions of land, re-assured the colonists of their future safety ; and ena- bled the governor to send Major Loubois, with a colonial corps, to wage war on the Natchez territory ; he would have gone thither himself, but for doubts he had of the fidelity of the blacks at New Orleans. He was now secure of the alliance of the Illinois, the Arkansas, the Offagoulas, the Tonicas, the Nachitoches, and the aid, as auxiliaries, of the Chactas- Louisiana was not only safe, but in a condition to turn the tables upon its enemy. Unfortunately, Loubois' soldiers were an undisciplined and disorderly band, and could not form a junction with M. Lesueur at a time and place appointed. In consequence, the latter, at the head of 700 Chactas, advanced without waiting for Loubois, attacked the Natchez, and defeated them. The surviving Natchez took refuge in two palisaded posts, wherein they were beleaguered by Loubois, who had brought four cannon with him ; but they were so poorly worked, that little impression was made upon the Natchez's defences. The Chactas, wearied with the siege, threatened to withdraw ; and as it could not be carried on without their aid, the colonists consented to raise it, upon the besieged delivering up the women and children of the colony whom they had kept as prisoners. This termination of a campaign intended to wreak signal vengeance on their captors, who had also made tli^ m widows and orphans, was looked upon as little better than a defeat by the men of the colony ; but it was chiefly due to the inefficiency of the soldiery sent, added to the impa- tience and self-sufficiency of the Chactas. The governor had to explain this at head-quarters, justifying what had been doneand left undone by the critical circumstances of the case. . > Add to all, that the Cliickasaws were ■i . law's system — CONSPIRACY OF THE NATCHEZ. 40^ gtill dangerously inimical, though as yet covertly only, to the colonists^ striving to detach other tribes from the French alliance ; while on the other hand, the Chactas, although earnestly solicited by the British, whose overtures were accompanied by rich presents, refused to cliange sides, and swore inviolable fidelity to M. Perrier. The retreat of Loubois greatly emboldened the Natchez tribes ; but the insolence they manifested in consequence led to their ruin. The governor, in Dec. 1730, formed a corps 600 strong, at Bayagoulas, com- posed of soldiers from France and colonial militiamen ; with which he ascended the river in barges, and appeared, January 20, 1731, before the two forts Loubois had failed to take. Alarmed at their appearance, the Natchez being thus taken unawares, and few in number at the time, asked for terms of surrender ; Perrier detained their envoy. The besieged then offered to leave the place unarmed if their lives were spared. Tliis was agreed to ; but they were detained as prisoners, all but twenty who escaped ; and afterwards, along with " the descendant of the Sun," sent fo St. Domingo as slaves. This chief who had long governed the Natchez nation, died at Cape Frangais a few months afterwards. The fate of a personage they regarded as a kind of divinity so exasperated his subjects, that they flew to arms, and they f jught the French with a persevering courage which they had never evinced before. After some minor combats in which they had the worst of it, M. St. Denis signally defeated them, all their chiefs being among the killed. Those who escaped this route took refuge with the Chickasaws ; who, in adopting them, became heirs of the hatred of their nation to the French, and vindicators of their wrongs. Thus finished a war which led to a revolution in the affairs of the association then monopolising the trade of the province of Louisiana. The West India Company, long defunct, was succeeded, in 1723, by the Company of the Indies, with the duke of Orleans for governor, and a jurisdiction extending over all the colonies of France, whether in Asia, Africa, or America. The latter association, become discredited as well as impoverished by the insurrection of the savage tribes, — suppressed without much of its aid, thanks to the energy and talent of M. Perrot, —in 1731 gave up to the king its chartered privileges in Louisiana and the Illinois country. The policy of the Company while suzerain in the colony, may be judged of by the fact, that in ordertoputin its interest the governor and the intendant, it granted to both yearly gratuities (entered in their books, still extant), also allowed them a percentage on whatever produce was sent to France. Such a corrupt system could not work well either for the association or the state j but least of all, for colonial benefit. V.^:- '4 1: . ^ \ 3! 'i; CHAPTER II. DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.-m3-1744. State of Canada; reforms cflbctcd and projected by M. de Vaudreuil.— Rivalry of Praae* and Britain in America.— The frontier question, uncertain limits of Acadia.— The Abeaa- quis territories. — Hostilities between that tribe and the Now-Englanders.— Murder of Fire Raslo.— Frontiers of wostem New France.— Encroachments on the Indian territories.— Plans of Messrs. Hunter and Burnet.— Establishments, one at Niagara by the French, oof at Uswogo by tho British, are followed by complaints from the former, protests from the latter. —Fort St. Frederic erected at Crown- Point, a deputation from Now England vainly remonstrates against this step.— Loss of the Ckameau, French passage-ship, in th« Laurentian waters.— Death of M. de Vaudreuil; liis character.— M. de Heauham»i<, appointed governor-general, with M. Dupuis as inteudant.— Death of M. de St. Vallior, second bishop of Quebec ; dissensions among his clergy about the interment of his corp«e, which lead to a complication of troubles, in which the civil authorities take part; the gor- crnor betraying his duty to tho state, the clergy come off with flying colors.— Recall of M. Dupuy, who is thus made a scape-goat by tlic French ministry.— M. Hocquart nominated jntcndant.— Intolerance of the clergy of the cathedral of Quebec— Mutations in the epis- copate for several years: nominations of Messrs. de Mornay, Dosquet, do I'Aube-Kividre, as third, fourth, and filth bishops; appointment and settlement of M. Pontbriant at sixth prelate.— The Outagamis' hostilities avenged on their allies.— Travels and discovericHof the Messrs. Vdrendrye, in search of a route to the Pacific Ocean : —they discover the Rocky Mountain range.— Unworthy treatment experienced by the family.— Appearances of war being imminent, M. de Bcauharnais takes precautionary measures, and rucoromcnds mor* to be adopted by the home authorities; the latter (as usual) repel or neglect his warningi. -Anecdote, affecting the reputation of M. Van Rcnsclaor, of Albany, We now resume the annals of Canada proper, recommencing a. d. 1713. Under the sage administration of the marquis de Vaudreuil, the conntrj was enjoying a state of peace and security at least, if not such a full measure of prosperity as he was always endeavoring to obtain for it. In 1714, he went to France, leaving those whom he could depend upon in charge of his oflSce, and did not return till after the demise of Louis XIV,* an event the news of which he was the first to announce ; while his first public act after he arrived was to proclaim the nominal accessioD of the child-king, Louis XV, and the formation of a regency. The accession of a new monarch always gives rise to hopes of benefits to accrue from the change ; and we may reasonably suppose that the coloniflte of New France may have had their expectations raised that their interesta would be better attended to by the new rulers than the old : this the rather, because their governor-general had personal interest at court. M. de Vaudreuil, evidently believing himself that a new era was about to dawn, earnestly set about improving the governmental institutions of hia I • Sept. 1, 1716. old.— .B. He wag succeedod by his great-grandson; then five Tears DISCOVERY OP THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 411 il accesaoD province, and putting new life into its trading and civil relations. The state of the currency first called for his attention. He had been able to procure a financial composition with the home government, so that the state paper-money in the province (a kind of exchequer-bills drawn, at various times, on the royal treasury) should be redeemed forthwith in specie, — the holders submitting to a loss of 5-8ths of its nominal value. He next vindicated his own paramount authority by ordaining that military subalterns should send regular reports to him ; while law subal- . terns were to communicate, thenceforth, directly with the royal intcndant, not with the Supreme Council as thithertofore. The extension of public education, up to this period supplied gratuitously by the Jesuits and Recollets brethren, was an object of the governor's special solicitude at this time ; but it was not till the year 1722, that he was able to conjoin eight secular schoolmasters with the ecclesiastical teachers already at work in different parts of the country, engjiged in imparting elementary instruction to the children of the humbler colonists. The imperfect means of defence at command, in case the colony were invaded by sea, also engaged the serious attention of its governor-general. In 1716, he pressed this point strongly on the attention of the heedleso regent Orleans ; intimating, that, Quebec once taken, Canada were lost to France. No regular system of fortification for that city had been entered upon till the year 1702, when some works were begun, after a plan traced by M. Levasseur. In 1711-12, other defences, planned by M. de Beaucourt, were added : but still the line of defence was of an imperfect character ; and this it was which made M. de Vaudreuil so earnest that the works should be improved and extended. At length, in 1720, the home government having approved of the plan for further fortifying Quebec, by M. Chaussegros de Ldry, the needful works were proceeded with. Two years afterwards, it was ordained that the city of Montreal should be walled and bastioned ; but this had to be done at the expense of the residents, the home government pleading inability to defray the cost. At this date, the colony was already divided into three distinct govern- ments, namely, those of Quebec, Three Rivers and Montreal ; but no regular subdivisions, civil or parochial, had been properly fixed. The whole colonial territory was at length (1721-2) parcelled into 82 parishes ; 48 of which were ascribed to the northern side of the St. Lawrence, and 34 to its southern side. Bay St. Paul and Kamouraska were the east- ernmost; risle du Pads, the most western parish of the whole. Thia iirraugement was ratified by an edict of the royal council of state, duly registered at Quebec. 412 HISTORY OP CANADA. %J ^ > A kind of census was drawn up, givinf? an approximative idea of the actual population of the colony. In 1679, it was estimated that the entire people of New France numbered 10,000 souls ; l-20th of the wliole was assigned to Acadia. In 1097, the total was increased by 2,300. M. de Vaudreuil proposed that a statement of the colonial population, tlie amount of cultured lands, live-stock, &c., should be dravn up annually, beginning with the year 1721. The returns, or rather estimations at this time, made the whole population of Canada to be only 25,000 ; of which number 7000 were located in Quebec, and 3000 in Montreal. Acres of land under tillage, 62,000; acres of land in grass, 12,000. The cereal produce for the year was thus estimated, in busliels — Breadstuffs, 282,700; maize, 7,200 ; peas, 57,400 ; oats, 64,000 ; barley or rye, 4,500. Tobacco grown, 48,000 lbs. ; flax, 54,600 lbs. ; hemp, 2,100 lbs. The amount of edible produce raised, per acre, therefore, was considerable, relatively ; being 6,| bushels per acre : with the addition hould be instituted, and that a deputy to represent the inhabitants and defend their interests in this important matter should be received at Paris. Finally, he proposed that the colonial bills of exchange should be duly honored by the royal treasury. M. d'Auteuil, to avert administrative abuses, proposed that three state councillors should be appointed to receive complaints from aggrieved colonists; and that the governors-general should be changed at stated periods of three to six years' duration. He added, that both they and the intendants, knowing that their sins of commission or omission were not likely to be reported rt court, did just as they liked ; and if any of the subordinates of either let out the secrets of mal-administration, they were persecuted ; while corrupt and subservient officials were rewarded or promoted. But, after all, that sturdy cx^mv^p . o^ ^\ie abuses of colonial adminis- tration was thus hewing r^t 'he branchijs, not at the root of the evil tree. The government of the nv. r- .. i>o mtry was no less corrupt, to begin with. While money was prodigally lavisbsd on court favorites, the regular allowances made to those who did legitimate state work were ^-.ociably stinted, and seldom regulp.rly paid. [Probably the stated salary of the governor-general of New France, at this time, did not exceed £250 a-year; net a sixpence of which sum could remain for his own use, if he kept up the following he was expected to maintain. What recourse was there, then, for the needy nobles and gentry who wire renl Trom Old France to rusticat;e a? representatives of roypJty m Kew I^'rance (which cc ■■&■ 434 HISTORY OF CANADA. *' ) Irf wa3 a great hunting-ground, rather than a province), but to become traffickers in peltry, or exclusive sellers of brandy licenses, or pay them- selves by underhand means yet more discreditable ?*] The Western Company, formed in 1717, succeeded to the monopoly of Aubert & Co., whose lease had expired ; and that association, in turn merged in the Company of the Indies, connected with Law's Mississippi bubble. This company saved from the wreck of that projector's scheme a trading monopoly, in Louisiana and the Illinois territory, till 1731 ■ in which year these countries re-passed under regal sway, and so remained as long as French domination lasted therein. After fort Oswego was constructed, the peltry traflfic of the colonists had a keen competition to contend with, owing to the higher prices given by British traders to the natives. To obviate this, the king was induced to take into his own hands the fortified trading posts founded by the traders at Frontenac (Kingston), Toronto, and Niagara. Stat« funds were, at the same timr misapplied in according bounties to the dealers, to enable them to givo more honest prices to the Indians, and prevent them from carrying thu; . produce to the British settlements. f * During De Frontenac's administration, " tlie home government began to form an opinion tliat the advanced posts maintained in the colony were of little real advantage, while they were the chief cause of the wars in which it became involved. It; was therefore proposed that these stations should be abolished, and that the Indians should be allowed to bring their furs to Montreal. This, however, was opposed by the governor and his council, who, being afraid, prob- ably, of losing their own power and patronage, represented that such a measure would have the effect of throwing the Indian allies into the hands of the Five Nations and the British, and of sacrificing the fur-trade. The latter was then a strict monopoly, carried on under licenses granted to old oflScers and favorites, who sold them to the inland traders. At this time, the average price of beaver- skins, in money, at Montreal, was 2 livres 13 sous, or about 2s. 3d. sterling, per pound. The Indians were, at that rate, cheated enormously ; and, becoming aware of the fact through occasional intercourse wiih tb« British, made inces- sant complaints : and this, probably, was one great cause of their want of faith in the French." W. H. Smith : Canada^ &c., vol. I. p. Iviii. — B. t A miserable complication of purblind expediencies I — At this time, " the amount of trade allowed to each license, usual cost of which being 600 crowns, was merchandise valued at 1000 crowns. To carry on the trade, and to convey returns, the license-holder was bound to employ two canoes, six men in each. The seller of the license had the right of furnishing the goods used in barter, at a price 15 per cent, higher than the market rate. A successful adventure, under such a license, generally gave to the merchants a profit of 400 per cent, on the merchandise, and 600 crowns to each of the canoe-men. The latter were not only entitled to provisions and clothing, but interested in the result of the . -* COMMERCE, INDUSTRY. 435 It is difficult to fonn a precise estimation of the annual value of the peltry at this or any epoch of Canada's annals. M. d'Auteuil, in the memorials cited above, stated that the annual returns, in 1677, were worth 650,000 francs ; and that they had augmented at the time he wrote (1715) to 2 million francs. Governor Murray, consulting the ill- tept customs registers from 1754 and 1755, found the valuation returns of the former year to give a total of 1,547,885 livres; those of the latter, only 1,265,650 livres. Persons best able to form an approximative atimation of the medium value of the peltry exported from New France during years immediately before and after the Conquest, have rated it at 3,500,000 livres. Notwithstanding ail disadvantages which French traders had to en- counter, from burdens laid upon them, and the restrictions they were subjected to, they had the bulk of the peltry traffic of North America in their hands down to the year 1714; when, by the treaty of Utrecht, they had to relinquish their trade in the Hudson's Bay territory and other regions. Successive governors of New York, meanwhile and after- wards, were incessantly laboring also to deprive them of the relations they had established with the western' tribes. The price of European merchandise was much higher at Quebec than Boston, and at Montreal than New York. There was a considerable contraband trade maintained between Montreal and Albany; and, by such underhand means, the Cauadiani received large quantities of woollen tissues and other British imported goods. In one year Canada received 900 pieces of scarlet clotl: for the fur barter, besides muslins, printed calicoes, edging lace, &c. The Company of the Indies (meaning the Canadian monopolists) intro- duce.-^, for its own account, 1,200 pieces of goods, which were derived from ^ igu '. holders, yet it was strictly forbidden to all other parties to lDV|jort a ji'^oie yard ! Thus were manufacturers and exporters of France icludea fi'om h^r greatest colonial dependency. As >,H li.we already seen, Mr. Burnet, when governor of New York (he was aftciwards removed to Massachusetts), in 1720 obtained from Assembly a non-intercourse bill to prevent the Canadian traders, during three years, from exchanging their peltry at Albany for European com- modities. In 1727 this prohibitory law became permanent. It gave a heavy blow to the Canadian traders, both as buyers and sellers. Linen advent'^re, by having a legal right to divide the surplus of the returns, after the ^''st of ^lie license, merchandise, and 400 per cent, profit to the merchant, had bttju reiDiburaed." W. H. Smith : Canada, Past, Present, and Future, vol I, p. U.:iii,— ii. 'v^>- 436 HISTORY OF CANADA. , i-'i^^S ^fe'. . ? . .'■ i^ cloths, which previously fetched at Montreal 15 louis per piece wore sold soon afterwards, as high as 25 louis. Fort Oswego, which was erected by Burnet, as wc have related else- where, was the necessary complement of his non-intercourse polic\'- a policy ineffectually combated by making the factories of Frontenac Toronto, and Niagara, royal castles, and according state premiums to quicken trafl&c, so as to encourage exports from the colony to France and obtain French goods in return. In retaliation for the renewed law of 1727, passed by the New York legislature, Louis XIV issued an edict forbidding ull commerce with the British colonies, under penalties. Thenceforward, the holders of the French trading-posts had the whole traffic in peltry to themselves: the possessors helJ \em, cither by favor, or they bought their privileges or held them on fur.i • >int in all of these cases, the malign effect upon the public interests Wus ti . same. The factories' licentses were usually grant- ed for three years; ui.j. those who held them, by means fliir or foul, strained every nerve to make the most they could out of thera durin*' that term. To sell at the most exorbitant rates, and put prices uncon- scientiously low on the furs offered, was the rule. To beguile the Indians to accept insufficient values in exchange, it was not unusual to ply them with licpior. [It is related that, in 1754, at a western post, on one occa- sion beaver-skins were bought for four grains of pepper each ; and that as much as 800 francs were realised by selling a pound of vermilion, pro- bably dealt out in pinches]. Peltry was the main article of export from Canada, and hence it is that we have dilated upon that part of its produce. Exports of lumber there seem to have been little or none, till a late date ; owing partly, as intimated by M. d'Auteuil in 1715, to the indifference of the home autho- rities to the abundance and value of Canadian forest produce. "One knows not," says Raynal, " by what fatality such a source of riches was overlooked." The exports of fish from Canada itself were inconsidera- ble in early times. In 1697, the sieur de Reverin formed a factory, and established a fishery at the harbor of Mont Louis, about half way be- tween Quebec and the extremity of the gulf of St. Lawrence, on the southern side. At the commencement the people of the settlement were much disturbed by the English ; but their exertions, in both fishing and agriculture, were tolerably successful.* The cod and whale fisheries in • W. H. Smith, Canada, ^c, vol. I, p. lix. — We never heard of inshore fishings doing much for any country except supplying the people living near the sna- board with a portion of their daily food, and that not seldom, scantily, or at a • .* COMMERCE, INDUSTRY, 437 American waters were almost entirely in European hands; but to the Canadians were left seal and porpoise catching. This industry was plied in the river^' and gulf of St. Lawrence, also on tlie coast of Labrador ; tracts of shore in both regions being let on farm for terras of years bj the government. f Tbere were 14 fishing-stations, below Quebec, existing in 1722. In latter years, a tolerable quantity of animal oil and salt fish was exported to France. Ship-building was never much carried on ; although M. do Maurepas, then minister of marine, in 1731 strongly urged on the governor-general dear rate. Bounties to fishermen only serve to make tbose lazier and more exacting, who were lazy and exacting before. The late prince Talleyrand, who made an extensive and long-continued tour in the United States and Canada, when an exile, particularly noted the inertness of the class, upon this continent, sad thus delivered himself upon the subject: "The American fisherman has a mind as careless of country as the lumberman. The affections of both, their interests, their strain of life, are things apart from the nation to which they nominally belong. It would be a prejudice for us to think that our American fisherman is a most useful member of society ; for he is not a like being with our European industrials of the same name, who, robust in body and alert in mind, make our best sailors. Frequenters of, say two leagues of seaboard, in fine weather, confining their venturings to the range of a mile of it when the weather is uncertain, such is the range within which their venturesomeness is limited. The daily habits of such a man are those of an idler, who would not stir at all but for the impulse of his animal appetites. His arm is not the har- poon, but the fishing line : hence, his contests with prey is not that of manly exertion, but of petty guiles. Fishermen's most laborious action is an occasional pull at an oar or paddle, which more usually is left dangling at the side of a crazy boat. They have no home, worthy the name, on shore ; there is little sacrifice to make in shifting from one shore to another; a few codfish, more or less, determines their choice of country. When some writers have spoken of the American fisheries as a species of colonial agriculture, they have enounced a delusive plausibility, not a verity in any sense. All the personal virtues, and every patriotic feeling which distinguishes rural colonists, are absent in the chill bosom of American fishermen." Essai sur les Avantages a retirer des Coloniet Nouvelles, ^c, par le cUoyen C. M. Talleyuand. Paper (one of a series) read at the Institut of France, in 1801-2.— B. * When the estuary of a great river becomes much frequented by vessels, but especially by steamers, the seal bids a long and Inst adieu to it. We have had occasion to remark this, personally, in our native country. The observation is doubtless applicable, more or less, to the shores of the Laurentian lower waters and gulf. — B. t The Esqujpiaux Bay was farmed in 1749, to a Madame Fournel ; and Labra- dor to M. d'Ailleboust, in 1753. ' Hi 438 HISTORY OP CANADA. .S; ur to stimulate this branch of industry, promising that if some good mer- chant-vessels were turned out, a contract would bo accorded to the colony for constructing ships of war ; perhaps his Majesty would even locate a naval yard in Quebec. Meantime he granted a premium of 500 francs for every vessel gauging 200 tons or over, of colonial build, and sold in France or the Antilles; and 150 francs premium for each barge of 30 to 60 tons, if similarly disposed of. In 1732, ten vessels of 40 to 100 tons were built in Canada; but the materials were badly chosen, ill sea- soned, and the price charged for them higher than those built in the British settlements : in fact, a number of the vessels used in the trade of Canada, were bought of the New Englanders. [The surplus of provisions for export must have been insignificant, if not null ; although it is asserted, that " in good years, 80,000 minots of flour and biscuits" were disposable, after supplying the colony's wants.] Iron-smelting, on a scale worth notice, was not begun until about 11S7, when the fonv os, still extant, at Three Rivers, were brought into acti- vity by a company. Veins of copper, near the shores of lake Superior, were known to the "'^■^rigines ; even when Cartier visited that region, some of them i.uowe4 him samples of the ore. In 1738, Louis XIV caused mining to be tried at Chagouamigon by two Germans ; but it was soon given up. An over-famed plant, Ginseng,* discovered in our forests, in 1716, by the Jesuit Lafitau, became a means of enriching the colony, for a time, by its exportation to China. A pound weight of it, worth 2 francs at Quebec, sold at Canton for 25 francs. Its price ultimately rose to 80 francs per pound. One year there was sent thither ginseng yielding a return of 500,000 francs. The high price it attained set every body at work to find it. The plant was not in proper condition till August or September ; but, with purblind avidity, the seekers gathered it as early as May. The fresh plants ought to have been slowly dried in the shade ; the gatherers, anxious to get returns, dried them in ovens. They then became worthless in Chinese estimation ; and the trade in it ceased almost as suddenly as it began. Quebec was the entrepot of Canada. Its merchants and shippers Bent out, annually, five or six barques to the seal fisheries ; and about as many, laden with flour, biscuit, vegetables, staves, and lumber, to .,,.., - — ■■-.■* - - — ■ ■ I — — ■■ ■ ■ • In spite of all that has been written on the supposed virtues of its root, bota- nists believe the ginseng plant to be nothing more than the Panax quinque folium found in China and North America, where no such qualities as those ascribed to it by the Chinese are recognized. Nat. Cycl.—B. COMMERCE, INDUSTRY. 439 Louisbourg and the Antilles ; returning with cargoes of pit-coal, coffee, ui.'- houi-K, 1111(1 itM (lcl('iiHiv(> worltM.— Kxi>('(llli()ii of Duvivirr to Chiiho, &c,— (Jovcr . jiropoKCH to Httiioli I,o»i.sboiir;{, — lliH plaiiKdifiupprovcil of by tlio council, lint wi ..oU by the pi'opli) of Now Kiinlanii, unci adopted.— ('oioiiol rcppcrcl and admiral Wurron.witlj land luid Hca force.s iiivt-Ht tlic placn.— Mutiny in tiio gani.son.— Mr. VaiiKliun inalitulution of LoiiiKl)i)urK; tU rcttlcfH talion to Franco.— I'roji'ct for invading CuiuKhi.—'I'lio diilio d'Anvill(»'H cxpoditiui and flio work cut out for it to ixTlorin.— Of tlio difaKtcrn wliicli attondod it from limt ii la.st ; tlio dulto dictiof ('liu);i'in, and liin huccohsot in coinniand killH liinii*olf.— M. do Uuniiiajr niunacog AniiapoliH.— I'art of liis nioii attack and defeat colonel Noblo and a corp.sof New Knglnndors, at Grand-rrt^-aux-Mines.— Th(3 American frontiers invaded in many placo and flic country ruvnKod.— Sea-llt{lit near Cape Finisterre, and another at IJellc-Islc; tli« French defeated in both.— Count do la dalicHoni'l re appointed interim governor of Now France; the previouti nominee, M.-lonquiere, boi.ig a priHoner in Kngland. — Troublcriwith the Miilniio.— Treaty of Aix-la-Cliapellu, aud its c )nditiou8,— Concludiug reflections on tin past war. France and Britain were now on the eve of war,* chiefly for the good pleasure of the German king of the latter, as the chief of a pctt con- tinental principality, who set about trimming what was called the ' \ of power in Europe." This liad been deranged, it appeared, •._, .ao part wliich the French king liad taken against the Empress Theresa, wlicn a coalition was formed against her, by Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Ac, in Germany with Spain and Sardinia. In January, 1745, a treaty of alliance was signed between the Empress (already at war with the Frcncli), the king of Great Britain, the king of Poland, the elector of Saxony, and the United States of Holland, against France. As on former occasions, the colonial dependencies of the two great nations had perforce to go to war also, whether they understood the point? in dispute which led to hostilities between their mother countries or not. There was also a '* balance of power " between New France and New England, getting more and more diflicult every year satisfactorily to adjust, Canada, however, like the snorting war-horse, seemed to scent the coming hostilities while yet distant ; for her administrators had already repaired and munitioned all the frontier posts, especially Fort St. Frederic, and Fort Niagara. The defensive works of Quebec, also, were augmented. * The editor is responsible for much of this abridged chapter also ; having called in other authorities, British and American, as well as M. Garneau's, to illustrate the subject. — B. LOUISIJOURd. ur> Other (loinoiiHtratioiiH were made, about the huhu! time, Ity the ('aiisidian ■.'overmucnt and its t-oloiiistH, which whowod that a coiitinuid Htato of itcace with the British plantations was neither expected nor desired. After tlie belligerents were in full tilt in Kurope, for tlie kiiij^ of Bri- tain and his favorite son^' were battling, not with much honor to either, ,in that eternal iighting-ground, Flanders, there was no appearance, i'or a time, of either government sending any expedition against the iNorth American dependencies t)f the other. France had a number of rednubt- ;ible European foes to contend with; and parts of the British regular ;irmy were wanted, during this and the following yc.u, lO repress tlie second and last Jacobite rebellion. The natural result was, that, during its early stages, the war in America between the two rival races was carried on, almost entirely, without European aid. In a few montlis ai'ter the declaration »»f war, the American waters -warmed with French privateers. Several were equipped at Louislouig. Cape Breton, with amazing dispatch, and made a great number of prizes, before vessels of war could arrive to protect the British colonial >lupping. Louisbourg became, in all respects, a kind of hornet's nest iu regard of New England, its trade and fisheries, which it was now Jeteruiined to dig out if possible. Meanwhile, M. Duquesnel, governor of Cape Breton, embarked part of the garrison of Louisbourg with some militia, and made a descent upon the settlement of Canso, in Acadia, which h<' burnt, and made the i^rrison and settlers prisoners of war. He then summoned Annapolis, but was deterred from investing it by the arrival of a reinforcement from Massachusetts. Duquesnel returned to Louisbourg, where he died i^hortly thereafter. Governor Shirley had for some time conceived the project of taking possession of Cape Breton ; now rightly regarded as the seaward bulwark of Canada, and a highly important post as u safe- guard to the French fisheries and to American trade. The fortifications of Louisbourg, the capital, even in their uncompleted state, had taken 25 years to construct, at a cost, it was reported, of 30 million livres (nearly £1,500,000 sterling). They comprised a stcne rampart neafly 40 feet high, with embrazures for 148 cannon, had several bastions, and strong outworks ; and on the land side was a fosse fully fourscore leet broad. The garrison, as reported afterwards by the French, was compo- sed of 600 regulars, and 800 armed inhabitants, commanded by M. Duchambois. Upon the same authority we may mention here, that at this time there were not more than 1000 soldiers in garrison, altogether, from the lower St. Lawrence to the eastern shore of lake Erie. * William Duke of Cumberland, defeated at Fontenoy, May 11, 1745. I ' 446 HISTORY OP CANADA. ^1 Governor Shirley lost no time in applying for aid to carry out the plan above-mentioned to the British admiralty, and obtained a promise that Sir Peter Warren would be sent out with some ships of war to co-operate with a colonial land -force, if a sufficient amount of support could be raised. Having received this assurance, Shirley proceeded to unfold his conceptions to the members of the general court, first enjoining them to keep the matter secret. After one or more deliberations on the subject a majority of the court refused to concur in the project, as thinking it both costly and hazardous. The plan ^ot wind, however, and was enthusias- tically welcomed by the colonists generally : in a word, " the pressure from without" constrained the council of Massachusetts to give into the views of the governor. In a few weeks an army of 4,000 militia, levied in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Connecticut, were ready for action, under the gaidance of a New England merchant, named Pepperel. About the last day of March the expedition sailed from Boston, and arrived at Canso on the 5th of April, 1745 ; when Colonel Pepperel liaving sent some shallops to ascertain whether the coast was clear of ice, and the report being favorable, the expedition resumed its voyage, and a disembarkaiion on Cape Breton island was begun at Chapeau Rouge, on the 27th of April. The garrison was, through the promptitude of the invaders, taken completely by surprise. The descent could not have been effected much earlier with safety ; for, till the end of March, or beginning of April, the ocean in that region is covered with thick fogs, while both the seaboard and the harbors of Cape Breton are choked with thick-ribbed ice. By this time admiral Warren arrived with a few ships, and more were expected. His seamen assisted during fo\'rteen days in dragging a siege- train of ordnance, through marshy ground, to the neighborhood of Louisbourg, which was thought at firat to be too strongly defended, on the seaward side, to be confronted by the fleet. Meanwhile, the garrison was in a state of revolt, having demurred to being employed to put the works into a proper state, a duty which had been too long postponed. The men had other grievances besides, being ill paid and otherwise badly treated ; but their feelings of military honor being appealed to, they resumed their arms and prepared to defend the place. During the night of May 13, Mr. Vaughan, son of the lieutenant-gover- nor of New Hampshire, who knew the localities well, having visited the place the year before, landed with 400 men, marched to the north- eiist paH of the bay, and fired some buildings filled with brandy, &c., and , % iw5«»i»w«« LOUISBOURQ. 447 more were naval stores. A party in a neighboring fort, thinking probably that the incendiarifis were the van of a large attacking corps, quitted their post, and took refuge in the town. Next morning, Vaughan was able to surprise a battery, and hold possession of it until the arrival of a rein- forcement. A great mischance for the French now hastened the fall of the place. La Vigilante, a ship of 64 guns, with 560 soldiers and supplies for the garrison on board, was captured by admiral Warren. Had this succor reached its destination, it is very doubtful whether Pepperel could have captured the strongest fortress in America, and which was reported to be impregnable. The next operation was not so' favorable to the be- siegers ; who having tried, with 400 men, to carry a battery on the island of St, John, which protected the entry of the harbor, were driven off, leaving sixty dead, and 116 of their men, wounded or whole, in the hands of the French. But this gleam of success only delayed the cer- tain capture of the place, now that all hope of further succor from with- out was gone, and its defenders were as discouraged as they were mal- content before. In a word, Duchambon capitulated, and was allowed to march out with the honors of war. In terms of the capitulation, the garrison, and about 2,000 people, the entire population of Louisbourg, were embarked in British transports, and landed at Brest. Great was the exultation, naturally enough, at the success of this expe- dition thus admirably planned and spiritedly executed. Messrs. Shirley and Pepperel were rewarded with baronetcies ; and the British parliament voted a sum of money to repay the cost incurred by the colonists in get- ting up the enterprise. The discouragement in New France for the loss of Cape Breton, was commensurate with the elation at its capture, in New England and the other Anglo-American provinces. There was really a reasonable cause for alarm in Canada as to what might follow ; for Shirley incontinently applied to the British Government for a corps of regulars and a fleet, to conjoin with the provincials in essaying the conquest of New France. The time was not propitious, however, for his aspirations to be attended to. Besides having a continental war on hand, the British metropolis itself had been for a moment put in peril by the Highland army of Prince Charles Edward, and the English people were not recovered from the panic occasioned thereby.* * M. Garneau gives an account of an intended invasion, on a large scale, concocted between governor Shirley, Sir Peter Warren, and the Duke of New- castle, for invading New France in 1745-G. That his blundering Grace, who was far more accustomed to make promises than to keep them, did pUdge him- **; 1 ' ''TIW^.. 448 IIISTOiiY 01^ CANADA- ^:^^-' ^■*,.; Unaware of tliedc circumstances, the Canadians were led to believe that the capture of Louisbourg was but the prelude to an immediate attack on Quebec ; and the governor-general profited by the apprehensions of the inhabitants of that city to levy rates for strengthening and extcndinir its fortifications ; accordingly, an additional tax on liquors was imposed for that purpose. Other defensive preparations were also entered upon, and M. de Beauharnais called a conference, at Montreal, with 600 savages of various tribes, including some Iroquois : all those promised support in case of war. A body of them, along with a corps of western militia, were sent thereafter to Quebec, as a reinforcement to the garrison. M. de Beauharnais now wrote to the ministry, to urge the re-capture of Cape Breton and the conquest of Acadia, declaring at a corps of 2,500 men would suffice for the latter purpose. He opined that these two colonies ought to be regained at whatever cost ; aS; when in French hands, they sentinelled the entry of fhe Gulf of St. Lawrence ; whereas, in British possession, they virtually closed it. He added, " Send rae arms and munitions of war ; I can trust to the valor of the Canadians and the savages. The preservation of Canada is the great object : if once the enemy master that province, all France may bid a last adieu to the North American continent." The representations of the governor-general were listened to this time. An expedition, on a respectable scale, was got up, the destination of which was kept secret. A court-appointed nobleman,* of high rank and no experience, was appointed to command the fleet. Seven of these were ships of the line, with three frigates, two fire-ships, &c., and transports having 400 soldiers on board, under the orders of M. Pomeril, major-gene- ral (jiiaHchal de camp) ; which were to be joined, on arrival, by 600 Canadians and as many hundreds of savages. The plan of operations to be effected was, — first to re-take and dismantle Louisbourg, capture An- napolis and leave a French garrison in it, then destroyiBoston, ravage the whole Atlantic seaboard of the Anglo-American plantations, and harass the British islands in the West Indies. The roads of Chibouctou were appointed lo rendezvous in. self to do something of the sort, without consulting his roynl master or any body else, is possible enough ; but wo may safely assume, that, aK nothing came of it, no project of the kind was seriously entertained at the time by the collec- tive ministry of Britain. — B. • M. de la Rochefoucauld, due d'Anville, called "young" by'Gudrin, was born in the first or second year of the 18th century, and was consequently in the prime of manhood when he died. Did, des Dates. — B. DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 417 In the upper regions of the Laurentian valley, and in the lower basia of the Mississippi, the French maintained their positions and their traffic almost entirely by alliances with the native tribes ; for the British ever disputed in principle, and often in act, the rightful o^ttent of New France, as propounded by its governors-general. Every year almost, the British plantations, extending westwardly, were trenching, more or less, on terri- tories claimed for the French of Louisiana, which extended as far eastward as the Alleghany mountains. As early as the year 1718, governor Hunter of New York wrote to the home authorities, that if the French were allowed to settle undisturbed in the Mississippi valley and the great lake countries, the British plantations would not only be limited in territory, but be exposed to constant incursions ; and that, in the end, they might thus be entirely lost to the mother country. His successor, Mr. Burnet (son of the famous bishop of Sarum), adopting his views, recommended, in order to deaden French enterprise in America, that a passive war, in the shape of an act of non-intercourse between the colonists of the two nations, should be passed. Governor Burnet became early aware of the danger to be apprehended for the British settlements, if the French succeeded, in what was now evidently their aim, to establish !i line of fortified posts from the upper St. Lawrence to the lower Mississippi. It was this consideration which induced him to erect a fort at Oswego, on lake Ontario, as we shall presently see ; thus hoping, by this practical demonstration of opposition to the plans of the French, to deter them from p-^rsevering in their execution. By way of a counterpoise, M. de Vaudreuil obtained the consent of the Tsonnonthouans and Onnontaguez, to locate a factory, with defensive works, at the entrance of the Niagara river into lake Ontario ; scheming that it should serve the double purpose of diverting part of the peltry traffic from Albany, and become a link in the chain of posts, intended to be formed, as above mentioned. Burnet, finding himself thus out- generallod, wrote to the governor a letter of protestation against what had been done, denouncing it as a decided contravention of the treaty of Utrecht. The latter replied, that the Niagara territory had always formed an integral part of New France. Not being prepared to insist Tvith effect that the French should relinquish their new holding, governor Burnet resolved to temporize ; thus stating, meantime, in a despatch to the officials of the Board of Trade and Plantations, London, what course he intended to follow : " I shall do my endeavor," he wrote, " in the 'pring of next year, without committing overt hostility, to get our Indians to demolish the new settlement. The place is of great consequence, for f 418 HISTORY OP CANADA. ■i:^. ■ ,iw::-'-^. ■4f two reasons: first, because it keeps the communication open between O^nada and the Mississippi by way of the river Ohio, which else our Indians would be able to intercept at pleasure. And, second, if it should be made a fort with soldiers enough in it, the place will prevent our Indians from going over the narrow part of the lake Ontario, by this only pass of the natives, except by leave of the French ; so that if it W«re once demolished, the far-removed Indians would depend on us." It does not appear that any attempt was made to realise the plan laid out as above \ although four out of the Five Nations of Iroquois were in alliance with the Anglo-Americans; the Tsonnonthouans not onlj refusing to expel the French, but demurring to any other colonial post being erected in their country. Burnet theu cast about for a site whereon to erect a factory near the frontiers, and pitched on the outlet of the river Oswego to lake Ontario, midway between Niagara and Fort Frontenac* The demonstrations made on each side, more by acts than words, proved that the representative colonial chiefs of France and Britab would, neither of them, give way in the polity both had determined to tarry out. When the proceedings of Messrs. de Vaudreuil and de Jonoaire (the latter of whom had obtained the site of the factory at Niagara, and erected its defences), came under review at Court, Louis XV appended to a memorial regarding the subject, these words : " The post at Niagara is of the greatest importance for preserving the trade of the upper country." His Majesty ordered, at the same time, that a ■tone fort should be built, at the outlet of lake Ontario, replacing that f<»merly constructed by Denonville, and known as Fort Frontenac. The king {Jso ordained that the liquor barter with the natives should be free to French traders, as it was already to the American traders ; and that the sale of trading licenses should be resumed^ each trader to pay 250 liyres for his license. At the same time, M. de Beauhamais was ordered to prohibit all aliens to set foot in the colony under any pretext whatever ; and as several Anglo-Americans had settled in Montreal, whose presence gave umbrage, they were ordered to leave that city within two days. The duke of Newcastle, the British prime minister, complained to the French ministry against the formation of the factory at Niagara, but Id Tain, as we may easily conceive. Burnet, who protested also against the 0ame foundation, in a letter to M. de Longueuil, governor jm> ^em. of New France (M. de Vaudreuil having deceased), had of course no better incoess. DocwnvtUt de Parti. ^Journal hittoHque of Oharleroix. HBP DISCO VBJIY OF THE KOOKY MOUNTAINS. 419 Burnet now caused the post at Oswego to be strengthened ; and, after anmmons to quit it had been sent him by M: de Beauhamais, in 1727, placed in it a numerous garrison. Fort Oswego was doubly important to the Americans : it was necessary for realising a project they had formed of monopolising the peltry traffic ; and it served to protect their establish- ments situated between the river Hudson and lake Ontario. These encroachments, on each part, gave rise to others. Beauhamais, Keiog that Burnet was determined to maintain his position at Oswego, by way of reprisal, in 1731, erected a fort at la Pointe de la Chevelure on lake Champlain. M. de la Come, an able Canadian officer, was the first (0 call the attention of the colonial government to the importance of such I looality, situated on a water-way opening a passage into the heart of the New York territory. As a military position, Crown-Point became a itsoding menace both to Oswego and Albany. The New Yorkers and New Englanders, foreboding the use that would be made oC this post wme day, to their disadvantage, sent a deputation to Canada to remon- itiate against the erection of Fort Frederic* The royal intendant, M. Dupuy, who had filled high offices as a court lawyer, was a great formalist, and tried to introduce into Canadian judi- cal process all that pedantic precision which characterised the oi^anisa- tion of the parliament of Paris ; even endeavored to ezalt the supreme loancil into such public consideration as the former great body enjoyed in France. His attempts to reform irr^ularities among the judicial sub- ordinates he found installed in office, and which had grown systematic, were resisted, and made his position uneasy. But any difficulties the rigid intendant had with his subalterns were trifling compared to the wming troubles he was destined to have through quarrels among the elergy of the diocese of Quebec. The latter difficulties, hitherto ignored by all previous historians, ori- ginated at the decease, Dec. 1725, of M. de St Yallier, who succeeded * The place was named in honor of the count de Maurepas, (Jean-Fr^d^ric Ph^lippeaux), minister of marine at that time. The Anglo-Americans had an tuggerated opinion of the natural strength of the place ; for the site was ill (bosen, commanded by neighboring heights. It could neither defend the navi- |*tioa of the lake, nor the entry of the colony on that side. But it served well Moagh as a fastness, whence parties of Canadians and Indians could make raids npoB the American settlements, to plunder, destroy, and kill. When the French (ttcriion retired from Fort Frederic in 1749, General Amherst began to erect » new fort, on the site which the former would have occupied had the French engineer employed been fit for bis task. It was never completed, yet it is sahl to have cost the British nation no less than two million pounds sterling I— .H. 420 HISTORY OF CANADA. M. de Laval, in 1688, as bishop of the province. The defunct prelate's corpse was taken in charge, for interment, with all the funereal rites befit- ting, by M. de Lotbini^re, archdeacon of the diocese. Hereupon the other members of the chapter, with M. Boulard at their head, intimated that as the functions of M. de Mornay (then in France) as grand-vicar and coadjutor of the late prelate terminated at his decease, it was for them (the chapter) to take charge of the remains. The archdeacon paid no regard to this remonstrance. The chapter insisted ; M. de Lotbiniiirc applied to the intendant, who pronounced for the illegality of the chap- ter's pretensions. The chapter now refusing to obey the archdeacon as grand- vicar jpro tern., its leader and members were summoned to appear before the supreme council, and defend themselves. They denied the competency of any civil tribunal to try them on such a charge ; they at- sorted that the case fell within episcopal jurisdiction only; and intimated. in advfiuce, that they would appeal, against any averse award by the council to the council of state at Paris. M. Dupuis reminded them. that as ;n the supreme council were vested functions akin to those of the parliament of Paris (his grand idea), ha j such a difficulty arisen in France the parliament must needs have first taken up the case ; and that, till said supreme court had first dealt with it, no appeal would lie to the council of state. The law, thus solemnly laid down, seems to have been made light of, for tumultuous scenes followed between the contending parties, lay and spiritual. The rebellious members of the chapter, with a crowd at their heels, went to the general hospital, where the deceased had lain and was buried, entered the chapel and called before them the lady direc- tress of the monastery, suspended her from exercising her functions, and put the institution under an interdict. The superior council, inspired by M. Dupuy, passed a decree dcclarin;; that the see of Quebec was not really vacant, as M. de Mornay, thougli absent, was not defunct ; and, such being the case, the chapter was right- ly inhibited from exercising any interim act whatever. This decree the chapter loftily repelled. M. de Tonnancourt, a canon, next ascended the cathe iral pulpit, on Epiphany day, and read a mandamus protesting against the intervention of the civil power in the matter ; an order being given, at the same time, that every parish priest in the province should read a copy of the mandamus after the Sunday sermon (au 2}>'one):— The intendant, in turn, prepared to prosecute the canon Tonnancourt. M. de Beauharnais now showed more partisanship, in favor of clerical pretensions, than his predecessor, M. de Frontenac, ever manifested against them. In his place at the council-board, he desired his secretary . > DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 421 to read an ordinance interdicting the members from proceeding farther in taking jurisdiction of the quarrel among the clergy ; and demanding that any council decrees rendered already on the subject, should be revoked. The procurator-general here interposing, was ordered to keep silence by M. de Beauhamais. After the council ordered the governor's secretary to retire, M. LenouUier, a councillor, acting as procurator-general, took the paper, and read it aloud ; he then protested against the insult its tenor and terms conveyed against the council as the supreme court of the colony ; and, by a formal declaration, justified in presence of M. de Beauhamais, characterised his gubernatorial pretensions in the case to be as inconsiderate as unwonted ; adding a resolution, that the council would make a complaint to the king against the present infraction of the inde- pendence and authority of Canadian tribunals by his Majesty's represen- tative. M. de Beauhamais, while allowing that the members of council collec- tively were absolute over every body in the colony, with one exception (namely, himself), asserted that he, in turn, was their master in all things. So saying, he left the council chamber in high dudgeon. His next step was to cause his interdict to be read at the head of companies of the colonial forces, regulars and militia ; with an order appended, that no decrees of council should be received, unless sanctioned by him. The supreme council replied to this act by a counter-ordinance, of a sensible and spirited character, thus defining the limits of its own jurisdiction and the extent of the legitimate functions of the governor : — " The colonists have long known, that those who have authority from the prince to gov- ern them have no right, in any case, to cross their path while striving to obtain legitimate ends ; that, on occasions where there is a diversity of sentiment among state functionaries respecting things ordained in com- mon, the provisional execution of a measure variously viewed, belongs to the department it regards : therefore, if there be a difference of opinion, as to acts affiecting the community, between the governor-general and the intendant, the views of the former are to prevail, supposing the matter in question to be one specially falling within his province as administrative chief— such as the operations of war and the regulation of military disci- pline: on these subjects it is competent for him to issue ordinances, without consulting any one, but in no other case whatever. Similarly, the ordinances of the intendant are to have force, provisionally, in mat- ters properly belonging to his office ; such as law procedure, police, and finances. The parties, when dissident, (governor, intendant,) to account to the king for their several modes of action, in every case, in order that i I ' 422 HISTORY OP CANADA. I. his Majesty may decide between them. Such is the nature of the gov- ernment of Canada."* The members of council did not all stand by each other in the struggle against the governor's despotism ; some were gained over, others intimi dated by him : still the majority held out, and sent to prison those who disobeyed the legal orders they issued. The military, usually the ready instruments of arbitrary power, were called out demonstratively, when the officers poked their sword-points into copies of the council decrees, in con- tempt of their authors. Those persons arrested by order of council were released by the governor, and caressed at the castle. Learning that some officers murmured at what was going on, the governor sent them to prison. Shortly thereafter, being in Montreal, he transmitted to his lieutenant a sealed warrant ordering into exile the two most active members of the council, Messrs. Gaillard and d'Artigny. By this arbitrary act he at once avenged himself, and reduced -the council roll below the number required to sanction decrees. The intendant responded by an ordinance, as their president, commanding the members to remain at their post, and enjoining them to disregard the illegal order of the governor. The secular clergy, whose pretensions the governor had maintained at the outset, sided with him, in return, in his contest with the council. The RecoUets went with the chapter ; the Jesuits stood neutral. Parties being thus balanced, a decision at court could alone terminate the diffi- culty. The result could hardly be doubtful, as the councils of an arbi- trary monarch were then directed by a prince of the Church. Cardinal Fleury recalled M. Dupuy, the prime mover in what was doubtless view- ed as a parliamentary sedition ; and caused an order to be sent to the supreme council to disseise the temporalities of the cathedral chapter, which had been put under provisional sequestration by the law authori- ties during the contest. Before the decision of the ministry arrived, the governor forcibly prevented Messrs. Gaillard and d'Artigny from taking their seats at the council-board, and they were not allowed to resume them till the year 1629, long after the other councillors had made hum- ble submission to the authorities. M. de Beauharnais, however, did not pass uncensured by the minister of marine (Maurepas), under whose jurisdiction he more immediately was. He blamed him for interposing arbitrarily in the process begun against the chapter and clergy. His • This formal declaration of legal rights, the first and only one distinctly enunciated during the whole time of French domination, was, adds M. Garnean, justified by regulation (reghment) of the year 1684, signed by the king and Colbert. It was followed by others, of similar tenor. — B. , ■* DISCOVERY OP THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 423 order for exiliDg the two councillors was particularly disapproved of, m being an exercise of royal power, which his Majesty would entrust to none of his representatives; and he was enjoined never to repeat suob an act. M. Dupuy, who appears to have acted throughout with all integ- rity as well as firmness, made no retractions, and was superseded, finally, by M. Hooquart, named royal intendant in 1731. E; de Mornay, appointed coadjutor of the late bishop, M. do St. Vallier, in 1714, was nominated to succeed the latter ; but, as we have already mentioned, ho had gone to France. He never returned to Canada, yet, retaining his title and authority, he confirmed tliree grand- vicars, elected by the chapter, who, along with the dean, governed the see io his name. He ranks, nominally, as third bishop of New France. The cathedral clergy, becoming wanton in their unrestrained powers, treated the inmates of the nunneries with such unmanly harshness, that the Ursulines applied to the supreme council to make the wrongs they endared known to the king. M. Boulard, Coryphaeus of the high cleri- cals, threatened the Ursulines with excommunication if they dared to make confession to any priests not chosen by him. And the seven chief sisters of the house actually were debarred from confession and commu- nion for a time, because they owned a partiality for the Jesuit fathers. The overbearing conduct of the oanons was disapproved by the court ; but which royalty itself was to blame for, through having lately, most injudiciously, pampered ecclesiastical presumption by recognising the rights of church functionaries to ride rough-shod over those of the state. The episcopal interregnum continued, practically, for a series of years. In 1733, M. Herman Dosquet superseded M. de Mornay, and became, by grace of Clement XII, fourth bishop. He came to Quebec in 1734, returned to France in 1734, and there remained, holding to his episco- pal title till 1739, when he gave it up. M. Pourray de I'Auberividre, appointed by Clement XII as his successor, died about the same time as that pontiff. Arriving at Quebec in 1740, while an epidemic was rag- ing, he caught the infection, and died before he could take up his funo- Uons. Next year, M. Dubreuil de Pontbriant was nominated to succeed him, by Benedict XIV (Lambertini). In none of the Canadian episoo- pal appointments or mutations does royal intervention seem to have been permitted or attempted. M. Dubreuil was the sixth and last bishop of Quebec, under the French domination. The system of perpetual curacies, to which the new bishop was oppo- sed, was brought under the notice of count Maurepas, now chief minister of state, in 1742. M. Dubreuil wrote, that if it were thought fit to 424 HISTORY OP CANADA. f constitute irremovable parish charges, they ought not to bo allowed in benefices where supplementary tithe was accorded ; nor yet in parish.s annexed to others quoad sacra. His lordship recommended, at the saiut time, that French priests be preferred to Canadian; that "the bishop ought to have power to appoint a vicar for any perpetual curacy, without being required to assign a reason therefor," &c. All things taken into account, he opined that there were only thirteen parishes in his diociso where perpetual curates could be installed, independent of the ethers where such already oflSciated.* Having traced the colony's ecclesiastical affairs thus far, we return to tlic secular annals of New France, recommencing with the year 1728, whin notes of war from the far west resounded throughout the eastern province. They were occasioned by the outbreak of a remnant of the Outagamis tribe, supposed to have been rooted out in 1715, but parties of whom, rosuinin.; possession of part of the country, were forced to cede it, by M. (h how- ▼igny, in 1717. Become wanderers in the wilderness, they lived a pre- datory life for some years, and, at the current time, in conjunction with some other western races, infested lake Michigan territory and the routes connecting Louisiana with Canada. M. de Beauharnais, on being ad- vised of the murders and robberies they had lately committed, which had been the means of almost cutting off communication with the Louisia- nians, swore to exterminate the whole nation. But this oath was more easily taken than kept. Mostly broken savage tribes, the bands of des- perate men of the wilds then afoot were not easy to overtake, so as to receive the punishment thus proclaimed to be in store for them. A force of 450 Canadians, with M. de Ligneris at their head, was col- lected at Montreal to go in pursuit. The vanguard set out about June 5th. Having ascended the Ottawa in canoes, and crossed lake Nipissing, the party penetrated, by the Rivitire des Fran§ais, to lake Huron. Here it was joined by 750 savages, and the main body came up. The entire army passed Michilimackinac August 1 ; and, that day fortnight, readied Chicago. Aug. 15, a body of the Evil Men tribe (Malhomines), or Wild Oats {Folks avoines), so named because they used a kind of wild rice growing in the savannahs to the south of lake Superior, were found, drawn up in battle array, on the lakeboard, having made common cause with the Outagamie. They were encountered and signally beaten. These were the first and last enei:iies the army had to deal with. Neither the Outagamis nor their allies were any where to be found, although the Canadians ascended Fox river, following their track, to its sources, * Documents penes M. I'abb^ Ferland. .> } DISCOVERY OP THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 425 md within thirty leagues of the upper Mississippi; burning every horde, hut, and plantation they found in the way. This devastation had the effect, for a time, of allowing the communications, previously stopped, to be reopened. The decade, 1729-39, was composed of calamitous years for Canada. In 1732, inundations and oarthriuakcs damaged the settlements and !iffrighted the people. In 1733, small-pox was rife with the colonists, and made fearful ravages among the savages. A dearth also prevailed, in continuation of two years' previous scarcity. During winter 1729-30, many of the inhabitants were fain to use bourgeons for bread ; or, what they then considered as little better food, potatoes 1 Many persons died of hunger.* It was in this famine-year (1730) that the Digue du Palais at Quebec, now obliterated to the eye by wharves, was constructed, in order to give useful employment and needful pay to starving people, by forming a river-wall, within which a hundred vessels could winter conve- niently. The year 1731 was signalised by an attempt made to reach the Pacific Ocean overland. About a. d. 1718, this project was mooted, but not «arried out. Its realisation was reserved for an enthusiastic explorer, Pierre-Ghiuthier de Varennes, sieur de la Vdrendrye, a gentleman who had trafficked much with the tribes of the west, and gained much infor- mation among them of the countries that lay beyond. As M. de Beau- harnais was ambitious to give lustre to his administration by a successful expedition across the continent, Vdrendrye repaired to Quebec to render advice upon the subject. He recommended that the course of the river Assiniboels should be followed, rather than to cross the Sioux territory, as others had proposed ; then to descend such streams as take their rise towards lake Winnipeg : thinking that one of them would infallibly, if followed, lead to the desired goal. M. Verendrye having formed a trading copartnery in 1731, with some Montreal merchants, who advanced funds to buy goods for barter, and means of equipment for his journey, set out for lake Superior with Piire Messager, a missionary priest. He had received orders to take possession, ill the king's name, of all countries he should discover ; also, to examine them attentively, in order to form an idea what facilities they might pos- sess for establishing a route across them, to connect Canada and Louisiana with the seaboard of the Pacific. To enable him to perform this useful service, no public aid had been accorded to him, if promised ; and as a consequence, he was obliged to linger about the intermediate regions, * Letter from la mere Sainte-H61ene, in 1737, penes M. I'Abb^ Ferland. 426 HIBTORY OF CANADA. f ' I . > attending to the interests of himself and partnors, till the year 173:{ Previously, in 1731, some of his people, starting from Kanmnestigoya, a fort constructed to the north of lake Superior, in 1717, by lieutenant Robertel do Lanoue, passed on to the lake of La Pluie, where they built fort St. Peter ; then to the lake des Bois, where they erected fort St. Charles, in 1732 ; next followed the course of the river Winnipeg, upon a bank of which they raised, in 1734, fort Mauropas. The adventurcri took possession of the country for a double purpose : to fulfil the obliga- tion they owed to their king, and to establish fortified posts useful to them selves for the prosecution of their private traffic. Extending their rounds they crossed lake Dauphin, and lake des Cignos ; tliey recognised the river des Biches, and ascended to the bifurcation of the river Saskatchaouan or Poskoiao. They constructed fort Dauphin, at the head of lake Manitoba, and fort dc la Reine at its foot ; also fort Bourbon on the Biches river, at the head of lake Winnipeg; lastly, fort Rouge in th« angle formed by the Red and Assiniboels rivers. They continued after- wards, directed by M. de V(5rendrye'8 brother and sons, to advance west- wardly, otherwhilcs northwardly, but without attaining to the Ocean they were in quest of.* In one of these explorations, during the year 1736 a son of M. de la Vdrendrye, the Jesuit Ptire Anneau, and twenty others, were massacred by the Sioux, in an island of the lake des Bois. In 1738, the French reached the Mandanes' country; and, in 1742, attained to the upper Missouri, ascending its course as far as a river 3inoe named the Yellow Stone, which rises at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. At length, the oldest son of M. Vdrendrye, and the chevalier his brother, Jan. 1, 1743, found themselves in front of that mountain range reached sixty years afterwards by the famous American travellers, Lewis and Clarke. The journey thither of the Vdrendryes lasted from April 29, 1742, till July 2, 1743, during which time they passed through the horde of the Beaux hommes, and visited the Pioyas, the nation of the Petits- Renards, the Arc tribes, and the Serpents' nation. * I have been guided, in thus fixing the sites of the above enumerated ^orts, to the relation of M. Pierre Margry, an official in the historical sect!' " miniatry of marine and colonies, at Paris. His interesting article ap iq ♦wo numbers of the Moniteur Universel, official gazette of the French an- ment, dated Sept. 14, and Nov. 1, 1857 ; his materials were derived from docui,. ntt reposited in the national archives. I have also been aided, in tracing the route of the explorers, by one of the maps appendcu to a report by M. Gauchon, one of the Commissioners of Crown Lands, in 1857. [A compiler of that map, Mr. Thomas Devine, Quebec, had himself visited those regions, in 1836, on his return from Hudson's Bay.— .S.] DISCOVERY OP THE ROCKV MOUNTAINS. 427 H. do la V<5ren(lryo hlmBolf, who had incurred a debt of 40,000 livron, »Dd wttfl no longer able to continue bin exploratiouH, repaired mcanwbile tn Quebec, hopinp; to obtain a pecuniary grant, but whicb was delayed, or rather practically denied ; for De Maurepas professed to bavc received reports unfavorable to his character. Beauharnais induced him to remit bis commission to M. de Noycllc, for the latter to continue the explora- tion. Afterwards M. do Beauharnais, and his successor M. de la irilisflonit^rc, overcame the minister's prejudices against M. V«?rcndryo ; snd the king, as a cheap compensation, bestowed the order of St. Louis oa that unworthily used servant of the state. M. de Maurepas, however, expressed a desire that M. Vdrendryc should resume his journey ; and he was about to obey, when ho fell ill, and died on the 6th of December, 1749. This eminent traveller related to Mr. Kalm, a Swedish aavan^, then on 3. nsit to Canada, that he had discovered, in one of the remotest of the countries he reached, at a spot 900 leagues beyond Montreal, some mas- rive pillars, each formed of a single block of stone, resting one against the other, or superimposed as arc the courses of a wall. He concluded that, thus arranged, the pile must have been formed by human hands. On© of the pillars was surmounted by a much smaller block, only one foot hijh and a few inches across, bearing on two sides graven characters of jn unknown language. This stone was sent to Paris. Several Jesuita who saw it in Canada, said to Kalm, that the engraving it bore resembled the Tartaric characters. This opinion, in Kalm's estimation, tended to confirm the hypothesis of an Asiatic immigration to America, and the real origination of a portion at least of the native races found in possessioB of its two continents and islands.* The sons of Vdrendrye claimed the right of continuing the explorations ; but the intendant Bigot set their claims aside, by forming an association, composed of himself, the governor (Jonqui6re), Brdard, comptroller of marine, Le Gardeur de St. Pierre, and captain Lamarque de Marin. This society of professed explorers had chiefly their own trading profits a vi^ w, and acted accordingly. Marin was to ascend the Missouri to its source, and thence to follow the course of the first river presenting itself .at seemed to flow towards the Pacific. St. Pierre, passing by the fort ie la Reine, was to rejoin Marin on the Pacific seaboard in a given lati- tude. But accumulation of peltry being the grand object, their parties never got further than the Rocky Mountains, at the foot of which they • Journal of Travels performed in 1742, by chevalier de la Vdrendrye, in search of the Western Sea, addressed to the Marquis de Beauharnais. f I ' 428 HISTORY OF CANADA. erected Fort Jonqui^re, in 1752. The chief partners in the speculation carried on at state cost, divided a large spoil ; the governor's share bcin<' 300,000 francs.* Thus ended ignobly, a project nobly conceived, but made almost abortive by injustice and selfishness. An uneasy feeling had pervaded the public mind in Canada for some time regarding the frontier question, which no attempt had latterly been made to settle ; and all being left at hazard, both by the French and Bri- tish authorities, a chance collision between the colonists and the American settlers might, any day, plunge the two nations into war. In 1734, M. de Beauharnais believing hostilities could net be long averted, wrote a despatch in cipher, suggesting means to be tnken for defence of the colony against invasion ; and urging strongly that Quebec should be more strongly forti- fied. The minister replied that it would be of little use to do so, as Que- bec could in no case be made impregnable.f In 1740, when war was imminent, the governor made forts Chambly, St. Frederic, and Niagara, as secure as possible. He hborcd, at the same time, to maintain and extend existing alliances between the French and the aborigines. Ho held long conferences with numbers of their chiefs in 1741 ; at whieli he was assured by them, that, irrespective of their partiality for the Frcncli, the fear they had of American appropriation of the Indian territories on all sides, would oblige the dispossessed and menaced to adopt the cause of Canada. Certes, the friendship of the Indian population was not to be lightly esteemed at this time, their dispositions and numbers consi- dered; for, according to an enumeration made in 1736, among the tribes located between the Abenaquis and Mobile territory inclusive, fifteen thousand warriors could be called into action at short notice. • W. H. Smith, Hist, of Canada. t M. Garneau appends to the above passage in his text, the following state- ment, which we prefer to give in the form of a note : — " In 1735, Van Rensell.ier, seignior of Albany, foreseeing a resumption of hostilities, visited Canada osten- sibly for his own recreation, and secretly informed M. Beauharnais that during the latest war between the Canadians and New Erglanders, M. dc Vaudreuil had engaged his savage allies to make no inroads against the New Yorlcers reminded him that the latter had done the like in respect of Canada, and tliai. they would do so still, if such immunity were reciprocated.''-^.^. . >. BOOK EIGHTH. CHAPTER I. COMMERCE, INDUSTRY.-1608-1744, Canadian trade ; evil effects of war upon it.— Its rise and progress : cod fisheries.— Peltry traffic the main branch of the .commerce of Canada.— From an early date, fur tratfiC a monopoly.— Rivalry of Canadian and Anglo-American fur-traders.- Policy of governors Hunter and Burnet.— Non-intercourse laws of 1720 and 1727 ; tlieir evil effects upon French tolonial interests.- Various branches of Canadian industry in former times.- Canadian Exports, their nature.— Ginseng, notices of— Mining and Minerals.— Quebec the great ontrcpdt.— Manufactures; salt-works.— Posting commenced, in 1745.— Admiralty court; exchange for merchac.ts.— Negro slavery in Canada.- Money of the colony, its nature, and Jeprociations. The treaty of Utrecht was followed by some of the most peaceful years Canada had ever known. The American colonists of France and Britain, wearied of an exhausting war, were able to turn their energies to internal improvement. Despite the financial difficulties of France, which to some extent re-acted on her colonies, Canada was entering upon a Jteady, if slow, course of progression. Its total population, which was, in 1719, but 22,000, had risen, in 1744, to nearly 50,000 souls; and the value of the exports, which did not exceed 100,000 crowns in 1714, had risen, in 1749, to 2,650,000 francs. (Raynal.) The French were probably iirst in the field as fishers in American waters. As we have stated in an initiatory chapter, Basque, Breton, and Norman fishermen must have there plied their calling during the earliesi jcars of the 16th century ; for one John Dennis, of Honfleur, in 1506 traced a chart of the gulf of St. Lawrence for the guidance of his compatriots. The English, when they first visited that sea region, as industrials, which was not till the year 1517, reported that they found fifty French, Spanish, and Portuf^uese vessels prosecuting the cod-fi.shory. In 1536, the French ''od-fishery had greatly extended; and, in 1558, there were thirty vcsscl.i besides, employed in pursuing the whale. At that date, there were but ten English vessels frequenting the banks of Newfoundland ; while there were 100 from Spain, and 50 from Portugal. But in 1615 the relative proportions had greatly altered, for at this time they stood thus: English vessels 250, French and Portuguese (together) 400. The English gorern- ment doubtless fostered their Newfoundland fisheries as a nursery for seamen, [and as yielding an article of ready barter ; for supplies of salted fish were not so essential to a protestant as to a catholic population.] 430 HISTORY OP CANADA. , I I The attention of French adventurers in America was divided at this time, between the fisheries and the peltry traffic. These pursuits were at first commingled ; for the early French fishers of the coasv^i of Canada and Acadia used to trade with the native seaboard tribes, deriving a double profit therefrom. By degrees, regular relations were formed between the parties ; and for the convenience of both, factories were founded on or near the coasts, and these gradually extended to the interior. By and by, opulent merchants obtained from the French government trading monopolies, on condition of sending and establishing colonists. T^us it was that New France came to be founded. The first r^ular patent for a monopoly of the peltry traffic was granted to Captain Chauvin, early in the 17th century. But, for a number of years afterwards, the trade was pursued briskly without regard to Chau- Tin's license, especially by French fishermen. Several of the chief mer- ehants of France, especially those of La Rochelle, engaging in the peltry traffic, resisted the monopoly which had been thus sanctioned. To pre- vent further disputes, and regularise the traffic, the Company of the Hundred Partners, with Cardinal Richelieu as its nominal head, wa» formed in 1637-8. To this association was consigned, in perpetuity, as a field for exclusive trade, New France and Florida. The society under- took to colonise the country, to maintain missions, &o. ;* on condition of Teoeiving, 1, a permanent monopoly of the trade in furs, other skins, and leather ; 2, a lease, for 15 years, of the whole colonial trade, by land and sea. But the cod and whale fisheries were still to be free to all ; and a reservation was made in favor of the colonists individually, that thej might deal with the natives for peltry, provided it were s<^d to the com- pany's agents at a fixed price. After an unprosperoua existence of 36 years' duration, viz. in 1663, the association of 100 partners, that num- ber then being greatly reduced, became extinct ; and royalty resumed the trust it never should have accorded to any of its subjects. The trade of the colonists of New France did not long remain free. Untaught by experience of the withering effects of monopoly, the French government, next year (1664) sanctioned the formation of a new associa- tion, named the West India Company. The pernicious career of the present band of associators did not endure near so long as the preceding, although in them was vested the exclusive trade for forty years, not merely * This arrangement was not found to answer for any party ; and the com- pany gave up to the colonists, in 1645, the peltry monopoly, on condition of being relieved from the charges of the civil list, the sapport of an armed force^ and other gorernmental hardens. ^} COMMERCE, INDUSTRY. 481 (^ all New France, but of the whole Atlantic seaboard of Africa. Is America their privileges were not only as great as those of the defunct company, but Louis XIV promised them a premium of 40 livres for every ton of merchandise they should export from France to her colonies, Of vice versa. They were also allowed a drawback on dutiable goods, on re-exporting them to a foreign market ; and, to crown all, they were to pay no imposts that others paid, on provisions, munitions of war, or materials for constructing their ships or other vessels. The discontent of the inhaWtjintM w.«»o nntiirally grsat at tbs njon-- itrouB concessions thus accorded to their detriment. In a short time, com- modities rose to a ransom price. The sovereign council interposed, and iflsaed a tariff, fixing maximum rates : as an inevitable result, no goods were brought to market. This state of things, of course, could not last. In 1666, Colbert caused the monopolists to let go, as their predecessors bad been constrained to do before the peltry traffic; he also freed the lolonista from restrictions in their trade with the mother country .'i' The new company, which carried on its trade with more than 100 ves- kIb, and enjoyed the exorbitant privileges we have detailed, did not pros- per. In 1674, the year of its extinction, there was a debt accumulated of 3,523,000 livres. The whole capital wa-^ but 1,047,000 livres. Ai part of the company's debt was owing to the war it had to support, as lords of the colony, against the British, Louis XIV, by the advice of Colbert, bought up the company's shares, discharged its debts, to the amount of the 3,523,000 livres ; and revoked all his concessions to it. When the now abolished company gave up the peltry traffic, it was with the reservation of that branch of it carried on at Tadoussac ; also imposing on the trade, otherwise free, for the company's benefit, a sub- lidyof one fourth on beaver, and one tenth on original skins. The latter * "This company was to have right to all miaea and minerals, the power of levying and recruiting soldiers in France, building forts, and the right of waging war against the Indians or the neighboring colonies. Distinctive armo- rial bearings were allowed to the association, surmounted by the royal arms of France ; and to encourage immigration, all colonists, present and to come, being catholics, were to have the same rights in France as his Majesty's subjects at home. In addition to the above handsome list of privileges and immunities aeeorded to this favored company, its stock or shares were made transferable ; and the revenue or profits of them alone could be attached for debts owing by the holders, even to the king himself. His Majesty also agreed to advance one tenth of the whole stock, without interest, for four years, subject to a proportion of all losses which might be incurred by the company during that period." W. H. Smith.— B. 432 fflSTORY OF CANADA. «H-^v;. » 1 impost the government had continued, and farmed it to M. Oudiettc. It ordained that all beaver-skins should be taken to his factories, and deliv- ered at the fixed rate of fourfrancs ten sous per lb., to be paid, not in money, but commodities ; the prices put on which, of course, were virtually left to the paymaster's own discretion. To M. Oudiette was also farmed the duties in regard to tobacco, which were fixed at 10 per cent. Thi.« arrangement existed in full force till 1700 j at which time the Canadians, finding such exactions insurpportable, petitioned the home government to remove or to modify the oppression they thereby endured. The Oudiette peltry monopoly passed to M. Roddcs, who, in return, transferred it to M. Piccaud, one of the deputies from the colony ; the latter paying 70,000 francs a year, and also undertaking to form an association for carrying it on, in which Canadians might take one or more 50-livre shares. This society took the name of the Company of Canada ; and none but its members could legally participate in the peltry traffic. The seigniors, with their renters, were allow'ed to join in it. The Nor- thern or Hudson's Bay Company, formed some time previously, was merged in this association, which obtained an edict rigidly prohibiting sales of beaver-skins to the New York colonists. This company, though of a more comprehensive character than the two preceding, yet, having t^a canker-worm of monopoly at its root, had as unprosperous an existence as they, and came to a .speedier end. In 1706, its debts amounted to 1,812,000 francs. This sum Messrs. Aubert, Nerot, and Guyoc agreeing to pay, the company broke up in their favour. The colonists, under the new patent, could share in the beaver traffic within the country, but could not export such furs, being bound to deliver them at the patentee's factories. In the year 1715 appeared two memorials, on the " present state of Canada," by M. lluette d'Auteuil,* in which the mismanagement of the colonial affairs was very freely, perhaps unprejudicedly, exposed; the writer sparing no maladministrators, not even those in highest place. [The production is interesting to us, from the fitful glimpses of light it throws upon the inner state of the colony at the time.] Trade with the savages, once considerable, M. d'Auteuil observed, had greatly fallen off. Ship-building, he remarked, was pretty brisk ; hemp for cordage, and flax for linen, thread, and tissues were advantageously grown ; but ho com- plained that Franco did not import Canadian timber, while the British drew much of theirs from the American plantations. The Huron * Documents de Paris, series 2. . y LOUISBOURQ. 449' All was ready early in May, 1746 ; but the fleet did not get a fair start till the 22nd of June, on which day it left Rochefort. The time of passage, estimated at six weeks, through the unskilfulness of D'Anville exceeded three months. Scarcely was the fleet in view of port, when a furious tempest arose and scattered its parts. Several vessels took shelter among the Antilles ; others in France ;* some transports were lost on the Isle de Sable, and the rest, storm-beaten for ten days, had much ado to reach the place of rendezvous, when a deadly epidemic broke out aboard, which carried off the soldiers and marines by hundreds, even after they were put ashore ; the malady also infecting their Abenaquis allies, a third of whom perished. M. de Conflans, with three ships of the line and a frigate, had previously repaired to Chibouctou, by appointment ; but finding no fleet there, after cruising for a while he returned to France. At this time, the British admiral Townshend, with a fleet, was stationed at Cape-Breton. Had he been aware of the presence and the condition of the French squadron, the probability was that it would have been an- nihilated; for, out of 2,400 of its men, 1,100 died at Chibouctou ; and out of 200 sick sent to Europe in hope of their recovery, but one survived the passage I The French commanders, having learned that a British fleet was so Bear, held two councils of war, to determine what course ought to be pur- sued ; about which great differences of opinion arose. The duke d' An- Tille, whose haughty spirit broke under the pressure of his ill fortune, died almost suddenly. M. d'E^tournelle, upon whom the chief command devolved, and who had proposed to give up the enterprise, committed sui- cide. It was determined by a majority of votes, to persevere, and besiege Annapolis ; but, being on the way thither, another tempest overtook the war-ships, then reduced to four sail, near Cape-Sable ; and it is to be pre- * H. Bibaud's account of this ill-starred expedition, and its early experiences, differs in some important points, from that of M. Qarneau ; ex. gr. — " The fleet was under the orders of M. d'Anville, a sea officer, in whose courage and skill great reliance was placed. There were eleven ships of the line, 30 vessels carrying from 10 to 30 guns each, with transports bearing 3,000 men. This fleet was to be reinforced by four vessels from the Antilles, under M. de Conflans ; and it was arranged that the expedition should be joined by the Acadians, with 1,700 Canadians and savages. Hardly had the fleet left the coasts of France, than it was assailed by a tempest, which scattered the vessels ; insomuch that but a small number of them, including the admiral's ship, had arrived at Chedaboucton, by 12th September." There is no mention here, it will be observed, of the unlikely fact, that any of the vessels were driven back quite to France.— JB. X^ 450 HISTORY OF CANADA. I. * I I I * * sumed much crippled them, for they finally made the best of their way to Franco. Meanwhile, the 600 Canadians already spoken of, who left Q'lebec in seven vessels, for Acadia, led by M. Ramsay, disembarked at Beaubassia in the Bay of Fundy. They were heartily welcomed by the Acadians of French race, who all hated their British masters. After awaiting in vaia the arrival of the expedition his corps was to reinforce, he was about to return to Quebec, by order of the governor, who then expected that city to be attacked, when an envoy from the duke d'Anville, who had at last arrived, reached him when midway to Quebec, when he forthwith return- ed, with 400 of his men, and invested Port-lloyal (Annapolis), though its garrison was from 600 to 700 strong. One hundred of that number had fallen into his hands, when news reached him of the second dis- persion of the French fleet, which induced him to retreat to Beaubassin, intending to take up his winter quarters there. Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, upon learning that Ramsay's corps was so near Annapolis, and fearing that the French Acadians would join him in arms, sent to governor Mascarcene to take measures to dis- lodge him. The latter asked for 1,000 men, to effect that end. Five hundred militia, under colonel Noble, were sent, who took up winter quarters at Grand-Prd, in Les Mines, facing Ramsay's quarters, with the bay waters between ; intending to move against the Canadians in early spring. But, before Noble could take the field, Ramsay sent a body of 300 Canadians and savages, under M. de Villiers, early in February 1747, around the head of the bay, a circuit of sixty leagues of snow and forest, to surprise the New-Englanders in their winter camp. On the morninp; of February 11, they arrived ; and an obstinate battle began, which lasted till 3 p. m., when Noble being killed, and nearly half of his men killed or wounded, the rest took refuge in a blockhouse, but were soon obliged to surrender on terms. Beginning with the autumn of 1745, the frontiers of the British plantations themselves were cruelly ravaged in twenty-seven successive raids of the Canadians during three years. Fort Massachusetts, 15 miles above fort St. Frederic, surrendered to M. Rigaud; who, with 700 colonists and savages, devastated the country for fifty miles beyond. M. Come de St. Luc attacked fort Clinton, and signally defeated an American corps. Saratoga was taken, and its people massacred. Fort Bridgman was taken by De Lery. In a word, the frontier line, from Boston to Albany, being no longer tenable, the inhabitants fled into the interior, and left their lands at the discretion of the enemy. LOUISBOURG. ■li }1 In Europe, during three years, the war against Britain was not carried on with so much success by the French. Two squadrons equipped, one at Brest, the other at Rochefort, early in 1747, for conveying transports and merchant ships bound for the dependencies of France in America and the East Indies, were, after their junction, encountered by a powerful British fleet, under admirals Anson and Warren, off Cape Finistcrre, on the 3rd of May, and a great loss incurred. Six French men-of-war (all that were present), with four armed Indiamen, were taken; besides other vessels, richly laden with specie, merchandise, and warlike stores. The marquis de la Jonqui6fe was amongst the prisoners taken by the British on this occasion. In autumn of the same year (Oct. 14), commodore De I'Etendri^re Desherbiers, in command of a convoy of eight men-of-war and two frigates, charged to protect a French merchant fleet on its way to the Antilles, was encountered, when off Belle Isle, by the fleet of Sir Edward Hawke, who had fourteen sail of the line, and five smaller vessels, under his orders. The battle which ensued resulted in the capture of six of tlie largest of the French ships. Two others, which escaped, returned to Brest almost wrecks; but the merchant fleet got off clear, which caused Hawke to be severely censured for alleged remissness in duty. Count de la Galissonifire was nominated to fill the place, ad interim, of M. de la Jonqui^re, appointed, in 174G, to succeed M. de Beauharnais as governor-general of New France. In 1748, Francis Bigot, a name already ill-famed in Cape-Breton, and yet to become ignobly notorious in Canada and Louisiana, was appointed fourteenth and fated to become the last Intendant. M. Galissoni^re arrived at Quebec in September, bring- ing news of an approaching peace. Previously, even when an intimation had been sent by the British ministry to the American colonists of what was on the tapis, an invasion being expected by the Canadians this year, the rural colonists were ordered to retire inland, and the inhabitants of the Isle d'Orleans directed to quit it, on the imaginary enemies' approach. Simultaneously, a rumor reaching the fort-major of Three-Rivers that fort St. Frederic was threatened, he marched to the rescue with 1,200 men ; but not being wanted there, he made an inroad towards Albany, and met and destroyed an English corps gathered for some purpose or other, not explained, thereabouts. In 1747, some of the native tribes of the lake country manifested a hostile spirit against the Canadians, who took the alarm on hearing that the Miamis intended to attack and to massacre the people at Detroit. The commandant, M. de Longueuil, took precautionary measures there, 452 HISTORY OP CANADA. ^mf: f . • ' I I and fort Miolulimaokinao was strengthened. The Midmis, having killed a few colonists, were suitably chastised. Those who abetted them thence took warning ; and security prevailed afterwards in the country. The negociations, which took place at Aiz-la-Chapclle in 1748, were unusually long, but the treaty was at last signed on the 7th of October. The chief parties to it were Great Britain, Holland, and Austria on one side; France and Spain on the other. By it all the preceding great treaties, from that of Westphalia in 1648, to that of Vienna in 1738 were renewed and confirmed. As the French and the British, in terms of its stipulations, mutually gave up whatever territory each had taken the Anglo-American provincials had the mortification to see Cape-Breton acquired for the mother country by their independent exertions, pass into the hands of its old masters; leaving their fisheries and outer settle- ments on the eastern seaboard as unprotected as before. As for the mother country, all that its people gained, in exchange for the lavish expenditure of their resources, and the outpouring of their blood during a generally successful struggle of eight years' duration, was the barren credit of having supported the German sovereignty of Maria-Theresa, and thereby (it was said) " vindicated the rights guaranteed by a prag- matic sanction ;" in other words, effected that greatest of all political desiderata, in the estimation of the pedantic publicists of the time, a re-adjustment of "the balance of power in Europe." * * M. Garneau intimates that the French came off second best on the occasion ; for " Louis, while he did nothing for France, did everything for her allies." He was not in a condition to make peace, as he vainly boasted, " en roi." His land forces, if not beaten, were greatly reduced ; his fleets were almost annihil- at«d. Any kingdom in the crippled condition of France at that time, is lucky if its rulers' loosened hold on the national possessions revert to the status quo ante bellum, at the advent of peace.— £. CHAPTER III. THE FRONTIERS' COMM18SION.-1748-1756. Tbo poaoo of Aix-la-Chapollo only a truco.— Britain profits by the ruin of tlio French war marine to oxtond tlio A-ontiors of hor posscsaions in Amorica.— M, do la UalissoniOro, govomor of Canada.— His plans to hinderltho neighboring colonics fVotn aKKrandisiug themselves, adopted by the court.— Pretensions of the lJriti»h.— Rights of discovery and possession of the French.— The limitary policy ot GalisMoni6ro expounded and defended.- Emigration of the Acadians; part taken in their regard by that governor.— lie causes sev- eral fbrts to bo raised in tbo west; founding of Ogdcnsburg (1749).— The Marquis de la Jonqui^ro succeeds as governor ; the French ministry directs him to adopt the policy of his prodocesBor.— De la Come and Major Lawrence advance to the Canadian isthmus, and occupy strongholds thereon ; i. c, forts UeauB<^Jour, Uaspareaux, Lawrence, Dcs Mines, &c. —Lord Albemarle complains, at Paris, of French encroachments (1749); reply thereto of M. Fuyzioulx.— The French, in turn, complain of liritish hostile acts on sea.— The Acadians take roAigo in St. John's (Prince Edward's) Island; their miserable condition there.— Foundation of Halifax, N. S. (1749).— A mixed commission, French and British, appointed to settle disputes about the iVontier lines ; first conferences, at Paris, on the subject.— Pre- tensions of the parties stated and debated ; difhculties found to be insurmountable.— Affair of the Ohio; intrigues of the liritish among the natives of the regions around that river; intrigues of the French among those of the Five Nations.- Virginian trafflckers arrested, and sent as prisoners to France.— French and British troops sent to the Ohio, to fortify themselves in the tountry.— The governor-general at issue with certain Demoiselles and the Jesuits.— His mortal illness, dpath and character (1752).— The Marquis Du(iuosno suc- ceeds him.— Affair ot the Ohio continued.- Colonel Washington marches to attack Fort Duquesno.— Death of Jumonvillo.— Defeat of Washington by M. do Villiers at Fort Neces- sity (1754).— Plan of the British to invade Canada; assembly of Anglo-American governors at Albany.— General Braddock sent from Britain with an army to America.— Baron Dies- kau arrives at Quebec with four battalions (1755).— Negoclations between the French and British governments on the frontier difHculties.— Capture of two French ships of war by admiral Boscawen.— France declares war against Great Britain. The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle was but a truce, hostilities scarcely ever ceasing in America. The British colonists had noted with great interest the struggle upon the ocean ; they had seen with much satisfaction the destruction of the last remnants of M. do I'Etendriiire's fleet in the battle of Belle Isle. In effect, the French marine, once annihilated, what was to be the inevitable fate of the possessions of France beyond seas ? What was to become of the beautiful, the vast colonial system of 80 great a portion of the New World ? The Anglo- American colonials determined at oik o to extend their frontiers to the utmost. A trading association of influential men in Britain and her dependencies was formed for occupying the valley of the Ohio. It was not for the first time that the British coveted the possession of that fertile and delightful country: from the year 1716, Spotswood, governor of Virginia, had proposed to purchase parts of that territory from the J '%6, 454 HISTORY OF CANADA. f . * i I I aborigines, and to establish a traffic therein ; but the cabinet of Versailles opposing the project, it was abandoned.* Contemporaneously, the London newspapers announced that it was intended to extend, as far as the St. Lawrence, existing British settlements on the side of Acadia.f The agitation which was got up in these regards, only confirmed the French in their fears of some great movement of aggression on the part of thoir neighbors. M. de Galissonierc, especially, shared in this scntiiuent. He was a distinguished marine officer, who, at a later time, became illus- trious by a victory he gained over admiral Byng.| He was also active and enlightened as a civilian, and spent in scientific studies such Icisuro as his public duties allowed. He governed Canada only two years; but he gave, during that brief time, a strong impulsion to its admini.stration, and much good counsel to the French ministry, which, had it been followed, would have preserved our fine country to France. On arriving at Quebec, M. de Galissonierc desired to obtain inf(jrnia- tion regarding the soil, climate, produce, population, trade, and rcHourccs of the province. He turned his attention, at the outset, to the Frontier question, which could be no longer safely ignored. He fixed his re THE frontiers' commission. 45r) undervalued ; that even although these made no pecuniary returns, they ought not to be abandoned, because they served to prevent the British from penetrating to the interior of New France. " The country once well settled," said he, " we should become redoubtable on the Mississippi side. If in the border war we luid 400 or 500 well-armed men among the Illinois, not only should we have been undisquicted, but we should have led into the heart of the enemy's settlements the very tribes which have so often insulted us." France has been greatly blamed on account of the position she dared to assume in the frontier (|uestion ; slie was oven accused by some of her own sons of ambition and unreason. Voltaire went so far as to say, " such a dispute as that about the frontiers in America of the two colo- nising races, had it taken place between individuals, would have been settled in a couple of hours by arbitration:" a vain imagination on his part. An arrangement between two great powers, involving the present possession and the future nationality of territories three or four times larger than France itself, and now teeining with millions of people, was a difficulty of no such easy solution ; yet scarcely did the matter occupy the attention of the cabinet of Versailles at the time, except in the most superficial way. That of St. James's had thitherto abstained from formalising its pretensions in a precise or definite manner. It now manifested them, so to speak, in a negative form, by contesting the right of the French to esta- blish themselves at Niagara and Crown-Point ; objecting, also, to the stay of the latter among the Abenaquis, after the treaty of Utrecht (1713) was signed. Whilst it declared to those savages that the territo- tory between New England and the St. Lawrence was Britain's, it kept silence on the point to the French governors, yet tried to vindicate its pretensions in the sequel.* As for the western frontier, its silence was yet more expressive : for had it not recognized the nullity of its claim therein, by refusing to sanction the formation of an Ohio Company, in 1716 ? But times were now greatly changed. The treaty of Utrecht gave Acadia to Britain. She now proclaimed that her province extend- ed, on one part, fron the river Kennebec to the sea ; on the other, from • A sigaificant circumstance indeed 1 The Privy Council received, from the Board of Trade and Plantations, in 1713, even before the treaty of Utrecht, a Report, in which it was advanced, " that Cape Breton had always made part of Acadia ; " and that " Nova Scotia comprised all Acadia bounded by the rivers Sainte-Croix and St. Lawrence and the sea." Minutes in the British Golonial* oflSce, already cited in this volume. 450 HISTORY OF CANADA. I I tho Bay of Fundy to tho St. Lawronco : she maintained that the tcrriton- betwccn tho Kennebec and Penobscot rivers extended backwards a.s fur as Quebec and to tho St. Lawrence, and that said territory alwayH formed a portion of tho province. It was finally affirmed that tho true fronticrN of Acadio or Acadia, following its olden limits, were: 1. A right line drawn from the enibouchuro of tho Penobscot to tho St. Lawrence, 'i. The right bank of that flood and coast of its gulf to the sea ; south-west- ward of Cape Breton ; 3. Tho whole seaboard, from this point to the enibouchuro of tho Penobscot. Her commissioners even declared that tho St. Lawrence was tho LC*ural and rightful lino of demarcation between tho possessions of tho two races. The region thus reclaimed outside of the Acadian peninsula, had fully thrice tho extent of Nova Scotia, and commanded the estuary of the St. Lawrence ; that is, tho great waterway of Canada, and the only passoLro to or fron the province, seaward, in winter, — i. e. during five months of tho year. The territory which Britain contested, as not being French, beyond the Alleghanies, was likely to bo still more precious in coming times. Tho basin of tho Ohio alone, down to its confluence with the Mississippi, U not less than 200 leagues in length. This territory, however; formed but a minor portion of a debateable region, the limits of which had never been, indeed could not bo, defined : but it still involved an occult right to the possession of the immense countries, laid down in maps, het- wcen lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron, and Michigan ; the upper Mississippi and tho Alleghany regions ; countries in which now flourish the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois; and tho lands on either side of Lake Michigan, between lakes Huron and Michigan and tho Mississippi. Once give up these regions, and French Canada were separated from Louisiana by a long interspace, and completely muti- lated. From the walls of Quebec and Montreal, the British flag would have been ever discernible, floating in the breezes on the St. Lawrence. In fine, such sacrifices as were then demanded implied a total abandon- ment of New France. In presence of such pretensions to the proprietorship of countries dis- covered by Frenchmen, forming part and parcel of territory occupied by their descendants during a century and a half, what other duty devolved onM. dela Galissoni^re than that of asserting his nation's rights? Every movement he directed on the frontiers would have been dictated by the necessities of the situation, even if he had not been convinced of their propriety in the abstract. But that was not all : article 9 of the treaty TUB frontiers' COMMISSION. 45( of 174S positively stipulated, that " all things shouM be put on the same footing as they wore before the war;" and British hoHtngcs were sent t<> Versailles, to give personal security for the restitution of Louisbourg. Now, the French had always occupied the country up to the Acadian isthmus. The construction of fort St. John and tlie taking possession of Cape Breton immediately posterior to the treaty of Utrecht, were pro- ceedings of public notoriety, indicative of that occupation, the legitimate- ness of which appeared to be recognized by the very silence of the British ministry on the subject, up to the time when the war which ensued there- after was terminated ; for not till after the year 1748 did the governor of Nova Scotia, colonel Maskerceiie, attempt to oblige the settlers on the river St, John to swear fidelity to the British king, or appropriate their coun- try* After what wo have said, it is plain that M. do Galissoni6rc's duty bade him take measures to vindicate French rights, and he obeyed the call. lie sent troops forward, and gave orders to repel, by force if need- ful, the British, should they attempt to (juit the peninsula of Nova Scotia and encroach on the continental territory beyond. He also wrote to Maskereene complaning of his conduct to the French settlers on the river St. John ; admonishing him likewise to cause the resumed hostilities against the Abenaquis to cease, as they had laid down their arm;; as soon as they knew of the pacification of 1748. These remonstrances gu\ c rise to a series of pretty sharp letters, written by and to the marquis of .La Jon(jui6ro and governor Cornwallis j the former being successor of Galis- sonii^rc, the latter of Maskereene. So far the French governors-general stood on the firm ground of na- tional right ; but GalissoniOre conceived a project which was in no sense justifiable ; it was to engage the Franco-Acadians to quit the peninsula in a body, and settle on the northern shores of the bay of Fundy ; the ultimate view of the instigator being, to form by their means a living barrier to south-eastern Canada, and collect the people of French race, thereabout dispersed, under closer protection of tlieir country's flag. Such a proceeding, in the Lctual state of the relations subsisting between Franco and Britain, was culpable, as its tendency was to induce the sub- jects of a friendly power to desert; for, though the Acadians might rightly refuse, as catholics, to take oaths, or even assume a neutral part in time of war, between French and British, they were none the less * Memorial of the Dukcdc Ghoiseul, prime minister; anoajmona Mimoire sur hi Jffairet du Canada. 458 HISTORY OF CANADA. subjects of the kiiifrof Great Britain, in terms of the treaty of Utrecht ^ The French ministry, however, adopted the proiecfc of La GaUsHoiiicTe and set apart a large sum of money to carry it out. The Frencli mig. sionaries in Acadia seconded the polity of their mother country's rulers Piire Germain at Port- Royal (Annapolis), and the abb(5 do Laloutre at Beaubassin, made the greatest eflforts to engage the Acadians to (luit those lanc''^ which formed their sole fortune. When the time arrived to leave forever the natal soil, under which their buried dead reposed, <'reat hesitation and bitter regrets were ordinarily manifested by the out<'()ini» French population of >Jova Scotia. The emigration began in 1748. While the governor-general thus labored to erect a new colonial bulwark- on the south-eastern side, against British intrusion, he was no less busily engaged, on the western lines, in barring against it the entry of the upper Ohio region. The Ohio valley, covered by ; uo rrant of the Louisip.na letters- patent of the year 1712, had always served as a French passage-way f Voni the jMississippi to Canada. As British traders still persisted to traffic in that terri- tory, tlicgo'.'ernor-general in 1748, sent M. Celeron do Bienville, with .'JOO men, to expel them thence once for all, and take formal possession of the country, Bienville set up, in different localities, limitary poles, ami buried at their base leaden plates bearing the royal arms ; and, as lie did so, cdiMsed procis-verhdux to be drawn up, signed, and read, of evi.'ry sueh solemn transaction, in presence of the aborigines ; who, by the way. did not sec it performed always without murmuring their dissent. That officer also wrote to the governor of Pennsylvania to inform hi'i\ of whiit had been done, and asking him to prevent all persons within his jurisdic- tion from trading, for the future, beyond the Alleghany line ; -ddini: that he (Bienville) was commissioned to arrest all such interlopers, and cou- fiscat'^ iheir goods. Meanwhile Galissoniere garrisoned Detroit, recon- structed a fort at Green Bay, (formerly dismantled by De Ligneris during his expedition against the Outagamis), ordered a fort to be raised among the Sioux, another (of stone) at Toronto, and a third at La Presentatidii (Ogdensburgh), on the right bank of the St. Lawrence, between Montreal and Kingston, in order to be within reach of the Iroquois, whom he wished to put entirely in the French interest. These savages had sent, lato in 1748, a numerous deputation to Canada, to protest anew that they had not ceded their lands, that their independence was intact, and tlnir wi;i sent should be withdrawn from what was really British territory, and the damage done by their invasions repaired or compensa- ted. Upon these grave accusations being made, an order was given to write without delay to the governor of Canada, for a precise account of what had really been done. " If any of our French people," wrote M. do Rouilld, " have committed the excesses complained of, they merit punish- ment; and the king will make an example of them." In September, a memorial was sent to Lord Albemarle, replying to the British complaints, containing a narration of the movements of Lawrence and those of La Come respectively, as well as an account of their interview. In 1751, it "oecame the duty of the cabinet of Versailles to complain in its turn. It represented that British vessels of war had captured, in the lower Gulf of St. Lawrence, certain French vessels, among them those carrying provisions to the troops stationed on the coasts of Fundy bay. The Bri- tish ministry making no satisfactory reply to this charge. La Jonqui^re, in reprisal, caused to be seized in I'lsle lloyale (Louisbourg harbor) three or four British vessels, and confiscated them. iMeanwhile, more than 3,000 Acadians passed into Isle St. John I Prince Edward's island), and to the seaboard of Fundy bay. The fail- le of the year's crop, and the incidents of war, caused a famine among 462. HISTORY OF CANADA. < ( the people, which never ceased till Canada was conquered; but the suffer- ings therefrom did not prevent their emigrations, which were quickened by the arrival of 3,800 colonists from Britain, at Chibouctou, to found Halifax, in 1749. The Acadians, whose place the latter in some measure took up, directed their wandering steps to Quebec, to Madawaska, to any place that was pointed out as being likely to receive them, so it were quite beyond the reach of British domination. This extraordinary fli(»ht testi- fied to the despotism and injustice of the British government which revenged itself for the desertion of the fugitives upon those Acadians who still remained in the peninsula, tmd greatly influenced the dispositions of the war. So many difficulties had induced the two courts to nominate the com- mission provided for by the treaty of Aix-la- Chapelle : it was that of France wl.ich took the initiative. Her fears had been aroused by the warlike preparations making in Britain ; and by the debates in Pariia- nicnt, regarding a proposal by Mr. Obbs* to foster the fur trade in Hudson's Bay, and for extending the Anglo-Auierioan frontiers far into the heart of Canada. The court of Versailles, in June 1749, remitted to that of St. James a memorial, wherein wore detailed French rights over the territories in dispute, and proposed that a commission should be appointed to fix amicably the proper limits of the North American colonic; of the two nations. The proposal was at once accepted.f The commjj;- sioners assembled in Paris : they were, Messrs. Shirley, and Mildmay, on one part; Messrs. de la Galissoniere and De Silhouette on the other. Both Shirley and Galissonierc had been American governors themsclvei:. Besides attending to the regulation of Acadian limits, the commi.s,sioners were charged to settle doubts which had arisen rgarding French an J British rights over certain Caribbean Islands; namely, St. Lucia, St, Pomingo, St. Vincent, and Tobago. One of the chief conditions stipulated in appointing this commission was, that no innovation should take place in the debateable territories while it was in existence, but all things to remain as they were when it was formed, until its decision on every disputed point should be given. i • From what region in the political planetary system did Mr. Obbs drop?— We never heard of the rising of this bright particular star before. We humbly hint that the story is all a myth, a weak invention of the enemy. — B. t Alemorial of the Britannic Court, of July 24, 1749. t Memoire de M. de Choiscul, containing a summary of facts, with corrobora- tive documents, serving as a reply to the Observations sont by the British Ministry to the several European Courts. THE frontiers' COMMISSION 403 The operations of Do la Cornc and Major Lawrence, the construction of forts on the Acadian isthmus, were severally recognized for violations of existing treaties by the two courts, while each proclaimed its sincere desire to preserve peace ; and both assured the world of European diplomacy that they had sent orders to their respective colonial governors to ftand-at-ease, as it were, and drop all further hostile proceedings for the time. The commissioners, at great length, brought to view the pretensions of their countrymen. Great Britain reclaimed all tlie territory situated between the Laurentian Gulf, the Atlantic, and a line drawn from that flood to the Kennebec river, following a para. A due north ; while Franco would not admit of her right even to the whole Acadian penin;-iula, .since a French claim was put in for the whole southern seaboard of tlie bay of Fundy — all except the town and harbor of Port-Royal (Annapolis), which, it was allowed, were Britain's, becau.se ceded to her spocitically by the treaty of Utrecht. A mere glance at a map of' the localities suffices to show that the pretensions on each side wore the most antago ni % v^ "9." &- L-?/ fA :\ , c,' mmmmmm 470 HISTORY OP CANADA. 1 I headway to the popular representatives. But as we have remarked else- where, the wars against Canada waged by the British colonies of Amer- ica tended to make these cling together, and accustomed them, insensibly, to regard a federal government as being that best suited for them. After the rejection of the convention project, it waa resolved, in default of a central power, to carry on the impending war jointly with the regular forces sent from Britain, the colonial corps and militia to act as their auxiliaries ; meanwhile it was agreed that the several assemblies should vote subsidies and order men to be engaged, armed, and trained. The mother country also put large means at their disposition, and sent out, as her military chief. General Braddock, who had served with dis- tinction, under the Duke of Cumberland, in the wars of continental Europe. Braddock^s instructions comprised a detailed plan of hostile operations ^tgainst Canada.* One projected expedition was, to drive the French out of the Ohio valley, and to take possession of it in name of the Britbh crown. Forts St. Frederic and Niagara, those at the foot of lake Erie, and Beaus^jour in French Acadia, were to be attacked, simul- taneously or successively, according to circumstances. The regular forces assembled in Ireland were embarked on board a squadron, under admiral Keppel, who was directed to aid whatever land-operations were to be undertaken. Arrived in Virginia, Braddock conferred with all the pro- vincial authorities. It was agreed that he should proceed, with the regulars, to capture Fort Duquesne; that Governor Shirley should, with the provincial forces, attack Niagara; that another corps, drawn from the northern colonies, and led by Colonel Johnson, should assail Fort Fre- deric : finally, that Colonel Monckton, with the Massachusetts militia, should assault Beaus^jour and Gaspareaux. The plan being thus settled, the next intent was to take Canada unawares, by a hasty invasion. Meanwhile, its governor-general received letters from Paris : — " The dispositions which the British cabinet continue to manifest for maintain- ing peace, do not allow us to believe that it can have authorised the move- ments so much spoken of upon the Ohio ; and there is yet less appear- ance that it has sanctioned any hostile demonstrations on the other fron- tiers." But France did not remain long inactive in presence of those preparations ; as, for a long time back, the tone of the English news- papers and parliamentary debates had too plainly expounded the hostile * Instructions fcr General Braddock, dated March 25, lt54 ; — Letters of Col- onel Napier, written hj command of the Duke of Oumberland, to General Braddock. . t THE FRONTIERS* COMMISSION. 471 feeling of Britain. That feeling was all potent in London, and strongly reacted on the government. In France orders were given to assemble a fleet at Brest, to be com- manded by M. Dubois de la Motte. On board of it were embarked six battalions of veterans, 3000 strong in all * ; two of these were to be landed at Louisbourg, and the others in Canada. Major-general Baron Dieskau, who had distinguished himself under Marshal Saxe, was appointed to lead the latter. He had for his second, the infantry colonel M, de Rostaingj and for aid-major the chevalier de Montreuil. M. Duquesne asked to be recalled, and transferred to the marine ser- vice. His departure caused no regret, although he had governed with great success, and been very heedful of all the colony's wants ; but his haughty bearing made him unpopular. This defect, in an administrator, is yet more resented in America than in Europe, because of the greater equality of men's conditions here. Before leaving, he endeavored to bind the Iroquois to French interest ; and for that end held a secret conference with some of their chiefs at Montreal. But these savages always sought to maintain their independent position between the French and British colonies. " We could not recognize the native genuineness of Iroquois blood," said M. Duquesne, " in recent proceedings at Albany, where, in presence of seven governors, at a secret council, you betrayed the cause of the king of France in allowing yourselves to be induced by the evil advice of the British, to countenance their intrusions upon the beautiful river (Ohio), despite the length of time that France has been possessed of it. Know you not the difference there is between the king of France, and the British king ? Go, and examine the forts which our king has erected ; you will see that the land beyond their walls is still a hunting-ground. Our forts have been set up, not as a curb upon the tribes, but to be useful for your trade with us. While, no sooner do the British enter upon possession of your lands, than the game deserts them. The forest falls below their blows, the soil is bared, and hardly will you find a bush left upon your own domains to shelter you by night." The governor thus, truly as briefly, characterized the diverse nature of the British and French colonizations. The Marquis de Vaudreuil de Cavagnal, governor of Louisiana, was promoted to the governorship of New France, upon the departure of the Marquis Duquesne, in early summer 1755. The former nobleman was third son of the Marquis de Vaudreuil, governor-general from 1703 Official Correspondence. 472 HISTORY OF CANADA. I I till his death in 1725. His descendant was joyously greeted, on his arrival, by the Canadians, who regarded him the more for beinf a compatriot, and had anxiously solicited the king to appoint him for their chief. Crowds attended his steps in entering upon office; the people remembering in his favor the halcyon times of the father's sway, and trusting that these were to return under the government of the son. The British fleet, bearing General Braddock and his troops, left port about Jan. 1, 1755, and reached Williamsburgh, Virginia, Feb. 20 en- suing. Admiral Dubois did not leave Brest till late in April ; that is, nearly three months after Braddock's departure. He had on board some reinforcements and warlike stores for the king's service in Canada. Here it is needful to note the dates of events ; for the British ministry had resolved to intercept the French squadron, and for that purpce despatched Admiral Boscawen, April 17. While these matters were in progress, diplomacy vainly put out its feelers, to resume hold of a difficulty which, it was now plain, could only be decided at the cannon's mouth. Jan. 15, the Duke de Mirepoix, French ambassador in London, addressed a note to the British Court, proposing that hostilities should be forbidden between the two nations ; that all things in the Ohio valley should revert to their state as they were before the last war ; that the pretensions of the two crowns regard- ing that territory should be submitted, in a friendly spirit, to a com- mission; finally, in order to allay existing inquietude in France, the British ministers were solicited by the duke to inform him as to the destination of the expedition from Ireland, and to explain what were the motives for sending it abroad. The reply to this communication bore date January 22. Therein, demand was made that the hold upon the Ohio valley, as of other territories, should revert, in the first place, to the same state it was in before the treaty of Utrecht. Now this was setting up renewed pretensions, and interpreting the terms of the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, (1748,) by those of the treaty of 1713 ! As for the armament which had been equipped and despatched lately, it was not got up (thus reads the official missive) with any intent of compromising the general peace, but only for the protection of the British possessions In America. Mirepoix wrote again (Feb. 6), proposing that the text of the treaty of 1748 should be adhered to ; and as its consequent, that the British commissioners at Paris should be put in possession, for further examin- ation, of the evidences of their country's right to what was now claimed by the cabinet of London. THE frontiers' commission. 473 la the sequel, the French ministry again modified its demand, and proposed that the people of the two nations should together evacuate all the territory between the Ohio and the AUeghanies. This was an acquiescence in the proposal made by the British cabinet, of date Jan. 22. Louis' ministers had no doubt that the proffer must needs be accepted ; and this the rather because their envoy had just been assured that the Irish armament had been equipped solely with the intent of maintaining subordination and good order in the British colonies. But the British ministry now advanced new pretensions, as if an accommoda- tion were the last thing wished for. Accordingly, March 7, a fresli pro- posal was made, including the particulars here enumerated: — 1. That not only should the French forts in the region between the Ohio and the AUeghanies be razed, but all the French settlements between the rivers Ohio and St. Jerome (Wabash) must be given up. 2. That the fort at Niagara, and that of St. Frederic (on Lake Champlain), should be razed ; and that the navigation of lakes Erie, Ontario, and Champlain, should be free to British and French subjects alike. 3. That France should renounce all further claim, not only to the entire Acadian peninsula, but also to the isthmus, and a space of 20 leagues of territory beyond the latter, following a line drawn from south to north, and passing from the river Pentagoet to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 4. That the entire river-board of the St. Lawrence, on the right bank or south-eastern side, -hould remain unappropriated either by French or British, These conditions once accepted by the French court, the British cabi- net, was willing to confide to the commissioners for the two powers the settlement of other conflicting pretensions I Such a proposal was tanta- mount to a declaration of war ; for it involved, if agreed to, the virtual renunication of Canada, which would have disgraced the crown of France in the eyes of the whole world. Accordingly, it was met by an absolute refusal.* Negociations were prolonged, nevertheless, till the month of July, other devices to reconcile difficulties being proposed and rejected. All the time, both parties loudly proclaimed their sincere wishes for an accommodation ; and the British ministry assured the French govern meat, when the latter expressed disquietude as to the destination of •Themiaister thus wrote to the governorof Canada ; — "Come what may, his Majesty is very resolute in sustaining his rights and holding to his possessions, despite all such unjust and exorbitant pretensions ; and much as he values peace, lie will purchase it only at the cost of such concessions as may accord at once with his own dignity and the right his (colonial) subjects have to be protected." Documents de Paris. The court was sincere, this time, in its protestations. 474 HISTORY OF CANADA. » i ' I Bosoawen's fleet, that "certainly the British will not b^in the war." The Duke of Newcastle, Earl Grenville, and Sir T. Robinson said positively to the French ambassador, that no orders had been given to that admiral to assume the oflFensive. The Governor of Canada, who was on board one of the ships of M. de la Motte, was directed by the king not to begin war, unless certain specified hostile acta were com- mitted by the British.* Boscawen, who set set sail from England April 17, arrived in due time on the Banks of Newfoundland, with 11 men-of-war. The main body of the French fleet, thanks to the fogs of that region, passed towards its destination within cannon-shot of tl o British ; but two ships the Lys and the Alcide, which had for some days accidentally parted convoy, were chased and taken. On board these vessels were several engineer officers and 8 companies of soldiers, the latter being a portion of the 3,000 regulars embarked for America. M. de Choiseul reported, that M. Hocquart, captain of the Alcide, hailed the Dunkirk, a 60 gun British ship, and demanded, in English, " Are we at peace or war ? " The reply was, " We don't understand you."f Some other words had been interchanged, when the Dunkirk poured a broadside from double-shotted guns, and cannon loaded with grape, into the Alcide. Immediately, that ship and the Lys were sur- rounded by Boscawen's vessels, and, after having lost many men in resisting the attacks made upon them, forced to surrender. Among the officers killed, was Colonel de Rostaing. This action, observes Mr. Haliburton, was the real commencement of the war, although not then formally entered upon. The British government, though not having proclaimed its intended hostilities thus begun, was accused of deception | and piracy by the neutral powers of Europe. Soon afterwards, 300 merchant-men navigating the seas, reposing on the faith of existing treaties, were way- laid and captured, upon the buccaneering principle, to the irreparable loss of France ; which was thus deprived, at one sweeping stroke, of the services of 5,000 or 6,000 sailors. The news of the capture of the Lya and Alcide reached London July 15. The Duke de Mirepoix forthwith sought an audience of the British ministers ; who assured him that the action must have taken place through a misunderstanding ; adding, that what had happened need not be a means * A • Documentt de Paris. t "Noua n'entendons point": which words, given in the duke's Mimoire, might also mean, " We can't hear well what yoa say." — B. X The author's term is trahison.—B. sts were com- THB FRONTIERS* COMMISSION. 475 for breaking up the negociation still pending. The French nation, hitherto taking rank as a leading power in Europe, thus saw itself, through the debility of the government, treated as a kingdom of second or third rate order. Still the Court of Versailles, no longer to be hood- mnked, recalled its ambassador, and declared war against Great Britain. ke's Mimoire, ■Hi'. (.'« BOOK NINTH. CHAPTER I. TJIE SEVEN YEARS' WAI{.-17o5-l"oO. Di8po8itions of mind in Britain and Franco at the epoch of the Seven Yoara' war.— Frnnci changes her foreign policy in forming an alliance with Auctria; which mutation oiilytlat- tored the self-love of Madame do Tompadour.— Warlike enthusiasm in Grvnt llritaiii ami her colonies; their immense armaments.— Small number of the Canadian forccti.— i'lan of the first campaign; zeal of the Canadian people.— First operations.— Troops from i'loston scour Acadia and capture Fort lJeaus<5jour, &c.: jxilo and dispersion of the Fnncli Aca- diane.— General Hraddock advances towards Fort Duquesne ; M. de Boaujeu niarchcn to meet liim; battle of the Monongahela; tho Kritiah defeated, and Braddock killwl.-A panic ensues in the American colonies.— The Canadians and savages commit groat ravage?, and take many prisoners.— British corps formed to attack Niagara and Fort Frederic- Colonel Johnson encamps at the head of Lake George.— Baron Die^kau attacking him, h defeated and taken prisoner.—Goneral Shirley delays the siege of Niagara.— Kcsult.s of'tln) campaign of 1755.— Bad harvest in Canada; a deartli ensues.— British preparations tor tho campaign of 1756.— State of Canada ; succor solicited from France.— General Montcalm sent with a reinforcement of troops, arrives at Quebec in spring, 1766.— Plan of operation?. —Disproportion of the forces of the two belligerent parties; invasions projected by tho British. We have said that the French ministry, after learning the capture of the Lys and the Aldcle, recalled its ambassador from London, and declarcfl war against Great Britain, The step, as will be seen presently, wa.s not however taken till after almost a year's delay. The indolent king had great hesitation in resolving to engage in a serious contest at all. What was the situation of France at this time ? The chief ministers of state were, — Count d'Argenson, for the war department; M. Machault, marine and colonies; M. Rouilld, foreign affairs: but Madame de Pom- padour was the real chief of the government. She it was who made and unmade ministries, appointed and cashiered generals, at her sovereign will and pleasure. Twenty-five cabinet ministers were engaged and dis- missed (by her) between the years 1756 and 1763. " The state councH," says Sismondi, "underwent constant mutations; it had neither unity nor accord, and each member acted independently of the others. As for the nation, it was more occupied with vain ecclesiastical dissensions than the cares of war. The Molinists, backed by the Jesuits, recommenced a persecution of the Jansenists ; the parliament interposed, trying to stop it, but was itself assailed, its authority suspended, and a royal chamber (of law) took its place for a time. Amid these troubles in the state, .♦.^ THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR. 477 plilosojihism was making progress in French society. Even at court it bad its partisans. The king inimical as he was to innovating ideas, yet liad a private printing-press, at which he caused the politico-economical theories of bis physician (Quesncl) to be typographed. One of tliese proposed the doing away with all state imposts but a land-tax. This plan, had it ken adopted, would liave thrown the burden of supporting the govern- ment chiefly on the nobles and churchmen, for they were the chief land- liolders. But all such proposals began and ended in empty words. Every old-established corporation, spiritual or secular, whose interests would have been seriously aiFected by this and other proposed changes, and royalty — which had been for a moment cajoled into tolerance, at least, for an exposition of the " new ideas" — shrank timidly from the hazards tliat might attend their realization. In fine, all was in commotion amongst both moral and political idealists. Public opinions were no longer harmonious; and the government itself, as if ashamed to be iruided by olden traditions, moved with a vacillating step in a novel route. For example: by the fatal treaty of Versailles (1756), France allied licrsclf to Austria, whom she had always combated ; and allowed herself to be led into a continental war to sustain Maria Theresa, who, wishing to retake Silesia from the king of Prussia, adroitly flattered Madame de Pompadour, with whom that empress maintained an epistolary correspon- dence, in which the courtesan was addressed as a " dear friend." France bad now to maintain a war both on land and sea in Europe, although ex- perience had shown that at wofold struggle always overtaxed her resour- ces, as Machault tried to make Louis comprehend ; but the lady favorite was all for the cause of the empress-queen, while the war minister and the courtiers, heedless of sea-service, longed to glorify themselves by expected victories in land war. The government, thus influenced, and oblivious of the requisites for coping properly with the forces of Britain —which alone had provoked the hostilities now in progress — thus had most of its warlike strength diverted from the quarters where it was most wanted, viz., towards the north of Europe ; while it left the defence of New France almost entirely to its own inhabitants. In Great Britain, there were no signs, as in France, of a revolution looming in the distance. The three kingdoms were never in so prospe- rous a state at any previous time ; the Anglo-American colonies were materially prosperous, their inhabitants united in action, and seemingly satisfied with their mother country. The home government, founded on the broad basis of freedom, habitually yielded to popular inspirations, M 478 HISTORY OF CANADA. and, thus observant of national instincts, might safely assure itself in advance, that success would attend any enterprise undertaken in obedience to the popular will. No preceding war had been so agreeable to the peoples taste as that now about to commence. Mr. Fox (afterwards created Lord Holland) was at the head of aflFairs.* The commons voted a mil- lion pounds additional for the war services of the year ; an alliance was formed with Prussia ; subsidies were accorded to Poland and Bavaria to bring them into an alliance in order to counterbalance the continental superiority of France, and to secure the possession of Hanover. Within the United Kingdom, the enrolment of seamen for the royal navy was pressed vigorously; and so great was the public fervor, that nearly every city and considerable town in the empire offered premiums to volunteers who would forthwith enlist in the sea or land forces. And in place of the million pounds above mentioned, which the government intended to rjkise specially by a lottery, £3,800,000 sterling were sub- scribed at once.f Nor was warlike ardor less manifest among the American colonies of Britain, the people in which far outnumbered the inhabitants of New France. Thus, in 1755, Dr. Franklin estimated the provincials at a total of 1,200,000; whilst the whole number of people in Canada, Cape- Breton, Louisiana, &c., was under 80,000 souls. The disproportion was as great in the relative commerce of the two dependencies, and conde- quently in their pecuniary resources severally. The American exports, in the year 1753, were valued at £1,486,000 sterling; imports, £^83,000.|: About the same date, the exports of Canada did not exceed £100,000 in value ; while its imports might extend to £400,000 ; but most of the latter were for government account, and did not pass through the ordinaij channels of trade. It was no marvel, therefore, that the British proviQ- cials should urge the mother country to carry on the war with vigor for their behoof. Franklin, as astute a politician as clever in science, was their principal mouth-piece. He who, 25 years thereafter, repaired to Paris, to arouse the public feeling of France and entire Europe against Britain; the same who came to Canada to revolutionize it in 1776, was, in 1754, the greatest promoter of the coming invasion of the French possessions in North America. " There needs never be permanent repose * A mistake of the author. The Duke of Newcastle was then premier ; and Mr. Fox lost the leadership of the house of commoas in 1764.— J?, t Smollett's History of England, t Encyclopidie Mithodique ; American Annale. THE SEVEN TEARS* WAR. 479 > in science, was expected for our thirteen colonies," urged he, " so long as the French are masters of Canada."* The disproportion between the military forces of the French and British, brigaded in America at this time, continued so long as the war lasted. But, by a sage foresight, France man i A sting her accustomed superiority in the art of war, took up a defensive lino far from the centre of Canada, and thus obliged the enemy to divide his strength. The narrow isthmus of Acadia, the wild and unexplored valley of the Ohio, the mountain gorge of Lake George ; such were the far-removed positions she chose for the operations of her soldiers — these became fields of battle, wide apart, where she kept in cheok for five years, without being dislodged, her numerous foes, and made them suffer sanguinary defeats, unparalleled thitherto in America. They blame wrongly, therefore, those who censure the defensive system adopted by or for our people during the Seven Years' War. The regulars maintained in Canada, ordinarily about 1000 in all, were, in 1755, augmented to a total of 2,800 men, by the arrival of four battalions of infantry, under General Baron Dieskau. The militia was armed, and the governor continued to place large detachments on the frontier posts ; insomuch that there was soon ready for action, in garrison and field, an army 7,000 strong, besides 800 men employed as escorts. These forces, however, were still very insufl&cient to make head against those of the enemy, who had already 15,000 soldiers equipped, of whom 3,000 were draughted to attack Beaus^jour; 2,200 directed on Fort Duquesne; 1,500 against Niagara; and from 5,000 to 6,000 against Fort St. Frederic : these being four distinct attacks, which the British willed to make simultaneously. K the secret influences at work on the public mind in France paralyzed the energies of the nation and crippled the martial action of the govern- ment ; if a faulty organization, political and social, caused the philosophic and enlightened classes in the mother country to become sceptical and indifferent as to the good or evil chances of the coming struggle ; the heart of Canada, at least, was still sound ; and its inhabitants, chiefly cultivators or fur traders, were still imbued with the confident spirit of the French in early times, and had all the military ardor needed to make them vigorous soldiers. Deprived, by the nature of their government, of all share in its direction, and being few in number, they paid little attention to public affairs except when their homesteads were menaced by aliens ; and as that was now the case, they took up arms with a firm Barb^>Marboi3. 480 HISTORY OF OANy\DA. tictcrmination to combat for the intorcsta of tho mother country, none the IcHH bravely for tlic neglect whicli theirs Imd met at her hands. Not for one moment did their self-reliance give way, from first to hust • and although their perfect dovotcdness has not always been appreciated by some historians of Franco, irrefragable proofs of it are given in the official papers, still extant, embodying the whole " form and pressure of tlio (latter) times" of French domination. Tho seasons for warlike operations having arrived, the respective forces of the two belligerents entered their several fields of action. M. Jc Vaudrcuil, uncertain of the enemy's projects, but in obedience to ordur.« from France, sent a corps to attack the important fort of Oswego. General Dioskau, with 4,000 men and 12 guns, was charged with this enterprise, the success of which was considered certain. Two thousand troops had already set out from Montreal for that purpose, and had reached Frontenac (Kingston), when news of Johnson's army having appeared on Lake George, caused a portion of the Oswego cxpeditionarj' force to be recalled. Johnson's orders were, to act against Fort Frederic. The meditated attack on Oswego was now deferred; and Dieskau despatched, contrary to his own wish, to put a stop to the further advance of the British on the lower lakes. Sept. 1st, ho took post, at the head of Lake Champlain, with 1,500 Canadians, 700 regulars and 800 armed savages, — in all, 3,000 combatants ; a sufficient force to keep Johnson in check. Meanwhile, the transmission of soldiers to Lake Ontario still continued ; and a battalion took the route of Niagara, with orders to take post there, after making the ruins of its fort defensible : here was a palisaded house, surrounded with a fosse. Another battalion encamped under the walls of Frontenac. In autumn, the security of three important positions — St. Frederic, Niagara, and Frontenac— thus seemed to bo properly cared for. In the valley of the Ohio, Fort Duquesne, a very faulty construction, but commanded by M. de Contrecoour, a brave and skilful officer, had a garrison of 200 men only ; but be had within reach a certain number of Canadian foresters and savages, whom he could call in aid. The other fortified posts, widely scattered in remote localities, had each a garrison equally scanty in number. But intervening thickets and distance were their chief protection. On the Acadian side, forts Beausdjour and Gaspareaux had for com- manders, the former, M. de Vergor, a favorite of Intendant Bigot ; the latter, M. de Villeray. These officers had barely 125 soldiers at their disposal ; but if attacked, they could reckon upon the aid of the Acadians THE SEVEN YEARS WAR. 481 settled around them, or who were roving in their vicinity: ns if these |ioor jK'ophi, whom the British rc^^ardcd an suhject.s of kinj^ Georj^c, hud Itcon tree to act ! OF the four enterprises wliich Uritain projected aj^ainst Canada, that tirst attempted was on the side of Acadia. The troops selected for this duty \vcro 3IussacluisettH men, and about 2,000 stronjr. They were led l)y Colonel Winslow, a prominent man in that colony. ITis Ibrce, imbarkod in 41 vessels, left Boston May 20, and arrived at (.higneetou Juno 1, where they landed, and were joined by IKIO re<;ulars. Tliey marched at once, followed by an artillery train, against Beausejour; but were stopped, for a short time, on the banks of the river Messuaguash, by a few French, who had raised a bloekhouM' there, with cannon mounted. Tliifi post was defended for about an hour ; the garrison then set fire to the building, and retired. The British c«''>*ii'ued to advance, sweeping before them a small corps of armed Acadi'uifc liom M. de Vergor had charged to defend a hciglit at some distance fro in his own post. The garrison of Beausejour consisted o'' OO soMicrs or I iOO Acadians. i\o part of the works was bomb-pro'^f. Tlic b 'sie^^crs completed their '" , trench June 12, and in four days, after a ll eblo resistance, ""/ergor capitulated. The garrison retired with the hoiiors of war: the regulars were sent to Louisbourg ; and the Acadians, ^y stipulation, were left unmolested. Fort Gaspareaux, after a short defence by a sc v^ of soldiers and a few inhabitants, surrendered on like conditions. Beausdjour w;;s re-named Port Cumberland, and Major Scott left in command of it. This officer disarmed the people in and about the place ; and tliey refusing to take an oath of fidelity to the Britisli crown, he retained as prisoners all of them he could lay liands on, in pursuance of orders from Governor Hobson, who had succeeded to Cornwallis as chief of the Nova Scotian government. After these conquests, the victors sent three war-ships to the river St. John, to capture a small fort which the French had lately erected there and which M. de Boishebert commanded ; but his garrison being very weak, that officer set fire to the fort, and directed his small force to form a junction with the Acadians located at the upper end of the bay of Fundy. Having armed the latter, he, by their aid, beat the British in several combats; but could not prevent them, in the sequel, from burning out the people, who at first took refuge in the woods, and afterwards emigrated to Cape Breton, to the Isle St. John (Prince Edward's), to Miramichi, to Chaleurs Bay, and to Quebec ; those unfortunates, whither- soever they went, presenting a living example of perfect devotedness and complete destitution. 482 HISTORY OF CANADA. ..»; ' < I Such was the success of the enemy in the beginning of the campaign Although it was more nominal than real, seeing that the British could advance no farther on the Acadian side, they being restrained by armed bauds, it caused great discontent at Paris, especially when its terrible results to the unhappy Acadians, all worthy of a better fate, became known. The king wrote an autograph letter* to M. de Vaudreuil to summon a council of war, himself to preside, and call before it Messrs. Vergor and Villeray and their officers, to answer for their alleged derelic- tion of duty. Their trial took place, the year following, in the castle of St, Louis, when all of them were acquitted by a unanimous vote. The evacuation of Acadia by most of its inhabitants of French race, left those remaining, designated as neutres, at the mercy of the British. Tht latter, however, although they continued to reside in their native land were still Frenchmen in their hearts. Of the total number of Acadians (between 15 and 18 thousand) living in the peninsula when the emigra- tion began, there now remained only about 7,000, all of the more opulent class ; forming a community whose gentle manners furnished the coloring for an attractive picture of the race, painted by Raynal : " They were a simple and good race, a people who abhorred bloodshed, and entirely followed agricultural pursuits. They had settled in low grounds, liable to be flooded, but which they protected by raising dykes and mounds about the lands they tilled. Upon these reclaimed marshes they grew crops of wheat, rye, barley, oats, and maize ; with abundance of apples, which were brought largely into use for diet. '* Immense meadows were covered with their numerous herds and flocks. They had as many as 60,000 head of horned cattle at one time. Most of the families had horses, but the tillage was done with oxen. The dwellings, almost all wooden, were commodious withal, and furnished as well as those of European cultivators in easy circumstances. Much poultry was raised, of every kind ; which served to vary the abundant and wholesome fare served at all tables. Cider and beer were the usual beverages of the country. The spirits drunk were distilled from sugar. • Royal letter, dated Feb, 20, 1756. The papers of the proceas are reposited in the Library of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, — " Tlie chief consideration," said Montcalm, " in favor of the capitulator at Fort Beaus^jour was this, that the beleaguered Acadians constrained Vergor to accept terms which would save them from being hanged, they having taken an oath of alle- giance to Britain, and being found in arms against the British forces. A3 for Gaspareaux, merely a wide space staked about, with a garrison 20 strong only, it was not a place fitted to sustain a siege at all."— Xe^^re au Ministre, en 1751 l-fiE SEVEN YEARS^ WAR. 483 <' Home-grown and home-spun flax, hemp, and wool, were the mate- rials of the stuffs they wore for ordinary clothing ; the same materials being woven into blankets and sheets. The few who wanted finer tissues, had to procure them from Annapolis and Louisbourg. These two towns took, in exchange for those and other luxuries they supplied, grain, cattle, and peltry. " The neutral French- Acadians had nothing else to offer to their neigh' bors. Barter among themselves was very limited, for every family had within itself all the necessaries needful for its own subsistence and comfort. Paper-money, so much in use in British America, was unknown to them. The small amount of money which came into the colony was in the form of specie, a medium not imparting that activity to pecuniary circulation which is the life of a trading community. " The manners of this people were extremely simple. There never was a law case, 3ivil or criminal, among them, of sufficient importance to be judged in the court at Annapolis. The rare differences which arose between individual colonists were always settled amicably by the arbitra- tion of the elders. The religious pastor drew up all family papers, and attested wills. The remuneration of the clergy for their services, spiri- tual and secular, was the voluntary contribution of a 27th part of the crops and other produce. The returns from the lands were abundant enough to allow the hands which grew them to bestow generously. Des- titution was unknown ; beggary was forestalled by giving in advance. And as succor was proffered without ostentation on one part, it was accept- ed without any sense of humiliation on the other. French Acadia form- ed a uaiversal brotherhood, every member in which was as ready to donate, as others might be to accept that which was thought to belong of right to all mankind. " This state of harmony was not disturbed by those licentious sexual attachments which so often banish peace from families. Such immunity from vice was much owing, doubtless, to the fact, that celibacy among the adult population was unusual. "When a youth arrived at the age of puberty, a house was built for his separate use ; fields were cleared around it, and the interior stored with a year's provision, to enable the new household to wait the returns of the coming harvest. The female he took to wife, brought farming stock for a dowry. The additional family grew and prospered, as all the rest had done before. "Who is there whose heart was not touched in witnessing the innocence of manners, the tran- quil lives, of those happy communities ! Who would not have breathed » wish that such prosperity as theirs should endure for ever ?" 484 HISTORY OF CANADA. t» » Vain aspirations all ! The hostilities of the year 1744 began the mis- fortunes of these good people ; the Seven Years' War brought about thoir total ruin. For a long time previously, British agents treated tliem with the greatest rigor ; the tribunals, by flagrant violations of the law, by systematic denials of justice, had become, for the people, objects of terror and hatred. The pettiest jack-in-ofl5ce became a despot for them. " If you fail to supply my men with fuel," said a certain Captain Murray, " I will demolish your houses and make firewood of them." " If you don't take the oath of fidelity," added Governor Hobson, " I will batter your villages with my cannon." Nothing could tempt the honorable minds of Acadians to take an oath of fealty to aliens, 'repugnant to their con- sciences ; an oath which, it was and is the opinion of many, Britain had no right to exact. " The Acadians," says Mr. Haliburton, " were not British subjects, for they had not sworn fidelity : therefore they were not liable to be treated as rebels ; neither ought they to have been considered as prisoners of war or rightly be transportable to France, since, during half a century, they had been left in possession of their lands on the sim- ple condition of remaining neutral." But numerous adventurers, greedy incomers, looked upon their fair farms with covetous eyes. Smoldering cupidity soon burst into flame. Reasons of state polity were soon called in to justify the total expulsion of the Acadians from Nova Scotia. Although the far greater number of them had done no act which could be construed into a breach of neutrality, yet, in the horrible catastrophe preparing for them, the innocent and the guilty were to be involved in a common perdition. Not one exception was made. Their fate was decided in a secret council, headed by Governor Lawrence, at which assist- ed Admirals Boscawen and Mostyn, whose fleets were then cruising along the Acadian coast. It was resolved to remove, and to scatter among the British colonies, the whole remanent Gallo-Acadian population. This was eff'ected by gathering the people simultaneously, in so many troops, at different points of the country. Proclamations, drawn up with perfi- dious skill, ordered them to assemble in the principal villages, under the most rigorous penalties. Four hundred and eighteen heads of families, putting their trust in British honor, met together, on the 5th day of September, at three o'clock in the afternoon, in the church of Grand-Prt^ Thither came Colonel Winslow, with great parade, and, after showing the governor's warrant for what he was about to do, he said they had laeen called together to hear the decision the king had come to respecting tbeir fate. He then said he had a painful duty to fulfil ; but that his Majesty's orders were imperative, and must be obeyed. These were, that "the THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR. 485 ids on the siui- lands, farming stock, and whole movables of the Acadians, except their bed and table linen and their plate, were confiscated to the crown. Fur- ther, that the persons of said Acadians should be transported from the province of Nova Scotia." No reason was assigned for this decision. A body of soldiers, hitherto kept in the background, now started from their hiding-place, and surrounded the church. The people, thus entrap- ped, could make no resistance. The soldiers then collected the women and children outside. More than a thousand persons were thus made prisoners at Grand-Prd alone. Some few Acadians having escaped into the woods, the country was devastated to prevent their finding means of subsistence therein. In Les Mines, some hundreds of houses, twelve mills and a church, were burnt. Those of the race who manifested British predilections were no better treated than the rest. Thus the aged notary Le Blanc, who had done Britain great service, died at Philadelphia destitute and broken-hearted, while in search of his sons, scattered about the colonies of his oppressors. Permission was given to all, before embarking, (and this was the sole grace accorded to any), to pay a visit, by tens, to their families, and, for the last time, to look upon those fields, those valleys, those hills, lately so smiling and so tranquil in their view ; amongst which they were born, to which they had now to bid an eternal farewell. The 10th [of September ?] was the day fixed for the embarkation. A calm resignation had succeeded to their first feeling of despair. But, when the hour of leaving arrived ; when the time was fully come that they must perforce live apart from each other amidst an alien people, of novel manners, customs, language, and religion, their courage gave way, and they were overwhelmed with sadness. By a violation of sworn faith, and an unparalleled refinement of barbarity, families were broken up, and the members of them dispersed among diverse transports. Before embarking, the prisoners were ranged six abreast; the young men ia front. The latter refused to move, reclaiming the execution of the pro- mise made to them that they should accompany their relatives ; but a body of soldiers were called, who drove them on with fixed bayonets. The road from Grand-Pr ■!l » to South-bay, he landed them at a point fully 20 miles distant from Fort Edward. Sept. 7, in the cveninij, he bivouacked on the Hudson, within three miles of Fort Edward. His intention was to attack the place at day- break next morning, but his savages, malcontent at the small number of sol- diers they were conjoined to, declared they would not fight at all : assigning for a pretext that Fort Edward was situated within the British territory, as it lay on the banks of the Hudson. They added, that they would not object on the other hand, to attack Johnson's camp, because that had been pitch- ed on French ground. The Canadians, seeing the savages were reso- lute in maintaining their resolve, backed it with an advice to the Baron to take them at their second word. The general unwillingly yielded to both, and, next morning, instead of assaulting Fort Edward, his troops were directed, in three columns — the regulars in the centre — towards the mountains previously behind them ; the design being to fall suddenly upon Johnson's corps, 2,500 strong, then distant about 15 miles. Johnson, on his part, after learning that Fort Edward was to be attack- ed bv the French, had detached Colonel Williams that very morning, with 1200 men and 200 savages, to lay an ambuscade for the invaders, on their expected return from Fort Edward. Dieskau, when within four miles of Johnson's camp, was informed by a prisoner there taken, of this detachment being on the way, and sure to be met with shortly. He halted his central column, and directed the two others — namely, the Canadians (who laid aside the'r haversacks to lighten themselves for action) and the savages — to post themselves, the former on the right, the latter on the left, but 300 paces in advance, with orders to lie squat on the ground amid the woods, and not to turn round on the approaching enemies' flank till musketry was heard from the centre. In this position Dieskau waited for the British, who were thus about to fall into a trap similar to that they meant to set for the French ; but the savages, on the left wing of the latter, showed themselves before the concerted time, and put the former on their guard. Dieskau, seeing his ambuscade thus unmasked, at once pushed on his regulars and the Canadians, before the British corps could get out of marching order and form for action. The savages, too, rushing forward, fell with fury upon the British, if only to avenge the death of their leader, M. de St. Pierre, who was killed at the outset by one of Williams' men : the latter they hacked to pieces with their tomahawks. The colonel himself was also slain, along with Head- rick, a famous Indian chief. The struggle was short, bloody, and decisive, ending in a victory for the French over the British vanguard. A second corps which came up was as quickly disposed of, and whatever troops were » * THE SEVEN years' WAR. 493 behind took to flight. Dicskuu was preparing to follow up his success, hoping to be able to enter, j>ell-niell witli the fugitives, Johnson'H lineH; but this was not to be clone with such half-disciplined combatants as he led. A part of the Canadians and savages were attending to the wound- ed; others were disposed for rest, after the fatigues of the contest, and the severe toil of a march through a rugged and steep country. In a word, a moiety of the savages and Canadians, satisfied with the success already gained, would proceed no further for the tirne.-'^ The general, nevertheless, hopeful that his example would be iuiitated, continued to advance with his regulars and as many others as chose to follow him, and arrived in front of Johnson's intrenched camp, with scarcely u moiety of his entire force, about 11 o'clock, A. M. The entrenchments which the French now had to encounter and the British to defend, were situated near tlie margin of Lake George, on an eminence afterwards the site of Fort George, and barricaded with bateaux, dismounted carts, felled trees, &c., mounted with artillery, and were fur- ther isolated by two wide brooks and marshy grounds. The first objects discerned by the French on their arrival, were the cannon muzzles direct- ed towards them. When within about 200 paces of the place, Dicskau suspended the march of his troops to form them into attacking columns ; this halt, short as it was, gave time to the British to^ prepare for what was coming, and to put their defences in order. The attack was made with great vigor. Dieskau's regulars, after delivering a well-maintained platoon fire, dashed forward with fixed bayonets, hoping to penetrate the barricade ; but they were fain to retire repulsed from the works, so hot and heavy was the fire of musketry and grape directed against them point-blank. Their broken ranks, having been re-formed, again they returned to the charge, and coin tin ued their bootless efforts from noon till 2 p. m. The Canadians and savages, who had followed Dieskau or afterwards rejoined his force, noting the inutility of these attempts, took possession, scatteredly, of a wood on the left, while others occupied a height on the left, whence tliey poured a plunging fire into the entrenchments, at a distance from them of only 12 or 15 paces,f * Letter from the Chevalier de Montreuil, to the miaister, dated October 10, 1755. t The regulars marched, as near as I could tell, six deep in close order, and reached about 20 rods in length. The Canadians and Indians at the left having come on helter-skelter, the woods being full of them, running with undaunted courage downhill upon us, expecting to make us flee, as they had before done at the , and just now did to our men." — Extract of a letter from the Amer- ican Colonel, Pomeroy, dated Sept. 10, 1765. 494 mSTOllY OP CANADA. . \ and kept it up till the cloao of the day. The French genornl, with hif« re vice in the towns others, are wanted to guard the outposts. Hence it is that Canadians compose the bulk of these armies (of ours), not to men- tion that 1,000 to 1,200 are always employed in escorting. The Cana- dians, being thus engaged in military services, do not till the grounds already cleared, much less set about clearing new. What is to become of the colony ! it will soon be in want of all necessaries, supplies of grain especially. Till now, care was taken not to levy men till after seed-time ; but this could not be done since we have had winter expeditions to pro- vide for, and our forces for next year's campaign must be afoot by early April. Add to all, that the Canadians are sensibly diminishing in num- ber : many have died of fatigue and disease : while the savages are to be relied on," added the intendant, " only so long as we can hold our own, and minister to their needs," Such and so grave was the officially declared situation of New France at the close of 1755. The second year of hostilities between the men of French and British races in America was now closing, yet their respective governments had not formally proclaimed war as existing, and diplomacy between them was still at work, December 21, 1755, M. Rouill^ de Jouy, foreign minister, Paris, addressed a note to Mr. Fox, in which he demanded signal reparation for the insults the flag of France had lately received ; adding, that a refusal to make such amends would be regarded as evi- dencip" the fixed intent of the British ministry to break up the peace of Europe, The tone of that note, however, testified the weakness of the French court's polity. " It is not the fault of our king," wrote the minister, " that the difierences concerning America have not been settled before now by conciliatory means; and this averment his Majesty is able to demonstrate, in face of the whole world, by authentic proofs. The king, ever animated by a sineere desire to preserve the general peace, and be on terms of amity with his Britannic Majesty, has negociated with perfect good faith and unbroken confidence, on all the subjects in debate between them. The like assurances, on the other part, which were enounced and renewed unceasingly, both orally and in writing, would not, in fiict, allow the king to admit a doubt into his mind of the pacific intents of the court of St. James. But it is not possible to recon- cile such verbal assurances with the hostile instructions drawn up in T^f' 500 HISTORY OF CANADA. I I » * ' 1 ' .. ."» November, 1754, for the guidance of General Braddock, in America • or with those of April, 1755, to admiral Boscawen His Most Christian Majesty, therefore, in duty to his subjects and himself, now addresses his Britannic Majesty, and demands that entire and prompt restitution be made of all those French vessels, both ships of war and merchant- men, which have been captured by the British navy, along with their several crews, marines, &c., and all their equipments respectively. The king would much prefer to have had accorded to him, out of a sense of equity in the mind of his Britannic Majesty, that satisfaction which is now demanded as of right." The British minister replied to M. Rouill^, Jan., 13, 1756, in civil but positive terms, that such satisfaction as was demanded could not be given so long as the chain of French armed posts to the north-west of the Alleghanies existed ; that his royal master, in none of the hostile orders given to his officers, had done more than retaliate upon those of France their acts of war committed in time of peace ; that his Majesty had done only what was due to his own honor, or in defence of the rights and possessions of the British crown j finally, that he had not gone an inch beyond what was just, or in fact unavoidable." After all that had now taken place, viewed in connection with long and inimical debates in the British parliament, no further good under- Standing between the two nations was possible to exist, and Louis XV had perforce to arouse himself for open war against Great Britain. Dunkirk was fortified ; all the British subjects in France were ordered to leave ; every British vessel then in French port was seized; large fleets were equipped; and the shores of Britain were menaced with invasion. King George solicited aid, too, from Holland and Hanover.* But that threat masked another design, soon to be manifested to the British people in the defeat of Admiral Byng and the capture of Minorca. In Europe, as in America, was heard a universal din of arms. May 17, the British declaration of war was proclaimed ; June 16, that of France was promulgated. These manifestoes, solemn in form, were supererogatory in nature ; for war was virtually begun years before they were drawn up. The French ministry resolved on sending to Canada two new battalions and young soldiers to recruit the old already therein. They also sent a supply of provisions, and 1,300,000 livres in specie. This money, Strange as the fact may seem, did much harm to the colony ; for, as we * The king needed not Dutch aid ; and the resources of Hanover were more completely at his disposition, bj far, than those of Britun.— £. THB SBVBK TEARS* WAR. 501 er were moie kave already remarked, when treating of Canadian trade, it caused a reduction in existing paper-money values of 25 per cent. The king selected the Marquis de Montcalm, promoting him to a major-generalship, as Dieskau's successor. This officer had seen much service. He was born, in 1712, in the chateau of Candiac, near Nismes, and descended of one of the greatest families in Rouergue. He had campaigned in Italy and Germany ; and signalized himself in the battle of Placentia, also at the sie^e of Assiette ; having received five wounds in these two actions. He had likewise gained distinction, under Marshal de Br' sle, in the famous retreat from Prague. But he possessed all the defects of French generals of his time ; he was at once full of vivacity and heedlessness, timid in his strategic movements, and audacious in battle to a degree inconsistent with prudence. Of his complete personal coura- geousness no one could have any doubt. General Montcalm embarked for Canada along with two battalions, eomprising 1,000 men, and 400 recruits. The vessel, in which he was, reached Quebec about mid-May, 1756 ; the others, later in that month aid early in June. They bore, also, a quantity of provisions (anxiously expected) and munitions of war. These reinforcements, added to 1,600 soldiers of two battalions sent the previous year, along with the colonial troops, composed a body of 4,000 regulars; this was nearly the whole French force sent to Canada while the war lasted. With M. de Montcalm also came several officers ; among them was M. de L^vb, chevalier (afterwards duke) de Ldvis, and finally a marshal, bat that time brigadier-general only, — a distinguished officer ; one well skilled, of a high military spirit, and prompt to decide in action. M. Montcalm, in characterizing him, said he was indefatigable, courageous, and of a good school in war. There came, too, M. de Bougainville, then Montcalm's aide-de-eamp and captain of dragoons ; but who was destined to become one of the most illustrious of French navigators ; for, while attending to his military duties, he still found time for scientific studies.* Other officers who now arrived were M. de Bourlamaque, M. de Montreuil, <&& Montcalm, shortly after landing, proceeded to Montreal, to hold a con- ference with M. de Vaudreuil, who had gone thither to be nearer to the seat of war. After a close view of the country's situation and resources, its was arranged between these its chief men, that two principal camps * Le Canada sous la Domination Frangaise, hj M. Dussieux, professor of history at the Imperial School of St.-Gyr, corresponding member of the Historical Committeea. 1856. * 602 HISTORY OF CANADA. ■.»»»' should be formed: one at Carillon (Ticonderoga), the other at Frontenac (Kingston), in order to be \irithin observation of forts Edward and Oswe»o • at which places the British had begun to assemble, in order to advance upon lakes Ohamplain and Ontario. One battalion (de Bdarn) was des- patched to Niagara, where a few men had been left in autumn, 1755 • and M. Pouchot, an officer of infantry, but a good engineer also, was directed to fortify the post there. Two battalions were sent to Fronte- nac with orders to strengthen themselves there, and to maintain a com- munication with 1,000 Canadians and savages disseminated thenee towards Niagara. M. de Bourlamaque was charged with the chief command on that frontier. At Carillon, by the end of July, 3,000 men, a moiety being regulars, were assembled, under the orders of M. de Ldvis. For the protection of the Gasp€ fisheries 120 men were assigned; and M. de Boish^bert was left in charge of the Acadian frontier, with a corps of Canadians and savages. In the West, M. Dumas relieved M. de Contrecoeur, at Fort Duquesne; and M. de Bellestre replaced M. Bemery at Detroit. These chiefs had for lieutenants Messrs. M. de Repentigny, de Langlade, Hubert, Beaubassin, &c. On this frontier 3,500 Canadians and savages were in arms, from lake Erie to New Orleans, following the line of the Ohio, Illinois, and Mississippi valleys. The whole military force at this time on foot for the defence of New France, from Cape Breton to the Illinois, did not exceed 12,000 comba- tants at the very most ; and large deductions had to be allowed for, even from that small amount, during the spring and fall, when many of the militiamen were absent on furlough, to enable them to attend to country labour in seed-time and harvest. At Louisbourg, a stronghold of capital importance, there was a garrison of 1,100 troops; and even that considerable number was too small. This deficiency was felt at court, and 600 more men were embarked for Cape Breton, in a frigate named the Arc-en-Ciel ; but they were fated never to reach their destination, as that vessel was captured by a British privateer when near Louisbourg. Such were the preparations of the French for the campaign in America of the year 1756. Those of the British were far more considerable as to the means to be employed. The plan of invasion, on their part, remained unchanged. The home government sent liberal supplies of men and money, hoping to wash out in the enemies' blood the stain caused by the defeat of Braddock ; also to avenge the loss of Minorca ; two events which had produced a great sensation in Europe. America, as the chief field of military operatio&s, almost absorbed the attention of THB SEVEN YEARS* WAR. 603 British statesmen. The earl of London, a veteran officer, first was appointed governor of Virginia, and then generalissimo of the British armies in North America. General Aberoromby also was sent thither with two new regiments. The house of commons voted £115,000 to aid the colonials to levy and arm their militia. The different provincial governors met at New York, and resolved to raise 10,000 men, to take Fort Frederic and obtain the mastery of lake Champlain ; 6,000 more, were to besiege Niagara, and bar the Ohio valley against the French ; 3,000 besides, to capture Fort Duquesne ; lastly 2,000 additional soldiers were to make a hostile demonstration against Quebec, by way of the ChaudiSre, and keep that central district of Canada in a state of alarm. These colonial corps, with flying bands on the frontiers and regulars not included, made up a force themselves of 25,000 men — fully double the collective military strength of New France. But, despite all this array, and a numerous navy, with war-ships stationed at every point of the coasts, we shall soon see that the Anglo-American campaigning of 1756 was yet more inglorious than that of the two preceding years. m CHAPTER 11. .•I I CAPTUBE OP OSWEGO AND FORT WII*LIAM.HEXRT.-175»-17B7. Alliances with the savages ; the Iroquois affect a neutrality.— Military preparations.— Can«< (Uan bands afoot the whole winter of 1755-6.— Fort Dull raced, and an enemy's convoy of 400 bateaux dispersed.— Discord begun between the governor-general and Montoalm.— Siege of Oswego ; the garrison capitulates ; booty gained by the victors ; the savages kill many of the prisoneni; the works of the place razed; Joy at its ikll in Canada.— The British suspend all further operations in the field for the year; the savages ravage their provinces.— The Canadians capture Grenvllle.— Dearth in Canada ; an arrival of famished Acadians, to make matters still worse.- Aid demanded from Franco.— Rapid increase of colonial expenditure.— Montcalm proposes to attack Acadia, rather than forts Edward and William-Henry.— Pitt obtains ministerial power in Britain.— Kenowed efforts made by the British govemmont and people, in view of achieving American ascendancy in 1757.— Abortive enterprise against Louisbonrg.-r-Canadian bands afoot again during the winter of 1757-8 ; exploits of M. Bigaud.— Succors arrive from France ; the alliance of the sav- ages secured.— Siege and Capture of Fort William-Henry; massacre of many of the prisoners taken, by the savages-; the works of the place razed.— The dearth in Canada beconkcs a famine^ the troops murmur at the privations they endure.— Disagreements become notorious among the colonial chiefis.- Varying fortunes of the French forces in Europe, Asia, &o.— The British raise an army 60,000 strong, for their American campaign of 1768. During the succeeding winter, M. de Vaudreuil turned his best atten- tion to the important business of maintaining alliances with the savage nations, and especially the Iroquois tribes, the chiefs of which expressed their willingness to take a neutral stand between the French and British while the war lasted, if the integrity of their territory were respected. He received with great parade a numerous embassy sent by these people ; and he assured them that his great desire was to be on good terms with them. They returned home, after protesting that they would not take part against the French. It was partly in view of conciliating the Iroquois, always jealous of intrusion upon their wild domains, that Fort Oswego was dismantled after being taken. The season for warlike operations was now near ; but the enemy, who had learnt to be cautious, were not so forward to enter the field as hitherto. The levying of a suitable force had also been found difficult. There was a hitch, too, as to precedence between the officers, in the British regulars and the colonial leaders respectively. According to established routine in the enemy's army, the latter were bound to conform to the directions of the former. This arrangement had lately given great umbrage to the Americans, and they now refused to conform to it; 80 that Lord London was fain to give way, and ordain that the old equality should prevail. In other respects, the mixed military organization CAPTURE OP OSWEGO AND FORT WILLIAM-HENRY. 505 remained intact. Among the defenders of Canada, similar pretensions were set up, and the like jealousies for a time were excited ; but wise oonnsels prevailing in the colony, the evil was nipped in the bud ; M. d« Vaadreuil, the friend and protector of the Canadians, repdling all attempts to subordinate the colonial officers to those in the French regular army. The prolonged inaction of the British in spring-tiine this year gave the governor-general and his subalterns an opportunity for resuming the project, lately laid aside, of attempting the capture of Oswego ; a British ontpost, the existence of which had always been regarded as a standing menace by the French. During previous months of winter, armed parties had been kept on foot to destroy the petty posts maintained by the British between Albany and Oswego, cut the communications between them, and discourage the garrison of that lake fort. Thus, in March, a force of 300 men captured a considerable magazine, called Fort Bull, between Schenectady and Oswego ; destroying there a great quantity of warlike stores, the loss of which greatly retarded the after movements of the enemy. Fort Bull was a block-house, girt about with palisades, and equipped with loop-holes ; but formed in such strange sort, that the latter served as a protection to assailants, who could fire under cover at the defenders within, and whose persons were completely exposed. The palisades having been cleared with hatchets, the fort was taken by assault, and the whole garrison put to the sword. M. cle Vaudreuil sent, early in spring, M. de Villiers with 900 men 18 a corps of observation, to the vicinity of Oswego to disquiet the British there; with the enemy he had several preliminary skirmishes. July 3, he attacked a convoy of 300 to 400 bateaux, which were return- ing after provisioning the fort, dispersed them, killed several of the people on board, scalped others, and took prisoner many more.* This success obtained, the investment of the place was determined on, and the troops received orders to march thither at once. It was then i» public began to perceive that a coolness existed between the two * Letter of M. de Montcalm to the minister, dated July 20, 1766. He wrote that the success would have been greater, had the savages not attacked too soon. Letter of M. de Vaudreuil, of August 30. Most of the American historians ignore this enterprise. Smollett reports that the British were led by Colonel Bradstreet; that they completely beat their opponents after a three hours' fight, tod took 70 prisoners ; but Sismondi, speaking of Smollett, observes that he took for granted, generally, the averments of British newspaper writers, which merit little attention : an observation equally applicable to those of America. / M- .,'t 606 HISTORY OP CANADA. chiefs, military and civil, of the colony. At first they were mutually agreeable to each other, but by degrees an estrangement took place. A natural dissimilarity of character, and the evil inspirations of certain parties, interested in setting them at variance, confirmed their personal dislike. For a time, the intimate friends of both alone perceived an aversion, which was destined to seriously affect the public well-being ; but it was not slow to become manifest to every observer. Montcalm, through a fatal presentiment, never had faith in a happy issue to the war, as his letters too plainly prove ; thence arose in him an apathy of mind, which would have allowed him to neglect every occasion of aggressive hostilities, but for the impulsiveness of M. de Vaudreuil • who, whether from conviction, whether through policy, never appeared to despair ; he both conceiving and causing to be executed some of the most glorious enterprises that have illustrated the military annals of France. Such headway, however, did the mistrustfulness of Montcalm make in the army, that the [--overnor-general wrote, in a letter he addres- sed to the court after the capture of Oswego, — " Had I been deterred by all the idle discourses which took place on this subject, I must needs have renounced an enterprise which was destined to disarrange completely all the plans of the British generals." In fact, Montcalm only half approved of it, and had great doubts of its success; thus expressing himself in one despatch : " The object which is in view by my pMsage to Frontenac, appears to me possible enough, in a military sense, if all the details be well combined ; but I shall set out to effect it, without being assured or convinced." Moreover, Montcalm was scared by the natural obstacles of the locality in the way of successful oampaigning. " There are no routes other than rivers full of rapids and cataracts, or lakes to navigate so storm-vexed, as to be often impassable by bateaux." Fort Oswego, erected by the British on the south-eastern shore of Lake Ontario, for the protection of their commerce and the settlements they had formed between the Hudson and that inland sea, acquired in time of war a double importance from its situation. It served, on one side, to curb the Iroquois ; and endangered, on the other, the line of communication between the lower and upper extremities of Canada; because the British could, operating from this stand-point, readily attack fort Frontenac, and hold mastery of Lake Ontario. It was important, therefore, to expel them thence, and confine their forces to the valley of the Hudson. This was what the French government saw was needful to do, and which M. de Vaudreuil determined should be done. CAPTURE OP OSWEQO AND PORT WILLIAM-HENRY. 507 The latter had so well arranged all preliminaries, that the army una- wares, in a manner, fell upon the enemy ; who, kept in check meantime by our detachments, were not able to make extended reconnoissances. He had assembled 3,000 men at Carillon (Ticonderoga), and Montcahn had gone thither very ostentatiously, in view of attracting and confining British attention to that point. While they supposed that this general, whom they much redoubted, was still at Lake Ghamplain, he returned suddenly to Montreal; and three days- thereafter (July 21), he resumed his journey to put himself at the head of the expeditionary force, which was assembled at Frontenac, by the management of M. de Bourlamaque. A camp of observation had been formed by M. d? Villiers, at Niaourd, 15 leagues from Oswego, under the command of M. Eigaud de Vaudreuil, brother of the governor-general, with orders first to protect the disem- barkation of the army, and next to form its advanced guard. In order to forestal any obstacles on the part of the Iroquois, and to obtain hostages for their neutrality at least, a number of their chiefs had been detained at Montreal and others at Niagara. Two barks, one carrying 17 guns, another 12, were set to cruise before Oswego ; and a line of wood-rangers were posted between that place and Albany, to intercept any messages that the British might attempt to interchange. General Montcalm arrived at Frontenac July 29. On the 4th of August two battalions and four cannon, the first instalment, were em- barked, and reached Niaourd in three days. The second division arrived there Aug. 8 ; it was composed of a battalion of regulars and a Canadian corps, with fully 80 bateaux, laden with artillery, baggage and provisions. The troops, when united, formed a body 3,100 strong, including 1,350 regulars, 1,500 Canadians and colonial soldiers, with 250 savages.* To conceal the operation, the army moved to its destination in the night-time only ; the men ensconcing themselves in the woods near the shore by day, thickly overlaying their bateaux with leaves. By stages of this kind they reached, undiscovered, Aug. 10, a sheltering cove, about a mile dis- tant from their goal ; and, next day, the advanced guard began the investment of Ontario. The defensive works of the place consisted of two fortlets, and Fort Oswego proper, the ramparts of which were mounted with 18 cannon and 15 howitzers. One fortlet, named Ontario, recently erected, stood on a pla- teau within a fork formed by Lake Ontario and the Oswego river ; the other fortlet, called Fort George, was situated on a height 600 yards from Osw^o Fort, which also it commanded by its position. Fori * The American authors say 6,000. We give the offioial figures. 608 BTSIORT OP CANADA. ■ ( ' % ' ^'■.■»*« George was a staked entrenchment of earth, with a few cannon mounted These three works, collectively, had a garrison of 1,600 or 1,700 men of Shirley's, PeppercU's, and Schuyler's regiments ; designationr, which the Louishourg expedition had made popular. Colonel Mercer was the head-commandant at Oswego. The French having fixed their oamp at the disembarking cove, passed two dn-'s (Aug. 11-12) in forming a road across a woody morass inter- mediate to Fort Ontario. Colonel Bourlamaque was charged with the conduct of the siege. A trench was soon opened to within 200 yards of Fort Ontario, and mounted with six cannon, despite a heavy fire of artillery, and brisk musketry, well kept up by the besi^od, under the personal orders of Colonel Mercer. The latter, finding his animunitioD exhausted, spiked the cannon, and drew off his men ; the French forth- with entering on possession of the work. Mercer then sent 370 men to maintain the communication between Fort George, whore Schuyler commanded, and Fort Oswego, where he re- sumed his own place ; but at daybreak, Aug. 14, M. Rigaud dc Yaudreuil crossed the river, by swimming, with a corps of Canadians and savages, drove away the British, and, taking up a position between the two uncap- tured forts, greatly intimidated the defenders of both. A battery of nine cannon was now promptly constructed on the escarpment of the river, facing Fort Oswego, and began to pour a plunging fire into that main work, which furnished no cover to its defenders' bodies anywhere above their knees. It soon became plain that the place was untenable. Early in the morning, Colonel Mercer was killed ; a few hours thereafter, the besieged, discouraged by the rapidity of the siege-works, the bold passage of the river, which cut off their means of retreat, and the death of their commander, offered to capitulate. During this time, a corps 2,000 strong, under General Webb, was posted at a small distance ; and Montcalm, who fully expected an attempt by Webb to relieve the place, had made prepar- ations to give him i warm reception. Mercer had written to Webb, b^ore daylight, describing his critical situation, and asking for succor ; but scarcely had i'ae missive left the precincts of the fort, when the mes- senger who bore it was stopped, and the document delivered to Montcalm ; its contents determined him to press the siege all the more earnestly. Webb, then at Wood's Creek, was informed that Oswego was now in French hands, upon which he retreated with great precipitation. The capitulation was signed at 11 A. M. Colonel Littlehales, who re- ]^l&ced Mercer, and his garrison 1,780 strong, with about 100 women and children, were taken prisoners. There fell into the captors' hands seven CAPTURE OP OSWEGO AND FORT WILLIAM-HENRY. 609 mncd Tcssels, carrying each from 8 to 18 guns, 200 bateaux, 107 oan^ DOD, 14 mortars, 730 muskets, abundant stores of all kind, 5 stand of colors, and tho garrison chest, containing 18,000 francs. This handsome oonquest was gained with small loss incurred by the French. The besieged, on the other hand, lost about 150 mou, killed or wounded, inoluding several soldiers who wore fleeing to the woods when the oapit' nlation was iu progress, and got cut down by pursuing savages. These barbarians, who expected to pillage the place, finding that no inault was made, and their hopes of obtaining fair booty thus baulked, fell upon the isolated prisoners, whom they despoiled and massacred. They also forced tho garrison infirmary, and scalped a number of its inmates. A hundred persons were victimised by them. At the first intimation of these sanguinary disorders. General Montcalm took ener' getic measures to put a stop to them ; but they were only partially success^ fol, though he had to make promises of giving rich presents to tho suvugos to call them off their human prey. " This will cost the king some eight or ten thousand livres," he wrote to the minister afterwards ; ** but the gift will assure to us more than ever the affection of the savage natives ) and any amount of money would I have sacrificed, rather than that there should bo a stain on French honor, resulting from this business." All the fortifications at Oswego were razed, by order of the governor* general, in presence of tho Iroquois chiefs, who were well pleased to see forts demolished that had been erected upon their territory, and which had always been an eyesore to them. This act was a wise one in another respect : the French had no soldiers to spare for garrisoning a place hard to keep, having the waters of Lake Ontario almost at its feet. The time for gathering tho year's crop being now come, many of the Canadians had leave to repair to their homesteads. The bulk of the army embarked with tho prisoners for Canada, where Montcalm's victory spread universal joy, and was recognized by public rejoicings. Te Deum was solemnly chaunted in all the towns' churches, while the walls of some were properly decorated with the flags taken, as being suited to excite the patriotic zeal of the people. The corresponding extent of mortification of the British at the loss of Oswego, served to prove how great was its importance in their eyes. In truth it had the most paralyz- ing effect upon their further operations for the year. General Aber- oromby accused Colonel Schuyler of not giving him a proper account of the weak state of the works. General Winsk>w now received orders not to march on Carillon, but to entrench himself so as to command the toates of Lake Champlain and Oswego. General Webb took post, with Lit! qp I 610 HISTORY OP CANADA. ♦ ■ »■ f. '.'* 400 men, on the portage at the head of Lake George ; while Sir Wmi Johnson, with 1,000 militiamen, occupied German Flats, on the Hudson. The expedition by way of the Chaudi counted for rashness in Europe. Therefore, monseigneur, I beg of you, as a favor, to assure his Majesty that if he should accord to me what I most wish for, employ- ment in regular campaigning, I shall be guided by very different princi- ples," He complained too, during the autumn, of several petty disagree- ablenesses inflicned on him by the governor ; asserting that both he and M. de L<5vis usually received official letters and general orders from him, drawn up in purposely equivocal terms, so that, if an evil effect ensued, the blame of it should fall en them. He gave his opinion, also, that the Canadian soldiers had neither discipline nor subordination, &c. The praises which the governor accorded the latter in his despatches, had aroused, it seems, the jealousy of the regulars ; and General Montcalm, whose aspirations perhaps were for filling the highest post in the colony, led him to play the part ."^f chief censor, to the ministry, of the existing administration of Canadian affairs. As we have said above, the British suspended all further warlike pro- jects for the year ; and no hostile operations took place anywhere on the frontiers foi* the time, except a few skirmishings at Lake George. The French forces withdrew to the interior, and took up winter quarters ; leaving a few hundred men in garrison at Carillon and Fo.vt Frederic, under Messrs. de Lusignan and de Gaspd. In the Ohio valley, nothing important took place ; but the savages still continued their devastating raids in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Vir- hile Sir Wm. 1 the Hudson, rather dwin- !vas postponed British forces, il and effected J men ; but the or a reconcile- aalcontent and ;ained, because jver before did ing 2000 other icked having a ined has been ;his affair, and J way of doing 3d for rashness favor, to assure ish for, employ- iifferent princi- petty disagree- at both he and ders from him, effect ensued, , also, that the tion, &c. The espatches, had 2ral Montcalm, t in the colony, of the existing er warlike pro lywhere on the George. The inter quarters ; Fo;:t Frederic, the savages still ^land, and Vir- CAPTmm OF OSWEGO AND FORT WILLIAM-HENRY. 511 ginia. More than 60 square leagues of country were deserted again, at this time, by the inhabitants, who fled across the Blue Mountains for safety ; leaving their homesteads, farming stock, and crops, at the dispo- sal of those barbarians. The American militias, decked out and tattooed as the men were, Indian fashion, could not stay for an instant the desola- ting course of the invaders. For a while, the town of Winchester was thought to be in peril. Colonel Washint/ton, who commanded on that frontier, wrote mournfully to the governor of Virginia on the deplorable state of the country; adding, "I declare solemnly I would willingly offer my body as a sacrifice to our barbarous foes, if that would induce them to spare our people." M. Dumas, in August, captured Fort Grenville, distant only 20 leagues from Philadelphia. Some time before, Washington with 300 to 400 men, took by surprisal a large village of the Wolf tribe, called Astigud, the inhabitants of which took to flight ; but being met by M. de Rocque- taillade and some Canadians, they together turned against the pursuers, whom they routed and dispersed in the woods. Everywhere, therefore, the French were in the ascendant; to their greater honor^ as, with 6,000 men, they had beaten or paralysed the efforts of more than 12,000 enemies, assembled between the river Hudson and Lake Ontario. They also took the strongest of the British forti- fied posts, as a separate enterprise. To recompense the courage and zeal of the troops, Louis XV promoted several officers, conferring on some the prized knightly order of St. Louis. Yet amidst so many military successes, the colony itself was in a critical state. The most clamant of its ills was a scarcity of food, a foe yet mort; hard to encounter than any other. The destitution prevailing among the humbler people at this time and afterwards, caused the most resolute spirit to quail, Small-pox, too, broke out, and extended its ravages to the frier^^'ly savage tribes. The Abenaquis especially, so brave of themseh< ii anl lOig true to France and catholicity, had already been almost e^.Hrn^ mated by that destroyer of mankind ; and the few survivora sought (-roiCJtioa from the Anglo-Americans, their nearest neighbors. The harv'sc of the year, like some others h"^ " and after, was a com- parative fai'ure; insomuch that, but for the husbanding of stores of provisions t'^ken at Oswego, it \% doubtful whether the French posts at Fronton ac, Niagara, and on the Ohio could ha\e been victualled. Within the colony, the intendant was obli,^ed to fui nish grain from the king's stores to bakers in towns, for bread to be dealt out by them, iu small portions, to the famishing peoj/ie, who 'iterally snatched it from the 612 HISTORY OV CANADA. . f liands of the distributors.* Meanwhile provision transports, sent to Mira- michi, returned with a living freight of Acadians, craving more food and offering to die with arms in their hands for king and country in recompense for a subsistence. Their presence, of course, only made matters worse • tiiere were already more combatants than food could be had for. Horse flesh was given to these unfortunates to eat. Part of their number died of small-pox ; but bands of them finally settled in certain lordships of Montreal and Three-Rivers, where they founded the parishes of Acadia St. Jacques, Nicolet, and Bdcancour ; the rest led a miserable life for a time in the towns and rural cantons, and the ultimate Niirvivors became absorbed in the general population of Canada. Letters from Canada now poured into France, representing the critical situation of the colony, and soliciting prompt succor. The governor general, generals, and staff officers, with the intendant, all concurred in one request, that the home government would come to the rescue, reduced to extremity as the colony was, by over powerful ei 'raies without, by impending famine within. The success of the coming ; 'mpaign, it was said, would entirely depend upon the amount of aia recorded by the mother country, especially the quantity of provisions furnished; this was the capital point. As for the re-inforcement of men needful, M. de Vaudreuil suggested that 2,000 might suffice, provided that Britain did not send many more soldiers to America than she had already done. At the time this application was made, the regulars in Canada, &c., did not exceed 2,400 in all. Yet these moderate demands were considered exorbitant, in France. Her government, having adopted a fatuous polity, was wasting the national resources in German and Italian campaigns, for interests not French ; leaving empty coffers to those ministers who would have inclr n to send wherewithal to secure the continued possession of Canada as ,. dependency of France. The ministers, collectively, aware of what ns^ht to be done in the case, yet consenting to gratify Madame de Po'jpa'l'^cr (Uie contemner of New France), disputed every item of the demandt made on behalf of Canada. It was observed, at the same time, that, in ordinary years, the colony cost the mother country from 1,000,000 to 1,200,000 livres per annum ; and that, since the war began, the amount of expenditure had risen gradually to 8 millions a year ; that, since 1756, the colonial exchequer was indebted to the royal treasury, through supple- mentary calls upon it, 14 million livres ; nearly a moiety of which sum * In May, lI'Sl, the people of Quebec, previously put under short al.offBDc: of bread, were reduced to a supply of four ounces a day per head. CAPTURE OF OSWEGO AND FORT WILLIAM-HENRY. 513 escue, reduced in, the amount i was represented by colonial exchequer-bills falling due next year. Inten- dant Bigot wrote that the army stores were quite exhausted at the close of 1756 ; that the expenditure occasioned by maintaining the posts on the Ohio would reach from 2 to 3 millions ; and that the colonial budget, for the year 1757, would absorb 7 millions at the least. This demand in advance, made the ministry apprehensive that a far greater amount than even this enormous sum would be required. Ignorant home politicians, along with the favorites of the king who participated in his debaucheries, or persons who profited by court prodigality, called out in concert, that Canada, being a forest wilderness or icy region, cost far more than it was worth. If Old France, astounded at the profuse expenditure in the New, doubted the probity of her agents, or distrusted the carefulness of the royal representatives there, she ought at once to have demanded their dismissal or recall ; but she ought never to have been oblivious of the fact, that the possession or renunciation of Canada was a question deepiy affecting maritime potency and national greatness. When the time came for despatching the yearly supplies to Quebec, the French ministry, while enjoining the expectant functionaries in Canada to exercise the severest economy, still refused to accede to the added demands made for provisions and munitions of war. It was after the supplies for 1757 came to hand, that the provisioning of the army, which up to that time had been entrusted to state functionaries, who made all purchases, began to be effected by contract; conformably to recommendations made by Bigot when in France in 1755. Cadet, a. rich butcher of Quebec, partner and secret agent of Bigot, became the army contractor of all the armed posts for nine years. This system, adopted in France for the prevention of abuses, became a moans of aggravating peculation, to an enormous extent, in her greatest trans- atlantic dependency. Yet it seemed as if the evils already existent, in this regard, could scarcely admit of any increase, by what change soever. For a length of time previously, there existed a secret association among most of the public agents commissioned to make state purchases, and Bigot wa. its chief member. This fraudful society probably had its confederates in France. Bigot, who played an odious part during this notorious epoch of our history, owed his place and influence only to the circumstance of being a near relative of M. de Puysieulx (minister of state), and Marshal d'Estr^es. Personally, he was of - amiable disposition, and Montcalm liked the man though he censured the functionary. He was low ia HH ' '14 'It-, t' 614 HISTORY OP CANADA. f . y ■•, 'i stature, well but slightly formed ; his visage was by no means handsome and disfigured by pimples. He was addicted to gambling, fond of display, and given to gallantry. He was haughty, repulsive, and of difficult access for those who pleased him not ; but acted very judiciously in all affiiirs where undue personal interests were not in question ; and was very laconic in his responses. This official forestalled, in the king's name, all the grain and cattle within his reach, at low prices ; and then caused them to be re-sold, by the secret association, at exorbitant rates. Thus, in the article of bread and meat, what cost the confederates 3 sous and 6 sous a pound, was charged to the public from 20 to 30 sous, and from 40 to 60 sous, respectively ! It is on record, that he reduced the people of Quebec to 2 ounces of bread each per diem, in order to raise the price of necessaries ; thus creating dearth in the midst of abundance. The Society — such being the current name of this thieves' committee — „a vomposed of, 1. Cadet, com^iiissary-general, mentioned above. He Wit? <■" nrevious good repute, but ignorant and greedy ; led into peculation by others' example, he robbed the king up till the year 1757, and after- wards both king and people. Cadet soon became as tricksy and hard- hearted as his associates ; but was at last duped by them, and re-passed to France less rich than was supposed. 2. Varin, commissary-intendant at Montreal. 3. De Pdan, a man of enormous wealth and prodigal expenditure. 4. Chevalier le Mercier, who came from France a private recruit, in 1740; he taught in a school afterwards at Beauport, then became a cadet, and finally artillery commandant of Canada; it was said that he had great influence with the governor. 5. De Coprin and Morin, two mercantile clerks, who came to Canada poor, and quitted it with huge fortunes. 6. De Brdard, marine controller. 7. D'Est^be, head store-keeper; he settled at Bordeaux with a fortune valued at 700,000 to 800,000 francs. 8. Perrault, first a peasant at Deschambault, then an innkeeper, next purveyor and governor's secretary, finally a major-general of militia. Lastly, one Penissault, and a number of others, more or less interested in the company.* The operations of this Society were as fatal to us as those of the common enemy; for to the full extent that public interests declined, those of the association became flourishing ; its coffers getting filled as rapidly as those of the state were becoming empty. Meanwhile, General Montcalm advised the ministry to throw aside * Historical Portraits, drawn from the extracts made by M. Ferland ; MSS. in the French archives. . V CAPItjRE OP OSWEGO AND FORT WILLIAM-HENRt. 515 the project formed by M. de Vaudreuil, to capture Forts Edward and William-Henry next campaign — two enterprises, the second of which he judged to be difficult, the first inexecutable ; and rather to make a diver- sion on the side of Acadia, with a squadron, a corps of French regulars, and 2,500 Canadians. This bold proposal was not relished; possibly because it seemed to be both uncertain of success and utility, or else dangerous ; for, as M. de Lotbinidre observed, it would not be proper to divide the colony's forces, already so few in number, and send a portion of them so far away, at a time when its heart was about to be struck at. In the reply sent to Montcalm, the ministers enjoined him to do his utmost to bring the minds of the soldiery and inhabitants into accord ; admonishing him also, that it was equally important to treat the savages considerately, and to compliment them on the bravery they were so proud of possessing. The complaints sent to Paris of the arbitrary conduct of the French military, whose arrogant spirit, too, was often manifested in their own letters, were, doubtless the cause and justification of these wise injunctions being imposed on Montcalm and his oflEicers. As for M. de Vaudreuil's double project, no ministerial decision was come to at that time. While France was occupied, so far, in taking measures for the defence of her North American dependencies, Britain, ashamed of recent defeats in the Old and New Worlds, meditated avenging herself signally on her enemy in the campaign about to open. The ministry, in order to re- attraot public confidence, took to its bosom Mr. Pitt, afterwards famous as Lord Chatham, and Mr. Legge, two of the most illustrious statesmen of England. It was now resolved to wage war with great vigor. Squad- rons and a numerous land-force were destined to act in America ; and, in order to prevent the French colonies from receiving that food which was their most urgent want, the British parliament passed a law to prohibit the exportation of provisions from any port of the British possessions. A rumor spread about in France, that a project had been formed in London to attack Louisbourg or Canada, by sea. Pitt desired to obtain, at whatever cost, supremacy in the New World ; and it was affirmed he had said that 10,000 additional men, at least, would be needful therefor j hut if this number were not sufficient, he would triple it to gain his ends (the reporters of Pitt's alleged words added). Notwithstanding these rumors, the French ministry departed not from their first intention, of sending to the menaced provinces only a small corps of soldiers ; and vainly did Marshal de Belleisle represent the danger thence likely to arise, -mi \lwm 616 HISTORY OP CANADA. J . «f in a memorial submitted to the council of state. " Several months since " wrote he, " I insisted that we ought to despatch to America, independently of the recruits wanted to complete the colonial troops, and replace casualties in our French regiments there, the four regiments of M. Fischer He has under his orders a body of distinguished officers almost all men of birth, most of whom care not to return to Europe neither do their soldiers ; and such a corps, so minded, would become a living bulwark, now and for the future, wherever stationed for the defence of the colonies I think it impossible for me to insist too strono-ly in the matter. Perhaps repentance for not taking such a step will come when too late. I own that the expense of transporting the corps will be great ; but I think that it were better to have some fewer ships of the line afloat, and to appropriate their cost to means of preservation for the colonies." We know not what influence such reinforcement as the marshal urged the ministry to send, would have had on the result of the operations of 1759 ; but it is sad to think, that the fate of Canada may have depended on the granting or not granting the pitiful sum needed to defray the o^t of sending 4,000 disposable men to America ! All that the min- istry did, in addition to what we have already noted, was to despatch a squadron to take station at Cape-Breton, with orders to the commandant to send some of his vessels to cruise in the lower St. Lawrence. As for Canada, it could only remain on the defensive, and wait events ; but defenders were ready to take advantage of every favorable circum- stance which should arise, and never for a moment did they cease to observe the movements of its enemies. In pursuance of the new and more vigorous system adopted in Britain, Lord Loudon assembled at Boston, in January, 1757, the governors of the northern colonies. Nova Scotia included, to concert a plan for the year's campaigning. The project of separately attacking, followed in 1755 and 1756, was abandoned, and it was resolved not to divide the general forces, but direct them on one point simultaneously. Louisbourg, which was the most salient seaward point of the French possessions, would of course attract the first notice of British invaders ; accordingly, the general opin- ion of the conference now was, that hostile operations should begin with an assault on that sentinel of the St. Lawrence. Each colony was ordained to furnish its quota of soldiers for the projected expedition ; and, in con- sequence, soon thereafter levies were made in the difierent provinces, and other needful warlike preparations commenced with spirit. Lest the real destination of the armament (which for the time was concealed) . V CAPTURE OF OSWEGO AND FORT WILLIAM-HENRY. 517 should become known, an embargo was laid on all vessels then in port, and the envoys who had been sent from Louisbourg to Boston were prevented from returniug home. The custody of the frontiers was confided to the militias. Still Washington commanded on the side of the AUeghanies. From two to three thousand soldiers were left in garrison at Fort William- Henry, and at the head of Lake George. In July, the British forces in the field numbered 25,000 men, 3-5ths of whom were regular troops; besides numerous militiamen ready to march at the first signal. Lord Loudon set sail from New York June 20, for Louisbourg, with 6,000 regulars embarked in 90 ships. July 9, reaching Halifax, his con- voy was joined by Admiral Holbourn's fleet, on 1 oard which were 5,000 more soldiers, all veterans. While still in port, news came that Admiral Dubois de la Motte had arrived at Louisbourg from Brest ; that he had now 17 ships of the line and 3 frigates under his orders ; and that the town had a garrison of 6,000 French regulars, 3,000 militiamen, and 1,200 savages. Hearing this, Loudon held a council of war, at which it was unanimously agreed that the attempt to take Louisbourg had no chance of being successful, and ought to be abandoued. In consequence, the troops were sent back to New York; while Holbourn, with 15 ships, 4 frigates, and a fire-ship, stood toward Louisbourg to reconnoitre. Nearing the place, he was recognised ; and the French admiral was pre- paring to meet him, when he turned helm, and sailed back to Halifax. He returned towards Louisbourg, in September, leaving there four ships more than before. La Motte, now the weaker party, declined battle, in turn, pursuant to orders he had received, not to risk against odds a finer fleet than France had been able to equip any time since the year 1703. Shortly thereafter a fearful tempest assailed the British fleet, and brought it to the brink of perdition. The Tilbury, a 60-gun ship, was cast ashore and half of her crew drowned; 11 vessels were dismasted, and obliged to throw their ordnance into the sea. The other ships reached sundry ports of Britain, in a dismantled state. Notwithstanding the dearth prevailing in Canada, hostilities never ceased during the winter of 1757-8, which was unusually rigorous. In January, a British detachment, sent from Fort William-Henry, was fallen upon near Carillon (Ticonderoga), and destroyed. February following, General Montcalm thought of sending 850 of his men to take the British by surprise and endeavor to capture Fort William-Henry by a sudden escalade. The governor approved of the project, but thought fit to increase .the attacking force to 1,500 ; namely 450 regulars, 800 Cana- dians, and 300 savages. He gave the command of the enterprise to M. ■& I f 518 HISTORY OF CANADA. / ■ .■ Rigaud (his own brother), to the great disappointment of the roj^Iar officers and M. de Montcalm, who had pitched on M. de Bourlamaque for its leader. This expedition set out February 23. The corps traversed lakes Champlain and G'jorge, and made 60 leagues of way, on snow-shoes, with their provisions in sledges, and, passing the nights on bearskins, laid on the snow sheltered by a piece of canvas. March 18, they reached the vicinity of the fort; which, having reconnoitred, M. Rigaud judged it too strong to be carried by a sudden assault. He confined his hostilities to destroying all the outworks and exposed constructions ; this he executed, despite the fire of the British, during the four nights of March lb-22. Four armed brigantines, each of 10-14 guns, 350 bateaux, all the mills, external stores, and palisade dwei'Ings, were burnt. The garrison, shut in as it were by fire, for nearly 100 hours, sought not to interrupt the devastations of the assailants, who left undestroyed only the main building of the fort. Some of the latter, on their retreat, experienced a singular affection of the eyes, involving temporary privation of sight, from the continued glare of the snow j similarly to the ophthalmia expe^ rienced by many of the French when crossing the sandy region of Egypt under Napoleon Bonaparte. But in the former case, two days after reaching headquarters, the stricken men's sight returned. So many victories, and especially the capture of Oswego, bound the savages firmly to their alliance with the French. The Iroquois confed- eration, despite the efforts of the British, sent a second great embassy to Montreal, to renew friendly protestations. It was received in presence of envoys from the Nipissings, Algonquins, Poutouatamis, and Ottawas. Such demonstrations were of some import, for they made men easy as to the security of the frontiers ; but which, we may observe casually, had been little disturbed since the war began. The succor solicited from France, and which the governor-general's renewed demands fixed at 5,000 men, the British forces being so nume- rous, — did not arrive in Canada till late in the season, and then only to a small amount. By mid-July nearly, only six hundred soldiers and scanty provisions had arrived. During the whole summer, only about 1,500 men in all disembarked at Quebec. Sueh delays were fatal to military enterprise. After detaching 400 men to the relief of Fort Duquesne, which was in peril, troops were sent, as soon as the season allowed, to line the frontier of Lake Champlain. M. de Bourlamaque had 2,000 under him at Carillon. A battalion was located at St. John's ; a second, at Chambly j two more garrisoned Quebec and Montreal. Many , % CAPTURE OP OSWEGO AND FORT WILLIAM-HENRY. 519 Canadians, lately under arms, were engaged for the time in field labor. Matters being in this state, news of the departure of Lord Loudon for Louisbourg caused the heads of the colony to profit by the absence of the bulk of the enemy's forces to attack Fort William-Henry, the site of (fhich brought the British within a short day's march from Carillon — also giving them the command of lake George, and enabling them to fall upon us unexpectedly at any time. To rid us effectually of neighbors so dangerous, it was necessary to thrust them back to the Hudson ; and, as the work was urgent, it was begun without waiting the arrival of the succor, in men and provisions, expected from France. On call made by the governor-general, the Canadians found both sol- diers and wherewithal to feed them ; for they comprehended the utility of the enterprise in hand. They left in their homesteads the cliief provisions they had laid up, for family use in their absence ; and were content to subsist on maize and vegetables. " They had neither flour nor bacon to use," wrote M. de Vaudreuil to the court : " they denied themselves ordinary food, with equal zeal and generosity, for their king's sake." Warlike preparations for the enterprise were made quietly as well as promptly ; and all the artillery was forwarded to Carillon by the end of July. At short notice the whole attacking force assembled, con- sisting of 3,000 regulars, fully 3,000 Canadians, and 1,600 to 1,800 savages, of thirty-two different tribes ; in all, 7,600 men. The prelimin- ary success of the bands who scoured the enemy's country augured well for our success. Lieutenant Marin took prisoner several of the British, and scalped others, even up to the walls of Fort Edward. Rigaud, with 400 men, encountered Colonel Parker on Lake George, which he was descending, with 350 to 400 Americans, in 22 barges, sent to reconnoitre. Rigaud sank all the barges but two, killed or drowned 160 of the men, and took prisoner 165 others. After these happy preludes, Montcalm gave the word to advance. The vanguard started July 30 ; it was led by M. de Ldvis, and wa& composed of some grenadiers, three Canadian brigades, and 600 savagea —total 2,800. It took the land route, on the eastern margin of Lake George, in order to protect the landing of the main corps, with the artil- lery and siege material. August 2, in the evening, Montcalm landed with his troops in a small bay, a league distant from Fort William-Henry ; the battering train ar- rived next day. De Ldvis was despatched towards Fort Edward, to recon- noitre and intercept the enemy's supplies ; the army, meanwhile, march- ing in three columns,, advanced through the intervening highlands, totha if i! km mmi 520 HISTORY OP CANADA^ scene of action. The garrison, erewhile only 1,500 strong, had been reinforced, the right before, and now numbered 2,700. The French troops defiled behind the fort, and, while investing it, as well as an en- trenched camp under the walls, and too strong to be carriec' by assault, stationed their left at the lake, near the site of Caldwell, where the artillery was to be landed ; with their right on the heights towards Fort Edward. Skirmishers were thrown out on that side, and echeloned along the route beyond, in order to give timely notice in case General Webb should be on the way to relieve the place, he having a corps of 4,000 men between five and six leagues off. Colonel Bourlamaque directed the siege operations ; Colonel Monroe commanded the besieged. The first trench was opened 4th August, about 8 P. M., 700 yards distant, amidst an opposing fire of bombs and balls, which did not slacken, except during a few short intervals, while the siege lasted. Next day (August 5), on report made that Webb was on the way with 2,000 men, De L^vis was sent with a detachment to meet him ; and Montcalm was about to follow, with a large force, in support, when a letter was brought to him which had been found on the person of an enemy's courier, kiUed by the way. This letter informed Monroe that, considering the state of Fort Edward, the writer opined that it would be imprudent either to leave it or to send any relief whatever to him (Monroe). It advised the latter, that the French were 13,000 in number, that they had much artillery ; and that these (discouraging) particulars were set down for his consider- ation, so that he might try at obtaining good terms of surrender, in case he (Monroe) could not hold out till the arrival of succor, which had been demanded from Albany. Webb's exaggeration of the French strength hastened the reduction of the place. August 6, at day-break, a battery on the left, of 8 cannon and a mortar, was unmasked and opened fire. It was briskly answered by the besieged. Next day, another battery dis- closed itself Montcalm now suspended firing, and seut his aide-de-camp, Bougainville, with Webb's letter to Monroe. The latter declared, not- withstanding, that he would defend the fort to the last. At 9 A. M., the cannonade recommenced, amid the yells of the savages, who screamed with joy as the shot told upon the defences of the fort. Towards night- fall, 500 of the besieged made a sortie, in order to cut their way to Fort Edward ; but M. de Villiers barred the way with a free company, and the savages. After a struggle, he drove the enemy back, killing 50, and taking others prisoner. CAPTURE OF OSWEGO AND FORT WILLIAM-HENRY. 521 A third battery opened fire, August 8, before it was finished, and about noontide on that day, the glitter of arms was observed on the crest of a hill near by. Presently troops were seen forming in battle order ; all which seemed to excite great interest in the entrenched camp below the fort. The call to arms was beaten by the besiegers' drummers ; but, after a few musket-shots were wasted, the soldiers on high re-entered the woods, and were seen no more. On the morning of the 9th of August, a flag of truce was displayed in sign of a desire to capitulate. The following conference was short ; it was agreed that the troops of the fort, and those in camp, numbering 2,372 in all, should march out with the honors of war, and return to their own country, with their arms, baggage, and one field-piece, conditioned, however, that they were not to serve against i ny of our people, or any of our savage allies, during the existing war ; also it was stipulated, that all French prisoners of war then in the British colonies should be sent to Carillon within four months. It was owing to a deficiency of provisions that the garrison was not to be retained. There were found in the place 43 pieces of artillery, 35,835 lbs. of gun- powder, with balls, &c., in proportion, and provisions enough to subsist our army for six weeks ; while, on the lake, were 29 small vessels, which were all given up. The loss of the French was 54 men ; that of the enemy about 200. The capitulation was accompanied, like that of Oswego, by an event ever regrettable, but which it was almost impossible to prevent, on account of the independent ways of the savages. The British, moreover, were in part themselves to blame for what happened, through having neglected to spill their liquors, as M. de Bougainville, by Montcalm's orders, prayed they would do, to prevent the savages from getting drunk upon entering the place. The men in garrison were to retire to Fort Edward. De L<5vis caused them to set out next morning, escorted by a detachment of regulars, and accompanied by all the interpreters of the Indian warriors. They had not gone much more than a mile on the way, when the "iges, malcon- tent at the terms of capitulation, which baulked their Lo]o,.. of spoil here as at Oswego, excited by drink, and urged by the Abenaquis (who owed a grudge to the British), took to the intermediate woods, whence they fell unawares upon the prisoners, killed some, stripped great numbers, and led back all the rest. The escort did its utmost to restrain the barbarians, several of the soldiers in it were killed or wounded, while trying to snatch victims from their hands. As soon as Montcalm learned what was pass- 522 raSTORY OP CANADA. ing, ho hastened, with all his officers, to put a stop to it ; and succeeded in saving most of the prisoners whom the savages had brought back, causing them to take shelter in the fort. Nearly GOO of the enemy's soldiers, dispersed in the woods, reached, by degrees, Fort Edward, but naked, unarmed, and spent with hunger and fatigue. The savages took 200 to Montreal, for whom the governor paid a heavy ransom ; 500 re- entered Fort William-Henry, as mentioned above. Montcalm re-clothed those who had been stripped, and sent them on, wi ti'ong escort, after expressing regret at what had taken place, luese unfortunate disorders left strong resentments in the hearts of the British. But the prisoners themselves rendered this justice to their French conquerors, that they used all their efforts to limit the evils done ; and owned that they succeeded in preventing greater.* The fort having been razed, and the enemy's camp obliterated, Aug. 16, our army re-embarked, in 250 barges, for Carillon. But for the neces- sity of sending the savages back to their hordes, and allowing the Cana- dians to secure their crops, Montcalm would have been able to disquiet Fort Edward at leac . The Americans so fully expected his arrival there, that all their militias — infantry, cavalry, and artillery — had been put in requisition, everywhere in Massachusetts ; and the colcists westward of the river Connecticut had orders to demolish their w' d vehicles and shut up their cattle. " It is inconceivable," said Hu on, " howfour or five thousand enemies should cause such a panic !" The provincials' apprehensions, however, were not quite unreasonable, for the instructions of M. de Vaudreuil bore, that after taking William-Henry, Montcalm was to attack Fort Edward ; but the fear of subsistence failing the troops, the needful absence of the Canadians, and the strength of the place itself, with the probability of its being succored besides, had induced the general to give up the attempt prescribed to him ; but this exercise of his own discretion by Montcalm, caused great differences between him and the governor-general. In other respects, the difficulty of finding food for the army being ever present, and dearth always increasing in Canada, the most welcome trophy resulting from its latest conquest was the mass of food, including 3,000 quarts of flour, and much bacon, brought in triumph • The atrocities sacceeding the surrender of William-Henry are but half narrated in the above account, and those which are recounted are glossed over very neatly. Not a word is said of the massacre, within the fort, and in its precincts, of women and children ; or of the Aceldama of gore and ashes into which the French and their savages transformed the place. " Oh, they were fiendb !" to use the words of Shkllst, in another case.— £. CAPTURE OP OSWEGO AND FORT WILLrAM-IIKNRY. 52^ to Carillon ; a booty this, which was prized at Montreal and Quebec as worth a great victory. This cauipaij^ii over, our army retired within the Canadian lincH, uud, in auttiuin, took up its winter-(iuarters in the interior. The year's harvest entirely tailed. In several parishes, hardly enough grain was reaped to provide seed for next crop. Cereals, which pro- mised well as they grew, gave small returns or none, owing to the flood- ing summer rains. It was feared that the country would have no bread at all by the coming month of January. For precaution against the worst, 200 quarts of flour were kept in reserve, to supply the wants of the sick in hospital till the month of May. In the religious houses, the daily portion was reduced to ^ lb. each person j and it was proposed to supply to each of the towns' people 1 lb. of beef or horso-tlesh, or cod-fish, along with the quartcron of bread allowed, but which was judged insufficient of itself. Tho intendant bought up 12 to 15,000 horses for the shambles. Stored subsistence failing, tho troops were quartered upon tho people in rural districts, as these were thought to bo best provided in a time of general dearth. Only a few soldiers were kept in the towns, to do garrison duty. A tho close of September, De Ldvis having reduced the soldiers' rations, was told that they murmured tliereat. Forthwith ho assembled the grenadiers, and reprimanded them severely for insubordination. He reminded them that the king sent them to Canada not only to fight, but also to endure all unavoidable privations imposed on them ; that they were to consider the colony as a city besieged and cut oiF from supplies ; that it was for tho grenadiers to give a good example of submission ; finally, that any mutinous sign would be punished with severity. Murmurings thereafter ceased for a time. In Decem- ber, the daily rations were further reduced, and the troops being prof- fered horse-flesh for beef, refused to take it. M. de Ldvis assembled and harangued them again. He ordered them to conform to circum- stances ; and added that if, after the distribution they had any represen- tations to make to him, ho would listen to them willingly. Having taken their rations, they justified their complaints with soldierly frankness ; and said in conclusion that horse-flesh was not nourishing; that every deficiency of supply fell upon them ; that the civilians denied themselves nothing, and that the dearth, said to be universal, was not even so general as people pretended. M. de Ldvis replied, in order, to all the grievances expressed. He assured them they were ill informed of the colony's real state ; for a long time, he said the Quebec people had tasted no bread ; adding that tho I I I i'tSisil;!; 524 HISTORY OF CANADA. . ,'* officers of Quebec and Montreal had not then a quarteron per diem each. He advevted to the Acadians, whose sole food was horse-flesh and ood-fish ; and reminded the veterans present, that the troops had eaten horse-flesh at the siege of Pra^^ue. This discourse seemed to have a good effect, for the mutineers returned to barrack, and remonstrated no more. It turned out afterwards, that insubordination among the regu- lars had been excited by some of the inhabitants and malcontent colonial soldiers. Early in April, the daily ration for the Quebec people was reduced again, and fixed at two ounces of bread daily, with eight ounces of bacon or cod-fish. Men began to fall down in the streets with hunger. More than 300 Acadians died from privation at this time. While the country was thus a prey to a famine which seemed to aggravate every incertitude as to the future, Montcalm complained bitterly that various persons sought to depreciate his merit and lower him in the public regard ; that De Vaudreuil, in particular, set himself to lessen the credit due to the regular troops and their general in achieving the late successes. Every victory gained seemed, in fact, to increase the discon- tent of Moutcalm. An ill-satisfied ambition kept his mind ever open to all the sinister influences of others' malevolence. Meanwhile, the ministers at Paris were constrained to attempt solacing the evils suffered by Canada. They knew that the British cabinet had ordered, during the winter, an increase of Canada's military force in a larger proportion than during the two preceding years. But the weakness of the French government allowed it not to organise sufficient succor, to secure success either present or future. The colonial expenditure for 1757 had far exceeded the sum allotted to meet expected wants, and the bills of exchange drawn on the royal exchequer had risen to 12,340,000 francs. Private correspondence with France continued to signalise financial abuses and great dilapidations. Bigot stood out prominently among the culpable functionaries denounced. The difficulties of the time, the evils of war, even famine, but, more than all, the distance from home supervision, enabled him to multiply his opportunities of robbing with impunity. Having full power to gratify his most exorbitant desires, he satisfied them without any stint. The letters of Montcalm (whose eyes began to open), those of De L^vis, Bougainville, Montreuil, Doreil, Pontleroy — all abounded in accusations against Bigot. Doreil, writing in cipher to the minister of war, Oct. 22, 1757, said, " I blame not the commissary-general alone ; there are many things to be said as to others, but I hold my peace. It grieves me to see so interesting a colony, and fiiS . s CAPTURE OP OSWEGO AND FORT WILLIAM-HENRY. 525 iem each, lesh and lad eaten have a itrated no the regu- t colonial i reduced 1 of bacon r. More eemed to sd bitterly im in the lessen the ; the late he discon- sr open to )t solacing binet had brce in a weakness succor, to iiture for I, and the },340,000 signalise )minently es of the ance from f robbing it desires, n (whose il, Doreil, 1, writing le not the to others, ony, and the troops who defend it, exposed, througli the cupidity of certain persons, to perish from hunger and destitution. M. de Montcalm will perhaps bnter into this matter at large ; I leave to him the ungrateful task. Nothing escapes his attention, or can lessen his zeal for the public well- being. But what can he do, any more than I, (in the way of prevention) ? why, only make remonstrances which delinquents are always ready to parry; or it may be, we are not even listened to 1 Three days afterwards, Doreil adverting to the prevailing famine, and to an epidemic which the lastrarrived troops brought with them, thus referred to the doings of the intendant : " The remedies to be applied to public ills ought to be potent and prompt. — For myself, I long only for ths blessed time, when, by royal permission, I shall return to France, and witness no more, an idle spectator, the monstrosities which daily challenge my attention M. de Moras, minister of marine, knows not the true cause of our situation. It belongs neither to M. de Montcalm nor to me to attempt informing him. We abstain, the rather because any representations we should make would probably never reach him.* Montcalm, writing under date Nov. 4, observed that the commissary had bought much brandy and wine, but little flour ; why ? " because there accrued more profit to him from strong liquors but," he added, " let us cover this matter with a thick veil ; to raise it would compromise some of the highest folks in this land I conclude, from what was said to me at Paris, before I left, by M. de Gournay (minister of com- merce), he is informed of all that I must not write " Montcalm complained, afterwards, of defaultings in military engineering works : " How many abuses M. de Pontleroy will have to reform in his depart- ment! but in what branch are reforms no< wanted?" The European birth and home nomination of defalcating agents, who always manifest far more hardihood in a colony than in the mother coun- try, the favoring prejudices of the minister, with the hurries attending warlike enterprises, did not allow of a searching investigation being then made; and all that was done in the matter at head-quarters was to recommend economy in every outlay I The colonists had earnestly applied to their king to send them pro- visions. The new minister, M. de Moras, despatched 16,000 quintals (cwts.) of flour, irrespective of the supply demanded by Cadet, which amounted to 66,000 quintals. An order was transmitted, also, to draw supplies from the Ohio, from the Illinois country, and Louisiana. The " — I ■■ ■ ■ li^. ■ — » ■■ I ■ ,1 ■ ■■ . ■ -■■ I I M « I I ■ I — ^..1,1 * Because one of the underlings of the miniutrj, at Versailles, named La Porte, connived with Bigot. 626 HiStORt OP CANADA. ' I • %," victualling vessels left France in early spring, but most of them were captured by British ships of war or by privateers. Those that escaped arrived very late at Quebec, the earliest of them not till late in May. This tardiness greatly inquieted M. de Vaudreuil, who, fearing procrasti- nations, sent three ships in succession to France, the first as soon as the season allowed, to solicit prompt succors. By mid-June, no more than one frigate and 20 transports had arrived, bringing 12,000 quarts of flour in all. As to reinforcements of soldiers, none were to be hoped for ; as it was not found possible to get any passed to" Canada. Despite the good-will of some ministers, Marshal de Belleisle, in charge of the war department, could obtain but a few indifferent recruits, to complete the companies in battalions to 40 men each ; and, even of such "'^'Jruits only from 300 to 400 came during the whole year. France ei rienced great vicissitudes in the campaigns of 1757 : alternately beating and beaten in Europe, she was victorious in America, and unfortunate in India. Her councils were guided by the capricious impulses of Madame de Pompadour, who, from day to day, employed or dismissed generals and ministers without regard to their merits or capabilities. The attempts made to obtain mastery on land and sea had exhausted France's military forces, and undid their harmonious unity ; so there was nothing for it now but to look on, and see Britain double the forces she had on foot in America when the war began; while Canada possessed. May 1, 1758, only eight battalions of regulars, 3,781 strong, including recruits levied in the country : add thereto the colonial regulars, (numbering 2,000 men in the preceding year and not increased since), there resulted a properly disciplined force of not quite 6,000, to defend 500 leagues of frontier. It was plain, that the Canadians must needs form the bulk of an army capable of opposing, with any chance of success, the overwhelming numbers of the enemy. Moreover, the checks the British received in America, compensated by their victories in the East, did but excite them to make greater efforts than ever to crush, by force of numbers alone, the defenders of Canada. This was all the more easy, as Britain's finances were in a flourishing state, and her superiority at sea no longer contested. The capture of Oswego and of William-Henry, by ensuring French supremacy on Lake Ontario and Lake George, made the situation of the enemy on the American continent less favorable, after four years of .struggle, than it had been any time since 1752. But the ardor of Mr. Pitt now inspiring the British cabinet, it was bent on solving the question of British or French mastery in north-eastern America. Doubtless, unprescient of the great ».V CAPTURE OF OSWEGO AND FORT WILLIAM-HENRY. 527 events of 1755, he willed that his country should he sole dominatrix there ; and accordingly he planned such enterprises as must necessarily ensure the fall of the Franco-American establishments in every part of the continent and its adjuncts. The British forces, both for land and sea service, were rapidly augmented ; Lord Loudon was invalided, and Gene- ral Abercromby appointed Anglo- Ameiican generalissimo ; while his army wa'j reinforced by 12,000 additional r^ulars, sent out under General Amherst. All the colonial governments were enjoined to raise as many r^lar soldiers as their respective populations would allow of ; and in a short time Abercromby found himself at the head of a properly disciplined force, 50,000 strong, including 22,000 British regulars ; yet exclusive of 30,000 eni-oUed militiamen, who, if all called out, would thus have made the collective force of Britain in America 80,000 combatants. The accumulation of such a host of armed men, thought to be needful to conquer Canada, implied a proud homage to the prowess and patriotic spirit of her defenders, French and colonial ; for the armies embodied against them, or about to be, exceeded in numbers the population of our province at that time, including all its men, women, and children. With such a signal disparity of numerical strength, then, did the respective belligerents open the campaign of 1758. CHAPTER III. ' :•.,•» BATTLE OF CARILLON (TICONDEROGA).-1758. Canada, loft to her own moans of dofonco, determinoB to fight to the last.— rian of the British campaign: proposed simultaneous attacks on Louisbourg, Carillon, and Fort Duquesno. — Capture of Louisbourg, after a memorable siege, and invasion of the island ot St. John (Prince Edward's); the victors ravage the settlements of Gasp^ and Mont-Louis.— Dofen' 8ive measures in Canada.— General Abercromby advances, with 16,000 men, on Carillon, defended by scarcely 3,600 French.— Battlk of Cakillom, fought July 8 : defeat and precipitate retreat of Abercromby.— Colonel Bradsrteet captures and destroys Fort Fron* tenac— General Forbes advances against Fort Duquesno.— Defeat of Major Grant.— The French burn Fort Duquesno and retreat.- Vicissitudes of the war in difibreut parts of the world.— Ministerial changes in France.— Pissidonces between Montcalm and the governor. —The French ministry takes Bigot to tafk.— Intrigues for superseding M. do Vaudrcnil.— The ministry accept the self-proposed recall of Montcalm ; the king opposes it.— (/Onciliatory despatches sent to the rival chiefs, with knightly orders, &c., for them, and promotions of their subalterns ; but accompanied by no soldiers or other substantial succors— Defection of the French Indians, who at Easton adopt the British side.— British decide to advance upon Quebec, with three armies, to rendezvous under its walls.- Amount of Canadian force in hand to resist this triple invasion. The persevering efforts of Great Britain to appropriate Canada, so often defeated, made it probable that she would now try, once for all, to gain her ends ; and, at the same time, wipe out her past disgraces, by crushing, at one blow, the small opposing force likely to be ranged against her overwhelming armed hosts. France, hopeless probably of finally preserv- ing her finest dependency, made almost no further attempt to retain it by force of arms ; still its native defenders, all but abandoned by their mother country, none the less girded up their loins to face the storm of invasion about to assail them. " We shall fight," wrote Montcalm to the minister ; " and we shall bury ourselves, if need be, under the ruins of the colony." Others said, ** All our most alert and valid males must march and fight; let the civic officers, the priests, the women, with persons of tender or advanced age, do the small labor — the wives of all functionaries, civil and military, setting an example to the rest." Such was the stern resolution formed, by every class alike, to defend their common country to the last. The British, on their part, with forces fully capable of much sub-divi- sion, determined to attack, concurrently, Louisbourg, Carillon and Fort Duquesne. The capture of Montreal was to be the appendix to that of Carillon. A large fleet and 14,000 of a land force were assigned to assault the first-named place; from 16 to 18 thousand men were ordered to invade Canada by way of Lake George ; and 9,000 others marched , V BATTLE OP CARILLON. 629 into the Ohio country to expel the French thence. Only an imperfect notion was formed, in Quebec, of the numbers which were about to conjoin in' a leaguer of that city; but the temporary safety of both capital and colony were entirely due to the coming victory of Curillon, where, as at Cressy, the victors repulsed an army five times more nume- rous than their own. During spring this year, the French troops, after some delay from want of provisions, marched to resume their positions on the frontiers, with orders to throw out parties to harass the enemy, cause him to divide his forces, and ascertain his hostile designs. Near Carillon 3,000 of our soldiers rendezvoused ; and as many assumed positions on the banks of Lake Ontario and at Niagara. These measures taken, the soldiery stood to their arms ; while the colonists scattered in the furrows of their ploughed fields the few handfuls of seed-corn they had been able to redeem from the reserved stores which gaunt famine had broken into and nearly devoured. Simultaneously, the British broke bounds ; and it was upon Louisbourg that their first blows fell. Admiral Boscawcn sailed thither from Halifax, (N. S.) May 28, with 24 ships of the line, 18 frigates, and ma ly trans- ports, having troops on board and a large siege train. June 2, the expedition reached Louisbourg. Here wei-e, in garrison, 2,100 regulars and 600 militiamen ; with 5 men of war and 5 frigates, moored in the harbor, to aid in defending the place against a combined force of 30,000 British soldiers and sailors. M. Drucourt, who had succeeded to the Comte de Raymond as governor, resolved to make a stout defence, and not give in, even should no relief come, so long as the works were at all tenable by the small number of their defenders. The fortifications, indeed, had become everywhere ruinous, for want of reparation. The rcvitements * and most of the curtains f had entirely crumbled away, and there was but one casemate | and a magazine that were bomb-proof. The chief strength of the place lay in the diflSculty of an enemy's disembarking to attack it, and in the facility with which the harbor entry could be barred against him. What remained undilapidated of the original works of defence, being formed of friable stone, as above noted, joined with bad mortar too, the probability was, that it could not long withstand the shock of heavy projectiles; the governor, consequently, * Linings of stone, brick, &c. t Walls between bastions. t A subterranean chamber with a vaulted roof, used as a guard-bouse to defend the curtains, fosses, &C.—B. 530 HISTORY OF CANADA. '■ h .f , A y prepared rather to oppose the enemy's disembarkation, than await hi." approach behind such ruins. Therefore it was that he carefully fortified all the weak points of the coast in the environs of the town as far ay Gabarus bay, distant l^ mile and near to where the British fleet anchored. Cormorant cove, being the most accessible part of that lino of coast, he bordered with a solid parapet, pierced for cannon and swivel-guns of heavy calibre. In front of this entrenchment he formed a breastwork of felled trees, so closely set that it would have been difficult to find a passage through it, even when unmanned; though it presented an appearance, to the deceived eye, of an expanse of unbroken natural verdure. (Raynal.) — A series of interchained barges was ranged from Cape Noir to Cape Blanc, and batteries were erected upon them, commanding all points where a landing was practicable. In presence of such obstacles, that operation became both difficult and dangerous ; yet as the British could have no certainty of the concealed strength of resistance at Cormorant cove, it was precisely there that they touched ground on the 8th day of June. To perplex the attention of the French, they prolonged the line of their vessels, so as to threaten the whole seaboard, feigning to disembark at Laurembec and other points of it ; but suddenly most of the British attacking corps, formed in three divisions, landed at the cove, while General Wolfe, with 100 men, at a spot a little beyond, scaled a rock judged thitherto inaccessible, and kept possession of it, despite all attempts of the armed townsmen and savages, who tried to dislodge the enemy's soldiers. The governor, after leaving only 300 men in garrison, was present here with the rest. The works at Cormorant cove were thus manned by 2,000 soldiers and some savages. The British, who saw not yet the trap that had been set for them, continued their landing. Louisbourg would have been saved if, the disembarkation once completed, they had advanced inland, in full confidence of having no formidable obstacles to encounter ; for then they must have quailed under the hail-storm of cannon-shot and ■ musket-balls which the French, under secure covert, would assuredly have poured upon them. It is not likely that one of them, in such a case, would have escaped death by bullets, or in the waves ; for the sea at that time was in a very troubled state, and an orderly re-cmbarkatioii they would have found difficult, or rather impossible. But French impetuosity, says Raynal, caused a well-laid scheme to miscarry. Hardly had the British landed their vanguard, and their vessels, nearing the shore, were about to disgorge the main body, than a brisk fire of musketry reaching those akeady on shore, and assailants hitherto concealed in the •vl IBAITLE 0^ CARILLON, 681 ?iVattis coming numerously into view to take part in the fray, tlic danger of advancing further became apparent to the dullest of the British officers. Preparing to retrace their stops, they saw no other means to descend than by way of the rock where Wolfe had posted a detachment. That general, then engaged in re-embarking the troops and getting oflF the barges, forthwith ordered one of his officers to the perilous spot. It was Major Scott who went thither with his company. The shallop he was in having sunk the instant after he put foot on land, he alone held to the rock with his hands ; and he now found only ten soldiers alive, out of the hundred lately posted on it. With this small number, however, he contrived to gain the heights. Thanks to a covert of brush- wood, he stood his ground heroically against a party of French and savages seven times more numerous than his own. The British troops, braving at once the raging sea, and the firing from the French batteries promptly directed on the contested 'ock, succeeded in securing the only point suitable for their disembarkation on this side. The position of the French, on the other hand, thenceforth became untenable. Fairly out* flanked, one of their batteries was soon carried. At that instant, it was rumored that General Whitemore had disembarked at Cape Blano, and was about to pass between the 2,000 French soldiers at the cove and the town; into which the latter were forthwith recalled by the governor, after leaving 200 men killed or captured. The fall of Louisbourg was now only a question of time ; but as a prolonged defence might become a means for delaying, perhaps preventing, a direct attack on Canada, the commandant refused to let the five men-of-war in the port put to sea,* The British operated briskly. June 12, General Wolfe, with 3,000 men, garrisoned the Pharo battery, the Royal battery, and other deserted works. The Pharo battery was important, as it commanded the port, the town fortifications, and a battery on the island facing the place. The siege of the latter forthwith commenced. It was courageously defended. Seven thousand men at the most, including disembarked sailors, and a regiment which came in aid by sea during the siege, fought against a quadruple force during two months, with admirable courage and patience. The besiegers, favored by the broken ground, advanced their lines to within GOO yards of the town walls. The besieged made several sorties, but could not much interrupt the operations actively carried on by the British. June 19, the Pharo battery, seated on a height scarcely attain- * Letter from M. Drucourt to the miaister, dated Sept. 23, 1758. #i 632 HISTORY OP CANADA. able by tbe garrison's fire, began to play on the town. The cannonade; on both parts, was heavy; but the French were obliged to bring tlic men-of-war GOO yards nearer to the town, to escape the enemy's sliot which began to tell, also, upon the town-wall facing the Pharo. Three new batteries were erected, in succession ; and a mound, 450 yards lon<' was raised by the enemy, to facilitate their approaches, upon another site which commanded the place. June 29, the besieged, fearing lest the British fleet should enter the harbor, sank four vessels at the narrowest part of its entry. July 1, two more were sunk, in the same view, their masts standing above water. The fire from all the ramparts, meantime, was constant, and several sorties were made. The governor's wife Madame de Drucourt, immortalized herself by her heroism durin" the siege. To encourage the soldiers, she often passed and re-passed along the ramparts amid the cannonading, fired several great guns herself rewarding the most alert artillerymen. She also dressed the hurts of the wounded, kept up their courage by her kind words, and, in short, endeared herself to the men no less by a masculine courage than by exercising the gentler virtues more becoming her sex. Meanwhile, the walls ceased not to crumble everywhere under the enemy's projectiles : yet, determined as was the attack, no less persistent was the spirit of defence. The breaches made in the works were con- stantly repaired, as far as possible. July 21, a shell set fire to a French 74-gun ship in the harbor; its powder-magazine blew up, and the fire spread to two more vessels, which also were consumed. Only two French men-of-war remained afloat ; and to save these, it was needful to steer them clear, not only of the enemy's cannon-range, but that of the burn- ing ships; for the guns of the latter, being shotted, were going off at every instant. Present salvage, however, proved to be no final gain, but the contrary ; for, ere the siege ended, they were captured by the enemy, who entered the harbor during a dark night, cut out one, and burnt the other. This last blow determined the French to give in. It showed that the port was quite assailable and all but defenceless seaward ; while it was a scene of wreck within. The land works, also, were become untenable, for every battery on the ramparts was disorganized; scarcely a dozen cannon remained undismovnted, and many practicable breaches existed in the line of defence, which the weakened garrison could not now repair, a third of its numbers being killed or wounded. As, from hour to hour, a general assault was apprehended by the townspeople, they adjured the governor to capitulate. He reluctantly yielded, and had to accept the BATTLE OF CARILLON. 533 terms gyanted by the foe, July 2G, 1758. Thus did Louisbourg, or rather its ruins, with the whole island of Cape Breton, pass into British hands : the surrender of the isle of St. Jean (Prince Edward's) being also promised by the governor. He and his garrison, reduced to 500 soldiers and sailors, remained prisoners of war ; while the townspeople, it was ruled, were to be transported bodily to France. This conquest, which cost the besiegers only 400 men, killed and wounded together, greatly rejoiced Great Britain and her American colonies. Trophies of the victory gained were sent to London, and paraded from Kensington palace to St. Paul's cathedral ; and thanksgivings were celebrated in all the churches, with the greater ostentation as an oflPset was needful to make the people forget the discomfiture of Carillon, the unwelcome news of which had only then reached Britain. Yet, after all, Louisbourg was but a paltry ftistness.* After this exploit, the British fleet set out to take possession of isle St. Jean, and to destroy the settlements of Gaspd and Mont-Louis, established in the Laurentian gulf by the Acadians and poor fishermen, all of whom the enemy bore away. The expedition afterwards made an attempt on Miramichi, and finally retired about mid-October. Simulta- neously, others of the British erected petty forts, as if to secure a foothold on the northern margin of the bay of Fundy. The fall of Louisbourg and the loss of Capo Breton left Canada without a seaward defence, and cleared a free passage to Quebec for the enemy to enter in at. While General Amherst and Admiral Boscawen were gatherinu ' 'urels in Cape Breton, and on the adjoining seaboard, General Abercromby, ensconced at the end of Lake George, was chewing. In silence and inac- tivity, the bitter cud of shame for the stinging defeat he had experienced just before. This general had reserved for himself the command of the troops which were to act in the Champlain lake region, theirs being the chief operation in the tripartite campaign, as planned at head-quarters. His army was composed of 7,000 regulars and 9,000 provincials, besides * " Louisbourg is a little place, and has but one casemate in it, hardly big enough to hold the women. Our artillery made havoc among them (the garri- son) and soon opened the rampart : in two days more, we should certainly have carried it. If this force had been properly managed, there was an end of the French colony in North America in one campaign ; for we have, exclusive of seamen and mariners, near forty thousand men in arms." — Letter from General Wolfe, to bis uncle Major Wolfe, dated 21th of July, 1758. 684 HISTORY OF CANADA. from 400 to 500 savages, led by Colonel Johnson ; the collective force being cantoned near Lake George. When all was ready for an advance towards Montreal, the road to which Abcrcromby undertook to clear of every obstacle set in his way, the first thing to be done was to force the French defensive line. M. de Vaudreuil doubted not that Carillon (Ticonderoga) would be attacked, after General Amheret departed for Louisbourg ; but, as he had as yet received no provisions from France, he thought the best means of defending the central frontier would be to make a diversion. Therefore it was that he persisted in a plan he had formed, to throw a strong corps on the southern lake-board of Ontario, force the Iroquois to renounce the British alliance, prevent a refoundation of Oswego, make an irruption on Schenectady, and constrain the enemy to quite abandon the Champlain region. Such a demonstration, both in its political and military complexion, was of a very ticklish character : still Ldvis, with 800 regulars and 2,200 Canadians and western savages, prepared to realise it ; but, just as he was about to proceed, word came from M. de Bourlamaque, commandant on the Champlain frontier, that Abcrcromby, then at Fort Edward, was about to come down upon him with a large army. The original order to De Ldvis was now counter- manded ; and General Montcalm, after some wrangling with Vaudreuil regarding his instructions, set out from Montreal, June 24, with M. de Pontleroy, chief engineer, to take charge of the troops at Carillon, where he arrived on the 30th. He there found 3,000 men assembled. Mont- calm seemed surprised on finding that the British were already in act of descending Lake George : although, ever since spring-time, he had himself directed [Vaudreuil's ?] attention to Fort Edward, and pressed [him?] to send troops to Bourlamaque in any event. He now, without delay, Bent word of what was passing to the governor-general, who hastened tho march of the troops, already then on their way for his relief, under De Ldvis : whose corps was composed of 400 regulars, 1,600 Canadians, and a few savages. The militias, too, were ordered to come up as soon as possible; but only a few reached the scene of action, even by forced marches, till the pressing need for them no longer existed. July 1, Montcalm made a movement in advance, echeloning his troops from Fort Carillon tb the foot of Lake George, to curb the enemy, and obstruct their landing. July 5, the British embarked, at the lake head, in 900 barges and 130 bateaux, while on numerous rafts oannnon were mounted, constituting so many floating-batteries. " The sky was serene," says Mr. Dwight, " and the weather superb : oar flotilla sped its way in measured time, in accord BATTLE OP CARILLON. K>- 35 with inspiring martial munic. Tlio standards' folds floated gaily In the sunshine; and joyous anticipations of a Cdniing triumph beamod in every eye. Tlie tirmamont above, the eartli below, and all things around us, formed together a glorious spectacle. The sun, since his course in the heavens began, rarely ever lighted up a scene of greater beauty or grandeur," The Hritish van, 6000 strong, led by Lord Howe, reached the lake foot, early on the Gth, and Camp Bruld. As it approached, Uourla- maque fell back on La Chute, where Montcalm was posted ; after wait- ing, but in vain, the return of M. de Trepezeo, whom he had .scTit on a reconnoissance, to Mont Pclee, with .'JOO men. The latter, at sight of the enemy, went to rejoin Bourlanuuiue, but lost his way in the woods ; thereby, through the delay ensuing, just as he reached the spot whence he had set out his corps was surrounded by the enemy, and two-thirds of the men were killed, or drowned in attempted flight. The rest who formed his rear guard and had taken another route, arrived safely at La Chute, whither TrdpeZ(5e and another officer were borne mortally wound- ed. It was also in this fortuitous skirmish that Lord Howe lost his life. He was a young man, but an oflicer of much promise, whose death was greatly mourned over by his compatriots. The amount of the enemy's force, and his intents, were now alike dis- cernible. Montcalm broke up his camp at La Chute ; while, supported by the colonial regulars and 400 to 500 Canadians, just come up, he de- tiled towards the heights of Carillon, where he proposed to do battle ; for it had been determined that, whatever might be the disparity in the numbers of the two armies, the entry to Canada should not be given up without a struggle. Montcalm at first elected to make his stand at Fort St, Frederic (Crown-Point) ; but M. de Lotbini6rc, who knew the coun- try well, counselled him to prefer the heights of Carillon ; the enemy, he said, could not pass that way, if it were judiciously occupied ; and it would be easy to strengthen the pass by entrenching, under the cannon of the fort ; whereas, he observed, the works needful to cover St. Frederic would take two months to execute ; not to mention that. Carillon once cleared, the enemy could safely descend Lake Champlain, leaving the former stronghold unassailed, in his rear. Montcalm, feeling the cogency of this reasoning, halted the troops as soon as they reached Carillon itt their retrograde march ; then he gave them orders to take up a positioa in advance of the fort, and there entrench themselves, as proposed. The heights of Carillon are situated within a triangle formed by the discharge of the superfluous waters of Lake George, named La Chute river^ «ii;< f i m I'iiiin ■>ti 586 HISTORY OF CANADA. J , iind Luke Clintuplain, Into which tliey here flow. Pome bluffs, which arc not h)t'ty, and rise hi«,'hc8t at tlio summit of thotrian^'le, terminate, by an easy shipe, towards tiio hike ; but present a steep frontai^'C to tlie river the hitter liaviii;;; a strand aU)n{iside it about r)() yards broad. At the extremity of the trianj^Ie, on the cd{:;e of the fronta^'c aforesaid, was a small redoubt, the lire from wluch radiated on the river and lake ; infi- lading, too, the sloping ground ahuig the course of the stream. This re- doubt was connected, by u parapet, with Fort Carillon (the ruins of which may still be seen). The fort, which could contain 300 to 400 men, lay in the lap of the triangle, and commanded the centre and right side of the jtlateau, as well as the plain below, in the direction of J^akt' Clianiphiin and the river St. Frederic. The enemy in our front bivouacked durini- the night of July ()-7. The glare of their numerous fires indicated that they were in great number near the portage. The French entrench- ments, of zigzag outline, were begun in the evening of the Oth, and car- ried on most actively on the 7th. They began at the fort, followed for some length the crest of the heights, in the direction of La Chute river, and then turned to the right, in order to traverse the triangle at its base, following the sinuosities of a gorge, of little depth, running across the plateau ; and, finally, descended to the hollow wliicli extends to the lake. The lii.es of entrenchment miglit have about (500 yards oi' development, and a height of five feet: they were formed of felled trees, placed each on others ; and all disposed in such sort, that the larger branches, stripped of their leaves and pointed, turned outwards and formed a rude kind of chovaux-de-frise. Each battalion, as it arrived, first taking the place it was to occupy in action, constructed its parts of the defences intended to cover all. Every man worked with ardor at his reparate task. The Canadians, who did not obtain hatchets till noon on the 6th, began their assigned portion of the abattis, in the hollow towards Lake Champlain, and finished it just as the advancing British came into view. As the intermediate country between the troops and the enemy was thickly wooded, Montcalm had caused the nearer parts of it to be cleared, so that the latter should be the sooner seen, and ha"" no covert when within gun-range. Meanwhile, Abercromby was completing *^ army. Some prisoners he took misinformed entrenched themselves merely to gain time, expL additional men, under Do Levis, said to be on the ly. The wily Abercromby determined to fall on at once, before the (imaginary) succor xcould come up. An engineer, sent by Abercromby to reconnoitre, re- riibarkatior of his that the F\\ ii had 'S i\v irrival of 3000 ■♦.v.. BATTLE OF CARILLON, 687 turned and reported tliat tlio Froneli works were incomplete ; upon wlilcli, he (boldly) put his army in motion. The vuiijj;uar(l, li'd by Colonel Bradntrect, did not halt till it came within a nhort mile of tho French entrenchments, late on 7th July. Hero the enemy 'h advanced corps pa.sscd the ni^ht; the lino of adversaries on each side of the narrow inter- .ipace makin>( ready for next day's action. The British army, deductinj^ a few hundred men left at La Chute (probably for f,niiirdin'^ the boats at the foot of the lake), consisted of 15,000 prime soldiers, under experiiMieed officers — all full of confidence in their superior numbers proving irresistible ; while tlio French forces were only IJ,(JOO stron;^, including 4'){) (Canadians and marines ; there being no armed savages present. Montcalm put fort Carillon in cliargo of 300 men ; the rest lined the entrenchments, three men deep. Order was given to each battalion to keep in reserve a grena- dier company and a piquet of soldiers, to take post behind, and repair, on occasion, to any overpre.s.sed part of the line. Do Levis, who arrived just that morning (the 8tli,) commanded the right wing; under him Averc the Canadians and their chief, M. de Raymond ; Bourlamaque command- ed the left wing, Montcalm the centre. Such was the French order of battle. About half-past 12 noon, the outposts re-entered the abattis, after skir- mishing with those of the British. A cannon-shot, fired from the fort, gave the signal to the men within to stand to their arms, and be ready to open fire. Abercromby divided his array into four columns, the heads of which were ordered to attack simultaneously. The grenadier compiiiiics, posted in front of all, had directions to force the entrenchments at the bayonets' point, but not to fire till they had fairly cleared the barricade. At the same time, an alloted number of gun-barges were to fall down La Chute river, and menace the French right flank. By one o'clock P. M. the British columns were moving onward ; they were intermingled with light troops and savages. The latter, as they advanced under tree-covert, kept up a galling fire on the French. The enemy's four columns, leaving the uncleared woods behind, descended into the gorge in front of our entrench- ments, advancing upon them with great boldness and in admirable order : two of the four columns being directed against the French left wing, or.d against the centre, and the fourth against the right, following the sinuosities in the slope of the hollow where the Canadians were posted. The firing was commenced by the marksmen of the column opposed to tlie French right wing, and extended gradually from that point to »' Uli'i 538 HISTOP.Y OF CANADA. the French left, the column facing which, composed of highlanders and grenadiers, tried to penetrate the barrier on M. de Ldvis' side. That officer, discerning the danger, ordered the Canadians to make a sortie and assail the flank of this column. The manoeuvre succeeded ; for the Canadians' fire, and that of the two battalions on the sloping ground or hillock, forced this column to incline towards the next, in order to avoid a cross flanking-fire. The four columns, obliged to converge a little in advancing, either to protect their flaoks or the better to attain select points of attack, became massed in debouching near the heights. At that instant, 30 barges appeared on La Chute, sent to inquiet the French flank. A low shots from the fort, which sank two of them, and in assault upon the others, from the banks, by a few men, caused their crcivs to retreat. Montcalm had given an order that the enemies should be alloTved to come unresisted within 20 paces of the entrenchments, and it was punc- tually obeyed. Arrived at the marked line, the musketry which assailed their compact masses told so promptly and terribly, that they were first staggered, and then fell into disorder. Forced to fall back an instant, the broken forward ranks were re-formed, and returned to the attack ; but forgetting their consign (not to fire, themselves, till they had sur- mounted the barricade with fixed bayonets), they began to exchange shots at a great disadvantage, with the ensconced French. The firing on both sides, along the whole line, became very hot, and was long continued : but, after the greatest efforts, the surviving assailants were obliged to give r/ay a second time, leaving the ground behind them strewed with dead. Once again, however, they rallied at a little distance, re-formed their columns, and after a few moments' halt, threw themselves anew upon the entrenchments, despite the hottest opposing fire imaginable. Our generalissimo exposed himself as much as the meanest of his sol- diers. From his station in the centre, he hastened towards every point where there was most danger, giving orders and bringing up succor. Finally, the British, after unexampled efiForts, were again repulsed. Astonished more than ever at so obstinate a resistance, Abercroniby, who thought rothing would withstand his forces, could not yet believe that they would ultimately fail before enemies so much inferior in num- bers ; he thought, that, let his adversaries' courage be ever so great, they would at last renounce a contest which, the more violent and prolonged it were, would end all the more fatally for them. He resolved, therefore, to continue his assaults with added energy till he should achieve a triumph. Accordingly, between 1 and 5 o'clock p. m. (four hours I) he ordered up BA'irLE OF CARILLON. 539 sur- on both his troops six times, to be as often driven back, each succeeding time with increasing loss. The fire kept up against them by the French was so hot and close, that part of the fragile ramparts which protected the assailed ignited more than once. The enemies' columns, not succeeding in their first attacks made simul- taneously but independently against the whole French line, now conjoined their strengths, and in a solid body tried to force, sometimes the centre of the French, at other times their right, and again their left wing — all in vain. But it was the right of the French works that was longest and most obstinately assailed ; in that quarter, the combat was most sangui- nary. The British grenadiers and highlanders there persevered in the attack for three hours, without flinching or breaking rank. The high- landers above all, under Lord John Murray, covered themselves with glory. They formed the head of the troops confronting the Canadians, their light and picturesque costume distinguishing them from all other soldiers amid the flames and smoke. This corps lost the half of its men, and 25 of its oflScers were killed or severely wounded.* At length this mode of attack failed, as the preceding had done, owing to the cool intre- pidity of our troops ; who, as they fought, shouted Vive le rot ! and cried "Our general for ever!" During the difierent charges of the enemy, the Canadians made several sorties, turned their flanks, and took a number of them prisoner. At half-past five, Abcrcromby, losing hopes of success for a moment, withdrew his columns into the woods beyond, to allow the men to recover their breath ; yet he resolved to make one last attempt before quite giving up his enterprise. An hour having elapsed, his army returned to the charge, and with its massed strength once again assaulted the whole French line. This final attack fttilcd even as the others. Thus fairly baffled, the British had perforce to retreat, leaving the French masters of the field ; the rear of the former being protected by a swarm of riflemen who skirmished with the Canadians sent in pursuit till night-iall. By this time, the French were exhausted with fatigue, but intoxicated with joy. General Montcalm, accompanied by chevalier de Ldvis and the staff-officers, passed alonir the ranks and thanked the victors, in the king's name, for their good conduct during this glorious day, one of the most memorable in the annals of French valor. Scarcely believing, however, that the present retreat of the British army would be definitive, and fully * Scarcely any of the wounded highlanders ever recovered, even those sent home as invalids; their sores cankered, owing to the broken glass, ragged bita of metal, &c,, used by the Ci^nafUans, instead of shot. — B. i':H W" 540 HISTORY OP CANADA. expecting that they would renew the combat next day, issued orders to prepare for their reception as before. The trc^ps therefore had to pass the night in their position ; they cleaned iheir arms, and when day-light dawned next morning, set to work to complete and add to the entrench- ment; constructing two batteries, one to the right with four cannon mounted, and another on the left with six. After a pause of sonic hours and no enemy appearing, Montcalm sent out some detachments to recon- noitre, one of which, pushing on beyond La Chute, destroyed an in- trenchment which the British had formed there, but abandoned. Next day (July 10), De Levis advanced to the foot of liakc George with his grenadiers, volunteers, and Canadians ; and there found many evidences of tiie precipitation of Abercromby's retreat. During the night following the battle, he continued his retreat, without stopping, to the lake ; and this retrograde movement must have become a veritable flight. His soldiers left by the way their field implements portions of the baggage, and many wounded men (who were all picked up by De Ldvis) ; their general having re-embarked his remaining troops by the first morning light, after throwing all his provisions, &c., into the lake. Such wius the battle of Carillon, wherein 3,G00 men struggled success- fully, for six hours, against 15,000 picked soldiers. The victory gained on this memorable day (July 8, 1757) greatly raised the reputation of Montcalm, whom good fortune attended ever since he came to America, making him the idol of the soldiers. In his army but 377 men were killed or wounded, including 88 ofiicers. Amongst those hurt was M. de Bourlamaque, who was severely wounded in the shoulder ; M. de Bougain- ville, who had just been promoted to the grade of assistant (luarter-master, was wiiunded likewise. De Levis' clothes and hat were ball-pierced in several places. The British owned to a loss of 2,000 killed or wounded, including 126 officers ; but the contemporary French accounts estimated the British loss at from four to five thousand. ''Montcalm," said M. Dussieux, "stopped invtision by his brilliant victory of Carillon ; certes, that was a deed to be proud of. But Mont- calm spoke modestly of what he had done : * The only credit I can lay claim to,' wrote he next day to M. de Vaudreuil, ' is the glory accruing to me of commanding troops so valorous... The success of the affair is due to the incredible bravery manifested both by officers and soldiers.' " " During the evening of the battle-day, the fortunate and illustrious general wrote, upon the battle-field itself, this simple and touching letter to his friend M. de Doreil : ' The army, the too small army of the king, has just beaten his enemies. What a day for the honor of France I Uad t5 BATTLE OP CARILLON. 541 I had two hundred savages to serve for the van of a detachment of a thousand chosen troops, led by De Ldvis, not many of the fleeinjij enemies Wvtuld have escaped. Ah I such troops as ours, my dear Doi-eil — I never saw their match." Abcrcromby made his way to the head of Lake George in hot liaste. Arrived thore, he entrenched himself in the camp which he occupied before his short campaign ; ordering General Amherst, from Louisbourg, to join him without delay. The latter, who re-landed at Boston, Sept. 13, took the road for Albany with 4,500 men. But the season was then too far advanced to make any new attempt for the current year — supposing always that Abcrcromby had inclinations that way ; and renewed invasion of Canada had to be adjourned till a more propitious time. Furthermore, the Carillon pass would have been more hard to force on a second attempt than at the first ; becai'.se the entrenchments there, which were then barricaded with felled trees, now consisted of regular embankments flanked by redoubts armed with artillery. Bands of Canadians, and savages, also scoured the country far and near, and held in check the whole British army. They attacked its detachments even under the walls of Fort Edward ; near to which, M. de St. Luc captured a convoy of 150 waggons. Nevertheless, the great numerical superiority of our enemies made their losses of men little felt, for the recruits they constantly received more than compensated such deductions ; whereas tlie very successes of the French diminished the chances of their ultimately prevailing in so un- equal a struggle as they had to maintain. Abcrcromby, having learned that his descent on Carillon was tlie cause why Do Ldvis had been called away from fort Frontenac (Kingston), and that the place was nearly abandoned, sent Colonel Bradstreet, with 8,000 men, bearing 11 guns and mortars, to surprise that important post, which was the entrepot of the French marine on Lake Ontario. That officer reached his destination Aug. 25, having left the British camp secretly, and descended the Oswego river to the lake. The fort contained only 70 men, but their commander, M. de Noyau, did not surrender it till the enemies' bombs made it untenable. Tlie victors captured many ca.inou, quantities of small arms, loads of provisions, and nine newly armed barks, — part of the trophies brought from Oswego. After loading his barges to the water's edge, bradstreet released his prisoners on parole, burnt the fort, also seven of the barks, and returned to his own country ; where, soon afterwards, he re-established fort Bull. iil'SP M •v; \q.. 542 HISTORY OF CANADA. This expedition did honor to the American colonel, and for a moment inquicted the colonial authorities, for it seemed to put in peril our supe- riority in the lake country, as that partly depended on the flotilla, laid up in ordinary at Frontenac. The mastery of Lake Ontario appeared to be so important, that M. de Vaudreuil, on learning that Bradstreot had made his descent at Frontenac, caused the call to arms to be boat and ordered the town-major of Montreal, M. Duplessis, to gather all the savages he could, and recall 1,500 Canadians from field labor; then to lead them forward, by forced marches, to relieve the garrison of Frontenac. That oflacer, however, upon reaching Fort Prdsentation (Ogdensburgh), was informed that Frontenac was already taken ; upon which he halted and waited the arrival of further orders. He was then directed to detach 600 of his men for Niagara, in order to strengthen the post there. M. de Vaudreuil also sent for General Montcalm to Montreal, to dehberate upon what was to be done, now that Louisbourg had fallen and Frontenac was ruined. It was resolved by the two chiefs that the latter should be refounded ; and that Niagara should be re-taken were it to fall into the enemy's hands temporarily, as was then feared, being but weakly garri- soned ; while Oswego was to be attacked, if the British thought fit to re-fortify that place. De Ldvis was named commandant of the great lake frontier , and M. de Pontleroy, chief engineer, appointed to restore the defensive works of Frontenac ; but this labor was not to be performed till the year following, the season being too far spent. If their superiority in numbers assured to the British the advantages of a campaign in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the same cause produced a like result in the Ohio valley, where the successes of the French were in- sufficient to compensate their numerical weakness. General Forbes direct- ed the enemy's operations on this frontier. His army, composed of regu- lar troops, under Colonel Bouquet; and of militiamen, under Colonel Wash- ington, assembled 6,000 strong at Raystown, 30 leagues from fort Du- quesne, which they were to attack. An unpleasant recollection of Brad- dock's defeat induced the enemy to approach that fort by a new route across the highlands. In mid-September, the British troops were still at Loyal-Hanning, where they raised a fort, 45 miles distant from the French post. Before setting out himself, Forbes sent a detachment, 1,000 strong, under Major Grant, to reconnoitre ; and this corps reached undiscovered a spot within a short mile of Fort Duqucsne. Grant's intent was to attack, during the night, those savages who usually camped round the place ; but the fires lighted before their huts, the com- mon indicators of their presence, had been let burn out before he arrived, BATTLE OF CARILLON. 543 * and he was obliged, before doing any thing further, to retire at break of day to the crest of a neighboring hill, where his presence surprised the French. M. de Ligneris, successor of M. Dumas, at once assembled 700 to 800 men, who, led by M. Aubry, ascending to the position of the British attacked and drove them into the plain. The savages, who had retired beyond the river, so as not to be come on unawares, retraced their steps, and, seeing the enemies' repulse, joined the Canadians. The British, attacked again, were completely routed and dispersed ; they lost 300 men, killed or wounded, and more than 100 were taken prisoner, includ- ing 20 officers and Grant himself. Those who fled rejoined Forbes at Loyal-Hanning, whence he had not stirred. It was now November, and the season's snows began to fall ; it was therefore decided, in a council of war, that further aggressive operations should be postponed till next year ; but, before a retrograde movement was made by the British, some prison- ers they took unfortunately disclosed tlie weak condition of the French. The allied savages had left for their own villages, and the auxiliary corps from Detroit and the Illinois, sent in aid, through a misunderstanding that the enemies were already on their homeward route, had retired ; in line, scarcely 500 men were then in garrison at Fort Duciucsne. Forbes now changed his mind : leaving behind him his tents and heaviest bac- gage, he advanced, by forced marches, towards the place with all his troops and light artillery. M. de Ligneris, not able to face so sujieriora force, and hopeless of succor, embarked his artillery in bateaux, burnt the fort, and retired with his men to Fort Machault, near Lake Erie. Forbes took possession of the relinquished ruins of a place, which had been such an eyesore to the British. The latter, willing to compliment their great minister, gave the name of Pittsburg to the heap of ashes found in a locality, now the site of a rich and flourishing city. Everywhere the season for repose was come, and the forces of the belli- gerents, on all the frontiers, entered into cantonments. Upon Lake George, the British armies, after receiving reinforcements which mutual inaction rendered useless, took up their winter-quarters ; that of Abercromby, before retiring, burnt the defensive erections and obliterated the trenches formed at the head of Lake George. The balance of material advantage in the campaign of 1758, the fifth since hostilities began, inclined to the British side in America : for they became masters, in autumn, of Louisbourg and Isle St. Jean ; they burnt the Gaspe settlements, and gained a foothold on the north coast of Fundy Bay ; they razed Fort Frontenac and forced the French to leave that place, as well as Fort Duquesne : but, so far as military glory was con- 544 mSTORY OP CANADA. "I ■••'4^ cerned, the French rose superior. Everytvhero they had to contend af^ainst far greater numbers than their own ; at Louisbourg, disparity was as I to 4 ; at Carillon nearly 1 to 5 ! Never did our race fight with more devo- tcdness or greater intrepidity. If its chieft committed some faults, it cannot be said that those faults caused the evil consummation becoming inevitable, the responsibility of which must be laid at the door of their sybaritic sovereign. Canada, left a prey to ftimine and the sword, could not for ever maintain a contest against a maritime Power, mistress of those seas across which new armies were ever passing to reinforce Canada's enemies, far too powerful before. In other regions of the globe, France's fortunes were better that year. In the East, her fleets captured Gondclour, and burnt there ten British frigates ; they also took fort David and Divicotd on the Coromandel coast. After a check at Raga, the French conquered the naboby of Arcate. In Europe, France achieved successes and sustained some reverses ; upon the whole, her position there was made no worse. A few victories coun- terbalanced some defeats in Germany; and the duke d'Aiguillon annihi- lated at St. Cast the rear-guard of a British force, which for some time menaced tlie French coasts. So many efforts, however, to sustain a war over land and sea in every part of the world, ended by emptying the royal treasury. Pitt, aware of this, strove with redoubled energy to destroy or paralyse the forces of France in the New World. Financial embarrassments, added to gloomy prospects, now caused a new change in the French ministry. " For some time before," says M. Guerin, '' successive ministers flitted across the political scene like so many shadows ; this was true of the marine as of all other departments, under the semblance of a government which France possessed during that sad epoch of our history. Hardly had a newly inducted state functionary begun to acquire the routine duties of his place, than he was forced to renounce it before effecting any thing. Only a month after Peraine de Mauras succeeded to Machault in the bureau of marine and colonies, he had to make way for De Massiac, who in turn, after a few weeks' pos- session, was displaced in fivour of Nicolas-Rend Berryer, a personage not less hurtful than J6r6me Pontchartrain had been before. Berryer had been lieutenant of police ; and, as such, a chief purveyor of lodgers for the Bastille, in which capacity he earned the favour of Pompadour : among the Paris commonalty, atrocious acts were laid to his charge, and he ran some risk of falling a victim to the popular fury therefor. To this con- temned, detested, and above all incompetent man, did the ruling demirep coasign the department of marine ; now had our British enemies tried BATTLE OF CARILLON. 546 their utmost to deal a brain-blow to French interests, they could not have succeeded better than did the court favorite by this odious appointment." Marshal de Belle-Isle succeeded M. de Paulmy as war minister ; and the Duke de Choiseul replaced Cardinal de Bernis, as minister of foreign affairs. These changes foreshadowed an ascendency for the war party at court. Still, military interest fared no better for the change ; and disas- ters to the French arms continued increasingly, as we shall have too much occasion to see. To Canada the new ministry was even less favorable than the old ; none of its members took thought for the necessities of the colony, or cared to stir up others to send out the succors which had been so urgently solicited. Meanwhile the ' paucity of soldiers and scarcity of victuals in the colony, became increasing as well as abiding evils. A portion of the cultivators having been diverted from their proper work in compliance with the exigencies of war, many farms lay fallow ; consequently, supple- mentary supplies of food were needful. Large imports had taken place in previous years, larger were wanted now. On the other hand, hostili- ties, hotly maintained on the ocean, made transmission by sea hazardous, and imports uncertain ; thence it became indispensable to order matters so, that the greatest number of rural laborers, which could by any possibi- lity be spared at intervals, should have allowance to quit the army, during seed-time and harvest : thus war and agriculture became each other's bane, and both were now advancing on the road to ruin. As early as the month of October, the governor-general and intendant wrote to the minister, to inform him that the British meant to besiege Quebec in the ensuing year with large forces ; adding, that if Canada received no succor, attacked as it would be on all sides, its people must needs succumb; that there were only 10,000 disposable men in arms to confront hosts of foes, as 4,000 troops (all there were besides) were want- ed for transports, the garrisoning of Niagara, Frontenac, Pr«5sentation, &c. " Wo cannot count for much the inhabitants," it was observed : " they are wearied out by continual marchings ; yet it is to them we trust, as scouts for the army.* Their lands are but half cultivated ; their dwellings are falling to ruin ; they are ever campaigning far away from wives and children, who mostly have not bread to eat There will be no till- age this year, for want of husbandmen." It was stated also by the authorities, that a distribution to the poorer classes, of bullock or horse flesh, at reduced prices, would have to take place. And, going into details, as • *' Ce sont etix qui font les dicouvertes pour Parmee ;" the above is a true if free interpretation of the foregoing words, if we mistake not.— J3. KK \i If i -if ^■i 546 HISTORY OP CANADA. to the amount of food considered to be indispcasable, 35 ships, of 300 to 400 tons each, it was intimated, would be wanted to bear it across the ocean. All the private correspondence of the time evidences the truthfulncsa of the ofl&cial picture thus drawn of the colony's deplorable state. The breaches of trust and robberies habitually committed by the intendunt and his confederates, progressed concurrently with the failing ability of the country to bear them. M. de Bougainville repaired to Paris, in view of urging upon the court the necessity there was for making an effort to avert the utter ruin of the colony, become imminent ; and M. de Dorcil, who was to follow, was directed to sustain Bougainville's representations. Pressing as these were, they fell dead-born from the remonstrants' lips. In their impotence to succor the noblo dependency of France she was about to lose, the king's ministers, as if to justify themselves, took to addressing reproaches to the intendant, regarding the excessive expendi- ture of the Canadian government. For some months, they had been advertised of what was going on ; for, as early as August preceding, M. Doreil, emboldened by Montcalm, who honored him with his friendship, thus wrote the minister respecting a peccant functionary in the commis- sariat : ** Pdan has made so rapid a fortune (in eight years), that he is reputed to have netted two millions..., Canada is Britain's own, next year We are here like men moribund, whose last agony is near, although warded off for a short while by medical means." " You may look upon him (P«Jan) as one of the primal originators of the mal-administration and approaching loss of this unfortunate country. I told you just now, that he is two millions in pocket j could we trust to public report, the sum that he has netted is nearer to four than two " A communication written in cipher, dated December, 1758, transmit- ted to Paris, informed its recipient that all financial matters were in Bigot's hands ; that he was uncontrolled in their management, acted under no direction, and was subject to no supervision ; further, that while his only care was to enrich himself, he played the part of an official despot. Partly to stifle animadversion, partly from weakness, it was added, he allowed his accomplices to share in the public spoils. Among the most important of the latter, was one not named, but plainly indica- ted as " the minister's right hand: " this was M. de la Porte, a court functionary at Versailles. Bigot really monopolized the whole trade of the colony, inner and outer, by the help of Pdan, Le Mercier, and others, who furnished provisions, implements, fuel, everything the government had need of ; and the party BATTLE OF CARILLON. 547 lent, acted habitually diverted the means of transport, provided for public use, to private purposes. " Bigot," we read in one letter, " ordered from France all that Canada was likely to want, not for account of the king, but to be entered in name of the 'great society;' which association sold stores for state use at whatever price the directors chose to put upon them." Bigot was also accused of falsifying the public accounts in liisown peculiar way, changing the titles of items of outlay, enhancing the amounts of articloe delivered, &c. At length, Montcalm decided to indite (April 12, 1759) certain incriminating facts which he had previously declared (Nov. 4, 1757) " he could not bring himself to write." In a long ciphered despatch, addressed to marshal de Belle-Isle, then war minister, ho began by imparting his own inquietudes regarding the destiny of Canada; repeating that food and money were both wanting to the colony, and that the spirit of its people was depressed. " I have no faith whatever," added he, " either in M. de Vaudreuil or M. Bigot. The former is not fit to plan a military enterprise ; he has no activity ; he gives his confidence to pre- tenders. As for Bigot, his only aim is to enrich himself, his adherents and toadies ...Greediness has infected every one — officer.s, store- keepers, clerks — those who intermediate with the Ohio posts, and the savage tribes in the west, &c and all realise astonishing fortunes ; one oflBcer, who entered as a private soldier 20 years ago, has netted 700,000 livres False accounts are exposed to no test; if the savages had but a quarter of what is charged to the king on their account, he might have every nation of them at his command, even those now in British pay All this corruptness exerts a mulijjfn influence on the conduct of the war. M. de Vaudreuil, for whom one man is as good as another, would as lief entrust a great military operation to his brother, or to any other colonial officer, as to M. de Levis The choice is sure to fall on some one who has a finger in the family pie : accordingly, M. Bourlamaque was not put in command at fort Duquesne, nor M. Senezergues, as I proposed. Had either been sent, the king would have been all the better served. But what abuses may not be expected to arise out of such a system ! under which the smallest cadet, with a sergeant and one cannoneer, manning some petty outpost, shall return from it with certificates for 20,000 or 30,0(1" livres, as vouchers for the (pretended) value of articles furnished to the wavages It would seem, really, that every one is in hot haste to realize a fortune before the colony is quite lost to France : several perhaps wish for the ruin to be total, so that all recorded evidences of their speculations may be covered by its wrecks." Becurring to the facts notified in the anonymous letter of \ii a 'I'lll 548 mSTOIlY OP CANADA. December, Montcalm wrote concerning the fur trade, on merchandize for savages' use, transports, &c., ex. gr. : " Immense forestallings arc going on of all sorts of articles, which are re-sold at 150 per cent, advance of prices, for the benefit of Bigot and his adherents I have often spoken in respectful terms, about their prodigal expenditure, to Messrs. de Vau- .drcuil and Bigot, but each throws the blame of it on the other." In a letter written the same day (April 12, 1759) to M. le Normand intendant for tho colonies, Montcalm signalized the huge frauds of the colonial engineers charged with the direction of military works ; their dishonest contracts were also attested and denounced by M. de Pontic- roy, royal engineer, whose own hands were unsoiled. A chief peculator in this department was Le Mercier, a creature of Vaudreuil and Bigot ; the king he grossly defrauded in all purchases made of ordnance equip- ments, such as portable forges, ammunition and baggage carts, siege imple- ments, &c. M. de Vaudreuil, an honest but weak man, had been encircled, se- duced, and mystified by Bigot and Co. to such an extent as to be entirely at their disposal ; his ignoble subjection to them embroiling him with Mont- calm, Ldvis, Bougainville, Doreil, Pontleroy — in fine, with every honest man who could and would have set him right. So hoodwinked was he content to be, that, in a letter to the min'''''er of marine, dated Oct. 15, 1 759, he formally defended the system of the intendant 1 and on the strength of the certificate of good conduct thus signed in favor of Bigot, that worthy continued his depredations, without feigning any further sense of shame.* All these complaints, all those accusations, disquieted the ministers, without stimulating them to remedy the abuses denounced, or to supply needful succors to prosecute the existing war. But it was thought decent to say something, at least. Berryer, therefore, wrote to the intendant (Jan. 19, 1759), that the exorbitant wealth of his (Bigot's) subalterns, exposed their superior's administration of the colonial finances to labor under general suspicion. In a letter, dated Aug. 29, the same minister being previously advised that the colonial drafts for the current year had risen from 31 to 33 millions, testified still greater discontent, reproaching Bigot for outlays sometimes made without royal sanction, often without any necessity, and always without any regard to economy. Thus did he terminate his strictures on this occasion : " You are directly accused of hampering the free provisioning of the colony; for your commissa:_y- * The above details arc borrowed from the admirable work of M. Dcssutux, intituled, Canada sous la Domination Frangaise. BATTLE OF CARILLON. 549 general buys up all commodities, and sells them again at liis own price. You have yourself, sir, bought at second and third hand, what you ought to have obtained at once, for the king's service, at a cheaper rate ; you have enriched persons, your connexions, whose interest you alone studied in your purchases, or in other ways; you live in splendor, and indulge in high gambling,* in a time of general privation I desire you to reflect seriously on the manner in which you have till now performed the administrative duties which were laid upon you. It is of more conse- quence to you that this be done, than perhaps you are aware of." This despatch, which menaced to lay bare the secret doings of the intendant, seemed to affect him little, but in reality he felt self-humiliated and apprehensive of consequences ; for he was now made sensible that he was a fallen man in the estimation of his patrons at court. A second despatch re-produced the foregoing reproaches ; with superadded threats, of a more pointed and explicit character than those indicated by tlie first. Misfortunes and obstacles sour men's tempers, and end by engendering evil passions in the noblest hearts. Discords between De Vaudreuil and Montcalm assumed a graver character than ever before, after the battle of Carillon. The latter, and his partisans, accused the former of having exposed the army to the risk of utter destruction, by dispersing it about lake Ontario and at the foot of lake George, by not calling the Canadians and armed savages to be ready to act at every point liable to be endangered. After the battle of Carillon, Montcalm wrote to the minister that the governor's acts had exposed him, without proper means of defence, to the enemy's blows ; but since victory had repaired this fault, there was no more to be said on that head. He now declared, however, that to the regulars was due the whole credit of the triumph — an ungenerous obser- vation, which serves to show the jealous animus which we have adverted to more than once. Then, after soliciting the rewards merited by soldiers so valorous, he added : " As for me, I ask for no other guerdon than my recall from the king. My health is failing, my purse is getting thin ; by the year's end I shall owe 10,000 crowns to the colonial treasurer. Worse than all, what between the unpleasantness and contrarieties I have to endure, along with my impotence to do good or to prevent evil from being done — all things, in short, impel me to supplicate earnestly that his Majesty would let me return to France, for that is the only royal grace I covet." M. Doreil, who chose to express his friend's sentiments- * Bigot played to an amount sufficient to astonish the most hardened of our present gamblers. During the carnival of 1758, he lost over 200,000 livres. I i 'i!. % 'I I I i rM HISTORY OP CANADA. • .'I still more explicitly, criticized lonjj; before, as we have seen, but now wiib Cfreater asperity, nil the nets of the colonial ndministrntion. After tho late victory, more especially, he put no curb upon his strictures : " The nof^li^cnce, the ignorance, the tardiness, and the obstinacy of the governor, have well-nigh caused tho loss of the colony Inaptitude, intriguing lying, nnd cupidity conjoined, will doubtless consummate its porditi expected; adding, that, " not only would additional troops be a means of aggrav'ating the e\ ils of the dearth which has too long afflicted the colony, but the chances are great that, if sent thither, they would be cr'^tured by the British on their way to you ; and us the king cannot pretend to send forces in any erjual proportion to thone which the British can oppose to ours, the only result af our increasing the latter would be, that the cabinet of London would augment theirs in an over-proportion, so ns to maintain the supe- riority which Britain has acquired in that part of your continent."! Accordingly, 600 recruits, two frigates, and 12 to 15 merchant vessels, chiefly Bigot's, and bearing cargoes for him — these were all the succors which reached Quebec before the enemy's fleet came up. Although this virtually released the Canadians from the fealty they owed to France, since she recognized tlie absolute superiority of the British in America, not one of them yet spoke of surrender ; they had still blood to shed ar^-i sacritioes that they could make for their fatherland ; and if some despairing words did arise, they proceeded from the French regulars rather than from the Canadian ranks. The British Government well knew Canada's distress, and prepared to profit by it. The parliament freely granted all the supplies wanted, of men, money, and ships, to ensure the realization of the great enterprise • These are the nearest English equivalents to mardchal de camp and major- general. — B. t Letter, of date Feb. 19, 1759. ^ BATTLE OF CARILLON. 653 'ance. since the ministry had undertaken. If British advantages already gained were not brilliant, they were solid and important ; the roads to Quebec, to Niagara, and into western Canada lay open ; and the native tribes of the latter region were gained over. The savage nations of the west, foresee- ing the coming fall of French domination in America, and willing to secure favor in time, had formed in October preceding an alliance at Easton,* where attended Sir Wra. Johnson,f along with several governors and a number of leading colonials. Tims was breaking up daily that admirable system of alliances, formed by Champlain, and organized by Talon and Frontenac. The Treaty of Easton, says Smollett, paved the way for the military operations projected against Canada, and effected in 1759. The British persisted in tlici": plan for invading our country simulta- neously, at the centre and by its two longitudinal extremities. The immensity of their fonieH always necessitated a subdivision of them ; for, in a mass, its parts would have encumbered each other, and some become useless. Louisbourg imving fallen, Quebec was the second fastness which had to be attacked by sea. Beneath the walls of the capital the three invading armies were to meet, and overpower that last bulwark of France by their very weight. General Amherst, who had been formally thanked by parliament, as well as Admiral Boscawen, for reducing Louis- bourg, was sent to supersede Abercromby, the defeated of Carillon. A corps, 10,000 strong, was assigned to General Wolfe, a young oflScer who had gained distinction at Louisbourg. While he should ascend the St Lawrence, and invest Quebec, 12,000 men, under Amherst himself, was to make a renewed attempt (the third) to force a passage by lake Cham- plain, descend the rivers Richelieu and St. Lawrence, and join his forces to Wolf-'<< at Quebec. Next, General Prideaux, with a third corps, of regulars, p. ^vincials, and thousands of savages led by Sir W. Johnson, WiiS cbirged to take Fort Niagara, descend lake Ontario, &c., towards Quo;, jc, capturing Montreal by the way, and o ,ually join his forces to those which would already have arrived at the capital of Canada. Lastly, a fourth but smaller corps, under Colonel Stanwix, was to scour the country, reduce French fortlets wherever ibund, and clear the lake-board of Ontario from every enemy to Britain. The collective forces of the enemy whicl thus took the fifjd tluM year, exceeded .'i<>,000 men ; they were accompanied by park* (A artillery, and provided with all warlike • About 90 miles from Philadelphia. — B. t A slight mistake : the worthy baronet did not attend on the above occaaioa. r i 1 1, . \ 554 HISTORY OF CANADA. requisites for sieges, kc. In addition to this land armament, there were sent from Britain, to aid the operations of her array, a fleet of 20 ships of the line, 10 frigates, and 18 smaller war vessels, under Adnuralp 'Saunders, Durell, and Holmes, with many transports for conveying Wolfe's division, from Louisbourg to Quebec ; the whole expedition by sea, it being arranged, should rendezvous in the St. Lawrence, and cover the siege of that city by land. If we reckon the number of sailors and marines thus employed at 18,000, and make an allowance for troops left to guard the British- American provinces, it will be found that the estima- tion of the enemy's strength, made by Montcalm, was not far wide of the mark. To confjuer Canada, the invaders were obliged to embody three times more men than it contained soldiers and colonists fit to bear arms:* this fact attests the fear which its warriors, so few in number, had inspired in their enemy's hearts. In view of preparing to oppose such hosts, an inquest was made in winter 1758-9, to ascertain the number of valid males in the colony, between the ages of 16 and GO : when this was found to bo rather more than 15,000 in all. The regular force afoot scarcely exceeded 5,000.t At all times, it is well known, the Canadians were trained to tlie use of arms. May 20, the governor-general sent a circular to all th ; ca[.; lins of militia, ordering them to have their companies ready to take luc ucld at the first signal, each man provided with six days' provisions. In April preceding, the people were informed that the storm of war was about to burst, and the bishop ordained prayers to be offered up in all • The Anglo-American journals estlraateil the British land-force ai GO, 000 men. "Briluin has actually more troops afoot in this continent than Canada numbers inhabitants, including men, women, and children. How is it possible to make head against such au armed multitude?" — Letter of M. Dorcil to the ninixtrr. t Government of Quebec— (Official enumeration returns). 7,511 men and youths. Three Rivers 1,313 " " Montreal G,405 " " Total 15,229 " " The number of regularly trained soldiers was — Eight battalions of the line 3,200 men. Two ditto of colonial r^^gulars 1,500 " Recruits (just arrived from France) ♦'00 " , Total 5,300 '* ,r^ . •, n IS BATTLE OP CARILLON. >o6 the churches. The parishioners went thither in crowds on these occa- sionn in sn^^h sort as they had been used to when entering on a cam- paign. Early in spring, Captain Pouchot set out for Niagara with 300 men, regulars and Camadians, to repair and defend the fort there, if attacked ; M but were it not so, he was charged to succor the posts near the Ohio, also to attack enemies in the field, on tempting occasions. Some wnr- barkd were built, during winter, at Fort Presentation (Ogdensburgh). M. de Corbi(>re ascended beyond, to refound Frontenac, in order to resume the mastery of Lake Ontario. Other craft were built at the foot of Lake Champlain, to protect the communications of Forts St. Frederic and Carillon ; and, whatever might beftil these, to defend Fort St. John's (on the Richelieu). As soon as the season permitted, about 2,000 men took posts at intervals, on that frontier, from Chambly (below St. John's) to the foot of Lake George. This force was under the orders of bi igadier- general Bourlamaque, who was charged to strengthen the position of Carillon. But the additional works needed there were not completed when news brought by Colonel Bougainville (from Franco), made it prob- able that Quebec was about to be assailed. An order, therefore, was sent to Bourlamaque, enjoining him, should the enemy come down in force, to destroy all the defences at both the above forts, and retreat to the Isle-aux-Noix fjust below the embouchure of Lake Champlain). The chevalier de la Corne, charged to keep the field at the foot of Lake Ontario with 12,000 men, was also, if needs must, to retire to the St. Lawrence rapids below La Prdsentation and there make a stand. These precautions having been taken, the rest of the troops were ordered to remain in readiness in their respective quarters ; while the governor-gene- ral, and Generals Montcalm and do Ldvis, assembled at Montreal, waiting the first movements of the enemy, to ascertain from these, in what direc- tion it would be proper to send the disposable forces ; as the superiority of the British in numbers made theux masters of the situation for the time. Montcalm, however, soon chafed at this state of enforced inaction. He thought, too, that the dispositions (by Vaudreuil) for the defence of Quebec had been tardily made — which was true enough ; but France ought to have had the capital properly fortified long liefore. We have already particularized what was done in that matter. In vain had M. Galis- sonniere, as well as so many others, enlarged upon the necessity of fortifying Quebec. He demonstrated, too, the necessity there was for preserving Canada itself, in behoof of tho French royal navy and the trade of 656 HISTORY OF CANADA. the mother country ; and he observed that, if the colony was costly to her, the numerous strongholds which bristled with anus along the Euro- pean frontiers, cost far more to maintain in defensive order. Vainly did he reason thus, again and again, with the king's ministers: a fatal repug- nance ever prevented them from taking action in the case. In 1759, it was too late to repair the error. Our chief city's outer line of defence was incapable of sustaining a siege. Montcalm, after extending his observation over all its most assailable parts, did not venture to decide, as yet, upon what should be done — and this the rather as the British forces were to act simultaneously at points removed each front the other : he therefore stood ready till some one of their armies should take the initiative, when he would know satisfactorily how he had best oppose them all. END OP VOLUME I. . V LOVELL'S SERIES OF SCHOOL BOOKS. The undersigned having long felt it would be highly desirable to have a SERIES OF EDUCATIONAL WORKS, PREPARED AND WRITTEN IN CANADA, and adapted for the purposes of Canadian Education, begs to call attention to the Text Books with which he has already commenced this scries. These works have met with a very general welcome throughout the Province; and the Publisher feels confident that the eulogiums bestowed upon them are fully merited, as considerable talent and care have been enlisted in their preparatiou. The following Text Books have already been published : 1. LOVELL'S GENERAL GEOGRAPHY, with 51 Coloured Maps, 113 Beau- tiful Engravings and a Table c" Clocks of the World. By J. Georob HoDUiNs, LL.B., F.R.G.S. [This liuok 18 cnpecially Qdaptcd for, and worthy of iiitrodiictioii into ovi'ry Collfffc, Acaaeniy.niid Scliool in the British I'roviiiccs. tj^raruiits Bliuuld sec tliat it is iu tiii'ir cliildri'ii's liandn. | 2. NATIONAL ARITHMETIC, in Theory and Practice, adapted to Decimal Currency. By J. H. Sanostkk, Esq., M. A. 3. KEY to ditto. By tlie same. 4. ELEMENTARY ARITHMETIC, in Decimal Currency. By the same. 5. NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, PART I., including Statics, Hydrostatics, Ac, •kc. By the same. 6. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE ; or, the Philosophy of Gram- mar. By Ti!0MA8 Jaffkey Robeutso.n, Esqr., M.A. 1. AN EASY MODE OF TEACHING THE RUDIMENTS OF LATIN GRAM- MAR TO BEGINNERS. By the same. 8. CLASSICAL ENGLISH SPELLING BOOK. By G. G. Vasey. 9. ENGLISH GRAMMAR MADE EASY. By the same. 10. THE A-B-C SIMPLIFIED, and Reading Made Easy to the capacity of Little Children. By the same. 11. STUDENT'S GUIDE TO ENGLISH GRAMMAR, or the Way to speak and Write Grammatically. By the Rev. J. G. Armstkono, M.A. 12. ELEMENTS OF ELOCUTION. By J. Barber, M.R.C.S. 13. OUTLINES OF CHRONOLOGY. By Mas. Gordon. 14. BRITISH AMERICAN READER. By J. D. Borthwick, Esq. The Following are in Press : 15. ELEMENTARY TREATISE ON ALGEBRA. By J. H. Sanqster, Esq.,M.A. IG. NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, PART II. By the samo. 17 KEY to the Elementary Arithmetic By the same. 18. EASY LESSONS IN GENERAL GEOGRAPHY. By J. Gborob IIodgins, LL.B., F.R.G.S. 19. BOOKKEEPING by Single and Double Entry. By John G. Din.vi.vg, Es(,. The following Text Books, printed from New Sterex^typa t'ates and in good Bindings, have also been pablishud : 20. The FIRST NATIONAL BOOK OF LESSONS. 21. The SECO.VD ditto ditto 22. Tliu THIilD ditto . ditto 23. The FOURTH ditto ditto 24. The FIFTH ditto di'To 25. PINNOCK'S IMPROVED EDITION ()• '- ^SMITHS HISTORY OF ENGLAND. i{y W. C. Tavi.oh, LL.D., T.t D. 26. LENNIE'S ENGLISH GltAMMAR. 27. KIRKHAMS KNGLlSli GiiA.MMAR. 28. FRENCH WITIIOIT .\ .MASTER. 29. FREN(^n GENDERS taught in Si.v Fables. In fnrpnnition -.— X SCHOOL HISTORY OF CANADA, AND OF THE '•THER BRITISH PROVINCES, with Illustrations. By J. Gkoroe HoixiiNa, LL.E., F.R.G.S. Messrs. R. & A. MILLER, Montreal and Toronto, arc the General Agents in Canada for the sale of Lo veil's Series of School Books. I t , \ Extracts from Opinions on Lovell's General Geography. I consider the plan excellent, the matter judiciously selected, and, for a text- book, surprisingly full and complete. — Bishop of Toronto. I ajn impressed with the belief that it is calculated to bo eminently useful in the schools of the Province. — Bishop of Quebec. C'est un travail prdcieux qui fera honneur & votro prcsse, et rendra un vrai service a lY-ducaiion primaire de nos enfants. — Bishop of Montreal, J'ai parcouru cet ouvrage avec un veritable int '/ Photographic Sciences Corporation S. t ^ \ :\ -q\^ \ tv c> 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (7«6) 872-4503 ii% '' a iSSf-m^hi^S W^S^ISMM tsumsm aumaj cicsi: :2zjzi'li sttara « .". xca^a^ nmis'31! {jjm akf ^njifriorto tljf |5nlf of ^! » awti CORRECTED FROM INFORMAtToN OBTAINED BY THE "^^, ' /'Z? AY* f /f^/> fV;/^ J'l/E ( 'iJ^Alh I ^>//^ li ( ' TORY ) SCALE 25 MILES TO ONE INCH, - -¥ y iSpu ^Uluwii liiflir>:%tinli«al. 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