J The Story of Acadia Vv. 4 V CANADA NATIONAL LIBRARY BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE '. t i^ "1 " t 5»<-v, ^ ^ifc-P^-O'^l^ ^-^^^^^T^^^"'^''^-^*^ •/9^^^'c--«^c-«.<.,<;x-^^ The St ,..i.. ory /■ ■« of Acadia fiy JAMES HANNAY ^-v,.. Kentville Nova Scotia <:•• f • •(., J '.- hi Tht Story of Acaiia, as told in the following pagta, tvill be read with interest 6v all who visit its shores. The scenes we view have a double charm when linked with some tale of human achievement or of human suffering. Ancient Acadia, ivhich embraced tht modern Provinces of New Brimsivick and Nova Scotia, was indeed a land of romance, and the lightest li details of the lives of its people are of interest to the men and women of the present day. Here tvere reproduced, on a smaller scale, the conditions of life that existed in France in feudal times, and here the Acadian peasant, cut off by a mighty ocean from the home of his fathers, and living apart from the in- fluences of the outer ivorld, developed a type of life unique in its simplicity, piety and dependence on the ecclesiastics ivho ministered to his religious needs. Never was a land so beloved as Acadia was by the Acadian people, and the story of their exile, as told by a great American poet, has drawn tears from many eyes. Yet the descendants of the e.vi'es of 1755 notv number one hundred thousand persons in the land from which their fathers were deported, so irresistible was the impulse ivhich led them to return to their beloved Acadia. Although the march of civilization has made some changes in the outward aspect of Acadia, it is still as beautiful as in the days when one unbroken forest covered its hills and plains, and its great rivers flowed through a vast wilderness tenanted only by the ruthless savage. As the iuurist sails on tht St. John River or traverses tht Annapolis Valley, views the tides of the Basin of Minas or tht marshts of Grand Pre, his mental vision tvill revtrt tc the time ivhen these scenes tvere the homes of another race, and when conditions of life existed ivhich have long since passed away. But Acadia is still here, its invigorating air has not lost its power ; its forests and streams are still the sportsman's paradise ; its bright skies have not grown dim with the lapse of years ; it is still as it was in ancient days, a land beloved and favored above all other American lands for its natural beauty and the romance of its history. JAMES H ANN AY '"'"-■' -";;-\ '■/- ■■:.:-0-'^- .. V' . \ :-'-^f,'. "'■- 1 ■■■ ',■ *.v 1 ■rv' V aV.' : CONTENTS CHAPTER I CHAMPLATN'S DISCOVERIES AND THE ISLA YD OF SAINT CROIX CHAPTER II THE COLONY AT PORT ROYAL CHAPTER III ■> POUTRINCOURT S COLONY CHAPTER IV SIR WILLIAM ALEXANDER AND THE L 4 TOURS CHAPTER V ISAAC DE RAZILLY'S COLONY CHAPTER VI CIl'IL WAR IN AC AD/ A CHAPTER VII CHARNISAY'S DEATH AND LA TOiTR'? RETURN CHAPTER VIII THE ENGLISH /N ACADIA CHAPTER IX VILLERON ON THE ST. JOHN CHAPTER X ;, ■ THE CAPTURE OF PORT ROYAL CHAPTER XI THE ACADIAN PEOPLE Contents CHAPTER XII THE ENGLISH AT ANNAPOLIS CHAPTER XIII THE CAPTURE OF LOULSBOURG CHAPTER XIV THE CAPITULA TION A T GRA ND PR^ CHAPTER XV LA LOUTRE AND HIS WORK CHAPTER XVI THE FALL OF BEAUSkjOUR CHAPTER XVII THE EXPULSION OF THE ACADIAN ' ', ^.' '-.''* • '■'' ^'' ' ;l t .'•<■ THE Story of Acadia CHAPTER I CHAMPLA/N'S DISCOVERIES AND THE ISLAND OF SAINT CROIX OWARDS the close of the sixteenth century France had attained a degree of internal tranquility which gave the nation some leisure for the pursuit of pacific enterprises. Henry IV. was on the throne, and that large-minded and truly great King was doing his utmost to increase the prosperity of his country by the husbanding of its resources, the improvement of agriculture, and the extension of commerce. Guided by his strong and vigorous hand, the nation rapidly recovered from the effects of its former misfortunes ; trade flourished, wealth increased, and luxury followed in their train. It was at this period that those enterprises for the colonization of North America — which had been abandoned under the piessure of civil commotion — began to be renewed. Indeed it was necessary for France to be on the alert, for English adventurers were scouring every sea, and the work of planting English colonies was being carried on with vigour under royal auspices. The time had come for the commencement of the great contest between the rival nations for the rich Empire of the west. In 1603 Pontgrave, a Frenchman, made a voyage to the St. Lawrence, and among the persons who accom- panied him to Canada was a gentleman of the bed- chamber of King Henry IV., named De Monts, a much attached follower of the monarch, and one who had done him good service in the wars. He had been struck with the advantages which might be II The Story of Acadia derived from a vigorous prosecution of the fur trade, and still more by the fitness of New France for a Royal Colony. He obtained from the King, on the 8th November, 1603, ^ patent constituting him Lieu- tenant-General of the Territory of Acadia, between the 40th and 46th degrees of latitude, with power to take and divide the land, to create offices of war, justice and policy ; to prescribe laws and ordinances ; to make war and peace ; to build forts and towns, and establish garrisons. He was also directed to convert the savages to the Christian religion ; and in fine, to use the words of the commission, "to do generally whatsoever may make for the conquest, peopling, inhabiting and preservation of the said land of Acadie." The association formed by his pre- decessor, De Chaste, being still in existence, De Monts induced irany wealthy merchants of Rocheile and other places to join it, and on December 8th, 1603, obtained from the King letters patent granting to him and his associates the exclusive right to trade with the savages in furs and other articles between Cape de Raze and the 40th degree of latitude, for ten years. Four ships were then made ready for a voyage to his new government, and many gentlemen, induced by curiosity to see the new world, or moved by a desire to make it their home, came forward and volunteered to accompany him. The most distin- guished of these was a gentleman of Picardie, named Jean de Biencourt, Baron de Poutrincourt, who wished to remove with his family to Acadia. He was highly esteemed by the King as a brave soldier, and proved a most valuable addition to the colony. Champlain was the person chosen to conduct the vessels to Acadia, and he gladly consented to per- form the service. This illustrious man, who has left his name for ever inseparably connected with the history of Canada, had even then earned a good title to be called an experienced voyager. He was re- markable, not only for his good sense, strong pene- tration and upright views, but for his activity, daring, firmness, enterprise, and valor. He had a natural gaiety of spirit, which made him at all times a cheer- ful companion, and no one understood better than he how to make the irksome tediousness of a long residence on shipboard endurable for those under his command. His zeal for the interest of his country was ardent and disinterested; his heart was tender Champlain*s Discoveries and compassionate, and he was thoroughly unselfish. He was a faithful historian, intelligent and observant as an explorer, and an experienced seaman. Of the four vessels which De Monts and his asso- ciates had provided, one was ordered to Tadoussac, to proa^cute the fur trade. Another, under Pont- grave, whose zeal in voyages to the new world '? nothing could tame, was sent to Canso, to scour the straits between Cape Breton and the island of St. John, for the purpose of driving those away who might venture to interfere with the fur trade. The other two vessels, under the immediate command of De Monts himself, formed the main expedition, and were for the purpose of conveying the colony which was destined to carry the arts of civilization to the shores of Acadia. The colonists numbered about one hundred and twenty persons, consisting of artizans, agriculturists, priests. Huguenot ministers, and gentlemen. They were of both religions — Catholic as well as Protestant — but the former were the more numerous. Champlain believed that in this mixture of religions there would be a source of diffi- culties for the colony, but none of a serious nature arose from this cause. Everything that the ingenuity of that day could suggest was done to ensure success. Tools of all kinds were provided in abundance, building materials were also taken, and arms and ammunition were supplied in sufficient quantities for any possible contingency. The only thing wanting was knowledge of the difficulties from climate and other causes, against which they would require to provide, but that knowledge was only to be gained in the rude school of experience, De Moots set sail from Havre de Grace on the 7th March, 1604, leaving his consort, commanded by Captain Morrel, which contained most of the imple- ments'and provisions for the winter, to follow him. The vessels were to meet at Canso, but De Monts made a bad land-fall, was driven too far to the south, and in a month from the day of his departure, found himself off Cape la Have. Following the coast as closely as they could with safety, they passed on, and, rounding Cape Sable, entered the Bay of Fundy. This De Monts named le grand Baie Frangoise, a name which it retained until the English got possession of the country. They next entered St. Mary's Bay, to which De Monts gave the 13 The Story of Acadia name it sti'l bears, and finding the country pleasant, anchored and sent out exploring parties. There was on board the ship a priest from Paris, named Aubrey, a nian of go d family, who being an active, intelli- gent person, r.r.d a naturalist of some ability, was in the habit of ImJing with the exploring parties to examine the pr.- Ir.ctions of the country. While at St. Mary's Bay, lu went out as usual with one of the ^ parties, but his companions were dismayed on their return to the vessel to discover that he was still absent. Guns were fired from the vessel to guide him in case he had lost his way, but night came and passed without any sign of his return. For four days the woods were searched in all directions without finding any traces of the wanderer, until hope died, and it was the opinion of all that he was no longer living. Scafce a score of miles from the scene of this mournful adventure, they entered a narrow channel, between two lofty hills, and found themselves sailing in a spacious basin some leagues in extent. All around them were vast woods, covering elevations which gradually grew to be mountains as they receded from the sea. Little rivers added their contribution of waters to the great basin, and the wide meadows beyond seemed like a sea bearing a forest on its breast. This noble harbor filled Champlain with admiration, and struck by its spa- ciousness and security, he gave it the name of Port Royal. He found that a large river flowed into the basin from the eastward, and was divided at its entrance by an island, within which a vessel might anchor in deep water. Champlain ascended it as far as his boats could go, which was fourteen, or fifteen leagues, and he gave it the name of River de I'Esquille, from a fish of that name, with which it abounded. To another river, lower down the basin, he gave the name of St. Anthony. When they landed they found that the fertility of the soil and the variety of its natural productions did not deceive their expectations. The woods were composed of oaks, ash, birches, pines and firs ; the basin swarmed with fish, and the meadows were luxuriant with grass. They visited a point of land near the junction of the main river which flowed into the basin and a smaller tributary which entered it from the south, a place long destined to be memorable as the seat 14 Champlain's Discoveries of French power in Acadin. Poutrincourt was so charmed with the beauty of Port Royal and its surroundings that he resolved tn make it his home, and requested a grant of it from De Monts, which he received, coupled with the condition that during the ensuing ten years he should bring out to it from France a sufficient number of other families to inhabit and cultivate the place. In 1607 this grant was con- firmed by the King. Leaving behind them the beautiful basin of Port Royal, they again set sail in quest of further dis- coveries and followed the coast towards the east. Champlain's simple and truthful narrative of the voyage makes it possible to follow his track almost with the accuracy of an actual observer of his move- ments. They came in sight of Cape Chignecto, which Champlain named the Cape of two Bays, because it was the western extremity of the land which divides Chignecto Bay from the Basin ot Minas. They observed the lofty island which lies otf from the Cape, and to this, in consequence of its elevation, the name of Isle Haut was given. They landed on its solitary shore, seldom even at the present day profaned by the presence of man, and climbed to its summit. There they found a spring of delightful water, and in another place indications of copper. From this island they went to Advocate Harbor, a natural haven, but dry at low water, and one which seems to have struck Champlain's fancy much, for he has left sailing directions for entering it. At the cliff beyond it, which is now named Cape d'Or, they found another copper mine, which has been often explored since but never worked with success. They then sailed eastward as far as Part- ridge Island, Parrsboio, observed the remarkable rise and fall of the tides, and discovered the river by which the Indians reached the Basin of Minas from Tracadie, Miramichi, and other parts of the Gulf ot St. Lawrence. At Partridge Island Champdore discovered some rude amethysts ; one large cluster was divided between De Monts and Poutrincourt, who afterwards set the stones in gold and gave them to the King and Queen. Champlain, notwithstanding the richness of the land in minerals, was discouraged by the forbidding aspect of its rock-bound shore, and he has recorded in his book his unfavorable opinion of its soil. The voyagers then crossed the Bay of 17 The Story of Acadia Chignecto, and arrived at Quaco, where they landed and found indications of iron, and passing to the westward reached a fine bay which contained three islands and a rock, two bearing a league to the west, and the other at the mouth of a river, the largest and deepest they had yet seen. This Champlain named the River St. John, because they arrived there on the day of St. John the Baptist. Leaving the River St. John, Champlain sailed to the west, and came in sight of four islands, now called the Wolves, but which he named Isles aux Margos, from the great number of birds which he found on them. The young birds, he says, were as good to eat as pigeons. He saw an island six leagues in extent, which was called by the savages Manthane. He presently found himself sailing among islands, of which the number was so great that he could not count them, many of them very beautiful, and abounding in good harbors. They were all in a cul de sac, which he judged to be fifteen leagues in circuit. The bays and passages between the islands abounded with fish, and the voyagers caught great numbers of them. But the season was advancing, and De Monts was anxious to find some place where he might settle his colonj', now grown weary of the ship, and eager for a more active life. In this beautiful archipelago he saw that, whatever might be their success in agricultural operations, the abundance of fish would always make their means of subsistence sure, and as this was a central point from which he could hold intercourse with the Indians, he sought for a proper place on which to erect a fort and dwelling. He finally fixed upon an island in the St. Croix River, a few miles above St. Andrews, as his head-quarters, and there commenced preparations for making it a permanent settlement. De Monts lost no time in commencing the erection of suitable buildings for his colonj', and in the meantime occurred an event which caused universal rejoicing. Champdore was ordered to convey Master Simon, a miner, who had been brought with the expedition, to examine more care- fully the ores at St. Mary's Bay. While engaged in their researches at that place their attention was attracted by the signal of a handkerchief attached to a stick on the shore, and immediately landing, they were overjoyed to find the missing Aubrey, weak, j8 Champlain's Discoveries indeed, and perishing of hunger, but still able to speak. For seventeen days he had subsisted on berries and roots, and was sadly emaciated. It appeared that he had strayed from hi companions while in search of his sword, which he had left by a brook where he stopped to drink. Having found it, he was unable to retrace his steps, and had wandered he knew not whither. I)e Monts and the whole colony were greatly delighted at his safe return. St. Croix Island is oblong in shape, and lies from north to south. It contains probably ten acres of land. At its southern extremity, lying towards the sea, was a little hill, or islet, severed from the other, where De Monts placed his cannon. At the northern end of the island he built a fort, so as to command the river up and down. Outside of the fort was a large building which served as a barracks, and around it several smaller structures. Within the fort was the residence of Ue Monts, fitted up, as Lcscarbot tells us, with "fair carpentry work," while close by were the j'esidences of Champlain, Ch^mpdore and d'Orville. There was also a covered fcallery for exercise in bad weather. A storehouse, covered with shingles, a large brick oven, and a chapel, completed the structures of the colony on the island. On the western shore of the St. Croix a water-mill was commenced for grinding corn, while some of the settlers erected buildings close to the brook on the eastern bank of the river, where the colonists obtained water, and laid out land for a garden. While the colonists were engaged in their various works, Poutrincourt took his departure for France. He had seen the country, and was satisfied with its excellence ; he had chosen Port Royal as the place where he should reside, and it only remained for him to return for the purpose of removing his family to their new home. He took with him the best wishes of his friends, who hoped for his speedy return, and he was the bearer to the King of the glad tidings that France had at last founded a colony in the new world. Scarcely had the colonists concluded their labors when the winter came upon them with awful and unexpected severity. They were struck with terror and surprise at the fury of the snow storms and the The Stoty of Acadi.t severity of the frost. The river became a black and chilly tide, covered with masses of floating ice, and the land around them a dreary and frost-bound desert. It soon was painfully apparent that their residence had been unwisely chosen. The island was without water, and the wood upon it had been exhausted by the erection of the buildings and fort. Both these articles of prime necessity had to be brought from the main land, and this was a service arduous and difficult to men who had been accus- tomed to the milder temperature of France. To add to their troubles a number of Indians encamped at the foot of the island. Their entire friendliness was not then so well understood an it afterwards became, and the French were harassed and wearied by con- tinual watching to guard against attack. In the midst of this suffering and anxiety there came upon them a frightful visitation. A strange and un- known disease broke out among them, which proved alarmingly fatal. No medicine seemed to relieve it, and the natives knew of no remedy against it.>< ravages. Out of the small colony of seventy-nine, thirtj'-five died, and many of the survivors were only saved by the timely arrival of warmer weather. Those who were not attacked were scarcely able to provide for the wants of the sick and to bury the dead. Many a longing eye was cast over the pitiless sea which severed them from thei? own fair land, which so many of them were fated never to behold again. The return of Spring brought with it brighter skies and better hopes, but De Monts determined to remove his colony from St. Croix Island. As soon as the state of the seas would permit, he fitted out and armed his pinnace, and, accompanied by Champlain, sailed along the coast towards the south- west, with a view to the discovery of a more favor- able situation and a more genial climate. They made a careful examination of the whole coast as far as Cape Cod, entered the bay of Penobscot, and at the Kennebec erected a cross. Some of the places which they visited appeared inviting, and suitable for settle- ment, but the savages were numerous, unfriendly and thievish, and their company being small, it was considered unsafe to settle among them. For these reasons they returned to St. Croix with the inten- tion of removing the colony to Port Royal. 30 Champlain's Discoveries In the meantime T'ontgravt, who was quite in- defati^^able in his Acadian schemes, had arrived with an accession of forty men and fresh supplies from France, a most welcome addition to their diminished nnmbers and resonrces. Kverything poiiable was removed from St. Croix Island, but the buildings were left standiuK- The embarkation of the colonists and stores was sp?edily accomplished under the direction of l'ont|?ravd, and with mingled feelings of pleasure and regret they b.ide farewell to that solitary island which had been the scene of so much misery. 81 CHAPTER II M THE COLOXV AT PORT ROy\lL HE place chosen for the residence ot the colony at Port Royal was oppo- site Goat Island, on the north bank of the river of Port Royal, distant about six miles from the present town of Annapolis. The work of erecting buildings was rapidly advanced, dwellings and storehouses were built, and a small palisaded fort constructed. When this work was being car- ried on, De Monts sailed for France to provide for the provisioning of the colony, until crops could be rai.sed, and to attend to his trading interests. He left Pontgrave as his lieutenant to govern the colony in his absence, and with him Champlain and Champ- dore, to assist in the general conduct of affairs, and take charge of any exploring expeditions that might •be required. In the Spring of 1606 Pontgrave made an attempt to find a warmer climate and a better place for his colonj' in a more southern latitude. He fitted out the barque which had been left with him, and set sail for Cape Cod ; but his venture proved disastrous. Twice he was driven back to Port Royal by the violence of the tempest, and on the third essay was so unfortunate as to have his vessel injured on the rocks at the mouth of the port. This deterred him trom any further attempt, which, indeed, could only have been attended with greater disasters ; such was the weakness of his vessel, and so great were the dangers of that tempestuous sea. lu the meantime De Monts had been hastening to the relief of his colony. On his arrival in France his accounts of Acadia had been coldly received. The expense of the venture had been heavy and the returns small. Many of the merchants who belonged to the company were dissatisfied, and it appeared equally difficult to fit out ships for the relief of the colony or to gee men to embark in them. In this juncture Poutrincourt nobly came to his aid. His The Colony at Port Royal presence in France at that time was of vital impor- tance to his own interests in consequence of some lawsuits in which he was engaged ; but notwith- standing this position of affairs he agreed to return to Acadia and assist De Monts in placing the colony on a permanent footing. Poutrincourt was now more resolute than ever to establish himself there with his family. He also persuaded Lescarbot, an advocate who resided in Paris, to accompany them. After many vexatious delays a vessel of one hundred and fifty tons, named the Jonas, was fitted out at Rochelle, and set sail for Acadia on the nth Maj', 1606. The voyage was long and tedious from adverse winds, and rendered still more so by visits which were made to various parts of the coast from Canso to Cape Sable. They passed Cape Sable on the 25th Julj'. and reached Port Royal on the 27th with the flood tide, saluting the fort as they entered the basin. Poutrincourt lost no time in commencing the culti- vation of his territory. Although the season was well advanced, he sowed a variety of vegetables and grain, and soon had the satisfaction of seeing them start from the virgin soil. He would have been con- lent to settle down and make Port Royal his per- manent residence, but De Monts, who was about to return to France, besought him to make one effort more to find a place for the colony farther south. To do this it became necessary for him to give up the superintendence of his agricultural operations, and the rest of the summer was employed in a fruitless search. He left Port Royal on the 28th August, accompanied by Champdore, and on the same day the Jonas also put to sea with De Monts and Pont- grave, who were returning to France. Lescarbot, who was a valuable addition to the colony, was left in charge of the establishment at Port Royal, and directed to keep the colonists in order. Poutrincourt's voyage south began in the midst of difficulty and ended in disaster. On his return he was received with great joy by the colonists, who had despaired of his safety. Lescarbot celebrated his return by a sort of triumph, crowning the gates of the fort with laurel, over which was placed the arms of France. Below were placed the arms of De Monts and of Poutrincourt, also wreathed with laurel, and a song was composed by Lescarbot in honor of the occasion. That indefatigable and light-hearted The Story of Acadia Frenchman had not been idle during Poutrincourt's absence. With the assistance of Louis Herbert, the apothecary, who had much experience in such matters, he had superintended the preparation of ground for gardens and fields. He also had a ditch dug round the fort, which drained it completely and made it dry and comfortable. He had the buildings more perfectly fitted up by the carpenters ; had roads cut through the woods to various points, and char- coal burnt for the forge, which was kept in active operation for the preparation of tools for the work- men and laborers. And he had accomplished all this without any great strain on the strength of the men, for he only required them to work three hours a day. The rest of the time they spent as they pleased — in hunting, fishing, ranging the forest, or in rest. The next winter was passed in comfort and cheer- fulness. This was owing to the care which had been taken to make the fort and dwellings dry, and also to an admirable arrangement which had been estab- lished at the table of Poutrincourt by Champlain. He organised the guests, fifteen in number, into a society which he called the ordre de bon temps. Each guest in his turn became steward and caterer for the day, during which he wore the collar " of the order and a napkin, and carried a staff." At dinner he mar- shalled the way to the tabic at the head of the proces- sion of guests. After supper he resigned the insignia of office to his successor, with the ceremony of drink- ing to him in a cup of wine. It became a point of honor with each guest, as his day of service came, to have the table well supplied with game, either by his own exertions, or by purchasing from the Indians, and in consequence they fared sumptuously during the whole winter, so that Lescarbot was enabled to reply with truth to some Parisian epicures, who made sport of their coarse fare, that they lived as luxuriously as they could have done in the street Aux Ours in Paris, and at a much less cost. One morning, in May, a vessel was observed by the Indians making her way up the Basin. Poutrin- court was immediately informed of the circumstance, and set out in a shallop with Champdore to meet her. She proved to be a small barque from the Jonas, which then lay at Canso, and brought the evil tidings that the company of merchants was broken up, and that no more supplies would be The Colony at l>ort Royal furnished to the colony. This, then, was the in- glorious termination of all Poutrincourt's hopes and labors. Just as the community was being put in a position to become self-sustaining, the message came which sealed its fate. As the vessel brought no sufficient supplies, nothing remained but to leave Port Royal, where so much money and toil had been fruitlessly expended. The cause of so sudden a change in the conduct of the company of merchants was the revocation by the King of the exclusive monopoly of the fur trade, which had been granted to De Monts and his associ- ates for ten years. Poutrincourt, however, had resolved that he would return to Acadia, even if he brought with him none but the members of his own family. To enable him to take home with him to France visible tokens of the excellence of the products of the country, it was necessary for him to stay until his corn was ripe, and to accomplish this without sacrificing the interests of the merchants, at whose charge the vessel had been sent, he employed Chevalier, the commander of the barque, to trade with the Indians for beaver at St. John and St. Croix, and went to Minas himself with the same object. By this means the departure of the colonists was delayed until the end of July. Poutrincourt and his company ••eached France in the Jonas in the latter part of September, and he immediately waited on the King, to whom he pre- sented wheat, barley and oats, grown in Acadia, and other specimens of its productions — animal, vege- table and mineral. Among the former were five living wild geese, which had been hatched from eggs found near Port Royal. King Henry was much pleased with those specimens of the natural products of the colony, and encouraged Poutrincourt to con- tinue his efforts in that direction. He ratified the grant of Port Royal, which had been made to him by De Monts. He desired him to procure the services of the Jesuits in the conversion of the Indians of Acadia, and offered to give two thousand livres towards their support. All these inducements coincided with Poutrincourt's resolution to continue the colony, and encouraged him to follow out his plans for that purpose, but time was required to complete them, and for two years Port Royal remained without white inhabitants. CHAPTER III POUTRINCOURT'S COLONY OUTRINCOURT was detained in France much longer than he had intended, owing to his relying on the assistance of others, who promised to join with him in the settlement of Acadia, but who finally withdrew from the engagements into which they had entered. He at last concluded an arrangement with a merchant named Robin, who was to supply the settlement for five years and provide funds for barter- ing with the Indians for certain specified profits ; and on the 26th February, 1610, he set sail for Port Royal, which he did not reach until June. Poutrin- court, who was a devout Catholic, had entered wil- lingly into the schemes proposed to him for the maintenance of Jesuit missionaries in Acadia, and had brought with him to the colony a priest named Josse Flesche, who, however, was not a member ot that order. This father prosecuted the work of con- \'erting the savages with such good results that on the 24th of June of the same year twenty-five of them were baptized at Port Royal, one of whom was Membertou, their great Sachem. This aged chief was so zealous for his new faith, that he offered to make war on all who should refuse to become Christians. This mode of compelling conformity of faith was thought rather to savor of the system pur- sued by Mahomet, and was declined. Poutrincourt, who was skilful in music, composed tunes for the hymns and chants used by the Indian converts in the ceremonial of the church, and, under his instructions and that of the priest, they soon became devout wor- shippers. Early in July he had sent his son, Biencourt, who was a youth of nineteen, to France, to carry the news of the conversion of the natives, and obtain supplies for the winter. He was expected to return within Poutrincourt's Colony four months, as the colony was greatly in need of provisionH. Poiitrincoiirt had with him twenty-three persons for whom he had to provide, and when winter set in, without any appearance of the expected succor, he began to be seriously alarmed. By prudent man- agement, and by the aid of diligent hunting and fishing, they contrived to subsist through the winter without losing any of their number, and it was well that their experience of Acadian life in winter enabled them to depend on their own exertions for sustenance, for had they relied on Biencourt for supplies, they must all have perished. He was delayed in France and did not set sail from Dieppe until the 26th January, 161 1. They met with very rough weather, and were forced to take shelter in an English port, and their voyage altogether lasted about four months. On their way out they fell in with Champlain, who was bound for Quebec, and at one time were in considerable danger from icebergs. They finally reached Port Royal on the 32nd May, but with their stores sadly diminished in consequence of the extreme length of the passage. It then became necessary for Poutrincourt to make another voyage to France for the purpose of arranging for the regular furnishing of supplies until the colony became self-sustaining. He accordingly left Port Royal in July, leaving Biencourt in command of the colony, which then consisted of twenty-two persons, including the two Jesuit missionaries. These two fathers, with the zeal which has ever distinguished their order, engaged vigorously in the study of the native languages, and the manners and customs 01 the aborigines. To forward this as much as possible, father Masse took up his abode in the Micmac village, which then existed at the mouth of the St. John, where Louis Membertou, the son of the old chief, resided, while father Biard devoted himself more particularly to the Indians about Port Royal. In the meantime the colonists were becoming straitened for provisions, and, as a precaution against absolute want, were put upon short allow- ance when the first fall of snow came, which was on the i6th November. As the year closed their prospects looked gloomy enough ; but relief speedily came, for on the 23rd January, 1612, a vessel arrived with supplies. This vessel had been sent in pur- suance of an arrangement which Poutrincourt and Hobin had made with Madame de Guercheville, who The Story of Acadia had already exerted herself so strenuously to promote the mission of the Jesuits. She advanced a thousand crowns for supplies, but Poutrincourt soon discovered that he had called in an ally who would fain become his master. This ambitious lady had indeed formed the design of establishing in Acadia a sort of spiritual despotism, of which the members of the Order of Jesus should be the rulers and she the patroness. To carry out this plan, it might be necessary to dispossess Poutrincourt, or, at all events, to obtain possession of the rest of Acadia. She had abundance of influence at court, and the Queen and her adviser, Concini, held views similar to her own. She quickly proceeded to put her plans into operation. Finding that the whole of Acadia, except Port Royal, belonged to De Monts, she obtained from him a release of his rights, and immediately obtained a grant of it from the King for herself. She did not doubt that Poutrin- court's necessities, and the burthen of the charge which the Jesuit mission inflicted on the trade of the colony, would speedily compel him to abandon Port Royal to her also. He did not purpose at that time to return to Port Royal, but put the vessel which he sent with supplies in charge of one Simon Imbert, who had been a long time his servant, and in whom he had entire confidence. Madame de Guercheville, with equal forethought, sent out another Jesuit, named Gilbert Du Thet, who went in the vessel, ostensibly as a passenger, but in reality as a spy upon Imbert, and to look after her interests. The result of such arrangements might easily have been foreseen. Scarcely had they landed at Port Royal when a bitter dispute arose between Du Thet and Imbert. The former accused the latter of mis- appropriating a part of the cargo, and Imbert retorted by accusing the Jesuits oi a plot to expel Biencourt and his people from the country and obtain Port Royal for themselves. These recriminations caused the differences which had formerly existed between Biencourt and the Jesuits to be renewed with fresh animosity and vigor. Gilbert Du Thet returned to France with the report that there was little hope of the conversion of the savages at Port Royal, and informed Madame de Guercheville that the character of Biencourt afforded no prospect of the influence of the Jesuits becoming predominant in the colony. She therefore Poutrincourt's Colony resolved to remove them from Port Royal and establish a colony of her own. She fitted out a vessel of a hundred tons burthen at Honfleur, and gave the command of the expedition to M. de La Saussaye, who was to be governor of the colony. This vessel was appointed to take out twenty-seven persons and provisions for one year. This expedi- tion established the Jesuit Colony of St. Sauveur on the Island of Mount Desert in 1613, which was destroyed by Argal in an armed ship from Virginia the same year. Argal thus became aware of the presence of the French Colony at Port Royal, and he proceeded to destroy that settlement. He burnt all the dwellings at Port Royal, together with the fort, in which a great quantity of goods was stored. He even effaced with a pick the arms of France and the names of De Monts and other Acadian pioneers, which were engraved on a large stone which stood within the fort. He is said to have spared the mills and barns up the river, but that could only have been because he did not know that they were there. No one acquainted with Argal's chatacler could accuse him of such absurd clemency towards a Frenchman. Biencourt made his appearance at this juncture, and requested a conference with Argal. They met in a meadow with a few of their followers. Biard endeavored to persuade the French to abandon the country and seek shelter with the invaders, but his advice was received so badly that he was denounced as a traitor, and was in danger of violence from his countrymen. Biencourt proposed a division of the trade of the country, but Argal refused to accede to this, stating that he had been ordered to dispossess him, and that if found there again he would be treated as an enemy. When Argal departed from Port Royal, he left that settlement — on which more than a hundred thousand crowns had been expended — in a£hes, and more dreary and desolate than an uninhabited desert could have been, because its soil was branded with the marks of ungenerous hatred, unprovoked enmity, and wanton destruction. The continent was not wide enough, it would seem, for two small colonies to subsist harmoniously upon it, even if their settlements were close upon a thousand miles[]apart. Poutrincourt, who attributed all his misfortunes to The Story of Acadia the Jesuits, took no further part in tlie affairs of Acadia, but entered into the service '>f the Kinp, where he distinguished himself, and was killed in the. year 1615, at the siege of Mery-sur-Seine, which he had undertaken to capture for the King. Bien- court, however, refused to abandon the country, but, with a few chosen and faithful companions, main- tained himself in it during the remainder of his life. One ot the friends who shared his exile and enjoyed his confidence was Charles de La Tour, a name afterwards memorable in the annals of Acadia. Sometimes they resided with the savages, at other times they dwelt near Port Royal, but of their adventurous life little is known. The trials and suflfering^ of those who reside in the wilderness seldom see the light, unless at the instance of the adventurers themselves. But Biencourt left no record behind him, and La Tour, who might have told the story, was a man of the sword rather than of the pen. ■ '.ii CHAPTER IV « SfR PT/LL/AAf ALEXANDER AND THE LA TOURS FTER the destruction of Port Royal by Argal, the English continued to assert their right to Acadia by virtue of its discovery by Cabot. The French who continued there were merely regarded as interlopers, whose presence, like that of the Indians, was simply tolerated for the time. The fact of a navi- gator in the service of England having seen its shores more than a century before, was considered by King James to have established his sovereignty over the country for all time to come. There was at the court of this pedantic monarch a Scottish gentleman, named Sir William Alexander, who claimed to be descended from Somerled, King of the Isles. He was a man of some talents, and like King James himself, was ambitious of being known as an author. He had published a quarto volume of plays and poems, which are now utterly forgotten, and desired to turn his attention to the colonization of America. The King, who delighted in long pedigrees and anti- tobacco tracts, in compliance with his wishes, granted him a piece of territory in America, nearly as large as the kingdoms which he himself governed so badly. This grant was made in September, i6ai, and embraced the whole of the Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and the Gaspe Penin- sula. The territory granted was to be known by the name of Nova Scotia, and to be held at a quit rent of one penny Scots per year, to be paid on the soil of Nova Scotia on the festival of the nativity of Christ, if demanded. This charter also endowed the grantee with enormous powers for the regulation and govern- ment of his territory, the creation of titles and offices, and the maintenance of fortifications and fleets. In pursuance of his charter, Sir William 31 * ' the Story of Acadia Alexander, in 1622, equipped a vessel for the purpose of taking a colony to his new possession. By the time they reached Newfoundland it was late in the season, and they concluded to winter there. In the following Spring they visited tiie coast of Acadia and entered I'ort Joli, where tliey intended to settle, but some unexpected difficulties arising, they resolved to make discoveries and not to plant a colony ; and after remaining some time on the coast, they re- turned to Scotland in July. At that time the French were in possession of Port Royal, and possibly that circumstance may have influenced the determination of the Scottish colonists. However that may be, it is quite certain that on that occasion no permanent settlement was made by Sir William Alexander's people, and for several years that fortunate grantee did nothing for Acadia beyond sending a vessel annually to explore its shores and trade with the Indians. In 1625 James I. died, and Alexander obtained from his son, Charles I., a confirmation of his grant of Nova Scotia, and, for the purpose of facilitating the settlement of a colony, and providing funds for its subsistence, an order of baronets of Nova Scotia was created. It was to consist of one hundred and fifty gentlemen, who were willing to contribute to the founding of the colony, each of whom was to receive a tract of land, six miles by three, in Nova Scotia, which Alexander released to them in consideration of their aid in the work of colonization. One hundred and seven of these baronets were created between 1625 and 1635, thirty-four of whom had their estates in what is now New Brunswick, fifteen in Nova Scotia, twenty-four in Cape Breton and thirty-four in Anticosti. Creations to this order of baronetage continued to be made up to the time of the union between England and Scotland, the whole number of creations up to that period being upwards of two hundred and eighty, of which about one hundred and fifty still exist. This was a scheme which undoubtedly gave a fair promise of success, and which, if vigorously carried out, would probably have ended in the founding of a strong colony. But while Alexander was still hesitating and confining his exertions merely to sending a vessel to trade on the coast, suddenly a war broke out between England and France. 33 \ ■h ^^^H^H^B ^^^^^^^Pf ^ ^'H^^^H/'i ' ^9bI r i M ^^■1 ^^^^^^^^ \\ 'It • ^^ 11 ^H^lwr rtP 1 ^^^-iBllBTBiyf . - ■-'^i '^K^SM .',VHk. ' hti. ^flHHHHnMBHBHK. i Sir William Alexander and the I, a Tours Ih lull opt; tlu' wur was coiuliK'tcil in a vtry languid inannLT, but nioiv vignr was displayed in Anieriia. Indrt-d, tin- ••xtifiur (■i'rl)lrins:« j;ntnot, allied to the noble house of Houillon, who had lost the Rreater part of his estates in the civil war. He came to Acadia about the year iftoq, with his son Charles, who was then only fourteen years o age, to seek in the new world some part of the fortune he had lost in the old. He cngau;cd in trading to some extent until the colony at Poit Royal was broken up by Argal. After that lui- fortunate event, he erected a fort and trading house at the mouth of tiie Penobscot River, in Maine, of which he was dispo.sses.scd b> the Knglisli of the Plymouth Colony in 1626. His son Charles allied himself with Biencourt, wh(\ driven from his colony, found a temporary home with the Indians. The two soon became inseparable friends. Biencourt made the young Huguenot his lieutenant, and in 1623, when he died, bequeathed to him his rights in Port Royal, and made him his successor in the govern- ment of the colony. It could not have fallen into better hands, for he was a man equally bold, enter- prising and prudent. He possessed resolution, activity and sagacity of no ordinary kind, and had that air — the most necessary of any for a leader — the art of winning the confidence of those with whom he was associated. About the year 1625 he married a Huguenot lady, but of her family, or how she came to Acadia, nothing is known. She was one of the most remarkable women of the age, and Lady de La Tour will be remembered as long as the history of Acadia has any charms for its people. Shortly after his marriage, Charles de St. Etienne removed from Port Royal, and erected a fort rear Cape Sable, at a harbor now known as Port La Tour. This stronghold, which he named Fort St. Louis, seems to have been chosen chiefly on account of its 35 c 2 r The Story of Acadia convenience as a depdt for Indian trade. He was residing there in 1627, when the war broke out, and perceived at once that Acadia was in great danger of being lost to France for ever. He addressed a memorial to the King, in which he asked to be appointed commandant of Acadia, and stated that if the colony was to be saved to France, ammunition and arms must be provided at once. He had with him, he said, a small band of Frenchmen, in whom he had entiie confidence, and the Souriquois, who, to the number of one hundred families, resided near him, were sincerely attached to him, and could be relied on, so that, with their aid, he had no doubt ot his ability to defend the colony if arms and ammuni- tion were sent. His father, who then was return- ing to France, was the bearer of this communication to the King, which was favorably received, and several vessels fitted out under the command ot Roquemont and La Tour, with cannon, ammunition and stores for Acadia and Quebec. Scarcely had they reached the shores of Acadia when they were captured by an English squadron, under Sir David Kirk. La Tour was sent to England a prisoner, and Kirk, proceeding to Acadia, took possession of Port Royal, leaving a few men there in charge of the works, with instructions to prepare the place for the reception of a colony in the following year. La Tour, in the meantime, had been convej'ed to England as a prisoner of war ; but he does not appear to have remained long in that position. He became acquainted with Sir William Alexander, and was presented at court, where he was received with favor. While in London he mingled much with his Protestant brethren who had fled from France, and no doubt his mind became greatly in- fluenced by their strictures on the conduct of the King and Richelieu in breaking faith with the people of Rochelle. Whatever was the cause, he fell away from his allegiance to his native country. He married, while in London, one of the maids of honor to the Queen Henrietta Maria, and from that time he seems to have regarded himself as a subject of Great Britain. An extraordinary degree of iavor was shown to him by the King ; he was created a baronet of Nova Scotia, his son received the same honor, and on the 30th April, 1630, La Tour and his son Charles received from Sir William Alexander a 3^ Sir William Alexander and the La Tours prant of a tract of territory in Acadia, from Yarmouth along the coast to Lunenburg, and fifteen leagues inland towards the north, a grant which may be roughly estimated to contain four thousand five hundred square miles. This territory was to be held under the Crown of Scotland, and to be divided into two baronies, which were to be named the barony of St. Etienne and the barony of La Tour. The grantees were also invested with the power of building forts and towns, and with the right of admiralty over the whole coast, which was about one hundred and fifty miles in extent. So munificent a gift required some corresponding return on the part of the grantees, and, accordingly. La Tour undertook to plant a colony of Scotch in Acadia and to obtain possession of his son's fort of St. Louis for the King of Great Britain. Accordingly, in 1630, he set sail with a number of colonists in two vessels well provided, and he appears to have had no doubts as to his abilitj' to carry out what he had promised. When the vessels arrived at Port Latour, he landed and visited his son at fort St. Louis. But Charles de St. Etienne utterly refused to entertain for a moment the proposition made to him by his father to deliver his fort to the English. When the latter endeavored to seduce him from his allegiance by relating the high consideration in which he was held at the English court, and the honors and rewards which he would receive if he would come under English rule, he replied that the King of France had confided the defence of the fort to his keeping, and that he was incapable of betraying the confidence which had been placed in him ; that however much he might value any honor or title bestowed upon him by a foreign prince, he would regard still more highly the ap- proval of his own sovereign for having faithfully per- formed his duty ; and that he would not be seduced from his allegiance, even at the solicitation of a parent whom he loved. Overwhelmed with morti- fication, La Tour retired on board of his ship and addressed a letter to his son, couched in the most tender and affectionate language, and setting forth the advantages which they would both derive from pursuing the course which he desired his son to adopt. Finding this produced no effect, he tried to intimidate his son by menaces ; and, finding these disregarded, and utterly driven to desperation, he 37 The Story of Acadia disembarked his soldiers and a number of armed seamen, and tried to carry the fort by assault. The assailants were driven back with loss, and on the second day made another attack, but with no better success. La Tour was urgent for another assault on the third day, but the commanding officer would not permit any more of is men to be sacrificed, and retired with them to the ships. The colony at Port Royal, in which La Tour now found refuge, had been established there in 1629 by a son of Sir William Alexander, and consisted chiefly of natives of Scotland. They had erected a fort on the Granville shore, opposite Goat Island, the site of Champlain's fort. Very little is known of the history of the colony, and the little that has been preserved is chiefly a record of misfortunes. During the first winter, out of seventy colonists, no less than thirty died, and the survivors seem to have had but little heart to withstand the rigors of another winter. The arrival of the vessels in which La Tour had come, with additions to their numbers and supplies, somewhat revived their drooping spirits ; but there were dangers menacing the existence of the colony which neither their prudence nor their industry could avert. Under the terms of tlie Treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, made in 1632, Acadia was restored to France. t 38 CHAPTER V ISAAC DE KAZILl.WS COLONY GREEABLE to the treaty of peace, France proceeded to resume posses- sion of those portions of her North American dominions which had been seized by England. The Company of New France, then strong in wealth and numbers, and strong also in royal favor, had resolved to colonize Acadia, and to accomplish this, neither money nor labor was to be spared ; for the undertaking was not more for the profit of the Company than it was for the honor of the King. Isaac De Razilly was the person selected to effect the restoration of the country to France. This commander, who had served as a captain in the navy at Rochelle, and who added to his titles as com- mander of the Isle Bouchard and commodore of Bretagne, that of Knight Commander of St. John ot Jerusalem, had likewise another claim to notice equally strong. He was a relative of the great Cardinal Richelieu, end stood high in his favor, at a time when to be the Cardinal's favorite was more than to be a favorite of the King himself. When De Razilly set sail for Acadia he took with him a number of peasants and artizans to people the new colony, and in his train were two men, whose names are inseparably linked with early Acadian history. One of these, Charles de Menou, seigneur d'Aulnay de Charnisay, became the life-long enemy of Charles de St. Etienne ; the other, Nicholas Denj's, after a life of adventure in Acadia, became its historian, returned to France, and died at a ripe age in the land of his birth. As soon as De Razilly arrived at Port Royal, it was surrendered to him by the Scotch commander, the fort having been previously demolished. The .Scotch colony was at that time in an extremely feeble state. Nearly half the colonists had died during the first 39 The Story of Acadia winter, and, although subsequently reinforced, they were much discouraged and in no condition to persevere in the work of settling of Acadia. To most of them, therefore, the order for their return to their native land was most welcome. A few, however, decided to remain and cast their lot with the French who were come to occupy the country. These Scotch families who remained in Acadia became entirely lost amid the French population in the course of a generation, and so the name, and almost the memory, of Sir William Alexander's Scotch colony perished. De Razilly did not settle his colony at Port Royal. Experience had taught the French that, great as were the advantages of that place, there were other points on the coast more favorabl3' situated for the successful prosecution of the fisheries, and that was one of the main objects of the Company of New France. De Razilly accordingly, after taking formal possession oi Port Royal, went to La Have, and there planted his colony. This place had long been known to the French fishermen, and it was admirably situated for carrying on the shore fishery. Its harbor was spacious and easy of access ; a considerable river, which flowed into it, supplied a means of communi- cating with the interior of the peninsula, and the whole shore, to the east and west, abounded in fish. De Razilly's fort was erected at the head of La Have harbor, on its western side, on a little hillock of three or four acres, and was, like all the Acadian forts of that day, merely a palisaded enclosure with bastions at the four corners. The next grant of importance made in Acadia was a fitting reward for faithful service and loyalty to the King. Charles de St. Etienne, the sieur de La Tour, who is described in the grant as lieutenant-general for the King on the coast of Acadia in New France, was granted the fort and habitation of La Tour on the River St. John, with the lands adjacent, having a frontage of five leagues on the river, and extending ten leagues back into the country. The date of this grant was the 15th January, 1635, and during this year La Tour removed part of his establishment from Cape Sable to the River St. John, where a fort had been commenced some j'ears before. This fort was destined in after years to become the scene of some of the most stirring events in Acadian history. 40 ', '. * ■ A' '^9| ■■'■ ■' ■ • *!.■'•' .■ 1# •v :fe|| .. ^ 1 1 \ 1 r . .-\;y>.\ -' .•:,,^:^■^-^;;: ^■ 1 •;)" S m 1^ i ■ . ' '■ , M i \ 1 4H ifi' 1 ■■■'■.■ i "" (,-v; 1 -hI ' ' , ■'''''^' \ '■ '■ * ■, ''^"- ■'■^ ■ J ' ?l 1' 1 / (^^^■■•^Sl S*.i ■■,■■■■'•■ t.._.. , .^ % ■ ^ „■;;'■ ^;''-v--y\«v ^ 4' 1 4'iL J' I '^ ;';;W: A ■ -«t*J fcflS i T 1 ■^J .-', " J5?.lc . ■ ■ t 1 if , 1 V o OQ < Z z o 0) z X CO < I CO a: CD ^ >u X Ul iSock., Y d II n ■m^ Isaac JJe Razilly's Colony Tlie work of the mis.sioiiaiies, whicli, during the English occupation, had been abandoned, was re- newed in 1633. In tliat year the monks of the Order of St. Francis, from the Province of Aquitane, returned to Acadia, and the missions on the St. John and at Miscou were re-establislied. Those pious fathers continued to retain the possession of this missionary field, and under their ministrations all the savages of Acadia, in the course of time, became Christians, at least in name. Those humble mission- ary laborers have had no historian to relate their privations and toils, and, unlike the Jesuits, they did not become their own anhalists. It surely was not for an earthly reward that they condemned them- selves to spend their days among squalid savages in the deep recesses of the forest, exposed to all the vicissitudes of savage life, discomfort, disease, hunger, and sometimes starvation. The zeal which could carry men so far in the path of duty, without complaining, must surely have been lighted from some more sacred flame than burns on any earthly altar. In 1636, Isaac De Razilly, in the midst of his plans for the colonization of Acadia, suddenly died, leaving the young colony without its leader and head. His death was a peculiarly severe misfortune, happening when it did, for his work was not finished. Had his life been prolonged, Acadia, instead of becoming for years a field of conflict for rival seigniors, would have settled into a tranquil, prosperous and growing colony. What was wanted in Acadia was a peaceful and industrious population, and neither the glitter ot aims nor the splendor of titles could supply its place. The fabric of every nation's prosperity rests on the shoulders of the humble sons of toil, but they had nothing to induce them to come to Acadia, where little else was heard for j'ears but the clashing of swords. The result was that during a period of nearly forty years, while New England was being rapidly peopled, scarcely a family was added to the population of Acadia. The English colonies grew daily in strength, and developed into the vigor of manhood, while Acadia remained always cursed with the weakness of a sickly infancy. .43 CHAPTER VI CIVIL WAR IN ACADIA CADIA, large as it was, was not large enough for two such ambitious men as Charles La Tour and d'Aulnay Charnisay. The two were entirely dissimilar in disposition and charac- ter, and each saw in the other qualities which excited his resentment. La Tour, although trained in the hardest school of adver- sity, and although he had spent the better part of his boyhood and youth among the Indians, ex- posed to all the hardships incident to a savage life, had all the qualities of a polished courtier and poli- tician. Where he got that wonderful suavity of address which enabled him to gain the favor of all whose aid he sought, is perhaps a useless inquiry, for the school in which he was taught was not one in which such accomplishments were in vogue. Under happier auspices, and in a country where his talents could have had scope, Charles La Tour could scarcely have failed to make a conspicuous figure in his nation's history, but in Acadia the rugged might ol nature neutralized his talents, and almost reduced him to the level of commoner men. He might, per- haps, have lived and died in obscurity, but for the misfortunes which have linked his name with one of the most romantic chapters in Acadian history, Charles La Tour's fort at the river St. John was a structure of four bastions, one hundred and eighty feet square, and enclosed by palisades, after the fashion of that age. It was placed on the west side of the harbor of St. John, on a point of land opposite Navy Island, commanding at once the harbor to the south of it and a considerable stretch of the x'wtx to the northward. Here he dwelt in state, like a feudal baron, with a large number of soldiers and retainers in garrison, who, besides their martial occupations, 44 *i? Civil War in Acadia were made useful in the Indian trade which he con- ducted. Here the painted savages, not only from the St. John and its tributaries, but from the rivers in the interior of Maine, came to dispose of the furs which were the spoils of the chase. Here the yearly ship from France brought him goods suitable for the Indian trade, supplies of ammunition, and such provisions as the wilderness did not afford. A welcome sight her arrival must have been to those exiled Frenchmen, as she came freighted with guer- dons and memories of their native land. Within the fort Lady La Tour led a lonely life, with no companions but her domestics and her children, for her lord was often away ranging the woods, cruising on the coast, or perhaps on a voyage to France. Slie was a devout Huguenot, but, although Claude La Tour had been of the same faith, Charles appears to have professed himself a Roman Catholic about the year 1632. Policy pro- bably had quite as much to do with his profession as conviction, for he seems to have troubled himself little about points of theology, and was more con- cerned for the profits of the fur trade than the dis- cussion of doctrinal questions. The differences between Charles La Tour and Cliarnisay seem to have commenced very soon after the occupation by the former of Fort La Tour at St. John in 1635. It is not necessary to enter into any minute examination of the causes of the quarrel, for nothing could be more natural than that men, situated as I^ Tour and Charnisay were, should have disputes. Both held large territories in Acadia ; both had commissions from the King of France as his lieutenants ; both were engaged in the same trade. To complicate matters still further, Charnisay's fort at Port Royal was in the middle of the territory which had been placed under the government of La Tour, while the fort of the latter, at the mouth of the St. John, was in the territory which was under the government of Charnisay. Although the territory attached to this fort \vas only fifty square leagues in extent, it enabled La Tour to command the whole trade of the St. John river, which was then incomparably the best river in Acadia for the fur trade. In fact, the trader who '^* held the mouth of the St. John river was in a position to do most of the Indian trade from the 45 . j The Story of Aradi;i (riilt' of S(, l.iiwrciu'c to tlif IViiol)S('()t. It was im- possible, tiic-ictoix', tliat Ciiai'iiisay coiiM iooit upon tile advantages possessed by his rival without jealousy, and, having some inlluenoe at the French court by the favor of Cardinal Richelieu, he set himself ddi^^Mitly to work to su|)plant La Tour, who, havinj; spent most of his life in ^\cadia, was comparatively a straiij^er in France. On the 12th June, 1643, tlie people of Boston were consideiahly ama/ed, auil not a little frightened, at the sudden appearance of an armed French ship in tiieir harbor. She came in so unexpectedly and so swiftly that scarcely an^' one obseivid her until she passed Castle Island, when she thundered forth a salute which echoed over the little Puritan town. But it was not letuined, because the castle was deserted, the (leneral Court having, in a fit of economy, withdrawn the small garrison which had formerly held it, and so this French stranger had Boston at his mercy had his designs been hostile. As the vessel sped up the harbor a boat filled with men was seen to leave her side, and was rowed rapidly to (iovernor's Island, landing at Governor Winthrop's garden. The Governor and two of his sons came forward to meet the straiigeis, who proved to be La Tour and a party of his men. The Acadian governor was not long in explaining the cause of his visit. Early in the Spring his enemy, Charnisay, had suddenly made his appearance before Fort La Tour with two ships and a galliot, besides several small craft, manned by five hundred men. Being unable to carry the fort by assault, as he had hoped, he proceeded to blockade it, knowing that want of provisions would eventually compel La Tour to surrender. In the meantime the Clement from Rochelle, laden with supplies for the fort, arrived off St. John, but was unable to enter the harbor owing to the blockade. At this juncture La Tour, ever fertile in resources, bethought him of his Boston friends, whose trade he was beginning to cultivate. Accordingly, he and his wife stole silently out of St. John harbor in ,-i shallop, under covei- of the dark- ness, and boarded the Clement, which immediately set sail for Boston. They had been favored with a fair wind and had made a rapid passage, and they had taken a pilot out of a boat from Boston which they met at sea, leaving a Frenchman to supply his 46 f\ I 'k v Civil War in Acadia plurc. La Tuiir liad now coinc to obtuiii such uid us would enulile hiui to retuiti to hiti foil, whii;h was Hiidly ill need of till- aiiitiuuiitioii und proviHioits which tlic Clcnienl ((julaiiicd. Governor Winthrop dechncd to jfive ;iny pledge of assistance until he hid conferred with the other inaKisitrates, but next dity he culled together such ot them Hs were ut hand, und guve I.a Tour a hearing before them, i'liey gave him permission to hiic such ships und men us were in iioston, so tiuit he might return to Acadiu with force enough to enable him to reach his (brt in safety. Lu lour hired from ICdward Gibbons und liionuis I lawkins, of Hoston, four vessels — the Scabridge, Fhilipund Mury, Increuse, and Grey- hound — with lilty-two men and thirty-eight pieces of ordnance. He also enlisted ninety-two soldiers to augment the force on board his vessels, und provided them with arms and supplies. Two years later La Tour was obligeil to mortgage his fort in Acadia to Gibbons and Hawkins for the sum of two thousand and eighty-four pounds to secure them for the money advanced for supplies in 1643, a large sum for those days, which will convey some idea of the ruinous character of the strife which Charnisay and Lu Tour were waging against each othci-. The terms on whicli the ships were hired do not seem to have contemplated their participation in any oflensive operations. They were required to go as near to La Tour's fort as they could conveniently ride at anchor, and to join with the Clement in the defence of themselves and of La lour against Chariiisay's forces in case they should unjustly assaidt or oppose La Tour on his way to his fort. Any further assis- tance was to be a matter of mutual agreement between La Tour and the agent of the owners of the ships, who was to accompany the expedition. When La Fours lleet of five ships and a pinnace came in sight of St. John, Charnisay seems for the first time to have suspected the truth. His vessels were lying beside Partridge Island, but he did not wait to measure his strength against his enemy, but hoisted sail and stood right home for Port Royal. La Tour pursued, but Charnisay got his vessels into Port Royal Basin in safety, and ran them aground opposite his mill. He and his men then betook themselves to the shore, and commenced to put the mill in a posture of defence. La Tour, upon this, urged Captain 49 / t ' 1:1 :it l:i The Story of Acadia Hawkins to send a force ashore to attack his enemy. Hawkins refused to give any orders to his men, but signified that any who chose to go ashore with La Tour might do so. About thirty of the New Englanders took advant.ige o*' this permi.ssion, and. the united force attacked Cliarnisay's position, dri - ing his men from the mill where they had fortified themselves. Three of Cliarnisay's men were killed and one prisoner taken in the mill. La Tour had three men wounded, but the New Englanders suffered no loss. The Boston vessels then returned to Fort Latour, which had been so suddenly freed from its perilous blockade. While they were lying there a pinnace belonging to Charnisay fell into their hands. This craft was laden with four hundred moose and four hundred beaver skins, and was, therefore, a valuable prize. The booty was divided between the crews and owners of the Boston vessels and La Tour — for Captain Hawkins, although unwill- ing to fight against the enemies of La Tour, was quite ready to rob them where it could be done with- out danger. When the tiiue for which the ships had been hired was nearly expired, they were paid off by La Tour, and returned to Boston, which they reached on the 2otli of August, having been absent but thirty- seven da^'s. Ciiarnisay soon after this went to France. He had not been long there before he heard of the arrival of lady La Tour, and he promptly used his influence at Court to obtain an order for her arrest on the ground that she was, equally with her husband, a traitor to the King. Fortunately she had friends, who forewarned her of the danger which impended, and before the order could be executed she fled to England, wiiich, even in tliosc days of civil war, was a safer retreat for a Huguenot lady than France. In England she found friends, and by their aid was able to communicate with her husband, and inform him of the danger he was in from Charnisay. As for herself, she lost no time in freighting a ship from London with provisions and munitions of war for Fort Latour, and had the energj' of those on whom she relied for service been equal to her own, would doubtless have reached it in time to ward off any attack which might threaten. La Tour, bereft of his wife's counsel and companionship, and oppressed with 5° / / / Civil War in Acadia the sense of coming disaster, waited wearily by the shores of the St. John for her return. Montlis passed, but still she came not, and then, almost despairing of her safety, and perplexed by a hun- dred doubts and fears, he started for Boston, where he arrived in July, 1644. After fruitless efforts to obtain assistance there he returned to Fort Latour. Scarcely had the white sails of La Tour's vessels sunk on the eastern horizon when a stout ship from London came sailing into Boston Harbor. She had been fitted out by Alderman Berkley and Captain Bailey, and she brought among her passengers Roger Williams, the founder of the Providence plantation. But her chief passenger was that heroic and devoted wife, whose memory will never perish from Acadian history, the lady La Tour. They had left England six months bafore, and their destination was Fort Latour, for which they had a cargo of goods. But the master of tiie vessel spent so much time in trading by the way, that they did not reach Cape Sable until September, and as soon as they got into the Bay of Fundy they fell in with one of Charnisay's vessels, which was cruising to intercept and capture them. The master of the ship was forced to hide the lady La Tour and her people in the hold and to conceal the identity of his ship, which he pretended was bound direct to Boston. Charnisay, who little suspected how great a prize he had in his hands, let the vessel go, merely contenting himself with sending a civil message to the governor of Massachusetts, in which he professed his desire to be on good terms with the people of that colony, and expressed his intention to communicate further with them with regard to his differences with La Tour. The vessel was therefore obliged to abandon her voyage to Fort Latour and go to Boston instead. This change in the voyage, added to the unreason- able delay which had already taken place, was a great loss and inconvenience to the lady La Tour, and she sought her remedy by bringing an action on the charter part3' against the persons who freighted the ship. The cause was tried at a special Court in Boston before all the magistrates and a jury of the principal men, who gave her a verdict of two thousand pounds damages. On this judgment she seized the cargo of the ship, which was appraised at eleven hundred pounds, and hiring three vessels in 51 The Story of Acadia Boston to convoy her home, at length arrived safely at Fort Latour, to the indescribable relief of her husband, who had almost despaired of her safety. She had been absent from him more than a year. When Charnisay heard that the lady La Tour had escaped from Boston and arrived at Fort Latour, his rage was boundless. The treaty of peace which his agent had made with the people of Massachusetts seemed to him but a poor equivalent for the escape of his most hated enemy from his vengeance. He wrote a mo.st angry and insulting letter to the governor of Massachusetts, in which he charged the people of that colony with being responsible for her escape, and he wildly threatened them with the vengeance of his master, the King of France. The cheeks of the stern Puritan governor burned with anger as he read this menacing epistle, in which the honor of the magistrates was called in question and the whole colony insulted in their persons. A few months later Charnisay had still greater reason to be angry, for while he was blockading Fort Latour two friars hailed his ship from the mainland and asked to be taken on board. The lady La Tour had discovered that these men were plotting against her and in league with Charnisay, and, instead of hanging them as spies and traitors as she might have done, she contented herself with simply turning them out of the fort. When they were received on board Charnisay's vessel they told him that his opportunity for vengeance had come. They said that La Tour was absent, that his fort contained but fitly men, that there was but little powder in the fort, and that little much decayed, and that he might easily' capture the place. Filled with high hopes of triumph, Charnisay entered the harbor of St. John and ranged his vessel in front of Fort Latour, in the expectation of seeing the flag which waved above it hauled down at his summons. But he was grievously disappointed. The lady La Tour had an heroic soul, and was not disposed to yield without a struggle. She inspired her little garrison with a spirit equal to her own. From one of the bastions she directed the attack on Charnisay's ship, and a fierce cannonade commenced which resulted disastrously to the besiegers. Their vessel was so vigorously assailed by the ordnance ot the fort, and so much shattered, that, to keep her from absolutely sinking beneath them, Charnisay's 52 Civil War in Acadia men were obliged to warp her ashore behind a point of land where she was safe from the guns of the fort. Twenty of the besiegers were killed and thirteen wounded in this affair, which terminated in a manner so different from Charnisay's expectations. This repulse took place in February, 1645, and in the following April Charnisay again attacked Fort Latour— this time from the land side. Unfortunately it stood in no better position for defence than it was in before, and La Tour was still absent in Boston, unable to reach his fort owing to the armed cruisers with which Charnisay watched the Bay of Fundy, and denied any aid from the people of New England, who had formerly assisted him. It was on the 13th April, 1645, that Charnisay began his last attack on Fort Latour. The lady La Tour, although hopeless of making a successful resis- tance, resolved to defend her fort to the last. For three days and three nights the attack proceeded, but the defence was so well conducted that the be- siegers made no progress, and Charnisay was com- pelled to draw off his forces with loss. Treachery finally accomplished what force could not effect. Charnisay found means to bribe a Swiss sentry who formed one of the garrison, and on the fourth day, which was Easter Sunday, while the garrison were at prayers, this traitor permitted the enemy to ap- proach without giving any warning. They were already scaling the walls of the fort before the garri- son were aware of their attack. The lady La Tour, in this extremity, opposed the assault at the head of her men, and repulsed the besiegers with so much vigor that Charnisay — who had lost twelve men killed and many wounded — despaired ot taking the fort. He therefore proposed terms of capitulation, offering the garrison life and liberty if they would consent to yield. The lady La Tour knew that suc- cessful resistance was impossible, and she desired to save the lives of those under her command. She therefore accepted the terms which Charnisay offered, and permitted him to enter the fort. No sooner did he find himself in possession of the place, to the cap- ture of which all his efforts had for years been direc- ted, than he disclosed the full baseness of his nature. He caused all the garrison, both French and English, to be hanged, except one man, to whom he gave his life on the dreadful condition that he became the S3 The Story of Acadia executioner ot his comradcH in arms. But (!ven the murder of these poor soldiers did not satisfy Charni- say's desire for venfreance. No doubt he wciild have assassinated the lady La Tour also, had he only dared, but the court of France, venal as it was, would scarcely have tolerated such an outrage as that. Yet he did what was almost as bad. He compelled the heroic lady to be present at the execution of her soldiers, with a rope round her neck, like one who should have been executed also, but who by favor had been reprieved. But it mattered little to her what further plans of vengeance her great enemy might design ; they had little power to touch her. Her great heart was ' ken. Slie was severed from the husband to v. l.os fortunes she had been so faithful, and conH scarcely hope to see his face again, ex •; as a captive like herself. She felt that her wor in life was done, for she was not born for cap- tivity. So she faded away, day by day, until her heroic soul left its earthly tenement, and in three weeks from the time when she witnessed the capture of her fort, she was laid to rest by the banks of the St. John, which she loved so well, and where she had lived for s:< many years. Thus died the first and greatest of Acadian heroines — a woman whose name is as proudly enshrined in the history of this land as that of any sceptred Queen in European story. As long as tlie sons and daughters of this new Acadia take an interest in their countiy's early history, they will read with admiration thf, noble story of the con- stancy and heroism of the lady La Tour. iSbJ CHAPTER VII CHARNISAV'S DEATH AND LA TOUR'S RETURN HARNISAY, having succeeded in driving his rival out of Acadia, maj' be said to have attained the summit I"^"^**^-/ of his hopes. He had the whole of -rSj^^^^^i- Western Acadia to himself, and with I establishments at Port Royal, Penob- scot and St. John, could control the entire fur trade of a region nearly half as large as the kingdom of France. (Jlharnisay received many marks of the royal favor, and, in February, 1647, a commission was issued to him by the King, confirmingand re-establishing him in the office if governor and lieutenant-general for the King in Acadia. Only one thing more was needed to complete the work he had begun, and that was the expulsion of Nicholas Denys from Acadia. Denys had come to Acadia in 1632 with Isaac De Razilly, and for some time had been engaged in the shore fishery at La Have. When Isaac de Razilly died he was nominated by the Company of New France Governor of the whole coast of the Bay of St. Lawrence and the isles adjacent, from Cape Canso to Cape Rosiers. Being a man of much enterprise and business capacity, he speedily built up a profitable fishing business and erected two small forts, one at Chedabucto and the other at St. Peter's, in the Island of Cape Breton. He also had a fishing establishment at Miscou,at the entrance of the Bay Chaleiir, where the Jesuits had established a mission in 1635. Charnisay, armed with his new commission from the King, captured Denys' forts, seized his goods, broke up his fishing establishments, and ruined his settlers. Denys and his familj' had to leave the country, and seek refuge in Quebec. He deserved better treat- ment at the hands of Charnisay, for they had been companions in youth and friends. But all the.se early associations were forgotten. Any one who ventured to carry on trade in Acadia, Charnisay counted an 55 The Story of Acadia « enemy, and treated him as such, and so Lu 'lour, Denys and the New England colonists necessarily fell under his displeasure, and felt the weight of his resentment. But there is one enemy which no man can escape, and that is Death. The most formidable walls and battlements will not keep him out. His footsteps are sometimes heard, even in the palaces of kings, and the sword falls from the hand of earth's greatest conquerors when he appears. And so Charnisay, the victor in the struggle against his mortal enemies, was vanquished at length by a mightier hand than his own. In 1650 he was drowned in the river of Port Royal. Neither history nor tradition gives us any further particulars of his fate than is contained in these few words. But if it is true, as some say, that a man who goes down to death through the dark waters sees before him in an instantaneous mental vision a panorama of his whole life, then surely deep anguish must have smitten the soul of the dying Charnisay — for he had been hard and cruel and revengeful. He had shown himself to be destitute of pity for his kind. No generous thought for his enemies had ever found a place in his heart. And above the shadowy forms of those he had wronged and^murdered, the face of one victim must have im- pressed him with a deeper remorse than all the rest, that of the heroic, noble and faithful lady La Tour. The news of Charnisay s death seems to have reached La Tour very soon after the event took place, and the exiled lord of Acadia lost no time in taking advantage of an occurrence which again placed wealth and honor within his grasp. He made all haste to reach France, where for so many years he had not dared to show his face, and went vigorously to work to undo all that his dead rival had done in regard to the affairs of Acadia. At the French court in these days a living man with a good cause was not always certain of success ; but La Tour, no doubt, wisely judged that such a man ranged against a dead rival, whose cause was bad, could scarcely fail. Nor was he deceived, for he speedily obtained from the French government an acquittal of the charges which had been preferred against him by Charnisay, and, what was of more value, he obtained a new com- mission as governor and lieutenant-general for the King in Acadia. 56 Charnisay's Death and La Tour's Return Armed with ttiis patent, La Tour returned to Acadia, and in September, 1651, look possession ot his old fort at the mouth of the St. John, and resumed the trade with the Indians, which had been so profitable in former years. The widow ot Charnisay was still living in Acadia with her children, and she seems to have made no opposition to La Tour's re-occupation of his fort, but it was impossible that she could view without alarm his pretensions to the governorship of the whole Province. This difficulty, however, was not of long duration. On the 24th February, 1653, a document was signed at the fort of Port Royal which put an end at once and for ever to the strife between the families of La Tour and Charnisay in Acadia. This was a marriage contract which was entered into between Charnisay's widow and La Tour, the end and principal design of the intended marriage being, as the contiact expressed it, " The peace and tranquility of the country, and concord and union between the two families." This contract was drawn with elaborate care, as was fitting in a document which was intended to reconcile and settle so many conflicting claims and interests, for both parties to this marriage had children by their former marriages. Tlic creditors and associates of Charnisay had to be provided for, and the children which might be the result of the new union had also to be taken into account. La Tour endowed his future wife, for her lifetime, with his fort and habitation on the River St. John, and also gave her for a marriage present the sum of thirty thousand livres tournois, which circumstance shows that he was then in easy circumstances, and turning his monopoly of the fur trade in Acadia to profitable account. The marriage contract was witnessed by father Leonard de Charteres, vice-prefect and custos of the mission, by brother Jean Desnouse and by three other witnesses, so that no formality seems to have been wanting to give the alliance that solemn character which the importance of the interests involved appeared to demand. It was at this period that Emmanuel Le Borgne first appeared in Acadia. He had been a merchant of Rochelle, and had made advances to Charnisay to the extent of two hundred and sixty thousand livres prior to 1650. He appears to have obtained judgment 57 The Story of Acadia Irom the Courts in his favor or tliat sum, ami, armed with tins authority, came out to Acadia in 1653 to take possession ot" Charnisay's estate. When he arrived at Port Royal lie appear^; to iiave become impressed with the idea that he might seixe the whole of Acadia, C!harnisay having daimeii nothing less. He made an attempt on Foit Latour, but, before he could accomplish anything, was recalled by bad news from Port Royal. On the very next day after the departure of Le Borgne from Fort Latour, an Englisii fleet appeared in front of it, and summoned it to surrender. Two years before, the English Parlia- ment had declared war against the Dutch, and the first blow was struck by Blake at the naval power of Holland. The jealousies between the English colonists of Massachusetts and the Dutch of New York, suggested the idea of transferring the scene of warfare from the Old World to the New, and the lord protector, Oliver Cromwell, sent out four armed vessels to Boston with a view to organize an expedi- tion against the Dutch of Manhattan Island. These vessels did not arrive at Boston until the beginning of June, 1654, and a few days later news came that peace had been concluded between England and Holland. Preparations had, however, by that time been well advanced, and five hundred men enlisted in Massachusetts, under the command of Major Robert Sedgwick, of Charleston, a military officer of some reputation in the colony. Those who had the expedition in charge thought that it would be a. pity to let so fine an armament go to waste for want of employment, and where could such a force be employed to better advantage than against the French in Acadia ? The men of Massachusetts were not long in deciding that it was their duty to dispossess their Popish neighbors to the north-east, and Sedgwick and the commander of the fleet readily fell in with their plans. This was the reason why the English fleet so suddenly appeared before Fort Latour.- La Tour had already received so many buffets froirj fortune, that even his patience must have been exhausted by this last blow. But he accepted the inevitable with dignity and firmness ; his fort was entirely unprepared for an attack ; he was short of provisions, and so he yielded gracefully to his fate and surrendered the stronghold which he could not defend. .=58 chaptp:r VI h THE ENGLISH IN ACADIA, UK seizure of Acadia was very grati- fying to the people of New England, wlio had looked with alarm on the growth of a foreign power on their northern borders, and their con- sciences do not seem to have been troubled by the fact that there was no state of war existing between England and France at the time to justify the act. Cromwell, who was then in the zenith of his power, seems to have approved the measure, and tlie officers by whom it had been ac- complished appear to have been filled with a zealous desire to make Acadia a permanent English colony. A government had been promptly organized for the new Province, one of its first regulations being that no one shoidd trade with the savages but such as were deputed to do so by those in authority, it being considered that those who enjoyed this trade should pay enough for the privilege to maintain the garrison. The General Court of Massachusetts was asked to enforce this law, so that persons convicted of any breach of it should be punished in Massachusetts, as if they had been taken in Acadia. It was also asked to pledge itself to furnish assistance to the English in Acadia, in case they were attacked and needed help. La Tour, in the meantime, finding himself, at the age of sixty-two, witliout a home in Acadia, bethought himself of a bold move for the purpose of retrieving his fortunes. He hastened to England, and with all the plausibility and address of which he was master, laid his case before Cromwell, showing that as co- grantee and heir of his fatiier he was entitled to a large territory in Acadia under the English Crown, through Sir William Alexander. The result was a triumphant success for the Acadian diplomatist. On tlje 9th August, 1656, La Tour in conjunction with Thomas Temple and William Crowne, received from Cromwell a grant of an immense tract of territory in Acadia, extending from what is now known as Lunen- burg in Nova Scotia, to the River St. George in Maine, including the whole coast of the Bay of Fundy on oth sides and one hundred leagues inland, a territory considerably larger than the island of Great Britain. 59 The Story of Acadia 'l"i'in[)lc received tlu; nppoiiitnient ol Kovernor of tlie torts at St. John aiul I'ciiobscot, and early in 1657 arrived in Acadia witli an order to Captain Levcrett for their delivery to him. Temple then commenced those large expenditures tor the improvement of his territory, which involved him so deeply that they ended in his ruin. La Tour sold out his rights in Acadia to Temple and Crowne and retired into private life, leaving to other shoulders the burthen of an au- thority which he had borne so lonjj;. No doubt he was sagacious enough to foresee that serious disputes were certain to arise between England and France with regard to the possession of Acadia. He died in 1666. The inglorious war which England was waging with France and Holland, was brought to a close by the treaty of Hreda, which was signed July 31st, 1667. By this treaty it was agreed that the English half of the Island of St. Chri.stopher, of which they had been dispossessed by the P'lench, should be restored, and that England in return should give up Acadia to France. Thus was one of the richest pieces of territory on the American continent bar- tered for one-half of a paltry island containing an area scarce a thousandth part as great as that of the country so inconsiderately surrendered. F" ranee again took possession of her ancient colony, the affairs of which were administered by successive commandants. At this period Pentagoet, as the Penobscot fort was called, was occupied bj' the Haron de St. Castin, one of the most picturesque characters in Acadian history. Castin was a native of Oloron in the Basses Pyrenees and had been an officer of the Carignan Salieres. When that famous regiment was dis- banded he threw himself among the savages of Acadia, whose language he speedily learned. He married a daughter of Matakando, the principal chief of the Penobscot Indians, and soon became more influential in their councils than any of their natural leaders. He acquired an immense fortune by trading with them, and was thus able to retain the attachment of his savage allies by handsome presents, as well as by the ties of affection. His presence at Penobscot was eminently useful to the French in Acadia, for it kept the savages of all that coast faithful to their cause and prevented them from making peace with the English. There was no man of his day that the border settlers of New England 60 The English in Acadia were less disposed to quarrel with tlian tlie Maron St. Castin. But Castin was not tiie only member of tlie nohlesse wlio came troni Canatia to Acadia. In 1676 Micliael l.c Neiit siciir de I,a Valliere, a scion of tlie Potheri^ family, arrived from Quebec. The same year he obtained a larj^e K''ant of territory at Chignccto, and istablislied a lisiiiiiR station at St. Jolin. Soon after his arrival Chambly left Acadia to assume the government of Grenada, and Soulanges, who was appointed to command in Chambly's place, died before he had held that commission very long. The latter was grantee of two extensive seigniorial estates on the St. John, Nashwaak and Jemseg. His death threw the appointment of Commandant in Acadia into the hands of La Valliere, who re- ceived a commission from Count Frontenac, then Governor of Canada, dated the i6th July, 1678. We get an interesting view of the state of Acadia from the census taken by De Meulles, the Intendant of Canada, who visited all the Acadian settlements in 1685 and 1686, and prepared a memorial on the state of the Province and a census of its inhabitants. Their total number at this period, exclusive of soldiers, was 851, the population having more than doubled since the enumeration of fifteen years before. Port Royal, altiiough it had in the mean- time established new settlements at Chignecto and Mines, had increased its population from 363 to 592. At Chignecto there was a settlement of 127 persons and 57 at Mines. The progress of the latter settle- ment had been retarded by the claims made by La Valliere to seigniorial rights there. But Belleisle, who was seignior of Port Royal and who claimed Mines also, succeeded in having his rival's preten- sions set aside by the Intendant, and from that time Mines prospered rapidly in population. After making the largest allowance for natural increase it is evident that a considerable proportion of the gain in population between 1671 and 1686 must have been due to immigration, and as a further proof of this, the number of surnames in the colony had doubled in the interval. The position of St. Castin at Penobscot was one which exposed him to peculiar dangers, for it was a debatable land which was claimed by both nations. James II. of England regarded it as a part of his 61 The Story of Acadia (Infill territory iiiulcr his j;'""' "' ''j'm, ami in 1686 Messrs. I'almcr ami Wt-st, tlic Commissioners ap- ponitid hy Donnaiii (iovcrnor ol" New Yorlt, to superintend tlie alVaiis ol' the diual provinee ol" Saffudahoe, were directed to lay claim to the conntry as I'ar vvi-st as the St. t.'roix. In pursnance ol this claim they seized a carp;o of wine which had been landed at l'(nol)scot, and confiscated it lor non-pay- ment ol duties, on the Kiound that it should have been enterctl and paid liuty at tl:e Custom House at rcmaqnid, theii- liead-(|uarters. This act >?ave ollence both to the Krencii and the people ol' Massa- chusetts, lor the wine beloiif^ed to Mr. John Nelson, a popular young gentleman ol' Hostcm, ne|)hew ol' Sir Thomas Temple, and the people of Boston looked with no sort of favor on the erection of such a Province to the eastward of them. However, for the present, the dispute was settled amicably, lor after some correspondence on the subject the wine was restored. The difficulty was revived in 1688 when Andros became royal governor of New Krigland, under a commission from James II. He rcsolvctl to seize upon Penobscot, and went there in the Rose frigate in the course of the .Spring of tl.at year. Tiie frigate anchored opposite Castins residence and Andros sent a lieutenant ashore to inform the Baron that he desired to see him on board his vessel. St. Castin, who had not a very high idea of the good faith of Andros, declined the interview, and retired with his family to the woods, leaving most of his goods and household effects behind him. Andros landed with a party of officers and entered Castins dwelling, which they robbed of a quantity of arms ammunition, iron kettles and cloth. They even carried off his chairs, and Andros claimed great credit for his generosity for not interfering with the altar and the pictures and ornaments attached to it. Andros returned to Pemaquid in triumph with his booty, but it proved a costly prize, for it was the means of bringing on another Indian war. War between England and France had been pro- claimed at Boston on the 17th December, 1689, and the New England people, mindful of what they had suffered from the French in times past, resolved to attempt the reduction both of Port Royal and Quebec. The Port Royal expedition sailed from Boston on the 9th May, 1690. It consisted of seven vessel?, a 6a The Knglish in Acadia Innate of forty Ki">»> two Hloops of sixteen uiid cinlit Kiins, uinl four ketilicH, nnti a complement of seven IuhkIumI nun. Tlic cnmniand was n;ist'ii to Sir William I'iiip-i, a native of Maine, who luul brought himself into notice by his recovery of the cargo of a Spanish trcasiM'e sliip wliirh had been wrecked near the Uahamas fifty years before. Phips and iiis stpiadron arrived ort' Port Fr sup- plying tile .settlers with goods, and also Ijecause it would gi\'t.- the French piivateers and war vessels a scciwe |)lace of shelter in case of attack. The Minister looked upon tiie project willi favor, anil as caily as 169O, some measuies wei"e taken towards rebuilding the old fort, which was a work with four bistions, and which needetl little else than that new |).tlisades should be erected and the ditches deepened. During 1O97 no work was done, l)ut in the f()llo\ving year the reconstruction of tiie fort went on with great vigor, and in the autumn of that year the garrison was removed from Nashwaak and taken to Fort Latour, which had been abandoned for so man}' years. In 1700, it was decided by the French govennnent to abandon the forts on the St. John, aiul the order went forth to remove the gariison and establishment to Port Royal, but before it coukl be carried out Villebon died. He was the most capable com- mander, probal)ly, that the French ever had in Acadia — great both in peace and war, and wholly de\oted to the interests of France. His intluence over the Indians was poweiful, for. he was one of those giandly made men, whom barbarous peojiles look upon as their natural chiefs. Men in thest; days will find it tlifficult to excuse the cruel acts which he permitted the Indians to commit, such as the torturing and maiming of prisoners or his orders to give no quarter to the enemy. These are serious blot.s on the character of a man otherwise admirable, who deserved well of his country and his King. Yet, after making allowance for such faults — which after ail were rather faidts of the age than of the. man — it iiuist be admitted that Villebon deserves to take a higli place among the sons of New France. 61 CHAPTER X •I rilE CAl'JVKE OF rORT KO) Al. AMES II., the dctliroiicil KiiiK ol I'n^laiid, died at St. Germain in September, 170,, and l)et()rc lie expired reecived tiie jiromise of Lonis XIV. that he would reeognise ills son, the Prince of Wales, as King of England. Diplomatic relations between Prance and England were immediately suspended ; but in March, 1702, William III. died before war had been formally declared. The formal declaration of war was issned by the government of Oueen Anne on the istli May. Then conuncnced the wai- of the Spanish succession, in which England, Holland, Savoy, Austiia, Prussia and Portugal wx-re arrayed against France, Spain and Bavaria. By Bhiglishmen, til is war is chiefly remembered by the victories ot Marlborough, and the original causes of the quarrel have become merely of antiquarian interest. In May, 1704, an expedition against Acadia was lilted out at Boston and placed under the command of Benjamin Church, now raised to the rank of a Colonel. He was furnished with a force of five hundred and fifty men, besides officers, and pro- vided with fourteen transports, thirty-six whale boats and a shallop, and he was convoyed from Boston by three war vessels of forty-two, thirty-two and twelve guns respectively. At Penobscot he killed and took several French and Indians, among the cap- tives being a daughter of St. Castin and her children. At Passamaquoddy he took some FiXMich settlers prisoners, and killed others who had made n(j resistance. When he reached the Bay of Fundy he sent his war vessels to Port Royal, while he went farther up the Bay and engaged in the more con- genial tas'. of plundering and destroying the French settlements at Mines. At this place he caused the dykes to be cut, so as to destroy the marsh lands, 70 Tho Capture of Port Royal burnt down llu> du'i'llinj;s of tlio inlj.ihitants, and captiirt'd as many prisoners as lie could secniro. Then he returned to Port Royal, where the fleet had, in the meantime, been lying, but without making any serious approach to csipture it. The barbarous Churcli, who had no stomach for real fighting, while so much more was to be obtained by the plundering of unarmed peasants, contrived to get the officers of the expedition to sign a paper to the efl'ect that it would not be prudent to attack that place. When this was done he hastened away to Chignecto, which he had so mercilessly visited eight years before. There he burnt twenty iiouses, killed one hundred and twenty horned cattle, destroyed and wasted the settlement, and did the unfortunate settlers all the damage in his power. Then he returned to Boston to receive the thanks of the ' egislatiu'e of Massachu- setts for his eminent services. Governor Dudley now determined to show iiis zeal for the interests of New f-ngland by making an attempt to capture Port Royal, and all Acadia with it. In the Spring of 1707 he induced Massa- chusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island to raise two regiments of militia, and gave command of them to Colonels Hilton and Wainwright. Colonel March, who had won some reputation in frontiii- service against the Indians, was given the chief command, and the transports which carried the force to Acadia were convoyed by two ships of war. rhey reached Port Roj-^al on the 6th June, and the alarm was carried to the fort by a guard which .Subercase had stationed at the entrance. The Governor of Acadia was taken by surprise, and was very ill prepared for an attack, but lie concealed his fears, and inspired his people with a confidence which he scarcely shared. He sent out messengers to order tiie inhabitants into the fort, and as fast as they arrived he embodied them into skirmishing parties and sent them to the right and left, so as to retard tlie approach of the enemy. It was a fortunate circumstance for Subercase that sixty soldiers from Canada had arrived at the fort a short time before the English made their appearance, and that St. Castin, the son of the old baron, was there to command the Indians and the inhabitants. For, although the English had landed upwards ot one thousand men to invest the place, they wero so 71 If The Story of Aradia well met at all points that Mairli hccamo dis- coiiiaged, and fnulin^ he was making no progress, abandoned the siege after it had lasted for eleven days. The only exploits of his army had been the bm-ning of some houses and the killing of some rattle about the fort. March stated that his oflicers and men refu.sed to assault the place, a statement which, if true, spoke very little for their courage or discipline, or for the qualities of their commander. March wrote from Canso of tlu; failure of tiie expedition, which had already been announced to (Jovernor Dutlley by straggling parties of troops which had reached Hoston. There, nothing but the capture of Port Royal liad been anticipated, and ])rcparations had even been made for celebrating liie event, so that the disappointment at March's want of success was very great. (Jovcrnor Dudley was determined that another attempt should be made before so fine a body of troops was permitted to ilisperse. He gave .strict orders to allow none of the soldiers to land from the transports, on pain of death ; and, sending Colonel March one hundred recruits and some who had disbanded themselves in Hoston, with three Commissioners to supervise the conduct of the expedition, he ordered him back to Port Royal. I'his bold stroke might have insured the capture of the place had the spirits of the leaders of the expedi- tion been as high as that of Governor Dudley, for the French were far from anticipating a .second visit. But March was sick and declined the command, and Wainwright, the next .senior officer who was ap- pointed to it, does not appear to have had any qualifications for the position. The second siege began on the 20th August and lasted until the end of the month, but the English were repulsed at all points. On the 1st September the New England troops embarked, and sailed away from Port Royal, where they had met with such a mortifying want of .success. In 1710 an expedition was organized in Boston, under General Nicholson, for the capture of Port Royal. It was ready to sail in September, and on the 24th of that month was before Port Royal. Con- sidermg the weakness of that place, it was scarcely possible that Nicholson could fail, with the force at his disposal. His lleet consisted of six frigates and 7a Tlie Capture of Port Royal :i bomb vessel, and his land forces were on board ol thirty transports, all of which arrived safely at I'orl Royal except one, which was driven ashore at the entrance of the basin and lost, with twenty-six men. Nicholson's troops consisted of a regiment of royal marines from En>?land nndcr Colonel Reddin^t and four re),Mments of New Kngland troops, commis- sioned by the (jueen, and armed at her cost. His adjutant-general was Samuel Vetch, who had been promoted by the Queen to the rank of Colonel. I'he four Colonels of the New England land forces were Hobby and 'I'ailer of Massachusetts, Whiting of Con- necticut, and Walton of New Hampshire. The land force was estimated by the French at 3,500 men ; but as some of the regiments were quite weak, this was probably an overestimate. Hut, after all deduc- tions had been made, it was much more than suth- cient to accomplish tlie work with which it was charged. Although part of Nicholson's lleet had been lying at the entrance of Port Royal Basin since the 24tli September, he did not summon Subercase to sur- render until October 3rd, and his vessels did not go up to the fort until the 5th. On the 6th the English troops were landed, and on the following day, undei- cover of the attack of a l)omb-vessel, they succeeded in conveying a quantity of cannon and ammunition past the fort in boats. The English continued to work at their trenches, although continually can- nonaded by the French, until the evening of the loth, when they began to fire bombs, two of which fell into the fort, doing some damage. The same night fifty of the inhabitants and several soldiers deserted, and on the following day the remaining inhabitants presented a petition to Subercase, asking him to surrender. He paid no attention to this request, but on the following day, when he found that the soldiers were as much demoralized by the English fire as the inhabitants, he resolved to sum- mon a council of his olficers to consult as to what sliould be done. A council of war never fights, and the advice Subercase receivefl from this one was that it was necessary to surrender. Subercase accordingly sent one of his officers to General Nicholson to propose a capitulation, and the latter authorized Colonel Redding to go to the fort and treat with Subercase as to the terms. These were 73 The Sloiy of Acadia tiiially iiiiiiimcd, alttr lunsitkiablc ikbati, ami v\\ the I jtli October the capitiilaliuii was signed. 1 luce days Uiter tlie nairisoii- two hundred and filly-eight in mnnber— miserably ilad, and bearing all the marks of privation and distress, marched out of the lort with their arms and baggage, drums beating, and colors Hying, according to the terms of the capitula- tion. The French fhig was hauled down, wliich liad floated there as the emblem of authority for moic than one hundred years, but which was never more destined to wave above that fortress, so deai' to the hearts of the people of Acadia. The soKliers of the garrison, under the terms of the capitulation, were sent in English vessels to France. Subercase .sent the Haron St. Castin to convey tlie tidings of the fall of the fort to Vaudrcuil, (iovernor of New France. He was accompanied by Major Livingston, who was the bearer of a letter from Nicholson to the French Ciovernor, in which he stated that all the iniiabitants of Acadia, except those within cannon sliot of the fort, were residing there on sufferance, and that he would make reprisals on them if the barbarities practised by tlie savages on the frontiers of New England were not discontiiuicd. Vaudreuil returned a haughti' answer, in which he stated that any retaliatory measures wiiich might be adopted by the English would be amply avenged l)y the French, denying at tlie same time that the French treated their captives with inhumanity, or were accountable for the behavior of the Indians. He added that a truce, or even a neutrality, might have long before terminated the miseries of the war, had the English desired it. Nicholson did not venture to carry his proposals of retaliation into effect. The work of the expedition being done, it returned to Boston. Colonel Vetch was left in charge of the new conquest, which was re-named Annapolis Royal, in honor of the reigning Sovereign, Queen Anne. A force of two hundred marines and two hundred and fifty New England troops was detailed to garrison tlie place, which had been so cheaply won and so improvidently lost. The cost of the expedition to New England was _^23,ooo, which was afterwards repaid by the British I'arliameiit. The English loss in men did not exceed fifteen, besides those who were drowned in tlic wrecked liaiisporl. The French loss was smallir, but it was hunger and iububoidina- 74 The Capture of Port Royal tiun, niul imt linlitiiij,', wliirli icdtici-d Port Royal, wliicli tlu-ncffoitli vnnishrs from Acadian history. Tito Acndians about Annapoli>< liad shown pirat impatience of the presence of tlie HnRhsh, and only ft month after the eaptnro of the place, they sent Rene (I'Amonrs to the fiovernor of C^anada, asking? hin assistance to enable them to withdraw thenis«>lvcs from the country. They complained that Colonel Vetch treated them harshly and kept them in a condition of servitude. These representations, and the statement that the Acadian Indians were growing cool in their attachment to the French alliance, caused Vaudreuil to send two trusty agents to Acadia, wiio were required to visit all the settlements, assure the inhabitants of his assistance in expelling the English, anil exhort them to patience. Letters were also sent to the priests, pointing out to them the necessity of their keeping the Inf the History of Acadia it is impossible to h-ave out of sij,'ht the origin and character of its people, whose fidelity to a lost cause overwhelmed them with misfortunes. In the preceding portion of this history they occupy but a secondary place, being overshadowed in importanci- oy the representatives of the French (Jovernmeul, the great Seigniors, and the Companies, who mono- polized the trade of Acadia. In the portion which is to follow they will take the leading position in the story,— a position due to them as the real upholders of French influence in Acadia after the King of France had abandoned them to their fate. The people of Acadia are mainly the descendants of the colon i.sts who were brought out to I,a Have and Port Royal by Isaac de Razilly and Charnisay between the years 1633 and 1638. The former brought out some forty families of colonists, and the latter twenty families, most of whom appear to ha\e remained in Acadia, and engagi.d in the cultivation of tlie .soil. These colonists came hom Kocholh, Saintonge and Poitou, so that they were drawn from a very limited area on the west coast of France, covered by the modern departments of \'endeo and Charente Inferieure. This circumstance had sonio 71 The Story of Acadia inthitncc oil tluir nuulo of spttlinu: the lands of Acadia, for they oaine from a country or marshes, wlirrc tlic sea was kept ont l)V artificial dikes, and tlicy found in Acadia similar marslies, vvhicli they dealt wit 1 1 in tlie same way tliat they had been accustomed to practise in France. The uplands they almost wholly neglected, so much so that in 1734 (Governor Philipps wrote to the Lords of Trade that in almost a century they had not cleared more than tiiree hundred acres of forest lands. After making considerable allowance for exagp^eration in this statement, it may be accepted as a fact that the Acadians at a time when their population was quite large had made scarcely any impression on the forests of y\cadia. Tiiey found the cultivation of the marsh liinds more profitable, and therefore they are not to be blamed for directing their energies to reclaiming them. Charnisay seems to have set the example of diking the marshes at Port Royal, and Denys, whose book was published in 1672, is authority for the statement that these diked lands produccti wheat in great abundance. Diereville, who visited Acadia in iGqq- 1700, tells his readers that the Acadians stopped the current of the sea by erecting large dij^es which they called "Aboteaux." Thei" method was to plant five or six rows of large trees in the places where the sea enters the marshes, and between each row to lay down other trees lengthwise on t.)p of each other, Mild fill up the vacant spaces with c'ay, so well beaten wn that the tide could not pass thiough it. In the i...Jdle they adjusted a flood-gate in such a way as to allow the water from the marsh to flow out at low tide without permitting the sea water to flow in. He adds that these works were very expensive ami demanded much labor, but the abundant harvest ol)tained the second year repaid tlieui for their outlay. As the marshes were owned by many persons, they worked at the erection of dikes in concert. Diere- vilie's account of the method of diking marsh lands jiursufd by the Acadians two hundred years ■^go might vc;y well answer for a description of the same operation as practised at the present day in this modern Acadia. lip to the year 1671 most of the Acadian famili;, resided at Port Royal. 'I !iis first census of Acadirs was taken in that year, and it gives us ajgood view 78 'J'he Acadian Peupk of the progress wliicli had bLxii niiulc in the thii ly- (ive or more year-i since these people had come to tiie country. In all Acadia tliere were but four liuiidrtd and forty-one people, but, omitting .soldiers and fishermen, the total of actual settlers in the colony was reduced to four hundred and one, compiising seventy-four families, of which sixty-eight, numbering three hundred and sixty-three souls, were at Port Royal. The people at Port Royal had four hundred and seventeen arpents of land under cultivation, and had harvested five hundred and twenty-five barriques and fifty-seven minots of grain,— an amount which may be roughly stated to represent four thousand three hundred bushels. The Port Royal people had eight hundred and twenty-nine horned cattle, and three hundred and ninety-nine sheep, so that as a farming community they were fairly well oft'. The surnames of the families at Port Royal were Aucoiii, Habin, Belliveau, Baiols, Belou, Bertrand, Blanchard, Boudrot, Bourc, Bourgeois, Breau, Brun, Com- meaux, Connie, Corporon, Daigle, Doucet, Dugast. l)e ForrL, Gaudet, Gauterot, Girrouard, Gougeon, Grange, Guillebaut, Hebert, Kuessy, Labathe, Lanaux, Landry, Lebland, Martin, Melanson, Morin, Peierin, Petipas, Poirie, Pitre, Richard, Rimbaut, Robichaut, Scavoye, Sire, Terriau, Thibeadeau, Trahan, Vincent,— or forty-seven names in all. The other Acadian names of that census were Mius or U'Entremont at Pr.bnico, Lalloue at Cape Negro, and Poulet at Riviere au Rochelois. The next census of Acadia of whicli we have full particulars was taken in 1686, and in the fifteen yeais tliat had elapsed since the former census, the popula- tion had more than doubled. A considerable portion of this increa; as due to immigration, Grand- fontaine having l ught out sixty persons in 1671, of whom five were females. Most of these immigrants iiad gone to Port Royal, which had increased its population to ninety-five families, numbering five hundred and ninety-two persons. Notwithstanding this large increase, there wasltjs land under cultiva- tion than at the previous census, and the number of horned cattle had also decreased by nearly two hun- dred. This may be taken as an imbcation that tlie people of Port Royal were at that time devoting themselvjs more to fisliing and other pursuits than merely to agriculture. In tlie interval between the 79 The Story of Acadia two iiimiurations, two important st'ttlciiu'iits liad l)eeii founded by colonists from Port Royal — that of t'iiignccto, which at the census of i6S6 contained seventeen families, nuinl)ering one hundred and twenty-seven persons, and Mines, which had ten families and fifty-seven persons. The people ol (."hignecto had four hundred and twenty-six arpcnts of land under cultivation, a larger area than was cultivated •'. Port Royal, and they possessed two hundred and thirty-six horned cattle and one hun- dred and eleven sheep. At Mines there were cjighty- three arpents under cultivation, and the settlers had ninety horned cattle and twenty-one sheep. The census gives us nearly fifty new names not found in the census of 1671. At Port Royal there were Arscnault, Harilost, Basterache, Benoit, Bros- sard, I.eblanc, Leborgne, Brien, Colson, Conio, Douaron, Dugas, Fardel, Garault, Guillaume, Goho, (Jodet, Godiu, Henry, La Voyc, Lort, Leuron, Mar- gery, Peltict, Prijean, Leprince, Leperriere, Toan and Tourangeau, none of which had been in Acadia at the previous census. All the other settlements contained persons who had evidently reached Acadia after the census of 1671. At Chignecto the new names were Mirande, Labarre, Mignault, Cochin, Cottard, Mercier, Lavallc, Lagasse, and Blon. At Mines were Laboue, La Roche, Pinetand Rivet. At La Have were Provost, Labal, Vesin, Lejeune, Michel and Gourdeaux. In addition to these new names of settlers, thci'c were at this time in y\cadia a number of persons whose families did not become permanent residents of the country. At Penobscot, the Baron .St. Castin resided with his family and ser\ants. At Chignecto, La V^illiere had an extensive establishment, and cuUivattd sixty arpents of land. At Miramichi re- sided Richard Denys, a son of Nicholas Denys, then in Krance. At Nepisiquit was Enaud, who had married an Indian woman. On the River .St. John resiiled Martin D'Aprendistigue, a son-in-law of La Tour, his wife Jeanne, then sixt}' years old, and his daughter Charianc. On this rivci- also resided three of the d'Amours family, Louis, Mathieu, and Rene, the first two being married. Mathieu dAmours resided at Preneuse, on the east side of the St. John, opposite the Oromocto ; Louis had his residence at Jemseg. 80 'J'he Acadian l'ooi)Ic None of the La Tour family appear in tlic census of 1671, but in 1686 Jacques La Tour, the oldest son of La Tour by bis second marriage, was living at Cape Sable, and was married to Marie Melan^on, Ijrobably a daughter of the La Verdure who appears as a witness in his father's marriage contract. Charles La Tour was also at Cape Sable at this time, but was unmarried. At the .same place were his sisters, Anne and Marguerite, married to two of the DEntremont family, Jacques and Abraham Mius. The oldest sister, Marie, was at Port Royal, and was the wife of Alexander Le Borgne, better known as M. de Bellei.sle. All of La Tours children i)y his second marriage, were therefore in Acadia in 16S6. None of the name are now left in either of the Provinces which formed Acadia. Jacques La Tours only son retired to the French dominions after the English occupation of the countiy, as did also Charles La Tour, who died some time prior to 1732. The next census of which we have details was taken in 1693, the population of all Acadia being one thousand and nine, of which five hundred pei- sons, divided into eighty-eight families, resided at Port Royal. The population of the Province had increased in seven years by one hundred and twenty- four, which is probably about what the natural rate of increase should have been, but Port Royal had lost ninety-two of its population. Chignecto also had reduced its population from one hundred and twenty-seven to one hundred and nineteen. These losses are easily accounted for. The progress of tiie Chignecto colony had been retaided by tlie seigniorial claims of La Valliere, who claimed the whole of that fine territory. Port Royal had ceased to be the seat of government, which was then ad- ministered by Villebon at Fort Nashwaak, and its people had gone in large numbers to Mines, which afterwards became the most flourishing settlement in Acadia. Mines had in 1693 a population of two hundred and ninety-seven peisons, who had three hundred and sixty arpents of land under cultivation, and possessed four hundred and sixty-one liornei! cattle, three hundred and ninety sheep, and three hundred and fourteen swine. Port Roj'al also, though it had lost in population, had gained in other respects, for it had thirteen hundred and fifteen arpents of land under cultivation, and possessed 81 'Ihc Story of Acadia eight Immlivil aiul scvcnty-ciglit liuiiii'd cattiL', twelve Imndixd and lorty hhccp, and seven liundred and lour swine. Cliigneeto had one liinidred and lilty-scven ulmx-s ot land under cultivation, and owned three hundred and nine horned cattle, two hundred and eighty sheep, and one hundred and torty-six swine. The other settlements at this period were insignificant. At Cape Sable there were thirty persons, at Port Razoir twenty, at River St. John twentj', and twenty at Penobscot. A partial census taken in 1695 gives us details of the settlements on the St. John river, which then contained ten families, numbering forty-nine persons. There were one hundred and sixty-six acres ot* land under cultivation and seventy-three in pasture. J'lie crop of the year was one hundred and thirty bushels of wheat, three hundred and .seventy of corn, thirty of oats, and one hundred and seventy of peas. The live stock consisted of thirty-eigiit horned cattle and one hundred and sixteen swine In 1698 there was another partial census of Acadia, when Port Roy-d had five hundred and seventy-three iidiabitants, and Chignectoone hundred and seventy- five. Port Royal had twelve hundred and seventy- five arpents of cultivated land, fifteen hundred and eighty-four fruit trees, nine hundred and eighty-two horned cattle, and eleven hundred and thirty-six sheep. Chignecto had been sacked by Church two years before, but still it had held its ground pretty well. It had two hundred and ninety-eight arpents inider culture, three hundred and fifty- two horned cattle, and one hundred and seventy-eight sheep. Church had boasted that in 1696 he left their "cattle, sheep, hogs and dogs lying dead, ' but as the oidy live .stock which had diminished were the sheep, he must have wreaked his vengeance mainly on them. In 1701 there was another census of Acadia, whicii shows Port Royal with its population reduced to four hundred and fifty-six persons, and a still greater reduction in its live stock and cultivated acreage. Mines, however, had increased its population to four hundred and ninety, and Chignecto had a population ofone hundred and eighty-eight. In 1703 Port Royal had a population of four hundred and eiglity-five, and Chignecto two hundred and forty-five ; but the popula- tion of Mines hud fallen tu lour hundred and twentv- The Acadian People seven ; and in this census Cobequid appears for tlu- first time witli a population of ci^lity-scvrn souN. F.vidcntly this settlement had been iiicludiil in previous enumerations of Mines, or there had been a large emigration from Mines to Cobequid in the interval. In 1714 a census of Port Royal and Mines was taken by Felix Pain, a missionary priest, and is pre- I served in the archives of Paris. Hy that census it a|)pcars that I'ort Roj'al, inchidiuK the Banlieu, tiie Cape, and the residences close to the fort, contained eigiit hundred and ninety-live French inliabitants. Mines, under which designation were included the residents on the rivers Gaspereaux, Piziquid, Habit- ants and Canards, had eight hundred and seventy- eight inliabitants. Many new names appear in this census, showing that some immigrants had come to Acadia from Canada, or from France, and that many soldiers of the garrison had settled in the country, married and foimded families. The names in this census list which are not to be found in the lists I'ither for 167 1 or 1686, are Abraham, y\lain, Barnabe, Heaumont, Beaupre, Bernard, Blondin, Bonappetit, Baguette, Babet, Bourg, Breau, Bodart, Boutin, Boucher, Boisseau, Brasseau, Cadet, Carne, Cham- pagne, Clemenceau, Cosse, Chauvet, D'Amboise, Debert, Dubois, D'Aroes, Emmanuel, lEtoile, (Jentil, Gouselle, Jean, Jasmin, Labaune, Langlois, I,a Liberte, I.aurier, La Rosette, Lafont, La Montague, Lavergne, Le Basque, Lesperance, Le Breton, Le- marquis, Lionnais, Maillard, Moire, Mouton, Nantois, Oliver, Paris, Parisien, Perrinc, Potier, Raimond, Rieul, Roy, Sanion, Savary, Sellan, Surette, Saunier, .St. Louis, St. Scenne, Toussaint, Villate, Voyer, Y\'on. Here we have sixty-nine names of families which must have come to Acadia subsequent to the census of 1686. It is possible that some of these names are not new, but are merely the old names spelled difVerently, such as Bourg, which may be merely Bourc, with the final letter changed. But after making allowance for such alterations, the fact remains that at least half of the one hundred and twenty names of families residing at Port Royal and Mines in 1714 did not exist in Acadia prior to 1686. Indeed the development of new names in Acadia was quite remarkable, for in 1730, after the English had been in possession of the country for twenty years, 83 ' Tho Story of Acadia ainonp tlir siRnntnros l<> the oalli of allogiancc arc several namoH not to ho tnuiul in any previous constis. The Wfirld is indebted to the Abbe R.iynal tor that picture of the mode of life and chaiacter of the Acadians, which was accepted so lonp; without (|uestion, and which served to make their misfor- tunes appear so cruel and undeserved. It repre- sents them as a people without quarrels, without litig^ation and without poverty, "where every mis- fortune was relieved before it could be felt, without ostentation on the one hand, and without meanness on the other." Whatever little differences arose fiom time to time among them were amicably adjusted by their elders. "They were," says Rnynal, "a society of brethren, every individual of which was equally ready to give and to receive what he thought the common right of mankind. So perfect a harmony naturally prevented all those connexions of gallantry, which are often so fatal to llie peace of families. This evil was prevented by early marriages, so that no one passed his youth in a state of celibacy." We arc also told by the same authority that " their habitations, which were con- structed of wood, were extremely convenient and furnished as neatl)' as substantial farmers' houses in F.urope." This is but a part ot the elaborate and highly colored description which Raynal has given of the Acadians. it was written for the purpose of draw- ing a sharp contrast between the condition of the Acadians and that of the miserable peasantry of France, who before the Revolution were reduced almost to the condition of slaves. So long as the picture of the Acadian peasants was made suffi- ciently striking to point the contrast, Raynal cared nothing for its truth. Indeed, such a condition ol things as he imagined in Acadia, never existed anywhere, and never can exist so long as human passions and human motives remain unchanged. There is no reason to believe that the Acadians differed materially in character from any other peasant class of their race. They were intensely patriotic, much more so than the peasant of their mt tropolitan state, and this, no doubt, was largely due to the influence of their priests, who were alvvaj's wedded to the interests of France. But 86 The Acadian I'coplc lliLTc was aimllier cause I'ur this reeling. llieir aiK.-cstois liad left Kruiiee when she was great anil powerful iiiuier the master hand of Kiilielieii, when the memory of the first and greatest of its Bourbon kings was still fresh and glorious. A century pas.sed away, and France had become del)auched and ruineii by the follies and vices of her kings, yet to the Acadian she was still tlie France of his forefathers, and he coidd not understand wliy tiie relations between the nations should so change, that England should acquire the ascendant in America. The Acadians, living as they did remote from the centres of thought, escaped the malign influence of that form of scepticism which passed for philosophy ill the eighteenth century. They accepted without (|uestion the teachings of their ecclesiastics, and were largely guided by them in tiie conduct of their affairs. The influence of the priests was, no doubt, generally employed for proper and beneficial pur- poses, but when they became political emissaries, their influence became evil and even ruinous to the i\cadian peo "/ CIIAI'TER \1I rilE liSCl.lSII A r ANSAI'OI.IS HE treaty of Utrecht, l)y wliirli Acadia was j^ivtn to Knulaiul, also ceded Newtoiiiidlaiid wholly to that power, but France retained the Island of Cape Breton and the other Islands of the (iiilf o( St. Lawrence, including, of course, the Island of St. John, now known as Prince Kdward Island, riie way was thus left clear for France to eiect new and powerful establishments on the very borders of i\cadia, and to retain for herself the rich fisheries ot the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and tlic practical control of the whole of the coasts waslied by that mighty sea. That was what France immediately proceeded to ilo. The French garri.son, withdrawn from Placentia, was removed to Cape Breton, which was re-named Isle Royale, and there on the slioies of English Harbor began the erection of a great fortress, fiom which France might look forth and defy iier enemies, the widely-famed and potent Louisbourg. When Port Royal was taken, a certain number of the French inhabitants, such as lived within a league of the fort, were hy the terms of the capitulation, permitted to remain upon their estates, with their corn, cattle and furniture, for two years, on taking the oath of allegiance. No provision whatever was made for the other residents of Acadia. By tiie fourteenth article of the treaty of Utrecht, it was stipulated "that the subjects of the King of France may have liberty to remove themselves within a year to any other place, with all their movable effects. But those who are willing to remain, and to be subject to the King of Great Britain, are to enjoy, the free exercise of their religion according to tiie usages of the church of Rome, as far as the laws u\ Great Britain do allow the same." 88 The I'inglish at Annapolis On tlif 2^1(1 June, 171 ^, nearly three months alti r tile treaty <•!' I'treeht was sijjned, (^ueen Anne wrote to Nieholson, the (iovernor ot Nova Seotia, as loilowa : " When-as onr k<><' I brother, the Most Christian Kinjf, hath, at our desire, released from imprison- ment on board his Ralleys, such of his subjects ns wei'e detained there on aiTount of their iirofossin^j the Protestant relij^ion. We, ijein>? willing to show by some mark of our favor towards his subjects how kind wc take his compliance therein, iiave therefore thought fit iureby to signify our will and pleasure to you, that you permit such of them as have any lands or tenements in the places under yoiu' ^^overnmcnl in Acadia and Newfoundland, that have been or are to be yielded to us by virtue of the late Treaty of I'eacc, and arc willinjj to continue our subjects, to retain and enjoy tlu-ir said lands and teni-ments without any molestation, as fully and freely as other of our subjects do or may possess their lands or estates, or to sell the same if they shall rather choose to remove elsewhere. And for so doing this shall be your warrant."' The status of the Acadians in 1714 can be easdy gathered from the article of the treaty and the loyal letter above quoted. They were entitled to sell their propcity, real and personal, and remove from the Province if they so desired, or if they chose to remain in the Province, they might do so, and were to be permitted to reside upon their lands and enjoy their property as fully and freely as other subjects of the British Crown, and likewise the free exercise of their religion. But the language of both treaty and letter .shows that it was as British subjects only these privileges were to be enjoyed. It was never con- templated that the Acadians should establish them- selves in the country a colony of enemies of British power, ready at all times to obstruct the authority of the government, and to make the possession of Acadia by England merely nominal, A letter from father Felix Pain, missionary at Mines, to Costabelle, written in September, 1713, shows clearly enough what were the views of the Acadians at that period. Father Felix reports them as saying: "We shall answer for ourselves and for the absent, that wc will never take the oath of fidelity to the Queen of Great Britain, to the prejudice of what we owe to our King, to our country, and to our religion." In this same 89 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) "> m olis in September. This rendered it necessary to require the inhabitants of Annapolis to take the oath of allegiance again. They were therefore ordered to assemble for that purpose ; but, instead of doing so, they sent in a written answer refusing to take the oath except on certain conditions, which were deemed by the Council insolent. This was the more singular as they had taken the oath the previous year, and Arm- strong asserts in his letters to the Secretary of State that their refusal was entirely due to the deputies, who, instead of persuading them to take the oath, frightened them from it, by representing it as extremely binding. Three of the deputies, Landry, Bourgeois and Richards, were put in prison for their share in this refusal, and the fourth, Abraham Bourg, in consideration of his advanced age, was permitted to leave the Province, which, however, he seems not to have done. An ensign named Wroth was sent to Mines and Chignecto in a vessel with a company of soldiers to proclaim King George II., and administer the oaths ol allegi- ance to the people there; but he granted Fuch concessions to the inhabitants as were regarded as unwarrantable and dishonorable by the Council, and his proceedings were treated as null and void.. The embargo with respect to trade which had rested on these places for more than a year, was, however, removed. The return of Governor Phillips to the Province in the summer of 1729 gave an entirely new turn to aflairs. The French inhabitants gave him a joyful welcome when he arrived at Annapolis, and in a short time he induced all the male inhabitants from sixteen years of age and upwards to take the oath of allegiance, without any condition as to not bearing arms. In the course of the following Spring he visited Chignecto, Mines and the other French settlements, and administered the oath of allegiance to all the inhabitants, fo that in November, 1730, he was able to write to the Lords of Trade that there The Knglish at Annapoli.s were "not more than five or six scattering families on the eastern coast to complete the submission of the whole Province." Phillips regarded this achievement with considerable complacency, al- though he candidly expressed his belief that it did not insure the peace of the country longer than the union between the two Crowns lasted. The Acadians afterwards maintained that when they took this oath of allegiance, it was with the understanding that a clause was to be inseiled, relieving them from bearin^ arms. The statement was probably accurate, for that was the position they always assumed, but the matter seems to have been lost sight of, and so for the time the question of oaths, which had been such a fertile cause of discord in the Province, appeared to be set at rest. Very soon after tiie treaty of Utrecht, claims had been made on behalf of France that the St. John and the territory noi-th of the Bay of Kundy had not been ceded to Kngland, and did not form a part of Acadia. As early as 1718, (jovcrnor Vaudreuil wrote t<> the l.icutenant-Governor at Annapolis: "1 request you also not to permit your English vessels to go into the River Jit. John, which is always of the Krcni li dominion." The same statement was made in letters written to some of the French inhabitants in Acadia by the French Governors, any who desired to re- move to the St. John being told that they might have lots of land on applying to father Lejard, the Jesuit missiont . ', there. About the year 1730, a number of French families went to settle there, and a census taken in 1733 for the Government of France, gives the number of inhabitants on the St. John as one hundred and eleven, divided into twenty families. Tht^ relations of the inhabitants of Acadia to the government from 1730 down to the close of Governor Armstrong's administration, although marked by several petty quarrels, had on the whole been tolerably harmonious. The Indians had indeed pre- vented the erection of a garrison house at Mines, and were believed by the Lieutenant-Governor to have been instigated by the French to that act. Some of the French had refused to pay their rents, and there were occasional instances of disobedience to English authority. The priests at times proved difficult to deal with, and some of them had been ordered out of the Province in consequence of disobedience, 9» i The Story of Acadia Rut on the wliole, consiclcring tlie peculiar views held by the Acadians as to their rights, consideriiig also that nearly all their trade was with the French at Louisboitrg, and bearing in mind that their priests were in the pay of the Frenc'i government, and nnder the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Quebec, it is remarkable how small were the grounds of difference which existed between the Acadians and the Provin- cial government when Lieutenant-Governor Arm- strong died in 1739. Perhaps if a man less peevish in temper, and less disposed to take a senous view of trilling ditlHculties, had been at the head > i' alVuirs, • he differences between the Acadians and the (ioverntnent might have been greatly decreased ; for there is reason to fear that for some time prior to the melancholy event which ended his career, the l,icutenant-(jovernor was not in a proper mental condition to administer the affairs of the governincnl. lie died by his own hand in December, 1739, under the inlluenccof an insane melancholy which had long affected his health and impaired his judgment. Paid Mascerene, who succeeded to the Lieutenant- Governorship in 1740, was a very different sort of person. He was a French Huguenot, and with his parents was driven out of his native country by the events which followed the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. His whole life was spent in the military service of Kngland, and he proved himself a most erticient ollicer, rising by his merit, unaided by patronage, to the rank of Major -General. He assumed the administration of affairs in Acadia at a time when serious difficulties and dangers were im- minent, and showed his capacity by the manner in which he discharged the duties of his position. It was well that at such a crisis in the history of the coimtry the reins of goveinment were in such strong liand-i. 9' •ii i# *a "•" i.;i I CHAPTER XIII THE CArrURB OF UWISBOURG OUISBOURG, after thirty years ot labor and a vast expenditure of money, had grown to be a mighty lortress, a constant menace to New Kngland, and the rallying place nt a swarm of Privateers which in time of" war preyed np<)n Knglish commerce. The name "the Dunkirk of America," wh'cli it received from the people of Massachusetts, well illustrates the hate and suspicion witli which it was viewed, and the disfavor with which its growth was re- garded. Its gloomy walls, behind which the Jesuit, the gay soldier of France, and the siivagc of the i\cadian woods found shelter, were looked upon by the descendants of the Puritans as the bul- warks of a power which they dreaded and a religion which they abhorred. Louisbourg was indeed a potent fortress for this continent and for that age. The town, which was more than two miles in circuit, was surrounded by a rampart of stone from thirty to ihirty-six feet high, and the ditch in front of it was eighty feet wide. There were si.K bastions and three batteries containing embrasures for one hundred and forty-eight cannon and six mortars. On an island at the entrance of the harbor was planted a battery of thirty twenty- eight pounders, and at the bottom of the harbor, opposite to the entrance, was the grand or royal batterj' of twenty-eight forty-two pounders. The entrance of the town on the land side was at the west gate over a draw-bridge, near which was a cir- cular battery mounting sixteen twenty-four pounders, Such was Louisbourg when (iovernor Shirley con- ceived the bold project of capturing it with an army of rustics from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. Shirley had writti-n to the British ministry in the autumn of 1744, asking assistance for the defence of Nova Scotia and the capture of Louib- 9»« The Slory dJ Aradia boiirg. In January. ^745. before Ihcrc was time lor him to receive any answer from Kng;lancl, lie placed his plan for the reduction of LouisbourK before Ihe General Court, the members having l)reviously taken an oath of secrecy. The scheme appeared so visionary to most of the members that it was at first .rejected, but at that moment a petition arrived from the merchants of Boston, Salem and Marblehead, complaining of the great injuries they siifiered from the French privateers which harlwrcd at Louisbourg, and this enabled Shirley to have his proposal reconsidered, and finally carried by a majority of one vote. Circular letters were immedi- ately des|)atched to all tlie English colonies, rcciuest- ing their assistance, but all excused themselves from taking part in so desperate an enterprise, except Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. The latter .State, uribrtunately, missed its share in the glory of the aflair by the tardy arrival of the three hundred soldiers, which it had undertaken to contribute. Four thousand and seventy troops were enlisted and assembled in Boston early in March, of which Massachusetts furnished three thousand two hundred and fifty men, Connecticut five hundred and sixteen, and New Hampshire three hundred and four. The naval force for the expedition consisted of thirteen armed vessels, furnished by the four colonies, and mounting in all two hundred cannon. Shirley sent to Commodore Warren, the commander of the fleet on the station, asking him to assist in the proposed enterprise, but he declined to do so without special orders from England. His refusal, which reached Boston as the expedition was preparing to sail, was made known by Shirley to General Pepperell, the commander-in-chief, and to Brigadier-General Waldo, and to them alone. It was a severe disappointment, but neither of the three brave men, who knew the secret, dreamed of making it the cause of postponing the expedition for a single hour. Indeed, the afi'air had been inaugurated in a manner so extraordinary, and rested so much on fortune for its success, that the absence of the ordinary conditions on which success might be supposed to depend, si'arcely excited remark. (jeneral I'epperell, wlu) was at the head of this extraordinary crusade, instead cf being a battle 94 The Capture of Loujsbourp; scnrrcd veteran, was a mrrcliant of Kittory, who had never witnessed any more serious warlike enterprises than a few skirmishes with the Indians. He had never seen anything of civilized warfare, and had never heard a cannon fired in anger. Most ot those under him were equally inexperienced, but there was no lack of courage nor of enthusiasm, and both were required, for the task which they had undertaken was one from which brave men might well have shrunk, considering the inadequate means at their command. The expedition set sail from Boston late in March, freighted with the hopes of New England and blessed by its prayers. From every pulpit rose the supplication that the God ol battles would go forth with this host of His chosen people, and point their way to victory. Fortune smiled on them from the start. They arrived at Canso, which was the place of rendez- vous, early '.n April, and found the whole coast ot Cape Breton surrounded by a barrier of floating ice. It was certain that no news of their enterprise could have reached Louisbourg. While waiting at Canso they built a block-house to replace the one destroyed by Du Vivier, and placed in it a' garrison of eighty men. One of their vessels captured a richly laden brigantiue from Martinique, which was thus early bound for Louisbourg. A few days later, four war vessels were descried far out at sea, but apparently making towards Canso. There was great excite- ment and some alarm, and the vessels in the harbor were got ready for action. Who could the strangers be ? What if they were a French squadron bound for Louisbourg? These and other questions were speedily set at rest as they drew near, and the broad pennant of Commodore Warren was seen flying from the Superb, the f1ag.ship of the squadron. Warren, soon afler he despatched his letter of refusal, had received orders from England to proceed to the assistance of the expedition, and learning from a fisherman that it had left Boston, made all haste to join it at Canso. After a confer- ence with Pepperell, it was arranged that Warren should cruise in front of Louisboiu'g, and intercept all vessels going there. There he was joined in the course of a few weeks by six more war ships, so that he had quite a powerful fleet under his command. Louisbourg was thus cut of!" from all succor before 95 The Story of Acadia its xanison or inliabitunts dreamed of danger. Two sloops were despatched to Bale Verte to intercept any vesseln going from that place with supplies, and to make the surprise of Louisbourg complete, the fort at St. Peter's was seized and its occupants held as prisoners. These measures were so effectual that, when on the 30th April the New England flotilla arrived in Gabarus Bay, they were so entirely unex- pected, that the alarm and confusion were extreme. Cannon were fired, bells were rung, and officers and soldiers ran hither and thither in the greatest dismay. As the English threatened to land, an officer named Boulardiere was detached with one hundred and fifly soldiers to prevent them, but Pepperell deceived him by a clever ruse, and landed a detachment higher up the Bay, which drove the French party into Louis- bourg. That day the English landed about two thousand men, and on the following day the remainder and a large quantity of stores. Colonel Vaughan, of New Hampshire, marched round the harbor in the night with four hundred troops to the rear of the grand battery north of the city, and setting fire to the storehouses behind it, which were filled with pitch and tar, frightened its garrison out of it. This battery was immediately occupied, and its thirty cannon turned on the town with deadly effect. Then commenced the landing of cannon from the ships, which took a whole fortnight, and was effected with incredible labor, the men dragging the heavy guns on sledges over the rough ground and through a morass to their camp. Du Chambon, the Governor, was summoned to surrender, but returned a haughty refusal, and the New Englanders directed their energies to the erection of batteries to demolish the landward defences of the place. An unsuccessful night attack was made on the island battery, but a safer plan of silencing it was devised by the erection of a battery on Light House Point, which enfiladed the Island battery, and made it almost untenable. The Vigilant, a sixty-four gun ship, laden with stores for Louisbourg, had been captured by the English fleet, and Pepperell, by means of a flag of truce, had this information conveyed to the French Governor. The knowledge of this misfortune, the weak and mutinous condition of his garrison, and the firm hold that the besiegers had acquired of the out- works essential to the successful defence of the 96 The Capture of Louisbourg place, disposed Du Chambon to surrender ; and finally, on the 15th June, the terms of a rapitula- tion were agreed upon, and on the 17th, the tla^; of England floated over Louisbourg, after a siege of forty-nine days, which, on the part of the besiegers, had been conducted with a degree of courage, enter- prise and activity which left nothing to be desired. The garrison, numbering six hundred regulars and thirteen hundred militia, with the crew of the Vigilant and many of the inhabitants, numbering in all upwards of four thousand persons, were sent back to France. A swift sailing schooner carried the news to Boston of the glorious triumph which the sons of New England had won. Then such joy was seen on the faces of all ranks as can only be witnessed in a free State among a people who have escaped a great danger and won a noble victorj'. And well might they rejoice, for the capture of Louisbourg was one of the most wonderful achievements that is recorded in the world's history. Even the victors themselves re- joiced with trembling as they saw the amazing strength of its defences, and the deadly peril they would have had to brave had an assault been demanded of them. That a band of untrained artizans and husbandmen, commanded by a mer- chant, should capture a fortress that it had taken thirty years to build, and wliich was defended by veteran troops, was something so wonderful that the news of the event was received in Europe with incredulous surprise. Had such a deed of arms been done in Greece two thousand years ago, the people of England would have made it the theme of innumerable commentaries, the details of the achievement would have been taught to the children in the schools generation after generation, great statesmen would have written pamphlets 00 the subject, and great poets would have wedded it to immortal verse. But as the people who won this triumph were not Greeks nor Romans, but only colonists, the aftair was but the talk of a day and then dropped out of sight. Most of the books that are called Histories of England ignore it altogether. And even the descendants of the captors of Louisbourg have been too busy cele- brating later triumphs to remember Pepperell and his band of heroes, whose daring was only equalled by their success. 97 « CHAPTER XIV THE CAI'IJULATIOX AT GKAXP rRB HK year 1746 was one of (freat projects bf)th on the part of England and France, none of which turned out according to the expectations of their originators. Governor Shirley, whose energy was extreme, was resolved on nothing less than the conquest of Canada, and probably if he had been seconded heartily by the British Ciovernment, the achieve- ments of thirteen years later would have been anticipated. More than eight thousand men were enlisted in the New England States, and in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, but the fleet from England, which was to co-operate with them, did not arrive, and the troops were finally disbanded in the autumn of the fol- lowing year. The French were equally resolute to recover what they had lost. A great fleet was got ready at Brest to attack Louisboi.rg, Annapolis and Boston, and a large body of Canadian Rangers was collected at Quebec to be reinforced by a large number of Indians, and to co-operate with the fleet in its operations in Acadia. This detachment was under the command of an ofKcer named Ramczay, who arrived at Chignecto in June with six hundred Canadians, and was joined there by three hundred Malicites, under Lieutenant St. Pierre, and a large body of Micmacs, under Marin. Two French frigates from Brest were then lying in Chebouctou (Halifax) Harbor awaiting the arrival of the fleet. They had been sent out in advance to communicate with Ramezay's forces, and to keep them on the alert. In the meantime the latter did not consider his force strong enough to attack Annapolis. While he waited for the Brest fleet the Governor of Canada had been alarmed at the rumors of invasion from New England, and sent word for him to return. He had started to return to Quebec, when late in September he was overtaken by a messenger, who 98 The Capitulation at Grand Pre arrested liis march with the thrilling; intelligence tliat the Hrest fleet wan in Cheixiuctou Flarbor. The French fleet was indeed tlierc, but in a sorry plight. When it left Hrest on the aand June it formed by far the moHt powerful armament that had ever essayed to cross the Atlantic. It consisted of seventy sail, of which eleven were ships of the line, twenty frigates, Ave sloops and brigs, and thirty-four transports, tenders and flreships, — manned by more than ten thousand sailors, and carrying a land army of upwards of three thousand men. It was under the command of the Duke d'Anville, and his orders were to capture and dismantle Louisbourg, to take Annapolis, and to attack and burn Boston. The approach of this fleet was viewed with great alarm by the people of New Kngland, and the militia were gathered in haste from the inland towns and held in readiness for an attack. The««e precautions proved to be needless. Soon after it left the coast of France the fleet was scattered by a tempest ; four : hips of the line and a transport were disabled and forced to put back. When d'Anville reached Che- bouctou on the loth of September he had but three ships of the line and a few transports. A terrible mortality prevailed among his men, and on the i6th he himself sickened and died. Four more ships of the line, with the Vice-Admiral d'Estournelle, anived the same day, but Conflans, who was expected with four ships from the West Indies, had not been heard of; in fact, he had arrived at Chebouctou in August, and not finding D'An\ille there, had returned to France. A council of war was held, at which the Vice-Admiral advocated the abandonment of the expedition, seeing that so many of the vessels were missing and that twenty-five hundred men had already died of fever. Jonqui^re, the newly appointed Governor of Canada, who was on board, vehemently opposed this proposal, saying that Annapolis at least could be taken. Most of the officers were with Jonquiere in this view, and the Vice-Admiral finding himself overruled, committed suicide. This left Jonquiere at the head of the expedition, and he, after allowing the men to remain some time ashore to recruit, re-embarked them, and on the 13th October set sail for Annapolis. There were still forty-two vessels left, of which thirty were ships, but the strength of the land forces had 99 E a The Story of Acadia dwindled away to one thouMnd efticient men. Slill, it was thought that Annapolis muHt surely fall ; and to insure the safe arrival of every vessel, a large number of the French inhabitants who were familiar with Annapolis Basin, had come over from Mines to pilot the ships. But the hand of destiny was upon this fleet. Off Cape Sable another tempest arose and damaged the shipH, and news was received that there was a Htrong Engli.sh fleet at Louisbuurg, and a squadron in Annnpolis Basin. It was unanimously agreed to abandon the attack on Annapolis, the Acadian pilots were landed, and the fleet bore back to France. Thus ignobly ended an enterprise which, according to all human calculations, should have accomplished at least the reduction of Louisbourg and Annapolis, and which perhaps might have done much more towards weakening the power of Eng- land in America, if well conducted and favored by fortune. The people of New England were so sen- sible of their escape from a great peril that they attributed their deliverance to nothing less than the direct interposition of Divine Providence. In every church ond by every fire- side, venerable ministers and pious maidens read with exulting voices Deborah and Barak's song of triumph and thanksgiving : "They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength. " Ramezay, who had been recalled by the arrival of the fleet at Chebucto, arrived in front of Annapolis with seven hundred Canadians and Indians late in September. Mascerene's garrison was, however, too strong to be attacked, and in October, when he learned that the fleet had returned to France, he withdrew his force to Mines and afterwards to Chignecto, where he proposed to spend the winter. His presence there alarmed Mascerene, who was in constant communication with Governor Shirley, and he represented to the latter the necessity of having at least a thousand more men in the Province to over- awe the Acadians and check the attacks of the de- tachments from Canada. Shirley accordingly enlisted five hundred troops in Massachusetts, and despatched them to Mascerene in December. They were in- tended to occupy Mines during thf A^inter, but it was too late in the season to get into the Basin of Mines, zoo The Capitulation at (irnnd Vr6 and therefore they had tu land un the south •thure ul' tlie Ray of Fundy and march un foot to thrir destina- tion to the south of tlie RiviT (i.-t.H|H:reaux. There they were quartered in thf hotiMes of the inhabitants in February, when an attack wax mmU' upon tlioni which wasi most fatal in its results. Ramezay, who was resting at CluKnecto, was informed by a messenger from Mines of the arrival of the English and of the manner in which thej' had diuposed themselves. He saw nt once that their scattered condition and the carelessness of their guard offered an admirable opportunity for cutting them oft". To do so would .nvolve a winter march of great difficulty through a wu«J"rness, but it was in such enterprises as this that the Can idian coureur de bois was most at home. .So the adventure was resolved upon. Kaniezay was himself disabled und incapable of making such a journey, but he found a worthy substitute in De Villiers. He received the command of the detachment, and had with him such able lieutenants as Lusignant and I.a C'orne. On the a3rd January, 1747, De Villiers set out from Chignecto with three hundred and fifty C'anadians and sixty Indians on his arduous journey. By the ordinary route in summer the distance between Chignecto and Grand Pr6 would not exceed seventy miles, but at that season the Basin of Mines could not be navigated by canoes, so that he was obliged to make a long detour around its shores, and to cross the many rivers on his route, above the influence of the tide. It takes now but a few hours to pass by rail from the Misse- guash to the Gaspereaux. De Villiers and his band thought they had done well to accomplish the dis- tance in eighteen days. While the Canadians on their snovv-.shoes were pressing on in defiance of cold and storm, dragging their food behind them 'on sledges, through the weary passes of the Cobequid mountains, and along the banks of the Shubenacadic, the English were resting in fancied security. Some of the inhabitants told them that the French were coming, but they ridiculed the idea, and made no change in their arrbngements, so that when they were attacked in the early morning of the loth February, they were utterly taken by surprise. De Villiers had been joined by a number of Acadians at Piziquid, and was informed by them of the exact position of the xoi The Story of Acadia English. They were quartered in twenty-lour houses, from whicii the inhabitants had prudently retired, when whispers of the coming of the French were first heard. De Villiers resolved to attack ten of them, in which the principal officers lodged, with such an overpowering force that failure would be impossible ; and having thus disposed of the leaders of the English, he judged that the others would be obliged to yield. Fortune favored him in his perilous undertaking. A terrific snow storm had been raging for a day and night, and while there was four feet of snow on the ground the air was still thick with the fast falling flakes. As the French, divided into ten detachments, approached the ten houses singled out for attack, the blinding storm prevented the English sentries from discovering them until it was too late. They had barely time to give the alarm when the French were upon them, and they were bayoneted where they stood. The English officers and soldiers thus suddenly attacked leaped from their beds and made a desperate resistance. But the struggle was very unequal, for most of them were undressed, many were unarmed, and they were outnumbered by the enemy. Colonel Noble, who commanded the English, was killed fighting in his shirt, and with him fellTour other officers and seventy non-commis- sioned officers and soldiers. Sixty of the English were wounded and sixty-nine were made prisoners. The French only lost seven killed, and fourteen wounded, so unequal were the conditions of the struggle, but De Villiers and Lusignant were among the latter. The English who remained were in an extremely difficult position. They were outnumbered by the French and Indians ; they were cut oft" from their store of provisions ; their principal officers were captured, and they were '.vithout snow-shoes, so that they could not travel. The snow in fact im- prisoned them more effectually than a whole army could have done. They, however, made a desperate attempt to retrieve their fortunes, and tried to fight their way to their .stores and vessel, but the snow defeated their efforts. At noon a suspension of arms was agreed on, ana finally a capitulation was arranged between Captain Goldthwaite, on behalf of the English, and La Come, who had taken com- mand of the French. The terms were, that the loa y," The Capitulation at Grand Pr^ English were to depart for Annapolis within forty- eight hours, with their arms and six days" provisions, and not to bear arms at Mines, Cobequid, or Chig- necto for six months. The prisoners taken were to remain prisoners of war, and the English wounded were to be conveyed to River Canard, and lodged there until they were in a condition to be removed to Annapolis. Among the wounded prisoners was Mr. How, of the Council, who had gone to Mines as Commissary General. He was released on parole, and afterwards exchanged for a French officer. The people of (^rand Pre having thus got rid of the English, informed the French officers that they were very short of provisions, and on their representa- tions they decided to return to Chignecto, taking their prisoners with them. They had achieved a great triumph, which was only rendered possible by the extreme negligence of the English commander ; but that does not detract from the merits of the French, for men who take all the chances in war should not be robbed of their laurels when they succeed. The moral influence of this victory was powerful on the minds of the Acadians, who saw a strong English detachment defeated and compelled to surrender to a less numerous body of French and Indians, without, perhaps, considering too closely the causes which brought about such an occurrence. It was therefore a misfortune in every way that such a chance should have befallen the English, for it was probably one of the causes which lured the Acadians to their ruin. The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which was signed on the i8th October, 1748, brought the war to a close. By it France and England mutually restored the con- quests they had made during the war, and under this arrangement England had to cede the Island of Cape Breton and the fortress of Louisbourg to France. The people of New England were chagrined to see this stronghold, which had been such a menace to them, and which they had so bravely captured, given up, as if it was a worthless prize. To restore Louis- bourg was, indeed, an act of extreme folly, consider- ing how aggressive the French had become in America, and that the peace was not likely to be lasting. The peace — to use the words of Lord Macaulay— was "as regards Europe nothing but a truce ; it was not even a truce in other quarters of the globe." ' ' *'. CHAPTER XV LA l.OV IRE AXn ms WORK HE Knglisli, after a possession ot Acadia which lasted nearly forty years, had not succeeded in founding a single English settlement, or adding to the English speaking population of the Pi ovince. I'he French Acadians, on the other hand, had gone on increasing and spreading themseK cs over the land. They were strong and formidable, not only by reason ol their number, but because of their knowledge of wood- craft, of the management of canoes, and of many other accomplishments which are essential to those who would live in a forest country, and which are al- most indispensable qualifications for soldiers in such a land as Acadia. All that the English had to show for their thirty-nine years occupation of the country were the fortificatiims of Annapolis and a ruined fishing station at Canso. All the substantial gains of that time belonged to France, for the Acadians were nearly three times as numerous as they were when Port Royal fell, and they were quite as de- voted to the interests of France as their fathers had been. Acadia in 1749 was as much a French colony as it had been forty years before. The only differ- ence was that the English were at the expense of maintaining a garrison instead of the French, and that they sometimes issued orders to the inhabitants which the latter very seldom chose to obey. Many schemes had been devised for the purpose of giving Acadia an English population, but none ot them had come to anything. One of the best was, perhaps, that of Governor Shirley, who proposed to scatter English settlers among the French in all the prin:ipal settlements in sufficient numbers to main- tain something like a balance of power. This, no doubt, was quite feasible, and had the right kind of settlers been obtained — hardy pioneers from the borders of New England — the problem which so greatly perplexed successive Governors of Nova Scotia would have been solved, and the Acadians kept quiet, or then- influence at least neutralized. In 1749 a plan of a simpler character, but less likely 104 L La Loutre and his Work to be immediately effective, was adopted. This was to bring settlers from England to a portion of the coast not already occupied, and to found a town and establish a stronp English colony. General Philipps, although he had not been in the country for many years, was still Governor of the Province, the government being administered by the Lieu- tenant-Governor of the fort of Annapolis. The commission of Philipps was now revoked, and the Hon. Edward Cornwallis was appointed Captain- General and Governor-in-Chief of Nova Scotia. He arrived in the Province in the summer of 1749, and established at Chebouctou, a colony of some two thousand five hundred persons, many of them dis- banded officers, soldiers and sailors. A town arose as if by magic on the soil which had been covered by a dense forest a few weeks before, and to it Corn- wallis gave the name of Halifax, out of compliment to the Lord then at the head of the Board of Trade. Here the government of the Province was reorgan- ized, fortifications erected, and the beginnings made of the large military and naval establishments which have grown up on the shores of the old Chebouctou. Meanwhile, the Governor of Canada had already anticipated the movements of the English at Halifax by sending an officer named Boishebert and thirty men to the St. John river in the Spring, to take possession of the territory at its mouth and prevent any English from settling there. They occupied a little fort on the northern bank of the Nerepis, at its junction with the St. John, which had been erected by the Indians in Villebon's time. La Corne was also sent from Quebec with a stronger detachment o( soldiers and Canadians to Shediac to hold Chignecto and prevent any English from settling in that vicinity. These measures were consistent with the claim which France was making, that the territory north of the Isthmus of Chignecto was not part of Acadia, and therefore not ceded to England by the treaty of Utrecht. In July, Cornwallis sent Captain Rous in the Albany to the St. John to order the French away. He found Boishebert and one hundred and fifty Indians gathered there under the French flag, and in explanation of his presence he showed orders from the Governor of Canada, ordering him to prevent the English from settling at St. John. The same vessel brought back to Halifax Chiefs and 107 The Story of Acadia Deputies of the St. John river, Passaniaqiioddy and Chignerto tribes of Indians to renew the treaty oi peace and submission made in 1726. They renewed the treaty and made great professions of friendship, which La Loutre took care that they did not keep. This priest came to the Province as earlj' as 1740, and it was not long before he commenced to plot against the English. He was in close and constant communication with the French Governors of Canada for many years, and was the prime mover in all the schemes f(jr the subversion of English authority up to the fall of Beausejour. Indeed his spiritual functions seem to liave been made entirely subser- vient to his political mission, and there is excellent evidence to show that the Bishop of Quebec was very far from approving of his conduct. Perhaps there is a standpoint from which La Loutre's acts can be justified, but the Acadian people will scarcely be able to feel much att'ection for the memory of a man who brought such misfortunes on their fathers. It may liave been pure patriotism which moved him in all his schemes, but many ascribed his conduct to personal vanity. Nor was he so single-minded as not to have an eye to temporal advantages, for M. Franquet states that, in 1751, La Loutre kept a shop at Baie Vertc on his own private account. The plan which he pursued consistently from first to last with the Acadians, was to threaten them with the ven- geance of the savages if they submitted to the English, and to refuse the sacraments to all who would not obey his commands. It was by such threats as these that he induced the inhabitants of Chignccto to take the oath of allegiance to the King ot France in 1749, and that he afterwards caused so many of them to withdraw from the Peninsula. In April, Corn wal lis and his Council resolved to erect a block-house at Chignecto, which was the focus of most of the intrigues which were hatched against English authority. Major Lawrence was entrusted with this work, and furnished with four hundred men, nearly half of whom were regulars. He marched to Mines, and there took shipping to Chignecto, which he reached on the ist May. There, on the southern side of the Misseguash, which the French pretended to be the boundary of Acadia, was a large village named Beaubassin, con- sisting of one hundred and forty houses. The in- 108 La Loutre and his Work habitants were rich and prosperoup, for the territory upon which it stood, and the surrounding marshes, formed, and still forms, one of the most fertile regions in Acadia. The French had early notice that the English were coming, and the wily La Loutre persuaded the inhabitants of this populous settlement, numbering more than a thousand souls, to abandon their dwellings, and, with their cattle and household effects, to cross the Misseguash, and come under the protection of the French troops on its northern bank. Then, to make the step irrevocable, he ordered his Indians to set fire to the village, and it was totally destroyed, not even the chapel being spared. The statement that such an act of wanton devastation was committed on the French inhabitants by the orders of a priest of their country and their faith, would be incredible, were it not well authentitated. More than a thousand persons were embraced in this forced emigration, and the number was increased later in the year, as La Loutre s fulminations and threats took effect. About eight hundred Acadians were residing at Port la Joie, the site of Charlotte- town, P. E. L, in August, 1750, and were being fed on rations furnished from Quebec. There they lived miserably, like Indians in the woods, and,.suffered many hardships. A large number of them remained on the isthmus, scattered at various points between Baie Verte and the head of the Bay of Fundy. For several years these pooi refugees, flattered by hopes that were destined never to be realized, lived in voluntary exile in sight of the fields that had been their own, and to which they might have had liberty to return, on embracing the easy conditions which they were offered. Yet they were restrained by the influence of a wicked priest, who had a band of savages which he employed to coerce them. The French were now gathered in great force north of the Misseguash, there being a considerable body of regulars, a larger body of Canadians, several hundred Indians, and many able-bodied Acadian inhabitants. La Come sent word to Lawrence that he intended to hold the north bank of the Misseguash as French territory until the boundary question was settled by the two Crowns, and the scope of Lawrence's orders did not embrace any instructions to drivfc La Corne away. As the removal of the French inhabitants had made the erection of a block- The Story of Acadia house unneccs.s.irv, antj as he had not the means for the construction of a repular tort, Lawrence resolved to take his force bacit to Mines until measures were perfected for the larger enterprise which the chauRcd ittitude of the F'rench had rendered necessary. La Loutrc, by means of his agents in the various settlements, had been unremitting in his efforts to induce the inhabitants to withdraw from the isthmus, and from under ICnglish rule. In April, deputies arrived at Halifax from River Canara, Grand Pr^ and Piziquid, asking for leave to evacuate the Province, and to carry oH their effects. They also announced their determination not to sow their fields. Corn- wallis replied in a most kind and conciliatory strain, and concluded by telling the deputies that they were the subjects of Great Britain, and not of France ; that it was ridiculous for them to say that they would not sow their fields ; that no one could possess lands or houses in the Province who refused to take the oath of allegiance, and those who left the Province would not be permitted to take their effects with them. Five weeks later, deputies from Annapolis, Grand Pre, River Canard and Piziquid, came with petitions from the inhabitants, asking permission to leave the Province. Cornwallis replied, that as soon as tran- quility was re-established he would furnish those who wished to leave the Province with passports. In the meantime, considering that the moment they crossed the Misseguash they would be compelled to take up arms against the English, he declined to grant them permission to depart at that time. There was something almost touching in the terms in which the Governor cxpres.sed his regret at the determination of the Acadiansto withdraw from under English rule. He thus expressed himself: — "My friends, the moment that you declared your desire to leave and submit yourselves to another government, our determination was to hinder no- body from following what he imagined to be his interest. We know that a forced service is worth nothing, and that a subject compelled to be so against his will, is not very far from being an enemy. We frankly confess, however, that your determi- nation to leave us gives us pain. We are well aware of your industry and your temperance, and that you are not addicted to any vice or debauchery. ' This Province is your country ; you and your fathers l.a Loutre and his Work Imvo cultivated it ; naturally you oiiplit yourselves it) I njoy tlic fruits ol your labor. Sucli was the desire ot" the King, our master. You know that we have followed li's orders. You know that we have done everything to secure to you not only the oc- cupation of your lands, but the ownership of them for ever. We have given you also every possible assurance of the enjoyment of your religion, and the free and public exercise of the Roman Catholic faith. When we arrived here we expected that nothing would give you so much pleasure, as the determination of His Majesty to settle this Province. Certainly nothing more advantageous to j'ou could take place. You possess the only cultivated lands in the Province ; they produce grain and nourish cattle suflficient for the whole colony. It is you that would have had all the advantages for a long time. In short, we flattered ourselves that we would make you the happiest people in the world." This may be the language of tyranny and oppression, but it sounds wonderfully like the tone of gentle and kindly remonstrance. Unfortunately, the Acadians were not permitted by their advisers to believe in the sincerity of anj'thing which an English Governor might say. It was the policy of the agents of the French King to fill them with distrust, and to compel them to withdraw from their lands and submit to all the privations which such a course involved. The establishment of a Fort at Chignecto was the next object which engaged the attention of Cornwallis and his Council. Lieutenant-Colonel Lawrence arrived at the Isthmus in September, 1750, with a strong force, consisting of the 48th regiment and three hundred men of the 45th regiment. The Indians and some of the French inhabitants were rash enough to attempt to oppose the landing of this formidable body of troops, but thej' were driven oft after a sharp skirmish, in which the English lost about twenty killed and wounded. On an elevation, a short distance south of the Misseguash, Lawrence commenced the erection of a picketed fort, with block-houses, which was named after himself. Here a garrison of six hundred men was maintained until the fall of Beausfejour. The two Crowns were supposed to be at peace when Fort Lawrence was erected, but on that border land there was something very nearly akin to war. CHAPTER XVI I THE FALL OF BEAUSkjOUR ' N the northern bank of the Misse- guash, less than a mile from that river, which now forms the boundarj* of two Provinces, the Railway winds round a remarkable hill, which, rising abruptly from the marsh, runs back in a high narrow ridge towards the north-east. The traveller, as he gazes listlessly at the landscape, suddenly has his attention fixed by the sight of a mined magazine and the ramparts and embrasures of an ancient fortress. These wasting battlements, which now seem so out of place in the midst of a peaceful pastoral scene, have a sadder history than almost any other piece of ground in Acadia, for they represent the last effort of France to hold on to a poiiion of that Province, which was once all her own, which she seemed to value so little when its possession was secure, yet which she fought so hard to save. This ruin is all that remains of the once potent and dreaded Beaus^jour. The erection of Beausfejour was commenced in 1750 by La Come, and it was scarcely completed when it passed out of the possession of the French five years later. It was a fort of five bastions, capable of accommodating eight hundred men, and provided with casemates. It mounted thirty guns. In connexion with Beaus^jour, the French con- structed a complete system of defence for the northern portion of Acadia. At Bale Verte they had a small fort, which they named Fort Gasper- eaux. It was close to the sea shore, on the northern side of the Bay, and was used as a depdt for goods coming to Beaus^jour, from Louisbourg and Quebec. It mounted six g^ns, and had a garrison of from fifteen to thirty men. At Pont a Buot there was a block-house garrisoned by thirty men, and there were guards at Shepcdy, Shediac, and one or two iia The Fall of BeausJjjour other points. At the River St. John there was a detachment of seventy or eighty men, l^esidcH Indians. This Une of posts formed a continuous chain from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the St. John, and Beaus^jour could at any time be reinforced, either by way of the (iulf ->r from the River St. John , without the English at Annapolis or Halifax having any notice of it. At Beausdjour, La Loutre made his \ head-quarters, and issued his edicts to the Acadians, who trembled at his frown. England and France were now on the verge of a war which was destined to end in the humiliation ol the latter power, and the loss of the greater part of her possessions in America. The attempt made to settle the limits of Acadia by means of a commission had failed, as it was evident it must do from the first, considering how conflicting were the claims of the two powers. Governor Shirley, who had been the English Commissioner, was now returned home, and was revolving in his active brain many scheme? for W the destruction of the power of France in Acadia ^ and Cape Breton. He had in Lieutenant-Colonel Lawrence, who, in the absence of Governor Hopson, had become Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, an active and energetic assistant, and one whose firm- ness was to be depended upon. It was well that such a man had the command in Nova Scotia at this time, for the difficulties of the position were great, and not likely to be lessened so long as a passive policy was pursued. In November 1754 Lawrence wrote to Shirley stating that he had reason to believe the French were contemplating aggressive movements at Chignecto as soon as they had repaired the fortifi- cations of Louisbourg, and suggesting that it was high time some eflfort was made to drive them from the north side of the Bay of Fundy. Lieutenant- Colonel Monckton, who carried this letter to Shirley, was directed to consult with him as to the enlisting of two thousand men for an expedition against Beaus^jour and the River St. John in the Spring, and the greatest secrecy was enjoined on all con- cerned, for it was considered almost essential to the success of the enterprise that the French should have no warning of the intended attack. Shirley had already been corresponding with Sir Thomas Robin- son, the Secretary of State, with regard to the matter, "3 The Story of Acadia and the liittfi' liad inrdrmed him that it was thrdesin* ol'tlic I •itvcrnini'iit tliat lie mid l/iwiviu'i- sluiidd uct in concert. ShiiU'y scarrcly ni'rded MUch nn ordiT, for lie wan fillf i witli zi-al for the dcHtnictidn oJ Kiciu'li powiT in AmtTii'M, and ready to ro-oixrratr in any fnterprise to that t-nd. He entered heartily into f.awrence's plans, and tlie siUTess of tlie t-xpedi- tioi) was hirgely dn<- to tlie forethoiiglit and care with which he had pre|)arcd it. On the 33rd of" May, 175s. the expedition net sail Iron) i^uHton witli a fair wind. It consisted ot about two tliousand men, under the command of l.ientenant-Colonel Moncidon, with Lieutenant- Colonels Winslow and .Scott under him. After calling at Annapolis, and being joined by three hundred regulars of Warbuiion's regiment and a small train of artillery, they got to Chignecto on the and June, and on the following day all the trt)o;)s were lauded and camped around Fort Law- ronce. Vergor, wlio was then in command of Heauscjour, at once sent an order for all the Acadiaus, capable of bearing arms, to come into the fort. Tlic order was pretty generally obeyed, nllliougli the inhabitants demanded that, as a justi- fication for bearing arms, he should threaten them with punishment in case of their refusal. Vergi>r pretended to the inhabitants that he could defend the fort successfully against the English, but, although it was well supplied with ammunition and provisions, its? defences were in an incomplete state. La Loutre had kept so many of the inhabitants working on the aboiteau, for which he had received a large grant in France, that the fort had been neglected. Vergor and his artillery officer Piedmont, however, endeavored to make up for lost time, and placed a large party of Acadinns and soldiers at the work of completing its defences. Its armament then consisted of twenty-one cannon and a mortar, and it was manned by one hun- dred and sixt^'-five officers and soldiers of the regulars, in addition to several hundred Acadians, so that there was no lack of men. Beausejour could not be assailed from the front, so Monckton proceeded «to take measures to enable him to attack it from the rear. On the 4th June the F.nglish troops made an attack in force on Pont a Buot, a post on the Misseguash, several miles to the eastward of Beausejour. Here there was a »*4 The Fall of Beaus^jour bloclc-lu)ii«tc anf timbrr, wliiili the KrriiL'li dctcndcd tor an hour, uiid then abandoned \n a panic, nettinK tire to the bloclc-hunse, leavinK the Knghnh to lay their bridKe, and eroHs the river unmolested. Hei'ore ni^ht they had eHtablished thcniHclvcH on the northern Hide ot° the MisHeKuunh, halt' a league from Hcausi-jour. As they retired, the h'reneh set tire to all the houses between I'ont a Kuut and the tort, and before night the whole of them, to the number of sixty, were burnt to th«: ground. Kven the church did not escape the tiames. The next day the English were imsy making a bridge «)ver the river sutTicient to transport their heavy guns, and in cutting a road through the wimhIs northward to the high ground l>chind the fort. .'Iiis work proved tedious, and it was not until the 13th that thev succeeded in getting any of their cannon in position north of the fort. The French in tiie meantime had been very busy strength- ening its defences, and had made very satisfactory progress. Two or three slight skirmishes had taken place between small parties, but nc sortie of impor- tance had been made. A considerable number of Indians — both Malicites and Mumacs— had come to Vcrgor's assistance, and they had ct^'ected the capture of an English otHcer, named Hay, while going from Foit Lawrence to the En lish camp at daybreak. The English, having succeeded in getting their artillery over the hill behind the fort, opened trenches within seven himdred feet of it, and commenced tiring small shells on the morning 01 the 13th. On the 14th the firing continued, but without much eflfect. That day Vergor received bad news from Louisbourg. He had been led to hope for assistance from that place, and in fact had given the Acadians to understand that he expected twelve hundred soldiers from Louisbourg to relieve Beausejour. Now Drucourt, the Governor of Isle Royale, wrote to him that he could send him no help, as he was himsclt threatened by an English squadron. Vergor told his officers of this depressing answer, and enjoined them to conceal it from the Acadians, but it leaked out, nevertheless, and pro- duced a most demoralizing effect. That night a number of the Acadians escaped from the fort, and on the following morning those that remained asked Verger's permission to retire, which they could "5 The Story of Acadia easily have done, as the place was not invested. Vergor, however, refused their request. That day the English commenced firing fifteen-inch shells, two of which fell into the fort, and did a good deal of damage. On the i6th the mortar practice continued with most disastrous results to the besieged. A fifteen-inch shell rolled into one of the casemates, where the English prisoner, Mr. Hay, and a rumber of French officers were at breakfast. f>Ir. Hay and three of the French were killed, and two others wounded. This affair produced such a panic among both soldiers and Acadians, that Vergor came to the conclusion that it was impossible to hold out any longer. La Loutre and one or two others were opposed to a surrender, but Vergor sent an officer to Monckton to ask for a suspension of hostilities, with a view to a capitulation. The same afternoon the terms of surrender were agreed upon, and in the evening the English entered the fort. The terms of capitulation granted by Monckton were — that the garrison should go out of the fort with their arms, and be sent by sea to Louisbourg, and that they were not to bear arms in America for the space of six months. The Acadians, who had been forced to take up arms, on pain of death, were to be pardoned. Monckton sent Colonel Winslov/ to Bale Verte with three hundred men to demand the surrender oi Fort Gaspereaux, and it was given up on the same terms that had been granted to Vergor. Both garrisons were promptly forwarded to Louisbourg. About three hundred Acadians were found in Fort Beausejour when it was surrendered, and a number of others came in afterwards and yielded up their arms. They were offered a free pardon for their past misconduct, provided they would consent to take the oath of allegiance ; but they all refused to do so. They did not know then, perhaps, that the more than forty years of forbearance which the English govern- ment had exercised towards the Acadians had nearly come to an end, or they might nave reached a different determination. Monckton changed the name of Beausejour to Fort Cumberland, in honor of the Royal Duke who won the victory at Culloden. He placed a garrison in it, and then despatched Captain Rous, who was in command of the naval part of the expedition, to the ii6 The Fall of Beausfejour St. John River with three twenty-gun ships and a sloop to drive the French from that place, if practic- able. As soon as Rous sailed into St. John Harbor, the French burst their cannon, blew up their maga- zine, set the woodwork of the fort on fire, and fled up river. The commandant had already been in- formed of the fall of Beausfejour, and was therefore aware of the uselessness of trying to make good his defence. The Halifax Council resolved to permit this fort to remain just as the French had left it, without attempting to place a garrison there. -TF,r;.?:;;c- CHAPTER XVII j3^ 1 THE EXPULSION OF THE ACADIANS HE event for which the year 1755 will be ever memorable in the history of this Continent was not the cap- ture of Beausejour, nor the defeat of Braddock. These were results which occurred in the ordinary course of warfare, and which grew naturally out of the struggle which England and France were waging in America. Our interest in them is merely the interest of patriotism ; we feel no sympathy for the individual soldier who laj's down his life for his country, for it is the business of the soldier to fight and to die, and to some a death on the field of battle, which is lighted by the sun of victory, seems the happiest death of all. The event which gives the year 1755 a sad pre-eminence over its fellows — the expulsion of the Acadians — was an occurrence of a very different character. The suft'erers were men who were, or ought to have been, non-combatants, and in the common ruin which overtook them their wives and children were involved. The breaking up of their domestic hearths, their severance from their property, the privations they endured when driven among strangers, and the numberless ills which overtook them as the result of their first misfortune, have an interest for the people of every nation, for they appeal to our common humanity. It seems at the first view of the case an outrage on that humanity and a grievous wrong that such an occurrence as the expulsion of the Acadians should have taken place merely from political motives. The misfortunes and sufterings of the Acadians stand out prominently, and appeal to every eye ; a great poet has sung of their sorrows ; innumerable writers of books have refen-ed to their expulsion in terms of condemnation ; and so the matter has grown until it came to be almost a settled opinion that the expulsion of the 118 The Expulsion of the Acadi'ans Acadians was something which could not be justified, and of which its authors should have been ashamed. That is the view which one historian of Nova Scotia gives of the affair. Perhaps those who examine the whole matter impartially, in the light of all the facts, will come to the conclusion that it would have been a real cause for shame had the Acadians been permitted longer to misuse the clemency of the government, to plot against British power, and to obstruct the settlement of the Province by loj'al subjects. One statement has been very industriously circu- lated by French writers with a view to throw odium on the transaction. They say that the Acadians were expelled "because the greedy English colonists looked upon their fair farms with covetous eyes," and that the government was influenced by these persons. A more flagrant untruth never was told. The anxiety of the government that the Acadians should remain on their lands and become good subjects was extreme. To effect these objects the government consented to humiliations and con- cessions which only increased the arrogance of the Acadians. Even after the fall of Beausejour they might have remained on their lands without molest- ation, if they had but consented to take an uncon- ditional oath of allegiance to the British Crown. And as an absolute proof that no greedy English colonists weie driving them out of the Province for the purpose of occupying their lands, it should be remembered that none of tlie lands of the Acadians Were settled by the English until several years after the French were expelled, and not until most of the lands had gone back to a state of nature in consequence of the breaking of the dikes. It was not until 1759 that tlie lands of the Piziquid were re-settled, nor until 1761 that the marshes of the St. Croix were re-occupied. Five years elapsed after the expulsion of the Acadians before the noble diked lands of Grand Pre were occupied bj' English settlers, and the lands of Annapolis were not occupied by the English until nine or ten years after the French had left them. The presence, north of the Misseguash, of fourteen hundred Acadians, rendered desperate by their misfortunes, led by a French regular officer, and reinforced by a large band of Indians, afforded 119 The Story of Acadia ground for the most serious alarm. The inhabitants ot the settlements about Mines and Annapolis were known to be in active sympathy and correspondence with these "deserted French inhabitants," as they were termed. With consummate hypocrisy these "deserted " Frenchmen, who had claimed and pro- fessed to be neutrals, got themselves enrolled for the defence of Beausejour, under tiirfdtening orders, which they themselves invited. With equal hypoc- risy the French of Mines and Annapolis approached the English Goscinor with honeyed words, while they were plotting in secret with the enemies of English power. With so many concealed enemies in the heart of the Province, and so large a number of open enemies on its borders, the position of the English colonists was far from secure. And surely they deserved some consideration at the hands of their own Government, and some measure of pro- tection against those who sought to destroy them. During the Spring and Summer of 1755 a demand was made on the Acadians to deliver up their guns to the English commandants of the respective forts. This demand was pretty generally complied with, but the Acadians were very ill satisfied with it, and a number of the inhabitants of Mines, Piziquid and the River Canard sent in a petition early in Julj', asking permission to retain their guns, and demanding the removal of the restriction, which had been made some time before, forbidding the transporting of provisions from one river to the other. This petition was sent in by Captain Murraj', the com- manding officer at Fort Edward, who accompanied it with the statement that for some time before the presentation of the memorial the inhabitants had been more submissive than usual, but at its deliverj' they treated him with great insolence. This led him to think that they had some private information with reference to the movement of the French, which the Government did not possess. About that time re- ports were current that a French fleet was in the Bay of Fundy, and this was sufficient to account for the conduct of the people. It was always observed that any news of French successes, or any prospect of French assistance, brought out the Acadians in their true colors as the bitter enemies of English power. The memorial was signed by twenty-five persons, and Lawrence and his Council immediately sent 180 The Expulsion of the Acadians orders for those who had signed it to come to Halifax. P'ifteen of them appeared before the Council on the jrd July, and were severely reprimanded for sub- scribing and presenting so impertinent a paper ; but to quote language of the Minute of Council : " In compassion to their weakness and ignorance of the nature of our constitution, especially in matters ot government, and as the memorie.lists had presented a subsequent one, and had shown an appearance ot concern for their past behavior therein, and had presented themselves before the Council w'th great submission and repentance, the Council informed them they were still ready to treat them with lenity. And, in order to show them the falsity, as well as impudence of the contents of their memorial, it was ordered to be read paragraph by paragraph, and the truth of the several allegations in it minutely dis- cussed.'' Lieutenant-Governor Lawrence then read over the memorial, paragraph by paragraph, and made com- ments on each, showing the untruthful character of most of the statements contained in it. When he had concluded, he informed them that a very fair opportunity then presented itself to them to manifest the reality of their obedience to the Government by immediately taking the oath of allegiance in the usual form before the Council. The Acadian Deputies replied to this proposal by saying that they had not come prepared to take the oath. They were then told that during the previous six years the same proposal had been often made to them, and as often evaded under various frivolous pretences ; that they had often been informed that some time or other the oath must be taken, and that no doubt they knew the sentiments of the other inhabitants upon the matter, and had fully con- sidered and determined what course they would themselves pursue. The Deputies requested liberty to return home and consult with the other inhabi- tants, as they desired either to refuse or accept the oath in a body, and could not determine which to do until they had consulted the others. Lawrence told them that he could not permit them to return home for any such purpose, but that they were expected to declare upon the spot what course they would take. They then desired permission to retire for an hour to consult among them.selves, and lai The Story of Acadia this was granted. When the time had expired, they returned with the answer that they could not consent to take the oatli of allegiance without consulting the whole body of inhabitants ; but that they were ready to take a qualified oath, as they had done before. Governor Lawrence told them that no qualified oath of allegiance would be accepted, but that they must stand on the same footing in that respect as the rest of His Majesty's subjects. He then gave them until ten o'clock next day to come to a final resolution whether they would take the unqualified oath of allegiance or not. Next day the Acadian Deputies attended before the Council and announced their determination not to take the oath. They were then informed that as they had refused to take the oath, as directed by law, and thereby sufliciently evinced the nature of their feelings towards the Government, the Council could no longer look upon them as subjects of His Bri- tannic Majesty, but as subjects of the King of France, and as such they would thereafter be treated. They were then ordered to withdraw. The Council then resolved that the French inhabi- tants should be ordered to send new Deputies to Halifax with their decision, whether they would take the oath of allegiance or not, and that none who refused to take the oath should be afterwards per- mitted to do so, but that " e fleet ual measures ought to be taken to remove all such recusants out of the Province." The Deputies were then called in again, and in- formed of this resolution, and, finding that matters were beginning to have a serious look, they offered to take the oath, but were informed that, as there was no reason to believe that their proposed com- pliance proceeded from an honest mind, and as it could only be regarded as the effect of compulsion and force, it could not be permitted. They were then ordered into confinement on George's Island. This occurred on the 14th July ; and on the 14th a letter was sent by Lawrence to Vice- Admiral Bos- cawen and Rear-Admiral Mostyn, inviting them to consult with him at a meeting of the Council, which was to be held next day. The Admirals attended the Council agreeably to this invitation, and Law- rence laid before them the recent proceedings of the Council in regard to the French inhabitants, and 122 The Expulsion of the Acadians desired their opinion and advice. Both Admirals approved of the proceedings that had been taken, and gave it as their opinion that it was then the most proper time to oblige the French inhabitants to take the oath of allegiance, or to quit the country. On the 25th July another meeting of Council was held, and the memorial of the French inhabitants of Annapolis River was received and read. It stated that they had nothing to reproach themselves with on the subjc't of the fidelity they owed His Majesty's Government, and that several of them had risked their lives to give information to the Government concerning the enemy. It stated that they had selected thirty men to proceed to Halifax with their memorial, who were charged strictly " to contract no new oath." This was signed by two hundred and seven of the inhabitants. . The Deputies sent with this memorial were then called in and asked what they had to say. They declared that they appeared on behalf of themselves and of all the other inhabitants of Annapolis River. They said that they could not take any oath different from what they had formerly taken, which was with a reserve that they should not be obliged to take up arms, and that if it was the King's intention to force them to quit their lands, they hoped that they would be allowed a convenient time for their de- parture. The Council having heard their answer, questioned them in regard to the information which thej' pre- tended to have given the Government, and asked them to name a single instance in which any advan- tage had accrued to the Government from it. They were unable to make any reply to this request, and then Lawrence proceeded to show them that they had alwaj's omitted to give timel3' intelligence when they had it in their power, and when it might have saved the lives of many of His Majesty's subjects. He told them that they had always secretly aided the Indians, and that many of them had even appeared openly in arms against British authority. He further informed them that they must then resolve either to take the oath of allegiance without any reserve or else to quit their lands, for affairs were then at such a crisis in America that no delay could be admitted ; that the French had obliged the English to take up arms against their encroachments, and therefore if 123 The Story of Acadia the Acadians were not willing to become British subjects, to all intents and purposes, they could not be permitted to remain in the countrj'. In reply to this the Acadian Deputies declared that they were determined, one and all, rather to quit their lands than to take any other oath than that which they had taken before. Lawrence told them that they ought very seriously to consider the conse- quences of their refusal ; that if they once refused the oath, they would never afterwards be permitted to take it, but would certainly lose their possessions. He said the Council were unwilling to hurry them into a determination upon an affair of so much consequence to them, and therefore that they would be allowed until the following Mondaj' to reconsider the matter and form their resolution, and that then their final answer would be expected. Monday the 28th July came round in due course,— a memorable day indeed for the Acadian people. The Council met at the Governor's house, and besides Lieutenant-Governor Lawrence, the members of Council present were Benjamin Green, John Collier, William Cotterell, John Rous and Jonathan Belcher. Admirals Boscawen and Mostyn were also present. The Annapolis Deputies were in attendance according to appointment, and also deputies from Piziquid, Mines and River Canard, who had arrived with memorials from the inhabitants of these districts. The memorial of the inhabitants of Piziquid was first read, and stated that having taken the oath of fidelity to His Britannic Majesty in the time of Governor Philipps, with all the circumstances and reservations granted in the name of the King, they were "all resolved with one consent and voice to take no other oath." The inhabitants of Mines and River Canard couched their refusal in somewhat different language. They stated, that they had taken the oath of fidelity to the King of Great Britain, and added, " we will never prove so fickle as to take an oath which changes ever so little the conditions and the privileges obtained for us by our Sovereigns and our fathers in the past." The Deputies of Piziquid, Mines, River Canard and the adjacent settlements, were then called upon b3' the Council to take the unconditional oath of allegi- ance, and they most peremptorily and positively refused, The Annapolis Deputies, who had been 134 The Expulsion of the Acadians before the Council before, were likewise called upon to take the oath, and they also refused. They had been already warned of the consequences which their refusal would entail upon them, — they were the victims of no snap-judgment. The step which they deliberately took on that memorable day in refusing the terms offered them by the Government, they must have well considered, unless indeed they supposed that the threats of the Government had no meaning. On the one side was the full enjoyment of their lands, the free exercise of their religion, and the protection of the British flag, coupled with the condition that they would become British subjects ; on the other side was exile and poverty. They chose the latter, and having done so, there seems to be no reason why they or their advocates should complain of the misfortunes which were the necessary result of their deliberate choice. The determination to remove the Acadians having been taken, it only remained to make such arrange- ments as seemed necessary to carry out the object effectually. The Council decided that, in order to prevent them from returning and again molesting the English settlers, they should be distributed amongst the colonies from Massachusetts to Virginia. On the 3ist July, Governor Lawrence wrote to Colonel Monckton, stating the determination of the Govern- ment with reference to the Acadians, and informing him that as those about the Isthmus had been found in arms, and were therefore entitled to no favor from the Government, it was determined to begin with them first. Lieutenant-Colonel Winslow, who was command- ing the troops at Mines, received instructions relative to the removal of the Acadians in that district, dated the nth August. He was told to collect the inhabi- tants together, and place them on board the trans- ports, of which there would be a number sufficient to transport two thousand persons, five hundred of whom were to be sent to North Carolina, one thousand to Virginia, and five hundred to Maryland. After the people were shipped, he was ordered to march overland to Annapolis with a strong detach- ment to assist Major Handfield in removing the inhabitants of that river. Handfield's instructions were similar to those of Winslow, and he was in- formed that vessels sufficient to transport one The Story of Acadia thouHniuI |HTsons would be sent to Annapolis. Of these three hundred were to be sent to Philadelphia, two hundred to New York, three hundred to Con- ncctii'Ut, and two hundred to Boston. Each master of a transport was furnished by Gt)vernor Lawrence v\ itli a circular letter to the (Jovernor of the colony to which he was destined. This circular letter con- tained Governor Lawrence's justification for the extreme step which he was taking in removing a whole people from their homes. The work of removing the Acadians met with re- sistance at Chignecto, where the population was large and comparatively warlike. Boishebert, after being driven from the St. John, had betaken himself to Shediac, and from there he directed the move- ments of the Acadians of the Isthmus. When the English tried to collect the inhabitants for the purpose of removing them, they found that they had fled to the shelter of the woods, and when they attempted to follow them, they were met by the most determined resistance. On the 2nd September, Major Frye was sent with two hundred men from the garrison at Fort Cumberland to burn the villages of Shepody, Petitcodiac and Memramcook. At Shepody they burnt one hundred and eighty-one buildings, but found no inhabitants, except twentj'- three women and children, whom they sent on board the vessel they had with them. They sailed up the Petitcodiac River on the following day and burnt the buildings on both sides of it for miles. At length the vessel was brought to anchor, and fifty men were sent on shore to burn the chapel and some other buildings near it, when suddenly they were attacked by three hundred French and Indians under Boishe- bert, and compelled to retreat with a loss of twenty- t(n-ee men killed and wounded, including Dr. March, who was killed, and Lieutenant Billings, dangerously wounded. Boishebert was found to be too strong to be attacked even with the aid of the main body of troops under Major Frye, so the party had to return to Fort Cumberland, after having destroyed in all two hundred and fifty-three buildings and a large quantity of wheat and flax. Finally about eleven hundred Acadians were collected at Chignecto and shipped to the colonies to the south. At Mines, Lieutenant-Colonel V/inslow succeeded in accomplishing his unpleasant duty without rt- The Expulsion of the Acadians siHtancc. On the and September he issued an order to the inhabitants of the districts of Grand Pre, Mines, River Canard and vicinity, commandinp; all the males from ten years upwards to attend at the church in (irand Pre on the following Friday, the 5th September, to hear what His Majesty had author- ized him to communicate to them. The iidiahitants attended in obedience to this sumimmsto the luimber of upwards of four hundred, and were infornu'd by Winslow that, in consequence of their disobedience, their lands and tenements, cattle, live stock and all their effects, except their money and household goods, were forfeited to the Crown, and they them- selves were to be removed from the Province. He told them, however, that he would take in the vessels with them as large a portion of their house- hold effects as could be carried, and that families would not be separated, but conveyed in the same vessel. Finally, he told them that they should re- main prisoners at the church until the time came for them to embark. At Piziquid, Captain Murray col- lected the male inhabitants in the same way to the number of nearly two hundred, and kept them in confinement. Considering the situation in which they were placed, they manifested but little emotion, and offered no resistance worthy of the name. The task of getting so many families together, and em- barking them with their household effects, proved tedious, but finally it was accomplished, and the in- habitants of Mines and Piziquid, to the number of more than three thousand three hundred persons, were got on board the transports, and carried away from their homes in Acadia to lands of which they knew nothing, and where their presence was not desired. At Annapolis many families took the alarm when the transports arrived, and fled to the woods fur safety, and much difficulty was experienced in col- lecting them. Hunger finally compelled most of them to surrender themselves, and upwards of eleven hundred were placed on board the vessels and sent away. One vessel with two hundred and twentj-- six Acadians on board was seized by them in the Bay of Fundy, and taken into St. John, and the passengers she carried v/ere not afterwards recap- tured. The total number removed from Acadia in 1755 was somewhat in excess of six thousand souls. 137 The Story of Acadia Some ot them were taken to Mussachunctts, some to I'eiinaylvania, Home to Virf(inin, some to Maryland, to North and South Carolina, and some even to the Hiitish West IndicM. Wherever they were taken they became lor the time a public charge on the ro'.ony, and were the occasion of much correspond- ence between the Ciovernmeuts which were obliged to maintain them, and that of Nova Scutia. Many of those who went to (icorgia and South Carrfhna hired small vessels, and set out to return to Acadia, and the Governors of these colonies were very glad to facilitate their movements northward by giving them passes to voyage along their coasts. Several hun- dred of those who landed in Virginia were sent by the Government of that colony to England, where they remained for seven years, finally taking the oath of allegiance, and many of them returning to Acadia. 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