On the following day the townsfolk and soldiers on the heights saw the discomfited fleet of the foepassing out of sight homeward down the St. Lawrence. They had lost only some sixty killed and wounded,—Ste. Hélène had fallen,—while before Phips got back to Boston, what with those slain by bullets and the hundreds drowned on the several ships lost in the November storms, his loss was heavy indeed. While Quebec sang a Te Deum and dedicated a chapel to "Our Lady of Victories," Boston was plunged in gloom. Phips's ignoble failure had involved the whole colony in debt and mortification. King Louis the Fourteenth, hearing the good news, ordered a medal to be struck bearing the inscription: "Francia in Nova Orbe Victrix; Kebeca Liberata A.D. MDCXC."
If Frontenac hoped that the Iroquois would cease after this to give him trouble, he was destined to disappointment. All his endeavours to conciliate them failed; their chiefs were still convinced that they had more to hope for as allies of the English, and took measures accordingly. English and French colonists now hated one another with a hate that was never to slumber for the next seventy years, until Wolfe was to plant the blood-red flag of England on the frowning heights of Quebec.
During the winter of 1691 and 1692 there were numerous terrible border raids, in one of which the Abenakis devastated more than fifty leagues of English territory and utterly destroyed Yorktown. Both French and English used the Indians as so many packs of human bloodhounds to track their foes to death. Both sides resorted to the practice of paying a price for the bodies, alive or dead, of thehostile savages. A French regular soldier received ten louis for the scalp of an Iroquois; a volunteer received twenty. If he had to hunt the red-man like any other wild animal, he could claim fifty louis for his scalp. This practice was not confined to the Canadians. Corresponding premiums were paid by the English.
Living captives were often handed over to their Indian allies to appease their delight in human suffering and bloodshed. Once one of Frontenac's officers, ravaging the country of the Oneidas, found a solitary old man in a certain village. He was nearly a hundred years of age, but do not imagine his years awakened any compassion in his captors, who at once handed him over to their savage allies. The old brave awaited his fate as calmly as any of those Roman senators whose city was taken by the Gauls. Father Charlevoix tells us the story. He says it was a strange sight to behold more than four hundred savage tormentors forming a circle round a decrepit object from whom they could not wring a single cry, and who, as long as the breath remained in his body, taunted them with being the slaves of weak and foolish Frenchmen. Only once did he complain, and that was when one of his butchers, on purpose to finish the scene, stabbed him repeatedly in the breast.
"Ah," he murmured hoarsely, "why did you not wait until you had done your worst, so that you might behold how a man ought to die!"
At another time Frontenac captured two Mohawk warriors whom he condemned to die by torture. One of them immediately despatched himselfwith a knife, which a pitying priest threw him in prison. But his fellow-captive, disdaining such an escape, walked boldly to the stake singing his death chant. In his song he boasted that not all the power of man could extort a groan or a murmur from his lips, and that it was enough happiness for him in the hour of trial to remember that he had made many a Frenchman feel the same pangs he was about to feel. When bound to the stake, he looked round on his executioners, their instruments of torture, and the multitude of French spectators with a smile of composure. For some hours he endured a series of barbarities that make our blood even now, as we read of it, chill in our veins, and at last a Frenchwoman implored the Governor to order him to be dealt a mortal blow and so put him out of his agony.
Thanks to the incessant raids of the Iroquois into Canada, the farmers dared not till the fields and sow the seed. Those who might have protected them were everywhere up in arms, coping with their implacable savage foes, who seemed to rise out of the ground on every hand. In vain was one band beaten and cut to pieces; another sprang up to take its place.
Many were the heroic deeds performed by both Canadian men and women, but none is more thrilling than that which is told of a beautiful young girl of fourteen, Madeleine de la Verchères. She was the daughter of Seigneur of Verchères, and lived in the fortified seignory ten miles from Montreal, on the south side of the great river St. Lawrence. Onemorning her father was absent at Quebec, and all the farm-folk were working in the fields. To guard the fort, her father had left two soldiers, an old man eighty years old, her two little brothers, and herself. Suddenly the terrible war-whoop of the Iroquois pierced the air, and scarce time had the soldiers to barricade the doors and windows before a mighty host appeared before the fort. So fierce was their fire, that the soldiers deemed it useless to continue to struggle. But not so Madeleine. Seizing a musket, she ordered the falterers to their posts. Day and night for a whole week did this heroic girl hold the band of Iroquois at bay. She taught her little brothers to load and fire so rapidly, that the Indians fancied a garrison of twelve men at least held the fort. At last a reinforcement arrived, and the Iroquois beat a retreat. The gates of the fort were flung open, and the pale, weary girl of fourteen, captain of the garrison of Verchères, flung herself into her father's arms.
Heroic Defence by Madeleine de Verchères and her Brothers, 1692Heroic Defence by Madeleine de Verchères and her Brothers, 1692
And now let us return for a moment to the shores of Hudson's Bay. It was not likely that the forts which the Chevalier de Troyes had wrested from the English would continue to remain in French possession without an effort being made to regain them. One Captain Moon, returning from Port Nelson, endeavoured, with twenty-four men, to surprise the French at Fort Anne, which was the new name bestowed upon the captured Fort Albany. Moon built a station eight miles away, but Iberville, who had been again sent to the Bay, instantly got wind of it, and, marching thither, drove the English out.When two Hudson's Bay Company's vessels arrived in these waters, winter overtook them, and they became locked in the ice. The crews landed, and had nearly built a fort when Iberville fell upon them and made them all prisoners.
But there was one stronghold in the northern bay which continued to defy the French. This single fort was considered of so much importance, that the gain or loss of everything in Hudson's Bay depended upon it. To capture it, however, required a stronger force than Iberville could at present command, whereupon he sailed away to France to ask assistance from the King. He revealed to His Majesty his plans for the capture of Fort Nelson, and was at length promised two ships in the following spring. The royal promise was duly kept. After a hot bombardment of three weeks, the English Governor was obliged to surrender and the French standard hoisted over the captured stronghold. Only for a year, however, did the stronghold remain in the enemy's possession, when it was recaptured by the Company, and threescore Frenchmen sent prisoners to England. When Iberville heard of this fresh turn which events had taken, he ground his teeth with rage. "Am I," he cried, "to go on capturing this fort from the English, only to have it repeatedly slip through our hands?" He then and there vowed to have nothing further to do with Hudson's Bay, he who had fought so many battles and won there so many victories.
As for the French prisoners, no sooner were they released than they crossed the Channel and soughtaudience of their King. Gazing upon this emaciated band of fur-hunters and bushrangers, Louis the Fourteenth would have been craven indeed if he had not attempted to retrieve their misfortunes. Four ships of war were promised them. "And," said the King, "Iberville shall lead you." But Iberville was then at Placentia, in Newfoundland, bent on finding other fields for his energy and martial prowess. No other man was so well equipped at all points, in knowledge of the great bay and of the conditions of fighting there, as this hero, so the four captains found him out at Placentia, and, embarking in thePelican, he took command.
Iberville's flag-ship mounted fifty guns. The others of the fleet were thePalmier, theWeesph, and theViolent. The attack on Fort Nelson this time was to be no child's play. Almost at the very moment when the wind was filling the sails of the French ships in the Channel, there sailed from Plymouth a fleet belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company, theHampshire, theHudson's Bay, theDering, andOwner's Love. The two first-named vessels were no strangers to the Bay, and had participated in the conquest of the previous year. Although each was ignorant of the other's movements, it was a race across the Atlantic, and the English fleet entered the Straits only forty hours before the ships of the French, and, like them, was much impeded by the ice, which was unusually troublesome. Passage was made by the enemy in the English wake. One French ship, commanded by Duqué, pushed past the currents, taking a northerlycourse, which brought her commander into full view of two of the Company's ships. Shots were exchanged; but owing to the difficulties engendered by the ice, it was impossible to manoeuvre with such certainty as to cut off the Frenchman's escape. While this skirmish was in progress, Iberville in thePelicansucceeded in getting past the English unknown to them, and reached the mouth of the Nelson River in sight of the fort. His presence, as may be imagined, greatly surprised and disturbed the Governor and the Company's servants; for they had believed their own ships would have arrived in season to prevent the enemy from entering the Straits. Several rounds of shot were fired as a signal, in the hope that a response would be made by the Company's ships, which they hourly expected in that quarter.
On his part the French commander was equally disturbed by the non-arrival of his three consorts, which the exigencies of the voyage had obliged him to forsake. Two days were passed in a state of suspense. At daybreak on the 5th of September three ships[1] were distinctly visible; both parties joyfully believed they were their own. So certain was Iberville, that he immediately raised anchor and started to join the newcomers. He was soon undeceived, but the knowledge of his mistake in no way daunted him.
The Company's commanders were not preparedeither for the daring or the fury of the Frenchman's onslaught. It is true thePelicanwas much superior to any of their own craft singly, being manned by nearly 250 men, and boasting 44 pieces of cannon. The Company's ships lined up, theHampshirein front, theDeringnext, with theHudson's Baybringing up the rear.
The combatants being in close proximity, the battle began at half-past nine in the morning. The French commander came straight for theHampshire, whose captain, believing it was his enemy's design to board, instantly let fall his mainsail and set his fore-top-sail. Contact having been by these means narrowly evaded, the scene of battle suddenly shifted to thePelicanand theDering, whose mainsail was smitten by the terrific volley. At the same time theHudson's Bay, veering, received a damaging broadside. The Company's men could distinctly hear the orders shouted by Iberville to discharge a musket fire into theDering'sforecastle, but in this move he was anticipated by the English sailors, who poured a storm of bullets in upon the Frenchman, accompanied by a broadside of grape, which wrought havoc with her sails. While the cries of the wounded on thePelicancould be distinctly heard, all three of the Company's ships opened fire, with the design of disabling her rigging. But the captain of theHudson's Bay, seeing that he could not engage thePelicanowing to Iberville's tactics, determined to run in front of her and give her the benefit of a constant hull fire, besides taking the wind from her sails. Iberville observed the movement; the twoEnglish vessels were near; he veered round, and by a superb piece of seamanship came so near to theHampshirethat the crew of the latter saw that boarding was intended. Every man flew out on the main deck with his pistol and cutlass, and a terrific broadside of grape on the part of the Englishman alone saved him.
Hotter and fiercer raged the battle. TheHampshire'ssalvation had been only temporary; at the end of three hours and a half she began to sink, with all sails set. When this occurred, Iberville had ninety men wounded, forty being struck by a single broadside. Notwithstanding this, he decided at once to push matters with theHampshire'scompanions, although thePelicanwas in a badly damaged state, especially the forecastle, which was a mass of splinters.
The enemy made at once for theDering, which besides being the smallest ship, had suffered severely. She crowded on all sail and managed to avoid an encounter, and Iberville, being in no condition to prosecute the chase, returned to theHudson's Bay, which soon surrendered. Iberville was not destined, however, to reap much advantage from his prize, theHampshire. The English flag-ship was unable to render any assistance to theHudson's Bay, and soon went down, with nearly all on board.
To render the situation more distressing, no sooner had some ninety prisoners been made than a storm arose, so that it became out of the question to approach the shore with design of landing. They were without a long-boat, and each attempt tolaunch canoes in the boiling surf was attended with failure.
Night fell; the wind instead of calming grew fiercer. The sea became truly terrible, seeking, seemingly, with all its power to drive thePelicanand theHudson's Bayupon the coast. The rudders of each ship broke; the tide rose, and there seemed no hope for the crews, whose destiny was so cruel. Their only hope, in the midst of the bitter blast and clouds of snow which environed them, lay in the strength of their cables. Soon after nine o'clock theHudson's Bayand its anchor parted with a shock.
"Instantly," said one of the survivors, "a piercing cry went up from our forecastle. The wounded and dead lay heaped up with so little separation one from the other that silence and moans alone distinguished them. All were icy cold and covered with blood. They had told us the anchor would hold, and we dreaded being washed up on the shore stiff the next morning."
A huge wave broke over the main deck and the ship lurched desperately. Two hours later the cable parted, and the ship was hurled rudderless to and fro in the trough of the sea.
By the French account, matters were in no more enviable state aboard thePelican; Iberville, however, amidst scenes rivalling those just described, did his best to animate his officers and men with a spirit equalling his own.
"It is better," he cried, "to die, if we must, outside the bastions of Fort Bourbon than to perish here like pent sheep on board."
When morning broke, it was seen by the French that their ship was not yet submerged, and it was resolved to disembark by such means as lay in their power. The Company's servants were more fortunate. TheHudson's Bayhad drifted eight miles to the south of the fort, and was wrecked on a bank of icy marshland, which at least constrained them to wade no deeper than their knees. The French, however, were forced to make their way through the icy water submerged to their necks, from the results of which terrible exposure no fewer than eighteen marines and seamen lost their lives. Once on shore they could not, like the English, look forward to a place of refuge and appease their hunger with provisions and drink. They were obliged, in their shivering, half-frozen state, to subsist upon moss and seaweed, but for which indifferent nourishment they must inevitably have perished.
The Company's garrison witnessed the calamities which were overtaking the French, but not knowing how great their number, and assured of their hostility, did not attempt any acts of mercy. They perceived the enemy camped in a wood, less than two leagues distant, where, building several fires, they sought to restore their spirits by means of warmth and hot draughts of boiled herbs.
While the fort was being continually recruited by survivors of the two wrecked ships, the other three French vessels had arrived on the scene. The fourth, theViolent, lay at the bottom of the Bay, having been sunk by the ice. ThePalmierhad suffered the loss of her helm, but was fortunate in not being alsoa victim of the storm. The French forces being now united, little time was lost by Iberville in making active preparations for the attack upon the fort.
On the 11th the enemy attained a small wood, almost under the guns of the fort, and having entrenched themselves, lit numerous fires and made considerable noise in order to lend the impression to the English that an entrenchment was being thrown up. This ruse was successful, for the Governor gave orders to fire in that direction; and Iberville, seizing this opportunity, effected a landing of all his men and armaments from the ships.
The fort would now soon be hemmed in on all sides, and it were indeed strange if a chance shot or firebrand did not ignite the timbers and the powder magazine were not exploded. Governor Bailey was holding a council of his advisers when one of the French prisoners in the fort gave notice of the approach of a messenger bearing a flag of truce. He was recognised as Martigny. The Governor permitted his advance and sent a factor to meet him and insist upon his eyes being bandaged before he would be permitted to enter. Martigny was conducted to where the council was sitting, and there delivered Iberville's message demanding surrender. He was instantly interrupted by Captain Smithsend, who, with a great show of passion, asked the emissary if it were not true that Iberville had been killed in the action. In spite of Martigny's denials, Smithsend loudly persisted in believing Iberville's death, and held that the French were in sore straits and onlymade the present attack because no other alternative was offered to desperate men to obtain food and shelter. Bailey allowed himself to be influenced by Smithsend, and declined to yield to any of Martigny's demands. The latter returned, and the French instantly set up a battery near the fort and continued, amidst a hail of bullets, the work of landing their damaged stores and armaments. Stragglers from the wreck of theHudson's Baycontinued all day to find their way to the fort, but several reached it only to be shot down in mistake by the cannon and muskets of their own men. On the 12th, after a hot skirmish, fatal to both sides, the Governor was again requested, this time by Sérigny, to yield up the fort to superior numbers.
"If you refuse, we will set fire to the place and accord you no quarter," he wrote to Bailey.
"Set fire and be d——d to you!" responded Bailey.
He then went to work, with Smithsend, whose treatment as a prisoner in the hands of the French some years before was still vividly before him, to animate the garrison.
"Go for them, you dogs!" cried Bailey. "Give it to them hot and heavy; I promise you forty pounds apiece for your widows!"
Fighting in these days was attended by fearful mortality, and the scarcity of pensions to the hero's family, perhaps, made the offer seem handsome. At any rate it seemed a sufficient bribe to the Company's men, who fought like demons.
A continual fire of guns and mortar, as well asof muskets, was kept up. The Canadians sallied out upon a number of skirmishes, filling the air with a frightful din, borrowing from the Iroquois their piercing war-cries. In one of these sallies St. Martin, one of their bravest men, perished.
Under protection of a flag of truce, Sérigny came again to demand a surrender. It was the last time, he said, the request would be preferred. A general assault had been resolved upon by the enemy, who were at their last resort, living like beasts in the wood, feeding on moss, and to whom no extremity could be odious were it but an exchange for their present condition. They were resolved upon carrying the fort, even at the point of the bayonet and over heaps of their slain.
Bailey decided to yield. He sent Morrison to carry the terms of capitulation, in which he demanded all the peltries in the fort belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company. This demand being rejected by the enemy, Bailey later in the evening sent Henry Kelsey with a proposition to retain a portion of their armament; this also was refused. There was now nothing for it but to surrender, Iberville having granted an evacuation with bag and baggage.
At one o'clock on the following day, therefore, the evacuation took place. Bailey, at the head of his garrison, and a number of the crew of the wreckedHudson's Bayand six survivors of theHampshire, marched forth from Fort York with drums beating, flag flying, and with arms and baggage. They hardly knew whither they were to go, or what fate awaited them. A vast, and inhospitable region surroundedthem, and a winter long to be remembered for its severity had begun. But to the French it seemed as if their spirits were undaunted, and they set forth bravely.
The enemy watched the retreat of the defeated garrison not without admiration, and for the moment speculation was rife as to their fate. But it was only for a moment. Too rejoiced to contemplate anything but the termination of their own sufferings, the Canadians hastened to enter the fort, headed by Boisbriant, late an ensign in the service of the Compagnie du Nord. Fort Nelson was once more in the hands of the French.
On the St. Lawrence the Count of Frontenac, old as he was, sickening of the perpetual raids, led a great war force into the very midst of the Iroquois. Rebuilding Fort Frontenac, which had been destroyed, he launched his men straight against the Onondaga lodges, wiping out all their stores of food and their maize harvests. He laid low also the land of the Oneidas, and the warriors of both tribes fled before him. If they could raid and butcher, by St. Louis, so could he! The Iroquois looked to the English for help against the French. Whatever they might have done, their hand was stopped. News arrived in 1697 of the signing of the peace at Ryswick between the warring kingdoms of England and France. Tired of the conflict grew the haughty Five Nations, and deputies were sent to Quebec to bring it to an end. They offered, as before, to cease fighting the French Canadians, but not their Indian allies in the west.This would not satisfy Frontenac: he would make no peace which could not be lasting. The Governor of New York interfered.
"The Iroquois," he told Frontenac, "are under the King of England's protection. They cannot make either war or peace on their own account. I have told them to be at peace with you. Henceforward you must not treat them as enemies."
"I will make my peace with the Five Nations," Frontenac thundered forth to the Indian deputy, "but it shall be on my own terms. If we continue to fight and you aid them, by St. Louis! the blood will be on your own hands."
A few weeks later, when the reward of his firmness was in sight, the lion-hearted Frontenac, now in his seventy-eighth year, sickened and died, amidst the sorrow of his people. It was a great loss to Canada, and fortunate was it that his successor was as brave and wise as Governor de Callières.
[1] The fourth, the fire-shipOwner's Love, was never more heard of. It is supposed that, separated from the others, she ran into the ice and was sunk, with all on board.
Afar off, in the little Dutch town of Ryswick, the two kings, William and Louis, had signed the treaty of peace. It was agreed that all the places captured by either French or English soldiers during the war should be given back again. What did this mean to Canada and America? Only this: that all these eight years of bloodshed had been in vain. Neither French nor English were a whit the richer or more powerful than before. You must always remember that what both sides were really fighting for was the mastery of the North-American continent. Vast as it was, there was not room enough for both. One side or other must possess it. Should it be French or English? No lasting peace could there be as long as the question remained unsettled.
A great advantage was gained for Canada when the Iroquois at length gave way. Their chiefs, journeying to Montreal in 1701, smoked the calumet with Governor de Callières and handed him the belt of wampum—which signified that there should be no more fighting between Onontio and the Five Nations. Never again did the Iroquois make serious trouble for the people of Canada, and the fetterswhich had so long bound the fur trade were for ever removed.
But the very next year after this had happened the Peace of Ryswick came to an end. It had lasted only five years, and it was the reckless ambition of Louis the Fourteenth that killed it. He, too, like Kondiaronk, "The Rat," could exclaim to his courtiers, "I have killed the peace!" The new war is known in Europe as the War of the Spanish Succession, because Louis wanted to put his Bourbon nephew on the vacant throne of Spain. In America it is always called "Queen Anne's War." William the Third had died that year, and Queen Anne had succeeded him on the English throne.
The English colonists were still as much in earnest as ever about the importance of overcoming by any means in their power the "French danger," as they called it. They did not hesitate to employ the tribes of Indians, however remote, in the work of harrying the French settlements, both east and west. Port Royal was again attacked, only this time the attack was ignominiously repulsed. Meanwhile the French were not idle. De Calliéres had strongly advised the establishment of several posts on the lake for the reception of furs and merchandise. In June 1701 La Motte Cadillac, with a Jesuit priest and 100 men, was despatched to build a fort at Detroit. Governor de Calliéres hesitated to attack Albany until he could feel confident that the long-dreaded Iroquois Indians would not return to the old allies, the English. He was still making up his mind when illness seized him, andin 1703 he died. His successor was the Marquis de Vaudreuil.
But if the authorities at Quebec doubted the wisdom of provoking Indian hostility in their quarrel with the New Yorkers, Vaudreuil and his friends felt sure of Abenakis friendship. This famous tribe had long hated the New Englanders with a deadly hate. They had committed terrible outrages for many years upon the unfortunate Yankee settlers. De Vaudreuil feared that if the Abenakis were to be at peace too long, they might forget their hatred and even become on friendly terms with the Americans. So Canadian priests and soldiers were sent amongst them to stir up their zeal. They did not want any pitched battles or long sieges. Their policy was to persecute and slay the outlying farmers and woodmen, to make settlement outside of the large towns impossible.
One of the most terrible of these raids occurred at Deerfield in Massachusetts. This place was on the river Connecticut. A party under De Rouville crept up Lake Champlain in mid-winter, and, following the river on the ice, reached Deerfield in the dark. What had happened at Schenectady and Salmon Falls happened here. The surprised people could make no defence, the town was burnt, fifty people slaughtered, almost without resistance, and a hundred more carried away prisoners. A man never laid his head on the pillow at night without the fear that a red assassin might scalp it ere morning dawned. A little later the Abenakis were induced to attack the town of Haverhill in broad daylight. Fierce fightingensued, because this time there were fifty soldiers present to aid the inhabitants in their resistance; but all was in vain. The massacre at Haverhill is still spoken of with horror in New England. You can imagine the storm of indignation which swept through the English colonies when they heard of these dreadful raids, how strong was their anger against the Abenakis! Bands of stout colonists were sent against them, eager for vengeance and showing no mercy, and as a result the chiefs of the Abenakis at length decided that it would be safer for them to cross the border and set up their wigwams in Canada. From Canada they could raid New England as usual. But, to their surprise, they were by no means heartily welcomed by the French. Canadians well knew by this time the treacherous nature of the Indian. Guns and food were given them, and a smiling face hid the Governor's real embarrassment. Fortunate for him if that were to be his only embarrassment!
Although repeatedly foiled, the people of both New and Old England again plotted on a large scale the destruction of French power in Canada, Acadia, and Newfoundland. One day a ship reached Quebec with tidings that an English army was on its way to join with two other forces in an attack upon Quebec. The report was true, but certain accidents occurred which prevented carrying out the plan for that season. In the following year (1709), however, they fell upon Port Royal. The English intention was to sail on to Quebec, but the danger of being caught in the ice prevented them, and Nicholson appearing beforethe Acadian capital, called upon the brave Subercase to surrender. Port Royal had not expected an attack; both powder and provisions were low, but Subercase was not a man to yield without firing a shot. So gallant a resistance did he offer, although his garrison was in a half-starved state, that when at last he could fight no more, Nicholson granted him the honours of war. With the fleur-de-lys flying in the icy breeze, with the roll of drums and the sound of the trumpet, the last of the shattered band of Frenchmen sailed out of Port Royal, which was to be Port Royal no more. In honour of Queen Anne, Nicholson rechristened the place Annapolis Royal, and thereafter it was held by the Queen's successors on the English throne.
Acadia now being English and garrisoned by the colonists, it remained to deal a deadly blow at Quebec. Up to this time the chief difficulty had been to procure sufficient soldiers from England, for during all the years since the outbreak of Queen Anne's war England had been drained of her first-class fighting men. The great Marlborough had wanted them for Oudenarde, Ramillies, and those other great battles which you read of in the history of that time in Europe. But now, flushed and confident with his many victories, Marlborough could afford to spare a few regiments for the conquest of Quebec. No child's play it was to be this time, no half-hearted attempt. Nicholson himself was there at the English Court to press the scheme upon Queen Anne and her ministers. A large and splendid fleet of fifteen warships, besides forty-six transports and storeships, was got ready, and with the fleet seven of Marlborough's best regiments were ordered to set sail for Canada.
But it is not always big armaments, many men, many ships, many guns, that win the famous battles of history. Sometimes, as we have seen, so far from winning the battle, they do not even strike a blow. This expedition was England's shame. This, which might have conquered Quebec for the English flag, melted away in sorrow, disease, and disgrace, all because of the utter incompetency of its leaders. The Admiral, Sir Hovenden Walker, was both foolish and perverse. As for the commander of the land forces, Sir John Hill, he was chosen not because of his war-like talents, but because he was a brother of Mrs. Masham, the Queen's great personal friend.
You may be interested in learning something of his personal history as afterwards written by the Duchess of Marlborough. "Abigail Hill's brother, whom the bottle man afterwards called 'honest Jack Hill,' was a tall boy whom I clothed (for he was all in rags) and put to school in St. Albans. I afterwards got my Lord Marlborough to make him groom of the bedchamber to the Duke of Gloucester, and though my Lord always said that Jack Hill was good for nothing, yet to oblige me he made him his aide-de-camp and afterwards gave him a regiment."
Under such a commander the fleet and army, crossing the Atlantic, arrived at Boston. Here they were joined by two Massachusetts regiments under the command of Samuel Vetch, a New Englander, who had been made Governor of Annapolis. Theplan decided upon was that Canada should be attacked, simultaneously with Quebec and Montreal, by 12,000 men. Surely, with such a force, it seemed impossible to fail! But failure had marked the enterprise for its own. A dense fog hung over the gulf and river of St. Lawrence. In vain Admiral Walker was warned that to steer to the north was to advance to certain destruction. Walker simply laughed at the advice. But his laughter had scarcely died away ere the shrieks of drowning men rang in his ears. Eight ships, packed close with brave soldiers eager for the fray, were shattered to pieces in the black fog. A terrible night ensued, a night which has no parallel in the annals of the British Navy. When day dawned, some Indian and French fur-traders found 1000 bodies strewn on the beach. There were some women amongst them, hapless soldiers' wives, who from early times have accompanied British expeditions, and have been present in defeat and victory.
After this terrible disaster the question arose whether the attack on Quebec should be abandoned or not. There was still a great land force left, enough to plant the British flag on the heights of Quebec if valour and endurance could do it. The officers and soldiers looked with one accord to General Hill, their commander, who had it in his power yet to atone for the disaster which had overtaken his comrade, Admiral Walker. When Hill spoke, it was not to say, "Gentlemen, we will retrieve our misfortunes," but, "Gentlemen, we will turn back." Vetch implored him to reconsider, but orders weregiven to turn about the prows of the remaining ships.
After fatal delays the ill-starred fleet reached Portsmouth again about the middle of October. But even when safe in dock, misfortune went with it to the last. The Admiral's flag-shipEdgarby some accident blew up, killing 400 seamen, and 30 of the townsfolk of Portsmouth who had gone on board to learn from the sailors the melancholy tale of the expedition. Well might the English people have been angry, and their anger descended swiftly and heavily upon the foolish and stubborn admiral's head. He was driven from England, to die at last, broken in heart, rank, and fortune, on a West Indian island.
But what further rejoicings in Canada! What gratitude, what repeated Te Deums for the narrow escape the colony had had from almost certain destruction! General Hill had caused to be printed beforehand, and took with him, a bundle of proclamations, calling upon the French Canadians to acknowledge the rule of Queen Anne. A bundle of these documents had been washed ashore, and were now distributed amongst the people amidst derisive laughter. So grateful did the Quebec folk feel to Heaven for having preserved them from such peril, that they built a memorial in Our Lady of Victories, as the church in the lower town of Quebec was called. De Vaudreuil appealed to the people to help him in making yet stronger the fortifications of Quebec, and he did not appeal in vain. Fifty thousand écus poured into the Treasury for this purpose.
While Quebec and Canada were thus saved, by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 Great Britain obtained cession of Acadia, Newfoundland, and the countries bordering Hudson Bay. Forced to give up so much, yet the French retained Cape Breton, with the right to fortify it. King Louis made great efforts to get Nova Scotia back into his power, but in vain. Foiled in this, he well knew the value of Cape Breton, and here it was resolved to erect a great fortress to dominate the whole seaboard of Nova Scotia and New England. In a very few years Cape Breton became the centre of intriguing governors and priests, always in touch with the French population in Acadia to teach them to be discontented and dangerous to the English rulers. Vaudreuil did not cease to govern Canada till his death in 1725. He always clung to the hope of regaining Acadia; he always prevented the Abenakis from making peace with the colonists of New England, and encouraged them to attack the outlying settlements. Vaudreuil still dreamed, as Frontenac had done before him, of France ruling the whole of the great north and west of the continent, and it was hard to see how that prize could be wrested from her. As the eighteenth century wore on, the chain of great inland lakes were as French as those two great rivers, the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi. Little by little French priests and fur-traders pushed their way through the wilderness, making peace with new tribes and founding forts at the heads or junctions of important rivers. Before Vaudreuil died, he saw all New France prospering and in peace.
Profit was even wrested from calamity. Once a great ship,La Seine, bearing clothes and merchandise to Quebec and Montreal, had been captured and carried a prize to England. The loss had caused much distress in Canada, because up to this date the people had not grown flax and hemp, and had spun no wool, and their clothing, therefore, came across to them from France. In this emergency the Canadians, particularly the women, were obliged to show their ingenuity, and soon they began to weave coverings, blankets, and even small carpets. They found the fibre of a nettle would make good cloth, and the bark of the white wood cotton-tree was pressed into service. Slowly but surely the industry grew, until there were twenty-five different branches of trade producing druggets, cloths, and linens. The nuns commenced to make bunting for their own dress, black serge for the priests, and blue serge for their pupils.
At first there were no horses in Quebec or Montreal. But at the beginning of the eighteenth century hundreds of these animals were being bred, and to possess and train them became a passion amongst the young men. The result was that many who had before been very skilful in the use of snowshoes soon grew lazy and drove about in sleighs. This came to the notice of the Governor, who told them that Canada could not afford to have her young men unaccustomed to snow-shoes. It was by means of snow-shoes that they were able, even when a blizzard was blowing, to move silently and swiftly in time of war. He issued a decree which forbade anyhabitant to own more than two mares and one colt. After a certain day any colonist possessing more would be visited by an official ordered to kill the extra horses, and the order was carried out.
The population of Canada had now grown to 50,000 souls. As to life in the colony, we get an excellent picture from the writings of Father Charlevoix, who visited Canada in 1720, and spent some time in making personal observations. He tells us that the country about Montreal was wholly unsettled by Europeans excepting several fortified posts and block-houses, such as Frontenac, Niagara, Detroit, Michilimackinac, and other trading stations in the west. "In Quebec," he wrote, "one finds nothing but what is select and calculated to form an agreeable society. A Governor-General, with his staff, a high-born officer and his troops, an Intendant with a superior council and inferior court, a Commissary of Marines and other officers, and a Superintendent of Waters and Forests, whose jurisdiction is certainly the largest in the world; merchants in easy circumstances, or at least living as if they were, a Bishop, a seminary, and three convents.
"Other circles elsewhere are as brilliant as those surrounding the Governor and Intendant. On the whole, it seems to me there are for all classes the means of passing the time agreeably. Every one contributes to his utmost, people amuse themselves with games and excursions, using caleches in summer, sledges and skates in winter. There is a great deal of hunting, for many gentle folks have no other resources for living in comfort. The news fromEurope comes all at once, and occupies a great part of the year, furnishing subjects of conversation of the past and future."
"The Canadians," continues this eye-witness, "breathe from their birth the air of liberty, which renders them very agreeable in social intercourse. Nowhere else is our language spoken with greater purity. One observes here no defective accent. There are here no rich people; every one is hospitable, and no one amuses himself with making money. If a person cannot afford to entertain friends at table, he at least endeavours to dress well."
From the foregoing you may be able to form a fair picture of Canada under the Old Régime.
Two hundred years ago, when Newfoundland was ceded to the English, all the French officials and fishermen removed to the eastern coast of Cape Breton. Cape Breton, despite its name, is an island, and was known to the French as Isle Royale. The place whither the French retired was a safe and spacious inlet, up to that time known as English Harbour, and it was English Harbour that the French king chose as the site of the greatest and most celebrated fortress in the New World. To it was duly given the name of Louisburg. Vauban, a celebrated engineer of his day, was called upon to design it. "Spare neither money nor labour," said the King; "we shall make it another Dunkerque." This Dunkerque, you may remember, was a fortified seaport on the north-east coast of France, upon which millions of money had been spent, and it was generally believed that no enemy could take it. Tobuild its equal, hundreds of engineers, stonecutters, masons, bricklayers, and workmen sailed across the Atlantic. When finished, Louisburg fortress occupied an area of 100 acres, the harbour being defended by batteries on an island at the entrance. Within the fort and town dwelt never less than 2000 people. With such a stronghold so near at hand, it was not strange that the French in Acadia should dwell firmly in the belief that the flag of the lilies would once more wave over them. If few English colonists came to Nova Scotia, none at all migrated to that portion of it which was still called Acadia.
While these things were happening in the far east, in the west notable pioneers were forging a path to French dominion. The far north-west was opened up by Sieur Verendrye with his three valiant sons, a Jesuit priest, and a handful of bushrangers. Verendrye struck out westward through Michilimackinac. He had heard of the great Lake Winnipeg from the Indians and resolved to reach it. Coming upon the Lake of the Woods, there he built a strong fur-trading post, Fort St. Charles, where his party were met by the Sioux, a fierce western tribe. In the battle one of Verendrye's sons was slain. After the explorer had finally reached Lake Winnipeg, he crossed its waters and paddled with his party up the Red River. One morning they came to where the river Assiniboine joins the Red River, and there Verendrye halted and built Fort Rouge. Hard by a settlement grew up, which settlement has in our day expanded at length into the great and flourishing city of Winnipeg.
Nothing could daunt Verendrye and his sons, neither heat nor cold, hunger nor thirst. They pressed on through the forest and over the prairie, exploring and building trading posts. The news of their travels and successes with the Indians reached Quebec and Montreal, and a horde of hardy bush-rangers were soon following their example. The forts in the far wilderness grew closely packed with costly furs. Heavily-laden canoes by the hundred found their way by river and lake and toilsome portage to the great stone warehouses of Montreal, some of which are yet upstanding in the city.
It was after the leader Verendrye's death that one of his sons, on New Year's Day 1743, first amongst French Canadians, beheld the lofty snow-clad pinnacles of the Rocky Mountains. Truly, in spite of many discouragements, the fleur-de-lys was being borne westward valiantly.
Twenty-seven years of peace! It was a long respite, but long as it was, French and English were ready to fly at each other's throats with renewed vigour when war broke out again. Quickly did the flames of the conflict spread to the New World.
Looking out from the ramparts of his strong fortress of Louisburg, it seemed to the Governor that the moment was a most favourable one to recapture Nova Scotia for France. The iron was struck while it was hot. One thousand men, led by Duvivier, were despatched to Annapolis, which, under the name of Port Royal, has been the scene of so many vicissitudes.
On the way thither the French easily took Canso, at the entrance of the strait of that name, and sent its garrison prisoners to Louisburg. Flushed with this victory, Duvivier marched by land to Annapolis, held for the English by Paul Mascarene. But if the French thought they would frighten Mascarene into surrendering, they were mistaken. Of Huguenot extraction, Mascarene was yet a brave and sturdy Englishman. "We are expecting," wrote Duvivier, "the arrival of three ships of war, carrying respectivelyseventy, sixty, and forty guns, and a regiment of soldiers. Not that we need these, for I have already sufficient forces to storm your fort." "Really," ran Mascarene's reply, "it will be time to consider the question of surrender when your French fleet is in the harbour." Then it was Duvivier sent his brother proposing a truce and asking for the conditional capitulation of the garrison. The brave Mascarene called his officers together and found that they were not disinclined to accept the French terms.
"We have no chance," they said; "we are abandoned and our men losing heart; let us capitulate while we can." They spoke so strongly, that Mascarene allowed three of them to confer with the French commander and obtain his proffered terms in writing. But no sooner had he cast his eye over the paper than Mascarene steadfastly refused to sign. In vain his officers implored him to put his name to the deed of surrender. He rebuked them and set about with tact and energy to raise the spirits of his men and reanimate them with courage. The French renewed their attack on the fort. Day after day and night after night they tried to wear out the garrison, but Mascarene had now, by his patience and good spirits, brought all to his way of thinking. Try as they would, the French could make no impression on the sturdy ramparts of Annapolis.
Duvivier sickened of the siege, and during October returned to Louisburg. No sooner had he gone than the French Acadians were filled with fear. They had supposed that all Acadia would have been won for King Louis, and, realising their mistake, theyhastened to send deputies to Mascarene declaring that they had refused to take any part in the expedition. At the same time they wrote to the defeated French commander to say, "We live under a mild and tranquil government, and we have good reason to be faithful to it. We hope, therefore, that you will not separate us from it, and that you will grant us the favour not to plunge us into utter misery."
Soon I will have to tell you how these same Acadians, because of their continued treachery to the English Government, had to be transported from this land of their birth or adoption. A great deal has been written about the poor Acadians to excite our sympathy for them at the fate which shortly awaited them. You will see that they brought it upon themselves, or rather that their leaders and ill-advisers brought it upon them. Perfectly happy and contented were they under English rule, but base priests and agitators amongst them tried hard to instil into their minds the idea of a grievance and stirred up treachery and disaffection in their hearts. Bitterest and most unscrupulous of these agitators was a priest named Le Loutre. Although an able man, he was a terrible coward, and shrank from no crime, no falsehood, to gain his ends. Of Le Loutre and the results of his policy we will speak hereafter.
The English prisoners taken at Canso spent many weeks shut up in Louisburg. They did not wholly idle away their time, but, examining all they saw with such care and to such purpose, they were able onregaining their freedom to describe with accuracy the plan and condition of this great fortress. Once a French officer had said that Louisburg was so strong that it might be held against any assault by an army of women. Yet these English prisoners thought they saw how Louisburg might be taken, and their hopes were eagerly seized upon and shared by the Governor of Massachusetts.
Governor William Shirley was a lawyer by profession, full of energy and enterprise, and once he had set his mind to do a thing, difficulties seemed to fade away. He now set his mind to the capture of Louisburg. He believed that unless the English had control of the whole coast from Cape Sable to the mouth of the St. Lawrence, the safety, nay, the very existence of New England was in constant jeopardy. Shirley listened eagerly to what the returned prisoners had to tell him. They had observed the discontent and the bad discipline of the Louisburg garrison, which consisted of 1300 men. Their plan of the fort showed him that it was built on a point of land jutting out into the Atlantic, while all behind it on the land side was treacherous marsh. From 30 to 36 feet high were the walls on the other side of a ditch 80 feet wide. One hundred and sixty-four guns were mounted on the walls, besides many mortars and cohorns. On a little island opposite Louisburg there was a battery mounted with thirty-two heavy cannon. The ramparts were, however, seen to be defective in more than one place, and, besides this, if the French ships which came over sea with provisions and reinforcements couldbe intercepted, Shirley felt there was a fair chance of success. He wrote instantly to London asking King George to help him with ships, but without waiting for a reply a little fleet was raised and a land force of 4000 men hastily got together. It was not a very imposing army in appearance, as you may imagine. It was chiefly composed of artisans, farmers, fishermen, and labourers, commanded by a merchant named William Pepperell. Although without any military experience, Pepperell had courage and good judgment, and was anxious to distinguish himself. On the 24th March 1745 the ships left Boston, and reached Canso ten days later. Here they remained three weeks, waiting for the ice to melt in the bays and harbours. It was at Canso that Pepperell and his brave New Englanders were joined by the English commodore, Warren, whom King George had sent to help him in the capture of Louisburg. Instantly Pepperell and his army set off, while Warren cruised about with a fleet of ten ships to prevent any news or assistance from reaching the fortress.
The Governor of Louisburg was M. Duchambon. On the fateful night a ball was given in the town, which the Governor, his officers, and soldiers attended. Before the people had got to sleep it was almost dawn, and their slumbers were quickly disturbed. A captain, attired in his night-clothes, came rushing into the Governor's chamber to report that a strange fleet had been sighted by the sentries entering Gabarus Bay, five miles distant. "French ships?" cried Duchambon. "No, sir," answered the officer,"I fear the English are upon us." Next moment the cannons were booming loudly from the walls and a peal of bells rang through the town. Pepperell made a pretence of landing his troops at a certain point, so as to deceive the French. A skirmish took place, in which the French were beaten back and some of them taken prisoners. Before nightfall 2000 of the New Englanders had planted foot on the shore, and the next day they were joined by the rest of their comrades. The siege of Louisburg was begun. A hard and dangerous task was the landing of the artillery and stores, owing to the rolling surf. There being no wharf, the men had to wade through the sea to bring the guns, ammunition, and provisions on shore. This alone took an entire fortnight. Batteries were thrown up, in spite of sallies made from the town by French and Indians to prevent them. An outside battery was captured, mounted with twenty-eight heavy guns, which now belched forth shot and shell amongst the besieged. Warehouses and other places took fire, and great columns of smoke hid the fort from view for days at a time. The walls were at last seen to crumble, and when the guns of the Americans began to close up on the fortress, Duchambon was summoned to surrender. He replied that he would surrender when forced to by the cannon of the foe. The New Englanders at last silenced the island battery, so that the English fleet could enter the harbour and turn upon him its 500 guns. The expected supply ship from France, theVigilant, had been captured, and Duchambon's supply of gunpowder was exhausted.He gave himself up to despair, and now it was that the flag of truce was sent to the British camp asking for terms of capitulation.
The terms offered by Pepperell were accepted. For forty-nine days Duchambon had defended Louisburg bravely. He had done his best, and when the time came to surrender he was permitted to march out his soldiers with colours flying and drums beating. While he abandoned the fortress by one gate, Pepperell at the head of the victorious besiegers entered by another. The day wound up with a great banquet; all was rejoicing at so glorious a victory. But terrible was the defeat and humiliation for more than 4000 of the French in Louisburg. They were embarked on ships and sent back to France.
Meanwhile the French flag was not lowered from the parapets, so as to lure in any French ships approaching those waters. The ruse was successful. Two East Indiamen and one South Sea vessel fell into the trap, and these prizes were afterwards found to be worth six hundred thousand pounds. In prize money the share of an ordinary seaman is said to have been eight hundred guineas.
No wonder the bells in Boston and Salem rang out with jubilation when the tidings of the capture of Louisburg arrived. Nor were King George II. and his ministers less pleased. From palace and tower cannons fixed their salute of rejoicing; many bonfires were lit in London, and whole streets were illuminated. Pepperell was created a baron and a colonel in the Army. Shirley was also rewarded.Warren was promoted to be an admiral. There is, however, a melancholy side to this picture. The troops left in possession of Louisburg were too elated by success to behave themselves properly. Many men can stand defeat who cannot endure success. The stores of liquor in the fort were stolen, and in spite of all the efforts of the English commandant 1000 men were found every day intoxicated. A terrible illness raged throughout the garrison, and when spring came it was found that out of 3000 men 1200 had died.
At first the people in France and in Canada could not believe the news that Louisburg had fallen. They had looked upon it as the key to French power in North-America. When at length there could be no doubt that the news was true, one thought, one ambition filled the minds of all—the fortress must at all hazards be retaken. It was resolved at Versailles that an expedition should be sent out to Cape Breton for that purpose. One of the finest fleets that ever left the shores of France sailed away from Rochelle the following year, commanded by the Duke d'Anville, which consisted of thirty-nine ships of war and many of the best soldiers in France. D'Anville had orders to recapture Louisburg and Nova Scotia, to ravage Boston, and turn all New England into a scene of desolation. But man proposes, God disposes. Not only were two of D'Anville's ships captured by English cruisers, but he encountered such a succession of storms and one mighty tempest, that the whole squadron was dispersed. When, at Chebucto, D'Anville arrived with the remnants of his fleet, his mortificationwas so great as to bring on an apoplectic stroke, from which he died.
On an island in what is to-day known as Halifax Harbour, his body was buried. On the afternoon of the very day on which the French commander died, his Vice-Admiral, Destournelles, arrived with three more ships, on board one of which was Canada's new Governor, General Jonquière. When Destournelles took command the outlook was most desperate. More than 2000 men were stricken with fever, and eventually died. Destournelles, seeing no hope for success, proposed that the expedition should be abandoned and the vessels return to France. Jonquière and most of the officers resisted this plan. If they could not take Louisburg, at least they could attack Annapolis and seize Nova Scotia. Annapolis was weak and had a small garrison, and once it were captured, Acadia was regained for France. Moreover, was not the priest, Le Loutre, at hand to give the signal to the Acadians to rise against their English masters? On seeing that they were all against him, Admiral Destournelles retired. He thought it reflected on his character and honour, and next morning they found him stabbed through the breast. He had lost his reason and flung himself upon his sword.
It was now Jonquière's turn to lead the forlorn expedition. But ere he could get to Annapolis another great storm arose, scattering his fleet, and nothing remained at last but to return dispirited to France. At least 2500 brave Frenchmen had been lost in this ill-fated expedition. Still undaunted by these terrible reverses, next year the Marquis de laJonquière made another attempt with another fleet. But the English admirals, Anson and Warren, were on the watch; a battle was fought off Cape Finisterre, in the Bay of Biscay, and a signal defeat inflicted on the French. This time Jonquière himself was captured and carried to London. It seemed as if he were fated never to reach his Governor's château at Quebec.
Balked in her endeavours to obtain Louisburg again at the point of the sword, France had now recourse to the arts of diplomacy.
In 1748 was signed the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. The French, you may remember, had met with many successes in Europe and in India. They had, for one thing, captured the province of Madras, and so had something to offer England in exchange for what they considered to be a greater prize than all they had won. A bargain was therefore struck between the diplomatists of France and England, the former to yield back Madras if the English would give up Louisburg. King George did not consult the New Englanders who had striven so hard and so valiantly to win him the prize. He consented to the exchange, and Louisburg was handed back to France.
Of course when the bargain was known in Massachusetts and New York there was great indignation. But the wiser heads amongst the colonists saw that the welfare of a whole empire is greater than the welfare of any part, and so bided their time, knowing full well that another and final blow would some day be struck. Meanwhile, allthe money that the colonists had spent on their expedition was given back to them by Britain.
Although eight years of peace followed the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, it was a peace only in name. In Canada and America there were two nations who could never be free from war until one had conquered the other. One of the great causes of offence and perpetual squabbling was that as yet neither knew the precise boundaries of French and British territory. It seems strange that where so much land existed and so few people, that there should be any fighting over boundaries; but if you study the wars of history you will see there is nothing that nations are so ready to quarrel over as this question of boundaries. Besides, there was a vast region constantly being explored, and even surveyed, upon which dwelt tribes of Indians whose allegiance was claimed by one of the two parties to the dispute. So while the Marquis de la Jonquière languished in an English prison, the acting Governor-General of Canada, Galissonière, was kept extremely busy. It was his idea, and he was never tired of expressing it, that although Acadia had been surrendered to England, Acadia meant only the peninsula of Nova Scotia. As for the great region of the west now known as New Brunswick and Eastern Maine, that he claimed to belong to France. He sent out several hundred French agents to conciliate the Indian tribes, to warn off English traders, and to mark out the boundary line between New England and Canada. The Governor ordered forts to be built at Gaspereau and Beauséjour, and anotheron the St. John River. In the west many other forts were built, including Fort Ticonderoga, at the head of Lake George. He asked King Louis to send him 10,000 colonists to settle along the line of the Alleghany Mountains, and so form a barrier against the English on the east. But, however anxious he was to keep New France, by this time King Louis thought he had lost sufficient of his subjects in the late wars, and refused the request.
The English traders and frontiersmen were meanwhile pressing westward. If France's title to all the country on the other side of the Alleghanies was to be something better than waste-paper, something more must be done to assert it. Galissonière therefore resolved to take swift and effective action.
And so the curious episode called "The Planting of the Leaden Plates" began.
The French had really no grounds for their claims to sovereignty over the valley of the Ohio except in the explorations of La Salle in the previous century. All the country south of Lake Erie was almost unknown to the French Canadians. The regions in the vicinity of the Ohio River were generally regarded as belonging to the English colonies of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New York.
If you will look at the old maps of America, you will see that the map-makers never gave any boundary-line on the west of the thirteen colonies. There was no boundary-line. At this time, as was said in the last chapter, English traders had crossed the Alleghany Mountains on their fur-trading expeditions, and the Indians, in turn, had visited the people living in the three provinces I have named. But Galissonière had a special reason for wanting the whole Ohio valley in French possession. Canada and Acadia were not the only French colonies on the North American continent. Far to the south there was Louisiana, which since La Salle's time had grown and flourished exceedingly. A Canadian, De Bienville, one of the sons of Charles le Moine, had even beensent to govern it. So, you see, it was of the utmost importance to the French way of thinking that Canada and Louisiana should be joined together by a stretch of territory flying the French flag. It would be fatal for Louisiana to be cut off from Canada by English colonies, or even forts and trading posts. For this reason Galissonière now set about proclaiming French sovereignty over the entire Ohio valley, as this region was called.
In the French service there was a captain named Célèron, a Chevalier of the Order of St. Louis. This officer the Government despatched in the summer of 1749 with a small force of some 200 French soldiers, Canadian bushrangers, and Indians. With him Célèron carried a large stock of leaden plates with engraved inscriptions. These plates were eleven inches long and seven and a half inches wide, and Célèron was ordered to bury them at the foot of certain trees marking the boundary-line which Galissonière had drawn up on his map. Besides these leaden plates Célèron carried an immense stock of tin shields bearing the arms of the King of France. Every time he buried a leaden plate at the foot of a tree, he nailed up one of the shields on the trunk.
Now it so happened that one of these plates was dug up by an Indian soon after the French party had marched on. It was sent by a Cayugan chief to a famous English trader and colonist named William Johnson. The chief asked Johnson to tell him what the French meant by planting such a plate in their territory. He thought it might be some sorcery on the part of the northern pale-faces. Johnson had nolove for the French. He knew exactly what they were aiming at, and he spoke very plainly to the chief of the Cayugas. "Brethren," said he, "this is an affair of the greatest importance to you. Nothing less than all your lands and your best hunting-places are concerned. You are to be shut off entirely from us and the rest of your brethren, the Pennsylvanians and the Virginians, who can always supply you with goods at a much lower rate than the French ever did or ever could do. Under our protection you are, and ever will be, safer and better treated than under the French, who are your implacable enemies. The writing on this piece of lead is sufficient of itself to convince you of their villainous designs." The Governor of New York afterwards sent the plate to England, where it attracted great attention, for it showed quite clearly what the designs of the French were.
By this time English statesmen began to consider whether the step they had taken in giving back Cape Breton to France so hastily was not a mistake. But something to offset it might still be done. Although Louisburg was no longer theirs, yet they had the power to retrieve much of the prestige and many of the advantages they had lost. Governor Shirley dinned constantly into their ears the value of settling an English population in Nova Scotia to counter-balance the French Acadians who were planted there. So at last King George was induced to issue a proclamation offering to all officers and private men retired from the Army or Navy, and to many others, a free passage to Nova Scotia, besides supportingthem for a year after landing and giving them arms, ammunition, and a grant of land to build a dwelling. Parliament having voted £40,000, in the summer of 1749 more than 2500 settlers, with their families, arrived at Chebucto, now rechristened in honour of the Earl of Halifax.
The commander of the expedition and the chief of the new colony was Colonel Edward Cornwallis, a man both able and lovable. Owing to his care, a beautiful city gradually arose on the shore of the splendid harbour, afterwards to be crowned by the famous citadel of Halifax.
Soon after Cornwallis's arrival he issued a proclamation in French and English to the Acadians calling upon them to assist the new settlers. He did not fail to remind them that while they had so long enjoyed possession of their lands and the free exercise of their religion, they had been secretly aiding King George's enemies. But His Majesty would forgive and forget all this if they were at once to take the oath of allegiance and act in future as British subjects.
Some 13,000 Frenchmen were at this time settled in the ten villages of Acadia. To the northward the French had built a fort of five bastions which they called Beauséjour, and another one much similar at Baie Verte. Their idea was to keep up communication with Louisburg until they could strike a blow against the English and get back Acadia again into their own hands.
It was at Fort Beauséjour that the priestly traitor Le Loutre continued to create dissatisfaction and sow the seeds of revolt amongst the thrifty, ignorantAcadians, who otherwise would have been happy and contented. Their minds filled with Le Loutre's threats and promises, they refused to take the oath of allegiance, and even to supply the English settlers with labour, timber, or provisions, though good prices for these were offered. Cornwallis warned them. "You will allow yourselves," he said, "to be led away by people who find it to their interest to lead you astray. It is only out of pity for your situation and your inexperience in the ways of government that we condescend to reason with you. Otherwise the question would not be reasoning, but commanding and being obeyed."
He was very patient with them. He told them that they had been for more than thirty-four years the subjects of the King of Great Britain. "Show now that you are grateful for his favours and ready to serve your King when your services are required. Manage to let me have here in ten days fifty of your people to assist the poor to build their houses to shelter them from the bad weather. They shall be paid in ready money and fed on the King's provisions."
Shortly thereafter Le Loutre descended from craft to the crime of bloodshed. He aroused the native Indians of the province, known as the Micmacs, against the English newcomers. He sent them out stealthily to slay and to destroy. Twenty Englishmen were surprised and captured at Canso while gathering hay. Eight Indians, pretending to barter furs, went on board two English ships and tried to surprise them. Several of the sailors were killed. A saw-mill had been built near Halifax. Sixunsuspecting men went out unarmed to hew some timber. Four were killed and scalped, one was captured, and one escaped. So frequent became the Indian attacks that the men of Halifax formed themselves into a militia, and a sentry paced the streets every night. Cornwallis offered £100 for the head of Le Loutre. Ten guineas were offered for an Indian, living or dead, or for his scalp.
It now became necessary also to build a fort to counterbalance the Fort Beauséjour of the French. The latter was erected on the western bank of a little stream called the Missiquash which the French claimed as the boundary between Canada and Acadia. Opposite, at Chignecto, Colonel Lawrence was sent with 400 men to build the English fort. Le Loutre and his Acadians did their best to prevent the English landing and building the fort which became known as Fort Lawrence. The commander of this post was named Captain Howe, a man of charming manners who spoke French fluently. Howe reasoned with the stubborn Acadians, many of whom saw the good sense of his remarks, and in a short time the captain became extremely popular. All this Le Loutre saw with misgivings. He felt that Howe was obtaining an influence amongst the Acadians, and so marked him down for destruction. One bright autumn day a Frenchman in the dress of an officer advanced to the opposite side of the stream waving a white handkerchief. Howe, ever polite, advanced to meet him. As he did so, some Indians who were in ambuscade pointed their guns at him and shot him dead. La Corne, the French commandant, was filledwith shame and horror at this treacherous murder. He would like to have got rid of Le Loutre, but the priest was too strong for him. His influence at Quebec was great, as it was amongst the Acadian people, who dreaded his fierce anger.