Canada Part 9

The complaints against Frontenac from influential people in Canada at last became so numerous that {195} he was recalled to France in 1682.

His successor, La Barre, proved himself thoroughly incapable. The interests of the province were seriously threatened at that time by the intention of the Iroquois to destroy the Illinois and divert the western traffic to the Dutch and English, whose carriers they wished to become. La Barre was well aware how much depended on the protection of the Illinois and the fidelity of the Indians on the lakes. La Hontan, a talkative but not always veracious writer, who was in Canada at this time, gives us an insight into the weakness of the governor, whose efforts to awe the Iroquois ended in an abortive expedition which was attacked by disease and did not get beyond La Famine, now Salmon River, in the Iroquois country. The famous "La Grande Gueule," or Big Mouth,--so called on account of his eloquence,--made a mockery of the French efforts to deceive him by a pretence of strength, and openly declared the intention of the Iroquois to destroy the Illinois, while La Barre dared not utter a defiant word in behalf of his allies. This incapable governor was soon recalled and the Marquis de Denonville, an officer of dragoons, sent in his place. One of the most notable incidents of the new administration was the capture of the fortified trading-posts belonging to the English Company of Hudson's Bay, by the Chevalier de Troyes and a number of Canadians from Montreal, among whom were the three famous sons of Charles Le Moyne, Iberville, Sainte-Helene, and Maricourt, the former of whom became ere long the most distinguished French Canadian of his time. The next {196} event of importance was the invasion of the country of the Senecas, and the destruction of their villages and stores of provisions. This was a most doubtful triumph, since it left the Senecas themselves unhurt.

How ineffectual it was even to awe the Iroquois, was evident from the ma.s.sacre of La Chine, near Montreal, in the August of 1689, when a large band fell upon the village during a stormy night, burned the houses, butchered two hundred men, women and children, and probably carried off at least one hundred and twenty prisoners before they left the island of Montreal, where the authorities and people seemed paralysed for the moment. The whole history of Canada has no more mournful story to tell than this ma.s.sacre of this unhappy settlement by the side of the beautiful lake of St. Louis. The Iroquois had never forgiven the treachery of the governor during the winter of 1687, at Fort Frontenac, where he had seized a large number of friendly Indians of the Five Nations who had settled in the neutral villages of Kente (now Quinte) and Ganneious (now Gananoque), not many miles from the fort. Some of the men were distributed among the missions of Quebec, and others actually sent to labour in the royal galleys of France, where they remained until the survivors were brought back by Frontenac, when he and other Frenchmen recognised the enormity of the crime that had been committed by Denonville, who is immediately responsible for the ma.s.sacre of La Chine. The Iroquois never forgot or forgave.

The French authorities soon recognised the fact {197} that Denonville was entirely unequal to the critical condition of things in Canada, and decided in 1689 to send Frontenac back. During his second term, which lasted for nearly ten years, there was now and then some friction between himself and the intendant, on matters of internal government, and between himself and the bishop and the Jesuits with respect to amus.e.m.e.nts which the clergy always discountenanced; but he displayed on the whole more tact and judgment in his administration of public affairs. Undoubtedly the responsibilities now resting upon him tasked the energies of a man of seventy-two years of age to the utmost. In Acadia, whose interests were now immediately connected with those of Canada, he had to guard against the aggressive movements of New England. The English of New York and the adjacent colonies were intriguing with the Iroquois and the Foxes, always jealous of French encroachments in the northwest, and encouraging them to hara.s.s the French settlers. The efforts of the English to establish themselves in Hudson's Bay and Newfoundland, had to be met by vigorous action on the part of Canadians. In fact, we see on all sides the increasing difficulties of France in America, on account of the rapid growth of the English colonies.

When Frontenac arrived in Canada, war had been, declared between France and England. James II. had been deposed and William of Orange was on the English throne. Before the governor left France a plan had been devised at the suggestion of Callieres, the governor of Montreal, for the conquest {198} of New York. An expedition of regular troops and Canadian volunteers were to descend from Canada and a.s.sault New York by land, simultaneously with an attack by a French squadron from the sea.

Unforeseen delays prevented the enterprise from being carried out, when success was possible. Had New York and Albany been captured, Callieres was to have been the new governor. Catholics alone would be allowed to remain in the province, and all the other inhabitants would be exiled--an atrocious design which was to be successfully executed sixty years later, by the English authorities, in the Acadian settlements of Nova Scotia.

Count de Frontenac organised three expeditions in 1690 against the English colonies, with the view of raising the depressed spirits of the Canadians and showing their Indian allies how far Onontio's arm would reach. The first party, led by Mantet and Sainte-Helene, and comprising among the volunteers Iberville, marched in the depth of winter on Corlaer (Schenectady), surprised the sleeping and negligent inhabitants, killed a considerable number, took many prisoners, and then burned nearly all the houses. The second party, under the command of Francois Hertel, destroyed the small settlement of Salmon Falls on the Piscataqua, and later formed a junction with the third party, led by Portneuf of Quebec, and with a number of Abenakis under Baron de Saint-Castin. The settlement at Cas...o...b..y, defended by Fort Loyal (Portland) surrendered after a short struggle to these combined forces, and the garrison was treated with great inhumanity. The {199} cruelties practised by the Indian allies invested these raids with additional terrors.

While Frontenac was congratulating himself on the success of this ruthless border warfare, and on the arrival at Montreal of a richly laden fleet of canoes from the west, the English colonies concerted measures of retaliation in a congress held at New York. The blow first fell on Acadia, which had been in the possession of France since the treaty of Breda. Port Royal was taken without difficulty in 1690 by Sir William Phipps, and the sh.o.r.e settlements at La Heve and Cape Sable ravaged by his orders.

Another expedition organised in New York and Connecticut to attack Montreal, was a failure, although a raid was made by Captain John Schuyler into the country, south of Montreal, and a number of persons killed at La Prairie. A more important expedition was now given to the command of Phipps, a st.u.r.dy figure in colonial annals, who had sprung from humble parentage in Maine, and won both money and distinction by the recovery of the riches of a Spanish galleon which had been wrecked on the Spanish Main half a century before. His fleet, consisting of thirty-two vessels--including several men-of-war, and carrying 2300 troops, exclusively provincials, fishermen, farmers, and sailors--appeared in the middle of October, 1690, off Quebec, whose defences had been strengthened by Frontenac, and where a large force had a.s.sembled from the French towns and settlements. As soon as the fleet came to an anchorage, just below the town, Phipps {200} sent a messenger to present a letter to Frontenac, asking him to surrender the fort. This envoy was led blindfolded up the heights and brought into the presence of the governor, who was awaiting him in the fort, surrounded by a number of officers dressed in the brilliant uniform of the French army. As soon as he had recovered from the surprise which for the moment he felt, when the bandage was taken off his eyes, and he saw so brilliant an array of soldierly men, he read the letter, which, "by the orders of the King and Queen of England and of the government of the colony of New England," demanded "the surrender of the forts and castles undemolished, and of all munitions untouched, as also an immediate surrender of your persons and property at my discretion."

The envoy, when the whole letter was read, took out his watch, and remarking that it was ten o'clock, asked that he be sent back by eleven. Count de Frontenac's answer was defiant. He refused to recognise William of Orange as the lawful sovereign of England, and declared him an "usurper." The haughty governor continued in the same strain for a few moments longer, and when he had closed, Phipps's messenger asked that the answer be given in writing. "No," he replied, "I have none to give but by the mouth of my cannon; and let your general learn that this is no way to send a summons to a man like me.

Let him do the best on his side, as I am resolved to do on mine."

Phipps and his officers determined to attack Quebec in the rear by the way of Beauport, {201} simultaneously with a fierce cannonading by the fleet. A considerable force, under the command of Major Walley, landed, and after some days of unhappy experiences, during which Phipps showed his incapacity to manage the siege, the former was obliged to find refuge in the s.h.i.+ps, without having succeeded in crossing the St.

Charles. By this time Frontenac had at least three thousand men, many of them veterans, in Quebec, and Phipps considered it his only prudent course to return to Boston, where he arrived with the loss of many vessels and men, chiefly from disasters at sea. The French had lost very few men by the cannonading and in the skirmis.h.i.+ng on the St.

Charles--probably not more than sixty killed and wounded--and celebrated their victory with great enthusiasm. Religious processions marched through the streets to the cathedral and churches, _Te Deums_ were chanted, the colonial admiral's flag, which had been cut down by a lucky shot from the fort, was borne aloft in triumph, a new church was consecrated to _Notre Dame de la Victoire_, and a medal was struck in Paris in commemoration of the event. In Boston, the people received with dismay the news of the failure of an expedition which had ended so ign.o.bly and involved them so heavily in debt.

The Iroquois, in league with the English of New York, where the able governor Dongan and his successor Andros, carefully watched over the interests of their colony, continued to be a constant menace to the French on the St. Lawrence, and to their allies in the West. In order to strengthen {202} themselves with the Five Nations, the New York authorities sent Major Peter Schuyler, with a force of Mohawks, Dutch, and English, to hara.s.s the settlements near Montreal. An obstinate fight occurred at La Prairie between him and a considerable force of troops, Canadians, Hurons, and Iroquois of the Canadian mission under Varennes, an able officer, but Schuyler succeeded in breaking through the ranks of his enemies and reaching the Richelieu, whence he returned to Albany without further losses. In Acadia, however, the French gained an advantage by the recovery of Port Royal by Villebon.

At this time occurred an interesting episode. A young girl of only fourteen years, Magdeleine, daughter of the seigneur of Vercheres, on the south side of the St. Lawrence, ten miles from Montreal successfully held her father's fort and block-house against a band of Iroquois, with the aid of only six persons, two of whom were boys, and one an old man. Day and night, for a week, she was on the watch against surprise by the Indians, who were entirely deceived by her actions, and supposed the fort was held by a garrison. At last a reinforcement came to the succour of the brave girl, and the Indians retreated. The courage displayed by this Canadian heroine is an evidence of the courage shown by the people of Canada generally, under the trying circ.u.mstances that so constantly surrounded them throughout the whole of the French regime.

In 1693 the Mohawks were punished by an expedition composed of regulars, militia, and bush-rangers, with a large Indian contingent, chiefly {203} drawn from the Iroquois mission near Montreal, the modern settlement of Caughnawaga. This force was led by Mantet, Courtemanche, and La Noue, who succeeded in destroying the Mohawk villages after a fierce fight, in killing a large number, and in capturing several hundreds. The English, who had early information of the invasion, sent Major Peter Schuyler to pursue the retreating force, but it was too late. The immediate result of this success was a revival of trade. A large fleet of canoes came down from the upper lakes with a rich store of furs, that had been acc.u.mulating at Mackinac and other posts for nearly three years, on account of the Iroquois. Frontenac's triumph was complete, and he was called far and wide "the father of the people, the preserver of the country."

Returning for the moment to the Atlantic sh.o.r.es of Acadia, we find that the French arms triumphed in 1696 at Pemaquid, always an important point in those days of border warfare.

The fort, which was of some pretensions, was captured by the French under Iberville and the Abenakis under Saint-Castin, and after its destruction Iberville went on to Newfoundland, where the French ruined the English settlements at St. John and other places. Then the fleet proceeded to Hudson's Bay, where the French recaptured the trading posts which had been retaken a short time previously by the English.

In the meantime Frontenac had decided on an expedition against the Onondagas. Early in July, 1696, despite his age, he led the expedition to Fort {204} Frontenac, which he had restored, and after a delay of a few days he went on to the Onondaga town, which he destroyed with all its stores of provisions, and its standing fields of maize. The Oneida village was also destroyed, and a number of men taken prisoners as hostages for their good behaviour. The Onondagas had fled, and the only one captured was an aged chief, who was wantonly tortured to death. It was now clear to the Iroquois that the English of New York could not defend them from the constant raids of the French, and they now made offers of peace, provided it did not include the western allies of France. Frontenac, however, was resolved to make no peace, except on terms which would ensure the security of the French for many years. He died in the November of 1698 amid the regrets of the people of all cla.s.ses who admired his great qualities as a leader of men.

Callieres, of Montreal, an able and brave soldier, who succeeded him, soon brought the Iroquois difficulty to an issue. The calumet was smoked and peace duly signed, in a great council held in the August of 1701, at Montreal, where a.s.sembled representatives of the Indian nations of the West, of the Abenakis, and of the Iroquois. From that time forward, Canada had no reason to fear the Iroquois, who saw that the French were their masters. The trade with the West was now free from the interruptions which had so long crippled it.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Capture of Fort Nelson, in Hudson's Bay, by the French; from La Potherie. A. French boats. B. Camp. C. Mortar. D.

Skirmishers. E. Fort Nelson.]

The Treaty of Ryswick, which was ratified in 1697, lasted for only five years. Then broke out the great conflict known in Europe as the War of {206} the Spanish Succession. The reckless ambition of Louis XIV., then in the plenitude of his power, had coveted the throne of Spain for his own family, and brought him into conflict with England when he recognised the Pretender as the rightful heir to the English Crown.

Queen Anne, the daughter of James II. and sister of Mary, queen of William III., had succeeded to the throne, and the war which was declared on the 15th May, 1702, was thereafter known in America by her name. The Abenakis, who had promised peace, broke their pledges, and joined the French Canadian bands in attacking Wells, Saco, and Haverhill, and the annals of New England tell many a sad story of burning homes, of murdered men and women. The people of New England retaliated on Acadia, and several ineffective attempts were made to take Port Royal by Colonels Church and Wainwright, who proved their incapacity. A movement was then made for the conquest of Canada by the English colonists, but it failed in consequence of an European emergency having diverted the British squadron intended for America to the sh.o.r.es of Portugal. An expedition was next organised in 1710, under the command of Colonel Nicholson, a man of much sagacity and audacity, though of little or no military experience, for the capture of Port Royal, which was surrendered by the governor, Subercase, and from that day this historic place has been known as Annapolis Royal, in honour of the reigning sovereign. It was not until the following year that the British Government yielded to the urgent representations of the colonies, {207} and sent to America a powerful armament to attempt the conquest of Canada. The fleet was under the orders of Sir Hovenden Walker, whose incapacity was only equalled by that of the commander of the troops, Colonel Hill. After the loss of eight transports and nearly nine hundred men in a storm near the Isle aux Oeufs, at the entrance of the St. Lawrence, the incapable admiral decided to give up the project of besieging Quebec, and without even venturing to attack the little French post of Plaisance, he returned to England, where he was received with marks of disfavour on all sides, and forced soon afterwards to retire to South Carolina. While New England was sadly disappointed by this second failure to take Quebec, the French of Canada considered it a providential interposition in their behalf, and the church, which had been first named after the defeat of Phipps, was now dedicated to _Notre Dame des Victoires_.

All this while the French dominion was slowly and surely extending into the great valleys of the West and South. A fort had been built opposite to the Jesuit mission of St. Ignace, on the other side of the Strait of Michillimackinac, and it was now also proposed to make the French headquarters at Detroit, which had been founded by Antoine de la Mothe-Cadillac, despite the opposition of the Jesuits, who wished to have the mission field of the West in their own hands, and resented the intention to establish Recollets and other priests at the new post. As soon as the French established themselves permanently at this key to the Lakes and West, the {208} English practically gave up for fifty years the hope of acquiring the Northwest, and controlling the Indian trade. French pioneers were pus.h.i.+ng their way into the valleys of the Illinois and the Wabash. Perrot and Le Sueur had taken possession of the region watered by the upper Mississippi and its affluents.

Iberville and Bienville had made small settlements at Biloxi, Mobile, and on the banks of the Mississippi, and with them was a.s.sociated one of the most admirable figures of Canadian history, Henry de Tonty, who had left his fort on the Illinois. In 1711 Louisiana was made a separate government, with Mobile as the capital, and included the whole region from the Lakes to the Gulf, and from the Alleghanies to the Rocky Mountains. By the time of the Treaty of Utrecht the Indian tribes of the West were, for the most part, in the interest of the French, with the exception of the Sioux, Sauks, and Foxes, whose hostility was for a long time an impediment to their progress on the upper reaches of the Mississippi.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Chevalier D'Iberville.]

Louis XIV. was humbled by Marlborough on the battlefields of Blenheim, Ramillies, and Oudenarde, and obliged to agree to the Treaty of Utrecht, which was a triumph for England, since it gave her possession of Acadia, Hudson's Bay, Newfoundland (subject to the rights of France in the fisheries), and made the important concession that France should never molest the Five Nations under the dominion of Great Britain.

Such questions as the limits of Acadia, and the bounds of the territory of the Iroquois, were to be among the subjects of fruitful controversy for half a century.

{210}

XV.

ACADIA AND iLE ROYALE, FROM THE TREATY OF UTRECHT TO THE TREATY OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE.

(1713-1748.)

The attention of Louis XIV. and his ministers was now naturally directed to Cape Breton, which, like the greater island of Newfoundland, guards the eastern approaches to the valley of the St.

Lawrence. Cape Breton had been neglected since the days of Denys, though its harbours had been for over two centuries frequented by sailors of all nationalities. Plaisance, the Placentia of the Portuguese, had been for years the headquarters of the French fisheries in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but when Newfoundland was ceded to the English, all the French officials and fishermen removed to English Harbour, on the eastern coast of Cape Breton, ever since known as Louisbourg. The island itself was called ile Royale, and its first governor was M. de Costabelle, who had held a similar position at Plaisance. It was not, however, until 1720, that France commenced the {211} construction of the fortifications of Louisbourg, which eventually cost her over ten million dollars of modern money, and even then, they were never completed in accordance with the original design, on account of the enormous expense which far exceeded the original estimates. The fortifications were built on an oblong neck of land on the southern sh.o.r.e of the port, which lies only two leagues from that famous cape from which the island takes its name. The fortress occupied an area of over one hundred acres, and was planned on the best system of Vauban and other great masters of engineering skill, who intended it should be, as indeed it was, despite some faulty details of construction, the most complete example of a strongly fortified city in America. The harbour was also defended by batteries on an island at the entrance, and at other important points, while there were fortified works and small garrisons at Port Toulouse (St. Peter's) and Port Dauphin (St. Anne's). The government of the island was modelled on that of Canada, to which it was subordinate, and the governor was generally a military man. During the years the fortress was in possession of the French, there were probably, on an average, nearly two thousand people living in the town and vicinity, but this number was increased in the time of war by the inhabitants of the adjacent ports and bays.

[Ill.u.s.tration: View of Louisbourg in 1731.--From a sketch in the Paris Archives.]

During the thirty years that elapsed between the Treaty of Utrecht and the breaking out of war between France and Great Britain, the people of New England found that the merely nominal possession of Acadia by the English was of little security to {212} them, while the French still held the island of Cape Breton and had the fealty of the Indians and Acadians, who were looking forward to the restoration of the country to its former owners. England systematically neglected Nova Scotia, where, until the foundation of Halifax, her only sign of sovereignty was the dilapidated fort at Annapolis, with an insignificant garrison, utterly unable to awe the Acadian French, and bring them completely under the authority of the British Crown. French emissaries, chiefly priests,--notably the treacherous Le Loutre--were constantly at work among the Acadians, Micmacs, and Abenakis, telling them that France would soon regain her dominion in Acadia. For years the Abenakis tomahawked the helpless English colonists that had made their homes in the present State of Maine, in the vicinity of the Kennebec and the Pen.o.bscot. The insidious policy of Vaudreuil and other governors of Canada, acting under instructions from France, was to keep alive the hostility of the Abenakis so as to prevent the settlement of that region known as Northern New England, one of whose rivers, the Kennebec, gave easy access to the St. Lawrence near Quebec. From Annapolis to Canseau the Micmacs destroyed life and property, and kept the English posts in constant fear.

New England took a signal revenge at last on the cruel and treacherous Abenakis, and inflicted on them a blow from which they never recovered.

At Norridgewock perished the famous missionary, Sebastian Rale, beneath whose black robe beat the heart of a dauntless soldier, whose highest {213} aspirations were to establish his creed and promote the ambitious designs of France in Acadia. A peace was made in 1726 between the colonists and the Abenakis, but New England felt she had no efficient security for its continuance while Acadian and Indian could see in the great fortress of Cape Breton powerful evidence that France was not yet willing to give up the contest for dominion in Acadia. Northern New England became now of relatively little importance in view of the obvious designs of France to regain Nova Scotia.

We have now come to an important period in the history of America as well as of Europe. In 1739 Walpole was forced to go to war with Spain, at the dictation of the commercial cla.s.ses, who wished to obtain control of the Spanish Main. Then followed the War of the Austrian Succession, in which France broke her solemn pledge to Charles VI., Emperor of Germany, that she would support his daughter, Maria Theresa, in her rights to reign over his hereditary dominions. But when the Emperor was dead, France and other Powers proceeded to promote their own ambitious and selfish designs. France wished to possess the rich Netherlands, and Spain, Milan; Frederick of Prussia had no higher desire than to seize Silesia, and to drive Austria from Germany.

Bavaria claimed the Austrian duchy of Bohemia. Maria Theresa was to have only Hungary and the duchy of Austria. The King of England was jealous of Prussia, and thought more of his Hanoverian throne than of his English crown. It became the interest of England to a.s.sist Austria and {214} prevent the success of France, now the ally of Spain; forced to defend her colonial possessions in America. The complications in Europe at last compelled France and England to fight at Dettingen in 1743, and George II. won a doubtful victory, but war was not actually declared between these two nations until some months later. England had no reason to congratulate herself on the results, either in Europe or America. Her fleet met only with disaster, and her commerce was destroyed on the Spanish Main. Four years later she won a victory over the Spanish fleet in the Mediterranean, but hardly had her people ceased celebrating the event, than they heard that the combined forces of Hanover, Holland, and England, under the Duke of c.u.mberland, had been badly beaten by Marshal Saxe at Fontenoy.

It was at this time, when the prospects of England were so gloomy on the continent of Europe, that Englishmen heard, with surprise and gratification, that the strong fortress of Louisbourg in French America had surrendered to the audacious attack of four thousand colonists of New England.

A combination of events had aided the success of the brave enterprise.

The news of the declaration of war reached Louisbourg at least two months before it was known in Boston, and the French Governor, M.

Duquesnel, immediately sent out expeditions to capture the English posts in Nova Scotia. Canseau, at the entrance of the strait of that name, was easily taken, and the garrison carried to Louisbourg, but Annapolis Royal was successfully defended by Colonel Mascarene, then governor of {215} Nova Scotia. All these events had their direct influence on the expedition which New England sent in the spring of 1745 against Louisbourg. The prisoners who had been captured at Canseau had remained until the autumn in Louisbourg, and the accounts they brought back of its condition gave s.h.i.+rley and others reason to believe that if an expedition was, without loss of time, sent against it, there would be a fair chance of success. Not only did they learn that the garrison was small, but that it was discontented, and a mutiny had actually broken out on account of the soldiers not having received the usual additions to their regular pay for work on the fortifications. The ramparts were stated to be defective in more than one place, while gales and other causes had delayed the arrival of the s.h.i.+ps which arrived every year with provisions and reinforcements.

These facts gave additional confidence to Governor s.h.i.+rley of Ma.s.sachusetts, William Vaughan of New Hamps.h.i.+re, and many influential men who had already conceived the idea of striking a blow at the French which would give the English control of the whole coast from Cape Sable to the entrance of the St. Lawrence.

The expedition against Louisbourg consisted of over four thousand men, of whom Ma.s.sachusetts, which then included the present State of Maine, contributed nearly one-third. Colonel Pepperrell of Kittery on the Piscataqua, who had command, with the t.i.tle of lieutenant-general, was a man of wealth and influence, though without any military experience.

His excellent judgment and undaunted {216} courage, however, contributed largely to the success of this bold venture. Captain Edward Tyng, a capable colonial sailor, was the commodore of the little fleet of thirteen vessels, carrying in all about two hundred guns. The Puritan spirit of New England had much influence in organising an expedition, and whose flag had a motto suggested by the Methodist revivalist, Whitfield: "_Nil desperandum Christo duce_." The story of the success of the New England troops, in conjunction with the small English fleet, under the command of Commodore Warren, has been often told, and we need not dwell on its details. M. Duchambon was at the time governor of Louisbourg, and maintained the defence for nearly forty days. The capitulation of the fortress was hastened by the fact that the English fleet captured the French frigate _Vigilante_, on whose arrival the garrison had been depending for weeks. On the afternoon of June 17th, General Pepperrell marched at the head of his army through the West or Dauphin gate into the town, and received the keys from the commandant, who, with his garrison drawn up in line, received him in the King's bastion. One hundred and fifty years later a granite column was raised on the same historic ground in honour of this famous victory, which caused such rejoicings throughout England and America.

By the articles of capitulation, the garrison and residents of Louisbourg, probably two thousand persons in all, were transported to France. The settlement of Port Toulouse and Port Dauphin had been captured, the first before, and the other during {217} the siege. The leader of the New England expedition was rewarded with a baronetcy, the first distinction of the kind ever given to a colonist, while Warren was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral of the blue.

If the English Government had fully understood the necessities of their American colonies, they would have immediately followed the advice of Governor s.h.i.+rley, who was a man of statesmanlike views and bold conception, though he possessed no capacity as a leader of military operations, as his later career in America proved. He suggested that an expedition should attack Montreal by the usual route of Lake Champlain, while an English fleet ascended the St. Lawrence and besieged Quebec. All the colonies set to work with considerable energy to carry out this scheme, but it came to nought, in consequence of the failure of the Duke of Newcastle, the most incapable statesman ever at the head of imperial affairs, to redeem his promise. It was then proposed to attack Fort Frederick at Crown Point, on the western side of Lake Champlain, where it contracts to a narrow river, but its progress was arrested by the startling news that the French were sending out a fleet to take Cape Breton and Acadia, and attack Boston and other places on the Atlantic sea-board.

France had heard with dismay of the loss of Cape Breton, which she recognised as a key to the St. Lawrence, and made two efforts to recover it before the war closed in 1748. One of the n.o.blest fleets that ever sailed from the sh.o.r.es of France left {218} Roch.e.l.le in 1746 for Cape Breton, under the command of M. de la Rochefoucauld, the Duke d'Anville, an able, sensitive man, who, however, had had no naval experience. Storm and pestilence attacked the fleet, which found a refuge in the harbour of Chebouctou, afterwards Halifax, where the unfortunate Admiral died from an apoplectic seizure. His successor, M.

d'Estournelle, committed suicide in a fit of despondency caused by the responsibility thrown upon him, when men were dying by hundreds every day on those lonely Acadian sh.o.r.es. The French lost between two and three thousand men by disease or casualties, and the remnant of the great fleet, which was to have restored the fortunes of France in America, returned home under the command of M. de la Jonquiere without having even attempted to capture the half-ruined fort at Annapolis.

Another fleet in 1747, under M. de St. George and the Marquis de la Jonquiere, the latter of whom became subsequently Governor of Canada, never reached its destination, but was defeated off Cape Finisterre by a more powerful fleet under Admirals Anson and Warren.

The Canadian Government, of which the Marquis de Beauharnois was then the head, had confidently expected to regain Acadia, when they heard of the arrival of the Duke d'Anville's fleet, and immediately sent M. de Ramesay to excite the Acadians, now very numerous--probably ten thousand altogether--to rise in arms against the few Englishmen at Port Royal. He had with him a considerable force of Indians and Canadians, among the latter {219} such distinguished men as Beaujeu, Saint-Ours, Boishebert, Lanaudiere, but the news of the disasters that had crippled the fleet, forced him to give up his plan of attacking Annapolis, and to withdraw to the isthmus of Chignecto, where he built a small fort at Baie Verte. In the following year, 1747, he succeeded in surprising and capturing Colonel Arthur n.o.ble and a considerable force of New England troops who had taken possession of the houses of the Acadian French at Grand Pre, one of the most fertile and beautiful districts of the province, afterwards still more famous in poetry and history. This exploit, however, did not materially change the aspect of things in Acadia, where the French Acadians had entirely disappointed the hopes of Ramesay and his government. Had they been as active or enterprising as their compatriots on the banks of the St. Lawrence, they might easily, at that time, have won back Acadia for France. As it was, however, Ramesay was not able to gain a firm foothold beyond the isthmus. Even the success he won was neutralised by the activity of Governor s.h.i.+rley, who was ever alive to the importance of Nova Scotia, and immediately sent another force to occupy the meadows of Grand Pre.

In 1748 English diplomacy, careless of colonial interests, restored the island of Cape Breton to France by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in return for the commercial post of Madras, which had been taken by the French in the East Indies where England and France were now rivals for the supremacy. It was the persistency of the French to regain {220} possession of so valuable a bulwark to their great dominion of Canada, that forced the English cabinet to restore it at a time when the nation was threatened by a Catholic pretender, and disheartened at the results of the war on the continent. Weary of the struggle and anxious for a breathing s.p.a.ce, England deserted Maria Theresa and made peace with France.

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