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The present volume is the ninth work published by the Yale University Press on the Theodore L. Glasgow Memorial Publication Fund. This foundation was established September 17, 1918, by an anonymous gift to Yale University in memory of Flight Sub-Lieutenant Theodore L. Glasgow, R.N. He was born in Montreal, Canada, and was educated at the University of Toronto Schools and at the Royal Military College, Kingston. In August, 1916, he entered the Royal Naval Air Service and in July, 1917, went to France with the Tenth Squadron attached to the Twenty-second Wing of the Royal Flying Corps. A month later, August 19, 1917, he was killed in action on the Ypres front.

The names of Prince Edward Island have been as varied as its fortunes. The Indians according to their mood called it Abegwet—resting on the wave, or Minegoo—the Island. To the French it was Isle Saint Jean; and this name was retained in the English form of St. John’s Island until 1798 when, owing to the frequent miscarriage of mail, it was changed to Prince Edward Island, in honor of the Duke of Kent. In 1780 at the instigation of Governor Patterson, an Irishman, it narrowly missed being called New Ireland; but the Home Government disallowed the act of the local legislature and suggested New Guernsey or New Anglesea. Fortunately neither of these suggestions was adopted. In journalism the island is frequently called “The Garden of the Gulf,” and after a recent general election it was facetiously referred to as “Little Quebec”; but it will probably continue to make its contribution to history as Prince Edward Island. For this reason I speak of the French Régime in Prince Edward Island while in the text I use the name of the contemporary documents—Isle Saint Jean.

My interest in the history of this island is of early date. I was born within two miles of an old French settlement at La Traverse, now Cape Traverse; within five miles of a settlement at Rivière des Blonds, now Tryon, where the remains of an old French burying ground may still be seen as well as those of an aboiteau; within ten miles of Crapaud and fifteen of Bedeque and Malpeque, all of which perpetuate French names and serve as mute reminders of ruined French hopes. The school in which I learned to read was on the left bank of Cape Traverse River and the voice of my first schoolmaster used to blend through the open window with the sound of the mowers in the marshes as they cut the hay which was once an object of so much solicitude to the Acadian immigrants. Here too I memorized Longfellow’s Evangeline and tried to picture the living Acadians on the banks of the stream from which the pungent smell of marsh-hay came as an aid to the imagination. As I grew older and developed an interest in history as distinct from legend and in historical justice as distinct from patriotism, I searched in vain for a continuous or detailed account of the Acadians in my island home. At last I decided that I should undertake the task myself, and this volume is the result.

Throughout the volume I have been constantly impressed by the difficulty of elevating individual pioneer efforts to the plane of history and by the equally difficult task of making a consecutive narrative out of detached letters and occasional documents, but I believe that I have exhausted all available information and that I have set down nothing as fact that is not sufficiently authenticated. My discussion of the oath of allegiance and of the expulsion of 1755 is introduced not as a solution of these problems but rather to show their effect upon Acadian migration to Isle Saint Jean. The narrative as a whole is based upon transcripts from original sources as found in the manuscript division of the Public Archives of Canada. This material is arranged in two main series copied from the Archives Nationales and the Archives des Colonies in Paris, namely, series C¹¹ and series B. Series C¹¹ is composed of official and miscellaneous correspondence and other papers received from Canada, Ile Royale, Isle Saint Jean, etc. Series B is composed of registers or letter-books in which were copied despatches, memoranda, and other papers sent by the King and the Minister to officials, ecclesiastics, and private persons in the colonies. The minor series have also been consulted as well as the English state papers dealing with Acadia.

In presenting this narrative to the public I have much pleasure in acknowledging the courtesy of Dr. A. G. Doughty, C.M.G., Keeper of the Public Records, and of his staff. In particular I would refer to the assistance received from Miss E. Arma Smillie, M.A., Custodian of Manuscripts; to M. Placide Gaudet, Acadian Genealogist; and to Mr. H. R. Holmden, Chief of the Map Division.

D. C. Harvey.

Winnipeg, July 23, 1924.

The Unknown Isle

It has been the fashion among historians of an older generation to discuss at length the rival claims of French and English to prior discovery of Isle Saint Jean. In an age when such claims were important in determining ownership, there may have been some justification for detailed discussion; but the modern historian accepts the maxim that “prescription without possession availeth nothing,” and concerns himself only with “effective occupation” of the lands in dispute.

Thanks to the scholarly articles of Dr. S. E. Dawson, Dr. W. F. Ganong, and others of lesser note, one can dismiss with an easy mind the thought that Cabot ever entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence; but that English fishermen, from 1500 onwards, sailed through the Strait of Canso and explored the waters of the Gulf is highly probable. For personal reasons, and through fear of competition, their discoveries would be kept secret. Further, they were not of the class that received notice in high places, and consequently their knowledge has been buried with them, whether in the land of their fathers or among the mermaids at the bottom of the sea.

The first white man, who landed on the shores of the future “Garden of the Gulf” and left a record of what he saw, was Jacques Cartier, in his voyage of 1534. It is not unlikely that Cartier had learned the art of navigation in frequent excursions to the fishing grounds off Newfoundland before he ventured upon those voyages of discovery which made for him a place in history and gave to France a new outlet for her energies. It was the French who followed up his discoveries by attempting settlement both on the shores of the Gulf and on the banks of the River St. Lawrence. By settling the mouth of the river they hoped to make good their claim to all the hinterland through which it flowed. Hence it transpired that from Cartier’s first voyage in 1534 until the final expulsion of its inhabitants in 1758 the destinies of Isle Saint Jean were in the keeping of the French.

With a Royal Commission in his pocket, master of two ships each of about sixty tons burden, Cartier set out from St. Malo on the twentieth of April, 1534, with a total crew of sixty-one men, which he had obtained only by the intervention of authority,—so keen was the interest in the Newfoundland fisheries, so sceptical were the merchant kings of his daring idealism and of his hope of reaching Cathay. His voyage to Newfoundland was uneventful. He made land at Bonavista, refitted at Catalina, and on the twenty-first of May proceeded northward, reaching the Strait of Belle Isle on the twenty-seventh. He spent two weeks in exploring and traversing the Strait, reaching Brest (Bonne Espérance Harbor) on the tenth of June. Beyond Brest, he met a ship from La Rochelle which had overshot the harbor on the preceding night. As he merely mentions this fact, without showing any surprise, it would seem to indicate that the Strait of Belle Isle as far west as Brest was already comparatively well known to fishermen and navigators of his day. This is the view of Dr. Dawson who says: “Cartier’s simple and unassuming narrative convinces every reader that all the country inside, from Esquimaux Bay on the Canadian Labrador round to Cape North in Cape Breton, was first explored by him, and all the coast outside of these two points, that is outside the Gulf of St. Lawrence, was well known before him.”^[1]

After exploring the inside of Newfoundland as far south as Cape St. John, Cartier struck westward into the Gulf on the twenty-fifth of June; and reached the Bird Rocks, north of the Magdalen Islands, on the following day. He found these islands as thickly filled with birds, which made their nests there, as a meadow with grass. In the largest of these islands was a world of those which are called Margaulx (gannets). Hence our modern name Bird Islands or Bird Rocks. Five leagues westward he visited another island which afforded wood and water, wild fruit and wild flowers, and seemed to be the haunt of the walrus. “Round about this Island are many great beasts, like large oxen, which have two tusks in their jaw like elephants’ tusks, and swim about in the water.” This he named Brion Island, in honor of the Grand Admiral of France. Mistaking the Magdalen Islands for the mainland he explored them for two days during which he satisfied himself that he was not in the rich territories of the Grand Khan, and on the twenty-ninth of June, taking advantage of a change of wind, he ran in the direction of Isle Saint Jean, which he sighted about sunset on the same day. June the thirtieth and July the first were spent in exploring the north and north-west shores, which were taken to be part of the mainland. To the northern end of the Strait of Northumberland Cartier gave the name Gulf of St. Leonarius, in honor of the Breton bishop whose festival fell on the first of July. Then he sailed northward to Miramichi and Gaspé, leaving the Island, unknown as such, unnamed, and undisturbed for the rest of his days.

With the remainder of this voyage or with subsequent ones we are not here concerned; but his brief description of the unknown isle, inasmuch as it is the first extant description, deserves to be quoted in full:

The geographical vagueness of the above description has led to much controversy as to the “two islands” first seen by Cartier. Mr. W. F. Tidmarsh of Charlottetown, who recently followed Cartier’s course in a schooner at the same time of the year and also saw what looked like two islands in the distance, identifies them as Campbell’s Point and Cape Sylvester, which jut out from the north shore into the Gulf of St. Lawrence about five miles west of East Point;^[3] but Mr. Biggar still favors Cape Turner and Cape Tryon.^[4] All authorities agree in identifying Cape Orleans as Kildare Cape and Indian Cape as North Cape. Mr. Biggar also identifies Canoe River as Cascumpeque Bay rather than Malpeque Bay.^[5]

After the brief visit of Cartier in 1534, silence again settles over the land, only to be broken by the soft tread of the Indian hunter, the swish of his arrow through the trees, or the fierce yell of triumph at the fall of his quarry, until fishermen again frequent its shores and discover its insular conformation early in the next century. It is not difficult to explain the apparent neglect of the little island: the north coast was not easy of access owing to the fact that the mouths of the harbors were obstructed by sand dunes; the early explorers were westward bound seeking the Western Sea or a passage to Cathay; fish and fur were so abundant in Newfoundland and the Strait of Belle Isle as to make it unnecessary for fishermen or traders to seek new fields of effort, especially in a region where the ice lingered in the lap of May. Hence it is not until much later that the islands of the Gulf again interest Frenchmen although the Basques may have hunted the whale and the walrus there in the sixteenth century.

While it is probable that the island had been charted by traders from St. Malo in 1595, it was first shown on a map of the period by Champlain who never visited it himself but seems to have got his information from fishermen. His map of 1604 finds no place for Isle Saint Jean although his reference to it in Des Sauvages shows that he was aware of its existence as early as 1603; that of 1612 reveals it as a mere speck off the coast of Acadia; but in that of 1632 it is correctly placed, carefully outlined, and definitely named.^[6] The name Saint Jean was doubtless derived from the supposititious St. John’s Island shown inside and outside Cape Breton at intervals on all maps subsequent to Reinal’s map of 1505. This name St. John clung to the island in either the French or the English form until 1798.

Apart from maps the next description of Isle Saint Jean, that has come down to us, is that of Nicholas Denys, who in his Description and Natural History of Acadia writes of it as follows:

From the geographical point of view this description adds little to that of Cartier. Unless he was actually suppressing his information, because of competition, Denys gives no hint that he knew anything of the magnificent harbors which today boast the names of Charlottetown, Summerside, and Georgetown. So too his account of the woods and of the fur-bearing animals leaves much to be desired. On the whole it would be true to say that during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the island was visited only rarely by fishermen and traders; and that these, apart from discovering its location and its insular formation, confined their explorations to the immediate necessities of drying codfish, bartering for furs, or chasing the walrus and the seal. Such necessities did not involve a knowledge of either the rivers or the harbors, as a landing could easily be effected in many little bays, coves, or beaches all round the coast where their temporary establishments would leave few indications of their restless activities.

The Fur Trade and the Sedentary Fishery (la pesche sedentaire)

During the seventeenth century Isle Saint Jean was included in a number of grants that were made to individuals or companies for control of the fur trade or the establishment of a sedentary fishery on the coasts of Acadia and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The ordinary fishing for dry or green cod had been a transient, summer business, conducted by men who brought their vessels and supplies from France in the spring and returned in the summer or early autumn. The green cod were taken on the banks, piled and salted on the vessels, and rushed off to their markets in Europe. Dry cod were taken to a beach on some island or on a convenient point of the mainland to be cured, after which they also were hurried off to market. One of the most interesting features of the dry cod fishery was the dégrat, a name which has been perpetuated in more than one place in eastern Canada. This mode of fishing is described by Denys as follows:

But it had long been the dream of the more enterprising captains of this industry to establish a sedentary fishery for which their countrymen would be encouraged to settle at various strategic points, and to erect permanent stages for drying fish, together with such storehouses as were necessary for the conduct of the fishery and for the sustenance of the fishermen. Incidentally these residents would become inhabitants of the new lands, their needs would be supplied annually by the vessels which should be sent out to carry their fish to Europe; and out of this two-fold activity would arise double profit for the founders of this industry, while the enterprise as a whole, in that it provided colonies for France and fish for Catholic Europe, would redound to the welfare of France and to the glory of God.

The sedentary fishery offered further advantages in that permanent residents could emulate the Indian in capturing the walrus and the seal which frequented the shores of Isle Saint Jean and the Magdalens. It was the prospect of expanding the fishing industry to include the walrus and the seal which induced the various grantees to ask for Isle Saint Jean and the other islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The walrus was sought after for its teeth and its hide, the seal for its fur, the cod as food, and all three for their oils.

Though in other parts of New France the fur trade monopolized the time and circumscribed the ambitions of the adventurers from the Old World, on the coasts of Acadia and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence the fisheries called forth the greater rivalry and produced the greater wealth. The life of the fur trader here was much less romantic than that of the inland trader, and it neither required nor developed that vigorous type of character which was called forth by the distances, the perils, the rivalries of the Western trade. On the other hand there was a romance about the fishery which appealed very strongly to the adventurers of seventeenth-century France, one of whom, Nicolas Denys, has preserved it for all time in his Description and Natural History of Acadia. In his introduction to this book, Professor Ganong says: “The narrative gives us an understanding of that fascination in the fisherman’s life which led into it so many strong men regardless of its dangers and its labor. It gratified many of their most primitive instincts. There was adventure a-plenty, the joy of rugged health, the lure of the unknown just beyond, the charm of outdoor life beside a fair harbor during the beautiful Acadian summer, the gratification of taking wild things at will without any to hinder, the gaming it was to find perhaps no fish at all, but perhaps the greatest of loads, the triumph of overcoming physical difficulties, the satisfaction of seeing the fruits of hard labor growing daily in visible piles before the eyes, the delight of embarking much goodly spoils to return full sail to far away homes and families.”^[9]

Isle Saint Jean was first included in a grant to Nicholas Denys, La Grande Barbe, whose rather vague description of the island has already been quoted in the preceding chapter. That description had been published exactly forty years after his first appearance in the new world. He had come to Acadia in 1632 with the new Governor, Isaac de Razilly, who resumed possession for the French after the treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye. Until Razilly’s death in 1635, he had been engaged in fishing and lumbering at Rossignol and La Have. When Razilly had been succeeded by Daulnay Charnisé and the western part of Acadia had been granted to La Tour, Denys seems to have been given some special control of eastern Acadia from Cap de Canseau to Cap de Rosiers, including the islands of the Gulf of St. Lawrence—a widely scattered domain uninhabited save by the wandering Indian and the equally nomadic fisherman. He established a sedentary fishery at Chedabouctou, investigated the possibilities of Cape Breton and founded a trading post at Miscou. In the meantime a conflict had broken out between Charnisé and La Tour, almost as disastrous to the colony as the previous invasion of the New Englanders had been; and Charnisé in the pride of victory expelled Denys from Miscou. On the death of Charnisé he concentrated his efforts on Cape Breton, and with his brother Simon built forts and attempted settlement at St. Peters and St. Annes. But from here also he was expelled by agents of Charnisé’s widow. After prospecting at Nepisiguit he returned to St. Peters but was caught at a disadvantage by Le Borgne, a creditor of Charnisé, who destroyed his nascent establishments and carried him prisoner to Port Royal. On being released he proceeded to France and on December 3, 1653, secured from the Company of New France and Miscou a grant of the territory over which he had recently roamed with such varied fortune in return for a payment of 15,000 livres and on condition of planting within the extent of his grant and within the space of six years, “at least two settlements each of forty families of Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman French, or a single one of eighty families, of maintaining a sufficient number of good and virtuous ecclesiastics for holding divine service, aiding the said families, and laboring for the conversion of the Indians.” Out of respect for Denys’ experience and merit, the Company further agreed to nominate him to the King as Governor within this domain for an uninterrupted period of nine years; but, in default of either the payment of the 15,000 livres or the fulfilment of the conditions of settlement, the Company was to have a free hand to dispose of the territories concerned without liability to any claim from Denys for compensation.

By Letters Patent of January 30, 1654, Denys was confirmed in his grant and in the title of Governor and Lieutenant General of the territory from Cap de Canceaux to Cap de Rosiers. As these letters patent illustrate both the motives and the prodigality of the Royal favor and the general attitude of the century toward colonial expansion they are given in full as follows:

Clothed with Royal authority, Denys now returned to his old site at St. Peters. The capture of Acadia by the English in 1654 does not seem to have affected him in any way as he lived there quietly with his wife and children, trading with the Indians, fishing, lumbering, building vessels, and farming enough for the needs of the little settlement. But whether because of the English control of Acadia (1654-1667) or from neglect, he did not fulfil the conditions of his grant in regard to settlement. Accordingly in 1663 much to his disgust part of his domain was granted to Sr. François Doublet, a captain in the navy.

This grant to Doublet was dated January 19, 1663, and included the Magdalens and Isle Saint Jean. In return for fishing privileges on the coasts of these islands, Doublet undertook to plant a colony there, to clear and cultivate the lands, and to make a small annual payment to the Company of New France and Miscou. But he was not to engage in the fur trade either within or beyond the limits of his concession.^[11]

Doublet sailed for the Magdalens in the summer of 1663 and inaugurated his sedentary fishery. On his return to France he formed an association with François Gon, Sr. de Guincé, and Claude de Landemare to exploit the concession. In the winter of 1664 arrangements were made for despatching two ships to carry out supplies and to bring back the fish caught by the men whom he had left in the Magdalens during the winter. But in the spring he died and his son, Louis Doublet, having despatched the ships, applied to the King for the continuance of the charter in his name, failing which he and his father’s associates should be compensated for their losses. The records reveal neither the King’s answer nor the ultimate fate of the association; but its failure may be gathered from the following reference of Denys, who resented the intrusion of Doublet into his domain and, though apparently unaware of his rival’s death, did not weep over the result.

But if Denys had no occasion to worry about Doublet he was to meet with sterner opposition from Sr. de La Giraudiere who appears to have secured a grant of Canseau from the Company of New France about the same time as Doublet. In 1667 he arrived in Canseau with 100 men, but after threatening Denys and capturing St. Peters, an arrangement was arrived at whereby the question of ownership should be submitted to the Company.^[13] It decided in favor of Denys who secured a confirmation of his privileges by Letters Patent, dated November 9, 1667.^[14]

Having returned to Cape Breton he met with a disastrous fire in 1669 which totally destroyed his settlement at St. Peters. He then retired to Nepisiguit, wrote his book there or in France, and published it in 1672, partly as a defence of his cause, partly to reimburse himself for his losses. But other troubles piled up. The Company of New France, apparently becoming convinced that Denys could not achieve a settlement of the territory under his control, gradually granted it away bit by bit, so that on Denys’ death in 1688 at the ripe old age of ninety, his one abiding legacy to France and to posterity was his narrative and descriptive history.

Two years before his death in 1686, Isle Saint Jean had again been included in a grant, this time to the Sr. Gautier, who had been interested in the sedentary fishery at Chedabouctou and wished to extend his activities to the hunting of seal and walrus in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Sr. Gabriel Gautier was granted the right of establishing a sedentary fishery in Isle Saint Jean and the Magdalens for the killing of seals in return for one-half marc of silver a year payable to the treasury of the Western Domain, provided these islands had not been granted to another since the cancellation of the charter of the Company of the Occident (December, 1674), and provided they were not actually possessed by any of the King’s subjects, even without title. All others were forbidden to intrude upon this fishery on penalty of confiscation of their vessels and merchandise and 3000 livres fine, half to go to the Chapel of St. Louis de Chedabouctou, the other half to Gautier.^[15]

This company had unusually hard luck from the beginning. Establishments were set up in all the islands, but the ship, Le Diligent, sent out in 1686 was so badly damaged that it had to put back to France empty, and the codfish was spoiled in the storehouse at Chedabouctou. Heavily in debt, the Company sent out in April, 1688, the St. Louis, which was lost with the entire cargo in Les rades de la Rochelle. Another vessel was freighted from the same port with a new cargo, but on arriving in Acadia it also was captured in August, 1688, by the English, who set out from Boston, fell upon Chedabouctou, pillaged, burned, and carried off everything. It being a time of peace the pretext was put forward that these raiders were pirates.

A second society was formed under pressure from the Sr. de Seignelay, including Perrot, once Governor of Acadia, and Lagny. The society raised funds to the amount of 60,000 livres and equipped quite a fleet of vessels with arms, munitions, merchandise; and proceeded to the site of the first establishment, which they found in complete possession of the English. This expedition also was a dead loss, and the society as a result was ruined and dissolved. The only existing record of its fate is comprised in the request of Duc de Noirmoutiers, 1714, an heir of the Marquis de Chevry for indemnity to the extent of 224,728 livres/10s., or as an alternative the grant of the above-mentioned islands. The Council dismissed the claims of the duke and forbade any interference in the islands on the part of the heirs of the Marquis of Chevry or any other of his associates in the previous enterprise.^[16]

The abortive efforts of Gautier and his associates complete the annals of Isle Saint Jean during the seventeenth century. In one sense, the island during this period had no history. Though it had been included in all three grants described above, it did not in any case become the center of either the fur trade or the sedentary fishery. No doubt the Micmacs domiciled there pooled their furs with their Indian brothers of the mainland when occasion offered, communication by water being free and easy. Gautier claimed to have erected establishments in all the islands but his venture came to nought. Denys visited one of its harbors on the north coast but whether Cascumpeque or Malpeque, neither his record nor his map gives any definite indication. In the meantime, France was concentrating upon the St. Lawrence Valley and her ships sailed serenely by to Quebec and Montreal. Such Frenchmen as straggled over to the island from Canso were bent upon securing seals rather than extending the bounds of geographical knowledge. So, too, the Basques harpooned their whales and returned as silently or as boisterously as they had come through the Strait of Belle Isle. But Isle Saint Jean, by which name it was known in France, floated peacefully on the waves as its Indian name, Abegwet, implies, reserving its Arcadian pleasures for a later century. With the exception of the harmless superstition of the double-brained caribou, added by Sr. Denys in 1672, the seventeenth-century ignorance of Prince Edward Island remained as complete as it had been after Cartier’s visit in 1534.

Migration from Acadia after the English Conquest

The closing years of the seventeenth century and the first decade of the eighteenth were for the French and the English in both Europe and America a period of almost unbroken war. For the French colonies and fisheries in Acadia it was a sad time and finally in 1710 Port Royal fell into permanent possession of the English. By the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 the latter were confirmed in possession of Acadia with undefined limits, of Newfoundland, and of the Hudson’s Bay Territory. Cape Breton and the islands of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, including Isle Saint Jean, remained to the French. These two islands, hitherto neglected except by nomadic fishermen who fished in the summer and by a few Acadians who traded for furs with the savages in winter, now assumed an important place in the French scheme of colonization. Immediately attention was focussed upon Cape Breton, then named Ile Royale, which was to be fortified to protect the fisheries, to provide a harbor for ships in distress of weather, to provide a station for observing the progress of the English colonies in that neighborhood, to command the entrance of the Gulf as a link between France and Quebec, and to serve as an entrepôt for the trade between Quebec, France, and the West Indies. It was some years before the possibilities of Isle Saint Jean as a source of provisions for Ile Royale were recognized and when recognition came it was forced upon the mother-country by the officers of Ile Royale and by the Acadians who sought a new field of endeavor beyond the limits of English rule.

The first step in this direction was taken by the Acadians. Shortly after the capitulation of Port Royal a number of the more energetic habitans crossed over to Isle Saint Jean with their families to try their fortune at fishing and agriculture. On their arrival they found that the entire eastern coast to the depth of six leagues had been granted to Sr. de Louvigny, Major of Quebec, in 1710, and that this absentee proprietor had been expected by the general Royal edict of July 6, 1711, to place a number of inhabitants there within one year from date, failing which the grant would be revoked and the territory added to the Royal domain. Although the Acadians did not relish the idea of holding lands by feudal tenure, always preferring direct connection with the Crown, they for the time being engaged in the fishery and tested the soil by sowing wheat and peas, the typical Acadian crop.

In the meantime, attention was being attracted to the island from another direction. Immediately after the founding of French power in Ile Royale, de Couagne, an engineer, who with Rouville and La Ronde Denys had been sent to examine Port Dauphin and the surrounding districts for the officials of Louisburg, wrote the Minister urging a thorough investigation of the island and its resources. His letter is in part as follows:

The Minister intent upon other plans made no effort to avail himself of the patriotism and zeal of M. Couagne. At this time the fortunes both of Louis XIV and of France were at a low ebb. Though the throne of Spain had been won it was at the price of bankruptcy. It was all that the aged monarch and the impoverished nation could do to establish Ile Royale. Even here some six years passed before a final decision was reached as to the headquarters of the new colony; and when this decision had been reached the opportunity had been let slip to secure the transference of the Acadian population en masse.

By the Treaty of Utrecht such Acadians as were unwilling to become British subjects were granted the privilege of removing from British territory within a limited period. Subsequent to the Treaty, Queen Anne had agreed that those Acadians who removed should be allowed to sell their lands before doing so.^[18] This latter concession was a barren one for if the Acadians had availed themselves of it in any numbers there would have been no one to buy; and it could hardly be expected that the British Government would itself become the purchaser and indemnify the Acadians for lands which were already theirs by the fortunes of war. This should be remembered in view of the arguments advanced on behalf of the Acadians who remained and tried to serve two masters, to be faithful to the King of France and loyal to the King of England.

From out this chequered period two facts clearly emerge: the King of France wanted the Acadians to move to Ile Royale, and the King of England wanted them to stay in Acadia. Had the Acadians been convinced that their colony would never be reconquered by France they would probably have made the sacrifice expected of them and migrated en masse. Had they really wanted to migrate, all that the few English in the colony could have done would not have prevented them. Annapolis during the first years under the new régime was so ill manned and so neglected that one of its officers wrote: “There is not so much as a plaister for a cut finger in the garrison.”^[19]

All that the Acadians had to do was to pick up their movables and drive their cattle to Bay Verte, Tatamagouche, or Chibouctou, and with assistance from Ile Royale they would have reached their destination unmolested. This was what the French Government hoped they would do, and it was lavish in its promises of reward and assistance. By special agents, through its missionaries, and in other ways it brought pressure upon them but the Acadians clung to their lands made dear to them by their own labors, made sacred by the graves of their fathers. To the missionaries, to the French officials at Ile Royale, to the Minister in France, they one and all began to make excuses. At one time they preferred Isle Saint Jean, at another they preferred Baye de Chaleurs, at another they feared the English. But behind all was the ever-present love of Acadia and the ever-springing hope that it would be recovered by France.

The apparent indecision of the Acadians, as well as the impatient inefficiency of the mother-country, is reflected in the correspondence of the period. The French Government, because of its weakness and its poverty and because of its fear of Spain at this crucial period, was very anxious not to antagonize the English. Consequently it would not support any strong measures on the part of its agents in Ile Royale, but relied entirely upon the Acadian fear of the English and upon the influence of their missionaries in behalf of France. On the other hand the French officials at Ile Royale were greater in promises than in performance.

Accordingly official France wavers between Ile Royale and Isle Saint Jean, but favors the former while urging removal at all events to French territory. On March 21, 1714, the Minister writes to L’Hermitte, Acting Governor of Ile Royale: “If the Acadians prefer to go to Isle St. Jean or to Baie des Chaleurs, they must not be refused; the great thing is that they should leave Acadia.”^[20]

On March 23, 1714, he writes to Père Justinien expressing his regret at the difficulties which prevent the Acadians removing to Ile Royale and urging their migration thither rather than to the other places suggested because in Ile Royale they will have everything they desire: good lands, the best timber in the world, splendid pastures and hay close to Baie du Brador.^[21]

In July, 1714, L’Hermitte sent La Ronde Denys and de Pensens to negotiate with Governor Nicholson in regard to the removal of the Acadians. With the latter’s consent and in the presence of the Governor or his representatives the inhabitants of Port Royal, Minas, and Cobequid were assembled and almost unanimously agreed to migrate to Ile Royale. The total population of these three, together with Beaubassin which was not visited and some straggling settlements, was estimated at 2400.

But in spite of their amicable agreement and their apparent enthusiasm, the Acadians did not budge. The few who went immediately, it is generally agreed, were men of little substance, that shifting element of all peoples which in this case was attracted by the fervid promises of La Ronde Denys, promises which, as it transpired, were not kept at Ile Royale, and these broken promises, as the missionaries later attested, were a factor in determining the Acadians of substance to remain as they were.

On June 4, 1715, the Minister wrote de Costebelle and de Soubras to the effect that His Majesty was greatly pleased at the fidelity which the Acadians manifested in his service, that he was convinced of the future security and prosperity of Ile Royale if the Acadians would go there. To avoid any risk of a rupture with the English, in view of the existing state of Ile Royale and the jealousy they must feel as to this new settlement, no ship would be sent from France to transport the Acadians without permission of the English; but he urged these officials to adopt every possible expedient to attract them there and to do their best to prevent them from going to Isle Saint Jean.^[22]

In the meantime all attempts on the part of the officials at Ile Royale to attract the Acadians proved abortive. Consequently the home government began to waver and to consider Isle Saint Jean as a possible field of endeavor. On the death of Louis XIV, the Regency turned the affairs of the Colonies over to a Council, the Council of Marine, and this Council corresponded with de Louvigny in regard to his grant on the eastern part of Isle Saint Jean. The latter reported from Quebec that the Acadians who had gone there had asked him for grants of land but that he had hesitated to make any lest by so doing he should interfere with the official policy in regard to Ile Royale. However he would be willing to forfeit his concession in return for a pension or promotion. The Council in view of the fact that de Louvigny had made no outlay on his concession and because of Acadian aversion from feudal tenure, decided to revoke the concession of 1710 and to reunite Isle Saint Jean to the Royal domain.^[23] This decision was taken in May, 1716, but it was too late to hold even the Acadians who had gone there; for, according to a report of Governor Caulfield at Annapolis to the Lords of Trade, dated May 16, 1716, “The Island of St. John is completely abandoned by the people of Annapolis who went to settle there. The people of Minas resolve to remain where they are.”^[24]

The return of these prospectors was as discouraging to official France as the inactivity of Acadians on English territory had been. This discouragement is expressed by the Council of Marine in a letter to the missionaries of Acadia, June 30, 1717, in which they say that the King is surprised at the inaction of the people of Acadia, after the sacrifices he has made to furnish them with provisions for a whole year at Ile Royale, but that he hopes they will do all that is necessary to induce these people to remove to Ile Royale, otherwise they will incur the just resentment of the King.^[25]

From the foregoing narrative it is clear that the ties which bound the Acadians to their homes were even stronger than their love for France or their fear of England in spite of the fact that the latter was fed by every species of diplomacy known to either missionary or official. It is also clear that the tragedy of the Acadian deportation could have been averted if the French had faced the facts as they were and allowed these innocent settlers to become British subjects as their kindred did after the Peace of Paris in 1763. When Lawrence deported the much-multiplied Acadian population of 1755 he was but following in the footsteps of the French, who had set a cruel example at Beaubassin in 1750, and attempting to solve a difficult problem of assimilation by taking the Acadians beyond the reach of alien influences in the hope of merging them in the New England colonies. For forty years the English had been studying their lesson and when they had learned it they outdid their tutors in trying to make subjects out of “neutrals”—a term unknown to political science.

But while this reflection is now a platitude it was not so obvious to the French in 1717. Baulked in regard to Ile Royale, they listened to the Comte de St. Pierre who offered to plant a settlement in Isle Saint Jean in 1719; and once again they hoped to attract the Acadians, family by family, until Port Royal, Minas, Cobequid, and Beaubassin should know them no more. Henceforth the officials of Ile Royale were instructed to do all in their power to favor the inclination of the Acadians to settle in Isle Saint Jean. How far they were successful in this respect will appear in succeeding chapters.

The Failure of le Comte de Saint Pierre

Prior to 1719 no permanent settlement had been effected in Isle Saint Jean. In August of that year a grant of Isle Saint Jean, Miscou, and adjacent islands was made to Comte de Saint Pierre, First Equerry to the Duchess of Orleans, whose husband was Regent of France during the minority of Louis XV. From a petition signed by Gautier, Nicolas, de Crés, and others it would appear that they had offered the Count an interest of 10 per cent in the venture in return for his influence, but that he had betrayed their confidence and secured the concession in his own name, and that although they had advanced 600 livres for the legal expenses he denied making any contract with them.^[26]

Whatever truth may be contained in the petition, which bears all the marks of righteous indignation, the fact remains that he secured to himself and his heirs forever in franc aleu noble the islands in question on very liberal conditions. In his case, however, the administration of justice was reserved by the Crown; and of economic rights the Crown also reserved the products of mines which were to be used for the good of the colonists; such lands as might be necessary from time to time for the erection of public buildings or fortifications, and woods suitable for ship-building, although the Count was free to build vessels on the islands and to erect sawmills for the manufacture of lumber.

In return for this generous grant Comte de Saint Pierre was to acknowledge faith and homage to Louisburg, but without dues, while he could collect rent from his tenants. He was required to retain or indemnify any habitans who might be already settled, to locate 100 settlers the first year and fifty each succeeding year until the islands were populated and supplied with necessary live stock, and to construct such roads as were necessary for the public service. In case he had to build one or more churches he was to have the honors of Patron. In the interests of his colony he could employ negro slaves provided he adhered to the rules and regulations concerning them.

Failing the fulfilment of the above-mentioned conditions the islands conceded should be reunited to the Royal domain, but in the meantime the officials at both Quebec and Ile Royale were to be informed of the concession and instructed to give the Count a free hand, without let or hindrance.^[27]

On January 18, 1720, having convinced the Duke of Orleans that the Magdalen and Brion Islands were near Isle Saint Jean and suitable only for fishing, and further that one control was in the best interests of all, Comte de Saint Pierre secured a grant of these islands also. No conditions were attached to this concession and the Count does not pretend to be interested in their colonization. His one concern here is the sedentary fishery.^[28]

In the meantime the Count had entered into partnership with Messrs. Farges and Moras to raise capital for the enterprise. He reserved to himself the rights of seigniory and property in an area of 1000 arpents on each island for the purpose of erecting a château to mark his lordship. Otherwise all the lands, rent, and fish were to be regarded as common property. He was to own one-eighth of the stock in lieu of his title, and to subscribe one-eighth, while Farges was to subscribe one-half, and Moras one-fourth. The association was to continue for twenty-nine years from January 1, 1720; but, if dissolved before that date, everything was to be divided on the basis of one-fourth to Comte de Saint Pierre, one-half to M. Farges, and one-fourth to M. Moras.^[29]

During the spring and early summer of 1720 preparations were pushed on by the new company. Every encouragement was given the partners by the Royal officials and at last three ships set out from Rochefort bearing the new colonists, the fishermen, and their supplies. On the last of the three ships to set out was the Sieur de Gotteville de Belleisle, Lieutenant in the Navy and Chevalier of the order of St. Louis, who was given charge of the new establishment and destined to become Commandant throughout the concession on March 9, 1721.^[30] The ships touched at Louisburg where they secured pilots and went forward on the great adventure.^[31] Although the island offered considerable choice as to harbors the respective merits of these were still unknown, which confirms the view that the various fishermen who had hitherto resorted there had made no charts and had been concerned only with suitable moorings for comparatively small craft. But the enterprise of Comte de Saint Pierre was much more pretentious and now a harbor was to be selected suitable for the capital of a colony and capable of admitting ships of heavy burden.

While in Louisburg de Gotteville had requested St. Ovide de Brouillan, Governor of Ile Royale, to allow Denys de La Ronde, an officer of much experience in the founding of such establishments, to accompany him to Isle Saint Jean. The request was granted, although de La Ronde had been expected to report at Quebec, and together they proceeded to the island. Here they found the other ships which had preceded them already well advanced with the work of unloading supplies, having been conducted by the pilots to Port La Joye. Together they chose the site on which were erected the first official buildings. Though later subject to much criticism because it was comparatively poor in natural resources, Port La Joye remained the capital throughout the entire French period, and under the English the city of Charlottetown was erected on the same harbor, not far from the original site so hastily selected by de Gotteville and de La Ronde. In this sense the capital dates from 1720, twenty-nine years before the founding of Halifax.

A preliminary account sent by Sr. de Gotteville to the Regent of France gives an interesting description both of the island in its natural state and of the chief objects of interest to the French. The island was well wooded including among other trees, oak, wild cherry, beech, and pine. Some of the pines were of enormous size suitable for large masts, others for boards and joists. The land was capable of producing all sorts of grain, according to the report of the laborers whom he had taken out. It was level and there were some meadows in which lakes revealed themselves at intervals. Codfish were abundant, several fishermen of that year having assured him that they had caught 450 quintals per shallop, such a thing being unknown at either Plaisance or Louisburg. The island possessed a beautiful harbor: one could make a citadel inside the points within range of a one-pound cannon-ball, on a height to command both land and sea. At the entrance to this harbor he had actually placed the battery of eight pieces which had been sent from Quebec. There were on the island a number of Indians who made good company for him because of their interest in his activities and furnished him with game consisting of bustard, duck, teal, plover, and “lots of partridge.” He had also seen some caribou almost as large as deer. The only animals lacking were dogs and horses. He expected to winter 250 inhabitants, as they were coming every day from Acadia.^[32]

As the above description was discussed in France on January 28, 1721, it must have been despatched before the close of navigation in the preceding autumn. It obviously gives de Gotteville’s first impressions and was no doubt written within a month after his arrival while he was busy with the erection of new buildings and had little opportunity to explore. Although from the census rolls of a later date^[33] we know that two Normans, François Douville and Charles Charpentier, had settled independently at St. Peters in 1719 and that Mathieu Thurin, a Canadian, had settled at East Point in the same year, de Gotteville does not mention either place or settlement. Even Port La Joye is not mentioned as such. But the catch of fish was evidently made at St. Peters, which was always the chief fishing center under the French. It is therefore probable that these place-names were not chosen immediately.

De Gotteville and de La Ronde were eager for personal distinction and to lay well the foundations of the colony. The buildings which they erected to house the colonists, the workmen, and the garrison of thirty men were hastily constructed but survived with slight repairs until they were destroyed by the New Englanders in 1745. One of these buildings was to serve as a chapel, was dedicated to St. John the Evangelist and placed in charge of a Sulpician priest, René-Charles Breslay, who had seen service in Canada among both French and Indians. With him came a younger member of the same order, Marie-Ansélme Metivier, who also had seen service in Canada. These two remained until 1723 when they gave place to the Récollets of Brittany, who had established themselves in Ile Royale. A wooded plot on the shore of the entrance to the harbor was reserved for a burying ground, and in the center a tall black cross was placed to mark the spot and indicate its purpose.

As soon as quarters were prepared and the colonists set out, de Gotteville turned his attention to the business of the company. In November he sent de La Ronde to Bay Verte and Beaubassin to procure Acadian carpenters for building ships during the winter months; and gave him a free hand to engage such other workmen as he should think necessary, “being persuaded that he will do nothing but good in the interest of the colony.” In the following May de La Ronde went to Louisburg to engage and equip everything necessary for the Company’s fisheries.^[34]

In the meantime three ships had been built on the island, one of 100 tons for carrying cod to Europe, one of twenty-five tons for the walrus and seal fishery in the Magdalens, and one of sixty-five tons for trade with the West Indies.

These officials had also been improving their knowledge of the colony and its harbors. On November 6, 1721, de La Ronde wrote, “We are in Port La Joye one of the most beautiful harbors that the eye could behold.”^[35] He is also aware of Tranche Montagne, a league south of East Point, a harbor suitable for boats only; St. Pierre, fourteen leagues west of East Point, capable of receiving vessels of sixty tons; Savage Harbor three leagues further west, suitable for boats only; Tracadie, three leagues further west, capable of receiving vessels of 100 tons; Quiquibougat (Rustico) a harbor for boats, Malpeque for vessels of 200 tons and Cascampeque for vessels of 200 to 300 tons. All these harbors were good for fishing as well as for drying and curing cod. Apparently Three Rivers (Georgetown) had not yet been discovered.

Of wild animals he mentions martens, otter, squirrels, and foxes of all colors, but no beaver. Deer were to be seen and wolves of great size abounded, but the elk and the moose had been exterminated by the Indians. Wild fowl were abundant, and, what is strange to the modern student, the skylark, the starling, and the nightingale.

De La Ronde also states that settlements already exist at Tranche Montagne, Tracadie, and St. Peters as well as at Port La Joye where sixteen families from France and four from Acadia, totalling 100 persons, have been established. In regard to Tracadie the settlement must have been small, and certainly it was temporary, for the first official census of 1728 shows only four Acadian families there, all of whom came in that year. It is probable that de La Ronde was more concerned with his reputation as a colonizer than with strict accuracy and this is not the only report of his that must be taken cum grano salis.

This settlement of 1720-1721, such as it was, consisted largely of colonists from France. Though official France had changed its mind and had instructed St. Ovide on July 7, 1720, to favor the inclination of the Acadians to settle in Isle Saint Jean, he was soon to discover that their former avowed preference for that island had really been an excuse for not going to Ile Royale, preferring as they did to stay in Acadia.^[36] On November 11, 1720, St. Ovide informed the Council of Marine that a boat had recently arrived from Isle Saint Jean, by which he had learned that Acadians had been there to inspect the lands; but that they did not find them as good as they had anticipated, being red and dry; and that, although there were some natural meadows, he was afraid that all his efforts to get them to settle there would be vain, as they now preferred Toulouse.^[37]

The little colony also suffered from the competition of Ile Royale in the fisheries. Apparently de La Ronde’s optimism when purchasing supplies at Louisburg had created some excitement and, as a result, St. Martin and Michel d’Accarette decided to engage in the fisheries at Isle Saint Jean. They were prosecuted by de Gotteville but the Court of Admiralty at Louisburg condemned him to damages and costs without giving him a hearing. On appeal to the Council in Louisburg the case was decided against him; but on appeal to the King both judgments were annulled and a hearing granted in Quebec.^[38]

Comte de Saint Pierre then carried his complaints to the King and in March, 1722, received an interpretation of his grants of 1719 and 1720 to the effect that he was to have the exclusive monopoly of fishing and commerce within a league of the coasts of all the islands within his concession; and in addition the waters between Isle Saint Jean and the Magdalens were declared a mare clausum. Within these limits all other fishermen and traders whether from France or Ile Royale were forbidden to enter subject to confiscation of their boats, supplies, and equipment.^[39]

These incidents led the King to establish a sub-delegate of the intendant in Isle Saint Jean, who should have power to try such cases subject to appeal to the King, thereby making the colony independent of Ile Royale. On March 10, 1722, Sieur Robert Poitier Dubuisson was appointed sub-delegate of the intendant of New France in Isle Saint Jean to administer both civil and criminal justice, with power to appoint a recorder, a prosecutor, and a notary until the King could make further provision.^[40]

In the preceding autumn de Gotteville had asked leave to retire on account of ill health and on February 3, 1722, Sieur Dubois Berthelot de Beaucours was nominated as his successor; his appointment was to date from his arrival and his services were to be required for two years. Curiously enough through some strange confusion de La Ronde was appointed to the same position on February 23, but as de Beaucours, who had been Lieutenant de Roi in Ile Royale, promptly repaired to his post de La Ronde took a holiday in France. De Beaucours remained only one year in Isle Saint Jean, and in 1723 returned to Ile Royale as Lieutenant de Roi.^[41] The Comte de Saint Pierre’s recommendation of de Beaucours speaks very highly of his qualifications. He had served in Canada for thirty years, was a wise man who knew local conditions, was much revered by the people and a man well calculated to attract Acadians. Further, as an engineer he could draw up plans for the fortifications and supervise their execution. On the whole, his appointment would assure the success of the colony.^[42]

But there were dishonest men in those good old days who sought security in out-of-the-way places. Complaints came to the Governor of Ile Royale that habitans of his jurisdiction were running off to Isle Saint Jean to escape their creditors, and finding sanctuary among the fishermen of the north shore. To put an end to this practice the Governor and Council issued an ordinance forbidding any sailor or habitan of Ile Royale to leave without written permission of the Governor, and instructing the Governor of Isle Saint Jean not to receive any who might arrive without such permission, and likewise not to allow any habitans of Isle Saint Jean to go to Ile Royale without similar credentials.^[43]

In the meantime the affairs of the Company as distinct from the Colony were not prospering sufficiently to retain the interest of the stockholders. The Comte de Saint Pierre made no financial contribution in 1722 and as a result a rearrangement of the stock was made in October by which Farges and Moras assumed greater responsibilities. But they also failed to meet their obligations in 1723 and 1724 while at the same time they were under constant fire from the merchants and fishermen of Ile Royale and St. Malo, who accused them of exercising their monopoly with unnecessary rigor and even of showing favor to the English, in consequence of which the fishing industry was being ruined for the subjects of France and by no means adequately conducted by the Company of the Comte de Saint Pierre. Matters came to a head in the autumn of 1724. Aubert, the financial director of the Company in Isle Saint Jean, was beset on all sides by importunate creditors and by the habitans dependent upon him. At the same time Roberge, captain of the brigantine La Chimene, which had done such damage to poachers upon the fishing grounds, threatened to go off to France and desert the colony. “God preserve me, if no help comes,” he exclaimed in despair. But no help came and on November 27, 1724, de Mézy, Commissaire at Ile Royale, wrote the Minister that almost all the habitans of Isle Saint Jean had been obliged to abandon the colony and had come to Ile Royale; that he had embarked all those who would have been at the charge of the King and sent them with their families to France; that those who had claims on the insolvent Company were sent back to Port La Joye to lay their case before M. Dubuisson as he himself had no jurisdiction on the island; that M. Dubuisson and Roberge had seized all the effects of the Company including the brigantine La Chimene, and had come with the creditors to Ile Royale to settle their affairs with the much-harassed M. Aubert; that he had tried to bring the different parties to an agreement, but, having failed, allowed matters to take their course when everything was sold at auction and the proceeds divided among the creditors in proportion to their claims; that M. Aubert had then set out for France on Le Héros.^[44]

The departure of M. Aubert on Le Héros was the last incident in the local history of the enterprise of Comte de Saint Pierre. It had begun in dishonesty and ended in disaster. Comte de Saint Pierre, a sycophant and a supple dependant upon Court favor, was not the type of man to make great sacrifices for a far-off colony without prospect of immediate gain. The 1,200,000 livres which the Company expended had been almost entirely subscribed by Farges and Moras, while the dog-in-the-manger attitude of the Count found expression in preying upon the hardy fishermen from St. Malo who would have been fit subjects to build up the empire of France. Finally, the King listened to their plea and on October 13, 1725, the exclusive fishing rights of the Comte de Saint Pierre were revoked.^[45] The losses which he had sustained became a subject of controversy for many years while his title to Isle Saint Jean served as a barrier to immigration until it also was annulled in 1730.^[46] Ten years later he was granted a pension of 3000 livres to be continued to his son, de Crèvecœur, upon his death; and with this pension he ceases to be of interest in the history of Isle Saint Jean.^[47]

But the failure of Comte de Saint Pierre did not mean the ruin of the colony. The independent fishermen and the Acadians clung to their new homes, although immigration from both France and Acadia practically ceased for the next three years. The census rolls for 1730, which give the names of the colonists and the date of their arrival, show that in that year there were still 155 persons in the colony who had arrived or been born between 1719 and 1724; eighteen in 1719, fifty-nine in 1720, twenty-five in 1721, twenty in 1722, eight in 1723, and twenty-five in 1724. These were the pioneers of Isle Saint Jean, and they, while eking out their livelihood from the sea, adhered to the soil. Their presence as well as their tenacity of purpose was a reminder to France of her duty to the colony. It stimulated the officials at Ile Royale to urge action upon the King both on behalf of the colonists and in self-defence against the English.

The English in Nova Scotia had watched French activity in Isle Saint Jean with much concern. Mascarene had been afraid that “if successful there they would command all the trade and carry a greater sway over all the Bay of Fundy than the English who are the undoubted owners,” and the Lords of Trade had actually thought of claiming the island as part of Acadia. Now that Saint Pierre’s Company had withdrawn they were preparing to engage in the fisheries of the Gulf. On November 14, 1724, St. Ovide informed the Council that the English at Canseau were preparing several boats to engage in the sedentary fishery there and if once established they would ruin the commerce of Ile Royale as well as prey upon boats going to Canada. In July of the following year he again wrote that the English did not fail to establish themselves in the island seeing it abandoned, and that, if the King wished to avoid the expense of chasing them away later, he should immediately send a detachment of twenty-five or thirty soldiers, commanded by a captain and an ensign to remain there until steps had been taken for the reestablishment of the colony.^[48]

Because of his importunity the King finally decided to take action along the lines suggested by St. Ovide and to defer until a more convenient season the question of compensation to Comte de Saint Pierre.

The Island Reunited to the Royal Domain

The failure of the Comte de Saint Pierre and the fear of English encroachment finally spurred the French Government to action. In the autumn of 1725 the Royal ship Dromadaire arrived in Louisburg bearing despatches from the Minister of Marine and Colonies instructing St. Ovide de Brouillan to send a captain and ensign with twenty-five or thirty soldiers to take formal possession of the island and thus deprive the English of their badly founded notion that they could establish a footing there. These despatches arrived too late in the season to permit of immediate execution, but the Governor of Ile Royale promised to attend to the matter as soon as navigation opened in the following spring.

To lead this important expedition he selected de Pensens, the only available officer upon whose prudence and worth he could rely. This officer, who had once been employed to negotiate with the English for the removal of the Acadians to Cape Breton, seemed quite surprised when ordered to hold himself in readiness for the venture, merely as captain of twenty-five or thirty men, being at the time in command of a full company at Port Toulouse. However, he was too well disciplined and too good an officer to think of refusing, although he solicited the title of Lieutenant de Roi and asked for a force of at least one or two companies so as to make it possible for him to repulse the English with confidence should they attempt to establish themselves there.^[49] St. Ovide readily seconded his wishes to the Minister while de Pensens himself wrote reminding the distinguished Comte de Maurepas that he had served the King faithfully for thirty years, part of which time he had been Lieutenant de Roi in Newfoundland. He added pathetically that it was rather discouraging to be rewarded for his services by having his command reduced from sixty to thirty men.^[50]

Both his request and the recommendation of St. Ovide fell upon deaf ears, for the time being, and on July 2, 1726, de Pensens was appointed Commandant in Isle Saint Jean with a detachment of twenty-five or thirty men, and one ensign.^[51] Thus, it was a discouraged old man, worn out in the service, to whom the future destinies of the deserted colony were entrusted. To the historian of another race, poring over the scant records that have remained, two hundred years later, the wonder is not how little but how much was accomplished under such trying conditions, for this little band of soldiers, who left Louisburg so unwillingly, was to confirm possession of a thriving colony that was lost to France, not through any fault of theirs, but rather through European rivalries which were fought out in America and brought only sorrow, bloodshed, and ultimate extinction to the faithful men and women who braved the unknown, carved new homes out of the wilderness, and made their little plots of land glisten in the sweat of their brow.

When de Pensens repaired to his post in the spring of 1726 he found the remnants of Saint Pierre’s establishment scattered, discouraged, and quarrelling among themselves. Discontent and confusion were particularly rife at St. Peters where he had “to deal with an infinity of discussions amongst the fishermen, merchants and habitans.” The pioneer wrangling and discomfort, added to his sense of isolation, displeased the old officer greatly; and he returned to Louisburg in the autumn with St. Ovide, who had paid a visit to the colony late in the summer. He complained to him that, in spite of his long services, he found himself an exile in a corner of the woods with one ensign and twenty-five men, without either temporal or spiritual comforts,—a condition suitable neither to his health nor his age. He begged earnestly for promotion and also for the services of a chaplain and a surgeon.^[52]

St. Ovide sympathized as well as he could and recommended him for an increase of salary in view of the cost of travelling about the island in the interests of peace and order among the inhabitants as well as the expense of getting his supplies from Louisburg. But the Governor of Isle Royale, himself free from the necessity of living in the wilderness, could look upon the colony with the eye of a traveller and statesman. Accordingly he found the land good, the woods beautiful, and expressed the opinion that if the King should assume responsibility for the island many Acadians would establish themselves there,—not the fathers of families who would be reluctant to leave their household gods, but select youths from different settlements who obviously would find it more to their advantage to clear new lands there than in Acadia where population in the marshes was becoming congested. In addition, they would have greater security and repose the further they lived from the English, while at the same time being able to serve the cause of France by supplying subsistence for Louisburg as well as excellent material for ship-building.^[53] In this summary St. Ovide reveals a two-fold policy of his government: to attract the Acadians from Nova Scotia and to utilize their services in the interests of Louisburg. This policy was the source of both the immediate prosperity and the ultimate ruin of the colony; but the colony was never an end in itself and never received more than spasmodic and half-hearted assistance, although it was always the object of much meddlesomeness and restriction which stultified the initiative of the settlers and rendered reasonable success a matter of doubt, even under more favorable conditions.

De Pensens remained in Louisburg during the winter of 1727, leaving his Ensign, de Tonty, in command at Port La Joye. He returned to his post in the spring where he was later joined by Father Félix who had served the Acadians for twenty-five years and like de Pensens was a veteran in his own way. Writing to the Minister on September 8, 1711, he had paid a tribute to the humanity of the English in their treatment of the Acadians, but concluded with the pledge that he would ever keep alive among the people their fidelity to the King of France. He was sent by St. Ovide to minister to the spiritual needs of the island but also “to attract Acadians” there,—another aspect of French policy that contributed to the ultimate ruin of their colony for the activities of the priests incurred the resentment of the English and did much to account for their exasperation which culminated in the expulsions of 1755 and 1758.^[54]

That these activities did not escape notice of the English may be seen from Governor Armstrong’s despatch to the Secretary of State on July 27, 1726, in which he says, “I understand that Governor St. Ovide, with some troops and his Council, are gone to the Island of St. John in order to mark out the lands of that island for such people and inhabitants as will quit the province and retire under the Government of France; this has been managed under the missionary priests among the Indians and French inhabitants in the province.”^[55]

The establishment of the garrison at Port La Joye and the advent of the missionary gave considerable encouragement to the Acadians who were considering migration. In 1727, six families, the advance guard of the new contingents, arrived, and were allowed to choose lands where they wished in proportion to the size of their families. Three fishing boats commenced to make dégrat on the north shore, two at Cascampek and one at St. Peters. Had it not been for the excessive heat, which lessened the market value of the fish, they would have done wonders. On the whole de Pensens was in a more cheerful frame of mind, made a trip to Louisburg for supplies, and brought back with him several additional soldiers to cut masts for the navy.^[56] This winter he spent on duty, built a boat for the service and in the following spring welcomed four new families from Acadia and gave permission to two of his soldiers to clear land and settle down. He also began to make preparations for the reception of 100 more settlers whom he expected from Acadia in the following year. As a matter of fact they came during the summer and he expressed the fear that the Acadians, though wavering between the love of their old homes and the fear of the English, might come too precipitately instead of following the wiser plan of sending only the younger people. But in any case, if the King would but give the island a little attention it would become the entrepôt of Ile Royale. Above all the habitans must be given assurance of title to their lands, as they were unsettled by the thought that Comte de Saint Pierre might return and claim his property. This uncertainty as well as the doubtful position of Dubuisson, the former Sub-delegate of the Intendant, who was a good man without either instructions or remuneration, caused him no little uneasiness.

During the summer of 1728 prospects were bright for the little colony and the habitans who had been established for some time were looking forward to becoming immediately self-supporting through their husbandry when suddenly a plague of field mice (un fléau par un nombre infini de rats) descended upon their crops and repeated the devastation of four years earlier. So complete and widespread was the desolation that the habitans ploughed down the remains of their once promising crops and sought subsistence from the fisheries which fortunately were more plentiful than in the preceding year. Even so, they existed during the winter only with much suffering. Their one medical practitioner, the surgeon who had recently arrived for the garrison, was underpaid and short of drugs. It was a sad blow to the colony but it struggled on. In the spring de Pensens sent to Acadia for twenty-five or thirty hogsheads of wheat for seed and the much-enduring settlers sowed in faith once more. Like the surgeon, but without even the 300 livres which was the salary of that functionary, Dubuisson went about discharging his duties faithfully, laboring to keep the peace and to dispense justice with only the slender hope that an indemnity would ultimately be granted him by the divided and indifferent court in the French capital.^[57]

At the same time the condition of the garrison was one of extreme misery and it wrung from the Commandant the following pathetic appeal to the Minister in October, 1728:

While de Pensens was capable, even in second childhood, of temporary exaltation in pursuit of an ideal, his military training and long experience of garrison life had not developed those qualities of mind which enable one to endure solitude without the companionship of fellow-officers. To few it is given to bear the loneliness of the leader of men and de Pensens was not one of these. His desire for change and to withdraw from the scenes of distress about him got him into difficulties at this time. In June he took leave of absence at Louisburg and was seriously reprimanded in consequence: “When His Majesty accorded you the annual gratification of 500 livres during your command at L’Isle St. Jean, his intention was that you should make your residence there; and yet you spend most of your time at Louisburg even when your presence is most necessary at your post. His Majesty commands you to abstain from these long and frequent excursions.”^[58]

This same year, which witnessed the plague of mice and the reproof of the Commandant, a census was taken of the colony. The record shows 54 houses, 76 men, 51 women, 156 children, 14 domestics, a total of 297 persons to whom should be added 125 fishermen for the 8 goelettes and 19 shallops engaged in the fisheries. The catch for the year was 4874 quintals of cod.

For 1729 the records are silent with exception of the fact that the English who were about the island in great numbers had a boat pillaged and burned by the Indians—a species of intimidation that kept them at a safe distance for some time to come. De Pensens again wintered at Louisburg, leaving the garrison in charge of Lieutenant du Haget and the Chevalier de Pensens who held the rank of Ensign; and Dubuisson was granted a salary of 600 livres.

But in 1730 there was much rejoicing over a bounteous crop which stimulated the colonies to clear more land, some two-fold, others four-fold. Port La Joye gathered over 200 hogsheads of grain, Malpeque forty, Tracadie thirty, Havre a l’Anguille or Savage Harbor thirty, and St. Peters over fifty, although most of the inhabitants of the latter were fishers. The forty hogsheads gathered at Malpeque were all the product of two farmers. This yield attracted the attention of Acadians, particularly since it was being discovered that this port was one of the best agricultural districts and at the same time equal to St. Peters for fishing. This year also, the fish were abundant and only the shortage of salt had prevented the fishermen of St. Peters from preserving 300 quintals for each of the twenty shallops engaged in the industry.

As a result of all this prosperity some sixty Acadians came to the island from Beaubassin to look over the land and de Pensens, who interested himself in their transportation, was encouraged once more to ask that he be raised to the dignity of Lieutenant de Roi, though again without success.^[59]

The census of 1730 enumerates 76 men, 55 women, 182 children, and 12 domestics, a total of 325 persons to whom should be added 140 for the 4 goelettes and 23 shallops engaged in the fisheries. The discrepancy apparent between the totals of 1728 and 1730, in view of the influx of 60 recorded in the latter year may be accounted for by the fact that some of these would only view their lands and return to Acadia to gather their effects. An analysis of the census of 1730 reveals the fact that 10 arrived in 1729 although there is no mention of them in the correspondence of de Pensens, and only 27 in 1730. Further, a comparison of the names of the habitans in 1728 and 1730 shows that some had changed their residence in the meantime while others had moved away. This was particularly true of the north coast, where the habitans were half-fisherman, half-farmer, and of a roving disposition. Consequently although 37 new settlers arrived (1729-1730), exclusive of fishermen, the actual population had been increased by only 28.

But in 1730 the grant to Comte de Saint Pierre was revoked and Isle Saint Jean reunited to the Royal domain by decree of June 1.^[60] This action of the King brought peace to the minds of the colonists and revived to some extent the interests of Frenchmen as well as Acadians in the colony. In both 1730 and 1731 a ship of 100 tons came out direct from France, in 1730 from Granville and in 1731 from Bordeaux, to fish cod and to trade with the habitans. Both returned well loaded without touching at Ile Royale. In 1731, five Acadian families arrived and were settled, three at St. Peters and two at Savage Harbor.

So far the simple record of the island colony, the hopes, disappointments, and modest achievements have been set down year by year to illustrate the conditions under which both the colonists and their Commandant labored. It is well to pause for a moment to picture the settlements as they appeared when the colony had been definitely reunited to the Royal domain as a dependency of Louisburg. It had been watched over by Louisburg since the desertion of Comte de Saint Pierre and as yet no change was contemplated in this respect. But in 1731 de Pensens had secured permission to return to France and while there he had an opportunity to present its claims at the seat of authority. To this end he had drawn up a description of Isle Saint Jean which is dated March 5, 1732, and may be taken as a reasonably accurate account of the state of the colony at the end of 1731.^[61]

According to de Pensens, Port La Joye and the Northeast River were the most considerable areas in which the land was cultivated. Twenty-eight habitans were settled there, several of whom sowed five or six hogsheads of grain, others sowed four, three, or two, and the poorest was self-supporting.

At the head of the Northeast River there was a portage three-quarters of a league long to Savage Harbor on the north shore of the island. Of the seven habitans established there, three sowed three or four hogsheads of grain but the others had not yet cleared enough land to provide subsistence for their families although they would be able to do so in the following year.

St. Peters was the most thickly settled of all the establishments. Most of the inhabitants were deep-sea fishermen or masters of shallops of whom there were twenty-four or twenty-five. Only eight habitans were engaged in clearing land suitable for wheat. Although the fishing was good and much less costly than at Ile Royale, the fishermen had all they could do to make both ends meet for lack of equipment. In spite of the fact that a ship had come from France each of the last two years the fishermen had been under obligation to merchants in Louisburg and compelled to buy their provisions there at an increased cost of 50 per cent. This made it difficult for them to pay their debts and at the same time to provide for their families during the winter.

On the north shore also there was a settlement at Tracadie consisting of six families. They were well on the way to self-support but had found unusual difficulty in clearing the land which was covered with large oak. However, when cleared, it proved fertile.

Malpeque, further west on the north shore, had a beautiful harbor and good soil, but it also was covered with oak and pine. An island in the harbor was the headquarters of the savages who grew Indian corn. That the land was fertile could be seen from the rich returns that their crude husbandry brought. All they did was to make, with a piece of wood, a hole in the ground, in which they planted their corn not touching it again except to hill it when it had grown well up from the earth. Even so, their smallest crop was a hundred hogsheads. In time it was expected that this district would be the most densely inhabited. Four Acadian families had already established themselves there, and had reaped ten to one of their sowing, with greater prospects for their next crop. They had also built a mill, the advantage of which, added to the fertility of the soil, would attract other Acadians.

The total population of these six settlements, together with two families of fishermen at East Point, ten souls in all, was 347.

Port La Joye, the center of the garrison and the capital, though possessing a magnificent harbor was not suitable for agriculture. It produced neither hay nor pasture and cattle were fed only by bringing fodder from the Northeast River in order to be able to supply the inhabitants with meat.

All the other settlements were fortunate in this respect and were thereby able to raise much cattle, a circumstance which gave ground for hope to Louisburg, as cattle could be raised in its environs only with great difficulty because fodder had to be brought from outside the port.

Such, then, were the humble beginnings of Royal power in Isle Saint Jean. With the exception of Three Rivers, a distinct settlement with a separate history, the number of these establishments was not increased until 1750 when the fatal migration of Acadians after the founding of Halifax made it necessary to plant new outposts on the river mouths to the south-east and to the south-west. In the meantime the policy of the French Government was to consolidate the settlements already made by encouraging their gradual expansion on all sides from the original nuclei. It was a wise policy and contributed alike to the security and the sociability of the settlers. The pioneers encouraged relatives and neighbors to join them, aided them in their first struggles, cheered them in their leisure hours, and comforted them in sickness. As in Acadia they were and remained a simple, credulous folk, undisturbed by jealousy of wealthy neighbors though not indisposed to quarrelling among themselves. They were democratic in that they were equally poor but undemocratic in that they had never known or thought of self-government. To the Commandant and to the Sub-delegate of the Intendant they looked for direction in times of prosperity which were rare, and upon them they relied for aid in times of distress which were all too frequent. Though confident of ultimate prosperity they were still distrustful of their title to their lands, a distrust that has ever haunted the peasant the world over. De Pensens tried to calm their fears by promises but pleaded with the King that the Commandant should have power to grant written assurances until such time as a formal deed could be issued by the King or by the Governor and Commissaire Ordonnateur at Louisburg. To hasten the settlement of the colony he also urged that one or two soldiers should be allowed to settle annually, their pay being continued for the first three years. He thought that they would make better settlers than the Acadians who were “naturally lazy and accustomed to work only in easy marshes” whereas the lands of the island were uplands and difficult to clear although the wheat thus produced gave better flour and made better bread. He insisted that increased cultivation was necessary, as the English were grumbling about the number of boats setting out from Acadia; and he saw that if the Acadians should cease to furnish the provisions which had hitherto tided the colonists over their periods of want, those on the island compelled to rely on their own resources might starve to death, since only those who had become firmly established in the little settlements could support themselves, and all newcomers had to rely for subsistence upon Acadia which had sent them forth or upon such doles as could be given by the garrison which was itself entirely dependent upon supplies furnished indirectly from France through Louisburg.

But the precarious food supply of the garrison was not more trying than the condition of its lodgings at this time. There was only one barrack at Port La Joye, and a small house for the subaltern, that in which the Commandant had lived having fallen down. These had been built in time of Comte de Saint Pierre and had not been repaired since. The King’s magazine was almost open to the weather. It could only be used by continually plugging up the holes. The provisions were in danger of being destroyed, in which event the garrison would die of hunger. Here too the powder was stored for the garrison as well as for the Indians, who came for their supply once a year. The year before, when they came for it, it was discovered that a whole barrel had been ruined. This was a greater tragedy than if the same thing had happened to the supply of the garrison; for in Isle Saint Jean as in Acadia and Quebec, the French had treated the Indians with respect, done all in their power to win their affections, and to secure their alliance against the English. Here the Micmacs from Acadia, even those under English rule, were annually assembled for the distribution of presents. Here they were feasted and provided with powder for the hunt or when necessary for war. Recently they had assisted at a Te Deum which had been chanted for the birth of the Dauphin and charmed with their entertainment had continued on into the night wasting half their powder from the sheer love of noise. Their enthusiasm for the French cause was a source of delight to the Commandant and garrison but it only seemed to emphasize the necessity of being in a position to supply their needs in future, and this could not be done unless the King did everything in his power to increase the number of settlers, to improve the lot of the garrison, and to make the island a worthy addition to his Royal domain.

Roma and His Settlement at Three Rivers

Indifferent alike to the hopes and the fears of de Pensens, to his devoted service, and his sympathetic attitude toward the struggling offshoot of Acadia, neither the King nor his advisers manifested any desire to assume full responsibility for the welfare of the colony which had been deserted by Comte de Saint Pierre. Little more than a year after it had been united to the Royal domain a large portion was granted to the Company of the East.

On July 17, 1731, at Fontainebleau a grant, signed by Louis XV and Phelypeaux, Comte de Maurepas, was made to Srs. Cottard, du Bocage, Narcis, and Roma of 3500 arpents frontage and forty arpents depth in the eastern portion of Isle Saint Jean, comprising the lands drained by the three rivers now known as the Brudenell, the Montague, and the Cardigan, but not to include any lands already conceded to inhabitants or cleared by them. It meant the creation of a large feudal estate, on the tenure of franc aleu noble, to be free from all Royal dues but to be held in homage to Louisburg. The only obligation placed upon the corporation was the conservation of oak suitable for ship-building, the report of mines to the King or his officers, and the grant of such lands as the King should need for forts or public buildings. Justice was also reserved to the King and to be administered by the Sub-delegate of the Intendant of New France in Isle Saint Jean.^[62] It should be remembered that France was still in the grip of the feudal system and saw nothing incongruous in extending it to the New World. On the other hand, since the days of Richelieu, the political, judicial, and military functions of feudalism were being steadily superseded, so that it was only feudalism in its economic aspect that was illustrated in the grant to the Company of the East.

One would have thought that the experience with chartered companies in both Acadia and New France would have been sufficient to discourage the new experiment apart from the failure of the trading companies in Isle Saint Jean itself. But apparently France still had faith in this method of colonization. The Company was to take out eighty settlers in 1732, and thirty each subsequent year, with the necessary stock to establish hearth and home. It was to encourage these settlers to clear lands, and to build such roads as were necessary for public use.

True to the French policy of uniting the interests of the state and of religion, the Company was to build one or more churches in return for which they would be honored as patrons. On the failure to carry out these conditions the land was to revert to the Crown.

On the other hand, the Company was to be permitted to establish stores and drying places on the north coast of the colony outside their concession, where they would be treated generously with grants of land in proportion to the number of shallops which they should employ in the fisheries.

Of the partners in the Company Jean Pierre Roma, who was appointed Director and undertook the work with energy, was the only one who interpreted the conditions of the grant literally and tried to fulfil them. From the very first a divergence of views appeared between him and his confrères. They were interested only in the profits of the fishery and quite indifferent to their country’s welfare or to the welfare of the colony. Consequently, when they experienced the losses and disappointments incident to the founding of any such establishment, annoyed that the enterprise did not net 100 per cent the first year, they withheld any further support and laid all blame at the door of Roma, who had taken up his residence on Brudenell Point, Three Rivers, and was striving manfully, if not modestly, to lay the foundation of a permanent establishment and a thriving colony.

That Roma was impatient of control and resentful of criticism is readily admitted; but a careful examination of his voluminous correspondence and shrill defence forces one to conclude that he was in deadly earnest, and that with reasonable support he would have achieved a marked success. In the opinion of de Pensens, of St. Ovide, and of others on the spot, his was of all companies the most likely to succeed. Furthermore, he was the driving power of the Company and ultimately came to be sole proprietor after the purchase of the interests of his partners, and as the others never visited the colony they need only casual notice when in conflict with their Director.^[63]

Of Roma’s antecedents and previous training little is known but he seems to have had a varied experience prior to his venture in Isle Saint Jean. In a letter to the Minister, May 31, 1741, he complained that his fortune had been ruined as early as 1715 by a M. Desmarets, that the Duc d’Orleans by reuniting to the Royal domain a concession on the south coast of Santo Domingo had prevented him from reëstablishing that fortune and that he had been dissuaded from entering the service of the King of Sardinia in 1726 by the French Ambassador at Turin.^[64] The same ill luck seemed to dog his steps in Isle Saint Jean, where from the first he was always in conflict with both cleric and layman.

The chaplain of his Company was Abbé Bierne, who was either too great or too small for his position. No sooner had the axe of the pioneer begun to make a clearing at Brudenell than he and Roma came to blows. As Commandant for the King and director of the Company, Roma looked upon the Abbé as an employee to be treated with courtesy but not to be obeyed.^[65] The Abbé on the other hand regarded his authority as coming from on high and proceeded to dictate to the Commandant. He accused him of neglecting the ordinances of the church and forbade all work on holy days and Sundays. Without pausing to discuss the relative powers of church and state or to consider the dangers of transferring to the wilderness the hereditary feuds of Europe, Roma promptly gave the chaplain a written congé on the ground that he was carrying on cabals to ruin his Company. The Abbé demanded justice from Dubuisson, the Sub-delegate of the Intendant, who favored his side of the controversy on the ground that Roma had used some improper terms in addressing the priest; and demanded reparation from Roma. But as Dubuisson had no power to enforce his judgment, he exerted himself rather in the direction of conciliation, and succeeded in temporarily allaying the dispute on the spot, though it was as usual continued in despatches to the Minister far off in the French capital. Dubuisson’s first report went down at sea with Le Michel.^[66] Roma wrote to both de Pensens at Port La Joye and St. Ovide at Louisburg. St. Ovide and Le Normant visited him and reported to the Minister that they had found delight in the Commandant’s achievements and had left him in harmony with the priest while at the same time they had instructed Dubuisson to show a more favorable attitude toward his Company henceforth.^[67] De Pensens also sided with Roma in the following spirited note to the Minister:

Looking at the matter from a distance of almost two centuries one is inclined to agree with the secular officers in the controversy and to exonerate Roma. The future career of the Abbé strengthens this conclusion; St. Ovide, apparently in doubt as to the possibility of permanent peace between two uncompromising temperaments, so closely confined, arranged with the Abbé to become a missionary to the Micmacs. But he found this opportunity for service little to his liking. At first he complained that he could not learn the language and finally that he could not accustom himself to life among savages. Seeing that his heart was not in the New World, St. Ovide gave him permission to return to France where it is to be hoped he found the seminary for which de Pensens thought he was fitted and, also, rest for his spirit, far removed from the unsympathetic Roma.^[69]

Four years later Roma was again in conflict with the ghostly powers. This time he complained to the Commissaire Ordonnateur at Ile Royale that, after he had gone to the trouble of taking out from France two girls as servants, these girls had been lured away from him by habitans, assisted by the Father Superior of the Récollets. In an indignant letter he demanded the return of the girls and amends from the Father Superior, urging the plea that the behavior of the latter was all the more culpable because of his high position!

With his partners in the Company of the East, also, Roma had his difficulties and, as in the conflict with the priest, he was supported by the officials at Port La Joye and Louisburg. In this case the opinions of the men on the spot must carry more weight than the less disinterested views of shareholders in France, who were intent only upon profits regardless of the fate of the colony or of the hardships of the director. However impatient one may become with the rhetoric of Roma, his rigid logic and his conscious virtue, it must be borne in mind that de Pensens and St. Ovide both spoke of him in the highest terms and marvelled at his works. The former went so far as to say that he had accomplished more in the first year of his colony than Comte de Saint Pierre had done in five. With this testimony in mind and while not forgetting that Roma was a little tactless in dealing with his partners let us read a letter which he despatched to the Governor and Intendant of Ile Royale and Isle Saint Jean and to the Lieutenant de Roi of Isle Saint Jean. This letter reveals not only his style, in the broadest sense, but also a deep consciousness of the epic nature of his aspirations in strong contrast with the sordid motives of his partners:

The statement of work done by Roma during the years 1732-1734 is very complete. Each work is described minutely and its aim and use carefully set down. While one may smile at the picture of a conscious pioneer counting the stumps removed from his land, the gallons of water drawn from his wells, and the number of stakes used in a fence, the meticulous care with which he kept his records enables the historian to reconstruct the settlement in imagination two centuries after the New Englanders had burned it to the ground, and also to understand why the colony could not succeed. In this spirit the following facts are set down:

Roma arrived at Three Rivers in June, 1732, and chose Brudenell Point as the site of his establishment. Here nature had reared a cape 36 feet high at the peak and extending in an easy slope 60 feet long and 80 feet wide. This he levelled by reducing the peak and building up the base with rocks and wood in order to increase its power of resisting the waves. He lengthened the slope by a pier 45½ feet long and 10 feet wide so as to get 11 feet of water at high tide. This necessitated the transport of some 300 tons of stones, each weighing from four to eight hundred pounds. He erected a wooden bridge at the side of the pier, 40 feet long and 12 feet wide, to facilitate the loading and unloading of vessels, the embarking of shallops, goelettes, and canoes. He cleared the cape to an extent of 1700 feet by 1200, dug up over 6000 stumps, one-half foot in diameter, and many smaller ones, after which he had the hills cut down, the hollows filled up, and the whole made as level as a floor for his houses, gardens, and walks. Then followed the construction of buildings, nine in all, for the accommodation of his settlers, workmen, and fishermen: One 80 feet long for the house of the Company, another the same length for the fishermen, one 50 feet long for the employees of the Company and strangers, one 50 feet long for the officers of the Navy, and the thirty-six-month men, one 50 feet long for a storehouse, one 62 feet long for the master workmen and their assistants, three 40 feet long for a bakery, a forge, and a stable, respectively, the latter to house also the fowl and the doves. This required 3000 posts, 5000 planks, 1500 joists, 450 rafters, 200 rails, 170 beams, 50 flagstones; and some of them had to be brought from a distance over the ice on sleds for which new roads had to be made each day because of the snow. The buildings were made air-tight by moss and clay and were heated by thirteen brick chimneys, made from clay on the spot, which were kept going night and day for seven months in the year, consuming a vast amount of fuel. To preserve the food of the establishment a refrigerator was constructed and to supply it with water two wells were dug in which four pumps were placed. In addition to this he built up a spring which was six feet below high tide, and when it was rendered useless by the ice in winter he discovered another some 600 or 700 paces from the cape and pressed it into service. From this and the pumps he estimated that 1200 hogsheads were drawn for drinking, washing, making beer, and watering the horses. In the oven were baked during the same period some 800 quintals of flour. About every building he laid out a vegetable garden surrounded by a brush fence; and he also enclosed in a similar manner a plot for peas and another for wheat, after which the whole cape back for one or two miles was cleared for future crops.

To store the fruits of the soil he built a huge cellar, 120 feet by 16 to 20 feet and 7½ feet deep with an entrance at each end—the whole carefully supported by beams and joists. For clearing the land he made several levers 35 feet long on a pivot of 20 feet, and for fishing he built two flat boats, two canoes, six shallops.

To facilitate communication between the different parts of his concession and the colony he made a road to Cardigan a league in length, one to Sturgeon River 1200 paces distant, one to Souris four or five leagues distant, another to St. Peters eight leagues long, including a bridge 75 feet by 12. The latter was abandoned because it crossed two rivers and still left two leagues by water, and was superseded by a more direct road 8½ leagues long, which avoided the rivers. This road was essential to the Company because at times the sea route to St. Peters where Roma had a large fishing establishment was long and dangerous. For the security of the settlement in case of war with the English a road was built to Port La Joye in coöperation with the garrison. The details furnished by Roma show that his roadmaking was not such as would have commended itself to those accustomed to the magnificent causeways made by the corvée, which elicited the reluctant admiration of Arthur Young, on his journey through France some fifty years later, but they were at least a recognition on the part of Roma of the necessity of communication. If he left the fallen trees across the way, he at least had the branches cut off and the straggling firs removed so that the eye could travel straight in front even if one had “to lift the leg slightly to get over on the other side” of the fallen giants of the bush.^[72]

Such then was the establishment which Roma had designed and built at Three Rivers. While enumerating with wearisome detail the number of hours’ labor which he was able to employ, he says that the economy of time and movement in work, the method of operating each work promptly, the aid of new tools, the care taken to employ each man on what he could do best, the different devices for exciting gaiety in work and stimulating the workers, in a word the eye of the master have made up three-quarters of the entire labor, and he modestly adds, “If without speaking of an infinity of lesser works to which divers conditions have led and which ought not to exist, such as care of the sick, the poultry, and the stock, if I say one adds to the works which have been mentioned the care and time which writing demands, itself enough for a porter, one will find that the Company has been served by some people who have not had time to be bored.”

In the eyes of Roma his establishment was to become the headquarters not only of a contented colony but also of a far-reaching commerce and an extensive fishery.^[73] The five vessels of the Company—Le Michel, St. Jean, Le Postillon, L’Angélique, and La Belle Faucon—were to be employed partly in the transportation of fish to France and of commodities to Isle Saint Jean; and partly, also, in trade between Quebec and Isle Saint Jean and Isle Saint Jean and the West Indian Islands. From Quebec he would bring food for his own establishment and for Isle Saint Jean as a whole, until they should become self-supporting, in which event he could use the same vessels to carry surplus products of the soil to the garrison at Louisburg. To pay for the flour and biscuits brought from Quebec, he proposed to carry cod and planks to the West Indies and bring back molasses and sugar and coffee. Thus a three-cornered commerce would be built up in addition to his trade with France.

But the grand designs of Roma were not well received by his partners. The first year they advanced goods and equipment to the value of 91,000 livres and although he sent back this year in the Company’s vessels fish to the value of 45,000 livres, purchased two batteaux, 15 to 20 shallops, built an admirable fishing establishment at St. Peters, and supported his colony, the partners refused him further financial support and seemed bent upon ruining their own enterprise.^[74] After much mutual recrimination Roma visited France in the autumn of 1736, entered into negotiations with his partners and with the Minister, and in the following May he became sole proprietor as well as Commandant in his concession, under Louisburg.^[75]

From 1737 to 1745 he struggled on. Though his energy did not abate nor his enthusiasm flag, his ill fortune remained. During his absence in France the son had to eat part of the seed wheat so that his crop was a small one in 1737, although he reported that he was rich in oats and peas.^[76] This year he “married and set out two of his people in such a way as to make others desire similar treatment.” But he still had cause of complaint against the Superior of the Récollets for enticing away three of his men who appropriated a shallop and sailed for Louisburg. No settlers came to Three Rivers as they wanted free land direct from the Crown and thus Roma was compelled to maintain his establishment by bringing out salt-smugglers, convicts who had violated the gabelle and were given the difficult choice between the galleys and the colonies. In 1738 he was rejoicing in the prospect of a bounteous crop when in common with the other settlements of Isle Saint Jean his lands were ravaged by field mice which consumed even the grass. Though faced with the prospect of living for a year on fish and game he set himself methodically to write a treatise on mice, and to comfort his generation with the thought that this pest would disappear as settlement increased and population pressed upon the wooded lands, where these little animals multiplied rapidly and set forth periodically upon their devastating march, to the destruction of the crops and finally of themselves.

In 1741 he lost a vessel with all its cargo and was driven to ask assistance from the Minister, not as charity but as an advance of credit upon Ile Royale, which advance he hoped to meet out of his crop and fishing in the following year.^[77]

During the next four years Roma managed to exist through strict economy; but just when he had reason to congratulate himself upon a happier future a detachment of New Englanders, sent from Louisburg, arrived in Three Rivers on June 20, 1745, plundered his establishment and burned his buildings to the ground. All the buildings set out with such detail in his statement of 1734 were given to the flames, a quantity of wheat, oats, and peas were taken, together with four horses, five sheep, 10 cows, 10 calves, 20 pigs, and 100 fowl. Faced with starvation he went to St. Peters and thence to Canada.

In Quebec, Hocquart employed him in the Royal magazines but he introduced original methods of work and so complicated the bookkeeping that the Keeper of the Stores had to make a new set of books.

Recognizing his abilities and desiring to recompense him in some measure for his losses, the Minister thought of appointing him Sub-delegate of the Intendant in Isle Saint Jean in 1752, as successor to M. des Goutins, but was advised against this by Prevost, Commissaire Ordonnateur in Ile Royale, who offered the following interesting analysis of Roma’s character:

The Minister accepted the advice of Prevost, and Isle Saint Jean knew him no more, though his heart was still there. He found a temporary abode in Martinique, whence he wrote the Minister urging upon him a still more elaborate scheme for the colonization of the island. It is interesting to find that misfortune has not crushed his spirit nor clouded his optimism. He is still the old Roma, the conscious artist, concerned as much about his style as about his project. He apologizes for his haste through necessity of catching the post and regrets that the despatch needs retouching for the diction (ces feuilles auroient besoin d’estre retouchées pour la diction et d’estre mises au net).^[79]

As for Three Rivers, a solitary depression in the level surface of Brudenell Point is the only reminder of the fact that for thirteen fitful years a man of unusual energy, unflinching logic, and great capacity for taking pains, paced restlessly to and fro upon the level walk which he had made, or looked out upon the waters of the haven, dotted with the sails of his little fishing fleet, and dreamed dreams of a great emporium in which he would be a merchant king, giving laws to both fisherman and habitan, and perhaps in moments of calmer reflection, musing upon a happy old age in the bosom of his family, surrounded by grateful villeins to whom he had given a less oppressive existence in a new world.

De Pensens and Duchambon: Lieutenants de Roi

De Pensens spent the year 1732 in France in the interests of his health which was rapidly failing; and his command in Isle Saint Jean was assumed by de La Pérelle who was instructed to prevent the destruction of timber, to encourage settlement by every means in his power, and to assure the Acadians that they would be secured in the title to such lands as they should select. The presence of de Pensens in France stimulated some slight interest in the colony. He urged upon the Minister the need of more soldiers, and of officers who could be trusted on missions to the different posts in the island. He asked that his nephews La Plaigne and de Pensens be attached to his company, as in bad health he could get assistance from them that could not be expected from others; and his wish was granted. He reiterated his request, made five years earlier, that 1500 livres be appropriated for the upkeep of his boat and as insurance against accident. This request, also, was granted, the more readily because the Governor of Ile Royale had promised to assume the cost of transporting the Acadians and their effects to Isle Saint Jean, and this boat would provide the easiest solution of the problem. So, too, he was assured that he would be appointed Lieutenant de Roi in Isle Saint Jean if such an office should be created.^[80]

But on the eve of promotion the much-tried veteran went down with fever. In April, 1733, he wrote the Minister that the assurance of promotion aided his recovery, and that he hoped to return to his command, but if the King should allow him to retire on the usual pension he would be content after thirty-six years of service.^[81] Even as Lieutenant de Roi life in the colony left much to be desired, as the lodgings were out of commission, the surgeon was in a state of poverty, and the chaplain had only the ornaments of a chapel, being compelled to use an old house left standing by the Company of Comte de Saint Pierre and to conduct the daily services without even candles.

On June 2, 1733, his long-deferred hope was realized and he was made Lieutenant de Roi, though the number of his garrison was still to remain at thirty men. However, his salary was increased to 1400 livres by an annual gratuity of 600 livres in addition to the 800 which he had hitherto received as nominal major of a company in Ile Royale.^[82] A few days later he was about to embark on the middle passage, when his illness returned and he was again delayed, finally arriving at Louisburg on August 14, more dead than alive. With fine courage he determined to set out for Port La Joye on the twentieth, but not without a further protest against conditions awaiting him there: “If I were not thinking of the good of the service, I would refuse to set out from here until I were assured of lodgings that could at least shelter me from the insults of the weather.” But he hoped to rent a couple of rooms in the house of a habitan so as not to put the King to too much expense. The risks in the state of his health were great but “nothing in the scale with obedience to the King’s orders.” In addition to this, the surgeon was on strike, and could not be induced to join him as the inhabitants could pay nothing for either services or drugs, while the beggarly pittance of 300 livres which he received could hardly keep his own body and soul together.^[83]

On his arrival in Isle Saint Jean, this time in his own boat, he found little change in the general condition of the inhabitants. A few Acadians had arrived and three soldiers had decided to settle in accordance with a plan adopted on his advice of granting discharges to as many as eight soldiers a year who should wish to leave the garrison at Louisburg and take advantage of three years’ pay, rations, and clothing. It was hoped that these soldiers besides being good laborers would retain their willingness to fight in case of emergency. In one respect a distinct improvement had been made during his absence. To provide for the necessities of communication by land with the new settlement at Three Rivers, a rough road had been opened by Roma which made the journey possible in a day and a half. He himself had orders to open another from Port La Joye to Malpeque making communication possible in one day, and this, besides enabling the habitans to move about at all times with less danger than by the water route along the north shore, would be very useful in time of war. Further, orders had been given for the erection of a new magazine and quarters for the Lieutenant de Roi while new barracks were proposed after the plans of Verrier, all to be completed in 1734. St. Ovide on the advice of the latter sent over a full company of soldiers to get out the necessary lumber during the winter.^[84]

The winter of 1733-1734 was a hard one particularly for the fishermen of St. Peters who had most of their summer’s catch destroyed by the heat, being unable to purchase salt in Louisburg. Without the aid of a boatload of provisions brought from Canada by Roma, many would have perished. This tided them over until spring when further provisions came from Canada. As it was, some had to go to Acadia for the winter. The moral of this seemed plain to de Pensens, and he pleaded that a ship should be sent annually direct from France so that the fishermen should not have to depend on Louisburg for salt and other supplies, especially as it was often unable to supply its own needs.^[85]

De Pensens himself was in a tragic position without the services of a physician. Many of the inhabitants were ill and one of his best soldiers meeting with a cruel accident had to be sent in agony all the way to Louisburg. “This poor soldier was in the woods cutting timber when his gun resting against a tree fell and discharged its contents into his knee.” On arrival at Louisburg he lay in a hospital for three months hovering between life and death. Another soldier died of pneumonia and a third was lost on the ice, “a very good man and an excellent sawyer.”

The only bright spot on the horizon was the happy relations existing between de Pensens and Roma, Commandant in the settlement at Three Rivers. Roma praised him as a man of honor breathing “the spirit of peace, wisdom, and equity,” and de Pensens reciprocated by giving hearty support to the Company of the East. On October 20, 1734, he wrote the Minister that all the complaints made against Roma by his partners were obviously pretexts for abandoning the enterprise.^[86]

In 1734 and again in 1735 a census was taken of the population of Isle Saint Jean, and for the first time in its history the live stock is enumerated as well, an indication of the fact that henceforth more attention is to be paid to the agricultural resources of the colony as distinct from the fisheries. In 1734 there were 396 souls, exclusive of fishermen, who numbered 176; and in 1735 there were 432 colonists and 131 fishermen. This illustrates the fluctuating nature of the fishing industry as well as the steady increase of the colonists. Of the latter the census of 1734 states that four persons came from Spain, 16 from Canada, 162 from Acadia, and 214 from France; while the census of 1735 enumerates three from Spain, 15 from Canada, 198 from Acadia, and 216 from France. From this, as well as from contemporary correspondence it is clear that French immigration diminished after the reunion to the Royal domain and ceased altogether in 1734, while Acadian immigration which was practically negligible during the period 1719-1724 gradually increased until the number of Acadians and French was almost equal in 1735. In the census returns subsequent to 1735 attention is concentrated upon agriculture, and the fishermen as a separate class are ignored. It is probable that many of these found wives among the colonists and became merged in the general population. The live stock enumerated in 1734 were 332 cattle, 119 sheep; in 1735, 433 cattle, 190 sheep. As the increase of population in 1735 came from Acadia the new immigrants evidently brought considerable live stock with them.^[87]

The year 1735 also saw the completion of the establishments for the surgeon and the chaplain, as well as a powder vault—“the expense exceeding the estimate”; but apparently the barracks had not been completed as de Pensens had difficulty with deserters who escaped to Acadia, and he excused them on the plea that they were so badly lodged that “the snow and the rain leaked through their beds which they often had to abandon in the night.”^[88] In 1736 five boats were built of from 20 to 80 tons burden.^[89]

But the increase of population and the signs of prosperity brought little joy to the old Lieutenant de Roi. His career was rapidly drawing to a close. All through the winter of 1734 he had been ill in Louisburg; in 1735 he bore up in the discharge of his duties; but in 1736 he again returned to Louisburg, this time to leave the outpost forever. On April 2, 1737, he was retired with a pension of 800 livres and a month later this was increased by an annual gratuity of 400; thus he passed out of history.^[90] He was a good officer and had served his country well for forty years. From out the meager dust-covered pages that have come down to us he speaks with unwonted clearness of duty, obedience, and faith. That he suffered from neglect cannot be denied, nor that he grumbled as soldiers may. That he did the best he could in circumstances of unusual difficulty is equally clear. For twelve years he was almost the sole guide of a timid, wavering, and dependent colony. While the King was still a minor and his advisers were preoccupied with more immediate problems, he strove, in ill health, to build anew a second Acadia that would find peace and prosperity beyond the legitimate reach of the English. In this faith he became the father of his people and, though his own generation was ungrateful, his memory should be treasured by the descendants of those who first drove back the wilderness which he had found so irksome.

During the interval between the retirement of de Pensens and the appointment of a successor, the garrison at Port La Joye was relieved by a new detachment of forty men, selected from all of the eight companies stationed in Louisburg, on the principle that the soldiers in turn should share the good and ill fortunes of garrison life.^[91] It is obvious both from this statement and from the difficulties that de Pensens had in preventing desertion, that a sojourn in Isle Saint Jean was not coveted by either the troops or the officers of Louisburg.

The new garrison was put under command of du Haget, whose instructions have been preserved and are valuable for the glimpse that they give of the routine life of both officers and soldiers in an isolated post, where the vision of Empire must have frequently been lost through sheer boredom.

On his arrival in Port La Joye he was to lodge his detachment after visiting the barracks to see that they were in good condition. Likewise he was to take over the military stores and see that everything was in order. It was his duty to see that the soldiers performed their daily tasks in barracks, that they did not sell or waste their supplies; to maintain good discipline among the troops, by having them attend divine service and festivals when the weather permitted, and by encouraging them to fire blank cartridges once or twice a month; to see that they took care of their clothing and did not sell it, to avoid which they should be furnished only with absolute essentials such as shoes, stockings, and tobacco; to give careful attention to the sick, visiting them himself and encouraging his officers to do likewise. He was not to meddle in any way with the King’s magazine of which M. Dubuisson had complete charge, but should restrict his attention to seeing that the soldiers were paid at the customary rate. On the other hand he must assemble his detachment whenever Dubuisson should wish to hold a review. Nor was he to interfere at all in the administration of justice or police except to aid the Sub-delegate of the Intendant in executing his judgments.

Further, he was to promote harmony among the soldiers and the settlers, to give every assistance possible to the habitans and merchants and to treat both with courtesy. So, too, when he assembled the Indians at Port La Joye, from the Island and from the villages of Acadia, he was to receive them with much pomp, and to give them everything they needed. From them he was to find out what was happening in Acadia and to keep the officials in Louisburg informed in regard to both this and “the secret matters on which he had verbal instructions.” He was to keep close watch on everything given to the habitans, particularly brandy and other liquor given to the Indians, and to post a prohibition against the latter in Port La Joye, St. Peters, and Malpeque.

In general, he was to do his utmost for the good of the service and for the security of the colony whose affairs were thus entrusted to him.^[92]

The year of du Haget’s sojourn in Isle Saint Jean (1736-1737) was one of dire distress. In the early autumn a fire swept over the most thickly settled districts and destroyed the crops. Those affected were reduced to complete dependence upon the King for sustenance and for seed. Du Haget helped them out of the King’s stores and Le Normant, Commissaire in Ile Royale, sent twenty hogsheads of seed wheat from Acadia. Du Haget supplemented this as well as he could out of his small income and was rewarded a year later by a gratuity of 600 livres.^[93] In the meantime Duchambon had been chosen to succeed de Pensens.

Duchambon had been recommended by St. Ovide on account of his popularity with the Acadians. He was married to a native of the country who knew the Micmac language, and would, therefore, be useful in conciliating the affection of the Indians. Accordingly he was appointed Lieutenant de Roi on May 17, 1737, his command being definitely separated from that of the garrison and his salary increased to 1800 livres so that he might be able to serve the colony to greater advantage. The garrison at Port La Joye was increased to a full company of sixty men.^[94] Duchambon entered upon his new labors with zeal, promising devotion to his duties, assistance to Roma, and consideration for the Acadians. He shows all the enthusiasm of a novice and is not slow to criticize the work of his predecessors before he has had time to appreciate the difficulties under which they had labored. He asserts that the habitans had been kept in ignorance by the former officials who instead of encouraging them had made them work for their interests and charged them exorbitant prices for their provisions. So far as he is concerned, a new era has dawned for them.^[95]

He also criticizes the site chosen for the capital. Port La Joye was the most unproductive from the point of view of both agriculture and fishing, and too far removed from St. Peters, the principal settlement, to enable him to do justice to the needs of the colony. Moreover it was being abandoned by the starving habitans. His criticism was so far successful as to interest the Minister and during the next few years there was considerable correspondence on the matter in which the officials of Ile Royale took part. The chief result, however, was to influence the government in building only temporary structures at Port La Joye while awaiting a decision that was never made.^[96]

But the new Lieutenant de Roi could not change the luck of the little colony. The crops of 1738 were coming on beautifully when without warning a plague of field mice advanced upon the grain, sparing not even the grass. All was but a repetition of the calamity of 1728. To keep the habitans from deserting en masse Le Normant sent what he could spare from Ile Royale, only 112 quintals of flour, eight of peas, 10 of powder, 36 of shot, and 25 guns; and again made arrangements for procuring seed wheat in Acadia.^[97] Duchambon reported that the habitans, who had worked hard and deserved a better fate, were much elated over the help that they were getting; but Dubuisson, who was in closer touch with the feelings of the people, said that the years 1736-1738 were “years of great suffering, the habitans came to him in a crowd dying of hunger,” and that he had spent 1100 livres out of his own pocket, which was now empty, to save them from starvation. His letter is a tribute to his humanity but a melancholy indictment of the government which gave him the miserable salary of 600 livres and forced him to wait so long before reimbursing him for his outlay.

In spite of the plague and suffering of the preceding year, Duchambon’s enthusiasm was still high in 1739. He reported that 669¾ bushels of wheat and 150 bushels of peas had been sown and that there was land cleared for sowing half as much more. Of the 819¾ bushels, 653 had been provided by the King. Owing to summer rains which were general throughout Canada the yield had been only nine to one, but this had made the colony self-sufficing. This year two ships came direct to St. Peters from St. Malo. Though they were too late to do business they promised to return next year. But on the other hand he was having trouble with the Indians who were dissatisfied with their presents and said that he should not summon them only to make them suffer hunger, that the English would treat them better though they were not their allies. It was only by lavish hospitality at his own expense that he was able to satisfy them and induce them to renew their vows of loyalty to the French cause.^[98] It is probable that Duchambon in this case was endeavoring to impress the Minister by his influence over the Indians and his zeal for his country’s cause, as he had been reproved by him earlier in the year for refusing to assemble them in 1738 at the request of Bourville, on the ground that he was the senior officer, and could not take commands from the Acting-Governor of Ile Royale.^[99] At any rate he does not fail to ask for an indemnity.

In 1740 the seeding exceeded expectations. Bigot paid a visit to the colony and reported that the chimney of the King’s magazine had fallen down, that the barracks were leaking and also the bakery. He advised against spending money on Port La Joye, recommending St. Peters as the most thickly inhabited, the richest in commerce, and the most varied in fishing. On the other hand if the King wished to fortify the island and thereby attract settlers, he would recommend Three Rivers. He also suggested buying the surplus flour and vegetables of the colonists, as the only way to encourage them was to make them “touch some money.”^[100]

In 1741 five Acadian families crossed over to the island and settled at Malpeque. This was the first immigration under Duchambon, the misfortunes of the early years of his administration serving as a deterrent, in addition to the difficulties of clearing the land. Duchambon had been negotiating with several and had promised assistance in food and equipment for the first year. Eleven other families agreed to come in the following spring.^[101] This year also a beginning was made in raising tobacco, although Bigot did not wish to encourage the industry lest it might lead to the neglect of wheat. The wheat crop, which was promising, was damaged by rust and some of the settlers had to eat their seed, although a few peas were sold to the garrison.^[102]

In 1742, 1500 bushels of grain were sown and the returns were satisfactory but in June a disastrous fire occurred at St. Peters in which much property and woods were destroyed and two families of thirteen persons lost their lives.

In 1743, which again yielded a good crop, eight Acadian families of fifty or sixty persons settled at Malpeque, preferring that to Three Rivers as they did not wish to pay rent to a seigneur.

The story of 1744 repeats that of 1743. The colonists had now enjoyed three successive years of prosperity and were gradually increasing in numbers by immigration from Acadia. This migration was proceeding in a healthy manner, the younger Acadians moving over only after carefully spying out the land, and not in numbers too great to be easily absorbed. Plans were afoot for placing leaders in each of the settlements to build boats and establish trade with Louisburg instead of having to depend upon others for the transportation of their products. Had matters been allowed to continue thus the future of Isle Saint Jean would have been assured; but it was not to be. In March, 1744, Dubuisson the faithful and humane Sub-delegate of the Intendant died and was buried in the cemetery at Port La Joye, the last link between the Company of Comte de Saint Pierre and the Royal colony. In October du Quesnel, Governor of Ile Royale, died and Duchambon took his place.^[103] There his energies found wider scope though his reputation suffered in consequence. In the following year he was called upon to meet the attack of the New Englanders, supported by a British fleet; and on June 17 he surrendered the keys of the fortress of Louisburg. The fall of Louisburg involved the surrender of Isle Saint Jean and during the next three years the Acadians who had migrated to French soil once more found themselves in the hands of the English.

In the Hands of the English

The long-expected war between England and France broke out in the spring of 1744, the news reaching Louisburg on May 3. For the inhabitants of Isle Saint Jean this was a severe blow to their quiet progress. Although their part in the struggle was a minor one, it was a period of fear, unrest, and discouragement; and at one time it seemed that the entire population might be deported to France. With Louisburg in the hands of the English, and communications with Canada beset by many dangers, they existed during four years without a garrison, without either a civil or a judicial officer and without the ministrations of a priest. If the evidence of the register of Port La Joye can be relied upon they were denied spiritual comfort for more than five years, there being no entry from May 11, 1744, until September 15, 1749. Under such circumstances it is not surprising that population remained stationary and that after the restoration of 1749 the inhabitants constantly clamored for fortifications, an increase in the garrison, and the regular organization of ecclesiastical parishes.

Immediately on the outbreak of war it was decided at the French capital to defer the appointment of a successor to Duchambon as Lieutenant de Roi; and he, having become Governor of Ile Royale through accident, neither of the successors of du Quesnel having arrived, was authorized to withdraw the whole or part of the garrison from Isle Saint Jean to Louisburg.

Early in August he despatched du Vivier to Acadia and the latter en route to Bay Verte called at Port La Joye to reinforce his contingent, whence he embarked on his fruitless expedition to Annapolis. In the autumn of 1744, having received little encouragement from the Acadians either to attack Annapolis or to winter in the Isthmus of Chignecto, he returned to Louisburg, from which he was sent to Isle Saint Jean to take command of the twenty men still in garrison there. On June 17, 1745, Louisburg fell to the New Englanders supported by an English fleet, and its garrison with most of its inhabitants were transported to France. Some escaped to Quebec, while a few remained in Louisburg during the occupation of the English.

When the fall of Louisburg was assured Pepperell sent an expedition against Isle Saint Jean. This force divided, one part going to Three Rivers, the other to Port La Joye. At Three Rivers there was no resistance. Roma, the proprietor, lived there in fitful peace striving to make a little colony on the paternal system and relying on the weak arm of France for defence against the foes that were not of his own household. His establishment boasted of one small cannon, a six-pounder, which was more ornamental than useful, being fired on rare occasions for ceremonial purposes. Roma, with his son and daughter, escaped to the woods where he saw the Provincials plunder his stores, set fire to his buildings, and leave only the charred ruins of a once promising settlement, the object of so much solicitude on his part and of reasonable pride on the part of the officials at Port La Joye and at Louisburg. He then followed the road which he himself had made to St. Peters and finally made his way to Quebec to await the end of the war.

The other detachment landed at Port La Joye and carried out a similar plan of destruction, burning the capital to the ground. The garrison of twenty men under du Vivier retreated up the Northeast River, hotly pursued by the Provincials, until reinforced by a number of habitans and Indians it rallied and drove the invaders to their boats with a loss of nine men killed, wounded, or made prisoner. The whole expedition was in the nature of a destructive foray and having destroyed the nearest centers of French activity the detachments returned together to Louisburg, leaving the island to the disposal of their superiors. Shortly after this an agreement was arrived at whereby the inhabitants of Isle Saint Jean were to be unmolested for the space of one year on giving six hostages for their good behavior. Du Vivier and his twenty men, feeling that they could be of little use to the inhabitants after the fall of Louisburg, escaped to Quebec, arriving there on August 7. Here he entered eagerly into plans for the recovery of the island by a force from Canada and, though these plans came to nought, he managed to secure the despatch of provisions there to tide them over the distress caused by the devastation of the New Englanders and by the dearth of supplies for which they had hitherto looked to Ile Royale.

But if the inhabitants of Isle Saint Jean saw no further display of force by the English during the war their lot was not a happy one. Rumors of expulsion were rife and these caused a few of them to seek shelter in Quebec, particularly the fisherfolk who had their own means of transportation. But the majority remained attached to their little holdings, sowing and reaping in fear and trembling lest each crop should be the last.

That these rumors were not without foundation is now apparent from the official documents of the deliberations of the English at Louisburg, 1745-1746. Early in the autumn of 1745 Rear-Admiral Warren, Governor of Louisburg, had written the Duke of Newcastle, the Secretary of State, pointing out the importance of the conquest of Louisburg in giving an opportunity “to extirpate the French from North America,” thus securing the trade in fish and fur which would become infinitely more valuable when the French could no longer stir up the Indians and prevent them from procuring the valuable furs which the Continent afforded.^[104] To this end he contemplated transporting the entire French population to France. But the lack of transports prevented the immediate execution of this plan and accordingly on October 3, 1745, he again wrote the Duke of Newcastle:

Apart from the desire to monopolize the fisheries and the fur trade of Acadia, the English were convinced that the presence of the French settlers in Acadia was a constant inducement to the French of Canada to attempt the recovery of the conquered territory, and that “the French inhabitants imagine they are to stand neuter no longer than while the English flagg flyes in the fortification, and that upon the hoisting of a French one, they are at liberty to declare for the French King.”

In the postscript of a letter to the Duke of Newcastle, from Louisburg, November 23, 1745, Warren says:

Warren was still intent upon his plan of transporting the French from Isle Saint Jean when he was transferred to another command in June, 1746, and succeeded at Louisburg by Commodore Knowles. Before this transfer had been arranged, Warren had communicated his plan to Vice-Admiral Townsend who had actually taken steps to effect the evacuation of the island. But on June 7, 1746, a Council of War held in Louisburg decided to postpone the evacuation at present, “as the transports that were design’d for that service will now be wanted for the use of the Troops, and further Considering the vast Expense that the Transporting those inhabitants to France will amount to and the great Exigence of the State at present for money.”

In accordance with this recommendation Knowles issued the following declaration of indulgence to the inhabitants of Isle Saint Jean, a copy of which he sent to the Duke of Newcastle informing him that the evacuation was postponed because the transports were needed for an expedition against Canada, that it would have cost from £6000 to £8000, and “as they are a poor miserable inoffensive people, and I have Hostages in my Possession, there is no Danger to be apprehended from them”:

While the destinies of the inhabitants of Isle Saint Jean were being decided thus at Louisburg an expedition was being fitted out in Canada for its assistance and for the recovery of Acadia. On June 5, 1746, seven vessels set out from Quebec carrying 700 officers and men under command of de Ramezay. Apparently de Ramezay was given a free hand as to the ultimate destination of his forces. He first thought of entering Port La Joye but gave this plan up on being informed by a shallop from Isle Saint Jean that two English men-of-war were in the harbor. He then directed his course toward Bay Verte, the most strategic point for an attack on any of the conquered territories and for uniting the Micmacs and the Abenaquis. Here he was joined by a party of Indians. Here, too, he learned that the English ships were at Isle Saint Jean merely to procure provisions for the garrison at Louisburg and that they were quite unaware of any danger. However, through fear of complicating the relations of the inhabitants with the English, he decided to send only the Indians against Port La Joye, under one of his officers, Lieutenant St. Pierre.

As the Abenaquis refused to march with the Micmacs, unless accompanied by the French, de Ramezay decided to send the Micmacs alone under M. de Montesson (enseigne en pied) and five or six cadets. De Montesson returned to Beaubassin on July 23 with a number of prisoners, and Brisson of Isle Saint Jean, who offered his services as pilot to Port La Joye. He reported success, having killed or made prisoners almost forty men, whom he surprised on the banks of the Northeast River, and lost only one Micmac killed, and another wounded. If the Indians had been more amenable to discipline they would have captured a goelette with another forty men, as it was up the river trading with the settlers; but after the first triumph the Indians took to looting and the English discovering their danger had returned to the shelter of the ships in the harbor. He reported that the English were there only for provisions and were paying generously for them.

Among his prisoners were two of the habitans who had been given as hostages to the English for the good behavior of the others. These, together with the English prisoners and Brisson, whom he suspected of being a “bad Frenchman,” de Ramezay shipped off to Quebec.

In September some deputies came from Isle Saint Jean to ask de Ramezay for provisions and munitions and for advice as to how they should conduct themselves under the circumstances. He distributed powder and shot among them and left them to defend themselves.^[109]

But no occasion arose for the use of these munitions against the English. As the war dragged on Isle Saint Jean again dropped into the background. De Ramezay ultimately failed to take Annapolis, though he surprised Colonel Noble at Grand Pré, or even to threaten Louisburg; and the English remained in peaceable possession of both Ile Royale and Isle Saint Jean until the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748.^[110] Then, to the utter disgust of the New Englanders, Louisburg and its dependencies were returned to the French, in exchange for Madras on the other side of the world. For the inhabitants of both islands this was a fateful decision, for it encouraged them to believe that they could still be an asylum for the Acadians and that one day Acadia, too, would rejoice in the return of the French flag. But as the experiences of the war had convinced the English that they had much to fear and little to hope from Acadian professions of neutrality, they now set their faces to the task of anglicizing Acadia and in doing so they hastened toward another war in which neither the lack of transports nor the expense withheld them from their purpose of “extirpating the French from North America.”

Rebirth of the French Colony

The War of the Austrian Succession came to an end in 1748. Preliminaries of peace were arranged on April 30, and a treaty was finally concluded at Aix-la-Chapelle on October 18. On June 3, the Comte de Maurepas notified La Galissonière and Hocquart, the Governor and Intendant of New France, of the suspension of hostilities and informed them that Ile Royale and Isle Saint Jean would be restored to France. He suggested that the interval between the suspension of hostilities and the conclusion of peace would be a favorable opportunity for attracting Acadians, particularly to Isle Saint Jean; and he gave the Governor a free hand to take such measures to that end as should seem good to him, as one in close touch with local conditions.^[111]

La Galissonière immediately arranged to send Captain Benoit with a detachment of twenty-five troops to Port La Joye, “as much to succour the inhabitants who were on the point of abandoning the island from lack of food as to facilitate the retreat and establishment of Acadians there.”^[112] Bigot, who arrived at Quebec on September 1, to replace Hocquart as Intendant, sent by the boat which took the troops some provisions to sustain the disheartened settlers through the winter, as their crop had failed entirely.^[113]

Through the good effect of this prompt assistance, the presence of the troops, and the instructions sent to the missionaries of Acadia, it was hoped that the little colony would soon be born again with renewed strength. To this end, the missionaries were instructed to use persuasion where possible and fear of the Indians when necessary; and Benoit was instructed to promise liberal assistance from the Government to all Acadians who would migrate and bring their live stock with them. The latter suggestion was very necessary, as the earlier inhabitants of the island had not been rich in cattle, and such numbers as they had had been seriously decreased by sale to the English or by consumption during the absence of official aid and supervision.

On July 3, 1749, Louisburg and its dependencies were officially evacuated by the British and restored to the French; and the latter were free once more to try their fortunes in the game of colonization. But in the meantime plans were being formulated by the British, which were to give an unnatural impetus to the migration of Acadians to Isle Saint Jean. These in brief were, the settlement of British colonists in Acadia and the demand of an unqualified oath of allegiance from the Acadians as well as the pacification or extermination of the Indians.

Ever since the Treaty of Utrecht the British headquarters in Acadia had been at Annapolis, the Port Royal of the French, and no adequate attempt had been made to take effective possession of the land by colonization. At the same time the small garrison had been so badly neglected that at times it was on the verge of starvation. This had been a great opportunity for French intrigue with the Acadians and had enabled them to procure considerable supplies for Louisburg and Isle Saint Jean. There were three main routes by which these supplies were obtained: one overland from Annapolis and Minas to Chebucto, another from Cobequid to Tatamagouche, and a third from Beaubassin to Bay Verte; thence by water from all three to their destination. In this way practically all of Acadia was under tribute to Ile Royale, while the new rulers could not be sure of supplies from their own subjects. In addition to exploiting Acadian trade, the French, through their priests and missionaries to the Indians, were able to keep alive and foster among the Acadians the hope that they would soon see the fleur-de-lis waving over Annapolis once more, especially as the British placed so little value upon it. As late as 1739 Hocquart wrote the Minister that the English had not been strengthening Port Royal and probably intended, as was being said by several English officers, to give it back in some exchange; that they had sent all their heavy cannon to Boston and had a garrison of only 200 men and that the English settlers numbered only forty families, whereas the Acadian population had increased to 5000 souls.^[114] But in the War of the Austrian Succession the British had learned the weakness of their position and accordingly they decided to take more effective measures to maintain their foothold in Acadia by planting settlers at strategic points to prevent the Acadians from fraternizing with the French. At the same time the power of Louisburg was to be offset by a strongly fortified post in Chebucto Bay whose garrison would afford protection to both the new settlers and the Acadians.

Accordingly, in the summer of 1749 Halifax was founded on Chebucto Bay and Governor Cornwallis was instructed in the interests of colonization and trade to erect storehouses and establish settlements at Chebucto, Minas, La Have, Whitehead, and Bay Verte; and also to encourage settlement “north from the Peninsula to the River St. Lawrence, particularly at the River St. Johns on the North Side of the Bay of Fundy, for the better cultivating a friendship with the Indians inhabiting those parts and preventing the designs of the French.” Though the many indulgences of the British had not met with a dutiful return on the part of the Acadians, still in the hope of inducing them to become true and loyal subjects in the future they were to be allowed freedom of religion and the peaceable possession of such lands as were under cultivation, provided that they took the oath of allegiance within three months from the date of a proclamation to that effect. If any preferred to remove from Nova Scotia rather than take the oath, the Governor was to be careful to see that they did no damage to their houses and plantations before doing so. He was to issue a proclamation “forbidding all persons under a severe penalty to export out of said province to any French settlement whatever, any corn, cattle, or provisions of any kind, without leave first obtained from him or the Commander-in-chief for the time being.” Further, he was to exercise a careful supervision over the French priests in the province, to refuse his assent to the exercise of Episcopal jurisdiction by the Bishop of Quebec, and to do all in his power by education and intermarriage to encourage the Acadians to become British and Protestant.^[115]

By a proclamation of July 14, 1749, Cornwallis gave effect to his instructions in regard to trade and the oath of allegiance; and, on receipt of a petition from the Acadians asking the privilege of taking a qualified oath, exempting them from bearing arms against the French or the Indians, he, seeing in this the hope of the Acadians to be both French and British subjects at the same time, issued a second proclamation on August 1, fixing the last date for receiving the oath on October 15-26.^[116]

As will be seen later, the Acadians, relying upon a continuance of the British policy of advance and recede in the past, which had been due partly to reluctance to adopt extreme measures and partly to the weakness of their position, decided on a policy of evasion directed by the French officials and missionaries. That the British were aware of what was happening, and also played a waiting game, may be gathered from Governor Cornwallis’s letter to the Lords of Trade and Plantations, on September 11, 1749, and their reply on February 16, 1750, from which the following extracts are taken:

To this the Lords of Trade replied:

But, while the British were hesitating to adopt forcible measures, the French were making frantic efforts to get the Acadians over to their territory, and this comprised, according to their claims, not only Ile Royale and Isle Saint Jean but the territory from Bay Verte to Gaspé, including the River St. John, which Cornwallis had been specifically instructed to appropriate. The question of the limits of Acadia had dragged on since the Treaty of Utrecht and as it proved was not to be settled until the Treaty of Paris. In the meantime the confusion enabled the French to take temporary possession of the Isthmus of Chignecto and to foster settlement at Chipody, Petitcodiac, Memramcook, Shediac, Cocagne, and to control the St. John Valley by troops from Canada in alliance with the Indians.

A memorandum read before the King of France on August 29, 1749, shows both the excitement among the French in regard to the founding of Halifax, and the means which they proposed to adopt to hamper the British in their attempts to settle Acadia and anglicize the Acadians. The writer points out that the English would multiply under the protection of a garrison; that the Acadians, who had always retained the desire and the hope of returning under the dominion of France, would be compelled to renounce both, and to submit themselves seriously and for all time to the English, while the French would no longer have any effective means of retaking the country; that Acadia would become dangerous to Canada and to Ile Royale in particular, since, in addition to the forces that would be formed among the colonists, English men-of-war would have a base both against Ile Royale and French activities in Acadia; that, finally, Ile Royale would be deprived of assistance from Acadia, an inconvenience already felt since the English had forbidden the Acadians to furnish cattle, corn, or other provisions and had taken strong measures to prevent it. The writer continues that since the English are within their rights they cannot be opposed openly but such indirect means must be adopted as will not compromise the French. The sole apparent means seems to be to make the savages of Acadia and its environs feel how important it is to prevent the English from fortifying themselves and to engage them to oppose this openly, and to incite the Acadians to support the savages as much as they can without exposing themselves. The missionaries have orders and are disposed to conduct themselves to this end. But it is to be feared that, in spite of their preference for the French, the savages may be won over by liberal presents to the English side or suppressed by superior force. Perhaps the English may even expel the missionaries to the prejudice of the articles of the Treaty of Utrecht, although they have hitherto observed these articles.

However, the surest plan is to put Canada and Ile Royale in a state of defence at once, and to establish solidly Isle Saint Jean, which can be a great source of supply for Ile Royale in peace or in war. Orders have been given to attract as many Acadians there as possible while they are disgusted and discontented with English activities in Acadia. But, in the meantime, the forces in all the colonies must be increased, for both Louisiana and the West Indies will be exposed if Canada and Ile Royale are not made secure.^[118]

This memoir, when read side by side with the British accounts of Acadia, reveals clearly the motives which actuated the French in concentrating so much attention upon Isle Saint Jean and in inciting the Indians against the new settlement at Halifax. When read side by side with the correspondence of official and missionary, it proves that the policy of the latter was directed from headquarters and that Le Loutre, des Herbiers, Prevost, La Galissonière, and Bigot were all active agents in a national policy which had the highest sanction, a policy, however, which was no doubt dictated by desperation. To make Le Loutre, alone, the scapegoat, is merely to sidestep the issue. He was an efficient instrument who resorted to every artifice to carry out a plan that appealed to his intelligence and gave expression to his masterful and intriguing disposition. To him, as his letters so often attest, “the interests of the state and of religion” were one: hence he would convert the savages so as to make them French, and use them as a menace against the Acadians to prevent both becoming British subjects; hence, too, the origin of the first Acadian expulsion; for it was he who commenced the grand dérangement by forcing the Acadians over the Isthmus of Chignecto so that they would be upon French soil.

The immediate result of the grand dérangement, in its earlier stages, was a large influx of Acadians to Isle Saint Jean, an influx accompanied by much privation and hardship, which repeatedly called forth the helpless sympathy of the harassed officials in Port La Joye. The task of receiving and locating these refugees fell to the lot of Captain de Bonnaventure and Sieur Degoutin, Commandant and Sub-delegate of the Intendant, respectively. They were appointed in August, 1749, the former holding office until 1754, the latter until his death in 1752.

The instructions of Degoutin have been preserved and throw considerable light upon his duties at this trying period. Civil justice belonged to him entirely, but in criminal cases it was his duty only to ask the Commandant to arrest the accused, to hold a preliminary investigation and to await further instructions from Louisburg. He was to take charge of the King’s magazines, to keep a careful record of rations supplied to the garrison and to the habitans and refugees. He was to make a census of the inhabitants, men, women, and children, to receive new immigrants with attention, and make every effort to attract as many as possible. While supplying the refugees with everything they needed from the King’s stores, he was not to give rations to the ancient inhabitants, as they were to be aided only in the pursuit of the fisheries and in the culture of lands, but provisions should be doled out to them only in time of famine. In coöperation with the Commandant he was to parcel out lands to both old and new inhabitants in proportion to their live stock and to the work which they could undertake. He was to assist the Commandant in every way to facilitate the erection of the necessary buildings for the garrison and in general to do everything that his zeal might suggest for the good of the service, of order, religion, justice, the increase of the inhabitants, the cultivation of land, the multiplication of cattle, the progress of the fishery, being careful to inform the officials at Louisburg of all that transpired and to give frequent and exact accounts of the consumption of food and merchandise.^[119]

De Bonnaventure’s first duty was to reëstablish the capital of the colony and to provide accommodation for the officers and troops. Before winter he had completed the following buildings: office of the Commandant, guardhouse, quarters of the Commandant, barracks, flour magazine, quarters of the subalterns, dry-goods magazine, bakery, stables, forges, quarters of the captain of the troops, molasses magazine, quarters of the surgeon and chaplain, powder vault, and prison. All these were constructed of wood in the most temporary fashion, but Franquet thought that the works had not been done economically as they had cost more than 9000 livres.^[120]

Owing to the events transpiring in Acadia and to the pressure and encouragement of the French officials and missionaries a steady stream of immigrants flowed into Isle Saint Jean from 1749 to 1751. The first came from Beaubassin. Their settlement had been in the English territory contiguous to the boundary claimed by the French, and in the course of these three years all the Acadian population migrated or were forced by Le Loutre and his Indians over to French soil. Part of these refugees were temporarily absorbed on the French side of the Isthmus, the remainder went to Isle Saint Jean.

A despatch of August 15, 1749, states that seven or eight Acadian families had retired from Beaubassin to Port La Joye, making in all fifty or sixty persons. Provisions had been distributed among them but at first there were difficulties in placing them, owing to the fact that the River of Port La Joye and that of Brouillan had been already conceded, the first to two or three families, which had cleared only the environs of their houses, and the second to Duchambon and de Pensens. In the urgency of the moment de Bonnaventure and Degoutin were instructed to cede the lands not occupied or only in part to the newcomers, and if the ancient concessionaires made objection and had well-founded titles the new settlers would be required to pay cens et rentes after the scale fixed for Canada. But some doubt was held in regard to these titles on the ground that in all probability they gave only permission to settle.^[121]

The same ruling was to obtain in regard to Roma’s territory if any of the Acadians wished to go there.

This despatch also announced the significant fact that Gautier and Bigeau had been placed in the River Brouillan. These Acadians had distinguished themselves in the last war on the side of the French and had been such thorns in the side of the English that at the conclusion of peace they, with four others, had been specifically excluded from an amnesty.^[122] They were of the farmer-merchant type, former owners of vessels, and, as they were well calculated to play the part of leaders in their new home and patriotic in extreme, they were received with all favor and given all they asked, both for their vessels and for subsistence.

Gautier in particular had rendered conspicuous services to all the invaders who had beset Annapolis, 1744-1747. As a result of his action his losses mounted up to 70,000 livres according to a statement presented to the Minister.^[123] He was in Quebec in 1747 and again in 1748 and acted as agent for the Quebec officials at Louisburg. In 1748 he was paid a special gratuity of 500 livres and a year later was given an annual gratuity of 400, partly as a recognition of his services, partly to make a favorable impression on the Acadians, as a pledge of the favor that the King showed to those who served him well. As the later records will show he continued his public spirited endeavors till his death in 1752, and was instrumental in inducing large numbers of Acadians to follow him to the land of his adoption.

On August 9, Bigot, who had gone from Quebec to Louisburg to supervise the reorganization there, because of his experience as Intendant, 1739-1745, reported having sent a boatload of flour to Isle Saint Jean and that he would send another which he daily expected. On the twentieth, he sent 300 quintals of salt beef for the Acadians who had arrived and were still arriving.^[124] In view of the fact that grasshoppers had ruined the crop in Isle Saint Jean he was at his wits’ ends to provide sustenance for the entire population during the winter and following summer. The problem was complicated not only by the difficulty of getting anything from Acadia since the founding of Halifax, though he had managed to get 150 cattle, but also by the fact that smugglers from New England were taking greater risks owing to the presence of English cruisers about the coasts. However, he had ordered 6000 quintals of flour from New England and would have to trust to that for both the colonists and the Indians who had to be fed if they were going to harass the new settlements at Halifax.

On receipt of a call for aid in October, 1749, Bigot, who had returned to Quebec, sent by the vessel that brought the news, 300 quarts of flour, 700 to 800 minots of seed wheat for the highlands, which would be needed in early spring; and promised to send 800 or 900 minots for the lowlands, which would not be needed until June. Bigot, whose interest in the colony never wavers, on this occasion allows himself to say, “This island has cost the King much since last spring as we have sent quantities of goods and provisions.” But it was to cost much more before the tale was told!^[125]

The year 1750 was destined to be the banner year of immigration prior to the expulsion of 1755. The village and church of Beaubassin were burned on April 25,^[126] and on April 27 immigration began, via Bay Verte. By July, 200 had arrived and by November, over 800. On July 22 de Bonnaventure writes, “the Acadians come with precipitation bringing their beasts with them.” Five or six boats were engaged in the transport, including two sent from Quebec to Shediac with provisions for the Canadians who had taken a position on the Isthmus with a view to substantiating the claims of France and of assisting the migration of Acadians to French soil. The savages also were helping with the transportation and the whole scene presented picturesque aspects marred, however, by the fact that “some of the refugees were naked having had to escape with arms in their hands.” Bigot was again called upon for clothing and provisions and he informs the Minister that as all these people retire on French lands only on condition of support for the first years we must keep our word; and His Majesty will be repaid by having the island peopled as well as the coast from Canada to Acadia.^[127]

The English, who had allowed the migration of 1749 to pass unhampered, in 1750 sent a garrison to Beaubassin where they had commenced the erection of Fort Lawrence. They also sent cruisers into the Gulf to watch proceedings. This increased the excitement of the French and multiplied the hardships of the Acadians. One of the boats, Le Loudon, engaged in carrying despatches and a few Acadian families, was captured by them. The captain, according to Bigot, lacked the presence of mind to sink his despatches and the latter was afraid that these would be sent to London and might prove embarrassing. However, he sent duplicates of such as he had written to the Minister so that “diplomatic explanation” could be ready beforehand, but he deplored Le Loutre’s lack of caution in trusting his plans to writing.^[128]

As it proved Le Loutre’s indiscretions were not great. He had informed de Bonnaventure that he had sixty families at Beaubassin ready to cross and that if the limits were not soon fixed, 100 families from Cobequid would follow their example and go to Isle Saint Jean. There was also a letter from one Doucette to M. Languedoc stating that if Acadia was not returned to France he would go with his little family to Canada. “I assure you,” he adds, “we are in a wretched state for we are like the savages in the woods.” Such was the condition around Beaubassin in the French stage of the grand dérangement.^[129]

Le Loudon and the St. François, another boat from Canada, were taken as prizes by the English and although they became the subject of ambassadorial correspondence there is no evidence that they were ever returned. Consequently the French also sent armed ships into the Gulf to protect the migrations and to attempt reprisals.

As a result of the migration to date de Bonnaventure had to provide for 1000 newcomers, most of whom were rationed at the King’s expense, and in order to encourage cultivation they were forbidden to fish, a prohibition that later called forth criticism from both Franquet and de La Roque.

In the meantime Bigot had visited Louisburg to offset an attempt of the English to make a treaty with the Indians. He had taken with him 2000 aunes of cloth and promised to send more from Quebec. At the same time he urged Le Loutre to promise three years’ assistance to the Acadians to induce them to retire from Acadia and assured him that the savages would assist in their transport.

But although the inhabitants of La Rivière Canard, Minas, Pisquid, and Cobequid seemed about to retire from Acadia in 1750 under threat of a general massacre by La Corne and Le Loutre, only a few moved in 1750 and 1751. Consequently the migration of 1751 was less than half of that of 1750. It consisted of the overflow from Beaubassin and an advance guard from Pisquid and Cobequid. Those of Cobequid whom Père Girard said would be over in 1751 explained their reluctance to move owing to the increased vigilance of English cruisers. But to the younger Gautier they gave another reason, saying that to die of hunger at home or in Isle Saint Jean was much the same thing.^[130] Consequently they remained to swell the lists of 1753-1755. At the same time the inhabitants on the Isthmus were being taken severely in hand by the French and were to find that the title neutral French, however useful as a catch phrase in Acadia, was not to be relied upon on French soil, for, owing to the fact that some of the Acadians did not wish to bear arms in 1751, de la Jonquière issued a proclamation that all those who within eight days did not take the oath of allegiance to the French King and enroll themselves in the militia would be declared rebels and chased from their lands.^[131] This proclamation should be remembered by the Acadians, if not as an extenuating circumstance of the Expulsion, at any rate as interesting parallel reading. The French allowed only eight days to decide without debate, and the possibility of bearing arms was immediate. The French were in a state of war of their own making and might be engaged in actual hostilities at any moment; whereas bearing arms with the English would have been a remote contingency as it was only a guarantee of neutrality of the heart that they wished, knowing that such a state would in itself be sufficient to deter the French from invasion. As a matter of fact this severity of the French led some of the Acadians who had migrated from Pisquid to ask leave to return to their old homes, and this request was granted.

But, if the migration to Isle Saint Jean became less precipitate in 1751 and was practically negligible in 1752, the confusion at Port La Joye was not less great. Apart from the problem of feeding so many new settlers, with the supply uncertain at Louisburg and Quebec, there was infinite wrangling as to where the Acadians should settle and what they should do. In the confusion old and new habitans were involved. There was no capable land surveyor in the colony and none to be had from Ile Royale. Those who had been available hitherto were said to know either too much or too little. The new inhabitants were in a ferment. The old inhabitants feared for title to the lands already possessed by them and wanted sufficient land near by for natural expansion. Hitherto in many cases settlers had squatted on certain areas relying on a verbal title from the Lieutenant de Roi and Sub-delegate of the Intendant.

Practically every letter from de Bonnaventure contains an appeal for a land surveyor for reinforcement in the administration of justice and distribution of provisions, and for a more steady supply of food and settlers’ effects. One settler wants to erect a flour mill, another a sawmill, some of the soldiers want to marry and others are afflicted with scurvy. All settlers and soldiers alike are given to complaint and criticism of the overworked and disheartened M. Degoutin, who is out in his accounts and in bad health to boot. De Bonnaventure himself needs a holiday and asks querulously why he should be the only one who could not get it.^[132]

De Bonnaventure seems to have been a good officer, a patriotic Frenchman, zealous for the welfare of his new colony. He was a practical man with not too much education, as his letters attest. It is doubtful whether Isle Saint Jean could have been better served under the circumstances; but at times the problems were too much for his patience, and occasionally he allows himself to complain bitterly to his superiors of Ile Royale. Although in general he is optimistic and well balanced, the following extracts show him in a less genial mood.

To comfort the harassed Commandant, Desherbiers informs him that Prevost is sending some meat and vegetables and that Sieur Franquet will be sent over to study the needs of defence on the island. As for the parishes the refugees may have them wherever there are enough habitans to support a curé, but he should consider the best strategic sites for the churches so that the habitans can be easily assembled there to hear the orders of the Court. As to the grumbling inhabitants, they should be told that when he comes he will enquire into the conduct of each and administer blame and praise accordingly. He adds: “I know that the Acadians are not accustomed to obey their superiors, but if they are French they ought to obey them in so far as they are commanded for the service of the King and the good of the country which he gives them.

“In regard to the corporal who wishes to marry I cannot allow it at present. I have written to the Court in regard to old soldiers who are suitable as settlers to have them discharged when they wish to settle in the colonies. As soon as I hear the intention of the King in this matter, I shall permit those who are worthy to marry, but I shall not allow any soldier to marry while he remains in the service.

“Nor shall I allow Bijeau to use eau de vie. The use of this liquor is pernicious here as with you.”^[136]

The conditions set forth above and in other correspondence of the period tend to confirm the impression that the sufferings of the Acadians who were forced over to Isle Saint Jean (1749-1751) were quite as acute and widespread as those of their countrymen after the Expulsion of 1755. In many cases they did not have as much clothing and personal effects as the English allowed their fellow-sufferers from Grand Pré; and although they received a more cordial welcome in Isle Saint Jean than in the New England colonies, they do not seem to have been much better provided for. The officials at Ile Royale and Quebec sent what they could to the much-tried de Bonnaventure and Degoutin, but far from enough to maintain the refugees in ordinary comfort until they could become self-supporting. Most of the time they were reduced to bread and peas and suffered from lack of meat, while such live stock as they had was jealously guarded until it should multiply sufficiently to feed Louisburg. The older inhabitants, handicapped by a succession of crop failures, were denied rations, while all around them were widows and orphans whose misery compelled them to share what little they had. At the same time they saw their holdings threatened by the new arrivals in view of the fact that no proper survey had been made and that the refugees were being settled among them on lands that were probably theirs by right of possession or at any rate on lands that should have been pre-empted for the natural expansion of their own families. Though a number of new settlements were being created there was still enough incompetency and injustice in the distribution of the lands to cause bitter heartburnings and strife, and at the same time they missed the consolation and advice of their clergy. But the officials at a distance found ground for felicitating themselves on the numbers who had been seduced from their allegiance to the English; and, while deploring the quantity of provisions needed, counted not the cost to the Acadian exiles who were but pawns in a heartless game of imperialism.

Franquet Makes Plans

Colonel Franquet, an Officer of Engineers, who had been sent from France to superintend the new fortifications of Louisburg, and to devise a system of defence for the French possessions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, visited Isle Saint Jean in 1751. He left Louisburg on July 27 and returned on September 5. In the interval he had visited the chief settlements on the island and had prepared an elaborate report of forty pages outlining its condition and prospects and making recommendations for its future development.^[137] Something of the beauty of the summer entered into his report and inspired an outlook that was not altogether justified by later events, and at the same time lifted him above the petty worries that were causing so much discomfort to the local officials. The climate captivated him and he thought it brighter and less rigorous than Ile Royale. He prophesied that in less than ten years Isle Saint Jean would furnish Ile Royale with all the cattle and grain it could possibly consume.

With each of the grievances and fears of the habitans he deals in turn; and recommends, (1) that the four chief ports of the island be fortified and provided with a garrison, and that communication by land be improved; (2) that three additional ecclesiastical parishes be created; (3) that the decree against fishing be revoked and the habitans allowed to profit from the industry while not neglecting agriculture; (4) that an expert surveyor be sent to settle the land disputes once and for all; (5) that the government of Isle Saint Jean be organized independently of Louisburg; and (6) that direct communication be established between the colony and France.

Franquet’s detailed account of his journey about the island together with his observations upon the settlements and the habitans have been sympathetically translated and brilliantly summarized by the late Professor John Caven as follows:^[138]

The Census of Sieur de La Roque: 1752

The census made by the Sieur de La Roque under the direction of the Comte de Raymond, Governor of Ile Royale, is the last detailed account of Isle Saint Jean extant. It was taken in the summer and early autumn of 1752 and is a trustworthy landmark between the first rush of immigrants after the founding of Halifax and the second influx due to the fall of Beauséjour and the Expulsion of 1755. The Sieur de La Roque was instructed to make “a general census of the settlers, on the island, name by name, men as well as women and children, their respective ages and professions, the number of arpents each has of improved land, the number of their cattle, their species, fowl, etc., etc., distinguishing the good workmen from those who are not, and the character of each individual . . . and lastly a general survey of everything.”^[139] He did this work with zeal and knowledge and gave much satisfaction to the Comte de Raymond.

From this census, which is also a sort of journal and running commentary, many interesting facts may be gathered as to the general condition of the island in 1752. It also serves as a useful check upon many of the guesses that have been made about population and general conditions both prior and subsequent to that date. The chief defect of the census is the absence of a statistical summary, although this has not been an unmixed evil as it has compelled one to go over it many times and in so doing to receive impressions that would otherwise have been missed; and, moreover, neither the pathos nor the humor of life can find adequate expression in statistics. It is one thing to say that an enforced migration causes hardships to young and old alike, but one receives a much more vivid impression of hardship from reading such an excerpt as the following, in which an old couple of eighty-eight and eighty-three years, respectively, have to pull up their stakes and share the common ruin of their children and grand-children:

Or again:

There is no doubt that this couple also lost an intervening child owing to their migration, while their poverty reveals at a glance the hardship of leaving the rich valleys of Acadia to cut a new home out of the thickly wooded upland.

But the case of the widow compelled to seek a new home under such conditions is still more deserving of pity as the following passage reveals:

Nor does the census reveal any widespread comfort on the part of the older settlers. Less than a dozen could boast of fifty acres of cleared land or of any considerable stock. They are rich in children but not otherwise, and the widow with her large brood can look for little help from her almost equally indigent neighbors:

Most of the settlers were married and they married young; some as early as sixteen; but in general on attaining their majority. There were many widows and widowers with large families; but even these had the habit of marrying again. Only one case of separation is recorded, that of a soldier whose wife had left him.

The care with which the officials of New France and Acadia watched the cradles is clearly revealed in the census:

Again:

Evidently Jean Henry had given his twin sister in exchange for his wife; and the two new families thus created awaited the future in confidence. Their live stock was not numerous, and each husbandman had made a clearing for sowing only four bushels of wheat; but the faith of the pioneer must ever be “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

As intimated in the letter of Prevost to the Minister, November 28, 1751, the original settlements had been increased and others added. The Sieur de La Roque enumerates settlers in twenty-eight different localities always clustering around the coasts or at the mouths of rivers or on their banks. This was due to the needs of communication as well as to the fact that pasture lands were here already provided by nature, a matter of extreme importance to those who depended so much upon their live stock for the bare needs of existence. The total population was 2223 exclusive of the garrison, of whom 368 were bachelors or heads of families. These were distributed as follows:

Port La Joye, 9 families: 39 persons; Rivière du Quest, 19 families: 109 persons; Rivière du Nord, 7 families: 44 persons; Rivière du Nord-Est (north side), 34 families: 185 persons; (south side) 10 families: 64 persons; Rivière de Peugiguit (east side), 7 families: 34 persons; (west side) 8 families: 37 persons; Rivière du Moulin-à-Scie, 43 families: 308 persons; Anse au Comte Saint-Pierre, 4 families: 31 persons; Anse au Matelost, 24 families: 153 persons; Grande Anse, 18 families: 95 persons; Grande Ascension, 11 families: 59 persons; Pointe au Boulleau, 3 families: 14 persons; Anse de la Boullotierre, 1 family: 11 persons; Pointe Prime, 13 families: 73 persons; Anse à Pinnet, 17 families: 110 persons; Havre La Fortune, 6 families: 48 persons; Pointe de l’Est, 4 families: 22 persons; St. Pierre du Nord, 63 families: 353 persons; Tracadie, 8 families: 64 persons; Etang des Berges, 2 families: 15 persons; Macpec, 32 families: 201 persons; Bedec, 8 families: 42 persons; La Traverse, 5 families: 23 persons; Rivière des Blonds, 5 families: 37 persons; Rivière au Crapeau, 2 families: 12 persons; Anse du Nord-Ouest, 3 families: 30 persons; and Anse aux Sanglier, 2 families: 10 persons.

At Port La Joye the capital and the headquarters of the garrison, the oldest settlers had been only three years in the country, and most of them two years or less. This shows conclusively that all the original settlers had moved into the interior during the English occupation, 1745-1748. At the same time Three Rivers the site of Roma’s colony had not a single inhabitant.

Of the total population, 151 stated that they had come over in 1748-1749; 862 in 1750; 326 in 1751, and 27 in 1752. During the same period, 1748-1752, 93 children were born to the old inhabitants and 114 to the new. If this total of 1573 be deducted from the grand total of 2223, it leaves only 650 as the population for 1748 when the island was reoccupied by the French. This estimate must be approximately correct, for it is confirmed by both Franquet who gave the number of ancient habitans as 648 and Desherbiers who, in a letter to the Minister, November 5, 1749, placed the population at 653 for the preceding year. In this letter he says, “The census made last year shows 128 heads of families making 735 persons, in which number are included 21 habitans from Acadia totalling 82 persons.”^[140] It is a pleasure to note how nearly these three different estimates approach one another and they should discredit completely the wild statement of Prevost in 1751 that the new inhabitants numbered about 2000 and the old inhabitants about 1100.^[141]

Of live stock, the habitans possessed 98 horses, 1259 cattle, 799 oxen, 1230 sheep, 1295 pigs, 2393 hens, 304 geese, 90 turkeys, and 12 ducks. As these figures include beasts and fowl of all ages and seem to be reliable the mortality among the beasts brought over from Acadia by the refugees must have been a heavy one. This mortality is referred to in the correspondence of the period^[142] and may be realized to some extent by comparing these figures with the specific statement of Prevost that up to November, 1751, the Acadians had brought over to the island 2209 horned cattle, many pigs, several sheep, and 171 horses. These added to the live stock of the ancient habitans should have shown a considerable increase even after due allowance had been made for probable shipments to Louisburg. As it is, the grand total of Sieur de La Roque is actually less than the increase from Acadia as given by Prevost. This can be explained only on the hypothesis that as a result of the failure of crops, 1749-1751, the cattle were consumed by the starving inhabitants or died from lack of fodder.

In addition to the live stock the habitans owned 4 schooners, one of 15 tons, one of 25, one of 26, and one of 45 to 50 tons; 4 batteaux; 15 fishing boats; and 11 small boats or canoes. There were only 4 flour mills and 2 sawmills for the entire colony.

Although the crops promised well, there was much land lying idle for lack of seed. The entire seeding for the year consisted of 1490 bushels of wheat, 129 bushels of oats, 181 bushels of peas, 8¼ bushels of barley, 8 bushels of rye, one bushel of linseed, one of sprat, and one-half bushel of buckwheat; but there was land cleared for sowing 2935 bushels of wheat if the settlers had had it to sow. In eleven of the newer settlements although small clearings had been made not a bushel had been sown; and even in the older settlements there was great dearth of seed.

This dearth of seed was due not only to the shortcomings of official France in not keeping its promises to the Acadians who had migrated under assurance of liberal aid but also to a succession of misfortunes from 1749 to 1751. These may be illustrated from the Sieur de La Roque’s comments on Malpeque, one of the oldest and most promising of all the settlements:

At East Point, also, a settlement dating from 1719, not a bushel of grain had been sown. The special circumstance affecting this settlement was a disastrous fire which swept over the original site on the south of the point and embraced in its destructive course several leagues on the north side of the island. This misfortune had led the settlers to move to the north side of the point two leagues to the westward and there they had cleared about sixty acres, but were dependent upon government assistance for seed; “and if the King does not make them a gift or loan of seed so that they can sow it next spring they will find it impossible to maintain themselves, being today at the last stage of poverty through the great mortality among their live stock.”

The principal settlement in 1752, as always, was Port Saint Pierre with the tributary settlement of the Northeast River because of the fishing trade, but as had been frequently pointed out these fishermen were at the mercy of a ring of merchants in Louisburg who charged exorbitant prices for their supplies and took the products of the sea at their own valuation. The Sieur de La Roque suggests that “if the settlers could supply the bread, meat, clothes, and linen and the fishermen were obliged to procure only their salt, lines and hooks from the aforesaid merchants, they would be able to sell their fish at the lowest price and reap a substantial profit.”

Viewed as a whole the census of Sieur de La Roque is the most valuable document of the French period in Isle Saint Jean. It reveals both the achievements and the aspirations of the French in what might be called the era of hope. The virtues and vices of paternalism stare at one from every page. But his recommendations like those of his predecessors were neglected by the corrupt and decrepit Court, and the next few years were crowded by events which the harassed officials of the little colony were unable to control and which finally drove them and their wards to the ends of the earth.

The Shadow of Calamity

On the return of Franquet to Louisburg the Comte de Raymond, influenced no doubt by his report, issued the following instructions to de Bonnaventure on October 4, 1751:

In 1752 considerable progress was made in Isle Saint Jean in spite of the dearth of provisions. It was possible to estimate the needs of the refugees with greater accuracy owing to the fact that immigration was slight: only seven or eight Acadian families crossed over in the good season and later in the year five German and Swiss families, deserters from Halifax; and in addition fortune was kind, bringing a bountiful crop.^[143]

In spite of the sad condition of many of the refugees who, according to de Bonnaventure and Prevost, showed signs of avarice and chicanery and a fondness for wrangling with one another, the year 1753 was one of hope. The crops gave splendid promise until late in August when they were attacked by rust; but, as it was, the grain yielded seven to one. On the other hand the gardens were very fruitful and this did much to offset the moderate returns from wheat. One sole habitan carried 5000 cabbages and 100 hogsheads of turnips to Louisburg; and, though his case was exceptional, it was a great encouragement to others. The Governor of Ile Royale gave flour in exchange for wheat and imported New England wheat for seeding in the following spring.

In his observations on farming in the island, Prevost throws an interesting sidelight on the extent to which paternalism was carried at this date. Some of the Acadians wished to raise horses but he discouraged the industry on the grounds that they would require more food than oxen, that as they gave quicker returns and needed less training oxen would be neglected, and that as they would find an easy sale in the West Indies, that would lead to commerce with the enemy. Hence the habitans must be prohibited from having more than one horse per family.^[144]

Further the island could now felicitate itself on the presence of priests, a fact which gave “inexpressible joy” to Prevost. Prior to 1752 there had been only the chaplain of the garrison at Port La Joye, but henceforth there were to be four additional priests, stationed at Malpeque, St. Peters, Northeast River, and Point Prim. The habitans vied with one another in completing the chapels, and the Minister directed that 2700 livres be diverted from the secret service funds for this purpose.^[145] Those of Point Prim, most of whom were from Cobequid, were particularly delighted to have with them their former priest Père Girard. He in turn took a deep interest in their affairs and interceded with the Minister on their behalf. The following extract from one of his letters, dated October 31, 1753, confirms one in the belief that the lot of the refugees in the French stage of the grand dérangement left much to be desired:

The progress of the English establishments at Fort Lawrence and Fort Edward, stimulating as they did the menaces of the French and Indians at Beauséjour, spurred on the Acadians so that in 1753 and 1754 migration was revived after the lull of 1752. Some 400 passed over to Isle Saint Jean in 1753. This number included 135 who had gone to Ile Royale and settled at Pointe à La Jeunesse, where they had almost starved. The census of 1753 gives a total of 2641, an increase of 418 over that of Sieur de La Roque in 1752. In live stock there were 823 oxen, 1497 cattle, 1651 pigs, 1440 sheep, and 152 horses. On cleared lands 2149¾ bushels of wheat had been sown and on burned land 605½. There was additional land cleared for sowing 5555 bushels, and burned for sowing 2429 bushels. Of peas 420½, barley 23½, rye 5, and oats 435¾ bushels had been sown. The dearth of seed had prevented the habitans from using almost two-thirds of their available land; and it required all the surplus crop to provide seed for the following year.

In the spring of 1754, 8000 bushels of wheat, 1000 of peas, and a quantity of oats were sown, and, barring an accident, the Governor of Louisburg looked forward to the prospect of drawing some grain from Isle Saint Jean instead of sending it there as had hitherto been the sad necessity practically every year since its foundation.^[147] Acadians still continued to migrate and would have done so in greater numbers but for the lack of fortifications, a lack which the officials of Louisburg and Port La Joye urged in almost every letter from 1749 to 1758. In April M. de Bonnaventure, the Commandant, was transferred to Louisburg and was succeeded by M. Rousseau de Villejouin.^[148]

The census of 1755, as supplied by the missionaries to L’Abbé de L’Isle Dieu, revealed a population of 2969. This census is the first to show a settlement at Three Rivers since the failure of Roma, but according to it there were then 101 persons located there and others were arriving. Immediately after the census was taken an unprecedented number of Acadians crossed to the island owing to the fall of Beauséjour and the Expulsion of 1755 which followed it. This was the most trying period of all for the Commandant. The refugees came late in autumn without warning, without resources, and the island had little to offer. Between the last months of 1755 and the first months of spring some 2000 were flung upon the care of de Villejouin.^[149] They came from Beauséjour, Cocagne, Pisquid, and Cobequid. From the latter a few had moved over quietly during the two years preceding the expulsion, but in 1755 the village moved en masse via Tatamagouche so that when the British officers arrived bearing the orders of Lawrence not a single habitan was to be found. In his extremity de Villejouin shipped off the more aged and infirm to Canada but he still had 1400 additional refugees to feed and nothing to feed them with. Under such circumstances it is little wonder that the “souls” whom the missionaries were sending to Isle Saint Jean became “mouths” to the practical Commandant. By 1756, then, the population of Isle Saint Jean must have exceeded 4400 and of these fully one-third were entirely at the ration of the King while an equal number must have been less than self-supporting. It is interesting to note that of 87 Acadians who crossed over from Cocagne in the spring of 1756, 16 had been expelled by the English and disembarked in Carolina. They, with 34 others, had made their way back to the St. John River, thence to Cocagne. They were destined to be expelled once more in 1758.^[150]

The suffering of all during the winter of 1755-1756 was great. De Villejouin had implored help from Louisburg but the officials had little to spare. They sent what they could, it being a mild spell late in December, and promised more in April. But all that could be carried in a goelette and a batteau could not suffice for so many. In the spring Drucourt and Prevost sent two vessels with provisions and in the summer Bigot sent from Quebec on the boat, Le Flora, which carried the “useless mouths” thither, a boatload of provisions, and another boat, Les Deux Soeurs, on its way to Louisburg was chased by the English and had to unload in Isle Saint Jean.^[151] Even with this aid de Villejouin reported in November, 1756, that he had only two months’ supplies on hand for the 1400 recent arrivals at the minimum ration of 20 pounds of flour, 10 pounds of vegetables, 12 pounds of beef, 1 pound of butter, and 1 pot of molasses per family per month. At the same time the ancient habitans owing to bad weather in August had only half what they needed for winter, and would be unable to keep anything for seed.^[152] Under such trying conditions de Villejouin feared that unless help came from some unexpected quarter he would be compelled to kill off the cattle to avert starvation; and this would be a great pity as there was plenty of fodder to winter the 7000 horned cattle which they actually possessed. He had recently gathered some 400 of these at Tatamagouche, of which he sent 178 to Louisburg; and he was sending 24 young men to Acadia to winter there that they might pick up wandering cattle for Louisburg and save themselves and their own beasts as long as possible. But the refugees have neither clothing nor money and those who are without money or cattle cannot have even meat if the rations give out. In addition to all this salt was scarce and the officers of the garrison had nothing to drink.

A few days later the Commandant wrote that the habitans were pressing him every day to allow them to kill the cattle but he did not wish to do that except as a last resort.^[153]

By good luck Prevost was able to buy the cargo of a prize taken from the English and he sent to Villejouin 1179 quintals, 60 pounds of flour, 258 quintals of salt beef, 133 quintals, 16 pounds de pieds et testes de cochons, 3942 pots of molasses, 100 hogsheads of salt, 517 ells of drugget, 82¼ ells of coarse blue cloth, 176 wraps of various kinds, 100 hats, and 2000 ells of blue, striped stuff for chemises, charging him to make this last until spring. Apart from this lot, the stores of Louisburg were empty and there was no merchandise in the colony.^[154]

One of the boats carrying the salt and part of the flour got caught in the ice near Port La Joye. Most of the cargo was saved by the Indians.^[155]

The tale of 1757 was even more distressing. Some seed wheat was brought from France on the frigates that came out for the defence of Louisburg, but the crop was again a failure, and de Villejouin had to muster all his courage to face the winter. The fears of the habitans were increased by the rumors of English designs against Louisburg. Some of them grew so discouraged that they did not till their lands, as they expected a raid from the English at any moment. To provide against this contingency, all the coast inhabitants were armed as well as possible and provided with ammunition. The women and children were sent up the Northeast River and the habitans there were instructed to send their families and cattle into the woods on the approach of the enemy.

In the meantime the young men of the colony were playing an active part against the English. Sixty of them had been armed and sent over to Acadia in the winter of 1756. They picked up a number of horses and 40 oxen near Pisquid. Here also they killed 13 Englishmen, wounded four, and captured a magazine with 300 hogsheads of wheat, 60 of flour, some lard and butter. They also burned two granaries of wheat, a bakery and a mill. In addition to this they aided some Acadians who were in hiding between Cobequid and Tatamagouche to migrate to Isle Saint Jean and carried 500 oxen to Louisburg.^[156]

Gautier, son of Nicolas, the old enemy of England, was engaged as a scout for France. In the winter of 1756 he had made a remarkable journey to Quebec by the St. John Valley carrying messages from Louisburg. During 1757 he was busy in the vicinity of Halifax from which he and his Indian guides seldom returned without scalps and prisoners taken at the very gates of the citadel.^[157]

In the early spring of 1757 de Villejouin directed the capture of two boats from the English, one directly under the guns of Fort Gaspereaux, the other near by.

But all these exploits profited little the hungry refugees of Isle Saint Jean. They were still an object of much solicitude to the officials of Canada and Ile Royale but they could give them little assistance, while their solicitude was not entirely altruistic. They seemed to be quite as much concerned with the conservation of horned cattle as with the sufferings of the Acadians. Vaudreuil writing to the Minister on April 18, 1757, says that de Villejouin has only six weeks’ provisions for the refugees while many of the ancient inhabitants are in want and have no seed. “The women and children dare not go out being unable to hide their nakedness. It is the same with a number of the men. Isle Saint Jean deserves attention. It would be a great pity to lose it, the more that there are actually 6000 horned cattle there. It is very necessary then that the King should send some frigates to the island and even have them remain there during the winter, otherwise the English could easily pillage and burn the scattered settlements.”^[158]

On December 10, 1757, Prevost wrote the Minister asking for seed wheat and immediate assistance to avert famine in Isle Saint Jean where the last two crops had been a total failure. He had succeeded in getting some wheat and rye off prizes, otherwise they would have starved to death. As it was the prospect for the winter of 1758 was pitiable and many would suffer extreme want until the next crop which could not be sown unless seed came from France.^[159] This is the last extant report prior to the conquest by the English. But the silence speaks eloquently of hardship and neglect.

Such then was the condition of Isle Saint Jean on the eve of greater calamity. During five years there had been only one good crop and it had been limited through lack of seed. Throughout this period the ancient inhabitants had hardly been able to provide themselves with the bare necessities of life. At the same time there were between 1400 and 2000 refugees entirely dependent upon the King’s stores which seldom could boast two months’ supplies on the most careful rationing. Old and new inhabitants alike were constantly beset by a double fear, the fear of want and the fear of invasion. Yet, in the main, they kept up a brave front and relied upon the King. Though there were complaints of insubordination, only an obedient and dependent people would have submitted to the ordinances which aimed at preserving the cattle for the future needs of others, while they preserved a miserable existence on bread and peas, eked out with occasional doles of salt meat reshipped from Louisburg. As it proved, it would have been better to have killed their cattle, for they were ultimately destroyed or captured by the English when the fall of Louisburg involved the tragic isle in the same fate.

The Expulsion of 1758

The year 1758 was a fateful one for the habitans of Isle Saint Jean. Faithful to the end they did what they could to assist in the defence of Louisburg. All the youth capable of bearing arms were sent off with the Indians under M. de Villejouin, son of the Commandant. They were employed by Drucour, at Miré, where they were joined by Boishebert with troops and Indians from French territory, on July 1. According to the latter, de Villejouin’s detachment consisted of 200 men, badly equipped. One hundred of them had to be abandoned because they had no shoes.^[160] The others, though willing, were of little use, as Louisburg capitulated on July 26, and with Louisburg were involved the fortunes of Isle Saint Jean.

The third article of the capitulation was as follows:

The inhabitants were afterward included as it had now become the settled policy of the British to root out the French completely. Consequently steps were immediately taken to deport everybody to France. On August 8, Amherst instructed Lord Rollo, accompanied by Lieutenant Spry, engineer, to take 500 men on four ships of war, and to proceed, under proper convoy provided by Admiral Boscawen, to St. John’s Island. There he was to build a fort near the existing barracks or on the best site available, capable of being defended by 100 men or as many as should be necessary for their own security and for the security of the island. Carpenters, boards, spikes, nails, palisades, and everything necessary were to be taken along with the troops.

M. Drucour was to send two or three officers from Louisburg to inform the garrison and the inhabitants of the capitulation and to instruct them to lay down their arms. If any of the inhabitants should refuse to lay down their arms or should offer opposition they were to be treated as rebels and destroyed “that we may remain in quiet possession of the island.”

All the inhabitants who should surrender or be taken alive, were to be brought to Louisburg, and if the number should be so great as not to leave room for the troops, they should be sent off first and the ships would return for the latter.

When everything was settled, a captain and three subalterns with 100 to 130 men or as many as Lord Rollo should consider necessary, should be left and he should return to Louisburg for further orders.^[162]

On August 8, Colonel Rollo set out and immediately on arrival proceeded to build Fort Amherst, the first fort erected on Isle Saint Jean; and to round up the inhabitants, who after hearing the officers sent by Drucour, made no resistance, in the neighborhood of Port La Joye, although many of those in the outlying settlements escaped to Miramichi and Quebec, carrying with them or destroying as much of their live stock and household effects as they could. Four French schooners kept busy on the north shore transporting the people with their flocks and household goods. The Indians also mustered to the number of 150 on the north shore and gave Rollo no little uneasiness as to their intentions, but they confined themselves to destroying property to prevent it from falling into his hands.^[163] The chaplain of Port La Joye escaped the day before Rollo arrived, but the priests of Northeast River, St. Peters and Point Prim were embarked with their parishioners.

Among the first lot of 692 sent from Port La Joye and its neighborhood was the Commandant and his family who wrote the following letter, which is both a tribute to his humanity and a sad confirmation of the miserable condition of the inhabitants:

A letter from Boscawen to Pitt, September 13, 1758, based upon a report from Lord Rollo reveals the English ignorance of the island at this time as well as their credulity. In this letter he says: “By the number of the inhabitants on this island, and the plenty of corn and cattle they have, you will see the great importance of it to the French, by the best accounts I can get, they have been the only supply for Quebec of corn and beef since the war except what has been brought from Europe, having at present above 10,000 horned cattle, and many of the inhabitants say they grow each of them 1200 bushels of corn annually, they have no other market for it but Quebec. They have been an asylum of all the French inhabitants of Nova Scotia, and have from this island constantly carried on their inhuman practice of killing the English inhabitants for the sake of carrying their scalps to the French who paid them for it, several scalps were found in the Governour’s quarters when Lord Rollo took possession, I have wrote to his Lordship to desire he will send a particular account of the island, its produce, and if possible how this great increase of inhabitants came about. As the Island hitherto has been thought of small consequence and not to have above four or five hundred inhabitants; indeed M. Drucour informed me there might be near 1500.”^[165]

The preceding chapters adequately dispose of the notion that Isle Saint Jean had ever been a source of supply for Quebec and, with the exception of cattle, for Louisburg. On the contrary, its history had been one long cry of famine and almost every year it had to draw flour and seed from Quebec, Louisburg, Acadia, New England, or even from France. Prior to 1752, Louisburg got its cattle from Acadia and even after the expulsion most of its cattle came from the same place, having, it is true, been picked up there by Acadian refugees on Isle Saint Jean. In 1756 and 1757 a few cattle were shipped from Isle Saint Jean, but that had been done only by the most careful husbanding of resources and to the cruel neglect of its own inhabitants. Before that date the supply of cattle had been meager indeed; but it had always been a ground of hope that one day the island would be a source of supply for Louisburg. It cannot be too distinctly emphasized that Isle Saint Jean under the French was never self-supporting.

The scalps alleged to have been found by Lord Rollo have also been a subject of controversy. But there is no reason to doubt the accuracy of his statement in this regard as there is ample evidence to prove that the French encouraged the Indians to bring English scalps to them; and there is evidence also that they paid for them. On the other hand these scalps were not taken by the Acadians of Isle Saint Jean but by the Indians. The only Acadian from Isle Saint Jean who can be definitely connected with the Indians in their scalping raids was Gauthier whose exploits are commended in the journals of both The Formidable and The Inflexible. The Chevalier Barbier de Lescoet, Second Captain of The Formidable says, September 22, 1757: “Last evening, the Acadian Gautier, and 4 Indians who had left on the 1st of the month for Halifax, returned. . . . The object of the party was to capture prisoners, but they did not succeed in doing so; they only killed two men whom they scalped.”^[166] The diarist of The Inflexible says: “A man named Gauthier, resident of Louisburg, a sworn enemy of the English, did not neglect to tell us what was going on in their ports, although 60 leagues distant. Our general detailed him on several occasions to go there with some Indians, who never returned without bringing scalps and prisoners, secured even at the foot of the ramparts, and I must say that Gauthier received a well deserved reward from the general.”^[167]

Apart from Gauthier, the Indians of Isle Saint Jean joined with their brothers of the mainland in many scalping raids that were applauded by de Vaudreuil in a letter to the Minister dated August 6, 1756. So that it is not unreasonable to suppose that Lord Rollo wrote in good faith, although his letter does not necessarily reflect upon the humanity of the habitans settled in Isle Saint Jean. Responsibility must be placed upon the French leaders.

The deportation of the inhabitants of Isle Saint Jean proceeded slowly. Captain Hay, who was agent for the transports sent to Port La Joye, refused to allow any to be sent to the north shore of the island to intercept those who were escaping by French assistance. On October 29, Lord Rollo reported that 1500 had been embarked. On November 5, Admiral Durell reported that 2000 had been embarked in 16 transports and sent as cartel ships to France.^[168] On November 6, Whitmore in a despatch to Pitt reported that 2200 had been embarked but that Lord Rollo much against his inclination had been obliged to leave the inhabitants of a whole parish behind, as they lived at a distant part of the island about 100 miles by land. On November 14, Lord Rollo returned to Louisburg. Consequently, whatever additional habitans were deported by him must have come in during the intervening two weeks.^[169]

From the records both French and English that have survived or are accessible it is impossible to decide as to the total number exported. In addition to the 2000 who according to Admiral Durell were sent off before November 5 a fleet of seven transports set out from Canso on November 25 under the leadership of Captain Nicholls in the Duke William. According to this narrative there were over 700 in the Duke William and the Violet which were the largest. Estimating the five smaller ones at 600, this would make a total of 3500^[170] who were transported in 1758, of whom 700 were drowned.^[171] On the other hand it is possible to argue that these seven transports were part of the sixteen mentioned by Admiral Durell, although both the dates and the total are strong evidence against that hypothesis. Again when one looks at the French records there is equal confusion. The records of Acadians at the ration of the King do not distinguish between Acadians from Isle Saint Jean and those from Ile Royale. According to a statement of 1763 there were in round numbers 2400 living at the expense of the King. This would seem to indicate either that there had been a heavy mortality, which we know to be true, or that the smaller number had been deported. Even if the larger number of 3540 be taken as the number deported from Isle Saint Jean, there were still 1100 to be accounted for, accepting, as we are led to do by other evidence, de Villejouin’s estimate of between 4600 and 4700. Many of these escaped to Quebec in French schooners from the north shore. Others fled to Miramichi where they were reported by Murray to Wolfe, September 24, 1758, as in a starving condition and making preparations for migration to Canada. Others again found their way to St. Pierre and Miquelon—obviously those from St. Peters, East Point, and Three Rivers. A census of these islands taken in 1767 enrolls eighty-one as from Isle Saint Jean, and some of them can be identified from the census of Sieur de La Roque.

The same confusion exists in attempting to estimate the number who remained on the island. Lord Rollo stated that he left one whole parish which was distant from Port La Joye. This was no doubt the parish of Malpeque; but there were other habitans up the Northeast River who also escaped deportation. That this is so may be gathered from an entry in Knox’s Historical Journal, July, 1759.

It is obvious that Boishebert found some habitans upon whom he could rely for provisions and who were able to support him in the ambuscade. By this time the Acadians were adepts at living in hiding, as the English were to find when they sent for the parish that had been left by Lord Rollo. Early in the spring of 1759, Governor Whitmore sent two armed sloops and two transports to the island to relieve the garrison and take off the remainder of the inhabitants, but on their arrival, Captain Johnson, who had given the spirited answer to Boishebert, informed them that the French had all gone off to Canada.^[172] But this was not the case. A few may have gone, sufficient to give support to the rumor, but many must have been in hiding, particularly in the western part of the island; and these retained their loyalty to France, still hoping for her ultimate return. A report of Governor Wilmot dated June 2, 1764, states that there were upward of 300 Acadians on Isle Saint Jean who “recently in a most solemn manner” declared that they would recognize no sovereign save the King of France.^[173] When Captain Holland made his survey in 1765 he estimated thirty Acadian families on the island; and in 1767 Captain Morris gave the specific number 207. It would appear then that between 200 and 300 inhabitants were all that remained after fifty years of effort to perpetuate the French race and character in Isle Saint Jean.

Social Life and Institutions

From the beginning Isle Saint Jean was a dependency of Ile Royale: both its government and its interests were subordinated to those of the fortress of Louisburg. During the twenty-eight years, 1730-1758, when the island was part of the Royal domain, with the exception of the three years when it was in the hands of the English, there was a garrison at Port La Joye, varying from thirty to sixty men. At intervals additional soldiers were taken over from Louisburg for clearing or construction purposes; but in no case was there ever more than 100 men, and that rarely. The commander of the garrison was also the head of the colony, except during the interval of eleven years when de Pensens and Duchambon bore the title Lieutenant de Roi. This title was not revived after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, except in the case of du Vivier; but he did not repair to his post; and, owing to suspicious dealings with the English Commissioners on Acadian boundaries, he was supplanted by de Bonnaventure. Both de Bonnaventure and de Villejouin held the title of Commandant only.

The duties of the Commandant as gathered from the instructions that have survived were by no means slight. He was the responsible head of the colony, accountable for defence, good order, and the general welfare of the settlers. He was the force behind the Sub-delegate of the Intendant in the administration of justice. With the Sub-delegate, he conducted preliminary investigations in criminal cases and then awaited orders from Louisburg. He and the Sub-delegate were jointly responsible for the granting of lands and for the distribution of the settlements.

The Sub-delegate of the Intendant was responsible for the fiscal administration of the colony, the magazines of the King, the pay of the garrison, the distribution of seed and relief, the administration of civil justice. His task was heavy, owing to the red tape that tied the hands of the colonists making his permission necessary in the most trivial cases. This in turn destroyed the initiative of the settlers and caused them to lean more heavily upon him. During the entire period under review there were only two Sub-delegates: Poitier Dubuisson who assumed office under the Comte de Saint Pierre in 1722 and remained in the colony until his death in 1744; and François Marie Degoutin who was appointed in 1749 and died in 1752. Both were buried in the cemetery of Port La Joye. On the death of Degoutin, Deslongrais who had acted as his assistant during his last illness, carried on as warden of the stores. There was some thought of making Roma Sub-delegate but the idea was dismissed as impracticable. Later Sieur Pascaud was recommended but there is no record of his appointment. It is probable that in the last days of turmoil, when the distribution of relief to Acadians was the most pressing duty, the Commandant made temporary appointments from the officers of his staff, as warden of stores, while justice was constrained to wait upon a peace that never came.

One example of what we should call a coroner’s inquest has survived. From this it would appear that such an inquest was conducted by the officers of the garrison. The case was that of one Prest-à-Rire, mason and soldier of the company of de La Vallière attached to that of Dufresne. He had been missing since January 10 and was discovered on the ice of Port La Joye in the second week of April. Gabriel Barbudeau, Surgeon Major of Port La Joye, on requisition of Sieur de Pommeroy, Ensign Major of the garrison, and on orders from Denis de Bonnaventure, Commandant, went out to view the corpse. They stripped it and, on discovering no marks of fire, iron, stick, or other violence, found that the man had died from exposure to cold and the abundance of snow which had fallen during the day on which he had been lost. The corpse was frozen in all its parts. The verdict was witnessed by the surgeon, two commissioned officers, two sergeants; after which the body was turned over to Rev. Patrice La Grée, chaplain of the garrison, for burial.

This verdict is found among the records kept by the chaplain of Port La Joye, under date of April 12, 1752. These records, as far as they survive, are valuable for the light that they throw upon the inner life of the colony. Under date of July 3, 1721, Father Breslay certifies that Jean Roy, dit La Montagne, aged twenty-one years, and Sieur de La Boissière were drowned on May 21. Under the same date Father Breslay records another tragedy common to every group of pioneers in a wilderness: that Etienne Poitevin, aged eight years, was lost on June 6, and has not yet been found.

In the absence or scarcity of notaries the priests often performed secular services for the inhabitants not only in arbitrating disputes but also in putting family settlements into something like legal form. On November 16, 1736, in the presence of Père Angélique Collin, in default of a notary, Michel Haché and Anne Cormier his wife, on the one part; Michel, Joseph, Marie wife of René Rassicot, his children on the other part, agreed that the said children should each undertake to give ten livres per annum to their father and mother during their life, commencing from that date, the said children agreeing that the right of the father and mother to leave their property to whom they should think fit, was not to be affected by this agreement.

But such entries are rare and deal with the less ordinary affairs of life. The records naturally deal almost entirely with marriages, births, and funerals. The witnesses in most cases were unable to sign their names, but their marks signify their presence and also their response to the meaning and duties of life. Marriages and births were times of rejoicing and the families turned out en masse to do honor to the occasion.

Occasions of rejoicing were not numerous in Isle Saint Jean. The earlier settlers soon appropriated the marsh lands and natural meadows and as population increased the newcomers were forced to clear the uplands though hopes were long entertained of effecting a redistribution of the lands so as to give old and new inhabitants a share in both the lowlands and the uplands. To the Acadians, who loved the marshes which required only to be dyked and dried for a couple of years before seeding, it was not a grateful task to cut down the forest and extract huge stumps before the uplands could be made available. But, albeit with heavy hearts, they made the attempt; and, as soon as the brush was burned, they planted and sowed amongst the stumps until the latter should decay and could be more easily removed. Under these circumstances serious fires were inevitable and the correspondence of the period frequently refers to damage by such fires. In 1752, de La Roque found Gillaume Patris situated on a piece of land granted him at St. Peters by Aubert and Dubuisson in 1723, but he could not produce the deed as it had been burned in the fire of 1724. In 1736 a fire had taken place in St. Peters and the Northeast River. It was so serious that the crops were destroyed, help had to be procured from Louisburg, and seed from Acadia. In 1752, Magdelaine Poitevin, also, reported to de La Roque that she held her land by grant from de Pensens and Dubuisson but could not produce her deed as it had been burned at the time of the fire fourteen years ago. If her memory served her rightly there was another fire in 1738, but it is possible that she referred to the big fire of 1736. In 1742 St. Peters again suffered from a fire which not only did serious damage to the settlement but also caused the death of two families comprising thirteen persons. In this case the Minister complained that these fires were becoming all too frequent and that something ought to be done to prevent them. Though the Acadians were unfamiliar with forest clearings there is no reason for concluding that they were unnecessarily careless. All pioneers in similar circumstances have had similar experiences conditioned by the winds and the seasons. But the results were serious not only because of the immediate damage but also because even the firewood was destroyed; and as early as 1751 Franquet reported that the inhabitants of St. Peters and the Northeast River had to draw their wood from a distance. But these two settlements were not unique. The case of East Point was even worse. Here the original settlement had been on the south side of the point, but in 1752 de La Roque found that this settlement had been reduced to a wilderness by fire, traces of which were found for miles along the north shore. As a result the inhabitants had established themselves on the north shore at a distance of six miles from the point. Though they had cleared some land, they had not been able to procure a bushel of seed. In such cases fire was a bad master.

Other calamities befell these Acadians in their new homes. In 1724, 1728, and 1738 their crops were absolutely destroyed by field mice which on the latter date left nothing but desolation behind them from Malpeque to Three Rivers. Malpeque suffered from the same pest in 1749. Of these mice and their habits an interesting description has been given by Roma who wrote from first-hand experience. According to him this mouse was somewhat larger and stouter than the ordinary mouse, of a blackish color, with short legs and flat paws, badly adapted for climbing. It lived in the forest and fed on herbs of different kinds. After the manner of the squirrel it laid up stores of provisions against winter, consisting of seeds, nuts, and grasses. Its dwellings were to be found under rocks, in hollow trunks of fallen trees, and even in the fissures of standing ones. Its provident habits enabled it to maintain its body in a plump condition, affording thus a dainty morsel greatly prized and sought after by its enemies, the dog, the cat, the fox, the marten, the hawk, the owl, and the crow. But its fecundity was remarkable. Every six weeks the female bore from ten to twelve young. When heavy snow had protected them during several consecutive winters they increased enormously and then burst forth upon their devastating march. They marched in long narrow columns and destroyed everything on their way. They did not stop for the rivers, those in the van being pushed on by those behind. In this way they wrought their own destruction and for days after their raid their dead bodies floated along the river banks and out to sea. The survivors again lurked in the woods till new broods had replaced the old and some ten years later resumed their activities in search of food. As population increased and the axe and fire levelled the forest, the settlers gradually got the upper hand.

In the intervals between the raids of field mice the Acadians had to contend against grasshoppers, rust, and “scald.” These plagues were sometimes local, sometimes general in their effects, but among them they managed to keep the settlers in a state of want and to provide the officials at Ile Royale with a plausible explanation of the heavy costs of colonial enterprise, although much that was charged to relief in Isle Saint Jean apparently never reached the suffering inhabitants, finding its way rather into the pockets of the corrupt officers.

Though turnips and cabbage are occasionally mentioned in contemporary correspondence, the Acadians do not seem to have grown the potato in Prince Edward Island. Wheat and peas were the usual crop but oats, barley, and rye were also grown. Pea-soup, bread, and molasses were the staple food, and apart from pork, mutton, and fowl, only salted beef seems to have been used. This was due to the fact that all cattle were carefully treasured in the later years of the colony for the use of Louisburg. Every family raised one or more pigs for home consumption. These were easily fed, particularly on the upland farms, where they roamed through the woods in summer and fattened on beechnuts in autumn. Sheep, too, found food among the weeds and the tender leaves of the smaller shrubs as well as on the wild grasses of both the uplands and the marshes. For the more venturesome habitans there was food in the woods, in the air, and under the sea, but not everyone possessed a gun, while after 1749 the colonists were forbidden to fish lest in so doing they should neglect agriculture. But the settlers at Malpeque had oysters and other shellfish at their very doors, those on the seacoast must have found it impossible to resist lobsters, fresh herring, and cod, while those on the rivers could catch delicious trout without any of the fishing tackle for which Louisburg charged so much.

For clothing the ancient settlers relied on the sheep from whose wool they made a coarse drugget, but for linen they had to rely upon the stores in Louisburg. The newer settlers, who were in the majority after 1750, were unable to get sufficient start to become self-supporting, and at times were utterly destitute. The ancient settlers also grew tobacco which brought comfort to the men during the long winter evenings as they sat in their little log huts beside the fireplace and made their axe-handles, tubs, benches, and other necessities. The women chewed spruce gum at their work, both as an aid to digestion and as an excellent substitute for the toothpaste which they had never known.

The coming of spring brought not only new hope to the hearts of all but also maple sugar, the manufacture of which in a crude form they had learned from the Indian. But here again, all could not share in its joys, for nature had not planted a scarlet maple tree on every hill, while on the other hand fire had destroyed many a beautiful grove.

As to the character of the people, contemporary opinion is not unanimous. De Pensens found them lazy, but he was called upon to initiate young men, who had been brought up among the marshes of Acadia, into the difficulties of clearing a farm of heavy timber. Naturally they undertook the work with reluctance. De Bonnaventure made the same complaint, but he was dealing with disheartened refugees who wondered whether the good God had not forsaken them utterly. Besides they were scantily clad, half-starved, and had not found conditions in the Island as they had been represented to them before they left their smiling homes in Acadia.

On the other hand Forant, Franquet, and Prevost all found the Acadians strong, vigorous, obedient, intelligent, handy with the axe, submissive to religion, even a little superstitious. These agree that they were not so much lazy as inclined to avoid hard labor and to concern themselves only with the necessities of life, leaving the luxuries to those who valued them more highly. Franquet and Forant both accused them of being self-seeking and fond of money, but for the latter they can be pardoned as they saw little enough of it, and much that they received from the French was card-money that was later dishonored. Naturally, then, they became mistrustful and demanded coin of the realm before parting with the hard-earned products of their industry.

In general one may accept Franquet’s observation that the Acadians, although good-natured, were not always easy to manage, that they submitted more readily to gentleness than to violence, and that those officers were most successful with them who showed affability rather than firmness.

The French and the Micmacs

The only inhabitants of the coasts and Gulf of St. Lawrence prior to French colonization were the Micmacs who roamed over the entire country from Gaspé to Cape Breton, including New Brunswick east of the River St. John, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. They were a vigorous warlike race and, though they had no permanent habitations, had developed certain well-established customs, all of which have been fully set down in the works of Lescarbot, Biard, Denys, Le Clercq, Champlain, and others.

During the French régime statistics of population are sadly incomplete but there is reason to believe that the Micmacs did not comprise more than 400 families, at most 2000 souls, of whom 1000 or 1100 were in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, 500 or 600 in New Brunswick, and 300 on Prince Edward Island. At no time could there have been more than 600 capable of bearing arms, although boys over twelve were included in this category. Such being the case the influence of these children of the forest upon the fortunes of both the French and the English was out of all proportion to their numbers and due no doubt to their familiarity with the country and to their methods of warfare.

From the first friendship that was formed between Membertou and Poutrincourt at Port Royal to the last struggle at Louisbourg in 1758, the French tried to win and maintain the alliance with the Micmacs by all the arts of diplomacy that could be employed “in the interests of the state and of religion.” In this respect they outwitted the English who found to their cost that even when they imitated the more humane policy of the French it was misrepresented to the Indians as an attempt to get them into their toils with a view to their ultimate destruction.

As early as 1720 Soubras, Commissaire of Ile Royale, expressed his desire to get the Indians to settle in villages so as to be readily accessible to French influence, but he did not wish to have them too near the garrison because of the demoralizing effect of drink upon the Indians and of sexual license upon the soldiers.^[174] This plan was persisted in, and as late as 1751 Abbé de l’Isle Dieu, Vicar-General for the French colonies, wrote that the interests of the state and of religion required that the Indians be formed in villages that they might be attached to the state by religion and then utilized according to circumstances.^[175] From the first the French missionaries had labored with courage and endurance to convert the Indians and to inculcate reverence for their earthly father, the French King and the first son of the church. Their language had been reduced to symbolic writing by Le Clercq and by continual pressure upon them some sort of ordered life had been achieved; so that in 1720 St. Ovide, Governor of Ile Royale, could report that he had distributed presents to 289 Indians, bearing arms, from six villages of Acadia and Ile Royale. Apart from the fact that his report shows that a beginning had been made in getting the Indians to choose a permanent home for winter at least, the list itself is interesting. On this occasion he distributed 1200 pounds of powder, 1500 pounds of shot, 20 guns, 2000 flints, 25 blankets, 40 axes, and 60 mattocks, the whole valued at almost 2000 livres. To the Indians who came from Miramichi and Bay Chaleur he gave four barrels of powder and six quintals of shot.^[176] Though he does not mention the number of families thus supplied it is probable that they were not more than half the number of those who received presents in English Acadia, as the latter received 12 quintals of shot.

In 1722 a census of the Indians of Acadia and Ile Royale was made by Père Gaulin. This shows that the Indians were grouped around ten centers and that the entire population was only 838: 164 heads of families, 101 boys from 12 to 25 years of age, 147 boys under 12, 160 women, 216 girls, and 50 widows. The extraordinary number of widows bears mute testimony to the toll of war and of the wandering life.

A report made by St. Ovide to the Minister on November 20, 1727, illustrates the anxiety of the French to prevent the Indians from making friends with the English, the rather ill-concealed violation of neutrality in dealing with those on English territory, and the increasing importance of Isle Saint Jean as a rendezvous for the Micmac population after the English conquest of Acadia.

The report begins with a reference to the stupidity of the English in capturing and hanging three Indians on the east of Acadia, a blunder which Governor Armstrong was unable to rectify even by the most lavish distribution of presents and by the assertion that he had nothing to do with it as it had been the work of Bostonians. St. Ovide then relates how, in order to avert suspicion, he had informed the Indians of Acadia that he was ill and would, therefore, be unable to meet them in person, but that if they would go to Isle Saint Jean, a feast would be given them and presents distributed by de Pensens. However, he had suggested that the chiefs should come to see him in Ile Royale. Fifteen chiefs came at his bidding and had several conferences with him in which he expatiated upon the cruelty of the English, stating that they only sought means of destroying them utterly. He then promised them liberal doles, upon which they vowed loyalty to the French, professed themselves willing to die for their King, and to instil into their children hatred of the English.^[177]

On November 3, 1728, St. Ovide reported that he was sending Petitpas and his two sons of an Indian woman to France to get them out of the way, as he suspected them of being in touch with the younger Indians whom they were influencing in favor of the English. At Toulouse he had met the Indians of Ile Royale and received assurances of their loyalty. At Isle Saint Jean he had met those of Chaleurs, Miramichi, Acadia, and Malpeque. Having told them that it was impossible to have two fathers, they declared for the French, particularly as they were at the time eager for revenge upon some English fishermen who had maltreated some of their canoes.^[178]

Under date of 1728 there is an interesting memoir which states that originally there had been in the budget of Acadia 4000 livres for presents to the Indians, which sum was at first continued on the removal of government to Ile Royale, but that upon recognition of the fact that many of the Indians were in closer touch with Canada, 2000 livres had been transferred there for the Abenaquis. However, on learning that the Indians of Acadia would go to war against the English more willingly if provision were made for their children in their absence, it was decided in 1723 to employ 2000 livres a year for the expense, in the name of the Jesuits, so as to conceal from the English the source of this aid. In 1725 this sum was increased to 4000 livres.^[179]

When Isle Saint Jean had been reunited to the Royal domain, in 1730, the French adopted a definite policy of assembling all the Micmacs annually at Port La Joye and Toulouse in June or July. There they made a feast, recommended fidelity to the French father, distributed presents, and sent them back to their villages. Almost all the Indians of Acadia and Isle Saint Jean assembled at Port La Joye, those of Ile Royale and the remainder of Acadia met at Toulouse. This may be illustrated by de Pensens’ report of 1732, in which he says that when entrusted by Bourville with the presents for the Indians, he went first to Toulouse to meet those of Ile Royale, Antigonish, Bay of All Isles, La Have, and Cape Sable. As they had not arrived he left the presents in charge of de La Vallière, Commandant at Toulouse. A few days after his arrival in Isle Saint Jean, those of that island, and of Miramichi, Richibuctou, Baye de Chaleurs, Gediak, Les Mines, and Beaubassin met him in Port La Joye. He made a feast and distributed presents, receiving the usual assurances.

Likewise, in 1734, St. Ovide met 250 Indians of Acadia in Port La Joye. Here he learned that the English had been trying to win them over by presents but that one of the chiefs had chased the English agent away, threatening to “crack his skull.” He first distributed flour, biscuits, and peas for a feast and arranged with the missionary Père Gelas, who had come with his village from Miramichi, to select six representatives from each village for a council on the following morning. Fifty-two arrived for the council and they commenced by asking if it was war with the English. He replied, “Not yet, but if so, can you be relied upon to make sacrifices for the French King, who cares for you, and gives you presents, unlike the English who aim to destroy you and carry you off to die in prison at Boston?” They thereupon pledged their faith anew and seemed to resent the fact that he could doubt their fidelity. On the other hand they reproached him for not providing them with a missionary, and asked him to leave Père Gelas with them to confess and marry them, as already several of their youths had died like beasts of the field, while the lack of religious marriages was leading to libertinism. He granted their request in view of the fact that those who lived at Miramichi were near enough to Chaleurs where another missionary could be had in case of need.

In 1738 Duchambon reports having distributed at Port La Joye, on behalf of Bourville, 16 quintals of powder, 29 quintals and 65 pounds of shot, 22 guns, 5725 flints, and 38 pickaxes; but the Indians had complained that as their numbers were increasing they each received too small a quantity and that they would go to the English unless the amount were increased.^[180]

The increase in the number of the Indians was due to a temporary cessation of hostilities and freedom from epidemics. Even so, a memoir of 1739 gives only 600 capable of bearing arms. At least 200 of these would be boys from 12 to 25 years of age: computing the total population on the basis of Père Gaulin’s census of 1722, when 265 bearing arms gave a total of 838, the number of Micmacs in 1739 would still be under 2000 (1897). These were distributed in villages throughout the entire territory from Baye de Chaleurs to Ile Royale as follows: Restigouche, Miramichi, Richibuctou, Shediac, Beaubassin, Shubenacadie, Port Royal, La Have, Cape Sable, Pictou, Tatamagouche, Antigonish, Ninganiche (Ingonish, Ile Royale), and Malpeque (Isle Saint Jean). The annual presents had by this time been increased to 35 quintals of powder, 63 quintals of shot, 1500 flints, 45 guns, and 80 pickaxes.^[181] But even these presents were not enough. In November, 1739, Père Maillard asked for more guns, and suggested having 20 medals made for distribution to those chiefs who showed special fidelity to the French from time to time. Ten years later, however, Le Loutre wrote, “I have lost many savages and have many widows and orphans since the war.”^[182]

Each distribution of presents was made an occasion by the French for inciting hatred and mistrust of the English. Unfortunately, as the years went by they were able to compile an ever lengthening list of acts of folly on the part of irresponsible English adventurers. Though it was patent to the French that these were not acts of government, they eagerly made use of every blunder to maintain their own alliance. The following speech of Comte de Raymond, cited by Pichon, though rather long, will serve as an illustration of the uses to which the misbehavior of wayward Englishmen was put. As its spirit is in harmony with the policy of St. Ovide and other officials, it is probable that in this case at least Pichon’s testimony was true.^[183]

Among the early French missionaries to the Indians of Acadia under British rule were Père Bréau at Pisquid and Père Descloches at Beaubassin. But those who did most to induce them to settle in villages were the Abbés Gaulin and Courtin. The former remained in Acadia but the latter spent the summer in visiting the outlying districts, particularly Isle Saint Jean. It was he who induced the Indians of the island to settle at Malpeque, 1730-1733. These two devoted missionaries translated the prayers of the church into Micmac, part of the catechism, and some religious instruction.^[184] On the death of the Abbé Courtin, who was drowned off the coast of Ile Royale in 1733, the Abbé Bierne was sent to replace him, having Petitpas as his interpreter; but he grew weary in well-doing and was allowed to return to France. He in turn was succeeded by Père Vincent, who came under censure of the Bishop of Quebec, and also returned to France. Henceforth the Indians of Malpeque had no resident religious instructor, a need which was deeply felt. Forant wrote in 1739 that the Indians of Malpeque were “very wretched and very libertine.” He urged assistance for the erection of a church and a residence for a priest, but without success. Likewise he failed to get a missionary for Malpeque, both Desenclaves and de Vauquelin who came out from France in 1739 declined the honor, the former on the plea of ill health, the latter because of the difficulty of learning the language at his advanced age.^[185]

In the meantime the Indians of Acadia were being served by the Abbés Maillard and Le Loutre, both from the Seminary of the Holy Spirit, of Paris. They resided, when not on the move, at Ninganiche and Shubenacadie, respectively. The plan at this time (1739) was to have the missionary at Ninganiche serve the Indians of Antigonish, that of Malpeque serve those of Pictou, Tatamagouche, Beaubassin, Shediac, and Richibuctou, while the missionary of Shubenacadie should serve Port Royal, La Have, and Cape Sable. But when Father Vincent went to France and no successor was found, Le Loutre’s activities embraced practically all of English Acadia and Isle Saint Jean, though he rarely visited the latter. After the founding of Halifax he made his headquarters at Beaubassin until the fall of Beauséjour when he went to Quebec and ultimately to France, though not before experiencing prison life in the hands of the English. Maillard was sent to France by the English in 1746, but returned to Acadia in 1750.

The general policy of the French Government was to utilize the missionaries as political agents. It was they who always assembled the savages for the annual distribution of presents. While they were to improve the conduct of the Indians, they were above all to strengthen their attachment to the King and to prevent intercourse with the English. “It is also,” says a French writer, “through the zeal and care of these missionaries, coupled with necessary circumspection, that the Acadians are kept loyal.” To this end they were given their rations, 500 livres a year, and additional presents for the Indians in winter.^[186]

The French Government would not tolerate any slackness on the part of either priest or missionary and it held the Bishop of Quebec responsible for the patriotism of both. On May 12, 1745, the Minister wrote a very indignant letter to the Bishop, reproving him for the lukewarmness of some of the clergy in the recent French invasions of Acadia. In this letter he says that the King had been informed that only Sieurs Maillard, La Goudalie, Laboret, and Le Loutre had endeavored to assist the French, that Sieur Desenclaves had given information to the English and had exhorted his parishioners to be faithful to the King of England, that Sieur Chauvreulx had threatened to excommunicate any who joined the French, and that Sieur Miniac, Vicar-General, although he was more circumspect, had acted even more effectually to cause the failure of the enterprise. The King had thought of recalling these three but had decided instead that they should not participate in the distribution of the funds which he had granted for the maintenance of the curés in Acadia. He hoped that the Bishop would let them know of his displeasure and urge them to efface the unfavorable impression which they had created.

In defending himself and his clergy the Bishop replied that he had carried out his instructions to have the Acadian missionaries act so as to be able to remain in the country, and that he had advised all except Le Loutre to be “outwardly neutral” (à l’extérieur neutres). “When it was a question of sending Canadian troops to Acadia, I asked Beauharnais to tell the officers to give written orders to the habitans when they demanded aid so that in case of failure the habitans could vindicate themselves to the English government, and that was done. I know that M. Miniac has given as much secret aid as he could to the Canadian expedition sent this year. I have heard nothing against M. Chauvreulx. On the contrary I thought him a little too active against the English, likewise M. de La Goudalie. I had heard M. Desenclaves spoken of and I have written him several times in reproof.” The Bishop then adds that prudence was not a crime and that if the missionaries had followed the wishes of some of the officers they would have been chased out of Acadia.^[187]

This correspondence between the Minister and the Bishop illustrates some of the difficulties with which the Acadian clergy and the missionaries to the Indians had to contend. Their hearts were with the French but they had to live within the dominions of the English. If chased out of Acadia their flocks would be without a shepherd or worse still might be gathered into the English fold. On the other hand if they were timid on behalf of the French they were promptly reprimanded and threatened with disgrace. Even the Abbé Girard who had taken the oath of allegiance to the English was criticized for his delicacy, because his conscience which allowed him to withdraw to Isle Saint Jean did not allow him to take an anti-English stand in Cobequid before his departure.^[188]

But by some strange defect of logic the missionaries to the Indians were not supposed to be bound by any scruples whatever. Perhaps they were protected by their mobility, although in availing themselves of it, they departed from their policy of keeping the Indians in permanent villages and dragged their Micmac allies about in the wake of the refugees who had crossed the Missaguash. The temperament of the missionaries also had something to do with it. Le Loutre in particular, encouraged by the officials at Ile Royale, and not cautioned to be outwardly neutral by the Bishop of Quebec, flung himself into the fray with abandon. Supplied with presents by Bigot, Desherbiers, and Prevost, he hounded the Indians against the new English settlers at Halifax in the interests of the state and of religion, and forgetting the spirit of religion he said, “I shall do my best to make it appear to the English that this design originates with the Indians, and that I had nothing to do with it.”^[189] At the same time Desherbiers, who, on August 15, 1749, had informed the Minister that he and Bigot were sending Le Loutre on his vile errand, wrote Cornwallis two months later that he saw with “horror and indignation the cruelty and treachery of the savages,” and begged him to believe that he had not nor should have any part in such actions. La Jonquière also approves of Le Loutre, including in his praise Père Germain, saying that they “manage their intrigues so as not to appear in them.”^[190] Two years later the same La Jonquière informs the Minister that he has sent several Acadians disguised as Indians with the savages to give them courage and that “if they should be captured they could say that they acted of their own accord.”^[191] So the wretched story of the interests of the state and religion proceeds until the final overthrow of French power in America. In 1753 Le Loutre pays 1800 livres for eighteen English scalps, and Prevost, who writes the glad tidings to the Minister, says that Le Loutre should have an advance fund for such emergencies.^[192] After the fall of Beauséjour Le Loutre’s activities in Acadia came to an end. He was reproached by the Bishop of Quebec not for his policy in regard to the English but for his severity toward the Acadians. From him the interest shifts to the Abbé Le Guerne and he is best described in his own words, “The first quality of a missionary, if he is worthy of his name is to be an honest man, and the first duty of an honest man is an inviolable fidelity to his country.”^[193]

It was the attempt to be faithful to their country that made these missionaries sometimes forget to be honest men. In attempting to unite the interests of the state and of religion they attempted the impossible. One cannot but admire their courage in the face of great danger and untold hardship but it is difficult to repress the thought that their vision must have been clouded by the fogs from the Bay of Fundy. On the one hand they taught Christian charity and exemplified self-sacrifice; on the other they set the ignorant savage upon the unarmed settler and paid for his scalp. Some extenuation may be sought in the narrow bigotry of the age and in the weakness of the French forces in Acadia, yet when every such plea can be made one still has misgivings as to the gulf between patriotism and honesty.^[194] But till the bitter end of the struggle the French and their missionaries were able to keep the Micmacs as their allies.

Epilogue

The conquest of 1758 and the transportation of the inhabitants to France meant the failure of French colonization in Isle Saint Jean in so far as the old idea of colonies d’exploitation was concerned, but it did not mean the extinction of the French race. The 200 or 300 Acadians who remained gathered such stray cattle and stores of grain as they could and managed to exist for a few years by means of fish and game. During the first two decades of British rule, they lived more or less in a state of fear and trembling until they found that their new masters were not disposed to treat them harshly, now that French power had been “extirpated from North America.” Further, the Acadians themselves, seeing that France had entirely abandoned them as well as their brothers of Quebec, sought wisdom from expediency and resigned themselves to their fate.

When, in 1767, Prince Edward Island was parcelled out among a number of landlords some of these decided that the easiest way to secure settlers would be to induce the dispossessed Acadians to become their tenants. In this way lots 17, 19, 24, and 43 became the new homes of the much wandering habitans. From that date they began to increase slowly but in recent years they have so multiplied that according to the census of 1921 they now number 11,971 persons, and constitute more than one-eighth of the total population of the island, the chief settlements being at Rustico, Tignish, Egmont Bay, Palmer Road, Bloomfield, Mont-Carmel, and Miscouche, all of which are found in districts that had not been inhabited during the French régime.

At first, because of their sad experiences, their lack of education, and of an intellectual tradition, they made no contribution to the cultural life of the colony, remaining aloof from the British and concentrating their efforts upon the mere struggle for existence. Seventy years after the conquest they produced a native priest and from that date a new era dawned. In 1854 an Acadian, M. Stanilas Poirier, was elected to the Provincial Legislature, and he subsequently contested twenty-eight provincial or federal elections, sustaining only one defeat. In 1867 another, M. Joseph-Octave Arsenault, was elected and he continued to represent his district in the Provincial Legislature until 1896 when he became a Senator. In 1917 his son, the Hon. Aubin E. Arsenault, became Provincial Premier, and, in 1921, a Judge of the Supreme Court. These achievements have done much to give the Acadians confidence in themselves and in the British institutions which they distrusted so long.

As their first participation in public affairs coincided with a movement on the part of their English speaking compatriots to provide for free general education, they also began to take a mild interest in knowledge. Today they possess forty-five Acadian schools, comprising sixty rooms; but so far they have been able to provide only forty Acadian teachers, most of whom are immature. They have no colleges or high schools although somewhat advanced instruction is carried on in the convents at Tignish, Miscouche, and Rustico.

This fundamental lack of an educational tradition, as contrasted with their Scottish fellow countrymen, also accounts for the limited number of Acadians who are represented in the liberal professions. There is only one Acadian in the medical profession, although two practice medicine outside the province; and there are only two practicing law; but their parishes are served by their own clergy and they have given several to the Magdalen Islands as well as to other parts of Canada and to the United States. In the business world they have not yet manifested much skill nor are they well represented in the Civil Service. In journalism, they have not succeeded in maintaining a local paper, but have pooled their resources with L’Evangeline, the national Acadian journal, published outside the province.^[195]

But the leaders of Acadian thought in the province are now engaged in educational propaganda with a view to developing self-respect and race consciousness. To this end the Society of St. Thomas Aquinas has been founded by the clergy at Bloomfield, to create a foundation for the education of the Acadian youth. “With the moral support and pecuniary aid of all our friends,” says Professor Blanchard, “we soon hope to see several priests, doctors, lawyers, and other Acadian professional men, set out from colleges and universities and march to the defence of our religion, our race and our rights.”

This attempt to improve the lot of the Acadians, who were exploited and then heartlessly abandoned by the French, and hitherto more or less ignored or neglected by the British, must command the sympathy and receive the assistance of all who strive after knowledge and get wisdom. But the passion and fervor with which Professor Blanchard sets forth the present condition and past history of the Acadians suggest a danger which he and his countrymen would do well to ponder. It would be very unwise in pursuit of a commendable object, the stimulation of the present generation to intellectual and cultural activity, to instil into their minds the idea of seeking revenge against the present English-speaking inhabitants of Prince Edward Island, for a wrong done by imperial rivalries in the past. Such a course would be mutually destructive, but above all disastrous to the Acadians themselves. Nor is it well in reviewing the history of their sorrows to dwell only upon the drastic steps taken by the British in 1755 and 1758, and to ignore the equally drastic measures taken by Le Loutre at Beaubassin and by La Jonquière in the Isthmus of Chignecto, as well as the hardship and suffering of the years 1749-1758 in Isle Saint Jean and New Brunswick, due to the unwise policy and unfulfilled promises of the French. Nor should one forget the patience shown by the British in the years 1714-1755, and their equal justice after the Acadians had taken the oath of allegiance.

If the tragic period must be revived, it should be treated as a whole in its true relation to the rival policies and practices of both French and British; and he who would “see life steadily and see it whole,” must not be content to rail at either Lawrence or Le Loutre; but must look back to the politico-religious and commercial imperialism of Louis XIV, which threatened to strangle both Holland and England, and brought the howling savage to the doors of the English colonist in America, before it met its cruel nemesis, first in Acadia in 1755, then in Quebec in 1759, and finally in Paris in 1793.

Further, if and in so far as the Acadians are being urged to do their duty, in religion, education, and government, to that extent they must in a sense register a protest against their ancestors for adopting the false idea of neutrality in citizenship. As they assume public offices under free British institutions, offices which were never in existence under the French, as they administer justice and discharge the duties of government, they will learn, and should proclaim, that no attack is being made upon their religion, their race, or their rights. They are free to worship and do worship as they wish, their race is enshrined in its traditions, and their rights are the duty of finding complete self-expression according to their nature. The more they educate their sons the more positions of trust and responsibility they will fill, on the true democratic basis not of race nor of religion, but of a career open to talent.

But there are signs that such truth has been recognized. All national movements which seek inspiration from the past are subject to the danger of perversion when the problem is complicated by racial differences. It is only by a wise reading of history that history can be what Napoleon deemed it, “the base of the moral sciences, the destroyer of prejudices, the torch of truth.” The magnificent national service of the Acadians in the recent war and the brilliant leadership of Ex-Premier Arsenault, lead one to hope that the independent judgment, which the French officials condemned in the Acadians, still persists; that they will “obey their superiors” only when they believe that their commands are for the common good; and that they will cultivate “the will to coöperate,” in the interests of Prince Edward Island and the Dominion as a whole, along which road alone lies the future prosperity of Canada, of civilization, and of humanity.

Officers of Government in Isle Saint Jean (1720-1758)

The Clergy in Isle Saint Jean (1721-1758)

Port La Joye

N.B. This table has been compiled from the Registers as found in Etat Civil, Isle Saint Jean, G¹ Vol. 411—1 and 2. In the early days of the colony the Récollet missionaries paid periodic visits for the performance of their duties, but from 1733 onwards they were in more or less permanent residence subject to leave of absence when a relieving friar was sent. Frère Kergarion’s name does not appear in these registers but the late Abbé Casgrain stated that he had seen the old register used by him and on that testimony I have inserted his name. As the individuality of these men was merged in their order the official correspondence gives no hint of their death except in the case of Félix Pain.

N.B. This table is based on a letter of October 31, 1753, written by Prevost to the Minister: C¹¹ IV, Vol. 33, pp. 319-328, and on subsequent correspondence. Fathers Girard, Perronnel, and Cassiet died in France, the latter at a ripe old age. Father Dosque died in Quebec. Father Biscaret was drowned on the way home in 1758.

Prior to 1752 the chaplains of Port La Joye sometimes visited the outlying portions of the colony and when this was not possible a layman was commissioned to act, particularly in cases of interment.

Census Returns

Account of a Journey in Winter on the Ice from Chédaique (Shediac) to Quebec

Communication by sea being ordinarily totally interrupted at the end of October, or at latest by the middle of November, the Governors of Canada and Ile Royale used to send couriers once during the winter (generally at the end of March) to inform each other of such matters of interest as had taken place in their territories after the close of navigation. These couriers generally made the round trip, and were three in number, tried men, familiar with the route,—the sort to withstand fatigue.

In 1756 the problem arose of conveying certain royal despatches from Ile Royale to Quebec. In this emergency they cast their eyes upon one Gauthier, a native of Isle Saint Jean, who happened to be in Louisburg. The proposal that he should undertake the journey was not displeasing to him, although he knew neither the paths nor the roads on the route. He accepted the commission in the hope of engaging, at home, an Acadian to accompany him by canoe from Isle Saint Jean to Shediac, where he would procure some Indians to act as guides and pilots for the journey. His plans materialized and he arrived at Shediac, a settlement of French and Indians, under command of M. de Boishebert, Lieutenant of troops from Canada, who was stationed at the Pécoudiac (Petitcodiac) River.

Shediac is situated on a river which runs from the eastern shores of the continent into the Gulf of St. Lawrence opposite the western coast of Isle Saint Jean. The Petitcodiac empties from the east into French Bay (Bay of Fundy). There is a portage of six leagues from one river to the other, a good road; and there are six or eight French dwellings on the Petitcodiac.

They ascended the said river about two leagues and made the portage, Ouaigesmock (Washademoak), also six leagues, to another river whose name they did not know but thought to be the Chiamaniste (Salmon River); (more probably the Canaan or Washademoak). There were no dwellings along this portage.

They followed this river, on the ice for 20 leagues, to Gensec (Jemseg), a French village of 30 or 40 houses, situated a little this side of its confluence with the River St. John, and 25 leagues from the French fort at the confluence of the River St. John and the Bay of Fundy.

Jemseg is situated on the left bank of the River St. John. From here they crossed the river and travelled along the right bank to Hautepack (Springhill), another village of French and Indians, Amalécites (Maliseets), the residence of Père Germain, Jesuit missionary to these tribes. They reckoned 10 leagues from Jemseg to Hautepack.

From the village of Hautepack, travelling always on the ice of the St. John, they proceeded to Medoctec (Meductic Flat), also a village of the Maliseet and on the right bank of the river. They reckoned the distance between the last two villages at 30 leagues, which they travelled in three days.

From Medoctec they went to Grand Falls, partly on the ice and partly by land, as the river had overflowed its banks and in places was not frozen. They made only 30 leagues in 11 days owing to the condition of the roads.

Grand Falls is a waterfall of 50 to 60 feet. Here there is a French post furnished with provisions for travellers.

At the said Grand Falls they made a portage of half a league, re-entered the river and made 30 leagues on the ice, in three days, as far as its confluence with the Madaouésca (Madawaska). They ascended the Madawaska, always on the ice, and made 10 leagues in two days. Then they entered the lake of the same name as the river (now Lake Témiscouata) for a distance of four leagues, and halted on the left bank where there was another French post. From there they followed the river du Cap a l’original (probably Tuladi-Trois Pistoles) to its confluence with the St. Lawrence, making 20 leagues.

Having arrived at its mouth, they took the highway past the dwellings along the St. Lawrence to Point Levis, making 33 leagues in cariolles. They crossed the river a distance of one quarter league and arrived in the lower town of Quebec, having travelled a total distance of 171¾ leagues.

One can only state approximately the time necessary for the journey. It depends more or less on the weather, and upon the hardships which the couriers encounter. It is difficult in winter which compels one to camp oftener than in any other season, and to carry enough provisions for unforseen contingencies which arrive all too frequently.^[196]

Loss of the Duke William on the Atlantic Ocean^[197]

The Duke William having proceeded to Halifax arrived there safe; and from thence went to besiege Louisbourg. . . .

On the reduction of Louisbourg, the island of St. John, in the entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, fell by capitulation, and the inhabitants were to be sent to old France. Lord Rollo with a large party were sent on board the transports which were ordered thither for that purpose. The transports were nine in number, of which the Duke William was one. They proceeded under convoy of the Hind sloop of war, Captain Bond, but meeting with contrary winds and bad weather had a long passage. . . .

A large party of soldiers having been ordered up the country to bring the inhabitants down on board the different transports, as the Duke William was the largest used, the missionary priest (who was the head man of the country) with the principal inhabitants, were ordered by Lord Rollo, to go to France with Captain Nicholls. On his arrival, he requested the favour, that the people might come on board to mass and to be married. Captain Nicholls told he had no objection on condition that he had a fee of every bride. Being asked what he demanded as a fee, the captain replied—the first after she was married. The priest being a facetious man complied; and they had a great many marriages as a notion prevailed among the crew, that all single men would be made soldiers.

Having got a great abundance of stock, they all sailed from St. John’s together; Captain Wilson, with Lord Rollo, and some soldiers on board, and Captain Moore with soldiers, under convoy of the Hind. Captain Moore’s vessel was lost going through the Gut, by striking on a rock under water and the soldiers were put on board Captain Wilson, bound to Louisbourg. Captain Moore, his son, mate and carpenter, took their passage in the Duke William.

As the wind was contrary, they lay in the Gut of Canso some time. The French used frequently to go on shore, and remain there all night, making fires in the wood to keep themselves warm. Some of them desired that they might be allowed muskets to shoot game, as they were not afraid of meeting with the Indians, which Captain Nicholls granted. About three hours after they were gone, one of them came running, and begged that the captain with his people would go immediately on board as they had met with a party of Indians who were coming down to scalp them. Accordingly, Captain Nicholls with the other masters and sailors, went off and had but just got on board before the Indians came down; but, finding only Frenchmen, they went away directly.

November 25th, they sailed out of the Bay of Canso, with a strong gale at N.W., Captains Nicholls, Henry, Beaton, Dobson, Sugget, Whitby and Kelsy, agreed to make the best of their way to France with the people and not to go to Louisbourg as it was a very bad time of the year to beat upon the coast. Captain Nicholls was appointed to lead the fleet. They took leave of the agent, who was bound to Louisbourg.

The third day after they had been at sea, it blew a storm in the night, being thick with sleet, and very dark. The transport parted company with three ships of the fleet. The storm still continuing, in a day or two she parted with the rest. The Duke William continued in very good order, and though the sea ran mountains high, went over it like a bird, and made no water.

On the 10th of December, they saw a sail, which proved to be the Violet, Captain Sugget. On coming up, Captain Nicholls inquired how all on board were; he replied, in a terrible situation, they had a great deal of water in the ships, her pumps were chocked and he was much afraid that she would sink before morning. Captain Nicholls begged of him to keep up his spirits, and he would, if it were possible stay by him, and spare him a pump, which he got out of the Parnassus. He also told him, that as the gale had lasted so long he was in hopes that it would moderate after twelve o’clock; but, unfortunately, it rather increased.

At changing the watch at twelve, Captain Nicholls found that they went fast ahead of the Violet, and that, before morning, if they did not shorten sail, they would run her out of sight. While scudding under the fore-sail and treble-reefed main-sail, he consulted with Captain Moore and their mate, what was best to be done, and it was unanimously considered necessary that the main-top-sail should be taken in, as the only way to save their lives was by keeping them company till the weather should moderate. Accordingly they took in the main-top-sail and got their three pumps ready in case of necessity. They had forced the spare pump down the after-hatch-way, and shipped into an empty butt, of which the French had brought several on board for the purpose of washing. They aired them with spun yarn, to bail in case of need. They now thought that the Violet gained on them and at four o’clock, to their great satisfaction, they saw her very plainly.

On changing the watch they found the Duke William still very tight and going well, the carpenter assuring the captain there was no water to strike a pump. Being very tired with walking the deck so long, Captain Nicholls thought he might go down and indulge himself with a pipe of tobacco; he told the mate to acquaint him immediately should there be any alteration. They had driven the board next the lower part of the pump to see how much water was in the well; and every half hour, when the bell was struck, the carpenter went down. As he had yet found no water, Captain Nicholls entertained no apprehensions of the safety of the Duke William; he was only concerned at present for the Violet.

Soon after the captain had filled and lighted his pipe, while sitting in the state room, he was thrown from the chair by a blow which the ship received from a terrible sea. He sent the boy to ask the mate (Mr. Fox) whether anything was washed over. The mate sent word that all was safe, and that he saw the Violet coming up fast.

Being still very much fatigued, the captain thought he would try to get a little sleep to refresh himself; and without pulling off his clothes, he threw himself on the side of the bed. Before he had closed his eyes, Mr. Fox came and told him that the carpenter had found the water above the keelson, and that the ship must certainly have sprung a leak. The captain immediately arose and took the carpenter with him into the hold, and to his great surprise found the water roaring in dreadfully. On examination he found it was a butt started, and the more they endeavoured to press anything to stop it, the more the plank forsook the timber. They then went on deck to encourage the people at the pumps. Captain Nicholls had made a mark with a piece of chalk to see how the water gained upon them. Finding their case desperate, he went to all the Frenchmen’s cabins and begged of them to rise: telling them that though their lives were not in danger, their help at the pumps was highly essential. They immediately got up, and cheerfully assisted.

By this time it was daylight, when, to their great surprise and concern, they saw the Violet on her broadside, a little distance from them; and the fore-yard broken in the slings of the fore-top-sail set, and her crew endeavouring to free her of the mizen-mast, as it appeared she had just then broached to, by the fore-yards giving way. It came on a most violent squall for ten minutes, and when it cleared up, they found, to their great and deep concern, that the poor unfortunate Violet, with near four hundred souls, was gone to the bottom. This fatal disaster shocked even the stoutest on board the Duke William; especially as a similar fate was now threatening them.

All the tubs before mentioned, were now got together and made gangways, the Frenchmen and women, who behaved with uncommon resolution, assisting. They then opened all the hatches, and as the water flowed fast into the hold, they filled the tubs and hauled them up, and turned them over the combings on the upper deck, which with three pumps constantly at work, and baling out of the gun-room scuttle, must have vented a large quantity of water. A seam would not have hurt them, but a butt’s end was more than they could manage; however, every method was tried which was thought of service. They quilted the sprit-sail with oakum and flax, with one of the top-gallant-sails in the same manner, to see whether anything would suck into the leak to stop it but all in vain.

They continued in this dismal situation three days; the ship notwithstanding their endeavours, full of water, and expected every minute to sink. The captain had given all the liquor that was left on board to the people, and all the provisions; the hold being full of water, and the ship swimming only by the decks being buoyed up with empty casks.

About six o’clock on the fourth morning, the people came to the captain and declared they had done all in their power; that the vessel was full of water; and that it was in vain to pump any more. The captain told them he was convinced that what they said was too true, and complimented them upon their attention and exertion. He then acquainted the priest with their situation, assuring him that every method for saving the ship and the lives of the people had been resorted to in vain and that they expected the decks would blow up every moment. The priest appeared confused; but immediately went to give his people absolution; and a melancholy scene ensued. Strong, hearty, and healthy men, looking at each other, with tears in their eyes, bewailing their unhappy condition, and preparing for death.

Captain Nicholls now walked upon the deck with Captain Moore, desiring him to think, if he could of some expedient to avert their destruction. Captain Moore, with tears in his eves, confessed that he knew of no method. Captain Nicholls proposed hoisting out the boats, that in case a ship should appear, they might save their lives, as the gale was more moderate. Captain Moore thought it would be impossible, as everyone would endeavour to get into them. The former captain however, called his mates, carpenters, and men, and proposed getting their boats out, at the same time acquainting them that it was to save if possible, every soul on board and that in case any person was to be so rash as to insist upon going into the boats, besides those whom he should think proper, he would immediately punish such person. They all solemnly declared that his commands should be as implicitly obeyed as if the ship were in her former good condition—a rare instance of obedience and submission.

The captain then went and acquainted the head prisoner whom they had on board, with what they were going to attempt. He was a hundred and ten years old, was the father of the whole island, and had a number of children, grand-children, and other relations on board. He assured the captain that he and his fellow-prisoners would assist him in anything he proposed, and the captain in return assured them that he would run the same chance with them, and never desert them.

Captain Nicholls now asked Mr. Fox and the carpenter if they were willing to venture in the long-boat; they answered bravely that they were; for whether they died in the vessel or a mile or two farther was a matter of very little consequence; and as there was no prospect but death if they stayed they would willingly make the attempt. The captain then proposed to Captain Moore, the carpenter, and mate, their going into the cutter, which they also agreed to. As the sea was too high to lower the boats into the water with the runners and tackles, the captain told them his people should get the cutter over the side, and have a proper painter made fast to her before she dropped into the water; and that they should have two axes to cut the runners and tackles when they should think the most convenient time. They accordingly got the cutter over the sides; and the ship lying pretty quiet, they cut the tackles, and she dropped into the water very well and the painter brought her up. They went then to work with the long-boat. Daylight now raised their spirits, and the weather was tolerably moderate. The mate and carpenter cut the runners and the long-boat fell into the water as well as the cutter had done; and having a proper painter made fast, she brought up extremely well.

There were people at the fore and main-top-mast heads to look out for a sail, when to their unspeakable joy, the man at the main-top-mast head cried out that he saw two ships, right astern, making after them. Captain Nicholls went and acquainted the priest and old prisoner with the good news. The latter took him in his aged arms and cried for joy. The captain then ordered the ensign to be hoisted to the main-top-mast shrouds, and to get the guns all clear to fire. It was very hazy, and the ships were not far from them when they discovered them first.

As soon as they hoisted their signal of distress, they hoisted English colours, and seemed to be West Indiamen, of about three or four hundred tons. They kept loading and firing as fast as possible, when they perceived that they spoke each other; and setting their fore-sail and top sails they hauled their wind and made from them. Captain Nicholls imagining that the bigness of the vessel, and her having so many men on board, it being war time, might occasion a distrust, ordered the main-mast to be cut away, to undeceive them. They had people all the time at the shrouds to cut away in case of necessity. One of the shrouds not being properly cut, checked the main-mast, and brought her up right athwart the boats. Captain Nicholls ran aft himself and cut both the boat’s painters, or else they would have been stove to pieces and sunk immediately. A dismal thing to be obliged to cut away the only thing that could be the means of saving their lives and afterwards to see the ships basely desert them! Driven from the greatest joy to the utmost despair, death now appeared more dreadful. They had only the fore-sail hanging in the brails, and the braces of both preventers being rendered useless by the falling off of the main-mast, and the yard flying backwards and forwards, by the rolling of the ship, they were fearful she would overset entirely.

They ran from the boats till they could but just see them; and finding that they did not endeavour to join them, though they had each oars, fore-mast, and foresails, Captain Nicholls consulted with the boatswain on the best measures to be adopted in their deplorable situation. The captain thought, that at all events, they should bring the ship to, though he confessed it a terrible attempt to hazard her upsetting. The boatswain said it appeared too hazardous, as the vessel steered very well. However, finding the men in the boats did not attempt to join them, the captain called all the people aft and told them his resolution. They declared it was desperate, but so was their condition, and that they were ready to do whatever he thought best. Captain Moore disapproved of the measure. Captain Nicholls then acquainted the priest, the old gentlemen, and the rest of the people, with his intentions, and the motives for them. They were all pleased to say, let the consequence be what it would, they should be satisfied that he had acted for the best, they were therefore resigned to what might happen. This was a dreadful crisis; and great were Captain Nicholls’ feelings when about doing that which though in his own judgment was right, might be the means of sending four hundred persons to eternity. His resolution, however, did not forsake him.

He persevered, and gave orders to bring the ship to. In hauling out the mizen, which had been greatly chafed, it spilt. They then got a new stay-sail, and bent it to bring her to, which had the desired effect, though it was a long time before this was accomplished, and they were once afraid that they should be obliged to cut away the fore-mast, by a large sea striking on her starboard quarter. The next sea hove her to, and she stayed very well. When they saw, from the yawl, that she was lying to for them, they slipped their fore-mast, and ran them on board. As there was too much wind and a large sea, to sprit the sail, they came on board, holding their sheets in their hands. As soon as she came, Captain Nicholls sent some men into her to row and fetch the long-boat. They soon joined her, got her fore-mast up, and set sail, as did the cutter; and to their great joy, came safe to them.

Just as they had joined them, the people from the fore-top-mast cried out, “A sail! A sail!” The captain thought it better to let the ship lie to, as, by seeing the main-mast gone they might be certain they were in distress. It was hazy weather, and they could see at no great distance; but the strange ship was soon near enough to see and hear their guns. Just after she had hoisted her colours (which were Danish), her main-topsail sheet gave way, which, when Captain Nicholls saw, he concluded that the other captain was going to clew his main-top-mast up, to pend him, and come to their assistance, which good news he immediately communicated to the priest and others. In transports of joy they embraced him, calling him their friend and preserver. But, alas! poor mistaken men! this momentary joy was changed into many hours of despondency by a second disappointment; for as soon as the strange captain had knotted or spliced his top-sail sheet, he sheeted it home, and hauled from them. This was about three in the afternoon. Gloomy despair then reigned in every countenance, and lamentations echoed in the air. Captain Nicholls now wore the ship, which she bore very well, and steered tolerably before the wind.

About half an hour after, the old French gentleman came to Captain Nicholls, and affectionately embracing him, said, that he and his countrymen requested that the captain and his people would endeavour to save their own lives in their boats, and leave them to their fate, as it was impossible the boats could carry all. The captain replied, that there were no hopes of life for any; as they had all embarked in the same unhappy voyage, they ought all to take the same chance. Urged by their further solicitations, he mentioned their proposal to Captain Moore and his people, who said, as nothing further could be done, they would comply with their request. They took leave of each other with tears in their eyes, and the captain requested his people to keep the boats near the ship which he was determined not to quit himself until it was dark. They all assured him that they would not leave him, and hastened down the stern-ladder. As the boats ranged up by the sea, under the ship’s counter, those that went last hove themselves down, and were caught by them in the boat.

Captain Nicholls had a little Norse boy on board, whom no entreaties could prevail on to go into the boat until he did. When it grew dark, the captain insisted upon his going, saying he would follow him immediately. He got on the stern ladder, when the Frenchman whom the fears of death had induced to quit his wife and children, unperceived by any, got over the taffrail, and treading upon the boy’s fingers made him shriek out. Imagining somebody was in danger, the captain went to see what was the matter, the old Frenchman following him; when the latter, perceiving the man and his intentions, called him by his name, and said he was sorry to find him so base as to desert his family. The man seemed ashamed of what he had done, and came over the taffrail again. The people in the boat begged the captain to come in, as the blows, which she took under the ship’s counter, were likely to sink her.

Seeing the priest lay his arms over the rails in great emotion, with all the apprehensions of death painted in his countenance, the captain asked him if he were willing to take his chance with him? He replied, yes, if he had room for him. The captain told him he had. Immediately the priest went and gave his people his benediction; then, after saluting the old gentleman, he tucked up his canonical robes, and went into the boat. (They finally landed at Penzance.) . . .

What is very remarkable, when Captain Nicholls and his party left the Duke William in distress, there was a small jolly-boat on board; and just before she went down, four French men threw her, with two small paddles, overboard and swam to her. They got into Falmouth soon after Captain Nicholls landed. They were no seamen, nor had ever seen the English coast, so that theirs, like that of the long-boat and cutter, was a most miraculous escape. The Duke William (according to their report) swam till it fell calm, and as she went down her decks blew up. The noise was like the explosion of a gun, or a loud clap of thunder. The Frenchmen had but just left her when she was seen no more.

N.B. (1) Abbé Girard writes the Abbé de L’Isle Dieu that the crew of the Duke William and he and four of his parishioners were saved. (F³, Vol. 50², p. 929.)

(2) According to the Admiralty records, the Violet was supposed to have been lost on December 12, 1758, and the Duke William on December 13. (Admiralty Gen. Misc., Vol. I.)

This book contains narrative and quotations based on 18th century documents and their translations. Consequently the spelling is occasionally inconsistent. The spellings of personal and place names, and the text of quotations originally written in English, are reproduced verbatim. Changes to spelling and punctuation were otherwise made sparingly to improve consistency.

Click on the maps for a higher resolution image.

[The end of The French Régime in Prince Edward Island by D. C. Harvey]