long to be a mere knight-errant at Bender. The Cossack independence, too,
was a thing of the past. Its last and all too untrustworthy representative
was to die in Turkey before many months were out--of despair, according to
Russian testimony--of poison voluntarily swallowed, according to Swedish
historians. The poison story has a touch of likelihood about it, for Peter
certainly proposed to exchange Mazeppa's person for that of the chancellor
Piper. The cause of the Leszcynski, too, was dead. It was to be put
forward again by France, but for the benefit of France alone; and with the
Leszcynski cause, Poland itself had passed away and lay a lifeless corpse
on which the vultures were soon to settle.
Out of all these ruins rose the Russian power, its northern hegemony, and
its new European position, which henceforth were daily to increase and
reach immense, immoderate proportions. Europe played a special part in the
festivities which graced the return of the victors to Moscow, a few months
later. European ideas, traditions, and forms appeared in the triumphal
procession, and served as trappings for the trophies of victory. Peter,
playing the part of Hercules, and conquering a Swedish Juno, in a _cortège_
in which Mars figured, attended by furies and by fauns, was a fit symbol of
the alliance of Russia with the Graeco-Latin civilization of the West. Old
Muscovy--Eastern and Asiatic--was numbered with the dead.
%CAPTURE OF PORT ROYAL[1]%
FRANCE SURRENDERS NOVA SCOTIA TO ENGLAND
A.D. 1710
DUNCAN CAMPBELL
[Footnote 1: From Duncan Campbell's _History of Canada_.]
Each time that England and France quarrelled in Europe their colonies
became engaged in strife. In 1690, when William III fought Louis XIV the
able Governor of Canada, Frontenac, despatched his Indian allies to ravage
New England, while with rare military skill he defended himself and his
province. He could not, however, prevent the capture of Port Royal (now
Annapolis) in Nova Scotia. This great fortress, the pride of Louis XIV, was
attacked by the New England colonists under Sir William Phips, the Governor
of Massachusetts, and was captured by a most dashing attack. When England
and France made peace, Port Royal was restored to the French, much to the
dissatisfaction of the English colonists, who saw clearly that as soon as
another war arose they would have to make the assault again.
During the era of Queen Anne's War (1702-1713) French and Indian forays and
incursions were frequent on the borders of Acadia and New England. Britain,
meanwhile, was desirous of limiting the growth of France in the New World,
and, with the provocation that had been given the New England colonies by
the murderous raids of the French and Abenaquis Indians on her towns and
border settlements, the English colonists retaliated by attempting, in 1704
and 1707, to recapture Acadia. They finally succeeded in 1710 under
General Nicholson. The story of this expedition will be found appended
in Campbell's narrative, as well as the account given of the disastrous
failure of Admiral Sir Hovenden Walker's formidable expedition in 1711 up
the St. Lawrence with the design of assaulting Québec. On the capture by
the New England colonies of Port Royal, and the expulsion of its French
garrison, the place became an English fortress and was renamed Annapolis
Royal, in honor of Queen Anne.
In perusing the history of Nova Scotia, the reader is struck with the
frequency with which the country, or, in other words, the forts, passed
from the French to the English, and _vice versa_. As a rule, permanent
retention was not contemplated. Hence we find that when Port Royal was
taken by Phips, he departed without leaving a solitary man to defend it.
A few days after the expedition had left, the Chevalier de Villebon, the
newly appointed French Governor, arrived, and if accompanied by the means,
had a favorable opportunity of putting it once more in a state of defence
and retaining it as a French stronghold. But Phips was not far off, and he
therefore deemed it prudent, considering the small force at his disposal,
to retire to the river St. John, where he remained for some years,
destroying New England vessels and organizing schemes for the consolidation
of French authority in the province.
In the mean time Villebon showed his temper toward the New Englanders by
building a chapel on the disputed territory, and driving their fishermen
from the coast of Nova Scotia. Villebon was succeeded by Brouillan, in
1700, and not only was an enemy to the fishermen, but actually afforded
protection to pirates who preyed on the trade of Massachusetts, which
inspired a degree of hostility in New England that, on the accession of
Queen Anne, in 1702, the declaration of war which followed was hailed in
that colony with demonstrations of joy.
The New Englanders had a long catalogue of grievances unredressed, hostile
attacks unrevenged, and were more determined than ever to put forth their
strength for the expulsion of the French from the province. In 1704 a
preliminary expedition was despatched by them to the coast of Nova Scotia,
consisting of a ship of forty-two and another of thirty-two guns, a number
of transports and whale-boats, on board of which were upward of five
hundred men, under the command of Colonel Church, whose instructions were
to destroy settlements, and where dams existed to deluge the cultivated
ground and make as many prisoners as possible. One detachment visited
Minas, and spread desolation and ruin in that fertile region, through which
Brouillan passed on his way to Annapolis, representing the people as living
like true republicans, not acknowledging royal or judicial authority, and
able to spare eight hundred hogsheads of wheat yearly for exportation, and
as being supplied with abundance of cattle.
Another detachment went to Port Royal, which they deemed it prudent not to
attack. Brouillan having died in 1706, M. Subercase was appointed governor.
In the spring of 1707 another expedition was sent from New England to
attack Port Royal. It consisted of twenty-three transports and the province
galley, convoyed by a man-of-war of fifty guns, on which were embarked two
regiments of militia, under Colonels Wainwright and Hilton. The expedition
arrived at the entrance to Port Royal on June 6th. A landing was soon
effected; but Subercase's dispositions for resistance were so able that the
English found it impossible to make any impression on the defences, and,
after losing eighty men, the troops were reembarked and proceeded to Casco
Bay, from which place the commanders communicated with the Governor of
New England and waited orders. The failure of the expedition caused great
indignation in New England, and the Governor immediately resolved to
strengthen the army with a hundred recruits and to order a second attack.
Accordingly the expedition again sailed for Port Royal, when Subercase was
in a far more formidable position than formerly. After a siege of fifteen
days, in which the English officers displayed unaccountable cowardice, the
ships retired, having lost sixteen men, while the French had only three men
killed and wounded.
Subercase immediately proceeded to strengthen his position in anticipation
of a third attack. A bomb-proof powder magazine was accordingly
constructed, capable of containing sixty thousand pounds of powder, and the
fort was otherwise improved. This Governor, who had formed a high estimate
of the climate, soil, and general resources of the province, was one of the
ablest appointed under French rule. He made urgent appeals to the French
government to colonize the country on a large scale, pointing out the
advantages that would follow; but all his suggestions were disregarded, and
he had the mortification, notwithstanding his zeal and personal sacrifices
in the service of his country, to receive less encouragement and support
from the home government than any of his predecessors.
In the year 1710 great preparations were made for the conquest of Canada
and Nova Scotia. The New York House of Assembly sent a petition to Queen
Anne, praying for such assistance as would expel the French entirely from
the country. Colonel Vetch is said to have inspired this application, and
to have submitted to the British government a plan of attack. Promises of
liberal support are said to have been made, which, however, the government
was tardy in affording.
The command of the New England forces was intrusted to Francis Nicholson,
who was appointed Governor of New England, under Sir Edmund Andros, in
1688, being Governor of New York in 1689, and in the following year
Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia. In 1692 he was transferred to
the government of Maryland, and in 1698 sent back to Virginia as
Governor-in-Chief, at which time he held the rank of colonel in the army.
Nicholson was an earnest advocate of a confederation of the British North
American provinces for purposes of defence, to which the people of Virginia
were popularly opposed.
Nicholson sailed from Boston on September 18, 1710, with a fleet of about
thirty-six vessels, including five transports from England, conveying
a considerable force, composed of troops supplied by Massachusetts,
Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, which arrived at Port Royal
on September 24th. Subercase was not in a condition to resist so formidable
a force; hence we find him writing to the French minister that the garrison
is dispirited, and praying for assistance in men and money. The strait to
which he was reduced is indicated by the following passage: "I have had
means," he says, "by my industry to borrow wherewith to subsist the
garrison for these two years. I have paid what I could by selling all my
movables. I will give even to my last shirt, but I fear that all my pains
will prove useless if we are not succored during the month of March or
early in April, supposing the enemy should let us rest this winter."
But it was far from the intention of the enemy to let them rest; for three
days after the despatch of the communication in which the passage quoted
occurred, Nicholson sent a summons to the Governor requiring the immediate
delivery of the fort, and in the event of non-compliance, expressing his
resolution to reduce it by force of her majesty's arms. No reply having
been sent to the summons, Nicholson prepared to land his troops, to which
Subercase offered no resistance, as he could not trust the garrison beyond
the walls of the fort on account of the discontent induced by the universal
conviction of their inability to oppose the English, who mustered to the
number of upward of three thousand, exclusive of seamen, to which force the
Governor could not oppose more than three hundred fighting men. In the mean
time the garrison became disorganized and many desertions took place, when
the Governor, yielding to necessity, opened a communication with Nicholson
with the view to capitulation.
The articles were, in the circumstances, highly favorable to the garrison.
They provided that the soldiers should march out with their arms and
baggage, drums beating and colors flying; that they should be conveyed to
Rochelle, and that the inhabitants within three miles of Port Royal should
be permitted to remain on their lands, with their corn, cattle, and
furniture, for two years, if so disposed, on their taking the oath of
allegiance to the Queen of Great Britain. The destitute condition of
the garrison was manifested by their tattered garments and absence of
provisions necessary to sustain them even for a few days. In conformity
with the terms of the capitulation four hundred eighty men in all were
transported to Rochelle, in France. A garrison, consisting of two hundred
marines and two hundred fifty New England volunteers, was left in Port
Royal, under Colonel Vetch, as governor--General Nicholson returning to
Boston with the fleet.
The English, sensible of the disastrous consequences resulting from the
policy hitherto adopted of abandoning Port Royal after having taken
repeated possession of it, had now resolved to retain it permanently. The
Acadians were alarmed at the indications of permanent occupancy which they
witnessed, and evinced a degree of hostility which caused the Governor to
adopt such measures as were calculated to convince them that they must act
in virtue of their temporary allegiance to the British crown, as became
faithful subjects. The restraints imposed were galling to the French,
and they despatched a messenger with a letter to the Governor of Canada,
referring to their general misery under British rule, and praying to be
furnished with the means of leaving a country where they could not enjoy
absolute freedom, but the letter contained no specific charges.
In the hope of regaining the fort, and impressed with the importance in the
mean time of intensifying Indian hostility to English rule, the Canadian
Governor sent messengers to the French missionaries to exert their
influence in that direction. The consequence was that parties sent out to
cut wood were attacked, and that travelling beyond the fort was rendered
dangerous. Eighty men sent from the garrison on that service were attacked
by the Indians, who killed about thirty of the party, taking the rest
prisoners. Vaudreuil, the Governor of Canada, had made preparations to
assist in the recapture of the fort, but intelligence of a strong force
being in preparation to attack Canada prevented the accomplishment of his
purpose.
General Nicholson, on leaving Port Royal, went to England, for the purpose
of inducing the Government to adopt measures for the thorough conquest of
Canada, preparations for that end being in progress in New England. His
appeal was cordially responded to, and a fleet of twelve line-of-battle
ships, with storeships and transports, and having eight regiments and a
train of artillery on board, the whole commanded by Admiral Walker, left
England on April 28, 1711, arriving in Boston, June 25th. If his formidable
force, which consisted of sixty-eight vessels in all, having about six
thousand fighting-men on board, left Boston on July 30th, arriving at
Gaspé, August 18th, where wood and water were taken in. They sailed thence
on the 20th.
The pilots seem to have been incompetent, for on August 23d the ships got
into difficulties in a fog, losing in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, near Egg
Island, eight transports and eight hundred eighty-four men. At a council of
war it was determined to abandon the enterprise, and intelligence of the
resolution was sent to General Nicholson, who had left Albany with an
army for the purpose of attacking Montreal, and who consequently had the
mortification of being obliged to return immediately. On September 4th the
fleet arrived at Spanish Bay and anchored in front of Lloyd's Cove. It is
questionable if the noble harbor of Sydney has ever since presented so
lively a spectacle as on this occasion.
Admiral Walker was instructed if he succeeded in taking Québec, to attack
Placentia, in Newfoundland, but at a council of war it was declared
impracticable to make any attempt against that place, while from the
condition of the stronghold it could have been easily taken. On his return
Walker was the laughing-stock of the nation. Literary squibs and pamphlets
were showered upon him, and his attempts at a vindication of his conduct
only rendered him the more ridiculous. He stood in the estimation of the
nation in precisely the same position as Sir John Cope, the commander of
the force sent to attack Prince Charles Edward Stuart on his march from the
north of Scotland, in 1745, to Edinburgh, who, after having held a council
of war, resolved to march in the opposite direction from that in which the
enemy was to be found, and whose consummate folly or cowardice in doing so
is a standing national joke.
The severe contests in which France and Britain were almost continually
engaged required occasional breathing-time. Hence, notwithstanding the
series of brilliant victories gained by Marlborough, the war had become
unpopular, and the governmental policy had to be assimilated to the
national will. France was equally desirous of peace, and no great
difficulty was experienced in coming to terms. In the preparation of
previous treaties, France had succeeded in making the cession to her of
any portion of North American territory wrested from her a fundamental
condition of agreement. Great Britain had hitherto shown a degree of
pliability, in yielding to the desire of her great opponent, in this
matter, which seems unaccountable, and certainly incompatible with British
interests; but the representations of the New Englanders as to the impolicy
of such procedure were so urgent and unanswerable that the Government had
resolved that the period of vacillation was past, and that the exercise of
firmness in the permanent retention of Nova Scotia was necessary. Hence, in
the celebrated Treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, it was provided that all Nova
Scotia or Acadia should be yielded and made over to the Queen of Great
Britain and to her crown forever, together with Newfoundland, France
retaining possession of Cape Breton.
General Nicholson, having been appointed governor of Nova Scotia in 1714,
as well as commander-in-chief, Queen Anne addressed a graceful letter to
him, dated June 23, 1713, in which, after alluding to her "good brother,"
the French King, having released from imprisonment on board his galleys
such of his subjects as were detained there professing the Protestant
religion, she desired to show her appreciation of his majesty's compliance
with her wishes by ordering that all Frenchmen in Nova Scotia and
Newfoundland who should desire to remain should be permitted to retain
their property and enjoy all the privileges of British subjects; and if
they chose to remove elsewhere, they were at liberty to dispose of their
property by sale ere they departed.
Meanwhile the Acadians, as well as the inhabitants of Newfoundland, were
pressed by the French Governor of Louisburg, M. de Costabelle, to remove to
Cape Breton, which the great body of the latter did. The Acadians, however,
could not appreciate the advantages to be gained in removing from the
fertile meadows of the Annapolis Valley to a soil which, however excellent,
required much labor to render it fit for cultivation. It appears that they
sent a deputation to examine the island and report as to its adaptability
for agricultural purposes, for one of their missionaries, addressing M.
de Costabelle, the Governor, says that from the visits made they were
satisfied there were no lands in Cape Breton suitable for the immediate
maintenance of their families, since there were not meadows sufficient to
nourish their cattle, from which they derived their principal support.
He at the same time represents the Indians--who had been also desired to
remove--as being of opinion that living as they did by the chase, the
island was quite insufficient for that purpose, as well as from its narrow
limits, equally unfitted for the exercise of their natural freedom.
But while declining to leave Nova Scotia, the Acadians expressed a firm
determination to continue loyal to the King of France, affirming that they
would never take the oath of allegiance to the crown of England, to the
prejudice of what they owed to their King, their country, and their
religion, and intimating their resolution, in the event of any attempt to
make them swerve from their fidelity to France, or to interfere with the
exercise of their religion, to leave the country and betake themselves to
Cape Breton, then called the Ile Royale. And they there remained until
1755, at which time the English and New England colonists finally drove
forth and dispersed them with hateful cruelty.
%CHRONOLOGY OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY EMBRACING THE PERIOD COVERED IN THIS
VOLUME%
A.D. 1661-1715
JOHN RUDD, LL.D.
Events treated at length are here indicated in large type; the numerals
following give volume and page.
Separate chronologies or the various nations, and of the careers of famous
persons, will be found in the INDEX VOLUME, with volume and page references
showing where the several events are fully treated.
A.D.
%1661%. Execution of the Marquis of Argyle. Burning of the _League and
Covenant_ by the hangman, in all parts of England.
Episcopacy restored in Scotland.
In France Louis XIV assumes personal rule; Colbert begins his ministry. See
"Louis XIV ESTABLISHES ABSOLUTE MONARCHY," xii, i.
%1662%. Sale of Dunkirk to the French by Charles II. Passage of a new Act
of Uniformity; ejectment of nonconformist ministers from their livings, in
England.
A charter given the Connecticut and New Haven colonies.
%1663%. Hungary overrun by the Turks under Koprili.
Foundation of the French Academy of Inscriptions.
The Carolinas granted by charter to Clarendon and others.
%1664%. Passage of the Conventicle Act in England, directed against
nonconformists or dissenters.
Victory of the united forces of Germany, France, and Italy, under
Montecucoli, general of Leopold I, at St. Gotthard, Hungary.
Charles II grants the territory between the Connecticut and James rivers to
his brother, James, Duke of York; New Amsterdam occupied and New Netherland
taken by the English; New York is the name given to both province and city.
James sells a portion of his domain, to which the title of "New Caesarea"
was first given, afterward changed to New Jersey. See "NEW YORK TAKEN BY
THE ENGLISH," xii, 19.
East and West India companies formed in France; colonies planted in
Cayenne, Martinique, Guadelupe, Ste. Lucia, and Canada.
1665. Continued persecution of dissenters in England by the passage of the
Five-mile Act.
War between England and Holland.
Newton invents his methods of fluxions.
Completion of the union of the Connecticut and New Haven colonies.
Death of Philip IV; his son, Charles II, ascends the throne of Spain.
"GREAT PLAGUE IN LONDON." See xii, 29.
1666. Great naval victory of the English over the Dutch, in the Downs.
Resort to arms by the Scotch Covenanters; they are defeated.
"DISCOVERY OF GRAVITATION." See xii, 51.
War against England declared by France.
Foundation of the Académie des Sciences, Paris.
Burning of London. See "GREAT FIRE IN LONDON," xii, 45.
William Penn joins the Society of Friends.
1667. Opening of the first fire-insurance office in London. Ravages up the
Medway and Thames, England, by the Dutch, during negotiations for peace.
Treaty of Breda; peace between England, Holland, France, Denmark.
Publication of Milton's _Paradise Lost_.
1668. Triple alliance against France formed by England, Holland, and
Sweden.
Recognition by Spain of the independence of Portugal. Foundation of the
mission of Sault Ste. Marie, by Father Marquette. Introduction of the art
of dyeing into England by Brewer, who fled from Flanders before the French
invaders.
1669. John Locke draws up a constitution for the government of the
Carolinas.
Candia surrenders to the Turks.
Expedition of La Salle from the St. Lawrence to the West.
Discovery of phosphorus by Brandt.
1670. A secret treaty (Dover) between Charles II of England and Louis XIV
of France; Charles basely sells his allies, the Dutch, and engages himself
to become a Catholic.
Incorporation of the Hudson Bay Company.
1671. Leopold attempts the subjugation of the liberties of Hungary; his
drastic methods include the execution of Frangepan, Nadasdy, and Zrinyi.
Attempt of Colonel Blood to steal the English crown and regalia from the
Tower; the King pardons and pensions him.
"MORGAN, THE BUCCANEER, SACKS PANAMA." See xii, 66.
Building of Greenwich Observatory.
1672. William III, Prince of Orange, has supreme power conferred on him
by the Dutch. The De Witts massacred. See "STRUGGLE OF THE DUTCH AGAINST
FRANCE AND ENGLAND," xii, 86.
1673. Passage in England of the Test Act, excluding dissenters and papists
from all offices of government.
Battle of Khotin; defeat of the Turks by John Sobieski.
"DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI." See xii, 108.
Occupation of New York and New Jersey by the Dutch.
Joliet and Marquette make discoveries on the upper Mississippi.
1674. Peace between England and Holland; the former regains New Netherland.
Occupation of Pondicherry by the French.
John Sobieski elected to the Polish throne.
1675. "KING PHILIP'S WAR." See xii, 125.