IN TIMES OF WAR
When Philipps had set at rest the question of the oath
of allegiance, he returned to England, and Armstrong,
less pacific than his chief, again assumed the
administration, and again had some trouble with the
priests. Two Acadian missionaries had been expelled from
the country for want of respect to the governor; and
Armstrong informed the inhabitants that in future he must
be consulted regarding the appointment of ecclesiastics,
and that men from Quebec would not be acceptable. Brouillan,
the governor of Ile Royale, had taken the ground that
the Acadian priests, not being subjects of Great Britain,
were not amenable to the British authorities. This view
was held by the priests themselves. The president of the
Navy Board at Paris, however, rebuked Brouillan, and
informed him that the priests in Acadia should by word
and example teach the obedience due to His Britannic
Majesty. This pronouncement cleared the air; the
disagreements with the missionaries were soon adjusted;
and one of them, St Poncy, after being warned to cultivate
the goodwill of the governor, was permitted to resume
his pastoral duties at Annapolis Royal.
On the death of Armstrong, on December 6, 1739, from
wounds supposed to have been inflicted by his own hand,
John Adams was appointed lieutenant-governor and president
of the Council. In the following spring, however, Adams
was displaced by a vote of the Council in favour of Major
Paul Mascarene. 'The Secretary came to my House,' wrote
Adams to the Duke of Newcastle, 'and reported to me the
judgment of the Council in favour of Major Mascarene,
from whose judgment I appealed to His Majesty and said
if you have done well by the House of Jerubable [Jerubbaal]
then rejoice ye in Abimelech and let Abimelech rejoice
in you.' [Footnote: Public Archives, Canada. Nova Scotia
A, vol. xxv, p. 9.] After this lucid appeal, Adams, who
had deep religious convictions, retired to Boston and
bemoaned the unrighteousness of Annapolis. [Footnote:
Writing from Boston to the Lords of Trade, Adams said:
'I would have returned to Annapolis before now. But there
was no Chaplain in the Garrison to administer God's word
and sacrament to the people. But the Officers and Soldiers
in Garrison have Prophaned the Holy Sacrament of Baptism
and Ministeriall Function, by presuming to Baptize their
own children. Why His Majesty's Chaplain does not come
to his Duty I know not, but am persuaded it is a Disservice
and Dishonour to our Religion and Nation; and as I have
heard, some have got their children Baptized by the Popish
Priest, for there has been no Chaplain here for above
these four years.'--Public Archives, Canada. Nova Scotia
A, vol. xxv, p. 176.]
It was under Mascarene's administration that Nova Scotia
passed through the period of warfare which now supervened.
For some time relations between France and England had
been growing strained in the New World, owing chiefly to
the fact that the Peace of Utrecht had left unsettled
the perilous question of boundary between the rival
powers. There was the greatest confusion as to the
boundaries of Nova Scotia or Acadia. The treaty had given
Great Britain the province of Acadia 'with its ancient
boundaries.' The 'ancient boundaries,' Great Britain
claimed, included the whole mainland of the present
maritime provinces and the Gaspe peninsula; whereas France
contended that they embraced only the peninsula of Nova
Scotia. Both powers, therefore, claimed the country north
of the isthmus of Chignecto, and the definition of the
boundary became a more and more pressing question.
The outbreak of the war of the Austrian Succession in
Europe in 1741 set the match to the fuse. By 1744 the
French and English on the Atlantic seaboard were up in
arms. The governor of Ile Royale lost no time in attacking
Nova Scotia. He invaded the settlements at Canso with
about five hundred men; and presently a band of Indians,
apparently led by the Abbe Le Loutre, missionary to the
Micmacs, marched against Annapolis Royal. Towards these
aggressions the Acadians assumed an attitude of strict
neutrality. On the approach of Le Loutre's Micmacs they
went to their homes, refusing to take part in the affair.
Then when the raiders withdrew, on the arrival of
reinforcements from Boston, the Acadians returned to
their work on the fort. During the same year, when Du
Vivier with a considerable French force appeared before
Annapolis, the Acadians aided him with provisions. But
when the French troops desired to winter at Chignecto,
the Acadians objected and persuaded them to leave, which
'made their conduct appear to have been on this occasion
far better than could have been expected from them.'
[Footnote: Nova Scotia Documents, p. 147.] Once more the
Acadians resumed their work on the fortifications and
supplied the garrison with provisions. They frankly
admitted giving assistance to the French, but produced
an order from the Sieur du Vivier threatening them with
punishment at the hands of the Indians if they refused.
In May of the following year (1745) a party of Canadians
and Indians, under the raider Marin, invested Annapolis.
Again the Acadians refused to take up arms and again
assisted the invaders with supplies. By the end of the
month, however, Marin and his raiders had vanished and
the garrison at Annapolis saw them no more. They had been
urgently summoned by the governor of Ile Royale to come
to his assistance, for Louisbourg was even then in dire
peril. An army of New Englanders under Pepperrell,
supported by a squadron of the British Navy under Warren,
had in fact laid siege to the fortress in the same month.
[Footnote: See The Great Fortress in this Series, chap.
ii.] But Marin's raiders could render no effective service.
On the forty-ninth day of the siege Louisbourg surrendered
to the English, [Footnote: June 17, Old Style, June 28,
New Style, 1745. The English at this time still used the
Old Style Julian calendar, while the French used the
Gregorian, New Style. Hence some of the disagreement in
respect to dates which we find in the various accounts
of this period.] and shortly afterwards the entire French
population, civil and military, among them many Acadians,
were transported to France.
The fall of Louisbourg and the removal of the inhabitants
alarmed the French authorities, who now entertained fears
for the safety of Canada and determined to take steps
for the recapture of the lost stronghold, and with it
the whole of Acadia, in the following year. Accordingly,
a formidable fleet, under the command of the Duc d'Anville,
sailed from La Rochelle in June 1746; while the governor
of Quebec sent a strong detachment of fighting Canadians
under Ramesay to assist in the intended siege. But disaster
after disaster overtook the fleet. A violent tempest
scattered the ships in mid-ocean and an epidemic carried
off hundreds of seamen and soldiers. In the autumn the
commander, with a remnant of his ships, arrived in Chebucto
Bay (Halifax), where he himself died. The battered ships
finally put back to France, and nothing came of the
enterprise. [Footnote: See The Great Fortress, chap.
iii.] Meanwhile, rumours having reached Quebec of a
projected invasion of Canada by New England troops, the
governor Beauharnois had recalled Ramesay's Canadians
for the defence of Quebec; but on hearing that the French
ships had arrived in Chebucto Bay, and expecting them to
attack Annapolis, Ramesay marched his forces into the
heart of Acadia in order to be on hand to support the
fleet. Then, when the failure of the fleet became apparent,
he retired to Beaubassin at the head of Chignecto Bay,
and proceeded to fortify the neck of the peninsula,
building a fort at Baie Verte on the eastern shore. He
was joined by a considerable band of Malecites and Micmacs
under the Abbe Le Loutre; and emissaries were sent out
among the Acadians as far as Minas to persuade them to
take up arms on the side of the French.
William Shirley, the governor of Massachusetts, who
exercised supervision over the affairs of Nova Scotia,
seeing in this a real menace to British power in the
colony, raised a thousand New Englanders and dispatched
them to Annapolis. Of these only four hundred and seventy,
under Colonel Arthur Noble of Massachusetts, arrived at
their destination. Most of the vessels carrying the others
were wrecked by storms; one was driven back by a French
warship. In December, however, Noble's New Englanders,
with a few soldiers from the Annapolis garrison, set out
to rid Acadia of the Canadians; and after much hardship
and toil finally reached the village of Grand Pre in the
district of Minas. Here the soldiers were quartered in
the houses of the Acadians for the winter, for Noble had
decided to postpone the movement against Ramesay's position
on the isthmus until spring. It would be impossible, he
thought, to make the march through the snow.
But the warlike Canadians whom Ramesay had posted in the
neck of land between Chignecto Bay and Baie Verte did
not think so. No sooner had they learned of Noble's
position at Grand Pre than they resolved to surprise him
by a forced march and an attack by night. Friendly Acadians
warned the British of the intended surprise; but the
over-confident Noble scouted the idea. The snow in many
places was 'twelve to sixteen feet deep,' and no party,
even of Canadians, thought Noble, could possibly make a
hundred miles of forest in such a winter. So it came to
pass that one midnight, early in February, Noble's men
in Grand Pre found themselves surrounded. After a plucky
fight in which sixty English were killed, among them
Colonel Noble, and seventy more wounded, Captain Benjamin
Goldthwaite, who had assumed the command, surrendered.
The enemies then, to all appearances, became the best of
friends. The victorious Canadians sat down to eat and
drink with the defeated New Englanders, who made, says
Beaujeu, one of the Canadian officers, 'many compliments
on our polite manners and our skill in making war.' The
English prisoners were allowed to return to Annapolis
with the honours of war, while their sick and wounded
were cared for by the victors. This generosity Mascarene
afterwards gratefully acknowledged.
When the Canadians returned to Chignecto with the report
of their victory over the British, Ramesay issued a
proclamation to the inhabitants of Grand Pre setting
forth that 'by virtue of conquest they now owed allegiance
to the King of France,' and warning them 'to hold no
communication with the inhabitants of Port Royal.' This
proclamation, however, had little effect. With few
exceptions the Acadians maintained their former attitude
and refused to bear arms, even on behalf of France and
in the presence of French troops. 'There were,' says
Mascarene, 'in the last action some of those inhabitants,
but none of any account belonging to this province...
The generality of the inhabitants of this province possess
still the same fidelity they have done before, in which
I endeavour to encourage them.'
Quite naturally, however, there was some unrest among
the Acadians. After the capture of Louisbourg in 1745
the British had transported all the inhabitants of that
place to France; and rumours were afloat of an expedition
for the conquest of Canada and that the Acadians were to
share a similar fate. This being made known to the British
ministry, the Duke of Newcastle wrote to Governor Shirley
of Massachusetts, instructing him to issue a proclamation
assuring the Acadians 'that there is not the least
foundation for any apprehension of that nature: but that
on the contrary it is His Majesty's resolution to protect
and maintain all such of them as shall continue in their
duty and allegiance to His Majesty in the quiet and
peaceable possession of their habitations and settlements
and that they shall continue to enjoy the free exercise
of their religion.' [Footnote: Newcastle to Shirley, May
30, 1747.--Canadian Archives Report, 1905, Appendix C,
vol. ii, p. 47.]
Shirley proceeded to give effect to this order. He issued
a proclamation informing the inhabitants of the intention
of the king towards them; omitting, however, that clause
relating to their religion, a clause all-important to
them. The document was printed at Boston in French, and
sent to Mascarene to be distributed. Mascarene thought
at the time that it produced a good effect. Shirley's
instructions were clear; but in explanation of his omission
he represented that such a promise might cause
inconvenience, as it was desirable to wean the Acadians
from their attachment to the French and the influence of
the bishop of Quebec. He contended, moreover, that the
Treaty of Utrecht did not guarantee the free exercise of
religion. In view of this explanation, [Footnote: Bedford
to Shirley, May 10, 1748.] Shirley's action was approved
by the king.
In Shirley's proclamation several persons were indicted
for high treason, [Footnote: Canadian Archives Report,
1906, Appendix C, vol. ii, p. 48.] and a reward of 50
pounds was offered for the capture of any one offender
named. These, apparently, were the only pronounced rebels
in the province. There were more sputterings in Acadia
of the relentless war that raged between New France and
New England. Shirley had sent another detachment of troops
in April to reoccupy Grand Pre; and the governor of Quebec
had sent another war-party. But in the next year (1748)
the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, by which Ile Royale (Cape
Breton) and Ile St Jean (Prince Edward Island) were
restored to France, brought hostilities to a pause.