And simple hearted, could
not understand these political distinctions, and naturally clung to the
pleasant farms which they had reclaimed from the sea and cultivated so
diligently, being most reluctant, of course, to leave those
"Strongly built houses, with frames of oak and of chestnut,
Such as the peasants of Normandy built in the reign of the Henries.
Thatched were the roofs, with dormer windows, and gables projecting
Over the basement below protected and shaded the doorway."
The French dominions were guarded by a chain of forts extending all
along the Atlantic coast, from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico.
That on Cape Breton Island, which protected the approach to the St.
Lawrence, was considered invincible, its walls being thirty feet high,
forty feet thick, and surrounded by a moat eighty feet in width.
Boston sent out a fleet of forty-one vessels and three thousand men to
Cape Breton, to assail the "Gibraltar of America", as the fort of
Louisburg was called. Forces from New Hampshire and Connecticut joined
the expedition at Canso; and this remarkable fortress, whose
fortifications alone cost five million dollars, was besieged, and
capitulated after forty-nine days, yielding to untrained soldiers; the
victory owing to "mere audacity and hardihood, backed by the rarest good
luck", as one English writer says. The conquerors themselves were amazed
at their success when they discovered the great strength of the fort.
Their victory was, in fact, due largely to maneuvers which deceived the
French regarding the strength of their forces.
This was ten years before the dispersion of the French Neutrals was
effected; and during those years the Acadians, being zealous Catholics
and devoted to the mother country, naturally but almost unconsciously
were drawn into the disputes between France and England; and it is not
to be wondered at, if, as some authorities state, there were three
hundred of their young men found in arms when the English attacked Fort
Beau-Séjour. The French had built Forts Beau-Séjour and Gaspereau on the
neck connecting the peninsula of Nova Scotia with the mainland, to guard
the entrance to their territory. A few hotheaded youths, who thought
they were honestly serving their country and people by taking up arms in
defense, might have been forgiven, particularly as it is known that some
were pressed into the service, and that the oath which they had taken
years before absolved them from taking arms against France, but did not
pledge them against serving in her defense.
These forts were taken by Lieutenant-Colonel Moncton in June, 1755, the
garrison of Beau-Séjour being sent to Louisburg on condition that they
should not take up arms in America for six months. Prince Edward's
Island - then called St. John's Island - fell into the hands of the
English when Cape Breton was taken, and the inhabitants were sent to
France. In the summer of 1755 matters seemed to be culminating, and the
bitter dissensions were brought to a crisis. The Neutrals were again
called upon to take the oath, the following being the form in which it
was presented to them: "Je promets et jure sincerement, en foi de
Chrétien, que je serai entierement fidele et obeirai vraiment sa Majesté
Le Roi George, que je reconnais pour le Souverain seigneur de l'Acadie,
ou nouvelle Ecosse - ainsi Dieu me soit en aide."
But this was not the "reserved oath", as the former one was called; and
the Acadians, feeling themselves bound by the old pledge, asked
exemption from this, and requested the restoration of arms which had
been taken from them, agreeing also to keep faithfully the old form of
oath.
Deputies from the settlements near Port Royal (which were above, below,
and almost on the site of the present town of Annapolis), at Pisiquid
(now Windsor), Minas, etc., were sent to Halifax, where a long
conference was held; but the deputies still declining to accept the new
oath, they were imprisoned, and the deportation of the Acadians decided
upon. In order to do this artifice was resorted to, to prevent the
people from suspecting what was in store for them, and that the poor
peasants might have no chance to leave themselves or carry away their
possessions. "Both old men and young men, as well as the lads of ten
years of age," were called, by a proclamation, "to attend at the church
at Grand Pré" at a certain time; and it was declared that "no excuse"
would "be admitted, on any pretence whatever, on pain of forfeiting
goods and chattels, in default of real estate."
The settlers on the Basin of Minas were immigrants from Saintonge,
Poitou, and La Rochelle, who came to this country in the early part of
the seventeenth century. The land which they had reclaimed from the
Basin was rich and fertile; they exported grain to Boston, and became
prosperous. The object of the call to the church does not seem to have
been suspected. When Basil says, -
"Four days now are passed since the English ships at their anchors
Ride in the Gaspereau's mouth, with their cannon pointed against us
What their designs may be is unknown; but all are commanded
On the morrow to meet in the church, where his Majesty's mandate
Will be proclaimed as law in the land;"
Benedict responds, -
"Perhaps the harvests in England
By the untimely rains or untimelier heat have been blighted,
And from our bursting barns they would feed their cattle and
children."
But in the church the mystery was solved soon enough, and naturally a
terrible scene ensued.
