No. I.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The appearance of this work, more than a year after Mr. Parkman’s death, calls for a few words of explanation. While writing it, I fully expected that my statements would meet his eye, and, possibly, be challenged by him. At the time of his death my manuscript was almost complete. There being then no reason for haste, and my health having suffered from excessive application, I went to spend five months in California. Since my return from Los Angeles, I have been busy making arrangements and providing ways and means for the publication of these volumes, throughout which I have preserved, in referring to Mr. Parkman, the expressions I used when I thought they might be read by him.

Mr. Parkman's death, depriving me of part of the object I had in view, came upon me with the suddenness of an unexpected shock and the keenness of a great disappointment.

Much praise has been indulged in by his many admirers since his death, and more particularly by the Rev. Julius Ward in McClure’s Magazine of January, 1894. Mr. Parkman had the wise foresight to present to the Massachusetts Historical Society an oaken cabinet containing his manuscript volumes and the documents which he followed. His object, so says Mr. Ward, was to enable critics to estimate the correctness of his writing, and, probably also, to allow his friends to defend him.

Mr. Ward, moreover, informs us that Mr, Parkman was so accurate, so trustworthy, so impartial, so careful in all details, that history as written by him is final. Such an assertion is, to put it mildly, rash. All this praise, some of it well deserved, can have no effect on one who, like myself, has found him out; it is the obvious result of Parkman’s plausibility and unparalleled astuteness.

Now may have come the opportunity for the oaken cabinet. For my part, I have endeavored to dispense with any such collection, by giving room to my sources of information in the text itself, readily sacrificing the attractiveness of the narrative to the higher purpose of affording, to the earnest inquirer after truth, the best available data for forming an independent and reasonable judgment.

In this connection it may be well to point out how my researches have brought to light a most curious instance of the progressive distortion which history may be made to suffer under the skilful manipulation of unscrupulous men. The Compiler, confronted, on the one hand, with a collection of documents already mutilated by interested persons, and, on the other, by the public opinion of a hundred years condemning the act which it was his business to throw into clearer relief, sets to work to garble and distort the scraps that had escaped destruction. Far from fulfilling the mission entrusted to lmn by the Legislature, far from furnishing matter for real history, his compilation, by the very fact of its issuing under such high patronage, of its consequent claim to impartiality, and of its facilitating the labor of research, would inevitably constitute, for the average student of history, a barrier to further inquiry, and would thus pave the way for Lawrence’s defenders. Such must have been the Compiler’s purpose. Sooner or later some bold writer would be found to realize it and stamp it with the semblance of finality. That writer is Parkman. Trenchant assertions, positive and precise conclusions and all the other resources of his profound craftiness have been brought to bear upon a fresh mutilation and a further distortion of the Compiler’s distorted and twice garbled collection After Parkman, as might have been expected, other writers -would arise who, with less knowledge of the subject, would improve on his system of suppression or at least of unwarrantable inference. This process of progressive distortion must have pretty nearly reached its utmost limit in the following lines:

“The Maritime Provinces,—Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, cover, at least the first two of them cover, the area of the old French Acadie, which, submerged by the tale of conquest, shows itself only in the ruined fortifications of Louisburg, once the Acadian Gibraltar, in remains of the same kind at, Anna polis, and in a relic of the French population. The name, with the lying legend of British cruelty connected with it, has been embalmed, not in amber but in barley-sugar, by the writer of ‘Evangeline.’

“Lieutenant-Governor Adam Archibald, Mr. Parkman, and Dr: Kingston have completely disposed of this fiction, and shown that the deportation of the Acadians was a measure of necessity, to which recourse was had only when forbearance was exhausted. The blame really rests on the vile and murderous intriguer of the priest Le Loutre. The commander of the troops, Winslow, was an American.

Thus is history fabricated. The Compiler begat Parkman, Parkman begat Archibald, Archibald begat Goldwin Smith. By dint of repeated mutilations, step by step, they have succeeded in giving the lie to the received opinions of a whole century and in proclaiming to the world, in telling phrase, that the cruelty of this deportation is merely a nursery fable. There remains but one further step to take: let some still more audacious perverter of history affirm either that the deportation itself is a myth, or that the Acadians, if they were not ungrateful, ought to erect monuments to Lawrence, Belcher and Wilmot, because they did not exterminate them on the spot.

Of the writers mentioned above, the Compiler and Park man are the only ones against whom there is overwhelming evidence of bad faith. The others erred through rashness in that they ventured on ground that was unknown to them except through the descriptions of the garbling pair. For it is hardly necessary to emphasize the fact that Mr. Goldwin Smith, though dabbling in history for fifty years, has probably never gone in for original research, but has preferred to write, in admirable English, brilliant one-sided summaries and glittering, though seldom golden, generalizations. However, there is just one short sentence, in the passage I have quoted from him. which looks very much like bad faith “embalmed in barley-sugar puerility. “The commander of the troops. Winslow,” says this great word-monger, “was an American.” Now, as these events took place twenty years before the Revolutionary War, there were at that time no Americans as distinguished from Britishers. Besides, Winslow was merely the local commander at Grand Pre; there were three other such commanders, Handfield at Annapolis, Murray at Pigiguit, Monckton at Beaubassin, all three having nothing at all to do with the American provinces in what is now the United States. Yet, in the teeth of these well known facts, Mr. Goldwin Smith tries, by an apparently simple statement, to shift the responsibility for the deportation on shoulders that ought not to bear that crushing weight. His covert insinuation means this: The cruelty of the deportation is a lying legend; and at any rate, if it is not, British honor is safe, since he who commanded the troops was an American. Before Mr. Smith, no one ever accused Winslow of being the author of the deportation ; he merely carried out the orders of his superior, Lawrence. To ignore the Governor wrho concocted the whole scheme, and to throw the blame on one of the subordinate officers who obeyed his orders, is a piece of childish trifling unworthy of an intelligent school-girl. As for Longfellow, he needs no defence. His work is but a poem; yet the conscientious historian will find more truth in his “ barley-sugar ""than in all the lofty sneers of Mr. Smith.

The following letter was addressed to me since this work has been put in the publisher’s hands. It is from George S. Brown, Esq., now of Boston, Mass., ex-M. P. P. for Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and author of a valuable History of that county.

“I have read in the Montreal Herald the Introduction to your forthcoming Hook on Acadian History. The subject is of much interest to me, for 1 have made a special study of it as well as of the. Acadians themselves, who are numerous in Yarmouth County, where more than fifty years of my life have been passed.

“I see that you charge Parkman with partiality, if not with dishonesty, in dealing with your subject. You are right ; dishonesty seems to be the proper word, for he has evidently suppressed the truth when treating of the Acadian Expatriation of 1755. He has ignored, I am sorry to say, whatever tended to exhibit the deportation in its true light; he has garbled historic records to suit his purposes ; he has explored every nook and corner to hunt up something disparaging to the Acadians, and he has taken no account of Haliburton, Andrew Brown, and other trustworthy writers.

"The Home Government not only did not aid or sanction the deportation, but they opposed it, as did also General Amherst, Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in North America. I have become conversant with the main facts sincc my book was published, but t had glimpses of them all along. Casgrain lets in some light, but there is much more to be said in the same direction. For the mere sake of truth and justice, T am glad that you lead the way, and that you expose Parkmau’s perversion of the facts of history, etc., etc.”

After reading Mr. Brown’s book (who by the way is a stranger to me), I wrote to him, saying, in substance, that his praise of Acadians seemed to me rather excessive. I here extract the following from his answer :

"In your letter you intimate that I might be held chargeable with undue partiality to the Acadians. I do not, and I stand ready to justify everything I have said of the Acadians of Yarmouth County with whom I have been long and intimately acquainted, and when I say that since the year 1701, when Yarmouth County was first settled by the English, there is not a case on record of an Acadian being charged with a capital crime,—that, though they number about 8,000, nearly one third of the population of the County, the occasions have been of the very rarest when the prison doors have been opened for an Acadian charged with an offence of even the most trivial nature, there is little danger of one’s saying too much in their praise."

No. II.

(See Vol. I., page 844, and Vol. II., page 135).

Lawrence's Character.

Sir,

We are extremely obliged to you for your favor of the-30th July last and for your assiduity iu our affairs.

We can assure you, sir, that we were almost without hopes of being considered as English subjects. The haughty and disdainful behavior of Governor Lawrence to all our remonstrances, though tendered with the utmost submission, gave us much reason to think he was countenanced at Home by those we had all the reason in the world heretofore to think were the patrons and principal supporters of this infant settlement, and specially when it was publicly declared by Governor Lawrence’s creatures, that those gentlemen in office here, who had ever been solicitous to forward and promote the settlement and who had in every point behaved with honesty and integrity, specially the Judges of the courts of justice and some of the Council, would soon be displaced. They are the only men who have been the means of keeping the settlers from deserting in a body and supported the rights and liberties of the people.

Your letter has revived the hopes of the inhabitants, and it has been great comfort to them to find an Englishman in England who has their unhappy state and condition at heart and commiserates their bondage under oppression and tyranny.

We are sensible of the difficulties in England and the unsettled state of the Board of Trade which may retard our affairs; but, we are not without hopes, through your care and assiduity, that we shall meet with success in having an Assembly soon ordered to be established here ; and we cannot help expressing our extreme satisfaction to find that it was the Lords of Trade’s most earnest intention to have an Assembly instantly settled, as we are very sure it is of all things in the world the most necessary step to strengthen and establish this settlement and invite settlers to come and settle among us.

We cannot but express our most hearty sorrow that our good Lord Halifax has, at this critical juncture, resigned his place at the board. We are all to a man perfectly assured of that good Lord’s sincere attachment to the welfare of the colonies, and look upon him truly as the father of this colony. We are fully persuaded that he will use his utmost endeavors to remove from us our oppressor and the oppressor of all his good purposes; a person un known to him and recommended by persons on whom he relied and whom we are sure were not acquainted with his bad heart and mischievous intentions, one of whom is General Hopson, who has had sufficient reason to alter his opinion. The other is General Cornwallis, who is too much a friend to this people if he could be convinced of the ill-treatment and unjust oppression this tyrant Governor has been guilty of ever to countenance or support him.

These are all the friends Governor Lawrence has in England, for, on this side of the water, he has none, either of the inhabitants or gentlemen of the army who hold him in the utmost contempt, except those formerly mentioned to you, his agents in oppression. Perhaps you will be more surprised to hear how this governor who sometime ago was only a painter’s apprentice in London should have advanced himself to such heights. We are obliged to confess that he has a good address, a great deal of low cunning, is a most consummate flatterer, has words full of the warmest expressions of an upright intention to perform much good, though never intended, and with much art solicitously courts all strangers whom he thinks can be of any service to him. By these and such arts has he risen to be what he is, and, elated with his success, is outrageously bent upon the destruction of every one that does not concur in his measures.

We beg leave to make this remark which we desire you will read at the end of twelve months, that if he be not removed Nova Scotia will be lout to the Crown of Great Britain, and the rest of the colonies be endangered of sharing the same fate, which ought to be the utmost concern of every Englishman to prevent.

And, in order that you may in some measure understand the importance of this, he has prevailed with Lord Loudun to represent in England the necessity of placing this Colony under a military government, and of suspending the charters and laws of the other colonies, the consequence of which, we apprehend, would be a struggle in the colonies for liberty, and a consequence too fatal to name. And while the contentions subsist there, the French will penetrate in this Province: indeed they have no feasible con quest left them but this colony, and, if the others are deprived of their liberties, it is difficult to say what the effect will be, but the worst is to be feared.

We could say many things which nearly concern us about the affairs in this part of the world, but we are confident you will hear of them fn un better hands, for they must become public.

We cannot but express our most sincere acknowledgment of gratitude and thanks to the Eight Honorable Mr. Pitt, that great patron of liberty, for the condescension he has shown in taking notice of our affairs; and, so far as is reasonable and just, we doubt not of his concurrence and assistance to procure us redress.

In answer to your remarks, that the quorum of sixteen is too large for the proposed number of twenty two deputies for the whole Assembly, it is also our opinion, but it was the resolve of Council.

Cur desire of having all placemen excluded from the Assembly, was owing to the circumstances of the colony under our present Governor. The voters are almost dependants, the officers are wholly so, it would therefore be the Governor’s Assembly and not the people’s. Laws would be made according to his pleasure, and no grievance would be redressed. But if a Governor who has the welfare of the colony and the interest of the people, was appointed, this would be an immaterial point.

The reason why triennial Assemblies was proposed, was intended only for the first Assembly, in order to settle the colony under an English Assembly; otherwise, foreigners, being the most numerous, and the time when they will be naturalized by a seven years’ residence near approaching, the future Assemblies might be mostly composed of foreigners, which might be dangerous to this frontier settlement.

As to the article of Judges, a good Governor will avail more for the advancement of justice, and then a good judge would be under no concern least he be displaced.

Another of the Governor's acts, is to misrepresent and abuse all below him. He has publicly called his Council a pack of scoundrels, the merchants a parcel of villains and bankrupts, and has represented in England the whole as a people discontented and rebellious. We have, authority of his saying and declaring this from his own mouth in the presence of m/my officers both of the army and navy. Is it possible, sir, that people can be easy under such a Governor? We dare appeal to our two former Governors for our behavior under their administration, whose conduct to us was the very reverse of Governor Lawrence.

Believe us. sir, we are not captious. We are not that turbulent people we have been represented our interest obliges us to be otherwise ; we desire nothing inconsistent with the prerogatives of the Crown; we desire none other than the liberties enjoyed by the other colonies, which His Majesty has graciously been pleased to promise by his Royal proclamation.

Our distresses have arisen from the malevolent disposition of Governor Lawrence and his creatures. Were they removed and a Governor of humanity appointed, one -acquainted with the constitution of Englishmen and an Assembly settled, you would soon have the pleasure of hearing of the increase and success of this settlement, for we are well assured that 500 families would remove from Massachusetts and settle immediately here, as we know the offer has been made to Governor Lawrence and rejected upon their requiring an Assembly to be first established, in order that they might have proper laws for their regulation and security of their property.

As for evidence of people leaving the colony for want of an Assembly (those that are already gone;, it would take time to collect them as they are dispersed in the colonies ; and though one hundred more families are upon the point of removing, they are extremely fearful of being denied passes if they should be found to have given such evidence, for you must know that Governor Lawrence obliges every master of a vessel to enter into bond, under a penalty of fifty pounds forfeiture, for every person they carry away without license obtained under his hand ; and, this is done without the least shadow of law or order of Council; nor can any inhabitant go three miles from town without a certificate from a justice of the peace, so that Halifax is really a prison to all intents and purposes.

As for what you mention of the depositions not coming under the seal of the Province, we beg leave to inform you that it has never been allowed to be fixed to any papers but their own, instead whereof Governor Lawrence fixes his private seal, and must see all the evidence or his secretary; therefore, to such kind of evidence it would bo impossible to procure, that, and, for want of the Province seal, many have suffered in their lawsuits in the neighboring colonies, or at the expense of sending witnesses where their suits have been depending, which are some among the many rights we are debarred of.

But we hope before this time many complaints have reached the ear of the Minister, and that it will shortly evidently appear, if it is not already manifest, that whilst Governor Lawrence has the least influence in American affairs, so long will ruin and confusion attend them. This truth. General Shirley in England, and Lord Charles Hay when he goes there, will, we are informed, make evident to demonstration, for it is generally believed, that, whatever specious crime may be alleged against Lord Charles Hay, his confinement was solely due to Governor Lawrence’s insinuations to Lord Loudun, upon a private disgust to that Lord for examining too freely into the expenses of batteries, etc., etc., and speaking too contemptibly of what had been done for the mighty sums expended in Nova Scotia.

We had not touched upon those matters, but as we think Providence more immediately seems to concern itself in discovering the villainous arts of the authors of our calamities, and hope will direct its measures in pouring vengeance on the man whose sole aim is to have been to blast the good intentions of his country and to make all subordinates to him miserable.

It is with pleasure we hear that the accounts of Nova Scotia will be strictly enquired into, as we are very sure, if they were sifted to the bottom, it will be found that not less than ten thousand pounds, of rum, molasses (of which there was not less than 30,000 gallons, which alone w as worth £3,000), beef, pork, etc.,, etc., provisions and much merchandize for the supply of the Indians and French in habitants were taken in Port Beausejour, neither distributed as a reward to the captors nor accounted for, except some small quantity of beef and pork sold to the Commissary Mr. Saul on Mr. Baker’s supply, which was extremely bad and decayed, and certified by Governor Lawrence as provisions sent by Governor Shirley.

That the Transports were kept near three months after the French Neutrals were ready for embarcation at an immense expense, and the New England troops kept six months after their service was over, and this for two special reasons : one to oblige them to enlist into the regulars, and the other to defeat General Shirley in raising a sufficient number of troops necessary for the summer’s campaign. By which means Oswego was lost, and the expedition to Crown Point rendered abortive. We appeal to General Shirley for the truth of this.

That the cattle, etc.. etc., of the Acadians were converted to private uses, of which we know 3,600 hogs and near 1,000 head of cattle were killed and packed at Pigiguit alone and sent by water to other places; and what at other forts is yet a secret, all unaccounted for to the amount of a very large sum: and he and his Commissary are now under great perplexity, and contriving to cover this iniquitous fraud.

That £30,000 has been laid out on batteries not worth thirty pence for the defence of this place in the judgment of every person acquainted therewith.

It is possible he may produce vouchers to cover all his frauds, for, if the true ones should fall short, he h;is those under him who have been used to such kind of work and can readily supply the deficiency. But, if a Governor was sent out with orders to enquire into these, or at least to take depositions, we are very sure the whole will be clearly made to appear.

No. III.

(See Vol. II., page 235.)

Petition of the Aoawans Depobtku to Philadelphia.

To His Most Excellent Majesty, King of Great Britain, etc., etc.

The humble Petition of his subjects, the late French in habitants of Nova Scotia, formerly settled on the Bay of Minas, and rivers thereunto belonging; now residing in the Province of Pennsylvania, on behalf of themselves and the rest of the late inhabitants of the said bay, and also of those formerly settled on the river of Annapolis Royal, wheresoever dispersed.

May it please Your Majesty,

It is not in our power sufficiently to trace back the conditions upon which our ancestors first settled in Nova Scotia, under the protection of Your Majesty’s predecessors, as the great part of our elders who were acquainted with these transactions are dead; but more specially because our papers, which contained our Contracts, records, etc., etc.. were, by violence, taken from us some time before the unhappy catastrophe which has been the occasion of the calamities we are now under; but we always understood the foundation thereof to be from an agreement made between Your Majesty’s Commanders in Nova Scotia and our forefathers about the year 1713, whereby they were permitted to remain in the possession of their lands, under an oath of fidelity to the British Government, with an exemption from, bearing arms, and the allowance of the free exercise of our religion.

It is a matter of certainty,—and within the compass of some of our memories—that in the year 1730, General Philipps, the Governor of Nova Scotia, did, in Your Majesty’s name, confirm unto us, and all the inhabitants of the whole extent of the Bay of Minas and rivers thereunto belonging. the free and entire possession of those lands we were then possessed of; which, by grants from the former French Government, we held to us and our heirs forever, on paying the customary quit-rents, etc., etc. And on condition that we should behave with due submission and fidelity to Your Majesty, agreeable to the oath which was then administered to us. which is as follows, viz.: “ We sincerely promise and swear, by the faith of a Christian, that we shall be entirely faithful, and will truly submit ourselves to His Majesty King George, whom we acknowledge as sovereign Lord of New Scotland, or Acadia; so God help us.”

Anil at the same time, the said General Philipps did. in like manner, promise the said French inhabitants, in Your Majesty's name, that they should have the true exercise of their religion, and be exempted from bearing aims, and from being employed in war, either against the French or Indians. Under the sanction of this solemn engagement we held our lands, made further purchases, annually paying our quit-rents, etc., etc.; and we had the greatest reason to conclude that Your Majesty did not disapprove of the above agreement, and that our conduct continued, during a long course of years, to be such as recommended us to your gracious protection, and to the regard of the Governor of New England, appeals from a printed declaration, made seventeen years after this time, by His Excellency William Shirley, Governor of New England, which was published and dispersed in our country, some copies of which have escaped from the general destruction of most of our papers, part of which is as follows:

“By His Majesty’s command,

“A declaration of William- Shirley, Esq., Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief. in and over His Majesty’s Province of Massachusetts' Bay, etc.

“To His Majesty’s subjects, the French inhabitants of his province of Nova Scotia: Whereas, upon being informal that a report had been propagated among his Majesty’s subjects, the French inhabitants of his Province of Nova Scotia., that there was an intention to remove them from their settlements in that Province, I did, by my declaration, dated lfith September, ]74fi, signify to them that the same was groundless, and that I was, on the contrary, persuaded that His 'Majesty would be graciously pleased to extend his royal protection to all such of them as should continue in their fidelity and allegiance to him. and in no wise abet or hold correspondence with the enemies of his crown; and therein assured them, that 1 would make a favourable representation of their state and circumstances to His Majesty, and did accordingly transmit a representation thereof to be laid before him. and have thereupon received his royal pleasure, touching his1 aforesaid subjects in Nova Scotia, with his express commands to signify the same to them in his name: nor, by virtue thereof, and in obedience to His Majesty's said orders, I do hereby declare, in His Majesty’s name, that there is not the least foundation for any apprehensions of His Majesty’s intending to remove them, the said inhabitants of Nova Scotia, from their said settlements and habitations within the said Province; but that, on the contrary, it is His Majesty’s resolution to protect and maintain all such of them as have adhered to and shall continue in their duty and allegiance to him, in the quiet and peaceable possession of their respective habitations and settlements, and in the enjoyment of their rights and privileges as his subjects, etc., etc.”

Dated at Boston, the 21st of October, 1747.

And this is farther confirmed by a letter, dated 29th of June, in the same year, wrote to our deputies by Mr. Mascarene, then Your Majesty’s chief commander in Nova Scotia, which refers to Governor Shirley’s first declaration, of which we have a copy, legally authenticated, part of which is as follows, viz.:

“As to the fear you say you labor under, on account of being threatened to evacuate the country, you have in possession His Excellency William Shirley’s printed letter, whereby you may be made easy in that respect: you are sensible of the promises I have made to you. the effects of which you have already felt, that. I would protect you so long as, by your conduct and fidelity to the Crown of Great Britain, yon would enable me to do so, which promise I do again repeat to you.”

Near the time of the publication of the before mentioned declaration, it was required that our deputies should, on behalf of all the people, renew the oath formerly taken to General Philipps, which was done without any mention of bearing arms, and we can with truth say, that we are not sensible of alteration in our disposition and conduct since, that time ; but that we always continued to retain a grateful regard to Your Ma jesty and your Government, notwithstanding which, we have found ourselves surrounded with difficulties unknown to us before. Your Majesty determined to fortify our Province and settle Halifax ; which the French looking upon with jealousy, they made frequent incursions through our country, in order to annoy that settlement, whereby we came exposed to many straits and hardships; yet, from the obligations we were under, from the oath we had taken, we were never under any doubt, but that it was our indispensable duty and interest, to remain true to your Government and our oath of fidelity, hoping that in time those difficulties would be removed, and we should see peace and tranquillity restored; and if, from the change of affairs in Nova Scotia. Your Majesty had thought it not inconsistent with the safety of your said Province to let us remain there upon the terms promised us by your Governors, in Your Majesty’s name, we should doubtless have acquiesced with any other reasonable proposal which might have been made to us, consistent with the safety of our aged parents, and tender wives and children: and we are persuaded, if that had been the case, wherever we had retired, we should have held ourselves under the strongest obligations of gratitude, from a thankful remembrance of the happiness we had enjoyed under Your Majesty’s administration and gracious protection. About the time of the settlement of Halifax, General Cornwallis, Governor of Nova Scotia, did require that w e should take the oath of allegiance without the exemption before allowed us of not bearing arms; but this we absolutely refused, as being an infringement of the principal condition upon which our forefathers agreed to settle under the British Government.

And we acquainted Governor Cornwallis, that if Your Majesty was not willing to continue that exemption to us, we desired liberty to evacuate the country, proposing to settle on the Island of St. John, where the French Government was willing to let us have land ; which proposal he at that time refused to consent to, but told us he would acquaint Your Majesty therewith and return us an answer. But we never received an answer, nor was any proposal of that made to us until we were made prisoners.

After the settlement of Halifax we suffered many abuses and insults from Your Majesty’s enemies, more specially from the Indians in the interest of the French, by whom our cattle was killed, our houses pillaged, and many of us personally abused and put in fear of our lives, and some even carried away prisoners towards Canada, solely on account of our resolution steadily to maintain our oath of fidelity to the English Government; particularly Rene LeBlanc—our public notary—was taken prisoner by the Indians when actually travelling in Your Majesty’s service, his house pillaged, and himself carried to the French fort, from whence he did not recover his liberty but with great difficulty, after four years, captivited.

We were likewise obliged to comply with the demand of the enemy, made for provisions, cattle, etc., etc., upon pain of military execution, which we had reason to believe the Government was made sensible was not an act of choice on our part, but of necessity, as those in authority appeared to take in good part the representations we always made to them after anything of that nature had happened.

Notwithstanding the many difficulties we thus laboured under, yet we dare appeal to the several Governors, both at Halifax and Annapolis Royal, for testimonies of our being always ready and -willing to obey their orders, and give all the assistance in our power, either in furnishing provisions and materials, or making roads, building forts, etc., etc., agreeable to Your Majesty’s orders, and our oath of fidelity, whensoever called upon, or required thereunto.

It was also our constant care to give notice to Your Majesty’s commanders, of the danger they from time to time have been exposed to by the enemy’s troops, and had the intelligence we gave been always attended to, many lives might have been spared, particularly in the unhappy affair which befell Major Noble and his brother at Grand Pre, when they, with great numbers of their men were cut off by the enemy, notwithstanding the frequent advices we had given them of the danger they were in and yet we have been very unjustly accused as parties in that massacre.

And although we have been thus anxiously concerned to manifest our fidelity in these several respects, yet it has been falsely insinuated, that it had been our general practice to abet and support Your Majesty’s enemies; but we trust that Your Majesty will not suffer suspicions and accusations to be received as proof sufficient to reduce thousands of innocent people, from the most happy situation to a state of the greatest distress and misery. No. this was far from our thoughts; we esteemed our situation so happy as by no means to desire a change.

We have always desired, and again desire that we may lie permitted to answer our accusers in a judicial way. In the meantime permit us, sir, here solemnly to declare, that these accusations are utterly false and groundless, so far as they concern us as a collective body of people. It hath been always our desire to live as our fathers have done, as faith fill subjects under Your Majesty’s royal protection, with an unfeigned resolution to maintain our oath of fidelity to the utmost of our power. Yet it cannot be expected but that amongst us, as well as amongst other people, there have been some weak and false-hearted persons, susceptible of being bribed by the enemy so as to break the oath of fidelity. Twelve of these were outlawed in Governor Shirley’s Proclamation before mentioned; but it will be found that the number of such false-hearted men amongst ns were very few. considering our situation, the number of our inhabitants, and how we stood circumstanced in several respects; and it may easily be made to appear that it was the constant care of our Deputies to prevent and put a stop to such wicked conduct when it came to their knowledge.

We understand that the aid granted to the French by the inhabitants of Beaubassin has been used as an argument to accelerate our ruin; but we trust that Your Majesty will not permit the innocent to be involved with the guilty; no consequence can be justly drawn, that, because those people yielded to the threats and persuasions of the enemy we should do the same. They were situated so far from Halifax as to be in a great measure out of the protection of the English Government, which was not our case ; we were separated from them by sixty miles of uncultivated land, and had no other connection with them than what is usual with neighbors at such a distance ; and we can truly say, we looked on their defection from Your Majesty’s interest with great pain and anxiety. Nevertheless, not long before our being made prisoners, the house in which we kept our contracts, records, deeds, etc., was invested with an armed force, and all our papers violently carried away, none of which have to this day been returned us, whereby we are in a great measure deprived of means of making our innocence and the justness of our complaints appear in then-true light.

Upon our sending a remonstrance to the Governor and Council, of the violence that had been offered us by the seizure of our papers, and the groundless fears the Government appeared to be under on our account, by their taking away our arms, no answer was returned to us; but those who had signed the remonstrance, and some time after sixty more, in all about eighty of our elders, were summoned to appear before the Governor in Council, which they immediately complied with; and it was required of them that they should take the oath of allegiance without the exemption which, during a course of nearly fifty years, has been granted to us and to our fathers, of not being obliged to bear arms, and which was the principal condition upon which our ancestors agreed to remain in Nova Scotia., when the rest of the inhabitants evacuated the country ; which, as it was contrary to our inclination and judgment, we bought ourselves engaged in duty absolutely to refuse. Nevertheless, we freely offered, and would gladly have renewed our oath of fidelity, but this was not accepted, and we were all immediately made prisoners, and were told by the Governor, that our estates, both real and personal, were forfeited for Your Majesty’s use. As to those who remained at home, they were summoned to appear before the commanders in the forts, which, we showing some fear to comply with, on account of the seizure of our papers, and imprisonment of so many of our elders, we had the greatest assurance given us, that there was no other design but to make us renew our former oath of fidelity; yet. as soon as we were within the fort, the same judgment was passed on us as had been passed on our brethren at Halifax, and we were also made prisoners.

Thus, notwithstanding the solemn grants made to our fathers by General Philipps, and the declaration made by Governor Shirley and M. Mascarene in Your Majesty’s name, that it was Your Majesty’s resolution to protect and maintain all such of us as should continue in their duty' and allegiance to Your Majesty, in the quiet and peaceable possession of their settlements, and the enjoyment of all their rights and privileges as Your Majesty Is subjects; we found ourselves at once deprived of our liberties, without any judicial process, or even without any accusers appearing against- us, and this solely grounded on mistaken jealousies and false suspicions that we are inclinable to take part with Your Majesty’s enemies. But we again declare that that accusation is groundless; it was our fixed resolution to maintain, to the utmost of our power, the oath of fidelity which we had taken, not only from a sense of indispensable duty, but also because we were well satisfied with our situation under Your Majesty’s Government and protection, and did not think it could be bettered by any change which could be proposed to us. It has also been falsely insinuated that we held the opinion that we might be absolved from our oath so as to break it with impunity, but this we likewise solemnly declare to be a false accusation, and which we plainly evinced by our exposing ourselves to so great losses and sufferings rather than take the oath proposed to the Governor and Council, because we apprehended we could not in conscience comply therewith.

Thus we, our ancient parents and grandparents—men of great integrity and approved fidelity to Your Majesty— and our innocent wives and children, became the unhappy victims to those groundless fears; we were transported into the English Colonies, and this was done in so much haste, and with so little regard to our necessities and the tenderest ties of nature, that from the most social enjoyments, and affluent circumstances, many found themselves destitute of the necessaries of life. Parents were separated from children. husbands from wives, some of whom have not to this day met again ; and we were so crowded' in the transport vessels, that we had not room even for all our bodies to lay down at once, and consequently were prevented from carrying with us proper necessaries, especially for the support and comfort of the aged and weak, many of whom quickly ended their misery with their lives. And even those amongst us who had suffered deeply from Your Majesty’s enemies, on account of their attachment to Your Majestys Government, were equally involved in the common calamity, of which Rene LeBlanc, the Notary Public before mentioned, is a remarkable instance. He was seized, confined, and brought away among the rent of the people, and his family, consisting of twenty children, and about one hundred and fifty grandchildren, were scattered in different colonies, so that he was put on shore at New York, with only his wife and two youngest children, in an infirm state of health, from whence he joined $1 fee more of his children at Philadelphia, where he died without any more notice being taken of him than any of us, notwithstanding his many years’ labor and deep sufferings for Your Majesty’s service.

The miseries we have since endured are scarce sufficiently to be expressed, being reduced for a livelihood to toil and hard labor in a southern clime, so disagreeable to our constitutions that most of us have been prevented by' sickness from procuring the necessary subsistence for our families; and therefore are threatened with that which we esteem the greatest aggravation of all our sufferings, even of having our children forced from us, and bound out to strangers and exposed to contagious distempers unknown in our native country.

This, compared with the affluence and ease we enjoyed, shows our condition to be extremely wretched. We have already seen in this Province of Pennsylvania- two hundred and fifty of our people, which is more than half the .number that were landed here, perish through misery and various diseases. In this great distress and misery, we have, under God, none but Your Majesty to look to with hopes of relief and redress:

We therefore hereby implore your gracious protection, and request you may be pleased to let the justice of our complaints be truly and impartially enquired into, and that Your Majesty would please to grant us such relief, as in your justice and clemency you will think our case requires, and we shall hold ourselves bound to pray, etc.

No. IV.

(See Vol. XI., page 337.)

A relation of the misfortune of the French Neutral, as laid before the Assembly of the Pennsylvania by Jean Baptiste Galerne, one of the said people. ‘

About the year 1713. when Annapolis Royal was taken from the French, our fathers being then settled on the Bay of Fundy, upon the surrender of that country to the English, had, by virtue of the treaty of Utrecht, a year granted them to remove with their effects ; but aggrieved at the idea of losing the fruits of so many years’ labor, they chose rather to remain there and become the subjects of Great Britain, on the condition that they might be exempted from bearing arms against France, most of them having near relations amongst the French, which they might have destroyed with their own hands, had they consented to bear arms against them.

This request they always understood to be granted, on their taking the Oath of Fidelity to Her Majesty Queen Anne; which Oath of Fidelity was by us, about 27 years ago, renewed to His Majesty King George by General Philipps, who then allowed us an exemption from bearing arms against France; which exemption, till lately (that we were told to the contrary), we always thought was approved by the king.

Our Oath of Fidelity, we that are now brought into this Province, as those of our people that have been carried into neighboring Provinces, have always invariably observed, and have, on all occasions, been willing to afford every assistance in our power to His Majesty’s Governors, in erecting forts, making roads, bridges, etc., etc., and providing for His Majesty’s service, as can be testified by the several Governors and officers that have commanded in His Majesty's Province in Nova Scotia; and this, notwithstanding the repeated solicitations, threats, and abuses which «-have continually, more or less, suffered from the French and Indians of Canada on that account, particularly ten years ago. when 500 French and Indians came to our settlements, intending to attack Annapolis Royal, which, had their intention succeeded, would have made them masters of all Nova Scotia, it being the only place of strength then in that Province, they earnestly solicited us to join with, and aid them therein : but we, persisting in our resolution to abide true to our Oath of Fidelity, and absolutely refusing to give them any assistance, they gave over their intention, and returned to Canada.

And, about seven years past, at the settling of Halifax, a body of 150 Indians came amongst us, forced some of us from our habitations, and by threats and blows would have compelled us to assist them in waylaying and destroying the English, then employed in erecting forts in different parts of the country; but, positively refusing, they left us, after having abused us and made great havoc of our cattle, etc., etc. I myself was six weeks before I wholly recovered of the blows received at that time.

Almost numberless are the instances which might be given of the abuses and losses we have undergone from the French Indians, on account of our steady adherence to our Oath of Fidelity; and yet. notwithstanding our strict observance thereof, we have not been able to prevent the grievous calamity which is now come upon us. and which we .apprehend to be in great measure owing to the unhappy situation and conduct of some of our people at Beausejour, at the bottom of the Bay of Fundy, where the French erected a Fort. Those of our people who were settled near it, after having had many of their settlements burnt by the French, being too far from Halifax and Annapolis Royal to expect needed assistance from the English, were obliged, as we believe, more through compulsion and fear than inclination, to join with and assist the French, as it appears from the articles of capitulation of Fort Beausejour, agreed on between Colonel Monckton and the French commander, at the delivery of the said Fort to the English, w hich is exactly in the following words:

With regard to the Acadians, as they have been forced to take up arms on pain of death, they shall be pardoned for the part they have been taking.

Notwithstanding this, as the conduct of these people had given just umbrage to the Government, and created suspicion to the prejudice of our whole community, we were summoned to appear before tlie Governor and Council at Halifax, where we were required to take the oath of allegiance without our former exemption, which we could not comply with, because, as the Government was then situated, we apprehended we should have been obliged to take up arms, but we offered to take the Oath of Fidelity, and gave the strongest assurances of continuing peaceable and faithful to His Britannic Majesty with that exception. This, in the situation of affairs, not being satisfactory, we were made prisoners; and our estates, both real and personal, forfeited to the king. Vessels being provided, we were sometime after sent off with most of our families, and dispersed among the English colonies. The hurry and confusion in which we were embarked was an aggravating circumstance attending our misfortunes; for, thereby, many who have lived in affluence, found themselves deprived of every necessary, many families were separated, parents from children and children from parents.

Yet, blessed be God that it was our lot to be sent to Pennsylvania. where our wants have been relieved, and where we have in every respect been received with Christian benevolence and charity. Let me add. that, notwithstanding the suspicions and fears which manyr seem to be possessed of on our account, as though we were a dangerous people, who make little scruple of breaking; our oaths, time will make it manifest that we are not such a people. No, the unhappy situation which we are now in is a plain evidence that this has no foundation and tends to aggravate tlie misfortunes of an already too unhappy people; for, had we entertained such pernicious sentiments, wo might easily have prevented our falling into the melancholy circum stances we are now in, viz., deprived of our substance, banished from our native country,, and reduced to live from charity in a strange land; and this, for refusing to take an oath which Christianity absolutely forbids us to violate, had we once taken it, and yet an oath which we could not comply with without being exposed to plunge our swords in the breasts of our relations and friends.

We shall, however, as we have hitherto done, submit to what, in the present situation of affairs, may seem necessary, and with patience and resignation bear whatever God, in the course of His Providence, shall suffer to come upon us. We shall also think it our duty to seek and promote the peace of the country into which we are transported, and inviolably keep the Oath of Fidelity that we have taken to His Gracious Majesty King George, whom we firmly believe, when fully acquainted with our faithfulness and sufferings, will commiserate our unhappy condition and order some compensation for our losses. And may the Almighty abundantly bless His Honour the Governor, the Honourable Assembly of this Province and the good people of Philadelphia, whose sympathy, benevolence and Christian charity, have been, and still are, greatly manifested and extended toward us, a poor, distressed and afflicted people, is the sincere and earnest prayer of myself.