[425] "The importance of the colonies[426] was too little considered until the commencement of the last war. The reduction of Cape Breton by the people of New England was an acquisition so unexpected and fortunate, that America became, on that remarkable event, a more general topic of conversation. Mr. Shirley, the governor of Massachusetts Bay, was the principal projector of that glorious enterprise; an enterprise which reduced to the obedience of his Britannic majesty the Dunkirk of North America. Of such consequence to the French was the possession of that important key to their American settlements, that its restitution was, in reality, the purchase of the last general peace of Europe."[427]—A Review of the Military Operations in North America, in a Letter to a Nobleman, p. 4 (London, 1757).
"The plan of the invasion of Cape Breton was laid at Boston, and New England[428] bore the expense of it. A merchant named Pepperel,[429] who had excited, encouraged, and directed the enterprise, was intrusted with the command of the army of 6000 men, which had been levied for this expedition. Though these forces, convoyed by a squadron from Jamaica, brought the first news to Cape Breton of the danger that threatened it; though the advantage of a surprise would have secured the landing without opposition; though they had but six hundred regular troops to encounter, and eight hundred inhabitants hastily armed, the success of the undertaking was still precarious. What great exploits, indeed, could have been expected from militia suddenly assembled, who had never seen a siege or faced an enemy, and were to act under the direction of sea-officers only? These inexperienced troops stood in need of the assistance of some fortunate accident, with which they were indeed favored in a singular manner. The construction and repair of the fortifications had always been left to the care of the garrison at Louisburg. The soldiers were eager to be employed on these works, as the means of procuring a comfortable subsistence. When they found that those who were to have paid them appropriated to themselves the profits of their labors, they demanded justice: it was denied them, and they determined to assert their right. As the depredations had been shared between the chief persons of the colony and the subaltern officers, the soldiers could obtain no redress. They had, in consequence, lived in open rebellion for above six months when the English appeared before the place. This was the time to conciliate the minds of both parties; the soldiers made the first advances, but their commanders distrusted a generosity of which they themselves were incapable. It was firmly believed that the soldiers were only desirous of sallying out that they might have an opportunity of deserting, and their own officers kept them in a manner prisoners, until a defense so ill managed had reduced them to the necessity of capitulating. The whole island shared the fate of Louisburg, its only bulwark. This valuable possession, restored to France by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, was again attacked by the English in 1748, and taken. The possession was confirmed to Great Britain by the peace in 1763, since which the fortifications have been blown up, and the town of Louisburg dismantled."—Winterbottom's History of America, vol. iv., p. 14.
[426] "L'île de Cap Bréton n'étoit pas alors (at the time of the treaty of Ryswick), un objet, et l'établissement que nous y avions n'avoit rien qui put exciter la jalousie des Anglais: elle nous demeura."—Charlevoix, tom. iii., p. 349.
[427] "The island of Cape Breton, of which the French were shamefully left in possession at the treaty of Utrecht, 1713, through the negligence or corruption of the British ministry, when Great Britain had the power of giving law to her enemies."—Russell's Modern Europe, vol. iii., p. 223.
"Only three years after Cape Breton was taken by the New Englanders, England was obliged reluctantly to resign her favorite conquest of Cape Breton, in order to obtain the restitution of Madras. This was by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748. The final conquest took place in 1758, by the English, under Amherst and Wolfe."—Belsham, vol. ii., p. 333.
[428] "The sum of £235,749 was granted by the British Parliament to the provinces of New England, to reimburse them for the expense of reducing Cape Breton."—Smollett, vol. iii., p. 224.
[429] "The news of this victory being transmitted to England, Mr. Pepperel was preferred to the dignity of a baronet of Great Britain."—Ibid., vol. iii., p. 154.
[430] "When Marshal Belleisle was told of the taking of Cape Breton, he said he could believe that, because the ministry had no hand in it. We are making bonfires for Cape Breton, and thundering over Genoa, while our army in Flanders is running away."—Walpole's Letters to Sir Horace Mann, July 26, 1745.
[431] "The tract of country known by the name of Nova Scotia, or New Scotland, was in 1784 divided into two provinces, viz., New Brunswick on the southwest, and Nova Scotia on the southeast. The former comprehends that part of the old province of Nova Scotia which lies to the northward and westward of a line drawn from the mouth of the River St. Croix, through the center of the Bay of Fundy to Baye Verte, and thence into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, including all lands within six leagues of the coast. The rest is the province of Nova Scotia, to which is annexed the island of St. John's, which lies north of it in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The modern Nova Scotia is the French Acadia. The modern New Brunswick is the French Nouvelle Ecosse. This name was given by Sir William Alexander, to whom the first grant of lands was given by James I.; since then the country has frequently changed hands, from the French to the English nation, backward and forward. It was not confirmed to the English till the peace of Utrecht. Three thousand families were transported into this country in 1749, at the charge of the government, and they built and settled the town of Halifax."—Winterbottom's History of America, vol. iv., p. 39.
[432] "La cour de France avoit extrêmement à cœur de recouvrer cette province (Acadia); les efforts reitérés des Anglois pour l'avoir en leur puissance, et plus encore, leur triomphe après l'avoir conquise, avoit enfin ouvert les yeux aux François sur la grandeur de la perte qu'ils avoient faite. M. de Pontchartrain écrivit ainsi à M. de Beaubarnois: 'Je vous ai fait assez connoître combien il est important de reprendre ce poste (le Port Royal) avant que les ennemies y soient solidement établis. La conservation de toute l'Amérique septentrionale, et le commerce des Pêches le démandent également: ce sont deux objets qui me touchent vivement.'"—Charlevoix, tom. iv., p. 90.