* * * * *
But none within that fortress, tho’ tried in many a fray—
Sons of the gallant men who fought on Ivry’s bloody day—
Possessed more dauntless courage to dare or to endure,
So kind and yet so brave a heart, as the wife of Lord Latour.”
The French occupation gave way to the English about the middle of the eighteenth century, but the real settlement of St. John was made by United Empire Loyalists, or expatriated loyalists from New England, at the close of the American Revolutionary War.
St. John is a very homelike and pleasant city where cool sea breezes may be enjoyed all through the summer. It has restful small park areas or squares, as well as extensive outlying parks and public gardens, and it is surrounded by a wealth of drives, resorts, boating places, beaches and places where all kinds of outdoor sport may be enjoyed. In addition, over one hundred outlying places of much interest are readily accessible from it as a centre, and for fishing and hunting it occupies a position only exceeded by those of the great sporting districts. For maritime pleasures, deep-sea fishing, etc., it shares supremacy with two or three other places such as Halifax and Sydney. It has good hotel and other accommodation, and for chance wet days it has a most excellent public library. In this connection may also be mentioned the Museum of the Natural History Society on Union Street.
It was at the foot of what is now King Street, the principal store thoroughfare, that the American Loyalists landed in 1783 and founded the city. What are presumed to be the remains of earthworks marking the site of Fort La Tour may be seen in West St. John at the foot of Middle Street. It was here that La Tour’s wife, the “Heroine of Acadia,” made such a gallant defense of her husband’s cause. She is supposed to have been buried somewhere near where Governor Villebon is known to have been interred. In this connection the old French cannon on Queen Square is believed to have been taken from the French fortifications, and it is altogether likely to have been one of those to which Whittier referred in his poem, “St. John,” on Charles La Tour and the noble Lady La Tour:
