The Acadian Exiles | Page 4

of the river St John, and
whose commission from the king, giving him jurisdiction over the
whole of Acadia, had, apparently, never been rescinded. The king, to

whom the dispute was referred, instructed that an imaginary line should
be drawn through the Bay of Fundy to divide the territory of Charnisay
from that of La Tour. But this arrangement did not prevent the rivalry
between the two feudal chiefs from developing into open warfare. In
the struggle the honours rested with Charnisay. Having first
undermined La Tour's influence at court, he attacked and captured La
Tour's Fort St John. This happened in 1645. La Tour himself was
absent; but his wife, a woman of heroic mould, made a most
determined resistance. [Footnote: This follows the story as told by
Denys (see p. 18 note), which has been generally accepted by historians.
But Charnisay in an elaborate memoir (Memoire Instructif) gives a
very different version of this affair.] La Tour was impoverished and
driven into exile; his remarkable wife died soon afterwards; and
Charnisay remained lord of all he surveyed. But Charnisay was not
long to enjoy his dominion. In May 1650 he was thrown by accident
from his canoe into the Annapolis river and died in consequence of the
exposure.
In the year following Charnisay's death Charles de la Tour reappeared
on the scene. Armed with a new patent from the French king, making
him governor and lieutenant- general of Acadia, he took possession of
his fort at the mouth of the St John, and further strengthened his
position by marrying the widow of his old rival Charnisay. Three years
later (1654), when the country fell again into the hands of the English,
La Tour turned to good account his previous relations with them. He
was permitted to retain his post, and lived happily with his wife
[Footnote: They had five children, who married and settled in Acadia.
Many of their descendants may be counted among the Acadian families
living at the present time in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.] at Fort
St John, so far as history records, until his death in 1666.
By the Treaty of Breda in 1667 Acadia was restored to France, and a
period ensued of unbroken French rule. The history of the forty-three
years from the Treaty of Breda until the English finally took possession
is first a history of slow but peaceful development, and latterly of raids
and bloody strife in which French and English and Indians were
involved. In 1671 the population, according to a census of that year,

numbered less than four hundred and fifty. This was presently
increased by sixty new colonists from France. By 1685 this population
had more than doubled and the tiny settlements appeared to be thriving.
But after 1690 war again racked the land.
During this period Acadia was under the government of Quebec, but
there was always a local governor. The first of these, Hubert de
Grandfontaine, came out in 1670. He and some of his successors were
men of force and ability; but others, such as Brouillan, who issued card
money without authority and applied torture to an unconvicted soldier,
and Perrot, who sold liquor by the pint and the half-pint in his own
house, were unworthy representatives of the crown.
By 1710 the population of Acadia had grown to about twenty-one
hundred souls, distributed chiefly in the districts of Port Royal, Minas,
and Chignecto. Most of these were descended from the settlers brought
over by Razilly and Charnisay between 1633 and 1638. On the whole,
they were a strong, healthy, virtuous people, sincerely attached to their
religion and their traditions. The most notable singularity of their race
was stubbornness, although they could be led by kindness where they
could not be driven by force. Though inclined to litigation, they were
not unwilling to arbitrate their differences. They 'had none who were
bred mechanics; every farmer was his own architect and every man of
property a farmer.' 'The term Mister was unknown among them.' They
took pride in their appearance and wore most attractive costumes, in
which black and red colours predominated. Content with the product of
their labour and having few wants, they lived in perfect equality and
with extreme frugality. In an age when learning was confined to the
few, they were not more illiterate than the corresponding class in other
countries. 'In the summer the men were continually employed in
husbandry.' They cultivated chiefly the rich marsh-lands by the rivers
and the sea, building dikes along the banks and shores to shut out the
tides; and made little effort to clear the woodlands. 'In the winter they
were engaged in cutting timber and wood for fuel and fencing, and in
hunting; the women in carding, spinning, and weaving wool, flax, and
hemp, of