ON CAPE BEETON. 189 



and the inauguratiou of that series of victories which euded at last iu driviug- her 

 entirely from the continent. " At the time of the Armada," says an English historian, 

 " we saw England entering the race for the first time ; at Utrecht, England wins the 

 race. . . . The positive gains of England were Acadie in Nora Scotia, and New- 

 foundland surrendered by France, and the Assijnto compact granted by Spain. In other 

 words, the first step was taken towards the destruction of greater France by depriving her 

 of one of her three settlements of Acadie, Canada and Louisiana, in North America. From 

 that moment the rivalry in America is between France and England. . . . The 

 decisive event of it is the Seven Years' "War and the new position given to England by 

 the treaty of Paris in 1Y62. Here is the culminating point of English power in the 

 eighteenth century ; nay relatively to other states, England has never since been so 

 great." ' 



Cape Breton, from this time forward, commenced to be an influential factor in the 

 aflfairs of New France. Before the close of the war and the cession of Nova Scotia and 

 Newfoundland to England, the attention of the French government was directed to the 

 importance of the geographical position of the island and to the expediency of making 

 one of its harbours an entrepôt for the trade between Canada, France and the West Indies. 

 M. Eaudot, intendant of justice and police, and his son, who had charge of finance in 

 Canada, recommended, iu 1708, that the island should be made available for commercial 

 purposes, and A'ery strongly pressed the necessity of fortifying one of its harbours, which 

 " would afford a safe refuge for vessels chased by an enemy, driven in by storms or in 

 want of provisions." Such a harbour would, in their opinion, " form a suitable rendez- 

 vous for cruisers and privateers, while France might monopolize the codfishery on the 

 coast of Acadie by means of a few small frigates, always ready to drive olf foreign fisher- 

 men."" So far the island had been neglected, and Plaisance — the Placentia of the Portu- 

 guese — was the headquarters of the French fisheries in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. At this 

 time Newfoundland was inhabited by a considerable number of English traders and fisher- 

 men, chiefly on the coast between Cape Race and Cape Bonavista. Both the French and 

 English had now a large fleet of vessels of considerable size engaged in these rich fisheries, 

 the annual catch of the French alone being probably half a million chuintais. When 

 Newfoundland was given up to England in 1713, the French officials and inhabitants 

 removed to Cape Breton, where English Harbour, from that time known as Louisbourg, 

 was chosen as the capital. The island itself was named He Hoyale, St. Peter's became 

 Port Toulouse, and the fine port of St. Anne became Port Dauphin, and seemed likely at 

 one time to be chosen as the seat of government. The first governor of He Royale was 

 M. de Costabelkv who had held a similar position at Plaisance, in Newfo^^ndland. The 



' Seelej', " Expansion of England," pp. 132, 133, 138. 



- For a, very fu!l abstract of X\\\a able menioraniiiim of the RauJot.s, see Charlevoix, " Histoire Générale de la 

 Nouvelle France," iv. VIQ-M'l. 



■' ïlie following is a list of the French governors of lie Royale from 1713 to 1758 : M. do Costalelle, 1712-1717 ; 

 M. de St. Ovide, 1718-1735; M. de Brouillan, 1736-17.38; M. de Forant, 1739-1740; M. Duqueanel, 1741-17-14; Major 

 Diuhanibon, 1745 ; [the English governors from 1745 to 1749 .vere Warren ami Poi)pcrre]l (joint), Comniodoio 

 Knowles and Colonel Hopson;] ]\I. des Herbiètes, 1740-1751 : M. le Comte do Raymond, 1751-1754 ; M. d'Aillebout, 

 1754; M. de Drucour, 1754-17.59. ïliis liât is made up from M. Marmette's summary of papers in the French 

 archives relating to lie Royale. ("Canadian Archives," 1887.) M. de St, Ovide was also known as M. de St. 

 Ovide de Brouillan, and it is a question whether the same person was not governor from 1736 to 1738, but I have 

 not been able to clear up this doubt. 



