210 J. G. BOUEINOT 



ment when he was asked for his advice, but later on he suggested the motto for the flag : 



" mi Desperandum Christo Duce." ' 



A clergyman who accompanied the troops is said to have carried a hatchet for the express 

 purpose of destroying the images in the French churches.- This was one of the inspiring 

 motives of a large number of his companions, who, whilst they looked, like the Iron- 

 sides of Cromwell, to Providence for special assistance did not neglect to look after their 

 powder and to take other worldly precautions necessary even in the case of those who 

 believed that their tenets of faith and mode of worship particularly commended themselves 

 to heaven compared with the dogmas and superstitious of Rome. One devout colonial 

 soldier,' at the commencement of the siege, informed the general in command that he had 

 achieved a notable success — the occupation of the royal battery — " by the grace of God 

 and the courage of thirteen men." 



V. The Siege and Taking of Louisbourg in 1'745. 



Whether the designs of religious enthusiasts to destroy the symbols of religion in the 

 Roman Catholic churches recommended themselves or not to a beneficent Providence, it is 

 quite sufficient to know that the stars in their courses fought against the French Sisera. 

 From the starting of the expedition until it appeared before Louisbourg the French acted 

 as if they had no warning whatever of the attack that was to be made upon them. 

 When the fleet of one hundred vessels arrived at Canseau in the early "part of April the 

 colonial leader found that the whole eastern coast of Cape Breton was blocked with ice, 

 and that it was impossible to enter any of its ports and bays. While the harbours to the 

 north of Soatari Island, which lies to the northeast of Louisbourg, may be full of drift ice, 

 that place as a rule is generally clear, but in 1'745 there appears to have been unusual 

 quantities on that coast to stop all communications with the port. The colonists had 

 already detailed several armed vessels to cruise off Louisbourg and prevent any news of 

 the proposed expedition reaching the French garrison. One French frigate, the Renommée, 

 fell in with the fleet off Canseau, but siicceeded in escaping to France. While at Canseau 

 Pepperrell built a block-house in which he stationed a small force and a few cannon. 

 The French post at Port Toulouse was destroyed by his orders, and some vessels were 

 sent to Bay Verte to prevent provisions and men being sent to the fortress. On the 22ud 

 of April, a week before the expedition left Canseau, the English frigate Eltham arrived 

 with the welcome news that Commodore Warren was on his way. On the following day 

 he made his appearance with three ships to the great joy of the colonial troops. While 



' "Whitfield, with a good deal cf worldly wisdom, cautioned Pepperrell that if he failed the blood of the slain 

 would be laid to his charge, and that if he succeeded the envy of the living would pursue him." T. H. Hipginson in 

 "Memorial History of Boston," ii. 115, n. See account of interview between Pepperrell and Whitfield in "Tyer- 

 man's Life of Whitfield," ii. 150. 



- This was the Rev. Samuel Moody, minister of York, senior chaplain of the expedition. (See infm, p. 22:2.) 

 He had not a few sympathizers, like John Gray of Biddeford, who wrote to Pepperrell : "Oh that I could be with 

 you and dear Parson Moody in that church [Louisbourg] to destroy the images there set up, and hear the true 

 gospel of our Lord and Saviour there preached!" See Parkman, "Capture of Louisbourg by the New England 

 Militia," ' Atlantic Monthly,' March, 1891. 



^ This was William Vaughan, one of the projectors of the expedition. See infra, third page. 



