220 J. a. BOUEINOT 



contiueut. The writer has now before him a new encyclopœdia' just issued by the 

 European press, and turning to the subject of Louisbourg we find that "it was strongly 

 fortified under the French but was taken by the British in 1*763" — a statement not only 

 remarkable for the omission of any mention of 1'745, but for the inaccuracy of the date 

 given in the second instance. Sic transit gloria mnndi, especially when the matter is one 

 requiring some knowledge of the history or the geography of a colony. 



As respects Pepperrell and Warren, it is not necessary for us to depreciate the claims of 

 one, in order to elevate the reputation of the other. We know^ as a matter of fact and 

 not of controversy that the expedition was conceived, carried out, and actually on its way 

 to Louisbourg before Warren made his appearance. In fact, when it had started, Pepper- 

 rell heard of the refusal of the English Commodore to sail without orders, and there was 

 no guarantee that he would come at all. Like a true English sailor, when he joined the 

 expedition he supported it with all his energy and ability. Without his blockade of the 

 port, the Vigilante could not haA'e been taken. In fact, so effective w^as the blockade, that 

 during the siege only one small vessel, "a snow" from Bordeaux, succeeded in eluding the 

 vigilance of the fleet, and entering the port on a dark and stormy night. His presence 

 not only gave confidence to the colonial troops but worried the garrison, who felt that as 

 long as his fleet lay ofl" the harbour there was little prospect of aid reaching them from 

 Canada or France. All the heavy and dangerous work, however, fell on the colonial 

 troops, and had it not been for their successful efforts to erect a battery on the Light- 

 house Point, and mount it with cannon under great difficulties, they would never have 

 been able to weaken the island battery so as to enable the fleet to take part in the general 

 assault that was contemplated when Duchambon decided to surrender the town. All 

 that Warren was able to do for the land forces in the conduct of the siege operations was 

 to send them a few gunners and supplement their supply of powder which very soon ran 

 short." On the other hand, it is fair to state that had not the colonial expedition received 

 the hearty co-operation of the fleet, the result would have been problematical, though, 

 when we consider the spirit that prompted the colonial expedition and the determination 

 that was exhibited from its beginning to the capture of the fortress, we can well believe 

 that they would not hastily have given up the contest. All this, however, is mere spec- 

 ulation in the face of the fact that the colonial troops achieved a brilliant victory as a 

 result of their hardihood and pluck, and while Warren did his duty as a brave sailor and 

 his fleet was most necessary to the success of the expedition, it is after all to the land 

 force and not to him that the chief honour is due. It was then only an act of justice to 

 the English Commodore that wheji he presented himself with Greneral Pepperrell in 

 Boston, nearly a year later, that they should be both handsomely received and publicly 

 thanked by the general council of Massachussetts' Hay for the great services they had 

 rendered to England and her colonial peoples. 



Great dissatisfaction was felt in consequence of the army receiving no share whatever 

 of the great treasure which w^as captured in the Délivrance and other ships, and was 

 divided between the Crown and the British officers and sailors in accordance with the ordi- 

 nary naval rules, which might well have been modified under the exceptional circum- 

 stances. The colonial forces were also disappointed in the amount of booty they found in 



' "The Modern Cj'clopiedia," (London 1890-91) edited by Cl)arle.s Aniiandale, M.A., I.L.D. 

 ' See App. X to this work. 



