ON CAPE BEBTON. 3l9 



Smollett, in " The History of England from the Revolution to the death of George the Second" — a continuation 

 of Hume's history — has only a page and u-half on the operations of 17-45, and falls into the error of saying that " they 

 were wholly conducted by the engineers and otlicers who commanded the lîritish marines." Parkman (' Atlantic 

 Monthly' for May, 1S91) puts it correctly when he states that " the whole work of the siego fell upon the land 

 forces, and though it had been proposed to send a body of marines ashore, this was not done. Three or four 

 gunners, intended, in tlie words of Warren, ' to put your men in the way of loading cannon,' were his only contri- 

 bution to the operations of the siege." (See letter of Warren to Popperrell, 1 Itb May, 1745, in which he showed he 

 had no men to spare. 10. \> 629, )i.) Smolljtt was, however, fully aware of the importance of Ca[3e Breton, and of 

 the ignominy of the peace which gave it up " in exchange for a petty fortress in the East Indies." Smollett gives 

 more space, pp. 299-301, (London ed- of 1790) to the taking of Louisbourg in 1758, and describes " the noisy expres- 

 sions of triumph and exultation " in London. 



"Exodus of the AVestern Nations," by Viscount Bury, M. P. (London, 1865, 2 vols.). In the second volume 

 (pp. 179-186) a brief sketch of the siege of 1745 is given, but while it is incorrect in some jiarticulars it does not 

 fail to do full justice to the enterprise and bravery of the New Englanders. We know, however, that Warren had 

 not actually communicated with Pepperrell before the latter's preparations for sailing were complete, or had 

 arranged for a rendezvous at Canso. As a matter of fact, Pepperrell sailed for Canso despite the knowledge that 

 Warren had refused to co-operato with him. Vaughan did not attack the royal battery and force the French to 

 spike their guns. The garrison did not become mutinous during the siege, but did their duty courageously. 

 Lord Bury was civil secretary for 1854-5, under Sir Edmund Head, while governor-general of Canada, and married 

 a daughter of Sir Allan McNab, who took for many years a leading part in Canadian affairs. The work in ques- 

 tion is a history of colonization, quite readable, but sketchy and not always accurate in its details. Another 

 example of his inaccuracy is his statement that the Due d'Anville died at sea. (See supra, sec, VI.) 



The taking of LouLsbourg, in 1745, appears to have inspired a poet in Nathaniel Ames's " Almanac " (Boston, 

 1746) to indulge in this poetic burst : • 



" Bright Hesperus, the harbinger of day, 

 Smiled gently down on Shirley's prosperous sway. 

 The prince of light rode in his burning car. 

 To see the overtures of peace and war, 

 Around the world ; and bade his charioteer. 

 Who marks the periods of each month and year, 

 Kein in his steeds, and rest upon high noon, 

 To view our victory at Cape Breton." 



The victory is also commemorated in the 'Gentleman's Magazine' for July, 1745, in several stanzas, entitled a 

 " Hymn to Victory," of which the following is a specimen verse : 



" Beyond the wide Atlantic sea 

 She rises yi>s( to crown our toils ; 

 Thither to wealth she points the way. 

 And bids us thrive on Gaelic sjioils." 



The inspiration in this case is decidedly of a mercenary character, and does not take as lofty a flight as the New 

 England poetic description of Hesperus smiling on the victory. Cape Breton does not appear to have called for 

 poetry in 1758. It was soon forgotten in the taking of Quebec and the death of AVolfe, to whom many poetic 

 tributes were paid. See Hawkins's " Pictures of Quebec" ((.Juebec, 1834), 379, 387, 388. 



In N. Hawthorne's charming stories of history and biography for young people, " The Whole History of Grand- 

 father's Chair," there is a short chapter on the preparations in Boston in 1744-45 for the expedition against Louis- 

 bourg (see pp. 110-116, Patterson's Edinburgh ed. of 1885), and of the rejoicings when the news of the victory 

 arrived in the capital of New England. A little work of this style hardly calls for criticism, but it is noteworthy 

 that, though the author states in his preface he " has endeavoured to keep a distinct and unbroken thread of 

 authentic history," he ignores the second taking of Louisbourg in 1758, though the first in the series of great events 

 that relieved the Thirteen Colonies of fears of French aggression, and gave Canada to England. See also Haw- 

 thorne's " Fansliawe, and Other Pieces" (Boston, 1876), a work of little merit, but noteworthy here because it con- 

 tains a sketch of Pepperrell and of the exiiedition of 1745. 



In ' The New England Magazine' (Boston) for October, 1891, there is a short paper (pp. 260-265), " A Glimpse 

 of the Siege of Louisbourg," by S. Frances Harrison, a Canadian poet, better known as "Seranus." As is very 

 common with most of the English writers, Louisb(o)urg is anglicized by leaving out "o" — an inaccuracy, it seems 

 to me, in the case of a French name, especially in anhistoric paper. It occurs, however, in the maps and memoirs 

 by Gibson, Waldo, Gridley, and the New England writers generally of last century. Mrs. Harrison's notes— the 



