ON CAPE BEETON. 321 



"The History of Acadia from its first discovery to its surrender to England by the Treaty of Paris," by James 

 Hannay (St. John, N. B., 1S70,) is distinguished by tlie hterary merit wanting in the former work, but the author 

 has strong prejudices against tlie Acadians. In cliapters xviii and xxiii tliere are sliort readaljle accounts of the 

 sieges of 1745 and 1758. 



" A History of tlie Island of Cape Breton with some account of the Discovery and Settlement of Canada, Nova 

 Scotia and Newfoundland," by Richard Brown, F. G. S., F. R. G. S., (London, England, 1SG9) is the only complete 

 history that has ever been written of tlie island. It is a conscientious etlurt of a gentleman who lived many years 

 of his life in Cape Breton as manager of the largest and oldest association engaged in the working of the valuable 

 mines of Sydney. He was a man of considerable scientific knowledge, and devoted the clo.sing years of his life in 

 London to the writing of this work and to scientific studies. He had access to the English archive.s, but does not 

 appear to have made any eflbrt to use the vast amount of material to be found in Paris. As it is, however, the 

 work is fair and accurate. It reproduces Thorno's map of the Atlantic (1527) ; Mereator's map of the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence (lôliû) ; Cliamplain's (1(332) ; Denys's (1072) ; an excellent jirofile of the walls of Louisbourg ; plans of the 

 harbour and vicinity and of the second siege, as well as a large modern map of the island- 



" An Historical and Statistical Account of Nova Scotia," by Thomas C. Ilaliburton, barrister-at-law and mem- 

 ber of the house of assembly of Nova Scotia. (Halifax, published by Joseph Howe, 2 vols., 1S29.) The author will 

 be best known for his famous humorous creation of "Sam Slick." The first volume contains the history, and the 

 second the statistical account. Like all of the judge's works it is written in a pleasant style, thougli in tlie times 

 in which he wrote he had not access to many original documents— not even to those in the Nova Scotia archives, 

 strange to say — and consequently the book is not distiuguislied by any deep historical investigation. Chapters 3 

 and 5 of the first volume give a brief narrative of the two sieges of Louisbourg. The account of the siege of 1758 is 

 taken almost verbatim from Smollett's history. In tlie second volume (pp. 201-262) there is a graphic descrijition 

 of Louisbourg in 1728-9, and of the natural features of tlie island. Tlie work is also memorable as the first ambi- 

 tious historical effort of a Nova Scotian. Indeed in many respects it still merits a high place among Canadian 

 histories. It is noteworthy that the printer of the book was a famous Nova Scotian, the Honourable Joseph Howe, 

 printer, poet and statesman; the father of res;ionsible government in his province, who began life at the com- 

 posing case, and died in the government house at Halifax, a lieutenant-governor — in the same old stone government 

 house to which he had been denied admittance in the days of Lord Falkland, a royal governor, who showed his 

 unfitness for his position, and was the last of the old English officials who constantly interfered and had preferences 

 in provincial politics. 



C. Roger's "History of Canada, etc." (Quebec, 1850) has a short account of the siege of 1745, pp. 39-43. 



" The History of the United States," by George Bancroft (the latest revised edition of which appeared in 1888 

 in New York) contains short accounts of the two sieges in the second volume (pp. 305-310, 484, 485). The author 

 devotes, as it might be expected, the larger space to tl.e memorable event of 1745. 



"The History of Canada," by W. Kingsford, LL.D., F.R.S. Can., (Toronto and London, 1SS7-1890, 4 vols) con- 

 tains an account of the siege of Louisbourg (iii. 309-324) which is accurate and does justice on the whole to the men 

 of New England, thougli it was hardly noces.sary for Iiim to dwell on the insulting language of Commodore (not 

 then admiral) Knowlos, who succeeded Warren as gcjvernor, in reference to the habits of the captors of the fortress. 

 Knowles was a surly sailor who was in a chronic ill-humor during his residence in the island, and devoted himself 

 to give the worst possible account of its resources, its people and everything connected with it. As I have already 

 said ÇiiqjTo, sec. VIII.) his prejudiced accounts of Cape Breton are believed to have had much to do with the readiness 

 with which England ceded the island in 1748. In the fourth volume of his work (chapter viii, pp. 120-142), Dr. 

 Kingsford gives an excellent account of the siege of 1 758, and a true estimate of the importance of an event " which 

 was the first gleam of triumph refiected on the Britisli arms in America." 



" The Conquest of Canada," by the author of " Hochelaga " (London, 1849, 2 vols.), contains a short account (ii. 

 138-143) of the second siege, but the even more memorable event of 1745 is disposed of with the words : " In 1745, 

 the year when the power of Franco in Europe was exalted by the splendid victory of Fontenoy, a dangerous blow 

 w^as struck at her sovereignty in America by the capture of Louisbourg, and with it the whole island of Cape 

 Breton, by the New Eiiglauders under Mr. Pepperrell aided by Admiral Warren." Tlie author was George War- 

 burton, who belonged to the British army, and was member of parliament for Harwich. He died by his own 

 hand, and his works were edited by his better known brother, Eliot, the autlior of "The Crescent and the Cross," 

 who perished on the " Amazon " when she was destroyed by fire in 1852, while he was on his way to explore the 

 isthmus of Darien. 



In "Hochelaga, or England in the New World" (London, 1846-1851, 2 vols.), which was also written l)y tlie 

 unfortunate George Warburton, and edited by his brother Eliot, we have a few pages devoted to a short historical 

 and descriptive sketch of Cape Breton (pp. 325-330, 4th éd.). He pays his tribute to the New England expedition 



Sec II, 1891. 41. 



