SIR WILLIAM ALEXANDER. 91 



Captain Argall to destroy all the French establishments in Acadia, as encroaching upon the 

 territories of the English. That commander executed his commission, and at Port Royal 

 destroyed the fort and all monuments and marks of French power. He even caused the 

 names of Dc Monts and other captains and the jitur de lys to be defaced with pick and 

 chisel from a massive stone on which they had been engraved. Refusing all compromise 

 with Biencourt, the latter fled to the forest, and, with others of the French, lived a 

 semi-savage life with the Indians. 



By these proceedings, which took place in a time of peace between the two countries, 

 and which do not seem to have been resented by the French Government, the English 

 not only asserted their claim to that region, but deemed themselves to have secured 

 peaceable possession of it. Accordingly, all the arrangements were made by Sir William 

 with the English King on the supposition that their occupancy would be undisturbed ; 

 but now, when measures were nearly completed for sending out a colony, the projectors 

 learned that the French Government, inspired by Cardinal Richelieu, had determined 

 to reassert their title to Acadia In 1627, the year as we have seen in which Sir 

 William Alexander was preparing to send out his second colony, there was formed, 

 under the auspices of the Cardinal, a new and powerful association, called the Company 

 of New France, usually known as the Hundred Associates. They were to send out 

 and settle two or three hundred men of all trades during the following year and one 

 thousand every year during the fifteen years following. Quebec and all New France 

 (in which Acadia was comprehended), Florida, Newfoundland, etc. — in fact, it was 

 said all America, from Florida to the North Pole, was given them, on the condition 

 of homage merely. Probably the zeal now manifested by Sir William for the settlement 

 of Nova Scotia had stimulated the French to this measure. Of course, this threatened 

 collision might prove fatal to his undertaking ; but the emergency was faced boldly. 

 The intelligence was brought by Captain David Kirk.' His origin has been disputed. 

 He has generally been represented as a French Huguenot, but again as a native of 

 Dieppe, the son of a Scotch father and French mother ; but, from papers now in the 

 archives of Canada, it is asserted that he belonged to an English family still existing 

 in Derbyshire. At all events, he undertook, if placed in command of Sir William's fleet, 

 to oppose the Cardinal and his intended settlement. He recommended that Sir William 

 should be appointed Admiral as well as Lieutenant of Nova Scotia. The Royal 

 Commission to that effect was readily granted, and in that capacity he was authorized to 

 " seize vessels belonging to the King of Spain, the Infanta Isabella, or others, the 

 King's enemies." No special authority was given to commit any hostility against the 

 French, for the two countries were then at peace, though war broke out the same year ; 

 yet, it was really against them that the effort was directed. 



Captain Kirk was named Deputy- Admiral and invested with all the powers of his 

 chief. Nor did he allow them to remain dormant. Strenuous efforts were put forth to 

 equip a fleet sufficiently powerful to meet their rivals. With this he captured the next 

 season eighteen French ships under the command of M. de Rocquemont, in which were 

 found 135 pieces of ordnance intended for the fortification of Quebec and Port Royal. At 

 this time interest in the undertaking seems to have revived, as we find that between the 



'Variously spelled Kertk, Kertch, etc. 



