The Fishery Qiiestioii. 19 



of Canada, that possession of the island 

 would give.35 The governor of Massachu- 

 setts finally obtained the consent of his coun- 

 cil to an expedition against Louisburg. Pep- 

 perell, the son of a fisherman of Mount 

 Desert, was given the command, while 

 Massachusetts furnished three-fourths of the 

 troops to co-operate with the English admiral, 

 Warren. The colonial army landed on the 

 island May 30, 1745. Louisburg fell June 

 17, a long interval, as it seemed to the 

 besiegers, who terrified the French by their 

 reckless courage.^^ The English fleet co-op- 

 erated loyally with the colonists, but had con- 

 tributed little to this exploit, beyond the 

 capture of a French frigate on the way to re- 

 lieve the garrison.37 There was extravagant 

 joy in England and America. Louisburg, it 

 was claimed, counterbalanced the ill success 

 of England on the continent of Europe. 

 Chesterfield wrote : "I would hang any man 

 who proposed to exchange Louisburg for 

 Portsmouth." Yet Hanoverian interests as- 

 serted themselves at the expense of the col- 

 onies, and Louisburg was restored to France 

 by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748.^^ 

 The town was rebuilt. Disputes over the 



