THE NORTHEAST COAST FISHERIES 469 



Louisburg was immediately set on foot in New England. 

 Massachusetts colony organized an expedition with Pepper- 

 rell, a merchant of Kittery, Maine, at its head. With some 

 English ships as allies he maintained a siege under many 

 difficulties for nearly two months, and was finally rewarded 

 by the capitulation of the fortified city on June 16, 1745. 

 The capture of Louisburg was an event of great importance. 

 Smollett refers to it as " the most important achievement of 

 the war of 1744," as it accomplished much toward balancing 

 English reverses across the Atlantic. Pepperrell was made 

 a baronet, and all the expenses of the campaign which had 

 been borne by Massachusetts were subsequently repaid to 

 the colony. The English colonists were jubilant over the 

 success of their expedition, but they were as suddenly disap- 

 pointed and chagrined when the English surrendered Cape 

 Breton with a restoration of Louisburg only three years 

 later in the peace of Aix la Chapelle. Again had the mother 

 country profited by the valor of her American subjects in 

 furthering her ends in Europe, and again had the French 

 reaped triumph from defeat in North America. 



Louisburg was promptly rebuilt and strengthened, and a 

 vigorous effort was made by France to revive her fishing 

 industries, which had suffered severely by the war. It is 

 estimated that of the 560 French fishing vessels employed at 

 the beginning of the war of 1744, only about 100 remained 

 after the fall of Louisburg ; these carried on their opera- 

 tions almost entirely on the Newfoundland coast. Although 

 the French were reaching the period of decline in the pros- 

 perity of their North American fishing interests, yet despite 

 all discouragements they had no intention of abandoning the 

 valuable industry. Reinstated in Cape Breton, the French 

 at once resumed their old system of aggression. The ancient 

 quarrels, involving questions of boundary and of fishing 

 rights, were revived. Seemingly incapable of peaceful rela- 

 tions with others, when their interests were touched, they 

 began to renew their attacks on Newfoundland, arid to make 

 hostile raids into Nova Scotia. War again broke out between 

 England and France in 1756, one of the causes of which was 



