Departure of Philipps (1722)—Doucette reassumes his functions as lieutenant-governor, which he exercises till 1725—Total absence in the volume of the Archives of documents for this period—Armstrong' succeeds him—His character—Taking of the oath at Annapolis—Captain Bennett and Philipps make the tour of tlie province for the same purpose—Their failure—Armstrong confides the same mission to Officer Worth—Incomplete success— His report.

Philipps returned to England altogether disgusted with everything: with the ungrateful task that had fallen to his lot, with the state of the fortifications, with the weakness of the garrison, with the indifference of the authorities in regard to his projects, with his own inability to enforce obedience. He felt himself humbled by his failure. Moreover, this life in an out of the way garrison, far from comfort and civilization, coincided so little with his tastes of a great lord and courtier that, regardless of the general opening of hostilities with the Indians, he embarked for England in the course of the summer of 1722. He nevertheless remained titular governor of the province with all the emoluments of his office till the foundation of Halifax in 1749, at which time he had nearly attained the age of ninety years.

John Doucette, who had been lieutenant-governor some time before the arrival of Philipps, resumed his functions, which lie exercised till 1725. Oddly enough, the volume of the archives does not contain a single document of the period extending from 1722 to 1725. Given the partiality of the Compiler and his efforts to combine ill this volume all that could be prejudicial to the Acadians and justify their deportation, here is the explanation that seems to me most probable. Philipps, for fear of seeing the Acadians escape, had shown himself meek and amiable toward them, and up to his departure the burning question of the oath had been kept prudently in the shade. The proper thing to do wras to let several years glide by, to await the favorable moment, and, until then, to treat the Acadians with the greatest regard. This policy was all the more commendable because the Indians of Maine were in open war and those of Nova Scotia threatened to follow their example, and in fact were already committing depredations. Under such circumstances Philipps could not have failed to recommend strongly to Doucette maintenance writli regard to the Acadians of that same prudence and forbearance which he himself had inaugurated. The interposition of the governor in the affairs of the Acadians became almost null, and that is why his correspondence contained nothing or almost nothing relative to them, and especially nothing that could be turned against them. But, some will say, this volume was to have been a compilation to serve for the general history of the province. That is very true ; but the Compiler thought otherwise. For him, as I have said, and the thing is evident, this volume was the combination of all the documents that could throw some light on the reasons that might have called for the deportation; and, whatever did not tend to confirm this proof, or whatever tended to overthrow it, was extraneous matter.

So true is this that, up to the foundation of Halifax, this volume contains nothing but what relates to the Acadians and to their priests ; and, when a letter mentions something that does not relate to them, or something that throws discredit on the governor or some other important official, this part is systematically suppressed, and this is done even when the omitted part explains or exhibits in a different light the inserted part. In this period, from 1722 to 1725, the Acadians, conformably to the orders of Philipps, had been left to themselves, and the Compiler, finding nothing in Doucette’s correspondence to support his proofs, found nothing worth reproducing. Yet it is certain that Doucette must have had regular correspondence with the Board of Trade and with Philipps. If we suppose the small number of four dispatches a year to the Lords of Trade, as many to Philipps and the replies thereto, we should have forty-eight documents, of which some, though they contained nothing for or against the Acadians, might at least be useful for the general history of the province. Such had been the intention of the legislature. I have seen some of these documents, which in fact contained nothing of importance to the Acadians.

In striking contrast with Philipps, Armstrong, who succeeded Doucette in 1725, was a man of violent temper, of a rough and disorderly cast of mind, altogether unfit for the functions of a governor, even under the most favorable circumstances, and still less suited to the task of smoothing out difficulties such as then faced him. The most salient feature of his character was, however, the capriciousness of his humor. Sometimes affable and obliging, he was most often so harsh Armstrong's antecedents. and brutal as to provoke officers and soldiers to insult him publicly.

The new governor was that same Captain Armstrong concerning whom, ten years before, Lieutenant-Governor Caulfield addressed complaints to the Lords of Trade in the following terms :

“ I must own ’tis with ye greatest reluctancy immaginable that I am obliged to acquaint Your Lordships of ye frequent misbehaviour of Captain Armstrong of this garrison towards several inhabitants here, and by my next shall transmit to Your Lordships the several complaints in behalf of ye said inhabitants.”

Invested with absolute power over all the Province, he could hardly be expected to do aught else than vex and worry it. And, in point of fact, he was continually at logger-heads with everybody: with the priests, with his officers, with his soldiers, with his council, with each member of his council, even more than with the Acadians. The volume of the archives, as might be guessed, indicates only his quarrels with the priests and the Acadians, according to the above-mentioned policy of excluding whatever might discredit Armstrong and weaken the effect of his sayings and doings in regard to them. Fortunately, the hostilities of the Indians had ended before his arrival at Annapolis; else he would perhaps have plunged the Province into a most deplorable situation. At first, he seemed to wish to make Canso the seat of his government and assembled there a quorum of his councillors; bat, the following year, he established himself at Annapolis.

His nomination to the post of lieutenant-governor had alarmed the Acadians. From the moment of his arrival at Canso, he spoke of nothing less than crossing Nova Scotia in battle array and thus cutting the Gordian Armstrong's antecedents. knot, if only the necessary troops were furnished him. Writing to the Secretary of State, he said:

“I have written to the Government of New England to send me sixty Indians of that country, with twelve whale-boats, which, joined with so many of our troops and forty men from Commodore St. Lo, I intend to take a tour through the Province to humble the villainous french inhabitants. . . 1 hope we shall do our duty and give a good account of ourselves."

All this had no other foundation than the taking of the oath, and he relied on terror to exact it. . However, he did nothing of the sort; but the Acadians long since knew what they might expect from him. In the course of the following summer they prepared for a general emigration, fully resolved, should circumstances so permit, not to take any account of the prohibitions that might be opposed thereto. Some families withdrew that very year to settle in Prince Edward Island, where the French government were preparing to receive them. In July of that same year Armstrong wrote:

“They are resolved to quit the Province rather than take the oath, and as I am informed, have transported several of their cattle and other effects.”

Yielding to his irrepressible temper, ho had hoped violently to break down all opposition by spreading terror around him, and the only result he was obtaining was the hatred and contempt of his officers and the departure of the Acadians. The threatened exodus must be stopped, or he would incur a severe reprimand and ruin his dearest hopes.

Was he going to let France strengthen her colony with so many useful subjects? Was he going to let his Province be deprived of the only inhabitants that he had to govern ? What would people say of him ? What would become of the government with which he was charged, what would become of his own position ? All this filled him with fear; his maimer and tactics were suddenly changed; he inveigled the Acadians to well-prepared meetings, where he spoke feelingly of the great advantages they would secure by accepting the oath and cordially becoming the loyal subjects of King George. Then, as soon as he thought that the favorable moment had come, he proposed to them the taking of the oath:

“He hoped they had come with a full resolution to take the oath of fidelity like good subjects, induced with sincere honest principles of submission and loyalty to so good and gracious a King, who, upon their so doing, due and faithful observation of their sacred oaths, had promised them, not only the free exercise of their religion, but, even the enjoyment of their estates and other immunities of his own free born subjects of Great Britain ; and that for his part, while he had the honor to command, his endeavors should always be to maintain to them what Ilis Majesty had so graciously vouchsafed to grant.

“Whereupon, at the request of some of the inhabitants, a French translation of the oath required to be taken was read unto them.

“Upon which, some of them desiring that a clause whereby they may not be obliged to carry arms might be inserted,

“I told them that they had no reason to fear any such thing as that, it being contrary to the articles of Great Britain, that a. Roman Catholic should serve in the army, His Majesty having so many faithful Protestant subjects first to provide for, that all His Majesty required of them was to be faithful subjects.

“But they, upon the motion made as aforesaid, still refusing ami desiring the same clause to be inserted, the Governor, with the advice of the Council, granted the same to be written upon the margin of the french translation, in order to get them over by degrees. Whereupon, they took and subscribed the same both in french and english. . . And having drank His Majesty’s, the royal family, and several other loyal healths, I bid them good night.”

Such is the report drawn up by Armstrong himself.

When a man of his position has the effrontery thus to parade his knavery in a public document of this kind, we naturally infer that his honor is not worth much. This document is curious, it throws a strong light on the kind of diplomacy that was used toward the Acadians. Rameau, from whom I draw, has analyzed it with much skill. The dramatic get-up of the whole affair, says this historian, the feigned good-nature and honeyed speeches of the man, the “flowing bowl ”that wins consent, and the cordial “good-night” that sends everybody to bed “mellow”: all this shows the consummate craft of an artful dodger. A master-stroke is that marginal note which he makes believe to accept in order “to get them over by degrees," and which he carelessly inserts in only one of the reports read by no one and never seen again. An admirable fabrication is that subterfuge about military service.

What! says Armstrong, you fear to be enrolled In force ? Know that, as you are Catholics, you would not even have the right to enlist of your own free will. His Majesty reserves this honor for his Protestant subjects only. Assuredly this is one of the daintiest hoaxes ever invented in the realm of knavery. It belongs to high comedy, not to history. A pity it is that Moliere never heard of this adventure! “What!” would Scapin have exclaimed, “Are you afraid I will take your purse? Why, my dear fellow, I wouldn’t have it, even though you begged me to take it.”

Scarcely had lie finished with the taking of the oath by the inhabitants of Port Royal, when he arrested Father Gaulin, their parish priest, “that old mischievous incendiary Gaulin” as he calls him, on the plea that he had meddled with affairs that did not concern his ministry.

The offence, if it should he really considered one, and if the accusation were well grounded, was certainly trivial: at any rate this arrest might he impolitic under the circumstances. There still remained for him to cause the oath to he taken by the inhabitants of Grand Pro, Pigiguit, Cobequid, Beaubassin, etc., that is bj* more than three-fourths of the entire population; but such was the irrepressible violence of his character that he could not control himself. His efforts to induce the people of these places to take the oath were ineffectual. Capt. Bennett and Ensign Philipps, whom he had sent for this purpose, returned without having accomplished anything. However, he does not attribute the cause of it to the arrest of Father Gaulin, if we judge by his letter of April 30, 1727, to the Secretary of State.

The public will be surprised to learn that he imputes his defeat to the instigations of some merchants of Boston and to Major Cosby, afterward lieutenant-governor of Annapolis:

“Since my last I have the mortification to tell Your Grace that there arrived here from Boston one M. Gambell, a lieutenant in the army, -who, I am told, came from England \\ itli Major Cosby to Boston, where the Major still continues, tlio’ I have ordered liim to his post at Canso, and in defiance and disobedience to my orders, stays in New England to know the result of the said Gambell’s false complaints against me. After liis arrival here from England, Vie associated himself with some Boston antimonarchical traders, who, together with some evil intended french inhabitants, . . . incited them to sign such complaints as he had formed against me, telling them, that I had no power nor authority to administer them such oaths, and also that Major Cosby would be with them this spring with full power to govern the Province.....and all this occasioned by the incitements and ill conduct, of the aforesaid Gambell, and three or four New England traders.”

Mr. Parkman, it seems to me. ought not to have deprived his readers of this document and of the other still more important one that precedes it. They would be interested to know the true inwardness of the wrangle to which Armstrong alludes. He must have had a special gift for making enemies, since we have here leagued against him a major of his own regiment, a lieutenant from some other regiment, and three or four merchants who had come from Boston to dissuade the Acadians from taking the oath that he proposed to them. We can understand his having enemies in Acadia, but his having enemies as far as Boston is beyond us. That there should be Frenchmen or priests to dissuade the Acadians from taking the oath is only natural; but that English officers and English merchants should do so is most astounding. And if his yoke was hateful even as far as Boston, what must it have been at Annapolis and in Acadia?

Undejected by the failure of Bennett and Philipps, Armstrong despatched to the Acadians of the district of Mines and Beaubassin a young officer of the garrison named Robert Wroth. He gave him some very detailed instiuctions on the way he was to proceed. First, he was to proclaim the accession to the throne of His Majesty George II, and to celebrate the event by public festivities, after which he would make them sign the proclamation of this event, and then, in the nick of time, he was dexterously to slip in the oath of allegiance:

“You are to behave seemingly with an air of indifference, and you are to represent to them how Divine Providence by way* unforeseen ----You are not to depart from my instructions unless where circumstances foul place may so require.”

In reality Wroth had great latitude as to the oath he was to accept. The instructions of Armstrong to Wroth, the report of the latter, the text of the oath and of the conventions concluded between him and the Acadians are found in the Colonial Records. When one reads these documents, it is easy to understand why they were suppressed at Halifax, and still easier to realize the fraud and duplicity with which Armstrong presided at the taking of the oath.

“Copy of the oath of fealty which I left to the inhabitants of Beaubassin and its dependencies:

“I do sincerely Promise and swear that I will be faithful and bear True Allegiance to His Majesty King George the Second, so help me God.

“Original of the articles that I granted to the inhabitants of Beaubassin:

“I, Robert Wroth, etc., etc., promise and grant in the name of the king etc., etc. . . to the inhabitants of Beaubassin, etc., etc. . . the articles here below that they have requested of me, namely:

“1. That they shall be exempt from taking up arms against anyone, so long as they shall be under the rule of the king of England.

"2. That they shall be free to withdraw whithersoever they will think fit, and that they shall be discharged from this signed agreement, as soon as they shall be outside the domination of the King of England.

“3. That they shall have full and entire liberty to practise their religion and to have Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Priests.

“Robert Whoth.”

This oath did not differ perceptibly from that accepted by Armstrong from the inhabitants of Annapolis, since he himself had agreed to their exemption from military service and the other articles had been provided for by the treaty of Utrecht.

The report of Wroth to the governor is very long and detailed. It is very interesting reading: step by step, says Rameau, we can trace his method, which does not differ from Armstrong's as far as fraud goes ; but, while the latter is imperious and passionate, the former is an amiable blackguard who attends to his affairs while enjoying himself and who enjoys himself so as to attend to them better. Wherever he shows himself, he opens proceedings by banquets: a banquet the first day, a banquet the second; there is eating and drinking. The first day no special topic is introduced; next day, the king’s death is announced and the accession of his successor, who is greatly interested in the welfare of the Acadians. They drink in memory of the death of the former and for the health of the latter; they drink in honor of His Gracious Majesty, they drink the health of the Queen regnant, of the other Queen ; they drink to all the other royal and loyal toasts; then this amiable blackguard winds np by drinking with feelings of compunction to Divine Providence which by ways unforeseen. . . .

“After which,” resumes Wroth, “I judged the moment favorable to introduce my little discourse as follows:

“I doubt not, my friends, you know what brings me here, how that by the death of the King, my master, of glorious memory, Divine Providence has miraculously afforded you the occasion.” ....

Here, he extols the king and his bounty, but makes no mention yet of the oath, which was the object of his mission; only, he convokes them to another banquet, during which they were to proceed to the proclaiming of the king, and Wroth improves the occasion by exhorting them to bring as many friends as possible, for that they were to acclaim and sign the Proclamation of the king.

The way was thus skilfully prepared ; but in spite of orchestral symphonies, bonfires, discharges of musketry, hurrahs, enthusiastic toasts, yea evert the fumes of liquor, these Acadians had not quite lost their wits, and, when he finally presented the written oath to have it signed, they respectfully reminded him that lie had forgotten to complete it, and requested him to insert the restrictions the}’ had always demanded in such an emergency. lie flew into a rage, cooled down, returned to the attack on the morrow ; but, with their simple good nature, lie found them still inexorable.

“They still insisted upon the same demands, and after having seriously weighed them, and not judging them repugnant to Treaties, Acts of Parliament and Trade, I granted them as an indulgence, and by reason of their diffidence of my authority, I teas obliged to certify the same in the body of the oath."

It was the same at Mines : the same manoeuvres, the same results. There, objections were made with reference to the word “obeirai,”

. . which gave me no concern, the englishbeing who, 1 had to jovern myself by; and finding by advice, the same might be translated in a manner more agreahle to them, and, at the same time, as conformable to the english and as binding; I thought proper to alter the same, as appears by the oath they took.”

So, here we have, says Rameau, a man who does not scruple, in a treaty of which two copies were extant, to alter one of them so as to render the agreement more acceptable, and who is, meanwhile, fully aware that the French will understand the text in one way, while he, the Englishman, will understand it in quite a different way. After all, says he, I will sign whatever they wish ; for me, only the English text will count.

Wroth was very badly received by Armstrong, and yet he had not swerved from his instructions; he had, substantially, followed the same line of conduct as Armstrong himself. By a decision of the council the oath obtained by Wroth was declared null and void; but, most strange to relate—for these negotiations are a series of surprises—it was declared in the same resolution that, since the inhabitants had signed these acts and proclaimed His Majesty, they had become his subjects and would enjoy all the privileges attached to that quality, which no doubt also implies all the obligations resulting therefrom.