He ruled the little community with a despotism tempered only by indignant protests to the King from those whom he ruled when his views and theirs did not coincide.The peasants in the village counted for nothing.Connected with the small garrison there were ladies and gentlemen who had no light opinion of their own importance and were so peppery that Subercase wished he had a madhouse in which to confine some of them.He thought well of the country.It produced, he said, everything that France produced except olives.The fertile land promised abundance of grain and there was an inexhaustible supply of timber.There were many excellent harbors.Had he a million livres, he would, he said, invest it gladly in the country and be certain of a good return.
His enthusiasm had produced, however, no answering enthusiasm at Versailles, for there the interests of Port Royal were miserably neglected.Yet it was a thorn in the flesh of the English.In 1708 privateers from Port Royal had destroyed no less than thirty-five English vessels, chiefly from Boston, and had carried to the fort four hundred and seventy prisoners.Even in winter months French ships would flit out of Port Royal and bring in richly laden prizes.Can we wonder at Boston's deep resolve that now at last the pest should end!
It was an imposing force which sailed into the basin.The four frigates and thirty transports carried an army far greater than Subercase had thought possible.The English landed some fourteen hundred men.Subercase had less than three hundred.Within a few days, when the English began to throw shells into the town, he asked for terms.On the 16th of October the little garrison, neglected by France and left ragged and half-starved, marched out with drums beating and colors flying.The English, drawn up before the gate, showed the usual honors to a brave foe.The French flag was hauled down and in its place floated that of Britain.Port Royal was renamed Annapolis and Vetch was made its Governor.Three times before had the English come to Port Royal as conquerors and then gone away, but now they were to remain.
Ever since that October day, when autumn was coloring the abundant foliage of the lovely harbor, the British flag has waved over Annapolis.Because the flag waved there it was destined to wave over all Acadia, or Nova Scotia, and with Acadia in time went Canada.
A partial victory, however, such as the taking of Port Royal, was not enough for the aroused spirit of the English.They and their allies had beaten Louis XIV on the battlefields of Europe and had so worn out France that clouds and darkness were about the last days of the Grand Monarch now nearing his end.In America his agents were still drawing up papers outlining grandiose designs for mastering the continent and for proving that England's empire was near its fall, but Europe knew that France in the long war had been beaten.The right way to smite France in America was to rely upon England's naval power, to master the great highway of the St.Lawrence, to isolate Canada, and to strangle one by one the French settlements, beginning with Quebec.
There was malignant intrigue at the court of Queen Anne.One favorite, the Duchess of Marlborough, had just been disgraced, and another, Mrs.Masham, had been taken on by the weak and stupid Queen.The conquest of Canada, if it could be achieved without the aid of Marlborough, would help in his much desired overthrow.Petty motives were unhappily at the root of the great scheme.Who better to lead such an expedition than the brother of the new favorite whose success might discredit the husband of the old one? Accordingly General "Jack" Hill, brother of Mrs.Masham, was appointed to the chief military command and an admiral hitherto little known but of good habits and quick wit, Sir Hovenden Walker, was to lead the fleet.
The expedition against Quebec was on a scale adequate for the time.Britain dispatched seven regiments of regulars, numbering in all five thousand five hundred men, and there were besides in the fleet some thousands of sailors and marines.Never before had the English sent to North America a force so great.On June 24, 1711, Admiral Walker arrived at Boston with his great array.
Boston was impressed, but Boston was also a little hurt, for the British leaders were very lofty and superior in their tone towards colonials and gave orders as if Boston were a provincial city of England which must learn respect and obedience to His Majesty's officers "vested with the Queen's Royal Power and Authority."More than seventy ships, led by nine men-of-war, sailed from Boston for the attack on Canada.On board were nearly twelve thousand men.Compared with this imposing fleet, that of Phips, twenty-one years earlier, seems feeble.Phips had set out too late.This fleet was in good time, for it sailed on the 30th of July.Vetch, always competent, was in command of the colonial military forces, but never had any chance to show his mettle, for during the voyage the seamen were in control.The Admiral had left England with secret instructions.He had not been informed of the task before him and for it he was hardly prepared.There were no competent pilots to correct his ignorance.Now that he knew where he was going he was anxious about the dangers of the northern waters.The St.Lawrence River, he believed, froze solidly to the bottom in winter and he feared that the ice would crush the sides of his ships.As he had provisions for only eight or nine weeks, his men might starve.His mind was filled, as he himself says, with melancholy and dismal horror at the prospect of seamen and soldiers, worn to skeletons by hunger, drawing lots to decide who should die first amidst the "adamantine frosts" and "mountains of snow" of bleak and barren Canada.
