Part 15 (1/2)
[24] Charlevoix.
[25] Although by this action the French Court directly partic.i.p.ated in and lent its support to the hostilities against the English, yet to all intents and purposes the war was between two commercial corporations.
The ruling spirits of the Northern Company were not unaware of the importance and power of the enemy they had to deal with. In a pamphlet published in France in 1692 there is amusing testimony to the consideration in which the London Company was held by the French.
”It is composed,” says this authority, ”of opulent merchants and n.o.blemen of the first quality; and it is known that the King himself is part proprietor, having succeeded to that emolument with the other belongings to King James II. So great are its profits that each member is worth at least 5,000 English sterling above what he was before he embarked in the fur traffic. There can be no secrecy about its intention, which is to subvert and subjugate the whole northern Country to its sway.”
[26] The expedition which thus wrested away from the French all the forts at the bottom of the Bay was in charge of Captain Grimington, an experienced naval officer, who had seen service in the late wars.
I have not been able to ascertain Grimington's fate, but in the Company's minute-book, under date of 19th of May, 1714, I find the following entry:--
”Mrs. Ann Grimington, widow of Captain Michael Grimington, deceased, having delivered in her pet.i.tion to the Company, the same was read, and considering her poverty and the faithful services her husband performed for the Company, the Committee agreed to allow the said Mrs.
Grimington twelve s.h.i.+llings per month for her subsistence, which the secretary is ordered to pay her every first Monday in the month, to commence the first Monday in June next. Interim, the secretary is ordered to pay her twenty s.h.i.+llings as charity, which is afterwards to be taken out of the poor-box.” This is sufficiently strong evidence of the state into which the Company had fallen.
[27] To ill.u.s.trate the divergence of authorities in such matters, I may mention that while Jeremie, who took part in this expedition, calls the two s.h.i.+ps the _Poli_ and _Charente_, in which he is followed by Abbe Ferland. Father Marest, the aumonier of the crew, refers to the second s.h.i.+p as the _Salamandre_. His relation is ent.i.tled ”Le Voyage du _Poli_ et _Salamandre_.” In the letter of Frontenac to the French minister (November 5, 1694) it is stated that Serigny commanded the _Salamandre_. _La Potherie_ observes that the s.h.i.+ps sent out in 1694 were the _Poli_ and _Salamandre_. Furthermore, he declares, they sailed the 8th of August; Frontenac states the 9th, and Jeremie the 10th (_Jour de St. Laurent_). _La Potherie_ and Jeremie agree on the date of their arrival, September 24th, although Ferland says it was the 20th.
[28] Jeremie gives us a detailed description of the fort in his ”Relation.” He says it was composed of four bastions, which formed a square of thirty feet, with a large stone house above and below. In one of these bastions was the storeroom for furs and merchandise, another served for provisions; a third was used by the garrison. All were built of wood. In a line with the first palisade there were two other bastions, in one of which lodged the officers, the other serving as a kitchen and forge. Between these two bastions was a crescent-shaped earthworks sheltering eight cannon, firing eight-pound b.a.l.l.s, and defending the side of the fort towards the river. At the foot of this earthworks was a platform, fortified by six pieces of large cannon. There was no b.u.t.t-range looking out upon the wood, which was a weak point; all the cannon and swivel-guns were on the bastions.
In all, the armament consisted of thirty-two cannon and fourteen swivel-guns outside the fort and fifty-three inside; on the whole, calculated to make a stalwart defence.
[29] Kelsey was the earliest English explorer in the North-West.
Mention of his achievements will be found in the course of Chapter XV.
[30] Allen sent home to his superiors a copy of the capitulation proposals of the French Commandant. This doc.u.ment is not without interest. It is headed:--
CAPITULATION OF FORT YORK, 1696.
Articles of capitulation between William Allen, Commandant-in-Chief at Hays, or St. Therese River, and Sieur G.
de la Forest, Commandant at Fort York or Bourbon, August 31, 1696.
I consent to give up to you my fort on the following conditions:--
1. That I and all my men, French as well as Indians, and my English servant, shall have our lives and liberty granted to us, and that no wrong or violence shall be exercised upon us or whatever belongs to us.
2. We shall march out of the fort without arms, to the beat of the drum, match lighted, ball in mouth, flags unfurled, and carry with us the two cannon which we brought from France.
3. We shall be transported altogether, in our own vessel, to Plaisance, a French Port in New Newfoundland. We do not wish to give up the fort till we have embarked, and we shall keep the French flag over the fort till we march out.
4. If we meet with our vessels there shall be a truce between us, and it shall be permitted to transport us with whatever belongs to us.
5. We shall take with us all the beaver skins and other merchandise obtained in trade this year, which shall be embarked with us upon our vessels.
6. All my men shall embark their clothes and whatever belongs to them without being subject to visitation, or robbed of anything.
7. In case of sickness during the voyage, you shall furnish us with all the remedies and medicines which we may require.
8. The two Frenchmen, who ought to return with the Indians, shall be received in the fort on their return, where they shall be treated the same as the English, and sent to Europe during the same year, or they shall be furnished with everything necessary to take them to Roch.e.l.le.
We shall have the full exercise of our religion, and the Jesuit priest, our missionary, shall publicly perform the functions of his ministry.