halifax again—hotel waverley—"gone the old familiar faces"—the story of marie de la tour.
again in old quarters! it is strange how we become attached to a place, be it what it may, if we only have known it before. the same old room we occupied years ago, however comfortless then, has a familiar air of welcome now. there is surely some little trace of self, some unseen spider-thread of attachment clinging to the walls, the old chair, the forlorn wash-stand, and the knobby four-poster, that holds the hardest of beds, the most consumptive of pillows, and a bolster as round, as white, and as hard, as a cathedral mass-candle. heigho, hotel waverley! here am i again; but where are the familiar faces? where the brave soldier of inkerman and balaklava? where the jolly old captain of the native rifles? where the colonel, with his little meerschaum pipe he was so intent upon coloring? where the party of salmon-fishermen, the solomons of piscatology? where the passengers by the "canada?"[pg 238] and where is picton? gone, like last year's birds!
"a glass of ale, henry, and one cigar, only one; i wish to be solitary."
i like this bed-room of mine at the waverley, with its blue and white striped curtain at the window, through which the gas-lights of halifax streets appear in lucid spots, as i wait for henry, with the candles. now i am no longer alone. i shut my chamber door, as it were, upon one world, only that i may enjoy another. so i trim the candles, and spread out the writing materials, and at once the characters of two centuries ago awake, and their life to me is as the life of to-day.
there is nothing more captivating in literature, than the narrative of some heroic deed of woman. very few such are recorded; how many might be, if the actors themselves had not shunned notoriety, and "uncommended died," rather than encounter the ordeal of public praise? of such the poet has written:
"full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
and waste its sweetness on the desert air."
of such, many have lived and died, to live again only in fiction; whereas their own true histories would have been greater than the inventions of authors. we read of heroes laden with the "glit[pg 239]tering spoils of empire," but the heroic deeds of woman are oftentimes, all in all, as great, without the glitter; without the pomp and pageantry of triumphal processions; without the pealing trumpet of renown. boadicea, chained to the car of suetonius, is the too common memorial of heroic womanity.
the story i relate is but a transcript, a mere episode in the sad history of acadia: yet the record will be pleasing to those who estimate the merits of brave women. this, then, is the legend of
marie de la tour.
in the year 1621, sir william alexander, afterwards earl of sterling,[b] a romantic poet, and favorite of king james i., was presented by that monarch with a patent to all the land known as acadia, in the americas. royalty in those days made out its parchment deeds for a province, without taking the trouble to search the record office, to see if there were any prior liens upon the territory. the good old rule obtained thus—
"that they may take who have the power,
and they may keep who can."
[pg 240]or, to quote the words of another writer—
"for the time once was here, to all be it known,
that all a man sailed by or saw was his own."
it is due to sir william alexander to say that he gave the province the proud name which at present it enjoys, of nova scotia, or new scotland, a title much more appropriate than that of "acadia,"[c] which to us means nothing.
at this time the french colony was slowly recovering from the effects of the argall expedition, that eight years before had laid waste its fair possessions. among a number of emigrants from the loire and the seine, two gentlemen of birth and education, la tour by name, father and son, set out to seek their fortunes in the new world. it must be remembered that in the original patent of acadia, given by henry iv. to de monts, freedom of religious opinion was one of the conditions of the grant, and therefore the fact, that both the la tours were huguenots, did not prevent them holding commissions under the french crown, the father having in charge a small fleet of transports then ready to sail from the harbor of brest; the son,[pg 241] being the commander of a fort and garrison at cape sable, upon the western end of acadia.
affairs being in this condition, it chanced that the english and french ships set sail for the same port, at about the same time; and it so happened that sir william alexander's fleet running afoul of the elder la tour's in a fog, not only captured that gallant chieftain but also his transports, munitions of war, stores, artillery, etc. etc., and sailed back with the prizes to england. i beg you to observe, my dear reader, that occurrences of this kind were common enough at this period even in times of peace, and not considered piracy either, the ocean was looked upon as a mighty chessboard, and the game was won by those who could command the greatest number of pieces.
claude de la tour, not as a prisoner of war, but as an enforced guest of sir william, was carried to london; and there robbed of his goods, but treated like a gentleman; introduced at court, although deprived of his purse and liberty, and in a word, found himself surrounded with the most hostile and hospitable conditions possible in life. it is not surprising then that with true french philosophy he should have made the best of it; gained the good will of the queen, played off a little badinage with the ladies of the court, and forgetting the late lady[pg 242] de la tour, asleep in the old graveyard in the city of rochelle, essayed to wear his widower weeds with that union of grace and sentiment for which his countrymen are so celebrated. the consequence was one of her majesty's maids of honor fell in love with him; the queen encouraged the match; the king had just instituted the new order of knights baronet, of nova scotia; la tour, now in the way of good fortune, was the first to be honored with the novel title, and at the same time placed the matrimonial ring upon the finger of the love-sick maid of honor. indeed charles etienne de la tour, commandant of the little fort at cape sable, had scarcely lost a father, before he had gained a step-mother.
that the french widower should have been so captivated by these marks of royal favor as to lose his discretion, in the fullness of his gratitude; and, that after receiving a grant of land from his patron, as a further incentive, he should volunteer to assist in bringing acadia under the british crown, and as a primary step, undertake to reduce the fort at cape sable; i say, that when i state this, nobody will be surprised, except a chosen few, who cherish some old-fashioned notions, in these days more romantic than real. "two ships of war being placed under his command," he set sail, with[pg 243] his guns and a step-mother, to attack the fort at cape sable. the latter was but poorly garrisoned; but then it contained a daughter-in-law! under such circumstances, it was plain to be seen that the contest would be continued to the last ounce of powder.
opening the trenches before the french fort, and parading his scotch troops in the eyes of his son, the elder la tour attempted to capture the garrison by argument. in vain he "boasted of the reception he had met with in england, of his interest at court, and the honor of knighthood which had been conferred upon him." in vain he represented "the advantages that would result from submission," the benefits of british patronage; and paraded before the eyes of the young commander the parchment grant, the seal, the royal autograph, and the glittering title of knight baronet, which had inspired his perfidy. his son, shocked and indignant, declined the proffered honors and emoluments that were only to be gained by an act of treason; and intimated his intention "to defend the fort with his life, sooner than deliver it up to the enemies of his country." the father used the most earnest entreaties, the most touching and parental arguments. charles etienne was proof against these. the baronet alluded to the large force[pg 244] under his command, and deplored the necessity of making an assault, in case his propositions were rejected. charles etienne only doubled his sentinels, and stood more firmly intrenched upon his honor. then the elder la tour ordered an assault. for two days the storm continued; sometimes the mother-in-law led the scotch soldiers to the breach, but the french soldiers, under the daughter-in-law, drove them back with such bitter fury, that of the assailants it was hard to say which numbered most, the living or the dead. at last, la tour the elder abandoned the siege; and "ashamed to appear in england, afraid to appear in france," accepted the humiliating alternative of requesting an asylum from his son. permission to reside in the neighborhood was granted by charles etienne. the scotch troops were re?mbarked for england; and the younger and the elder mrs. de la tour smiled at each other grimly from the plain and from the parapet. further than this there was no intercourse between the families. whenever marie de la tour sent the baby to grandmother, it went with a troop of cavalry and a flag of truce; and whenever lady de la tour left her card at the gate, the drums beat, and the guard turned out with fixed bayonets.
such discipline had prepared marie de la tour[pg 245] for the heroic part which afterwards raised her to the historical position she occupies in the chronicles of acadia. i have had occasion to speak of freedom of opinion existing in this province—but for the invasion of english and scotch filibusters, this absolute liberty of faith would have produced the happiest fruits in the new colonies. but unfortunately in a weak and newly-settled country, union in all things is an indispensable condition of existence. this very liberty of opinion, in a great measure disintegrated the early french settlements, and separated a people which otherwise might have encountered successfully its rapacious enemies.
at this time the french governor of acadia, razillia, died. charles etienne la tour as a subordinate officer, had full command of the eastern part of the province, as the chevalier d'aulney de charnisé, had of the western portion, extending as far as the penobscot. as for the sterling patent, sir william, finding it of little value, had sold it to the elder la tour, but the defeated adventurer of cape sable by the treaty of st. germains in 1632, was stripped of his new possessions by king charles i., who conveyed the whole of the territory again to louis xiii. of france. thus it will be seen, that two claimants only were in possession of acadia; namely, the younger la tour and[pg 246] d'aulney. the elder la tour now retires from the scene, goes to england with his wife, and is heard of no more.
between the rival commanders in acadia, there were certain points of resemblance—both were youthful, both were brave, enterprising and ambitious, both the happy husbands of proud and beautiful wives. otherwise la tour was a huguenot and d'aulney a catholic—thus it will be seen that the latter had the most favor at the french court, while the former could more securely count upon the friendship of the english of massachusetts bay—no inconsiderable allies as affairs then stood. under such circumstances, it is not to be wondered at that there was a constant feud between the two young officers, and their young wives. the chronicles of the pilgrims, the records of bradford, winthrop, mather, and hutchinson, are full of the exploits of these pugnacious heroes. at one time la tour appears in person at boston, to beat up recruits, as more than two hundred years after, another power attempted to raise a foreign legion, and, although the pilgrim fathers do not officially sanction the proceeding, yet they connive at it, and quote scripture to warrant them. close upon this follows a protest of d'aulney, and with it the exhibition of a warrant from the french[pg 247] king for the arrest of la tour. upon this there is a meeting of the council and a treaty, offensive and defensive, made with d'aulney.
meanwhile, marie de la tour arrived at boston from england, where she had been on a visit to her mother-in-law. the captain of the vessel upon which she had re?mbarked for the new world, having carried her to this city instead of to the river st. john, according to the letter of the charter, was promptly served with a summons by that lady to appear before the magistrates to show cause why he did it; and the consequence was, madame recovered damages to the amount of two thousand pounds in the marine court of the modern athens. with this sum in her pocket, she chartered a vessel for the river st. john, and arrived at a small fort belonging to her husband, on its banks, just in time to defend it against d'aulney, who had rallied his forces for an attack upon it, during the absence of charles etienne.
marie de la tour at this time was one of the most beautiful women in the new world. she was not less than twenty, nor more than thirty years of age; her features had a charm beyond the limits of the regular; her eyes were expressive; her mouth intellectual; her complexion brown and clear, could pale or flush with emotions either tender or[pg 248] indignant. before such a commandress d'aulney de charnisé set down his forces in the year 1644.
the garrison was small—the brave charles etienne absent in a distant part of the province. but the unconquerable spirit of the woman prevailed over these disadvantages. at the first attack by d'aulney, the guns of the fort were directed with such consummate skill that every shot told. the besieger, with twenty killed and thirteen wounded, was only too happy to warp his frigate out of the leach of this lovely lady's artillery, and retire to penobscot to refit for further operations. again d'aulney sailed up the st. john, with the intention of taking the place by assault. by land as by water, his forces were repulsed with great slaughter. a host of catholic soldiers fell before a handful of protestant guns, which was not surprising, as the cannon were well pointed, and loaded with grape and canister. for three days the french officer carried on the attack, and then again retreated. on the fourth day a swiss hireling deserted to the enemy and betrayed the weakness of the garrison. d'aulney, now confident of success, determined to take the fort by storm; but as he mounted the wall, the lovely la tour, at the head of her little garrison, met the besiegers with such determined bravery, that again they were repulsed. that evening[pg 249] d'aulney hung the traitorous swiss, and proposed honorable terms, if the brave commandress would surrender. to these terms marie assented, in the vain hope of saving the lives of the brave men who had survived; the remnants of her little garrison. but the perfidious d'aulney, who, from the vigorous defence of the fort, had supposed the number of soldiers to have been greater, instead of feeling that admiration which brave men always experience when acts of valor are presented by an enemy, lost himself in an abyss of chagrin, to find he had been thrice defeated by a garrison so contemptible in numbers, and led by a female. to his eternal infamy let it be recorded, that pretending to have been deceived by the terms of capitulation, d'aulney hanged the brave survivors of the garrison, and even had the baseness and cruelty to parade madame de la tour herself on the same scaffold, with the ignominious cord around her neck, as a reprieved criminal.
to quote the words of the chronicler: "the violent and unusual exertions which madame la tour had made, the dreadful fate of her household and followers, and the total wreck of his fortune, had such an effect that she died soon after this event."
so perished the beautiful, the brave, the faithful,[pg 250] the unfortunate! shall i add that her besieger, d'aulney, died soon after, leaving a bereaved but blooming widow? that charles etienne la tour, to prevent further difficulties in the province, laid siege to that sad and sympathizing lady, not with flag and drum, shot and shell, but with the more effectual artillery of love? that madame d'aulney finally surrendered, and that charles etienne was wont to say to her, after the wedding: "beloved, your husband and my wife have had their pitched battle, but let us live in peace for the rest of our days, my dear."
quaint, old, mouldy halifax seems more attractive after re-writing this portion of its early history. the defence of that little fort, with its slender garrison, by madame la tour, against the perfidious charnisé, brings to mind other instances of female heroism, peculiar to the french people. it recalls the achievements of joan of arc, and charlotte corday. not less, than these, in the scale of intrepid valor, are those of marie de la tour.
