n and his work.
His disposition had nothing of sternness, yet he was equally
beloved and revered by his flock; to untiring zeal he joined
exemplary modesty, sweetness of disposition, never failing charity
and an evenness of temper which made him superior to all annoyances;
busy as he was he had the art of economising the moments, and he
gave all the prescribed time to his own spiritual exercises; over his
flock he watched incessantly as a good shepherd with the happy
consolation of gathering abundant fruit of his care and toil; he
was fitted for everything and ready for everything, and his
superiors could dispose of him as they would. The date of his death,
June 24, 1731, suggests some remarkable coincidences. The 24th of
June is St. John Baptist's day; Loyard's name was Jean Baptiste; the
church he built was called St. Jean Baptiste; it was the first
church on the banks of a river named in honor of St. Jean Baptiste
(because discovered on 24th June, 1604, by Champlain); and it was
fitting that the missionary who designed it, who watched over its
construction and who probably was laid to rest beneath its shade,
should pass from the scene of his labors on the day that honors the
memory of St. Jean Baptiste. By a pure coincidence the author finds
himself penning these words on St. John Baptist's day, 1903.

[Illustration: Jean Loyard Fac-simile, A. D. 1708.]

Loyard's successor was Jean Pierre Danielou, whose presence at
Medoctec is indicated by the occurrence of his name on the memorial
tablet. After his arrival at Quebec in 1715 he was employed for some
years as a teacher, but took holy orders about 1725. Danielou had been
but a short time in charge of his mission when he received a sharply
worded letter from the governor of Nova Scotia, ordering the Acadians
settled on the River St. John to repair to the port of Annapolis Royal
and take the oath of allegiance. The governor says that their settling
on the river without leave was an act of great presumption. A number
of the settlers accordingly presented themselves at Annapolis, where
they took the required oaths and agreed to take out grants.

The little French colony were settled at or near St. Anns (now
Fredericton) for a census made in 1733, for the government of France,
gives the number of Acadians on the river as 111, divided into twenty
families, and fifteen of these families, numbering eighty-two persons,
were living below the village of Ecoupay (or Aukpaque).