Charles
Etienne did not readily yield to the new adventurer. They had tasted the
sweets of religious liberty, and were not disposed to come within the
arbitrary yoke without a struggle. Disregarding the "decree," they stood
out manfully against the forces of Le Borgne. Again were Catholic French
and Protestant French cannon pointed against each other in unhappy Acadia.
But fort after fort fell beneath the new claimant's superior artillery,
until La Tour le Borgne himself was met by a counter-force of bigotry,
before which his own was as chaff to the fanning-mill. The man of England,
Oliver Cromwell, had his little claim, too, in Acadia. Against his forces
both the French commanders made but ineffectual resistance. Acadia for the
third time fell into the hands of the English.

Now in the history of the world there is nothing more patent than this:
that persecution in the name of religion, is only a ring of calamities,
which ends sooner or later where it began. And this portion of its history
can be cited as an example. Charles Etienne de la Tour, alienated by the
unjust treatment of his countrymen, decided to accept the protection of
his national enemy. As the heir of Sir Claude de la Tour, he laid claim to
the Sterling grants (which it will be remembered had been ceded to his
father by Sir William Alexander after the unsuccessful attack upon Cape
Sable,) and in conjunction with two English Puritans obtained a new patent
for Acadia from the Protector, under the great seal, with the title of Sir
Charles La Tour. Then Sir Thomas Temple (one of the partners in the
Cromwell patent) purchased the interest of Charles Etienne in Acadia. Then
came the restoration, and again Acadia was restored to France by Charles
II. in 1668. But Sir Thomas having embarked all his fortune in the
enterprise, was not disposed to submit to the arbitrary disposal of his
property by this treaty; and therefore endeavored to evade its articles by
making a distinction between such parts of the province as were supposed
to constitute Acadia proper, and the other portions of the territory
comprehended under the title of Nova Scotia. "This distinction being
deemed frivolous," Sir Thomas was ordered to obey the letter of the
treaty, and accordingly the _whole of Nova Scotia_ was delivered up to the
Chevalier de Grande Fontaine. During twenty years succeeding this event,
Acadia enjoyed comparative repose, subject only to occasional visits of
filibusters. At