tury had kept out its desolating waters between the Cape and the
Gasperau. Driven to despair, a few of the younger Acadians took up arms to
defend their hearthstones, but the great body of the people submitted
without resistance. A brief stand was made at Port Royal, but this last
outpost finally capitulated. By the terms of the articles agreed upon, the
inhabitants were to have the privilege of remaining upon their estates for
two years, upon taking an oath of allegiance to remain faithful to her
majesty, Queen Anne, during that period. Upon that consideration, those
who lived _within cannon-shot_ of the fort, were to be protected in their
rights and properties. This was but a piece of _finesse_ on the part of
the invaders, an entering wedge, as it were, of a novel kind of tyranny,
namely, that inasmuch as those within cannon-shot had taken the oath of
allegiance, those without the reach of artillery, at Port Royal, also,
were bound to do the same. And a strong detachment of New England troops,
under Captain Pigeon, was sent upon an expedition to enforce the arbitrary
oath. But Captain Pigeon, in the pursuit of his duty, fell in with an
enemy of a less gentle nature than the Acadians. A body of Abenaqui came
down upon him and his men, and smote them hip and thigh, even as the three
hundred warriors of Israel smote the Midianites in the valley of Moreh.
Then was there temporary relief in the land until the year 1713, when by a
treaty Acadia was formally surrendered to England. The weight of the oath
of allegiance now fell heavily upon the innocent colonists. We can
scarcely appreciate the abhorrence of a people, so conscientious as this,
to take an oath of fidelity to a race that had only been known to them by
its rapacity. But partly by persuasion, partly by menace, a majority of
the Acadians took the oath, which was as follows:

"_Je promets et jure sincerement, en foi de Chretien, que je serai
entierement fidele et obeirai vraiment sa Majeste le roi George, que je
reconnaias pour le Souverain seigneur de l'Acadie, ou Nouvelle Ecosse,
ainsi Dieu me soit en aide_."

Under the shadow of the protection derived from their acceptance of this
oath, the Acadians reposed a few years. It did not oblige them to bear
arms against their countrymen, nor did it compromise their religious
independence of faith. Again the dykes were built to resist the
encroachments of the sea; again village after village arose--at the mouth
of the G