SIEUR DE MONTS PUBLICATIONS 
 
 XI 
 
 Sieur De Monts Commission 
 
 De Monts and Acadia 
 
 An Appreciation 
 
 ISSUED BY 
 
 THE ^^ILD CxARDENS OF ACADIA 
 BAR HARBOR, IVLVINE 
 
Siciir (Ic Mollis N;iti()ii;il .Mniiiitiiciil -'I'lio Kasl CliiV 
 
 D. of D. 
 NOV 30 -I9J7 
 
SIEUR DE MONTS PUBLICATIONS 
 
 XI 
 
 Sieur De Monts Commission 
 
 De Monts and Acadia 
 
 An Appreciation 
 
 PURCHAS HIS PILGRIMES 
 
 CONTAYXIXG A IIlSTORY OF THE WoRLD IN Sea \"oYA(!ES AND 
 
 Lande Tkavells by P^nglishmen and Others. 
 
 The Pdfc'iit of flic Froicli King to Monsieur de Monts for 
 the inhdhitinfi of the Countries of La Cadia, Canada, 
 and other plaees in New F ranee. 
 
 Henry, l)y the i>iae(' of Clod Kin^i>' of Franco and Na- 
 varre. To onr deare and well beloved the Lord of Monts, 
 one of the ordinarie Gentlemen of our Chamber, greeting. 
 As our greatest care and labonr is, and hath alwayes 
 beene, since onr comming to this Crowne, to maintaine 
 and conserve it in tlie ancic^nt dignitie, greatnesse ami 
 splendour thereof, to extend and amplifie, as much as 
 lawfully may bee done, the bounds and limits of the 
 same. We being, of a long time, iuformed of the situation 
 and condition of the Lands and Territories of La Cadia, 
 mo\'ed al)ove all things, with a singular zeale, and devout 
 and constant resolution, wliich we have taken, with the 
 helpe and assistance of God, Author, Distributour, and 
 Protectour of all Kingdomes and Estates, to cause the 
 people, wliich doe inhabit the Countrey, men (at tliis 
 ]n-esent time) Barbarous, Atheists, without Faith, or 
 Eeligion, to be converted to Christianitie, and to the 
 
 3 
 
Beliefs aiitl l^rofession of our P^iitli and Heliiiioii : ami 
 to draw them from the ignorance and nnheliefs whert'in 
 they are. Having also of a long lime knowne l)y tlie 
 Relation of the Sea Captaines, Pilots, Merchants and 
 others, who of long time have haunted, fre(inented and 
 Iraflicked witli the ])eople tliat are found in the said ])la('es, 
 how frnitl'ull, commodious and i)rotitable may he unto us. 
 to our Estates and Subjects, the Dwelling, Possession, 
 and IIal)itation of those Countries, for the great and 
 apparent profit which may be drawne by the greater fre- 
 (pientation and habitude wliicli may bee liad willi th-- 
 people tliat are found tliere, and the Trafhcke and Com- 
 merce wliich may be l)y that means safely treated and 
 negotiated. 
 
 We then for these causes fully trusting on your great 
 wisdome, and in the knowledge and exi:)erience that you 
 have of the qnalitie, condition and situation of the said 
 Countrie of La Cadia ; for divers and sundry Navigations, 
 ^^oyages and Fi'e(pientations tliat you have made into 
 those ])arts, and others neere and bordering u])on it: 
 Assuring our selves that this our resolution and inten- 
 tion, l)eing commi11e(l unlo you, you will attenti\('l> . dili 
 gentlx', and no lesse couragiously and valorously execute 
 and l)i-ing to such perfection as we desire : Have exi)ressly 
 a)»i>oin1ed and established you, and l)y tliese Presents, 
 signed with oui- owne hands, doe commit, ordaine, make, 
 constitute and establisli you, our Lieutenant Generall, 
 for to re])resent our person, in tlie Countries, Territories, 
 (*oasts and ('onliiies of La Cadia. To begin fi-om liie 40. 
 degree unto the -K). And in the same distance, or paiM of 
 it, as farre as may bee done, 1o establish, extend and 
 maki' to lie knowiic onr Xaine, Miiilit, and Ant liorii ic. 
 .\nd nnilf|- the same to subject. snl)mi1 and l)ring into 
 obefliciice all the |mmi|i|c df the said Land. ; n I H'" I' )i-- 
 derei's tliereol': And by tlie meaues tliereof, anil all law- 
 fnl! waxes, to call, make, instruct, pi-oxoke and Incite 
 them lo liie knowh'dge {\f fiod, and to the liuht of ilie 
 Faith and T'lii-istian Ivcliu'ion, to es1abli>li it tliei'e: And 
 
ill the exercise and i)rofession of the same, keepe and con- 
 sei'N'e the said pe()i)h', and all other Inhabitants in the 
 said places, and there to command in peace, rest and 
 trancpiillitic, as well by Sea as by l.jand: to ordaine, de- 
 cide, and canse to bee execnted all that which yon shall 
 jndge tit and necessarie to be done, for to maintaine, 
 keepe and conserve the said places nnder onr Power and 
 Anthoritie, by the formes, wayes and means prescribed 
 by onr Lawes. And for to have there a care of the same 
 with yon, to appoint, establish, and constitnte all Officers, 
 as well in the affaires of Warre, as for Jnstice and 
 Policie, for the tirst time, and from thence forward to 
 name and present them nnto ns : for to be disposed by ns, 
 and to give Letters, Titles, and snch Provisoes as shall 
 be necessarie, etc. 
 
 Given at Fonntain-Bleaii the eii>'ht day of November: 
 in the yeere of onr Lord 1(303. .Vnd of onr Eeigne the 
 fifteenth. Signed Henry: and nnderneath by the King, 
 Potier; And sealed npon single labell with yellow Waxe. 
 
 De Monts and Acadia: An Appreciation 
 
 Beinfi portion of an address dellrcred hi/ Major Gcnend 
 Josliiia L. Cliainberlaiii at the Tcr-Centeniilal celebra- 
 tion of the founding of Acadia, and fi,rst perinanent 
 settlement of America to the nortli of Florida. 
 
 There are things done in the world wliicli by a certain 
 estimation are accounted failnre, bnt which belong to an 
 eternal in'ocess turning to its a]ipointed ends the dis- 
 continnities of liafiHed endeavor. We have come to this 
 little spot where l)roken beginnings were tlie signal of 
 mighty adventure, and restless spirits, lured by visions of 
 empire forecast upon the morning clouds, pressed and 
 passed like them. The great action of the times we com- 
 memorate was not the result of shrewd calculations of 
 economic advantage; it was largely the impulse of bold 
 imagination and adventurous spirit stirred by the fore- 
 
 5 
 
sliadowing of untested possibililics, and knowing no limit 
 but each one's daring or dreniii. W'liilc the motive of 
 ]K'ciniiary gain was not aliseiil t'l-din cncu iiohie minds, 
 yet tliis was secondary and subordinate. A deeper 
 thought was moving them, — to 1ui-n to human good such 
 opening store of rich matciiai and marvellous oppor- 
 tunity; to signalize the valoi- of their rare, the glory of 
 their country and their religion; to take a foremost ste]) 
 in the march of civilization, — the mastery of man over 
 nature. It was akin to the chixaliy whicli enjoys per- 
 sonal hazard for a sake beyond self. What generous 
 ambitions, wliat lofty hopes hovered in tliose early skies, 
 and since have "faded into the light of connnon day!" 
 
 We come liere to recognize the worth of a remarkable 
 man, Pierre du Guast, Sieur de jNIonts, — to commemorate 
 in a material structure more lasting than any of his own 
 the value of his work and the greatness of his ideas. It 
 is, moreover, a part of the glory of Old France of which 
 we come with one heart to cele))rate a ])assage, — taking 
 this term in both senses of its meaning. Not other than 
 glorious the passage from vision to ideal, — from dream 
 to deed; and altliongli passed are the facts and forms so 
 vivid and \ital in iheir day, who shall say i)assed the 
 spirit and powei-, the living ])otentiality of good, whose 
 course is by unrecorded ways and whose law of mani- 
 festation is unsearchable? 
 
 England was not wanting in bold sea enterprise. 
 Almost a century before the discoxcry of this continent 
 she had a brisk trade with leelnnd. hi a single snow- 
 storm in Api'il, 141K, t\vent\di\(' (»!' hei- xcssels were lost 
 on that wihl ('oa>t. \\n\ whether the i-ace instinct of 
 colonization was taking a rest, or l)ecanse of tlie absorb- 
 ing interest in the nixtliii-ai ••northwest i)assage to 
 C'atliay," she made lU) effort to follow up the discoveries 
 of the Cabots in Ui»7 by acts evincing intention of per- 
 manent possession. 
 
 But it was with exi)ress purpose of ])roceeding to 
 
 6 
 
actual occupancy that France sent ont two great ex- 
 ploring ex])e(litions which were not only tliorongii-going 
 in character bnt pregnant of conse(]nence.s : that of Vvv- 
 razano in lo'J^, which gaxc the name New France to these 
 Nortli Atlantic shores, and tliat of Jac(|nes Cartier ten 
 years later, whose reniarka])h' observations and glowing 
 accounts deepened this nominal interest into the sense 
 and pride of ownership. France now asserted her sole 
 right to all the region north of Spanish Florida. 
 
 Portugal, also, laid early claim to the vast, unbounded 
 region north of the Newfoundland waters, wdiich she 
 named Corterealis after her great discoverer in the year 
 1500; the name Labrador preserves a record of her 
 ]iassing hand. She comnn^nced an occupancy, too, about 
 the Newfoundland shores, building a rendezvous or re- 
 cruiting station for her fishermen there which lasted a 
 long time. Portuguese names remain here, although in 
 disguised form ; Cape Race, from Cavo Raso — Flat Cape ; 
 and Bay of Fundy, replacing the name Bale Francoise 
 given by de Monts. On the oldest Portuguese and Span- 
 ish ma})s this is Rio Fundo, or Hondo — Deep River. 
 
 England kept up some intercourse with these north- 
 eastern coasts in the way of fishing interests, but in this 
 she was far exceeded l)y others. In 1578 the fishing fleet 
 of England here numbered fifty; tliat of Portugal and 
 Spain twice that number; tluit of France three times as 
 many. And think of what strong, indomitable blood 
 those early Frenchmen were: Norman, Breton, Biscayan. 
 Strains of these inextinguishable essences remain in 
 those who follow the old vocation oft" those outlying, 
 storm-swept shores, and abiding tokens in the name and 
 character of Cape Breton, and in the stubborn contest 
 over treaty rights reserved in the islands of Mi<pielon. 
 
 The inaction of England was practically abandonment 
 of claim. The middle of the sixteenth century saw^ the 
 new world in theory, in legal presumption and probable 
 fate, apportioned Ijetween France, Portugal and Spain. 
 
 7 
 
To us, familiar with the history of modern movement in 
 the world's masteries, it seems strani>'e tliat the Xorman 
 element in English lilood, so prone to see an opiuirt unity, 
 and some might say so i)rompt to seize an advantage, did 
 not follow up England's claimed priority of discovery by 
 earliest occupancy of the new Atlantic shores. But know- 
 ing also as we do, tlic audacity of the mingled strains in 
 the old French blood, we do not wonder that it was this 
 which took the forefrt)nt and held on till its last foothold 
 was drowned in its last red tide. 
 
 Occupancy by settlement was slow. A charter was 
 granted to Sir IIum]ihrey Gilbert by Queen Elizabeth in 
 1578, but it was not until 158;> that he began a settlement 
 in Newfoundhmd at what he calh'd St. John's. But that 
 high spirit who declared, ''We are as near heaven by sea 
 as land!" passed out through a storm of elements off 
 those headlands, precarious indeed, and with him the soul 
 went out of liis entci-iJrisc, and the claim of l^ugland 
 througli this occu])ancy did not for a long time emerge. 
 
 Sir AValter lialeigh's vigorous efforts in Virginia in 
 1584 also came to nought. And so at the close of the 
 16tli century there was not a European settlement noilli 
 of Florida on the western Atlantic shores. 
 
 J>nt the hunum ferment was going on, and the lime 
 <!]il)()iii1('d drawing iicai'. The fierce persecution of th<' 
 Huguenots was tearing asunder social bonds in France. 
 The (piarrel ovei- the succession of King Henry of 
 Xa\aii-(' had its spiiug in this bitterness, and the cliang- 
 iiig phiy of parties pci'init ted no one to be safe. I'^ai'iiest 
 minds were nio\-e<l lo seek ]»eacel'ul homes in the wildei"- 
 ness of the New W'oi'hl, whei-e they might tind at least 
 freedom of thought and action, and possibly scope for 
 their best energies. Thus Admiral Coligny sought to 
 ]>laiit Ifuguenot colonies in both South and Xortli 
 >\nierica, which -oon succumbed to T^ortugal or Sjiain. 
 l'>ut in\\ar<l p|-essui"e priMnpted outward nio\<'nieiit and 
 bittei'ly inanil'i'st as were the dilTereiice> in the ohl home, 
 
 8 
 
these did not prevent assoeiation in a common purpose 
 for so high an end. Tnch^- Henry IV a notable company 
 was formed, tlic h'ading spirit of wliicli was Aylmar de 
 Chastes, a genthnnan of high standing and governor of 
 Dieppe, to carry forward colonization on these shores 
 "in the name of God and the King." 
 
 At this juncture comes upon the scene one of the most 
 remarkal)le characters of our New World history — Sam- 
 uel, Sieur de CMiamphiin. Born on the shore of Biscay 
 in a little seap(n-t where departing and returning sliips 
 bringing stories of wide and wild adventure (piickened 
 into life that vague consciousness of power which stirs 
 in all brave spirits; by nature bold, chivalrous, romantic; 
 by early exi)erieuce soldier, sailor, o])server and I'elrder; 
 tireless in labor, patient of suffering, large of vision and 
 generous of i)urpose, genial of spirit and lirm of soul, he 
 may well be regarded as providentially prepared to be 
 called to tlie solution of great problems of enterprise. 
 We do not wonder that he had already received special 
 marks of honor from the king. He and de C^hastes seem 
 to have come together by mutual attraction. To him the 
 king ga\e special charge to observe carefully and report 
 all he should see. The practical charge of the expedition 
 was entrusted to Du Pont Grave, of St. Malo in Bretagne, 
 who had already made a \'0>'age to this region. 
 
 This expedition explored the St. Lawrence, tarrying 
 some time at Tadoussac, at the mouth of the mysterious 
 Saguenay, and finally ascending to the site of Montreal. 
 Of this exploration tliere were wonderful things to tell in 
 France; and told by Champlain roused an interest such 
 as nothing had done before. He came back with high 
 hopes, but found that his generous |)atron had passed 
 away, and with him the su])])orting hand, if not the ani- 
 mating spirit, of the enterprise. 
 
 But he found also that the king had given a new charter 
 to a gentleman of equally high character, an officer of 
 the king's household, Pierre de Monts, Seigneur of the 
 
 9 
 
Coiiiiiiuiic (»r (iiiast ill Snuldiiiic, a reii,i()ii ol' which La 
 Roehclh' wa'- ihc natural cciitt'i- aii<] strongly Iliigiienot 
 ill its proclix ilics, as was the family of de Monts. This 
 charter was given November 8, IGOo. It conveyed to de 
 Monts in elaborate terms trading and seignorial rights 
 over the New World territory between the fortieth and 
 forty-sixth |iaralh'Lv of h-itiliide— -those of Phihi»l('l]»liia 
 and ^Moiitical t()(hi\- — this territory being (h'signated 
 Lacadie, or Acadia. With this came the a])))ointment of 
 Liciitciiant-gciicral, aii<l !•>■ iiilVrence Vice-admiral, of 
 this vast and \ agiidy known domain of Acadia. 
 
 With reciprocal personal resi)ect and the sym})atliy of 
 like ))nrpose, these two iiicii joined hands and hearts in 
 the ('iitci'pi'isc now iiii»rc dciiiiilcly thoiiglit oul ami |)rac- 
 tically oi-ganized than any before. De Monts had been the 
 com]iaiiion of Cham'in in a former N'oyage to these north- 
 eastern >hor('s, and had the confidence of experience. 
 Chainphiiii again receixcd appointnient as special geo- 
 grapher and re])orter for the king. They enlisted also 
 the interest and com])anion>hip of Jean do Pontrinconrt, 
 iJaroii of Saint .Insl in Urclagiic, a man of aiiijih' means 
 and large of niiiid and hcai'l, proiiounccd l)y King Henry 
 to be "one of the nnt.-l hoiiorabh' and valiant men of 
 the Kingdom." 
 
 Tims was or<laine(l and oi-gani/<'d that famous ad\<'n- 
 ture of Acadia, fraught with hunuin hopes as high and 
 fancies as wide as its se<|nel was lo lie bright willi char- 
 acters of courage and de\"olioii and slonny with \'icissi- 
 I \]*\r ami 1 iage(iy. 
 
 XoTK i:v Kditoh: — This (Did th<- fdlluirijKj extracts from Genrnd 
 Chambcrlnin's address are publislied for their admirable and eloquent 
 appreciation of the deeper meaning and significanee of de Monts' adven- 
 ture. The story of the enterprise itself icill be published later in this 
 series, in a condensation from (Innnplain's account. Gi:()H(;k H. Doki;. 
 
 So passed to dust ami I'liiii lliis liltle beginning on the 
 Island of the ( ^'oss. So passe(l into bi-oken lights the 
 
 10 
 
,u]()]'y of (Ic Moiits' dawning' dream. Contemplating this 
 rnin and this baffled pnrpose, must we speak of failure? 
 If so, for de Monts personally the case is not singular. 
 All the first leaders had sad experiences. Gilbert, 
 Raleigh, Gorges, de Monts, Poutrincourt, CJiamplain even, 
 and we miglit also say C'olumlms himself — jealousy, 
 enmity, imprisonment, disgrace barred their sunset sky. 
 But we judge men more by the ideas they quicken into 
 action than by the immediate material results they live 
 to see. 
 
 All the developments of succeeding history in this re- 
 gion must l)e regarded as in some true sense the unfolding 
 of de Monts' purpose, not under his guidance indeed 
 but under the momentum of the impulse he originated, and 
 although we cannot see all the interaction of the com- 
 posite forces which determine life and history, we must 
 think back to de Monts, wlien we consider the long, sliarp 
 struggle for possession of these Acadian shores and the 
 tenacious hold on them which France maintained for 
 more than a century, and is not wholly yet unfelt. 
 
 One singular dignity this St. Croix settlement of de 
 Monts has come to hold. After long lost identity and 
 earnest searching, these ruins were discovered and ad- 
 mitted to l)e the proper mark for the boundary line l)e- 
 tween two great nations, England and the United States 
 of America. Such value had this broken enterprise in 
 the minds of men and council of nations. Without the 
 identifying of this spot tlie language of treaties was in 
 vain, and the bounds of nationalities in confusion. 
 
 But this little relic is not the measure of the man. The 
 narrow compass of this island does not bound his thouglit, 
 nor the dim fragments of his doing that have taken 
 earthly form around us compose liis record. The meas- 
 ure of him is his purpose and ideal. 
 
 The l)lood and brain of France that once led the civi- 
 lization of Europe has not perished from the earth. It 
 bas entered into the on-going of human welfare, and the 
 
 11 
 
vision, the prayer, the hope, that went so high and far, 
 may find answer in visible forms of power even beyond 
 the early dream. 
 
 Consequences are not in one line alone, bnt in many 
 lines. When a living thought is projected into tlie ideal, 
 we cannot trace its course, nor forsoe its end. God's 
 ways are on mighty orbits, and their real tending is often 
 lost to human sight; but the "times appointed" will 
 arrive, and the end crown the work. One thing we may be 
 sure of: all these vicissitudes of life, all these toils and 
 struggles, these seeming defeats as well as seeming vic- 
 tories, are overruled for some final good for man — and 
 for every man who has borne himself worthily in them. 
 
 So we greet in spirit today him who three centuries 
 ago saw in visions of his soul what for man could be 
 wrought on these treasured shores. The work is going 
 on — but by other liands; tlie dream is coming true — but 
 to other eyes. The tlioiight is liis; and the fulfilment, 
 though different, is of liis l)eginning. 
 
 As a Contemporary Saw It 
 
 Marc Lescarbot, who cainc out in ]\I;iy. KiOd. to visit 
 <lr Monts' settlement with .lean de IJieiicoui-l, Seigueui- 
 de Poulrincourt, and who afterward wrote tlie History 
 of New France, tlie l)est account next to Cliaiiiplaiu's we 
 ha\-e of de Monts' undertaking and of Acadi.i at that 
 time, begins his History: ''I liave to tell in this book 
 of the most courageous undertaking, and the least aided 
 and assisted, that we of l''i'ance have made to occupy 
 tlie new lands beyond the Ocean. 'I'lie Sieni- de Monts, 
 called in his own name Pien-e *]\\ (inn, a man of noble 
 family in Saintonge, is its chief >nhject. lie, ha\ing a 
 heart mo\-e(l to high enter|»rise, and seeing Fi'ance in 
 repose thronizh the peace ha|i|iily concluded at \'ei-\iiis, 
 pro])o><'(l to the King. . . ." 
 
 12 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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