Page:1898 NB Magazine.djvu/224
they could not neglect." On the 3rd July all but one hundred, and these chiefly women and children, set off for Fort Howe. In a letter to the Massachusetts government Allan expresses his bitter disappointment at the defection of his Indian allies which, however, had been for some time impending. He says:—
"I am very unhappy in being obliged to acquaint the Hon'ble Board of this, after the success I have experienced in disappointing the priest and Mr. Frankline these three years."
Common justice demands that the Abbé Joseph Mathurin Bourg should receive his meed of praise at our hands for his zealous co-operation with the government of Nova Scotia in the endeavor to restrain the Micmacs and Maliseets from declaring war against the British. It is not too much to say that the security of the lives and property of the English settlers on the River St. John during the Revolutionary war was in a large measure due to his efforts and influence. But Father Bourg deserves special mention as being the first native clergyman[1] to officiate in the maritime provinces. "Savez-vous que cet intrépide missionnaire est Acadien?" asks M. Placide P. Gaudet in a letter just received by the writer of this paper. According to M. Gaudet, Father Bourg was born at River Canard in the district of Minas, June 9, 1744. His father was Michel Bourg and his mother's maiden name was Anne Hébert. They with the greater part of their children escaped at the time of the expulsion of the Acadians in 1755, and sought refuge on the Island of St. John,[2] whence in 1758 they were transported by the English to the northern shores of France. The youthful Joseph Mathurin Bourg became the portege (along with three other young Acadians) of the Abbé de l'Isle-Dieu,