Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-11-28
HEROINE OF ACADIA.


proyed themselves worthy to be teachers
OF men has been extremely small This,
of course, is in part due to the fact that
the opportunities given to women FOR
such leadership are comparatively few,
but the more potent reason undoubtedly
is that woman from her disposition ana
temperament is more fitted 70 shine In
passive endurance than in active enter
prise. Yet at long intervals women have
arisen who seemed born TO command,
and from whose natures all the weak
ness Of the sex appeared To be eliminated.
When such women do dawn on the world
they seem to reach a higher degree OF
beroism than any man can attain, for
they are usually impelled 10 deeds OF dar-
ing by influences which give their efforts
the character Of a crusade Urged on TO
the field Of strife by religion, patriot
ism love of husband or children, to them
there il no middle way between the VIC
tory and destruction; they must tri-
umph or they must perish. The latest VI
these female Paladins, the rance Of
Jhansi, kept the field against the British
I'm India for months after her cause had
become hopeless, and finally died sword
in hand charging at the head OF her cav
airy among those who resisted 10 the last.
Sir Hugh Rose her cOnquerOr, in his gen
eral order, said that the best man upon
the side Of the enemy was the woman
found dead, the rance Of Jhansi."
America has produced but few women
of the heroic type, and the most remark
able Of them all, living as she did two
centuries and half ago in u remote cor
ner Of the continent, and being OF for
eign race. Is comparatively little known
to the people of the United States Yet,
if LOngfrllow had been a poet Of war and
battle, when he went To Acadia for n
heroine, instead Of the mythical and i'm
possible Evangehue, he would surely
have chosen that real woman, Lady
I.atour, who was heroine indeed. AS
il is he has left for some other bard the
finest subject for an epic that America
has yielded. Although her story has
been mainly told by her enemies, or in
the dry pages Of official dispatches to the
French government, her figure emergeS
from the mist of two centuries firm In
outline aS il appeared To her cOntempOr-
aries and 50 real in its humanity we
never doubt that the actual woman is be-
fore us. Frances Marie Jaquelin, who
aftcrward became Lady LatOur, was q
q
HuguenOt family Of Rochelle. She was
born in the early years Of the Seventeenth
century, when that city was the focus Of
religious movement which ended In
civil war. Born and reared amid the
stirring scenes which Rochelle witnessed,
she became we'll fitted by training and
education for the stormy and eycntful
life she was destined 10 lead in Acadia.
When very young she married LHtOur,
when on "a visit To France, and sailed back
with him 20 that wild romantic land
which became the scene OF her hcroiSm
and her death Her arrival in Acadia
took place in 1925, year before Peter
Minuet's purchase Of Manhattan island
from the Indians, and five years before
the settlement Of Boston. The whole
continent, now the seat Of an ever widen
ing civilization, was vast wilderness, in
which half Il dozen bands Of struggling
cOlOniSts from Florida To Quebec were
4 cOnteuding against the rugged might Of
nature.
LatOur himself was man of cxtraOr-
A binary talents, alternately the sport and
favorite Of fortune. Although Of such
high descent that he could claim kinship
with the great house Of BOUillOn his fam
lily had been totally ruined in the civil
wars. In 1909 when mere boy he went
4 20 Acadia with his father, and when the
Il Port Royal colony was destroyed by Ar
gal, four years later, took To the woods
Il and lived with the Indians for many
= years 10 would take too long To enumer-
ate the successive steps by which ne
emerged from this humble station.
BiencOurt, the grantee Of Port Royal,
died and bequcathed his rights to La
tour. The latter became lieutenant gen
eral for the French king in Acadia, and
received a vast grant Of territory on the
St. John river. And 10 crown all,
through the influence Of his father, who
was a favOrite at the English court, he
was made barOnet by James l. and
Sir William Alexander, the Scotch gran
tee of Acadia. gave him n very large tract
of land. Thus in the enjoyment Of grants
and titles from both crowns his fortunes
could hardly have looked brighter than
they were an 1886. But trOublous times
were ut hand.
I.atOur's fort was at the mouth OF the
st. Johns river, on the site Of the New
Brunswick city Of that name, and from
its position il gave him the command OF
the whole fur trade Of more than $4,000
square miles OF territory. His establish,
menU was on a scale suitable To the mag,
nitude Of the interests he controlled.
There were seldom less than 200 men in
Fort I.atOur, and several small vessels
were employed in ranging the coast and
ttrading with the Indians. The SpOils OF
Forest and stream were at the command
81 I.atOur and his men, FOR the woods
abOundcd i'm game and the rivers and sea
yith fish, and rude abundance rrigued
At his huSpitable hoard. But it was a
& ,adly lonely life for Lady G.atOur, with
but female cOmpanionShip but that of
tler servants, and with her lord often
away ranging the woods, cruising ON the
OaSt, or, perhaps on u voyage to France.
4 { was a schooling well fitted To develop
4 I'M the latent qualities Of strong ma.
lure.
l.atOur had a rival for the possession OF
! he trade Of Acadia in CharniSSay, who
+ lSo held q commission from the kim
II nal had forts at Port Royal and Penob,
cot CharniSSIy'S father was "cOun-
Il illor of the king in Paris, and had the
ar of Cardinal Richelieu, q fact which
II mhOldenCd the former tn RndaavN~ -
II meet I4atOur ; destruction. latOur was
ccused of all sorts Of malfeaSanCe, and
is wife was denounced ~ a hereto. He
-as accused Of being friendly to the
,nglish, and she of being the cause OF
III is diSloyalty. IL is needless To examine
NJ leSe charges, for La'Our was afterward
~ ubliCly eNoncrated from them all by
.E ne French government. IL was true,
q owevCr, that Lady LatOur was a Prot
slant; aS such she lived and died.
! Ate: years OF effort CharniSSay sue
eeded in his object, and royal edict
ent forth which was intended TO destroy
81 atOur. He was commanded To return
81 France to answer the charges against
m, and his commission rs governor was
yoked. II he refused to obey CharniSsay
rs as authorized to seize him and carry
+ Il m TO France, and 10 make an inventory
III his effects \ ship was sent out spe-
B ally by the king TO carry home the de-
pSed governor. Latour no doubt appre-
4 ated the delicate attention, but declined
avail himself Ot it. He refused to go
'| France or admit CharnisSay TO his fort,
4 the latter could only go away breath.