Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-11-18
HEROINE OF ACADIA.

the opportunities gwen 10 women LOT
such leadership are comparatively few,
but the more potent reason undoubtedly
j. that woman from her disposition and
Temperament is more fitted To shine in
passive endurance than in active enter
prise Yet at kong 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 10 reach a higher degree of
herOism than any man can attain, for
they are usually impclled Ia deeds Of dar-
ing 10y 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 iS no middle way between the vic
tory and deStruCtiou; they must trl-
umph or they must perish. The latest Of
these female PaladIns, the rance Of
Jhansi. kept the field against the British
in 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 to 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 a remote cor
npr of the continent. and being Of a for
eign race. is comparatively little known
to the people Of the United States. Yet,
if Longfellow had been poet of war and
battle. when he went To Acadia for IA
heroine, instead of the mythical and i'm
possible Eyangcline, he would surely
have chosen that real woman, Lady
LatOur. who was a heroine indeed. A.
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 emerSes
from the mist of two centuries firm in
outline as it appeared To her Contempor
aries and so real in its humanity we
never doubt that the actual woman is he
fore us Frances Marie Jaquclin. who
afterward became Lady I.atOur. was "A
native of France and belonged TO a
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 well fitted by training and
education for the stormy and eventful
life she was destined Ia lead in Acadia
When very young she married LatOur,
when on a visit 10 France. and sailed back
with him to that wild romantic land
which became the sCeue of her herOism
and her death. Her arrival in Acadia
took place i'll 1925, year before Peter
Minuets 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 dozen bands Of struggling
cOlonists from Florida 10 Quebe, were
contending against the rugged might of
nature.
LatOuT himself was n man of eXtraur
diuary talents, alternately the sport and
favorite of fortune. Although of such
high descent that he could claim kinship
with the great house of BuuillOn his fam
lily had been totally ruined in the civil
wars. In 1909 when mere boy he went
10 Acadia with his father. and when the
Port Royal colony was destroyed by Ar
gal four years later. took to the woods
and lived with the Indians for many
years Ii would take too long 10 enumer-
ate the successive steps 10y which he
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 vast grant of territory on the
St John river. And 10 crown all
through the influence of his father, who
was favcrite at the English court. he
was made a baronet by James !, and
Sir William Alexander, the Scotch gran
tee of Acadia, gave him 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 1875. But troublous times
were at hand.
Latour' : 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 it gave him the command of
the whole fur trade of more than 81, 600
square miles of territory. His establish
ment was on scale suitable To the mag
nitude of the interests he controlled
Iltlt WIZ S0i'AblAa At~S liidll <'Ft lltll III
Fort Latour, and several small vessels
were employed in ranging the coast and
trading with the Indians The spoils of
forest and stream were at the command
Of Latour and his men. for the woods
abounded in game and the rivers and sea
with fish, and a rude abundance reigned
at his huspitable board But il was
sadly lonely life for Lady Latour, with
out female cOmpanionShip but that of
her servants, and with her lord often
away ranging the y Gods. cruising on the
coast. or, perhaps, on a voyage to France
1t was a schooling well fitted To develop
all the latent qualities of strong ma
ture.
LatOur had rival for the possession of
the trade of Acadia III CharnisSAy, who
also held a commission from the king.
and had forts at Port Royal and Penob-
scot CharniSsay's father was a .'coun-
cillor of the king in Paris. and had the
ear of Cardinal Richelieu, a fact which
emboldened the former to cndeavor to
effect LatOur's destruction Latour was
accused of all sorts of malfeaSance and
his wife was denounced as a hereto He
was accused of being friendly TO the
English, and she of being the cause of
his diSlOyalty. Ii is needless TO examine
these charges, for La our was afterward
publicly eXOnerated from them all by
the French government. Ii was true.
however, that Lady I.atour was a Prot
estant: a. such she lived and died.
After years of effort CharnisSay sue
ceeded in his obi act, and a royal edict
went forth which was intended to destroy
Iatour. He was commanded to return
TO France to answer the charges against
him, and his commission as governor was
revoked. If he refused To obey CharnisSay
WAS authorized TO seize him and carry
him to France, and TO make an inventory
Ot his effects. \ ship was sent ont spe-
rially by the king TO carry home the de
posed governor l.atour no doubt appre-
riatcd he delicate attention. but declined
to vail himself O: it, He refused TO 20
to EluhCe or pln1;t Cha3nissay 10 his fort
NJ vengeance, for Latuur had four and
lweuty cannon mounted on the walls ot
Iis stronghold Charnissay returned To
France TO obtain more rOVal orders and