Cape Breton's Magazine

If I have not succeeded in procuring for myself a livelihood to the end of my days, I cannot accuse myself of an error in judg? ment, in the means that I employed for attaining it; for when I recall all the past, I do not see that I could have been able to act otherwise than I have done; and if it were to do over again, I would follow the same illusions, as having the appearances the most clearly favourable, to conduct him to the results which he proposes to himself, if by effects, whimsical and impossible to foresee, the road he takes, founded upon probability, appears to be the best for conducting to the result, tums out quite the con? trary, what can he do but look upon himself as a grain of sand driven by Chance, that unjust tyrant which governs and dispos? es at his caprice all the actions of men. The climax of the mis? ery which must necessarily actually pursue me even to the end of my days, and which it is beyond the power of fortune itself to remedy now at my age, was to have consented to take a com? mission of ensigncy in 1750 under the reiterated promises of M. Puysieulx, to watch continually to procure me a company widiout delay; M. Rouille being then, according to all appear? ance, the only minister of all the Courts of Europe who could have disgraced the commission of Prince Edward, by thus de? grading a captain of his Scottish army, the progress of which against tiie whole united troops of England produced the aston? ishment and admiration of all Europe. How could I fail to have had confidence in the promises of M. Puysieulx after his having given me proofs the most convincing of his esteem and good graces? He had given me in 1749 two thousand two hundred livres from the funds granted to Scotch? men; and this minister was so well disposed in my favour, that if I had demanded of him a permanent situation of five hundred Uvres per annum out of this fund, he would have granted it to me readily. Might it not naturally be beUeved, that the desire which I had shown to render my youtii serviceable to the king and the country, deserved much rather rewards than punish? ments? Is it an equal merit in a man to pass his days at Paris in idleness and pleasure, as I would have been able to do with my pension on the Scottish list, or to embrace a situation the most painful, like that of a military man, who performs well his du? ties; exposed continually to dangers of all kinds, his body over? whelmed with excess of fatigues, and his constitution mined by bad nourishment, joined to a thousand other inconveniences which necessarily follow the hard work of war? Could I have ever imagined that in the service of France one would see lazy officers, who do no other service but pillage and rob the king, and being enriched by rapine, are received with open arms in the bureau at Versailles; at the same time that the son of a pas? try cook, and another son of a hairdresser, are made to pass right over officers who have served with disinterestedness, who have only occupied themselves continually for the good of the service, and to render themselves useful? I confess that I could have never been able to form an idea of the service of France, such as I have experienced it; having always believed that hon? our, sentiments, and a great knowledge of the military art, were the only means of succeeding in any service of the world. M. Herbiers having obtained leave from the Court to be relieved, the king's vessel "Happy," commanded by die Chevalier Caumont, was sent to Louisbourg with the Count de Raimond, to replace him in the govem? ment of the Royal Isle, and to bring him back to France. Seeing the forgetfulness and neglect of my pa? trons to procure me a suitable situation, joined to the impossibility of being able to live at Louisbourg upon four hundred and twenty-four livres of salary, this wor? thy and gentlemanly man, who had received me into his friendship, having taken upon himself to cause me to enter into an agreement with my new govemor, to retum with him to Europe in the "Happy," obtained at the same time the permission of M. Caumont for me to embark at once ten or twelve days before the vessel should sail, in order to repair the bad fare which I had had dur? ing a year at Louisbourg, which ordinarily consisted during the winter solely of cod-fish and hog's lard, and during the sum? mer, fresh fish, bad rancid salt butter, and bad oil. Cross adventures were familiar to me, without fortune ever having mixed with them the fortunate! Two hours after I had gone on board, at the instant that we were about to place our? selves at table for supper, the vessel was almost blown up in the air; and in a little, if there had been the least wind, we would have never been able to avoid that dismal fate. A vessel at an? chor beside the "Happy" had taken fire, laden with mm and oil, and in an instant the ship was all in flames, like the great fire of a fumace. All die ships' boats of the port were collected togeth? er quickly with grappling irons to haul back the ship on fire, and make her get to a side, beyond the reach of communicating the fire to others; but it was with difficulty that we were saved, this ship having passed alongside our board quite close by. If the grappling irons had been awanting, we were gone. We be? ing replaced at table as soon as the danger was passed, the dear and worthy man, M. Herbiers, told us that during the time tiiat this catastrophe lasted, he could not help thinking continually of me, how it should happen unfortunately for me to embark precisely at the point of time to encounter death. We sailed from Louisbourg in the month of August, 1751, and we arrived in fifty days in the bay of Rochelle, having experi? enced in the passage but one squall of wind, which endured for? ty-eight hours, and which alarmed greatly the officers of the ship; but as it was very far below for the most part those which I had experienced the year before, in the "Iphigenie," the vessel being good and in a condition to resist, I was not otherwise dis? quieted than by the intermption which it occasioned to our good cheer; for while it lasted it was impossible to cook, and we were reduced to bacon, with biscuits, in place of fresh bread. Our thanks to A.J.B. Johnston and Ken Donovan, both histori? ans at Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Park, for recom? mending that we take a look at the writing of Chevalier de John? stone. This portion is quoted from Memoirs of ttie Ctievalierde Johnstone, translated by Charles Winchester, 1870. 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