me obtained from Sir
William Alexander the title of a Baronet of Nova Scotia. He procured
from his royal master a grant of land on the River St. John and
obtained leave from Sir William Alexander to occupy it.

By the treaty of St. Germain, in 1632, Acadia was ceded to France.
Immediately after the peace de Razilly came to the country at the head
of a little colony of settlers, many of them farmers, whose
descendants are to be found among the Acadians of today. With de
Razilly came d'Aulnay Charnisay, who was destined to become la Tour's
worst enemy. De Razilly died in 1635, leaving his authority to
Charnisay, his relative and second in command. Charnisay made his
headquarters at Port Royal and nobody disputed his authority except la
Tour, who claimed to be independent of him by virtue of his commission
from the crown and his grant from the Company of New France. The
dissensions between la Tour and Charnisay at length culminated in war
and the strife was long and bitter.

CHAPTER III.

THE RIVAL FEUDAL CHIEFS.

Charles de Menou, Seigneur d'Aulnay Charnisay, came of a distinguished
family of Touraine. He married Jeanne Motin, a daughter of the
Seigneur de Courcelles. She came to Acadia with him in 1638. They
resided at Port Royal where Charnisay in his log mansion reigned like
a feudal lord.

Charles St. Etienne de la Tour was probably of less conspicuous
lineage than his rival, although in legal documents he is called "a
gentleman of distinguished birth." He married Frances Marie Jacquelins
who, according to the questionable testimony of his enemies, was the
daughter of a barber of Mans. She was a Huguenot and whatever may have
been her origin her qualities of mind and heart have deservedly won
for her the title of "the heroine of Acadia." Never had man more
faithful ally than Marie Jacquelins proved to Charles la Tour.

As early as the year 1630 la Tour had be concerned in a project to
erect a strong fort at the mouth of the St. John river in order to
ward off the incursions of hostile adventurers and secure control of
the far trade of the vast wilderness region extending from the mouth
of the river nearly to the St. Lawrence. It was not, however, until
the 15th of January, 1635, that the Company of New France granted him
his tract of land at St. John, extending five leagues up the river and
including within its bounds "the fort and habitation of la Tour."

The French government endeavored to establish