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Island of St. John about 300 French neutrals with their families. He represented to the agent before he sailed the situation of his vessel, and the impossibility there was of his arriving safe in Old France at that season of the year.
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He was nevertheless compelled to receive them on board and proceed upon the voyage. After getting within 100 leagues of Scilly, found the ship so leaking that, with all hands employed, they were not able to prevent her sinking. Finding that she must in a few minutes go down, and that all on board must perish if the French did not consent to the master and crew taking to the boats, by which means a small number had a chance of being saved.
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Capt. Nichols sent for their priest and told him the situation, and and pointed out to him the only probable means of saving the lives of a few, among which the priest was one.
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He accordingly harangued the Frenchmen for half an hour on the ships deck, and gave them absolution, when they, with one consent, agreed to the master, crew, and priest taking the boats, and themselves to perish with the ship. One Frenchman only went into the boat, on which his wife said “will you thus leave your wife and children to perish without you.” Remorse touched him, and he returned to share their fate. The ship in a few minutes went down, and all on board perished.
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The argument made use of by the priest for leaving the Frenchmen was that he hoped to save the souls of other heretics (meaning the English) and bring them to God along with him. The boats, after a series of distress, arrived at a port in the west of England, and Capt. Nichols afterwards commanded one of the Falmouth packets.
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VINDICATION BY SECRETARY BULKELEY AND JUDGE DESCHAMPS OF THE ACADIAN REMOVAL.
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[On every appearance of a public discussion of the events of the war of 1756 — so far as related to the Province of Nova Scotia — the old servants of the government manifested their apprehensions and disquietude, and particularly when the case of the Acadians was mentioned.
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When the translation of Raynal's history first arrived in the Province, the article Nova Scotia was inserted entire in one of the newspapers, for the informa-
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