HISTORIC CITY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 5, 7 January 1938, Page 11

HISTORIC CITY.

LOUISBOURG'S PAST.

ONCE A GREAT FORTRESS. SPECTACULAR HISTORY. SYDNEY (Nova Scotia. Canada). On the site of what once was the stoutest fortress in North America and its only walled city, the Governorgeneral recently dedicated a museum erected liv the Government of Canada to contain relics of the time when French and English struggled with varying success for possession of the New World. There are few spots in the Empire with a history more spectacular than the story of Louisbourg or which have had so great an influence on the course of events. But that was two centuries ago. To-day the site of l his old fort. 011 the eastern coast of Capo Breton Island a few miles from Sydney, is a national park. I'nder the provisions of the Treaty of Utrecht. which brought p.-ace between France and England in 1713, the Island of Cape Breton, together with other islands in the gulf of St. Lawrence, was ceded to France. A settlement was established 011 the shores of whit was known as English Harbour, and the new settlers, being Frencli, chanced this name to Louisbourg, in honour of Louis the Fourteenth King of Fiance. The island of Cape Breton was renamed lie Koyale. Louisbourg was subsequently fortified as a naval and military station, at an estimated cost of about £1.200,000 and, styled the "Dunkirk of America," was considered impregnable. The Key To Canada. During the period between 1720 and 1700. in which it existed as a fortified naval and military station. Louisbourg held the key to Canada. Possessing a fine harbour, it served as the headquarters for the largest fishing industry on this side of the Atlantic and as a haven for French privateers. Captured by a force of New England volunteers in 1745, Louisbourg was ceded hack to France by treaty three years Inter. Its final capture in 17~>S hy British forces led to the fall of Quebec the following year and the ultimate transfer of Canada from French to British rule.

Following the capture of Louisbourg in 17">* came orders from England for its complete destruction, and for almost six months soldiers toiled with cn ldo-i ves. spvtdes and levers until nothing remained of the town and citadel' but a shattered group of casements of Immb-proof shelters. Since 1028 the Government of Canada has set aside more than three hundred acres in the vicinity of Louisbom;.'. which is being preserved as a. historic site of national importance under the direction of the National Parks Bureau. Lands, Parks and Forest Branch. Department of Mines and Resources. Considerable excavation work has been carried out, and walls outlining a number of the more important buildings have been partially restored. During 1935-30 a museum building was constructed of native stone, "which houses a large and interesting exhibit of relics relating not only to Lo nisbourg, but to early Acadian history. ,