A half-century of conflict. France and England in North America. Part ...

^ "Lord and Saviour there preached !80 A MAD SCHEME. [1745.parishioner, more worldly wise than the rest, accompaniedhis modest petition for mercy with the gift ofa barrel of cider, after which the parson's ministrationswere perceptibly less exhausting than before.He had an irrepressible conscience and a highlyaggressive sense of duty, which made him an intolerablemeddler in the affairs of other people, andwhich, joined to an underlying kindness of heart,made him so indiscreet in his charities that his wifeand children were often driven to vain protest againstthe excesses of his almsgiving. The old Puritanfanaticism was rampant in him; and when he sailedfor Louisbourg, he took with him an axe, intended,as he said, to hew down the altars of Antichristand demolish his idols.Shirley's choice of a commander was perhaps thebest that could have been made,- for Pepperrelljoined to an unusual popularity as little militaryincompetency as anybody else who could be had.Popularity, we have seen, was indispensable, andeven company ofiScers were appointed with an eye toit. Many of these were well-known men in rusticneighborhoods, who had raised companies in the hopeof being commissioned to command them. Otherswere militia officers recruiting under orders of thegovernor. Thus, John Storer, major in the Maine1 Moody found sympathizers in his iconoclastic zeal. DeaconJohn Gray of Biddeford wrote to Pepperrell: " Oh that I could bewith you and dear Parson Moody in that church [at Louisbourg] todestroy the images there set up, and hear the true Gospel of our