Her chances of success were good.  The French could at any time send troops from Louisbourg or Quebec to join those maintained upon the isthmus; and they had on their side of the lines a force of militia and Indians amounting to about two thousand, while the Acadians within the peninsula had about an equal number of fighting men who, while calling themselves neutrals, might be counted on to join the invaders.  The English were in no condition to withstand such an attack.  Their regular troops were scattered far and wide through the province, and were nowhere more than equal to the local requirement; while of militia, except those of Halifax, they had few or none whom they dared to trust.  Their fort at Annapolis was weak and dilapidated, and their other posts were mere stockades.  The strongest place in Acadia was the French fort of Beausejour, in which the English saw a continual menace.  Their apprehensions were well grounded.  Duquesne, governor of Canada, wrote to Le Loutre, who virtually shared the control of Beausejour with Vergor, its commandant:  “I invite both yourself and M. Vergor to devise a plausible pretext for attacking them [the English] vigorously."[243] Three weeks after this letter was written, Lawrence, governor of Nova Scotia, wrote to Shirley from Halifax:  “Being well informed that the French have designs of encroaching still farther upon His Majesty’s rights in this province, and that they propose, the moment they have repaired the fortifications of Louisbourg, to attack our fort at Chignecto [Fort Lawrence], I think it high time to make some effort to drive them from the north side of the Bay of Fundy."[244] This letter was brought to Boston by Lieutenant-Colonel Monckton, who was charged by Lawrence to propose to Shirley the raising of two thousand men in New England for the attack of Beausejour and its dependent forts.  Almost at the moment when Lawrence was writing these proposals to Shirley, Shirley was writing with the same object to Lawrence, enclosing a letter from Sir Thomas Robinson, concerning which he said:  “I construe the contents to be orders to us to act in concert for taking any advantages to drive the French of Canada out of Nova Scotia.  If that is your sense of them, and your honor will be pleased to let me know whether you want any and what assistance to enable you to execute the orders, I will endeavor to send you such assistance from this province as you shall want."[245]

[Footnote 243:  Duquesne a Le Loutre, 15 Oct. 1754; extract in Public Documents of Nova Scotia, 239.]

[Footnote 244:  Lawrence to Shirley, 5 Nov. 1754.  Instructions of Lawrence to Monckton, 1 Nov. 1754.]

[Footnote 245:  Shirley to Lawrence, 7 Nov. 1754.]