The Marquis Duquesne, sprung from the race of the great naval commander of that name, had arrived towards midsummer; and he began his rule by a general review of troops and militia.  His lofty bearing offended the Canadians; but he compelled their respect, and, according to a writer of the time, showed from the first that he was born to command.  He presently took in hand an enterprise which his predecessor would probably have accomplished, had the Home Government encouraged him.  Duquesne, profiting by the infatuated neglect of the British provincial assemblies, prepared to occupy the upper waters of the Ohio, and secure the passes with forts and garrisons.  Thus the Virginian and Pennsylvanian traders would be debarred all access to the West, and the tribes of that region, bereft henceforth of English guns, knives, hatchets, and blankets, English gifts and English cajoleries, would be thrown back to complete dependence on the French.  The moral influence, too, of such a movement would be incalculable; for the Indian respects nothing so much as a display of vigor and daring, backed by force.  In short, the intended enterprise was a master-stroke, and laid the axe to the very root of disaffection.  It is true that, under the treaty, commissioners had been long in session at Paris to settle the question of American boundaries; but there was no likelihood that they would come to agreement; and if France would make good her Western claims, it behooved her, while there was yet time, to prevent her rival from fastening a firm grasp on the countries in dispute.

Yet the Colonial Minister regarded the plan with distrust.  “Be on your guard,” he wrote to Duquesne, “against new undertakings; private interests are generally at the bottom of them.  It is through these that new posts are established.  Keep only such as are indispensable, and suppress the others.  The expenses of the colony are enormous; and they have doubled since the peace.”  Again, a little later:  “Build on the Ohio such forts as are absolutely necessary, but no more.  Remember that His Majesty suspects your advisers of interested views."[66]

[Footnote 66:  Ordres du Roy et Depeches des Ministres, 1753.]

No doubt there was justice in the suspicion.  Every military movement, and above all the establishment of every new post, was an opportunity to the official thieves with whom the colony swarmed.  Some band of favored knaves grew rich; while a much greater number, excluded from sharing the illicit profits, clamored against the undertaking, and wrote charges of corruption to Versailles.  Thus the Minister was kept tolerably well informed; but was scarcely the less helpless, for with the Atlantic between, the disorders of Canada defied his control.  Duquesne was exasperated by the opposition that met him on all hands, and wrote to the Minister:  “There are so many rascals in this country that one is forever the butt of their attacks."[67]