“Monsieur Cornwallis issued an order on the tenth of the said month [August], to the effect that if the inhabitants will remain faithful subjects of the King of Great Britain, he will allow them priests and public exercise of their religion, with the understanding that no priest shall officiate without his permission or before taking an oath of fidelity to the King of Great Britain.  Secondly, that the inhabitants shall not be exempted from defending their houses, their lands, and the Government.  Thirdly, that they shall take an oath of fidelity to the King of Great Britain, on the twenty-sixth of this month, before officers sent them for that purpose.”

La Jonquiere proceeds to say that on hearing these conditions the Acadians were filled with perplexity and alarm, and that he, the governor, had directed Boishebert, his chief officer on the Acadian frontier, to encourage them to leave their homes and seek asylum on French soil.  He thus recounts the steps he has taken to harass the English of Halifax by means of their Indian neighbors.  As peace had been declared, the operation was delicate; and when three of these Indians came to him from their missionary, Le Loutre, with letters on the subject, La Jonquiere was discreetly reticent.  “I did not care to give them any advice upon the matter, and confined myself to a promise that I would on no account abandon them; and I have provided for supplying them with everything, whether arms, ammunition, food, or other necessaries.  It is to be desired that these savages should succeed in thwarting the designs of the English, and even their settlement at Halifax.  They are bent on doing so; and if they can carry out their plans, it is certain that they will give the English great trouble, and so harass them that they will be a great obstacle in their path.  These savages are to act alone; neither soldier nor French inhabitant is to join them; everything will be done of their own motion, and without showing that I had any knowledge of the matter.  This is very essential; therefore I have written to the Sieur de Boishebert to observe great prudence in his measures, and to act very secretly, in order that the English may not perceive that we are providing for the needs of the said savages.”

“It will be the missionaries who will manage all the negotiation, and direct the movements of the savages, who are in excellent hands, as the Reverend Father Germain and Monsieur l’Abbe Le Loutre are very capable of making the most of them, and using them to the greatest advantage for our interests.  They will manage their intrigue in such a way as not to appear in it.”

La Jonquiere then recounts the good results which he expects from these measures:  first, the English will be prevented from making any new settlements; secondly, we shall gradually get the Acadians out of their hands; and lastly, they will be so discouraged by constant Indian attacks that they will renounce their pretensions to the parts of the country belonging to the King of France.  “I feel, Monseigneur,”—­thus the Governor concludes his despatch,—­“all the delicacy of this negotiation; be assured that I will conduct it with such precaution that the English will not be able to say that my orders had any part in it."[80]