as that is not done except in Short hints, And Mr. Little, to whom both Mr. Mascarene and Mr. Secretary Shirreff referr me for a Larger Account of the Sentiments of the Gentlemen of the Garrison concerning these Matters, Offers his Service to go with my dispatches to England and return directly with any Orders his Majesty may be pleased to give thereupon, I have sent him to wait upon your Grace, and it is possible that when he is upon the Spot ready to Answer any Questions, it may be of Service—. Having before troubled your Grace So Largely upon this head, I will beg leave to referr to my former Letters, Mr. Little Mr. Agent Kilby and Mr. Bollan, which two last can, I believe, give Considerable Light on the affair; And shall only add that the Spring before last the Garrison was very narrowly Saved from the Enemy by the Arrival of the New England Auxiliaries, and the last Spring, by the Expedition against Cape Breton, that the preservation of it this Spring will be of the Utmost Importance to his Majesty’s Service in America, and that nothing will more effectually Secure that than putting the Inhabitants upon a proper foot of Subjection, in the most Speedy Manner, to prevent their Revolt, which Cannot be done without his Majesty’s Special directions for that purpose; for the procuring of which, I find Mr. Mascarene, and his whole Council have a dependance upon me; the Language of their Several Letters being that they Commit themselves to my Care; and will take no step without my Advice or approbation, which has been the Case for above these last two years, And I mention to your Grace in Excuse for my being So importunate in the Affairs of another Government, which the Gentlemen of the Garrison lay me Under a Necessity of being; And I am further Urg’d to this by the late Accounts, wch. Mr. Mascarene and the other Gentlemen have sent me of the Appearance of four hundred Indians well Cloathed, Arm’d, and Supply’d
with Stores from Canada near St. Johns River, Seventeen French Officers being Seen among ’em, and another Body of French in the Neighbourhood of the Province, and Reports that Mr. Duvivier in the Parfaite Man of Warr, and another Ship of Force were at Qubec with Stores, and another was seen to put into St. Johns Island; That the Priests who went to Canada for Instructions are returned with Supplies and large promises to the Indians (before well dispos’d and upon the point of putting themselves under Our protection on the taking of Louisbourg) and Encouragements for the Inhabitants to depend upon a powerfull force against the Fort at Annapolis Royal this Spring. These alarms indeed have been Something Allay’d by Letters from the Deputies of Minas and other Districts to Mr. Mascarene, which for my own part I have no great dependance upon.
“But it seems plain upon the whole, that the French are making the Utmost Efforts to retain the Indians of those parts in their Interest, and gaining over the Inhabitants of Nova Scotia, So that the Taking of Speedy measures for Securing these last and gaining over the former which will depend upon that, as the preservation of Nova Scotia does upon both, is a Matter of the Highest Consequence.
“Upon this Occasion it seems necessary for me to apprise your Grace, that Mr. Mascarene and his Council have not So good an harmony Subsisting between them as could be wish’d, and that all the Officers have of late differ’d in Sentiments with him particularly upon the Behaviour of the French Inhabitants, Concerning whom he indeed has himself alter’d his Opinion in Some measure; But I think there may be Still danger of too much tenderness towards ’em on his part, and perhaps rigour on theirs in carrying any Orders of his Majesty’s into Execution; So that by their Jarring, the Execution of the Orders may possibly be Obstructed, if they are left to themselves;
“Wherefore if their Chief Governour’s Age and health, and other Circumstances would have permitted him to have been Upon the Spott, and Assisted in this Service, it would I believe have been for the Advantage of it, for him to have made ’em a short Visit at least this year, And if it could have been repeated for the two or three proceeding years it would have been still more so....”
Shirley to Newcastle, 10th May, 1746.
(Extract.)
“... I think it my indispensable duty to suggest again to Your Grace my Fears that the Enemy will soon find an opportunity of snatching Accadie by some Sudden Stroke from his Majesty’s Government unless the danger is remov’d out of the Heart of it there by a Removal of the most dangerous of the french Inhabitants from thence, & transplanting English Families there in their room, which I think very practicable from hence, having lately found means of transplanting upwards, I believe, of an hundred Families from the Province to Louisbourg towards the Settlement of it, which yet I dont esteem of such Importance to be immediately done as the Settlement of Nova Scotia with faithful Subjects.
“In the meanwhile ’till this can be happily effected & the Indians in those parts secur’d in the English Interest, I have propos’d to Mr. Warren that a Detachment of 100 Men should be sent from Louisbourg to reinforce the garrison at Annapolis Royal, since the late Miscarriage of 182 out of 302 of the Recruits designed for Annapolis in their Passage from England to the garrison there. Ninety-six of the Remainder of ’em, which came in here, I with difficulty have got recovered in his Majesty’s Castle William & at the Hospital in Boston, & sent a month ago to Annapolis where I hear they are safely arriv’d, and twenty more who are in a
fair way of being serviceable, I shall send from the Hospital within three days; But the Garrison will still be weak as Mr. Mascarene has dismiss’d most of the New England Auxiliaries, and they have not, I am informed, 220 effective private Men left besides their Artificers & Workmen: I have also recommended to Mr. Warren the frequent Sending of a Ship of War to look into the Bason of Annapolis & make the Garrison there a short Visit in order to prevent a Surprise; & by his Opinion in Concurrence with Sir Willm Pepperrell’s, Mr. Mascarene’s & my own a Sloop has been hir’d & employ’d for about these last four Months to attend upon that garrison, & carry Intelligence between Annapolis Royal, Louisbourg & Boston concerning the State of it & the Enemy’s Motions which we conceiv’d necessary to be done for its Security, and hope your Grace will not disapprove of.