|
The meeting of the Deputies with Lawrence was far from satisfactory. Lawrence was essentially a military minded man, insufficiently equipped, either mentally or by experience, to deal with the problem of a people, which by law was compelled to give that allegiance to one Throne which by love it gave to another. Morever, the situation was aggravated by the unexpected an humiliating defeat of Braddock in the valley of the Monongahela. On July 28th, the Acadians Deputies were received by the Council for the last time, and upon their refusal to undertake that the Inhabitants would attest the unqualified oath of allegiance, an Order-in-Council* was passed, declaring that as it had already been determined to send the French Inhabitants out of the Province if they refused to take the oaths, and as they had refused to do so, "nothing now remained to be considered but what Measures should be taken to send them away, and where they should be sent to". Once the decision to remove the Acadians had been decided upon no time was lost in the execution of the plan for their removal which several months before had been drawn up by the Chief Surveyor, Morris.** *This
Order-in-Council, the most far reaching in its consequences ever passed in Nova
Scotia has been reprinted many times. The wording is not always the same, which,
however, is of little concern to the local historian. I have followed the text
of the Order as given in "New England ‘s Outpost" by J. B. Brebner. Back |
