A Murray or a Dorchester would have humoured the people
and would probably have kept them in allegiance. But this
was an impossible task for Lawrence. He was unaccustomed
to compromise. He kept before him the letter of the law,
and believed that any deviation from it was fraught with
danger. He entered upon his duties as administrator in
the month of October 1753. Six weeks later he made a
report on the condition of affairs in the province. This
report contains one pregnant sentence. He is referring
to the emigrant Acadians who had left their homes for
French soil and were now wishing to come back, and he
says: 'But Your Lordships may be assured they will never
have my consent to return until they comply [take the
oath] without any reservation whatever.' [Footnote:
Lawrence to Lords of Trade, December 5, 1753.] This was
the keynote of all Lawrence's subsequent action. The
Acadians must take the oath without reserve, or leave
the country. He does not appear to have given any
consideration to the fact that for forty years the Lords
of Trade had, for various motives, nursed the people, or
that only two years before the Council at Halifax had
declared the Acadians to be still entitled to the privileges
accorded to them by the Treaty of Utrecht.
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