Meanwhile, without direct warrant
from London, Lawrence and his council at Halifax had taken
action. His reasoning was that of a direct soldier. The Acadians
would not take the full oath of British citizenship. Very well.
Quite obviously they could not be trusted. Already they had acted
in a traitorous way. Prolonged war with France was imminent.
Since Acadians who might be allied with the savages could attack
British posts, they must be removed. To replace them, British
settlers could in time be brought into the country.
The thing was done in the summer and autumn of 1755. Colonel
Robert Monckton, a regular officer, son of an Irish peer, who
always showed an ineffable superiority to provincial officers
serving under him, was placed in charge of the work. He ordered
the male inhabitants of the neighborhood of Beausejour to meet
him there on the 10th of August. Only about one-third of them
came--some four hundred. He told them that the government at
Halifax now declared them rebels. Their lands and all other goods
were forfeited; they themselves were to be kept in prison.
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