for more than thirty-four years past the subjects of the
King of Great Britain... Show now that you are grateful.'
[Footnote: Public Archives, Canada. Nova Scotia B, vol.
iv, p. 49.]

The Acadians, however, showed still a decided aversion
to an unqualified oath; and Cornwallis apparently thought
it best to recede somewhat from the high stand he had
taken. He wrote to the home government explaining that
he hesitated to carry out the terms of his proclamation
of July 14 by confiscating the property of those who did
not take the oath, on the ground that the Acadians would
not emigrate at that season of the year, and that in the
meantime he could employ them to advantage. If they
continued to prove obstinate, he would seek new instructions
to force things to a conclusion. [Footnote: Public
Archives, Canada. Nova Scotia A, vol. xxxv, p. 48.] The
Acadians, used by this time to the lenity of the British
government, were probably not surprised to find, at the
meeting of the Council held on October 11, no mention of
the oath which had to be taken before the 15th of the month.

The winter passed, and still Cornwallis took no steps to
enforce his proclamation. He had his troubles; for the
French, from Quebec on the one side and from Louisbourg
on the other, were fomenting strife; and the Indians were
on the war-path. And, in February 1750, the Lords of
Trade wrote that as the French were forming new settlements
with a view to enticing the Acadians into them, any
forcible means of ejecting them should be waived for the