62 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
Utrecht and the sentiments of the Acadians had varied little during 
those years from the declaration they had made to the Recollet missionary, 
Felix Pain, in 1713;'—“ We will never take the oath of fidelity to the 
queen of Great Britain to the prejudice of what we owe to our king, 
to our Country and to our religion; and if any attempt were made 
against one or the other of these two articles of our fidelity, that is to 
say to our king and our law, we are ready to quit all rather than to 
violate in the least thing one of these articles. Besides we do not 
know in what manner the English will use us. If they burthen us in 
respect of our religion, or cut up our settlements to divide the lands 
with people of their nation, we will abandon them absolutely.” 
Bravo Acadiens! No one, least of all a descendant of the U.E. 
Loyalists, can find fault with such a declaration of fidelity to king and 
country and religion. But admirable as the sentiment may be in the 
abstract it must be admitted that from the English point of view it 
did not render those who held such views desirable inhabitants of a 
province in which British authority was extremely weak. 
A suggestion looking to the ultimate deportation of the Acadians 
was made about this time to Gov. Philipps by Secretary of State Craggs 
in a private communication. The Secretary of State refers to the fact 
that the Acadians may decide to abandon their lands in the peninsula 
and retire to Isle Royale where they will serve to reinforce the French. 
“This,” he says, “must not be; they must eventually be transferred 
to some place where, mingling with our subjects, they will soon forget 
their language, their religion and remembrance of the past and become 
true Englishmen. For the moment we are too weak to undertake this 
deportation—encourage them with any hopes you choose—provided 
you obtain the desired end, which is to prevent their departure.” 
Craggs, it may be observed in passing, was an unscrupulous politician, 
who was afterwards disgraced, and died on his way to the Tower. 
The Lords of Trade propose a plan for the settlement of Nova Scotia. 
It seemed at length that the British ministry was about to do some- 
thing for the development of the province, for in February, 1727, the 
King in Council ordered the Lords of Trade and Plantations to submit 
a scheme for the civil government of Nova Scotia, and also to report 
what encouragement might with advantage be held out to English- 
speaking settlers. The Lords of Trade prepared a report in which, 
after mentioning the proposals that had been made from time to time 
for promoting English settlements (all of which had failed on account 
of the risks the settlers ran through lack of protection), they make the 

* Murdoch’s History of Nova Scotia, Vol. I., p. 336. 
