THE OXFOED SETTLEMENT 141 



where tbey were made into hats and gloves by the skilled 

 Huguenot artissins. 



Jacques Laborie, a minister who had come to Boston j^^lYgues 

 from London during; the previous year, accompanied the 

 returning settlers. He brought with him his wife, Jeanne 

 de Eessiguier, and his daughter Susanne. As he held an 

 appointment from the corporation for promoting the 

 Gospel in New England he at once set to work among the 

 savages, with whom he soon came to be on the most 

 friendly footing. It was owing to his intimacy with the 

 Indians and his knowledge of their language that the 

 warning of fresh intrigues on the part of the Jesuits was 

 brought to the attention of the authorities. In spite of 

 the treaty of Ryswick it soon became evident that the Indians 

 priests were again endeavouring to stir up the friendly 

 tribes to proceed against the English colonies. 



In a letter to Governor Bellomont, Laborie informs 

 him that numbers of the neighbouring Indians are pre- 

 paring to leave and join the Pennacooks in New Hamp- 

 shire. That they declare the "French" religion to be 

 "plus belle que la notre" (more beautiful than ours), 

 and that they will be furnished with silver crosses to 

 hang about their necks, and that great promises have 

 been made to them. Laborie is confident from the things 

 he has heard that the priests are hard at work perfecting 

 some scheme which they will bring forward when a 

 propitious occasion presents itself. Eumours of such a 

 nature kept the people of Oxford in a constant state of 

 tension, but it was not until the summer of 1703 that 1703 

 actual hostilities broke out. They did their best to pre- 

 pare for any sudden emergency that might arise ; a mil- D|er^fie^ui^ 

 itary company was formed and the town's defenses were 

 strengthened by building a palisade around Bernon's 

 house to serve as a stronghold for the garrison. But 

 after the Deerfield massacre, where over a hundred and 

 fifty persons were slain or made prisoners, the handful of 



