ently passed between the English
government at Annapolis and the missionaries on the St. John--Loyard,
Danielou, and Germain, who were in close touch with the civil
authorities of their nation, and were in some measure the political
agents of the Marquise de Vaudreuil and other French governors of
Canada.

[24] In a letter to the French minister, written in 1698, Villebon
observes "J'ai recu par mons'r de Bonaventure qui est arrive
ici le 20 Juillet la lettre de votre Grandeur et le traite de
Paix fait avec l'Angleterre [the treaty of Ryswick]. * * Comme
vous me marquez, Monseigneur, que les bornes de l'Acadie sont
a la Riviere de Quenebequi." [Kennebec]. etc.

It is possible that the Marquis de Vaudreuil felt special interest in
the St. John river country, owing to the fact that his wife Louise
Elizabeth Joibert, was born at Fort Jemseg while her father, the Sieur
de Soulanges, was governor of Acadia. At any rate the marquis stoutly
asserted the right of the French to the sovereignty of that region and
he wrote to the Lieut. Governor of Nova Scotia in 1718, "I pray you
not to permit your English vessels to go into the river St. John,
which is always of the French dominion." He also encouraged the
Acadians of the peninsula to withdraw to the river St. John so as not
to be under British domination, pledging them his support and stating
that Father Loyard, the Jesuit missionary, should have authority to
grant them lands agreeably to their wishes.

Lieut. Governor Doucett, of Nova Scotia, complained of the aggressive
policy of the Marquis de Vaudreuil, asserting that he was entirely
mistaken as to the ownership of the St. John river, for it was "about
the centre of Nova Scotia;" he was satisfied, nevertheless, that the
Acadians believed it would never be taken possession of by the
British, and if the proceedings of the French were not stopped they
would presently claim everything within cannon short of his fort at
Annapolis.

The policy of the French in employing their Indian allies to deter the
English from any advance towards the St. John region was attended with
such success that the infant colony of Nova Scotia was kept in a
constant state of alarm by the threats and unfriendly attitude of the
Micmacs and Maliseets. There were, however, occasional periods in
which there were no actual hostilities, and it may be said that the
peace made at Boston in 1725, and ratified by t