loved by his people--French and
Indians alike--and his services could not well be spared. There was
no chaplain at the fort, lately re-established at the mouth of the
river, and Loverja's age and infirmities would oblige him shortly to
remove to Quebec. The two missionaries would then have sufficient
occupation, especially as they would have frequently to repair on the
one hand to Medoctec, and on the other to the garrison of Fort
Menagoueche. In consequence of these strong objections to his
retirement it was decided by Father Germain's superiors to allow him
to remain at his mission.

The Abbe de L'Isle-Dieu wrote the French minister, early the next
year, that there was neither priest nor chapel at Fort Menagoueche,
and that a missionary was needed on the lower part of the river.
Father Germain had now for a long time been missionary to the
Maliseets at Aukpaque (l'isle d'Ecouba) and having more than eighty
families under his care found the fort too far removed to give due
attention to the wants of the garrison.

The situation on the St. John at this time was not viewed with
complacency by the authorities of Nova Scotia and New England. On the
18th October, 1753, Governor Hopson, of Nova Scotia, wrote the Lords
of Trade and Plantations that he had been informed by Governor
Shirley, of Massachusetts, that since the arrival of a French
missionary at the River St. John the conduct of the inhabitants had
altered for the worse; the French had now 100 families settled on the
river, had greatly strengthened the old fort at its mouth with guns
and men, and had built a new one. Fort Boishebert, some miles up the
river armed with twenty-four guns and garrisoned by 200 regulars. He
also says a French frigate of thirty guns lay behind Partridge Island
waiting for a cargo of furs, and that the French seemed to be entirely
masters of the river.

It is not unlikely this statement is exaggerated, for the following
summer Lieut.-Governor Lawrence says the French had at St. John only a
small fort with three bad old guns, one officer and sixteen men; while
of Indians there were 160 fighting men.

CHAPTER XII.

THE ACADIANS BECOME THE FOOTBALL OF FORTUNE.

As time went on the Acadians became impatient at the delay in settling
the limits of Acadia. In vain they were annually told the boundaries
would soon be determined, all negotiation proved fruitless. Those who
had crossed the isthmus into what is now the County of Westmo