The
English were in no condition to withstand such an attack. Their regular
troops were scattered far and wide through the province, and were
nowhere more than equal to the local requirement; while of militia,
except those of Halifax, they had few or none whom they dared to trust.
Their fort at Annapolis was weak and dilapidated, and their other posts
were mere stockades. The strongest place in Acadia was the French fort
of Beausejour, in which the English saw a continual menace. Their
apprehensions were well grounded. Duquesne, governor of Canada, wrote to
Le Loutre, who virtually shared the control of Beausejour with Vergor,
its commandant: "I invite both yourself and M. Vergor to devise a
plausible pretext for attacking them [_the English_] vigorously."[243]
Three weeks after this letter was written, Lawrence, governor of Nova
Scotia, wrote to Shirley from Halifax: "Being well informed that the
French have designs of encroaching still farther upon His Majesty's
rights in this province, and that they propose, the moment they have
repaired the fortifications of Louisbourg, to attack our fort at
Chignecto [_Fort Lawrence_], I think it high time to make some effort to
drive them from the north side of the Bay of Fundy."[244] This letter
was brought to Boston by Lieutenant-Colonel Monckton, who was charged by
Lawrence to propose to Shirley the raising of two thousand men in New
England for the attack of Beausejour and its dependent forts. Almost at
the moment when Lawrence was writing these proposals to Shirley, Shirley
was writing with the same object to Lawrence, enclosing a letter from
Sir Thomas Robinson, concerning which he said: "I construe the contents
to be orders to us to act in concert for taking _any_ advantages to
drive the French of Canada out of Nova Scotia. If that is your sense of
them, and your honor will be pleased to let me know whether you want any
and what assistance to enable you to execute the orders, I will endeavor
to send you such assistance from this province as you shall want."[245]

[Footnote 243: _Duquesne a Le Loutre, 15 Oct. 1754_; extract in _Public
Documents of Nova Scotia_, 239.]

[Footnote 244: _Lawrence to Shirley, 5 Nov. 1754. Instructions of
Lawrence to Monckton, 1 Nov. 1754_.]

[Footnote 245: _Shirley to Lawrence, 7 Nov. 1754_.]

The letter of Sir Thomas Robinson, of which a duplicate had already been
sent to Lawrence, was written in answer to one of Shirley informing the
Minis