Montreal, 8th of June, 1756
My Lord,
I have received the letter you did me the honor to write me on the 15th of March, with the King’s instruction respecting the conduct I was to observe towards the English, whereunto I shall exactly conform.
In truth, there must be no longer any question of managing the English. Their enterprises are carried to excess, and you see, my Lord, by the reports I have the honor of rendering you, that they are making new and greater efforts against this Colony; that I am making use of the reinforcements the King has granted me to oppose them, and that I neglect nothing to enable me to carry the war into their country. But before undertaking any enterprise, I occupy myself in making all the dispositions necessary to assure the defence of my government and it will always be on this principle that I shall regulate my operations as his Majesty has prescribed in my instructions.
I apply myself particularly, my Lord, to sending parties of Indians into the English Colonies. I also do my best to multiply them as much as circumstances permit. Nothing is more calculated to disgust the people of those Colonies and to make them desire the return of peace. My labor in this regard has not been in vain. None of the New England Colonies but feels the incursions of our Indians, and I can say, without exaggeration, that the English have lost one hundred men for our one. I should greatly wish to discover some means to make that people more and more sensible how much it would be to their advantage not to countenance such odious views, the consequences whereof may be so fatal to themselves. But the matter is not so easy, and I shall have recourse to it only so far as I shall be sure of not compromising anything.
I am, with most profound respect, my lord,
Your most humble and
Most obedient servant,
(Signed), VAUDREUIL.
