PAPERS RELAXING TO OSWE«0.
295
[Lond. Doo. XXIII.]
New York, 8th August, 1727.
Sir—I have received the letter which jou have done me the honour to write to me, and whichwas delivered to me by Mr. De la Chassaigne. You have done me a singular pleasure in taking thisoccasion to make me acquainted with a person of so distinguished merit, and in sending along withthem Gentlemen who do honour to their country. I could have wished that these marks of your* good will had not been attended with a proceeding so little suitable to them.
You perceive, Sir, that I would complain of the sudden and peremptory summons that you havesent to my Officer posted at Oswego; and which was brought to me by an express, before the arrivalof M r De la Chassaigne.
I should think, Sir, that you might have waited for my reasons in answer to what you werepleased to write to me, before you took so Extraordinary a step, and that in giving so short a time,that my Officer could not possibly receive my orders before it expired.
I agree with you, sir, that the close union that prevails between our Sovereigns ought naturally toproduce the like between you and me, and it shall never be through my fault if it does not subsistin all its extent. It was, Sir, with the same Intention that I made my complaint in the modestestmanner I could to Mr. De Longueuil, then Commander in Chief in Canada , of a Fort that had beenbuilt at- Niagara and tho’ I received no answer from him by the bearer of my letter and at last re-ceived one that was not at all satisfactory, I contented myself with writing to our Court about it,whence I am informed that our Ambassadors at the Court of France , has orders to represent thisundertaking as contrary to the treaty of Utrecht .
This, Sir, was all that I did upon that occasion. I did not send any summons to Niagara, I didnot make any warlike preparations to interrupt the work, and I did not stir up the Five Nations tomake use of force to demolish it, which I might have done easily enough, since at the very time Ireceived Mr. de Longueuil’s letter, they were all come to complain to me of this undertaking, as thejustest cause of uneasiness that could have been given them. I won’t tire you with repeating allthat I writ to Mr. de Longueuil upon that subject which he has no doubt shown to you.
I come now, Sir, to the subject of your Letter, there are two things which you complain of, firstof the trade at Oswego, secondly of the Redoubt as you call it, and of the Garrison that is in it; asfor the Trade I cannot understand how you could be surprised at it, since we have carried on a tradethere regularly for more than five years running without opposition, and I have reason to wonderhow you can call that an Infraction of the Treaty of Utrecht , since it is expressly stipulated in thatvery 15 th Article which you cite, That on both sides the subjects of each Crown shall enjoy fullliberty of going and coming on account of Trade.
Going and coming must imply (as appears clearly by what goes before) among all the American subjects or allies or friends of Great Britain and of France . It is upon this, Sir, that we pretend tohave an equal right with you of trading thro’ all the Lakes and all the Continent, and that incontes-tably, by virtue of the Terms of the Treaty .
It follows therein that also the Natives of those Countries shall with the same liberty resort as theyplease to the British and French Colonies, for promoting a Trade on one side or the other, withoutany Molestation or hindrance either on the part of the British subjects or the French .
I cited to you before the Right which we have to carry on a Trade every where among the Indians.In these last words is contained the Right which all the Indians have to come and trade with us,and I leave it to you to reflect sincerely upon the conduct of the People of Canada, and to consider