They Represented To Me Again
That His Royal Highness Honoring The Hudson's Bay Company With His
Protection, It Would Pass
Even on to me if I would employ upon it my
credit, my attentions, & the experience that I had in
The country of the
North, for the utility & the benefit of the affairs of that Company, in
which His Royal Highness took great interest.
At the same time I received some letters at Paris from the Sieur Ecuyer
Young, one of those interested in the Hudson's Bay Company, in which he
solicited me on his part, & in the name of the Company, to return into
England, giving me some assurances of a good reception, & that I should
have reason to be satisfied on my part in regard to my particular
interests, as well as for some advantages that they would make me. These
letters, joined to those in which my Lord Preston continued his urgencies
against me to the very Christian King, decided me to determine, by the
counsel of one of my friends, to yield myself at last to all their
solicitations of passing over to England for good, & of engaging myself so
strongly to the service of His Majesty, & to the interests of the Nation,
that any other consideration was never able to detach me from it. There was
only my Lord Preston, some of his household, & the friend who had
counselled me to come into England, who knew of my design. I took care to
save appearances from suspicion by the danger in which I exposed myself, &
up to the evening of my departure I had some conferences with the ministers
of the Court of France, & the persons who there have the departments of the
marine & commerce, upon some propositions of armament, & the Equipment of
the Ships destined for my 2nd voyage. They wished to bind me to make them
upon the same footing as the proceeding, which has made since then the talk
of the two nations.
The day of my departure was fixed for the 24th of April, 1684; but at last,
that those with whom I was obliged to confer daily by order of the
Ministers of France never doubted in the least of my discontinuing to see
them, I told them that I was obliged to make a little journey into the
country for some family business, & I could be useful to them during that
time by going to London, where I arrived the 10th of May.
At the moment of my arrival I had the honor of going to see the gentlemen,
Ecuyer Young and the Chevalier Hayes, both of whom were interested in the
Hudson's Bay Company, who gave me a good reception in showing me the joy
that they felt at my return, & in giving me such assurances that I should
receive on their part & on that of their company all manner of
satisfaction. I then explained fully to them the nature of the service that
I expected to render to His Majesty, to the Company, & to the Nation, in
establishing the Beaver trade in Canada & making those to profit by it who
were interested, to the extent of 15 or 20,000 Beaver skins that I hoped to
find already in the hands of the French that I had left there, that would
cost to them only the Interest that I had in the thing, & the just
satisfaction that was owing to the French who had made the trade for them.
These gentlemen having received in an agreeable manner my proposition, &
wishing to give me some marks of their satisfaction, did me the honour of
presenting me to His Majesty & to His Royal Highness, to whom I made my
submission, the offer of my very humble services, a sincere protestation
that I would do my duty, that even to the peril of my life I would employ
all my care & attention for the advantage of the affairs of the Company, &
that I would seek all occasions of giving proof of my zeal & inviolable
fidelity for the service of the King, of all which His Majesty & His Royal
Highness appeared satisfied, & did me the favour of honouring me with some
evidences of their satisfaction upon my return, & of giving me some marks
of their protection.
After that I had several conferences in the assembled body, & in particular
with the gentlemen interested in the Hudson's Bay Company, in which I made
them acquainted in what manner it was necessary for them to proceed there
for establishing to the best advantage the Beaver trade in the Northern
country, the means of properly sustaining it, & of ruining in a short time
the trade with foreigners, & to that end I would commence by becoming
master of both the fort & the settlement of the French, as well as of all
the furs that they had traded for since my departure, on the condition that
my influence would serve to convert them, & that my nephew whom I had left
commandant in that fort & the other French would be paid what would be to
them their legitimate due. These gentlemen, satisfied with what I had said
to them, believed with justice that they would be able to have entire
confidence in me. As for that, having resolved to entrust me with their
orders for going with their shipps, equipped & furnished with everything to
found that establishment in putting into execution my projects, they gave
the power of settling in my own mind & conscience the claims of my nephew &
the other French, assuring me that they would be satisfied with the account
that I would present to them. I accepted that commission with the greatest
pleasure in the world, and I hurried with so much diligence the necessary
things for my departure, that in less than eight days I was in a condition
to embark myself. This was done even without any precaution on my part for
my own interests, for I did not wish to make any composition with these
gentlemen.
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