First Century After the Expulsion 77

thorities accepted a successor, Monseigneur Olivier Briand who was appointed by the Holy See'®*. The Island remained under the spiritual responsibility of Quebec until 1819 at which time the Diocese of Charlottetown was created as suffragan diocese of Quebec. Ten years later, in 1829, it became completely independent'”.

As soon as he was installed in his new functions, Monseigneur Briand was asked to appoint a priest to minister to the Acadians on Prince Edward Island. Following this request the bishop addressed his first pastoral letter to the Acadians and to their compatriots estab- lished elsewhere. In his message, dated March 15, 1766, he expressed his sympathy to the Acadians and praised them for their loyalty to the Catholic faith despite the absence of religious services.

Nevertheless, the prelate’s principal message related to the loyalty which the Acadians owed to the King of England. He told them that it was their religious duty to obey the royal power. Bishop Briand was expressing the official position of the Church in this document:

Rejoice then, dear Brethren; after so many trials and tribulations, after so much unhappiness, it would seem that God has at last willed an end to it all. Prepare yourselves to show Him your gratitude by a constant and sacred loyalty to His holy law and all His wishes: but it is not enough to thank God for what you owe Him; you have the same obligation towards our gracious sovereign. .. (TR)!

Finally, Bishop Briand promised his distant congregation that he would find them a priest for the following year. This proved to be a difficult task since the number of priests had greatly diminished since the conquest: both the recruitment and training of new priests were complicated by restrictions imposed by the British administration; the Jesuit College had been closed down and the Quebec Seminary destroyed during the war'®*. Nevertheless, the bishop first succeeded in sending Father Charles-Francgois Bailly de Messein, and then the Jesuit priest, Father Jean-Baptiste de la Brosse to the Acadians in the Maritimes. It would appear, however, that neither one ever went to St. John’s Island.

Four years later, the Bishop of Quebec addressed a second pastoral letter to the Acadians on the Island. Monseigneur Briand told them that he was sorry that neither missionary had ministered to them yet even though he had instructed them to do so. He also wrote that he had tried without success to get a priest from France, but that there