Reunion to the Royal Domain 63

mandant the following pathetic appeal to the Min- ister in October, 1728:

It will be impossible to live longer on Isle Saint Jean if your Excellency does not order the erection of new dwellings. Those left here by the Comte de Saint Pierre are so completely rotten that the soldiers and myself run every moment the risk of being crushed under their ruins. It would excite your pity did you see the manner in which we are lodged.

While de Pensens was capable, even in second childhood, of temporary exaltation in pursuit of an ideal, his military training and long experience of garrison life had not developed those qualities of mind which enable one to endure solitude without the companionship of fellow-officers. To few it is given to bear the loneliness of the leader of men and de Pensens was not one of these. His desire for change and to withdraw from the scenes of distress about him got him into difficulties at this time. In June he took leave of absence at Louisburg and was seriously reprimanded in consequence: “When His Majesty accorded you the annual gratification of 500 livres during your command at L’Isle St. Jean, his inten- tion was that you should make your residence there; and yet you spend most of your time at Louisburg even when your presence is most necessary at your post. His Majesty commands you to abstain from these long and frequent excursions.”””

This same year, which witnessed the plague of

10 B, Vol. 52, p. 395.